Book picks similar to
Defense of the Faith by Cornelius Van Til
apologetics
theology
christian
philosophy
Schizophrenic God?: Finding Reality in Conflict, Confusion, and Contradiction
Steve C. Shank - 2012
Schizophrenic God? is a close look at fate and free will. Has God predetermined everything that happens in your life, or do your own free-will decisions help determine your destiny? You will be challenged to rethink the assumptions you have made about God, which brings comfort and empowerment in the truths of a good God, human choice, and the prayer of faith that changes things. Rest assured—you do not serve a schizophrenic Father.
The Gagging of God: Christianity Confronts Pluralism
D.A. Carson - 1996
A great majority of social commentators attempting to define modern Western culture land on a common characteristic: pluralism. This isn't unique to secular culture. Many modern approaches to Christian hermeneutics, or biblical interpretation, have given credence to contemporary pluralism. What began as a refreshing restraint and humility in modern theology has fallen more and more into irresoluteness.It's no secret that the contemporary challenges to Christianity are complex and serious. Yet, far from simple fear-mongering, or cultural warmongering, The Gagging of God takes a hard look at the background and intricacy—of pluralism, postmodernity, and hermeneutics—and equips thoughtful Christians to have intelligent, culturally sensitive, and passionate fidelity to the gospel of Jesus Christ.In his contemplative, even-handed approach, Carson provides a structure of Christian thought capable of facing the philosophies of today and piercing their surface. It invites Christians to grapple responsibly with urgent questions of biblically-grounded theology, spirituality, and the defining lines of Christianity, along with its range of challenges from without and within. The Gagging of God offers an in-depth look at the big picture, shows how the many ramifications of pluralism are all parts of a whole, and provides a systematic Christian response.
The Reformed Doctrine of Predestination
Loraine Boettner - 1932
The Reformed Doctrine of Predestination has been regarded as the authoritative work in this field. A contemporary classic.
Systematic Theology
Louis Berkhof - 1939
Written in a scholarly yet simple style, the work includes a thorough bibliography and study questions at the end of each chapter.
A Case for Amillennialism: Understanding the End Times
Kim Riddlebarger - 2003
Recognizing that the study of future things is a complicated and controversial subject, Riddlebarger provides definitions of key terms and a helpful overview of various viewpoints.
Chasing Daylight: Seize the Power of Every Moment
Erwin Raphael McManus - 2002
Pastor and author Erwin Raphael McManus invites readers to choose a life of blazing urgency.Are you willing to risk failure? Are you ready to get in the game? You may stumble, but you will find yourself falling forward, propelled toward the God-inspired adventure He intends you to live. Using the biblical characters of Saul and Jonathan during Israel’s war with the Philistines (1 Samuel 13 and 14), Chasing Daylight (formerly titled Seizing Your Divine Moment) demonstrates the difference between living a life of purpose and adventure and living one of apathy and missed opportunity. While Saul rested beneath a pomegranate tree, Jonathan seized the divine moment and redirected the future of Israel. McManus uses Jonathan’s example to artfully illustrates the eight characteristics of an adventurer’s heart, what he calls “the Jonathan factor”:Taking initiativeAccepting uncertaintyStewarding influenceEmbracing riskContinuing to advanceCreating impactMoving in obedienceAwakening potentialWe have but one life. We are given one opportunity to pursue our dreams and fulfill our divine purpose. Every moment counts, and we must engage them with fierceness and zeal. In Chasing Daylight, Erwin Raphael McManus offers the tools to put an end to passive observation and start seizing the raw, untapped potential of your life with God.
Signature in the Cell: DNA and the Evidence for Intelligent Design
Stephen C. Meyer - 2009
For those who disagree with ID, the powerful case Meyer presents cannot be ignored in any honest debate. For those who may be sympathetic to ID, on the fence, or merely curious, this book is an engaging, eye-opening, and often eye-popping read” — American SpectatorNamed one of the top books of 2009 by the Times Literary Supplement (London), this controversial and compelling book from Dr. Stephen C. Meyer presents a convincing new case for intelligent design (ID), based on revolutionary discoveries in science and DNA. Along the way, Meyer argues that Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution as expounded in The Origin of Species did not, in fact, refute ID. If you enjoyed Francis Collins’s The Language of God, you’ll find much to ponder—about evolution, DNA, and intelligent design—in Signature in the Cell.
