Learning Apologetics: Part 1-The Books

Today, I thought I'd start a multi-part series to share some of the material that has been helpful to me in my study of Christian apologetics. For those who don't know what apologetics is, it's derived from the Greek word apologia which, according to Wikipedia, defined as "giving a defense". When the Christian engages in apologetics, he or she is seeking to give a defense for his Christian faith.

When I began looking into this topic several years ago, I had no idea how much depth there was to it or how many resources I would end up going through in my studies. In retrospect, I realize how much I would have benefited from a list of the different resources available to me. With that in mind, I've decided to provide a list of some of the resources that have been influential to me. This is by no means a complete list, and it's growing all the time. But it will hopefully give an idea of what's out there, and will provide a good start for anyone seeking to begin their own course of study.

In Part 1, I have decided to focus exclusively on the books that been helpful to me. In future posts, I’ll look at other types of resources such as websites, videos and podcasts.

For clarity, I’ve broken down the books by topic and complexity. If you’re new to this topic, you might want to start with the less complex material and go from there.

Levels

• 100 = Introductory
  
• 200 = Intermediate
  
• 300 = Advanced

Categories

• General Apologetics
  
  • Level 100
    
    • Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
      
    • The Case for Faith by Lee Strobel
      
    • I Don’t Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist by Norman Geisler and Frank Turek
      
    • Why I Am A Christian edited by Norman Geisler
      
    • Who Made God? edited by Ravi Zacharias and Norman Geisler
      
    • The End of Reason: A Response to the New Atheists by Ravi Zacharias
      
    • The Real Face of Atheism by Ravi Zacharias
      
    • Hard Questions, Real Answers by William Lane Craig
      
    • Passionate Convictions edited by William Lane Craig and Paul Copan
      
    • Contending with Christianity’s Critics edited by William Lane Craig and Paul Copan
      
    • The Dawkins Delusion?: Atheist Fundamentalism and the Denial of the Divine by Alister McGrath
      
    • Doubting: Growing Through the Uncertainties of Faith by Alister McGrath
      
    • Intellectuals Don’t Need God & Other Modern Myths by Alister McGrath
      
    • Why Good Arguments Often Fail by James Sire
      
    • Why You Think The Way You Do by Glenn Sunshine
      
    • Total Truth by Nancy Pearcey
      
    • Saving Leonardo by Nancy Pearcey
      
    • The God Conversation by J.P. Moreland
  • Level 200
    
    • Christian Apologetics by Norman Geisler
      
    • Reasonable Faith by William Lane Craig
      
    • Does God Exist? The Debate Between Theists and Atheists by J.P. Moreland and Kai Nielsen
      
    • Scaling the Secular City: A Defense of Rational Christianity by J.P. Moreland
      
    • The God Who Is There by Francis Schaeffer
      
    • Escape from Reason by Francis Schaeffer
      
    • He is There and He is Not Silent by Francis Schaeffer
      
    • Handbook of Christian Apologetics by Peter Kreeft
      
    • There Is A God by Antony Flew
      
    • Why There Almost Certainly Is a God by Keith Ward
  • Level 300
    
    • The Existence of God by Richard Swinburne
      
    • Is There a God? By Richard Swinburne
      
    • God and Other Minds: A Study of the Rational Justification for the Belief in God by Alvin Plantinga
• God and Science
  
  • Level 100
    
    • The Case for a Creator by Lee Strobel
      
    • Why the Universe Is The Way It Is by Hugh Ross
      
    • The Fingerprints of God by Hugh Ross
      
    • Dawkins’ God: Genes, Memes, and the Meaning of Life by Alister McGrath
      
    • A Fine-Tuned Universe: The Quest for God in Science and Theology by Alister McGrath
      
    • Darwin on Trial by Phillip E. Johnson
      
    • Icons of Evolution by Jonathan Wells
      
    • The Soul of Science by Nancy Pearcey & Charles Thaxton
  • Level 200
    
    • Time and Eternity by William Lane Craig
      
    • God, Chance and Necessity by Keith Ward
      
    • Creation Out of Nothing by William Lane Craig and Paul Copan
      
    • Creation and Time by Hugh Ross
      
    • The Creator and the Cosmos by Hugh Ross
      
    • Intelligent Design by William Dembski
      
    • Signature in the Cell by Stephen Meyer
      
    • Darwin’s Black Box by Michael Behe
      
    • The Edge of Evolution by Michael Behe
      
    • Genesis and the Big Bang by Gerald Schroeder
      
    • The Hidden Face of God by Gerald Schroeder
      
    • The Science of God by Gerald Schroeder
      
    • Science and its Limits by Del Ratzsch
      
    • Christianity and the Nature of Science by J.P. Moreland
• Miracles
  
  • Level 100
    
    • Miracles by C.S. Lewis
      
    • Miracles and the Modern Mind by Norman Geisler
  • Level 200
    
    • In Defense of Miracles edited by Douglas Geivett & Gary Habermas
  • Level 300
    
    • Hume’s Abject Failure by John Earman
• Naturalism & the Existence of the Soul
  
  • Level 100
    
    • The Spiritual Brain by Mario Beauregard & Denyse O’Leary
      
    • The Mind and the Brain by Jeffrey Schwartz & Sharon Begley
  • Level 200
    
    • Does it Matter? By Graham Dunstan Martin
      
    • Mind and Body by J.P. Moreland
  • Level 300
    
    • The Recalcitrant Imago Dei by J.P. Moreland
      
    • The Evolution of the Soul by Richard Swinburne
      
    • Naturalism by Stewart Goetz & Charles Taliaferro
      
    • The Waning of Materialism edited by Robert Koons & George Bealer
• The Problem of Evil and Suffering
  
  • Level 100
    
    • The Problem of Pain by C.S. Lewis
      
    • The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis
      
    • Deliver Us From Evil by Ravi Zacharias
      
    • What’s Good About Feeling Bad by Gary Habermas and John C. Thomas
      
    • Making Sense Out of Suffering by Peter Kreeft
      
    • If God Is Good by Randy Alcorn
  • Level 200
    
    • Evil and the Justice of God by N.T. Wright
      
    • Can God Be Trusted? Faith and the Challenge of Evil by John G. Stackhouse, Jr.
      
