An Apologetics Reader

I recently wanted to link to some of my listings of good books on apologetics, atheism and the like, but I noticed that the last time I wrote articles on those topics was quite some time ago. A bibliography I did on apologetics was in fact posted back in February 2008, and the last atheism biblio I did was in April 2010.

Thus it is clearly time for an update! Dozens of new books appear every year on Christian apologetics, and I have bought and read most of them, so they are well worth listing here. I will break this bibliography down into four main parts: general works; philosophy of religion; the importance of the mind; and the new atheism.

The reader must turn to separate bibliographies for other specialized apologetics issues such as science and creation; the problem of suffering and evil; miracles; and so on. I will here feature just the newer works now available, from around 2008 onwards. For those wanting to see the lists of older titles, here are some of those previous articles:

https://billmuehlenberg.com/2008/02/13/the-christian-apologetics-arsenal-a-select-bibliography/
https://billmuehlenberg.com/2010/04/01/what-to-read-about-the-new-atheism/
https://billmuehlenberg.com/2001/02/24/the-crisis-of-truth/

Here then are over 90 new titles you should be aware of. Yes, so many books might be rather overwhelming for some, so let me try to narrow things down a bit. Perhaps the best way I can do that is to name some of the authors you MUST read in the area of apologetics.

Many could be mentioned here, but these six apologists all deserve careful attention: Ravi Zacharias, Paul Copan, Norm Geisler, Bill Craig, J. P. Moreland, and Nancy Pearcey. And don’t forget two earlier authors not listed here: C. S. Lewis and Francis Schaeffer.

General works
Blomberg, Craig, Can We Still Believe the Bible? Brazos, 2014.
Boot, Joe, How Then Shall We Answer? New Wine Press, 2008.
Buesnitz, Nathan, Reasons We Believe. Crossway, 2008.
Chatraw, Joshua and Mark Allen, Apologetics at the Cross: An Introduction for Christian Witness. Zondervan, 2018.
Clark, Mark, The Problem of God. Zondervan, 2017.
Copan, Paul, When God Goes to Starbucks. Baker, 2008.
Copan, Paul and William Lane Craig, eds., Come Let Us Reason. B&H Academic, 2012.
Copan, Paul and William Lane Craig, eds., Contending with Christianity’s Critics. B&H Academic, 2009.
Craig, William Lane and Joseph Gorra, A Reasonable Response. Moody, 2013.
Davis, Stephen, Disputed Issues. Baylor University Press, 2009.
Dembski, William and Thomas Schirrmacher, eds., Tough-Minded Christianity. B&H Academic, 2008.
Feinberg, John, Can You Believe It’s True? Christian Apologetics in a Modern & Postmodern Era. Crossway, 2013.
Frame, John, A History of Western Philosophy and Theology. Presbyterian and Reformed, 2015.
Geisler, Norman and Patrick Zukeran, The Apologetics of Jesus. Baker, 2009.
Groothuis, Douglas, Christian Apologetics: A Comprehensive Case for Biblical Faith. IVP, 2011.
Hindson, Ed and Ergun Caner, eds., The Popular Encyclopedia of Apologetics. Harvest House, 2008.
House, H. Wayne and Dennis Jowers, Reasons For Our Hope. B&H Academic, 2011.
Howard, Jeremy Royal, ed., The Holman Apologetics Commentary on the Bible. B&H, 2013.
Keener, Craig, Miracles: The Credibility of the New Testament Accounts. Baker, 2011.
Koukl, Greg, The Story of Reality. Zondervan, 2017.
Koukl, Greg, Tactics. Zondervan, 2009.
McDowell, Sean and Jonathan Morrow, Is God Just a Human Invention? Kregel, 2010.
McGrath, Alister, Mere Apologetics. Baker, 2012.
McGrath, Alister, The Passionate Intellect. IVP, 2010.
Markos, Louis, Apologetics for the 21st Century. Crossway, 2010.
Mittelberg, Mark, The Questions Christians Hope No One Will Ask. Tyndale, 2010.
Moreland, J. P., The God Question. Harvest House, 2009.
Moreland, J. P., and Tim Muehlhoff, The God Conversation. IVP, 2007.
Orr-Ewing, Amy, But is it Real? Answering 10 Common Objections to the Christian Faith. IVP, 2008.
Ots, Michael, What Kind of God? Responses to 10 Popular Accusations. IVP, 2008.
Pearcey, Nancy, Saving Leonardo: A Call to Resist the Secular Assault on Mind, Morals, and Meaning. B&H, 2010.
Russell, Jeffrey Burton, Myth Busted! 145 Myths about Christianity Debunked. Paternoster, 2012.
Wallace, J. Warner, Cold-Case Christianity. David C. Cook, 2013.
Wallace, J. Warner, Forensic Faith. David C. Cook, 2017.
Wallace, J. Warner, God’s Crime Scene. David C. Cook, 2015.
Willard, Dallas, ed., A Place for Truth. IVP, 2010.
Zacharias, Ravi, ed., Beyond Opinion. Thomas Nelson, 2007.
Zacharias, Ravi and Vince Vitale, Jesus Among Secular Gods. FaithWords, 2017.

