This book is easy to read and builds the case persuasively for belief in Jesus Christ. It's the best general book I have read on the Christian faith. (And I'm an enthusiastic reader devouring many good Christian books!)
What I particularly like and why I would recommend it to people inquisitive about Christianity (my church makes it available to people investigating Christianity at our "Life" evenings) is the strength and coherence of its arguments (no surprise as it is written by a former lawyer!).
It gently examines the atheist/naturalistic world view and where it leads in terms of meaning, freedom and right and wrong. It looks closely at Jesus, his claims and character, as well common objections to him. It includes the evidence for the trustworthiness of the Bible⁠—a mini 'The Case for Christ'! I really like the way the author invites the reader to think through the far-reaching implications of Jesus' resurrection in terms of his identity as the Son God, as well as being champion over death and loving ruler of the world.
It has a tightly argued section on miracles (the best I've seen) and one of the clearest explanations I've read of God's saving work in Jesus Christ, exciting the reader with an exhilarating description based on Bible passages of what comes next after this life for those who trust in Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour.
Crucially, the book explains what is involved in repenting and trusting in Christ, inviting the reader to become a Christian.

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Ayers, Martin (2010) Naked God – the truth about God exposed. Matthias Media; 184p plus further reading and endnotes

Internal evidence gives a picture of this book's author. He is young, English, male, enjoyed life at Cambridge and worked in corporate-level law. He is also someone who became a Christian believer at law school and whose life turned upside down as a result. That picture tells us about who the book will be most useful to – but, more on that later.

Jamie Oliver's The Naked Chef inspires the work of apologetics and evangelism. It aims to get back to basics on questions of Christian belief by a three-section discussion.

• Part 1 (six chapters) strips philosophical naturalism bare and tracks the implications if we live in a closed-system universe where there is nothing outside the cosmos.

• Part 2 (five chapters) strips Christianity back to its basics and has a good hard look at Jesus. Evidence and arguments for belief in him are considered and some common myths and supposed problems around him are considered.

• Part 3 (four chapters) strips the reader bare by zeroing on in the key barrier to belief and giving a warm challenge and invitation to faith.

Let's look at Part 1. Ch 2 equates atheism with naturalism and sets up for the following chapters which track how freedom, knowledge, morality and purpose are lost if God is removed from the equation. The argument here is brief, effective and challenging. When preparing this review I was also reading Religion for Atheists by Alain De Botton. De Botton is an atheist who is trying to have the religious 'icing' of community, kindness, tenderness, beauty and such like but without the religious 'cake' on which they traditionally rest. Ayers argues that if there is no theistic 'cake' you can't have the 'icing' and are left with a dark and miserable world.

This is a good argument, although we can question Ayers' simple equation of atheism with naturalism. Naturalism may be the main form of God-denial in the west, but it is not the only one and there are many alternates to Christian theism in the world at large. However, if the book is understood as an apologetic against naturalism, this problem is avoided. There is some material addressed to relativism but naturalism is the main target.

Part 11 does a great job of presenting the faith. Ayers covers the evidence for the historical Jesus and shows Jesus in the fullness of the Bible's claims about him. He tackles several misconceptions about Jesus and especially concerned to address reductionist and selective accounts of Jesus. For example, he insists that we can't just pick and choose among the moral teachings of Jesus. Either all he said (including his self-claims about his identity) is believed or he has nothing worthwhile to say. This is a good re-working of CS Lewis' familiar argument about Jesus being mad, bad or God.

The final Part gently pushes readers to face the Jesus question rather than ignore it and just put the book down. Ayers presents Jesus as the only who can help humans with the otherwise unfathomable problem of guilt before God. Willing readers are carefully led through to a prayer of commitment. I really like the way this is followed by some material on getting started as a Christian: Ayers is looking for a lasting commitment to Christ, not just decisions for Christ.

Now back to the author and the reader. This is a book for people like the author. I would gladly give it to thoughtful people whose context is modern western culture. It arises from that setting and well addressed to it. It presents Jesus in a manner designed to connect well with such folk and hopefully help them to connect to God through his Son.

(David Burke has been in ministry since 1979 and teaches philosophy and world view in a theological college.)

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'Naked God' is a cracker, right from the word go: Easy to read and not too long, it is nevertheless hard-hitting.

The reason this book is great is because it doesn't allow any room to dismiss it's concerns – the necessity of wrestling with the existence of God is hammered home.

Section one (of 3) establishes our need to investigate God, by examining what it means if God does exist, and what it means if he doesn't. By exploring the logical results of atheism, (with reference to Dawkins etc) Ayers shows that there are real consequences for our lives. Delving into morality, truth, freedom and knowledge, Ayers is comprehensive whilst retaining his down-to-earth tone.

Having brought us to the understanding that there ARE real consequences, Ayers investigates Jesus. He says that whilst people know of Jesus, their understanding is distorted through their view of the church, their childhood, pop culture and mainstream society. To make the all-important decision between God or atheism these layers must be peeled back until we see 'Naked God' - as the cover says, we need 'the truth about God exposed.' Ayers says it plainly - 'Jesus claimed to be naked God.'

The reasons why people ignore Christ are myriad, but Ayers debunks or discredits many such reasons (or excuses). Ayers deals with science, relativism (all roads lead to Rome), reliability of the bible, and history, among other objections to the gospel.

