The Grace Effect

How the Power of One Life Can Reverse the Corruption of Unbelief

Larry Alex Taunton

• Publisher: Thomas Nelson
• Year: 2011
• Print ISBN: 9781595554406
• eBook ISBN: 9781595554413
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Religion

"Simply defined, the 'grace effect' is an observable phenomenon—that life is demonstrably better where authentic Christianity flourishes."

What does Christianity give us beyond televangelists, potlucks, and bad basketball leagues? Not much, according to the secular Left. The world, they say, would be a better place without it. 

Historian and Christian apologist Larry Taunton has spent much of his career refuting just this sort of thinking, but when he encounters Sasha, a golden-haired Ukranian orphan girl whose life has been shaped by atheistic theorists, he discovers an unlikely champion for the transforming power of grace. 

Through the narrative of Sasha's redemption, we see the false promises of socialism; the soul-destroying influence of unbelief; and how a society cultivates its own demise when it rejects the ultimate source of grace.  We see, in short, the kind of world the atheists would give us: a world without Christianity—cold, pitiless, and graceless.

And yet, as Sasha shows us, it is a world that is not beyond the healing power of "the grace effect."  Occasionally infuriating, often amusing, but always inspiring, The Grace Effect will have you cheering for the courageous little girl who shamed the academic elitists of our day.

Endorsements:

"In The Grace Effect -- Larry Taunton's deeply moving and personal story of how his family adopted a Ukranian girl -- we behold the staggering contrast between a culture suffused with Christian faith and one that has utterly rejected it.  Atheists must assiduously avoid exposure to stories like this one.  If you've ever been unsure of how much good Christianity does in the world, read this book." —Eric Metaxas, New York Times Best-selling author of Bonhoeffer:  Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy.

"This highly readable book is a collection of powerful insights into the long-term consequences of spiritual indifference and, above all, a remarkable example of how to conquer it." — Dr. Olivera Petrovich, research psychologist, University of Oxford

"What would a world without Christianity look like? We don't have to guess because such a world does exist: it exists in the current and former Communist bloc. Through the inspiring story of a little girl born in Eastern Europe and now living in America, Larry Taunton draws a sharp contrast between the life-giving influence of Christianity and the worn out theories of atheism and radical secularism.  The effect?The Grace Effect?is nothing less than powerful and moving." ?Dinesh D'Souza, former White House policy analyst, fellow of the Hoover Institute at Stanford University, and current president of Kings College  

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Preface
• Prologue: The Debate Begins
• 1. First Steps
• 2. Reality Check
• 3. Atheists don’t Do Benevolence
• 4. Show Me the Money
• 5. Haves and Have-nots
• 6. The Devil is a Bureaucrat
• 7. A Brief (and Mostly True) History of Religion in Ukraine
• 8. “Imagine there’s No Heaven”: Atheists in Charge of the Twentieth Century
• 9. The Orphanage Archipelago
• 10. What have We Become?
• 11. Life is Cheap
• 12. The Purchase of a Soul
• 13. Mountains to Climb
• 14. Free at Last
• 15. The Importance of Identity
• 16. Out of the Mouth of Babes
• 17. “Regarding Sasha . . .”
• 18. May Day
• 19. Sasha’s New Beginning
• 20. Is America Safe?
• Epilogue: The Debate Ends
• Notes
• About the Author
• Acknowledgments
• Discussion Guide