I am analyzing the first chapter of James David Dark’s Sacredness of Questioning Everything. In the first chapter from his book, Dark explains the healthiness of questioning God. He tells the story of the “angry” side of God by using the name “Uncle Ben” (Dark 9). Throughout this article, I believe that the main idea to grasp is that although we live in a world of fear stricken believers, knowing that it is alright to question God throughout our walk with Him is important. I believe that Dark establishes this theme very well throughout the first chapter of his book, and it adds to the ethos of his argument. I believe that the author is very successful in their use of rhetoric especially with the use of pathos, and the emotional context, Dark is able to form credibility by relating to the audience. I believe that the three main points made by Dark in this first chapter of his book are: 1. Many fear the “Uncle Ben” character of God 2. Learning to question God is a process 3. Questioning God is okay and develops a deeper relationship with Him. Blind faith is not good faith, and God does …show more content…
Creating a story and allowing the reader to connect emotionally above all things is very important. Although Dark did not use much logic or statistics in his writing, he was able to relate to the reader anyways. This shows that Dark is able to connect to a reader through the use of emotions and stories. Although at some points, Dark is very extreme in the emotions and the assumptions made, his is able to relate to the reader and create a bond through his writings. Virginia Mollenkott says, “Back in 1967, if anyone had told me that an evangelical publisher would release two excellent books about the central role of doubt and questioning in the faith-experience, I’d have felt a shot of hope and joy that was unknown to me when I was 35”