Philosophy and Christianity, philosophy of religion, comparative religion, competing worldviews, religious pluralism
Chamberlain, Paul, Why People Don’t Believe. Baker, 2011.
Copan, Paul, Is God a Moral Monster? Baker, 2011.
Copan, Paul, A Little Book for New Philosophers. IVP, 2016.
Copan, Paul, Loving Wisdom: Christian Philosophy of Religion. Chalice Press, 2007.
Cowan, Steven and James Spiegel, The Love of Wisdom: A Christian Introduction to Philosophy. B&H, 2009.
Craig, William Lane and Chad Meister, eds., God is Great, God is God: Why Believing in God is Reasonable and Responsible. IVP, 2009.
Douglas Groothuis, Philosophy in Seven Sentences. IVP, 2016.
Gumbel, Nicky, Is God a Delusion? Alpha, 2008.
Keller, Timothy, The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism. Dutton, 2008.
Lamb, David, God Behaving Badly: Is the God of the Old Testament Angry, Sexist and Racist? IVP, 2011.
Meister, Chad, Introducing Philosophy of Religion. Routledge, 2009.
Mittelberg, Mark, Choosing Your Faith. Tyndale, 2008.
Moser, Paul, The Evidence for God. Cambridge University Press, 2010.
Murray, Abdu, Grand Central Question: Answering the Critical Concerns of the Major Worldviews. IVP, 2014.
Overman, Dean, A Case for the Existence of God. Rowman & Littlefield, 2009.
Pasquini, John, The Existence of God. University Press of America, 2010.
Pate, C. Marvin, From Plato To Jesus. Kregel, 2011.
Pearcey, Nancy, Finding Truth: 5 Principles for Unmasking Atheism, Secularism, and Other God Substitutes. David C. Cook, 2015.
Poythress, Vern, Logic. Crossway, 2013.
Spitzer, Robert, New Proofs for the Existence of God. Eerdmans, 2010.
Ward, Keith, God and the Philosophers. Fortress Press, 2009.
Ward, Keith, Is Religion Irrational? Lion, 2011.
Wilkens, Steve and Alan Padgett, Christianity and Western Thought, vol. 3. IVP, 2009.
Williams, Peter, A Faithful Guide to Philosophy: A Christian Introduction to the Love of Wisdom. Authentic Media, 2013.
Wood, W. Jay, God. Acumen, 2011.

Image of Saving Truth: Finding Meaning and Clarity in a Post-Truth World
Saving Truth: Finding Meaning and Clarity in a Post-Truth World by Murray, Abdu (Author) Amazon logo

The importance of truth, the mind, and reason
Bock, Darrell, Andreas Kostenberger and Josh Chatraw, Truth Matters. B&H, 2014.
Green, Bradley, The Gospel and the Mind. Crossway, 2010.
Jacobs, Alan, How to Think: A Survival Guide for a World at Odds. Currency, 2017
McAndrew, Stephen, Why It Doesn’t Matter What You Believe If It’s Not True. DeepRiver Books, 2012.
Murray, Abdu, Saving Truth. Zondervan, 2018.
Piper, John, Think: The Life of the Mind and the Love of God. Crossway: 2010.

