The Apologetic Books You Should (Already) Have on Your Shelf
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The following is a list of books that have helped me over the years regarding various apologetic topics and subjects. However, it must be mentioned that the listing of a particular book or resource does not necessarily stand as a wholesale acceptance and support of absolutely every portion of particular statements or content found within them. That may indeed be true for some but not true for all of the following books. Therefore, what are listed below are merely the books and sources that have helped me along my personal journey of developing my repertoire and methodology as both a lay and professional apologist.
Table of Contents:
APOLOGETIC EVANGELISM
THE BIBLE (Historical & Theological)
THE TRINITY
CHURCH HISTORY
ISLAM
JUDAISM
ETHICS AND THE PROBLEM OF EVIL/PAIN
SCIENCE
MORMONISM AND JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES
SAME-SEX ATTRACTION AND HOMOSEXUALITY
NEW AGE AND “SPIRITUALITY”
APOLOGETICS FOR KIDS
APOLOGETIC EVANGELISM
"Tactics: A Game Plan for Discussing Your Christian Convictions" by Greg Koukl
"The Story of Reality: How the World Began, How it Ends, and Everything Important that Happens in Between" by Greg Koukl
"Unanswered: Lasting Truth for Trending Questions" by Jeremiah J. Johnston
"But is it Real?" by Amy Orr-Ewing
"Mere Christianity" by C.S. Lewis
"What's Your Worldview?: An Interactive Approach to Life's Biggest Questions" by James N. Anderson
"Cold-Case Christianity: A Homicide Detective Investigates the Claims of the Gospels" by J. Warner Wallace
"Mere Apologetics: How to Help Seekers and Skeptics Find Faith" by Alister McGrath
"Truth Matters: Confident Faith in a Confusing World" by Andras Kostenberger, Darrell Bock, and Josh Chartraw
"Fool's Talk: Recovering the Art of Christian Persuasion" by Os Guinness
"Apologetics for a New Generation: A biblical and Culturally Relevant Approach to Talk About God" by Sean McDowell
"How do You Know You're Not Wrong?: Responding to Objections that Leave Christians Speechless" by Paul Copan
"Faith Has its Reasons: Integrative Approaches to Defending the Christian Faith" by Rob Bowman and Kenneth Boa
“Reasonable Faith: Christian Truth and Apologetics” by William Lane Craig
”On Guard: Defending Yourth Faith with Reason and Precision” by William Lane Craig
"Defending Your Faith: An Introduction to Apologetics" by R.C. Sproul
"Apologetics: A Justification of Christian Belief" by John M. Frame
"Always Ready: Directions for Defending the Faith" by Greg Bahnsen
"Christian Apologetics" by Cornelius Van Til
"The Defense of the Faith" by Cornelius Van Til
”Thinking? Answering Life’s Five Biggest Questions” by Andy Steiger
“Another Gospel?: A Lifelong Christian Seeks Truth in Response to Progressive Christianity” by Alisa Childers
”Why do you Believe that?” by Mary Jo Sharp
THE BIBLE
HISTORICAL
"Truth in a Culture of Doubt: Engaging Skeptical Challenges to the Bible" by Andreas J. Kostenberger, Darrell L. Block, and Josh Chartra
”Can We Trust the Gospels?” by Peter J. Williams
"Jesus and the Eyewitnesses: The Gospels as Eyewitness Testimony" by Richard Bauckham
"The King James Only Controversy: Can you Trust Modern Translations?" by James White
"The Canon of Scripture" by F.F. Bruce
"The New Testament Documents: Are they Reliable?" by FF Bruce
"Hidden in Plain View: Undesigned Coincidences in the Gospels and Acts" by Lydia McGrew
”The Mirror and the Mask: Liberating the Gospels from Literary Devices” by Lydia McGrew
"The Question of Canon: Challenging the Status Quo in the New Testament Debate" by Michael J. Kruger
"Canon Revisited: Establishing the Origins and Authority of the New Testament Books" by Michael J. Kruger
The Heresy of Orthodoxy: How Contemporary Culture's Fascination with Diversity Has Reshaped Our Understanding of Early Christianity" by Michael J. Kruger
"Can We Still Believe the Bible?: An Evangelical Engagement with Contemporary Questions" by Craig Blomberg
“Myths and Mistakes in New Testament Textual Criticism” by Elijah Hixson, Peter Gurry and Dan Wallace
THEOLOGICAL
"Scripture Alone: Exploring the Bible's Accuracy, Authority, and Authenticity" by James White
"The Enduring Authority of the Christian Scriptures” edited by D.A. Carson
”Sola Scriptura: The Protestant Position on the Bible” by Joel Beeke (among others)
“Holy Scripture: The Ground and Pillar of Our Faith, Volume 1 - A Biblical Defense of the Reformation Principle of Sola Scriptura” by David T. King
”Holy Scripture: The Ground and Pillar of our Faith, Volume 2 - An Historical Defense of the Reformation Principle of Sola Scirptura” by William Webster
”Holy Scripture: The Ground and Pillar of our Faith, Volume 3 - The Writings of the Church Fathers Affirming the Reformation Principle of Sola Scriptura” By David T King and William Webster
“The Old Testament Canon of the New Testament Church: and its Background in Early Judaism” by Roger T. Beckwith
Church History
“Church History” by Simonetta Carr
“Is Jesus History?” by John Dickson
“Christianity: The Biography: 2000 Years of Global History” by Ian J. Shaw
“2 000 Years of Christ’s Power Vol. 1: The Age of the Early Church Fathers” by Nick Needham
“2 000 Years of Christ’s Power Vol. 2: The Middle Ages” by Nick Needham
