The Apologist‘s Bookshelf

Mark Roberts explains why oral tradition, which is the way the early stories of Jesus circulated, was a reliable method of communication.

One challenge to Christianity is aimed at miracles found in the Bible. Is the Bible unscientific? Are miracles possible, or did David Hume destroy the possibility of their existence?  How has science renewed arguments for the existence of God? How should we think about the opening chapters of Genesis?

This book, edited by Hillary Morgan Ferrer, guides parents in empowering their kids to challenge cultural lies. I cover the first chapter, in which the authors tell why apologetics is important, how to get people excited about apologetics, the youth exodus from Christianity, myths about this exodus, and what concerned parents can do about it.

Critics often ask why we should trust the Bible since it has so many contradictions and mistakes. Mark Mittelberg deals with supposed contradictions and tackles eight common objections to the Bible.

J. Warner Wallace's book looks at the huge impact Jesus has had on civilization. For this podcast I cover chapter 6, which focuses on his influence on books and movies.

Critics have argued that the earliest days of Christianity were filled with heresies and orthodoxy only came much later. But this book shows that this is an incorrect view. There was no widespread diversity with regard to essential doctrines. Instead, there was a fixed set of of early core beliefs.

Dan Kimball, the book's author, tells the reader how to make sense of the Bible. For example, in one chapter he warns the reader never to read a Bible verse. Listen to this podcast for an explanation of what appears to be an odd statement by him.

Scott Klusendorf, a leading pro-life speaker and author, has a chapter in his book that tells pro-lifers how to ask good questions when dealing with a pro-choice individual.

I want to cover an important chapter in Garry Friesen's book that deals with a key question--How can a Christian make good decisions in non-moral areas? He emphasizes the wisdom model here. 

I just read Neil Shenvi's book and wanted to share his first chapter, in which he tackles key  questions: Should we avoid religious truth claims for the sake of peace? Are all religions true? Is all religious truth subjective? Can we just ignore religion?

Josh and Sean McDowell cover a lot of important things in the third chapter of their book--the definition of truth, how moral truth was undercut in the Western world, the world of postmodernism.

Scientists have been puzzled by the "Cambrian explosion," when many animals suddenly appeared on the earth. Stephen Meyer  in this book explains how intelligent design is necessary as an explanation for this sudden appearance of life.

Dr. Alvin Schmidt, professor of sociology, has written a book illustrating the chasm-wide differences between the Western world and the world of Islam. In the section I cover here, he explains how modern science came out of the West, not Islam.

Craig Blomberg, noted New Testament scholar, explores evidence for the life of Jesus outside the gospels. There actually is a lot of testimony confirming the gospel portraits of Jesus.

There was a gap of time between the life of Jesus and the appearance of the four gospels. Can we trust oral tradition to keep the message accurate?

Neil Lightfoot, a professor at Abilene Christian  University, explains how we got the 66 books we have today in the Bible. There were many more books written during the period of the Old and New Testaments, so how were certain ones included while others were excluded?

Dr. Jeff Myers, president of Summit Ministries, tells stories of how Jesus followers changed the world by living for Truth. This podcast covers his challenge to us today--ways we can tell the truth and be nice at the same time.

Darrell Bock, Dallas Theological Seminary professor, wrote a critique of the popular book The Da Vinci Code. Although Dan Brown's book is no longer a top seller, Bock has a chapter that is still relevant today--it deals with Gnosticism and "hidden" gospels like The Gospel of Thomas, which are still being talked about among scholars. Should these other gospels be considered on a par with the tradit...

Tim Keller uses chapter 4 to discuss theodicies, the various attempts people have made to explain why, if there's a good God, there is so much pain and suffering in the world. Keller examines several of these Christian responses.

Hugh Ross and associates of his at Reasons to Believe tackle four reasons that life couldn't have arisen without God's involvement. Their  arguments deflate the optimistic belief that life can develop easily by purely natural means. This leads to the conclusion that UFOs are not from alien worlds teeming with life.

Lots of good questions answered here: Are religions the root of all evil? Is apologetics necessary? Can you argue a person into the kingdom? What are the most significant apologetics issues? How do we know the Bible is divine rather than human in its origin?

Here's an interesting book by Josh and Sean McDowell that deals with tough questions people ask. I focus on questions concerning the hiddenness of God, what "faith" means for a Christian, and two arguments for the existence of God.

The author, Hal Seed, attempts to shed light on the world's most important book. I cover a chapter called "How Is the Bible Different From Other Books?" 

I have discussed a section of this book in a previous podcast. This time I'd like us to see how the authors answer an important question: Is Mormonism Christian?

This is a fascinating book that examines Jewish writings over the centuries to see what they believed about their Messiah. This podcast looks at the suffering servant passages in Isaiah and David's "pierced" comments in Psalm 22.