A Body of Divinity: Contained in Sermons upon the Westminster Assembly's Catechism
Thomas Watson - 1692
Watson was one of the most concise, racy, illustrative, and suggestive of those eminent divines who made the Puritan age the Augustan period of evangelical literature. There is a happy union of sound doctrine, heart-searching experience and practical wisdom throughout all his works, and his Body of Divinity is, beyond all the rest, useful to the student and the minister.
The Reason for God: Conversations on Faith and Life, Study Guide & DVD
Timothy J. Keller - 2010
Using literature, philosophy, and Scripture, Keller and the group explore the truth of Christianity.In his New York Times bestselling book The Reason for God, Timothy Keller established himself as a modern-day C. S. Lewis who brings together faith and intellect, theology and popular culture, modern-day objections and historic Christian beliefs.Now fans of the book will find resources to help them engage with those same objections, drawing on recent scholarship and debates. The Reason for God small group Bible study can be used individually, with groups, or by any believer who is engaging with friends who don’t share his or her beliefs.Christians will be challenged to wrestle with their friends and neighbors’ hardest questions, and to engage those questions in ways that will spark an honest, enriching, and humbling dialogue, as is modeled during the sessions.The Reason for God DVD and Discussion Guide (both included in this pack) are designed to help small groups and individuals dig deeper into objections of the Christian faith and to learn about both sides of the issues.Sessions include: 1. Isn’t the Bible a Myth? 2. How Can You Say There Is Only One Way to God? 3. What Gives You the Right to Tell Me How to Live My Life? 4. Why Does God Allow Suffering? 5. Why Is the Church Responsible for So Much Injustice? 6. How Can God Be Full of Love and Wrath at the Same Time?
The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind
Mark A. Noll - 1994
Unsparing in his judgment, Mark Noll ask why the largest single group of religious Americans--who enjoy increasing wealth, status, and political influence--have contributed so little to rigorous intellectual scholarship in North America. In nourishing believers in the simple truths of the gospel, why have evangelicals failed at sustaining a serious intellectual life and abandoned the universities, the arts, and other realms of "high" culture? Noll is probing and forthright in his analysis of how this situation came about, but he doesn't end there. Challenging the evangelical community, he sets out to find, within evangelicalism itself, resources for turning the situation around.
The Gospel & Personal Evangelism
Mark Dever - 2007
Many Christians want to share the gospel with others, but because those Christians don't grasp the fundamentals of witnessing, they feel intimidated and incapable of sharing the truth of the gospel.Yet those believers fail to recognize that God has already established who and how we are to evangelize. In The Gospel and Personal Evangelism, Dr. Mark Dever seeks to answer the four basic questions about evangelism that many Christians ask: Who should we evangelize? How should we evangelize? What is evangelism? Why should we evangelize? In his answers Dever draws on New Testament truths and helps believers apply those truths in practical ways. As readers understand the fundamentals of evangelism, they will begin to develop a culture of evangelism in their lives and their local churches.
The New Testament and the People of God
N.T. Wright - 1991
Part of a five-volume project on the theological questions surrounding the origins of Christianity, this book offers a reappraisal of literary, historical and theological readings of the New Testament, arguing for a form of "critical realism" that facilitates different readings of the text.Provides a historical, theological and literary study of first-century Judaism and Christianity, offering a preliminary discussion of the meaning of the word ‘god’ within those cultures.
The Science of God: The Convergence of Scientific and Biblical Wisdom
Gerald Schroeder - 1994
Comparing the key events of the Old Testament with the latest findings in physics, biochemistry, and paleontology, a physicist and theologian shows that science and the Bible can be reconciled to resolve the age-old debates about God.
Atheist Delusions: The Christian Revolution and Its Fashionable Enemies
David Bentley Hart - 2009
David Bentley Hart provides a bold correction of the New Atheists’ misrepresentations of the Christian past, countering their polemics with a brilliant account of Christianity and its message of human charity as the most revolutionary movement in all of Western history.Hart outlines how Christianity transformed the ancient world in ways we may have forgotten: bringing liberation from fatalism, conferring great dignity on human beings, subverting the cruelest aspects of pagan society, and elevating charity above all virtues. He then argues that what we term the “Age of Reason” was in fact the beginning of the eclipse of reason’s authority as a cultural value. Hart closes the book in the present, delineating the ominous consequences of the decline of Christendom in a culture that is built upon its moral and spiritual values.