The Apologist‘s Bookshelf

Tim Keller, who recently died, has written so many powerful books. In this one he discusses what gives the Christian hope in the face of death. Thank you, Tim, for all you did to build up Christians.

Randy Alcorn, a best-selling author, examines six worldviews that respond to the problem of evil and suffering. He's convinced the Christian answer beats that of any other worldview.

In chapter 4 of this book, Natasha Crain discusses how we as Christians can regain a supernatural worldview in the face of a culture that buys into naturalism (the belief that the natural world is all that exists).

This book, subtitled "A User-Friendly Approach," covers a lot of material in a relaxed manner. I am discussing chapter 7, which looks at three possible explanations for how everything started, the idea of a prebiotic soup, the fossil record, the Cambrian explosion, and irreducible complexity.

This updated version of a popular book covers so much good information about Christianity. This time I cover chapter 13, which examines the deaths of the disciples. Do we know what happened to them? Did any of them renounce their faith when faced with death? 

Here's a second look at Mike Strauss' book dealing with Genesis and creation. My first podcast on this book was done on December 30, 2021 in case you'd like to hear it. This time I cover a chapter in which Mike examines the issue of the creation "days"--was it all done in 24-hour periods?

I am continuing with a second podcast on The God Conversation, which challenges Christians to engage others using stories and illustrations to explain our faith. Chapter 2 deals with the difficult issue of a good God and the existence of pain and suffering.

J. P.  Moreland, a great author and Christian thinker, has a book that suggests ways we can use stories and illustrations to explain our Christian faith. In this podcast, I cover his opening chapters that explain the value of using examples and illustrations to share our beliefs with others.

John Lennox, a great thinker and apologist, takes a look at artificial intelligence in chapters 4 and 5 in his book--its promises and its dangers. This is important as we face a future in which we will be interacting with AI in many ways.

Too many Christians drift away from their Christian faith when going to college. This book is so important for the advice it gives students on how to stay faithful to Christ during those years. Chapter 2 discusses the importance of cultivating a Christian worldview.

Erwin Lutzer's book is so important these days with all the ludicrous ideas brought out in our society. This podcast covers the second half of chapter 4, in which he challenges the terrible ideas of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) that many are pushing today.

Erwin Lutzer has written a book to challenge Christians to stand for Christ in a collapsing culture. I'm covering chapter 4, which examines the the destructive influence of diversity/equity/inclusion that our society is pushing so hard on all of us. This podcast will discuss only the first half of the chapter since I don't want to go over the material too quickly. The next podcast will cover the s...

Since this is such a definitive resource book, I wanted to continue with my last podcast exploring Chapter 16, "Is God a Mean Bully?" This time we will go over the challenge that the Bible endorses slavery and that the Bible is oppressive to women.

This book is big enough and the chapter is important enough that I want to spend the next two podcasts covering Chapter 16, which asks "Is God a Mean Bully?" In this podcast I discuss the first half of the chapter that deals with charges of genocide in the Old Testament and the treatment of homosexuality in the Bible.

Titus Kennedy, a professional field archeologist, presents 101 objects that provide powerful evidence for the historical reliability of the Bible. In this podcast, I cover evidence of the conquest of Canaan by Joshua, the time of the judges, the united kingdom under David and Solomon, and the divided kingdoms that followed.

Three professors tackle skeptical challenges to the Bible. In chapter five they deal with several claims--the gospels weren't written by Jesus' companions, the first disciples were illiterate and couldn't have written the books attributed to them, many New Testament books are forgeries, other writings  have a valid claim to be included in the New Testament.

Os Guinness, the well-respected author and thinker, wrestles with the problem of evil in this book.  In chapter 9 he covers what Solzhenitsyn has called "the tilt of freedom toward evil." The chapter discusses three grand erosions of traditional barriers to evil that Americans have allowed to happen in the last generation.

This book does a good job covering many issues connected with Jehovah's Witnesses. In this podcast we look at the failed prophecies of this organization as well as the lives of its two early leaders--Charles Russell and Judge Rutherford.

One chapter in this useful book is titled "Truth, Tolerance, and Relativism." These are huge issues we as Christians need to understand and deal with when we interact with others. The chapter also tells of two myths we need to expose, and it has a great interview with Craig Hazen, professor of comparative religion and Christian apologetics at Biola University.

J. P. Moreland shows the problems associated with scientism, the belief that only the hard sciences have the intellectual authority to give us knowledge of reality. For this podcast I look at chapters 4 and 5 in the book, which explain how scientism is self-refuting and is actually the enemy of science.

In this helpful book, the authors Eric Johnson and Sean McDowell discuss practical strategies for getting a conversation started with our Mormon friends. Chapter 2 focuses on the danger of disillusioned Mormons embracing atheism rather than evangelical Christianity. They tell how to have an evidence-based approach to argue for the existence of God.

In chapter 6 of this book, the author discusses the early chapters of Genesis with special emphasis on evolution, the flood story, and the creation of people with the image of God.

Chapter 5 tells how to read Old Testament stories and how not to read them. Since we love so many of these accounts, it's important that we approach them in a useful way.

Nancy Pearcey, one of Christianity's best thinkers, tells how we can use five principles to make sense of any worldview and then come up with a compelling positive case for Christianity. In this section of her book, she explains how to identify idols that try to replace God.

Ken Samples tackles a current complaint about the Bible--Why doesn't it categorically condemn slavery? He shows how different slavery was in the Old Testament compared to the slavery we read about in the pre-Civil War American South.