    • Show Them No Mercy: 4 Views on God and the Canaanite Genocide edited by Stanley Gundry
  • Level 300
    
    • Providence and the Problem of Evil by Richard Swinburne
      
    • God, Freedom and Evil by Alvin Plantinga
• Right and Wrong (Ethics)
  
  • Level 100
    
    • Can Man Live Without God? By Ravi Zacharias
      
    • How Then Should We Live? By Francis Schaeffer
      
    • The Christian Manifesto by Francis Schaeffer
      
    • Making Choices by Peter Kreeft
      
    • Back to Virtue by Peter Kreeft
      
    • Beyond Bumper Sticker Ethics by Steve Wilkens
  • Level 200
    
    • Christian Ethics by Norman Geisler
      
    • Ethics: Approaching Moral Decisions by Arthur F. Holmes
• The Reliability of Scripture
  
  • Level 100
    
    • The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable? By F.F. Bruce
      
    • How We Got the Bible by Neil Lightfoot
      
    • The Origin of the Bible by FF. Bruce and others
      
    • Searching for the Original Bible by Randall Price
      
    • The Stones Cry Out by Randall Price
      
    • Is the Bible True? By Jeffrey L. Sheler
      
    • Can We Trust the Gospels? By Mark D. Roberts
      
    • Misquoting Truth by Timothy Paul Jones
      
    • Why You Can Have Confidence in the Bible by Harold J. Sala
      
    • Is God a Moral Monster by Paul Copan
  • Level 200
    
    • The Historical Reliability of the Gospels by Craig Blomberg
      
    • The Canon of Scripture by F.F. Bruce
      
    • Inerrancy by Norman Geisler
• The Life and Resurrection of Jesus Christ
  
  • Level 100
    
    • The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel
      
    • The Case for the Real Jesus by Lee Strobel
      
    • The Historical Jesus: Ancient Evidence for the Life of Jesus by Gary Habermas
      
    • The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus by Gary Habermas and Mike Licona
      
    • Who Moved the Stone? By Frank Morison
      
    • Dethroning Jesus by Darrell Bock and Craig Wallace
      
    • The Real Jesus by Luke Timothy Johnson
      
    • Reinventing Jesus by Daniel Wallace, James Sawyer, & Ed Komoszewski
      
    • The Jesus Who Never Lived by H. Wayne House
  • Level 200
    
    • What Have They Done With Jesus? By Ben Witherington III
      
    • Jesus Under Fire by J.P. Moreland and Tim Muehlhoff
      
    • Jesus and the Victory of God by N.T. Wright
      
    • The Resurrection of the Son of God by N.T. Wright
      
    • The Jesus Legend by Paul Eddy and Greg Boyd
      
    • Jesus In An Age of Controversy Doug Groothuis
      
    • The Meaning of Jesus: Two Visions by Marcus J. Borg and N.T. Wright
      
    • The Historical Jesus: Five Views edited by James Beilby and Paul Rhodes Eddy
      
    • The Resurrection of Jesus: A New Historiographical Approach by Mike Licona
• Christian Philosophy & Cultural Relativism
  
  • Level 100
    
    • Love Your God With All Your Mind by J.P. Moreland
      
    • Good Ideas from Questionable Christians and Outright Pagans: An Introduction to Key Thinkers and Philosophies by Steve Wilkens
      
    • Postmodernism 101 by Heath White
      
    • Philosophy 101 by Peter Kreeft
      
    • Relativism: Feet Firmly Planted in Mid-Air by Greg Koukle and Francis Beckwith
      
    • Kingdom Triangle by J.P. Moreland
      
    • Reason in the Balance by Philip Johnson
      
    • The Wedge of Truth by Philip Johnson
  • Level 200
    
    • Philosophy of Religion by C. Stephen Evans and R. Zachary Manis
      
    • Habits of the Mind by James Sire
      
    • Truth or Consequences by Millard Erickson
      
    • Introduction to Philosophy: A Christian Perspective by Norman Geisler and Paul Feinberg
      
    • Epistemology: Becoming Intellectually Virtuous by M. Jay Wood
      
    • Metaphysics: Constructing a World View by William Hasker
  • Level 300
    
    • Philosophical Foundations for a Christian Worldview by William Lane Craig and J.P. Moreland
      
    • Warranted Christian Belief by Alvin Plantinga
      
    • Warrant and Proper Function by Alvin Plantinga
      
    • The Nature of Necessity by Alvin Plantinga
      
    • The Coherence of Theism by Richard Swinburne

There is little doubt that I’ve left out many great books which are definitely worth everyone’s attention. Please don’t look at this as an exhaustive list. It’s purpose is to provide a starting point rather than a complete list of everything available.

In the next post, I’ll focus on some of the best Christian apologetics websites. Until then…