”2 000 Years of Christ’s Power Vol. 3: Renaissance and Reformation” by Nick Needham
“2 000 Years of Christ’s Power Vol. 4: The Age of Religious Conflict” by Nick Needham
”History of the Christian Church” by Philip Schaff
“Bullies and Saints: An Honest Look at the Good and Evil of Christian History” by John Dickson
The Trinity
“Shared Life: The Trinity and the Fellowship of God’s people” by Donald Macleod
”The Forgotten Trinity: Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith” by James White
”The Deep Things of God: How the Trinity Changes Everything” by Fred Sanders
”Putting Jesus in His Place: The Case for the Deity of Christ” by Robert Bowman and J. Ed Komoszewski
”The Holy Trinity: In Scripture, History, Theology, and Worship” by Robert Letham
”The Essential Trinity: New Testament Foundations and Practical Relevance” by Brandon Crowe & Carl Truman
ISLAM
"Grand Central Question: Answering the Critical Concerns of Major Worldviews" by Abdu Murray
“Do Muslims and Christians Worship the Same God?” by Andy Bannister
"Seeking Allah Finding Jesus: A Devout Muslim Encounters Christianity" by Nabeel Qureshi
"No God But One: Allah or Jesus: A Former Muslim Investigates the Evidence for Islam and Christianity" by Nabeel Qureshi
"What Every Christian Needs to Know about the Qur'an" by James White
"Getting Jesus Right: How Muslims Get Jesus and Islam Wrong" by James Beverley and Craig Evans
"The Gentle Answer to the Muslim Accusation of Biblical Falsification" by Gordon D. Nickel
"The Emergence of Islam: Classical Traditions in Contemporary Perspective" by Gabriel Said Reynolds
"Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes: Cultural Studies in the Gospels" by Kenneth Bailey
"The Crescent Through the Eyes of the Cross: Insights from an Arab Christian" by Nabeel Jabbour
"Answering Islam: The Crescent in Light of the Cross" by Normal Guisler and Abdul Saleeb
JUDAISM
“The Real kosher Jesus: Revealing the Mysteries of the Hidden Messiah” by Michael L. Brown
“Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus: Traditional Jewish Objections” by Michael L. Brown
“Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus: General and Historical Objections” by Michael L. Brown
“Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus: Theological Objections (Vol. 1) by Michael L. Brown
“Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus: Theological Objections (Vol.2)” by Michael L. Brown
“Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus: Messianic Prophecy Objections” by Michael L. Brown
“Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus: New Testament Objections” by Michael L. Brown
“Refuting Rabbinic Objections to Christianity and Messianic Prophecies” by Eitan Bar
ETHICS & THE PROBLEM OF PAIN/EVIL
"God and Evil: The Case for God in a World Filled with Pain" by chad Meister and James Dew Jr.
"Why?" by Sharon Dirckx
"Is God a Moral Monster?: Making Sense of the Old Testament God" by Paul Copan
"Did God Really Command Genocide?: Coming to Terms with the Justice of God" by Paul Copan and Matt Flannagan
"Grieving: Your Path Back to Peace" by James White
"The Problem of Pain" by C.S. Lewis
“God, Freedom, and Evil” by Alvin Plantiga
”Excusing Sinners and Blaming God” by Guillaume Bignon
SCIENCE
“The God Hypothesis: Three Scientific Discoveries that Reveal the Mind Behind the Universe” by Stephen Meyer
"God's Undertaker: Has Science Buried God?" by John Lennox
"Seven Days that Divide the World: The Beginning According to Genesis and Science" by John Lennox
"Beyond the Cosmos" by Hugh Ross
"The Fingerprint of God: Recent Scientific Discoveries Reveal the Unmistakable Identity of the Creator" by Hugh Ross
"Darwin's Black Box: The Biochemical Challenge to Evolution" by Michael Behe
"Signature in the Cell: DNA and the Evidence for Intelligent Design" by Stephen C. Meyer
"Darwin's Doubt: The Explosive Origin of Animal Life and a Case for Intelligent Design" by Stephen C. Meyer
"Theistic Evolution: A Scientific, Philosophical, and Theological Critique" by J.P. Moreland, Stephen C. Meyer, Christopher Shaw, Ann K. Gauger, Wayne Grudem
"Evolution: Still a Theory in Crisis" by Michael Denton
"A Fortunate Universe: Life in a Finely Tune Cosmos" by Luke Barnes, Geraint Lewis and Brian Schmidt
"Shadow of Oz: Theistic Evolution and the Absent God" by Wayne Rossiter
"Undeniable: How Biology Confirms Our Intuition that Life is Designed" by Douglas Axe "A Fine-Tuned Universe: The Quest for God in Science and Theology" by Alister McGrath
”The Light Ages: The Surprising Story of Midieval Science” by Seb Falk
MORMONISM & JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES
"Is the Mormon my Brother?" by James White
"Letters to a Mormon Elder?" by James White
"The Forgotten Trinity" by James White
"Mormon Crises: Anatomy of a Failing Religion" by James Beverley and Sandra Tanner
"Putting Jesus in His Place: The Case for the Deity of Christ" by Robert Bowman and J. Ed Komoszewski
"Kingdom of the Cults" by Walter Martin
"The Watchtower and the Word" by Stephen Bedard
"Crisis of Allegiance" by James Beverley
"Reasoning from the Scriptures with Jehovah's Witnesses" by Ron Rhodes
“Jesus’ Resurrection and Joseph’s Visions: Examining the Foundations of Christianity and Mormonism” by Robert M. Bowman Jr.