This section really made the book for me – it considered things that other books fail to address (particularly how relativism, proclaiming itself as the tolerant solution to dispute, is presumptively guilty of it's own accusations). Equally interesting is Ayers's treatment of the classic CS Lewis trilemma (Liar, Lunatic or Lord), in which he provides a strong case for the latter based upon real people's responses to Christ.

A look at the teaching and character of Christ, coupled as always with straightforward logic dispels many more myths.

Finally, section 3 gets to the crunch – what will you decide? If someone has followed the logic consistently, they are left with 2 real options, and the evidence all seems to support one – evidence of history, logic and experience all point towards the fact that Christ is indeed God exposed, naked God, held up for all to examine.

And not just figuratively. Christ was literally stripped down, and pinned up on a cross, for all to see. This final section wrenches us up out of the black hole we are left in after part 2. If all the evidence is correct, and logic serves us well, then we are inevitably dumped at the end of section 2 as sinners who are in a dire situation, facing death. 'On our own, we all face hell.'

The fact is, however, that this crucifixion and the resurrection that followed are a gift. The gospel is expounded clearly; what happens when one accepts Christ is explained. The concepts of justification, regeneration, sanctification by the Spirit and more are laid on the table.

Ultimately, the reader is left with the option of following Christ.

All Christians are called to spread the gospel and help others into relationship with Jesus. That is why this book is one I strongly recommend. As a Christian reaching out to others, its simple but extensive argument is one we would do well to know, and the book itself is written to a target audience who currently do not know God.

'Naked God' is an easy yet powerful read that will force the reader to think hard about their philosophy, and I have every confidence in it (alongside the Bible, of course!) as an effective ministry tool.

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To be honest, I was a little alarmed when I first came across the title of Martin Ayers' book. The bold combination of the words "naked" and "God" - surely Martin had good reasons to put them together?

Indeed he has, as he exposes to the reader the truth about God by stripping away false ideas, hence the concept of "nakedness". Divided into 3 parts (Naked Truth, Naked Jesus, Naked You), Martin cleverly navigates the reader to first evaluate and correct the common misconceptions surrounding the origin of life, true freedom, knowledge and morality. By examining propositions put forth by atheists and naturalists, the reader is made to uncover for themselves the existence of God.

The reader is then ushered into the next section to investigate who this God is by taking a closer look at the man Jesus who claims to be the Son of God. The Bible is well-quoted to demonstrate Jesus' true self to the reader. This section also answers with 3 common objections that the reader may have in accepting the implications that Jesus is the Christ He claims to be: Isn't His teaching socially regressive? Don't His followers have a disgraceful track record? Won't He take away my freedom?

In the final section, the reader is prompted to make a choice as Martin takes an evangelistic approach to explain faith and repentance. The assurance of the future for a Christian is also emphasized as the commonly misconstrued concept of heaven and hell is demystified. A prayer is also included for the reader who chooses to live a new life in Christ.

Packed with real evidence, illustrations and metaphors, Martin uses simple language to help the reader relate to his writings and understand the truth about God. An easy yet challenging read, Naked God is particularly helpful for the non-Christian investigating God but also lends a hand to the believer in further strengthening his/her faith.

Looking forward to laying your hands on a copy of Naked God? Order one today (or order more to give away to your friends!) from Matthias Media at http://www.matthiasmedia.com.au/products/naked-god where you can also sample the first chapter for free.

[Note] This review was transferred from our old online store which did not give ratings. But this new store requires ratings. So in order to transfer them we have tried to give a rating which reflects the content of the review. So you may prefer to ignore the rating and just read the review.
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If the proof that you understand something complicated is that you can communicate it with simplicity, former lawyer Martin Ayers has a very good understanding of some of the most profound and important truths. In this, his first book, a mixture of apologetics and evangelism, he presents the case for the Gospel to the sceptical and even largely disinterested unbeliever who 'might still need persuading that this really matters.' As Jamie Oliver did with food, so Ayers seeks to do with the truth about God; 'strip away any false ideas we've developed from our culture or background, and find the truth. This is the truth about God exposed. This is Naked God.'

The book is divided into three parts – the first, Naked God, arguing why the existence of God matters, highlighting the emptiness and illogicality of naturalism; the second, Naked Jesus, looking at the evdience for who Jesus was, based on his claims, works, death and resurrection; the third, Naked You, turns the spotlight on the reader, addressing the need to respond to the evidence presented and stating clearly how the unsaved man or woman stands in relation to God.

One of the problems faced by apologists and evangelists as much as anyone else is stating momentous truth in a simple way while avoiding being simplistic. Generally speaking Ayers achieves that. I felt that his final section on repentance could have gone a bit deeper, especially in the area of sorrow for sin, but perhaps his intention is that having given the book to a friend, you will then have an opportunity to follow up with a conversation which can elaborate where necessary.

One thing that did concern me was the statement which followed a specimen prayer of repentance and commitment, in which Ayers says, 'If you have prayed that prayer, then you have become a Christian.' I believe that's an unhelpful and even dangerous word of assurance to give in such circumstances.

The tone is very engaging, its completely free of jargon and, all in all, I would recommend the book. I am even thinking of a suitable person to give a copy to for Christmas.

For the purpose of review, I received a complimentary copy of the book from the Publishers. I was under no obligation to write a positive review.