Critiques of atheism
Averick, Moshe, Nonsense of a High Order: The Confused and Illusory World of the Atheist. CreateSpace, 2011.
Bannister, Andy, The Atheist Who Didn’t Exist. Monarch, 2015.
Barnett, Paul, Gospel Truth: Answering New Atheist Attacks on the Gospels. IVP, 2013.
Blanchard, John, Dealing With Dawkins. Evangelical Press, 2010.
Blanchard, John, Does God Believe in Atheists? 2nd rev. ed. Evangelical Press, 2000, 2011.
Eberstadt, Mary, The Loser Letters. Ignatius Press, 2010.
Geisler, Norman and Daniel McCoy, The Atheist’s Fatal Flaw. Baker, 2014.
Glass, David, Atheism’s New Clothes. Apollos, 2012.
Hart, David Bentley, The Experience of God. Yale, 2013.
Haught, John, God and the New Atheists. Westminster John Knox Press, 2008.
Johnson, Phillip and John Mark Reynolds, Against All Gods: What’s Right and Wrong About the New Atheism. IVP, 2010.
Keller, Tim, Making Sense of God. Hodder & Stoughton. 2016.
Lennox, John, Gunning for God: A Critique of the New Atheism. Lion, 2011.
McDowell, Sean and Jonathan Morrow, Is God Just a Human Invention? And Seventeen Other Questions Raised By the New Atheists. Kregel, 2010.
McFarland, Alex, 10 Answers for Atheists: How to Have an Intelligent Discussion About the Existence of God. Bethany House, 2012.
McGrath, Alister, Why God Won’t Go Away: Engaging with the New Atheism. SPCK, 2011.
Markham, Ian, Against Atheism: Why Dawkins, Hitchens, and Harris Are Fundamentally Wrong. Wiley-Blackwell, 2010
Poole, Michael, The ‘New’ Atheism: 10 Arguments That Don’t Hold Water. Lion, 2009.
Robertson, David, Engaging with Atheists. The Good Book Company, 2014.
Spencer, Nick, Atheists: The Origin of the Species. Bloomsbury, 2014.
Spiegel, Jim, The Making of an Atheist. Moody Press, 2010.
Turek, Frank, Stealing from God. NavPress, 2014.
Williams, Peter, C.S. Lewis vs the New Atheists. Paternoster, 2013.

Happy reading and happy studying!

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4 Replies to “An Apologetics Reader”

  1. Bill,
    I was amazed by the answers from Benedict XV in this interview. (link below)
    Never really understood anything other than how MSM portrayed him (Rottweilern) untill this.
    A great gentleness and a likeness to St Augustine theological wise.
    Perhaps even the times have similarities?
    Regards,
    Terry.

    https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2017/01/12/journalist-peter-seewald-pope-benedict-is-one-of-the-most-misunderstood-personalities-of-our-time/&ved=2ahUKEwjr-b3U_9zbAhUBvbwKHWk9BOgQFjAAegQIAhAB&usg=AOvVaw10XWRcqS3c0-H-aEAHXj2n

  2. I myself wrote an on-line article entitled, Why I Am a Christian. I don’t wish to blow my own trumpet, but I would like to draw attention to a point I made: that nearly every argument against Christianity is a variation of either “I don’t like it”, or “I don’t understand it”, neither of which would be used against any non-religious position.

  3. In a comment to your previous post Tim Lovett made the point that creationist resources were mysteriously missing. Your larger list now has no names I recognise as creationists (except for perhaps Blanchard), but many who accept the unbiblical ideas of deep time and/or evolution. Some of the authors you list are brilliant in particular areas, but badly fall down when it comes to defending the absolutely-clear statements in the early chapters of Genesis. Craig, for example, often argues for God’s existence by citing the Big Bang, a view that says that the time from the start of creation to the appearance of man is billions of years (whereas Genesis 1 and Exodus 20:11 says it was six days), that says that the sun formed before the Earth (Genesis 1 says that the Earth was first), argues that the universe is fine-tuned to allow the appearance of life (i.e. via evolution) (Genesis 1 says that God specially created it), and so on.
    Atheists often don’t find such arguments convincing. Richard Dawkins, for example, had this to say about such unbiblical views:

    I think the evangelical Christians have really sort of got it right in a way, in seeing evolution as the enemy. Whereas the more, what shall we say, sophisticated theologians are quite happy to live with evolution, I think they’re deluded. I think the evangelicals have got it right, in that there really is a deep incompatibility between evolution and Christianity …

    And it’s not as though this is an irrelevant side issue. The creation and flood accounts of Genesis are among the most-frequently-attacked part of the Bible, and undermining them has been devastating. Sherwood Taylor, for example, said that it was evolution and geology that turned England from a Christian nation to a pagan nation.
    I realise that the creation/evolution/deep-time issue is not your forte, Bill, but not listing creationist apologetics sources while listing evolutionary/deep-time authors without qualification is a significant shortcoming in your list.

  4. Thanks Tim and Philip. Of course had you read this piece carefully you would have seen that I clearly stated that this is just for general apologetics titles, and only those from the past decade. As I plainly said, elsewhere I have posted lengthy bibliographies on things like science and evolution, suffering and evil, etc. So there is nothing mysterious going on here, and there are no shortcomings here. It would make as much sense for me to chastise you for not writing your comments in Russian. Um, it was NOT your intention to do that, so I would be quite out of place to rebuke you for it! The same here thanks.

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