SAME SEX ATTRACTION & HOMOSEXUALITY
"Same-Sex Attraction and the Church: The Surprising Plausibility of the Celibate Life" by Ed Shaw
”Holy Sexuality and the Gospel” by Christopher Yuan
”A War of Loves: The Unexpected Story of a Gay Activist Finding Jesus” by David Bennett
"Is God anti-gay?" by Sam Allberry
”Single Gay Christian: A Personal Journey of Faith and Sexual Identity” by Gregory Coles
"What Does the Bible Really Teach about Homosexuality" by Kevin DeYoung
"The Bible and Homosexual Practice: Texts and Hermeneutics" by Robert Gagnon
"Can You be Gay and Christian?: Responding with Love and Truth to Questions about Homosexuality" by Michael Brown
"Outlasting the Gay Revolution: Where Homosexuality Activism is Really Going and How to Turn the Tide" by Michael Brown
"A Queer Thing Happened to America: and What a Long, Strange Trip it's Been" by Michael Brown
"The Same-Sex Controversy: Defending and Clarifying the Bible's Message about Homosexuality" by James White
"Critical Conversations: A Christian Parents' Guide to Discussing Homosexuality with Teens" by Tom Gilson
”When Harry Became Sally: Responding to the Transgender Movement” by Ryan T. Anderson
“The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self: Cultural Amnesia, Expressive Individualism, and the Road to Sexual Revolution” by Carl Truman
NEW AGE AND “SPIRITUALITY”
“Deceived No More” by Doreen Virtue
“Defining Deception: Freeing the Church from the Mystical-Miracle Movement” by Costi Hinn and Anthony G. Wood
“God, Greed, and the (Prosperity) Gospel: How Truth Overwhelms a Life Built on Lies” by Costi Hinn
“The Second Coming of the New Age: The Hidden Dangers of Alternative Spirituality in Contemporary America and its Churches” by Josh Peck and Steven Bancarz
“The Light that was Dark: From the New Age to Amazing Grace” by Warren
“The Beautiful Side of Evil” by Johanna Michaelsen
APOLOGETICS FOR KIDS
“God’s Timeline: The Big Book of Church History” by Linda Finlayson
“The Ology” by Marty Machowski
“What Am I?” by Andy Steiger, Rachel Mackenzie, and Maggie Richards
”What Am I Worth?” by Andy Steiger, Rachel Mackenzie, and Maggie Richards
"What is God Like Series" by W.L. Craig
"Talking with Your Kids About God: 30 Conversations Every Christian Parent Must Have" by Natasha Crain
"The Defense Never Rests - Workbook for Budding Apologists" by W.L. Craig and Joseph Tang
"A Case for Christ for Kids" by Lee Strobel
"A Case for a Creator for Kids" by Lee Strobel
"A Case for Faith" by Lee Strobel
"Young Defenders Series" by Melissa Cain Travis
"Fact of Fantasy: A Study in Christian Apologetics for Children" by David Walters
"Cold Case Christianity for Kids: Investigate Jesus with a Real Detective" by J. Warner Wallace
"The Ology: Ancient Truths, Ever New" by Marty Machowski and Andy McGuire
"Big Thoughts for Little Thinkers: The Trinity" by Joey Allen
"Big Thoughts for Little Thinkers: The Gospel" by Joey Allen
"Big Thoughts for Little Thinkers: The Scripture" by Joey Allen
"Big Thoughts for Little Thinkers: The Mission" by Joey Allen
"If I Could Ask God Anything: Awesome Bible Answers for Curious Kids" by Kathryn Slattery