“What if your life has been built on misunderstanding and perhaps, outright deception?”

That’s the question Botetourt resident David Tozar asks and tries to answer in his first book, “Journey to Clarity” that’s been published with the help of Author Solutions.

Tozar and his family moved to Fincastle 23 years ago with his wife Jean and two sons, Gabriel and Elijah.

A Fairfax native, he had settled in Hampton after a stint in the Army. He holds a doctorate in Christian apologetics from Newburgh Theological Seminary and Bible College.

He’s taught for a number of years on a variety of subjects, and some of those subjects spawned his interest in writing this book.

In trying to answer that opening question, Tozar follows with other questions he tries to answer in “Journey to Clarity.”

He asks, “Would you want to know the truth? Would you be courageous enough to face it? Is there such a thing as truth, or is it really left swinging in then breeze to be determined by individual preferences?

The questions continue: “Can something be true for you and not for me? In this 21st Century world of ours, are you bold in your conviction of something being right (or wrong), or are you merely being narrow-minded and egocentric?

Tozar believes his book tackles the importance of the individual and society of possessing a reasoned worldview that is consistent and based on fact.

It’s written as “sort of a travelogue.” It takes readers from the City of Conflicting Social Values to Clarity, he says.

Along the way, readers visit the towns of Worldview, Philosophy, Earth Science, Biology, Eastern Religions, Society, Rome and Truth.

“There are a lot of irrational people in the world who care nothing about truth,” Tozar says. “However, I believe that in the end, there are many others who are searching for some foundation or core truth upon which to build their lives.”

Through the publication of “Journey to Clarity” Tozar hopes readers will realize there is no middle ground and that their worldview has repercussions far beyond what they might imagine. He added that their individual decisions will contribute to future society, whether they like it or not.

“This book is particularly relevant today with reason and truth playing less of a role in society than the feelings and groundless beliefs of individuals,” Tozar said.

“’Journey to Clarity’ explores the worldviews that are available to us, whether they are rational and if they are founded on truth or man-made myth.

“We see in the news daily the importance of individual decisions and these decisions are founded on the questions— and answers— addressed in this book,” he continued. “Our view of the world and our interpretations of our experiences are shaping the future— for good or ill.”

Tozar will have a book signing at the Fincastle Library Thursday, Oct. 5 from 9 a.m.-noon and from 4-7 p.m. Other book signings are also planned around the Roanoke Valley.

The 268-page “Journey to Clarity” is available in hardcover, softcover and as an E-Book at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.