Finding Faith In A Skeptical World by Chet Galaska

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

C. William "Chet" Galaska was born in 1951. He began his college career at Drew University in Madison, NJ and graduated from the University of Hartford, West Hartford, CT with a Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration. In 1979 he co-founded a company that casts stainless steel for use in corrosive industrial applications that grew into a multi-million dollar enterprise and was its president for 24 years before changing careers and becoming a real estate investor.

His credentials are defined by what he is not. He isn't a theologian, pastor, Ph.D. or a philosopher but is a typical person who was an unbeliever, influenced by the same things as other skeptics, who became a Christian after several years of investigating the faith with an open mind.

He served as Chairman of the New England Chapter of the American Foundry Society, played rugby, earned a Private Pilot's License, is a Certified Scuba Diver, has skydived, is a roller coaster aficionado, likes traveling and enjoys having new experiences. He lives with his wife, Lisa, in Massachusetts. They have two grown sons, Jon and Drew.

You can visit Chet online at http://www.triadpress.us/

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Chet Galaska was an atheist who became a Christian in his early fifties. It took several years of learning about the faith for him to shed his skepticism and become a believer.

Finding Faith in a Skeptical World covers subjects that once stood between him and faith. As he searched, he found that his skepticism was based on shallow perceptions he’d accepted at face value. One by one, troublesome issues were explained and they became reasons for belief instead of doubt.

It was as though he had a scale, with reasons for skepticism on one side and reasons for belief on the other. When he started, there was far more weight on the “skeptical” side, but it gradually shifted and became counterweight on the “belief” side. Eventually, the evidence for faith far outweighed the arguments for disbelief, and the case for faith became overwhelming.

Some chapters deal with matters of faith such as prayer, redemption, salvation and sin. Others address issues like Christian hypocrisy, why bad things happen, miracles, Satan and the Christian view of war. Some are about the seemingly contradictory relationship between science and religion that are discussed in chapters on scientific perception, creation and evolution. Other subjects like the sometimes violent and cruel history of Christianity, “Born Agains” and the Christian view of the Jewish people don’t fit neatly into any category. The common denominator is that each addresses an issue that can be misunderstood and create a distorted, negative view of the faith.

The book was written with the intent of providing brief shortcuts for curious unbelievers, those seeking faith, those new to it, and for Christians who may not be familiar with some of the ideas covered. The author realized that a book like this would have been valuable in helping him come to faith. Since none was available, he wrote Finding Faith in a Skeptical World to share the things he learned in a reader-friendly, direct and concise.

Chet agreed to an interview. This is what he had to say:

Could you please tell us a little about your book?

I was an atheist and felt I had good reasons for being one until I really looked into Christianity. I found that most of what I believed – which was basically gleaned from what we’re exposed to in our culture – was incorrect.

Finding Faith in a Skeptical World explains how problematic issues unexpectedly became reasons for faith rather than against it. The subjects vary widely. Some chapters deal with matters of faith such as prayer, redemption, salvation and sin. Others address issues like Christian hypocrisy, why bad things happen, miracles and the Christian view of war. Some are about the seemingly contradictory relationship between science and religion that are discussed in chapters on scientific perception, creation and evolution. Other subjects like the sometimes violent and cruel history of Christianity, "born agains" and the Christian view of the Jewish people don’t fit neatly into any category. The common denominator is that each addresses an issue that can be misunderstood and create a negative, distorted view of the faith.
The information came from lots of varied sources and took several years to put together. Because of the time and effort involved, I realized that a book like Finding Faith would’ve been hugely helpful. Since none was available I wrote one to help others.

Did something specific happen to prompt you to write this book?

There wasn’t any discrete event, but there was a change within me that occurred as I gradually came around. It was as though I started out with a scale where one side held reasons against faith and the other reasons for faith. When I started out, the weight was on the "against" side, but as I learned the weight gradually shifted from "against" to "for" until the case for faith became overwhelming.

Somewhere in the process, my outlook on life changed, the "fight or flight" mechanism that kicked in frequently had been short circuited, and my temper disappeared. This was noticed by others before I even realized it. As time went on I found I had a peace and perspective on life that made life better.

This is pretty common among Christians and it’s something I’d like to share with others who may be as dismissive of Christianity – and clueless – as I was.

Who or what was the inspiration behind this book?

Even as a skeptic I always intended to send my kids to church and keep my views to myself until they were older. As my wife and I looked for a church I began to think it would make life easier if I actually believed this stuff. In short order, answers and discussions about problematic issues appeared in the print media, in radio talk shows and on TV. I was intrigued, but felt this information was probably always out there but that I noticed it now that I was thinking about religion.

Around this time, I met with a businessman I respected and I asked him what he thought about faith. It turned out he was a Christian and, since I asked, he was delighted to tell me what he believed and why.

The idea of God was really on my mind one night when I went up to read my son a book. He had wanted the same book read for months and I expected that night to be no different. But as I entered the room, I thought, "God, if Jon wants to read the Child’s Book About God instead of P.J. Funnybunny, I’ll believe. I knew the "God" book was in amongst dozens of Golden Books stored on one shelf, but we had never read it.

Jon had "P.J." in his hands, put it down, pulled the "God" book out and gave it to me. "I want to read this," he said. Like most Christians I have moments of doubt. But they’re fleeting because of this incident – the most important thing that ever happened to me.

My conviction about the reality of God and the sensibility of faith is my inspiration.

What are some of your long term goals?

Getting this book into as many hands as possible is a near and a long term goal. With the positive feedback I’ve gotten, I’m convinced it presents Christianity in a straightforward and fair way that opens minds to faith.

It’s important to me that people cut through the barriers that prevent them form knowing about and benefiting from faith. Finding Faith doesn’t promote one church over another. It only seeks to nudge people to join a church they can be comfortable in and that can nurture their faith.

What do you feel sets this book apart from others in the same genre?

Several things:

First, it’s written clearly, efficiently and entertainingly. Too many books about religion slide into pedantic prose that make you feel like you’re walking in quicksand.

Second, the chapters are short and to the point. The purpose isn’t to exhaustively explain minute aspects of each subject, but to give a clear, understandable overview.

Third, it seeks to open minds to the wide range of views Christians have and to make the point that secondary issues like evolution don’t preclude anyone from being a Christian. Some Christians believe in evolutionary theory and others don’t. Both positions are explained in Finding Faith but neither is represented as being a mandatory view.

Fourth, as far as I know, there is no book that tackles the wide range of issues found in Finding Faith.

Are you a different person now than you were 5 years ago? In what way/s?

Five years ago I was starting to write Finding Faith and believed I was a good writer. After rewriting each chapter many times before I finally felt they were the best I could do, I now regard myself less as a writer (who gets it right the first time) but as an accomplished rewriter. I was amazed at how differently a manuscript reads after you walk away from it for a day and how you can see ways to improve it when you come back to it.

Aside from that I’m sure there are other differences, but the main one is that I’m five years older!