Recomendations/Opinions

[bakura91]

What are some of the best books on Christian apologetics? I know of C.S Lewis and Josh McDowell. Who are some other good apologetic writers/or specific books you would recommend for a beginner?

[Atria35]

C.S. Lewis is really bad at apologetics. He was a writer, not a theologian, and his arguments have been taken down and dissected by both Christians and non-Christians alike. They may sound convincing, but I have -no- theological training, and could point out flaws in his arguments from the beginning.

[bakura91]

C.S. Lewis is really bad at apologetics. He was a writer, not a theologian, and his arguments have been taken down and dissected by both Christians and non-Christians alike. They may sound convincing, but I have -no- theological training, and could point out flaws in his arguments from the beginning.

Huh I didnt know that Ive just heard him referenced alot I havent read any C.S lewis though.
Im a beginner I just need a few recommendations to read Who are some of the best theologians to start with?

[mechana2015]

*never mind wrong Josh*

[Atria35]

Well, there's always the writings of St. Augustine.

CS Lewis tends to be popular when it comes to apologetics, because he was a great writer and did write convincingly. And some of his works aren't so much apologetics as they are good Christian books. So there are some books that it would be good to read, like 'The Screwtape Letters'.

[Kaori]

This would be a good question to ask on Theologyweb. Here we have a handful of people who are trained in Bible/theology (like Okami), but not very many; but there are thousands of people over there who specialize in those fields, so I think more people on that forum would be able to give you an answer. In order to answer the question of what apologetics books are best, the person answering would have to have done extensive enough reading in apologetics in order to be able to tell which books are the best compared to all the others.

Im a beginner I just need a few recommendations to read Who are some of the best theologians to start with?

Do you want apologetics or theology? Those are not necessarily the same: apologetics is an attempt to defend Christianity against its opponents and convince unbelievers of its reasonableness; Christian theology could be about any number of topics within Christianity (the nature of God, the nature of Christ, the nature and purpose of the church, the meanings of terms like “graceâ€

[bakura91]

Thanks!

[Sheenar]

Case for Christ, Case for Faith and other similar books by Lee Strobel are excellent resources. I definitely learned a lot from reading them.

The Case for Christ records Lee Strobel's attempt to "determine if there's credible evidence that Jesus of Nazareth really is the Son of God." The book consists primarily of interviews between Strobel (a former legal editor at the Chicago Tribune) and biblical scholars such as Bruce Metzger. Each interview is based on a simple question, concerning historical evidence (for example, "Can the Biographies of Jesus Be Trusted?"), scientific evidence, ("Does Archaeology Confirm or Contradict Jesus' Biographies?"), and "psychiatric evidence" ("Was Jesus Crazy When He Claimed to Be the Son of God?"). Together, these interviews compose a case brief defending Jesus' divinity, and urging readers to reach a verdict of their own.

[Mr. SmartyPants]

If you want to learn how to really dive into the Bible, check out Gordon Fee. "How to read the Bible for All its Worth."

And while Lee Strobel is an acceptable "intro" to apologetics, the more deeper you get into apologetics (and theology) the more philosophy you'll need to get into. So a book basic intro I've always liked is "Sophie's World". It's a pretty fun book too.

And just letting you know that theology is such a vast spectrum. You will never find the "right" theology. There is no "best theology" because so many people believe in so many different things. Only you can decide what you believe is true about your faith. Some theological schools even outright reject apologetics. And I also know people who are trained theologians but also agnostic or atheist. So the more you dive into it, the more questions you'll have and the less certainty there will be. Be ready for that. That's my experience, anyway.

And lastly: Any book written by Thomas Merton. Seriously. That man is a saint. But he's more of a spiritual writer. But he's amazing nonetheless.

[Mouse2010]

It's not a work of apologetics, but I have found Walker Percy's Message in the Bottle to be very useful for talking about religion. Percy introduces the concept of "news" - information for which we have to rely on the credibility of those who tell us the news, because what is being reported is not a reproducible phenomenon. For instance, take the Resurrection: it is a piece of "news," rather than a natural phenomenon that could be reproduced in a laboratory, so whether we believe it is ultimately going to depend not on any kind of scientific evidence, but on whether we think those who reported it are reliable.

Percy's work isn't likely to convince people of the reality of the Christian message if they don't already believe it, but it does provide a useful way of thinking or talking about the central events of salvation history.