A lot of my apologetics books I just listen to on audio, but there are a few of them that I actually have physical copies of. And so I am going to go through my apologetics bookshelf today.
The Story of Reality
The first one I have here is called The Story of Reality by Greg Koukl. He has also written the book Tactics. Both of these are super popular. I think Tactics is probably more popular, and I have gone through that one. But The Story of Reality is excellent. I appreciated the way that he just kind of narrates through the arguments. It is a simple, approachable overview of the philosophy of God, the Bible, Jesus, reality in general, and where matter comes from. But it does not sound super philosophical. I just appreciate the way that he goes about that. It is not really one of my favorite apologetics books, but in a good, approachable, 150 to 200 page book, it is a way to introduce somebody to the Christian arguments for the existence that we are living right now. What is the Christian’s perspective? Why are we here? What are the answers to the big questions? The Story of Reality kind of steps you through that in a good, broad overview kind of way.
The Reason for God
Now, the next one is Tim Keller’s The Reason for God. I went through this, and his other one, I forget what his other book is called, but I found it absolutely fascinating. Now, I realize you do not need any reason for God. Genesis 1:1 says, “In the beginning God.” It just expects that God is, and we do not have to prove Him. But this is talking about the reasoning that arrives at God. The reason of everything that exists is God. And so a reasonable person, somebody who is reasoning through these things, should arrive at God. Now, it is still approachable, and it is not like a philosopher’s take on God, but it is a little less approachable. It is a little more academic. It is a little more, I do not even know how to put it. You are not just going to pick it up and resonate with every page. There are some dry parts in there, and there are some things you really have to chew on. And Tim Keller, you know, never spoke openly against abortion, and he is more focused on kind of a social gospel kind of thing. But as far as the content of this book, while we would disagree with him theologically and even practically in many areas, I did just really find this book absolutely fascinating. It gives you objective reasons for things like beauty. I have heard the arguments for beauty connecting to God before, but this is the first time I remember it being something that really struck me. It takes a view on science that should lead us to God. There is a good view on the Bible in here. There are reasons for faith. The whole second half of the book is reasons for faith and the clues of God, the knowledge of God, and the problem of sin. And so he does not shy away from difficult topics, and he gets around to the cross and the resurrection of Jesus Christ and brings it around to the gospel. So I just appreciated what this book was doing in your mind, The Reason for God. It is a good, helpful book on that.
When Skeptics Ask
This one I have not read all the way through, but there have been some reference materials that I have used from it, When Skeptics Ask. This is a reference work by Norman Geisler, one of the leading intellectuals in the creation space, in the science space, and so this is just an evidentiary book for Christianity and for the reasonings behind Christianity. It is a good reference book for some quick answers, I believe.
Examine the Evidence
Examine the Evidence might be another good reference book. I have not read the entire thing, but it will go through all different types of evidence for Christianity, for the Bible, for God, for Jesus, for the historical Jesus. And so it is another good reference book for apologetics.
The New Evidence That Demands a Verdict
Now this last one, I cannot remember if I have done a full review video of this one or not, but it is The New Evidence That Demands a Verdict. I have read this entire thing. I have read a number of passages several different times, and then gone back over and taught through several of the things from this book, and it is absolutely excellent. In some ways it really helps solidify my faith. Not that my faith was wavering, but going through the evidence for our faith makes your faith unshakeable. There are good answers for all the skeptics’ questions out there. Perhaps it is not answering every one, crossing every T and dotting every I, but the fact is that there are answers. There are people that are wrestling with all these big questions, and in Christianity all the big questions fit together. There are reasonable answers for everything. So this goes in-depth about the archaeology that backs up the Bible. It goes in-depth on the historical Jesus Christ. It goes in-depth on the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the absurd arguments against the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And so after going through this, it just becomes this pile of evidence for the Bible. And when you look at the evidence against the Bible, then it leads you toward the evidence for God.
There are five different sections, I believe, in this one. If not in this one, then it is in the digital version that I was reading, a Kindle version. Part one is a case for the Bible: how we got the Bible, where it came from, how it was written. Part two is a case for Jesus, with several chapters on that, the deity of Jesus Christ and the resurrection arguments. Part three is a case for and against Christianity, and it goes through and wrestles with several of the topics that some would bring against the Bible. And then part four, Truth or Consequences, kind of brings it all around to this: after you have seen the evidence, what does that mean for you? You have got to believe something, and so you have to ignore all of this evidence or reconfigure your mind. You have to carry a lot of cognitive dissonance if you see all of this evidence and you have to disagree with these historical facts, the case that has been made through this whole book, and come to some kind of conclusion.
It is not a combative style. It is not an in-your-face, “checkmate, you atheists, you are all wrong” kind of book. It is not written like that at all. I appreciate the spirit and the tone behind this, from a former skeptic himself who was convinced by the evidence. So it is an excellent reference book, and an excellent book if you just want to go through the entire thing, read it, and solidify your faith. This has been around for a long time, with multiple editions. I think it is on the fourth edition now, something like that. But The New Evidence That Demands a Verdict, I appreciate those that are devoting their lives to this area of apologetics.
Why Every Christian Should Know Apologetics
That is not for me necessarily. I appreciate knowing the things and trying to make a reasonable argument for Christianity, but pastoring is not always only apologetics. But we need to know as Christians where our faith lies. And so every Christian should be versed in some of the apologetics books that are out there, and those are some of the popular ones. There are many other popular ones. There is Another Gospel by Childers. There are all kinds of them out there, and I could point you to more resources later, but that is at least the bookshelf that I have on apologetics.
And so I hope that is a help. I hope that gives you some ideas for some future resources that you might want to look to in the future as well. Well, that is it for today’s video. In the next video, we will probably be looking at another one of the bookshelves. And so God bless you. We will see you then.
