a month or so, I asked a number of Christian philosophers what 3 books they recommend Christians with an interest in apologetics read. The results have actually been really interesting! I’ve collated the results below. At the end of the post, I’ve listed the top 3 books recommended by all respondents.
The list is in alphabetical order (by surname). Though there are a couple exceptions here and there, most on this list hold Ph.D.’s in philosophy (or something similar). It’s likely you’ll encounter a name you haven’t heard before. Also important: I did not restrict the answers they gave to works written by others.
It’s taken quite a bit of work, but all of the books have been hyperlinked for your purchasing convenience (as have their websites). Enjoy!
Ben Arbour
- The Bible
– God & Man
- The Case for Christ
– Lee Strobel
- Reasonable Faith
– William Lane Craig
David Baggett
- Reasonable Faith
– William Lane Craig
- Love Your God with All Your Mind
– J. P. Moreland
- Making Sense of God
– Tim Keller
Erik Baldwin
- Where the Conflict Really Lies
– Alvin Plantinga
- Knowledge of God
– Alvin Plantinga and Michael Tooley
- Is There a God?
– Richard Swinburne
Luke Barnes
- Modern Science and Ancient Faith
– Stephen Barr
- Miracles
– C. S. Lewis
- The Case for Christ
– Lee Strobel
Kelly James Clark
- Reason for the Hope Within
– Michael J. Murray
- Five Views on Apologetics
– Stephen Cowan
- Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion
– David Hume
Nevin Climenhaga
- Is There a God?
– Richard Swinburne
- A View of the Evidences of Christianity
– William Paley
- Evil and the God of Love
– John Hick
Paul Copan
- Philosophical Foundations for a Christian Worldview
– William Lane Craig & J. P. Moreland
- Mere Christianity
– C. S. Lewis
- The Reason for God
– Tim Keller
William Lane Craig
- On Guard
– William Lane Craig
- The Case for Christ
– Lee Strobel
- Jesus Under Fire
– Michael J. Wilkins
Dustin Crummett
- The Existence of God
– Richard Swinburne
- The Resurrection of God Incarnate
– Richard Swinburne
- Horrendous Evils and the Goodness of God – Marilyn McCord Adams
Douglas Groothuis
- The Universe Next Door
– James Sire
- On Guard
– William Lane Craig
- The God Question – J. P. Moreland
Mark D. Linville
- Orthodoxy
– G. K. Chesterton
- The Everlasting Man
– G. K. Chesterton
- The Abolition of Man
– C. S. Lewis
Timothy McGrew
- A View of the Evidences of Christianity
– William Paley
- Undesigned Coincidences in the Writings Both of the Old and New Testament: An Argument of Their Veracity
– John James Blunt
- Mere Christianity
– C. S. Lewis
Tyler McNabb
- Where the Conflict Really Lies – Alvin Plantinga
- Knowledge of God
– Alvin Plantinga and Michael Tooley
- Is There a God?
– Richard Swinburne
Calum Miller
- The Prodigal God – Tim Keller
- The Existence of God
– Richard Swinburne
- The Argument from Miracles: A Cumulative Case for the Resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth
– Tim and Lydia McGrew
Glenn Peoples
- The Jesus Legend: A Case for the Historical Reliability of the Synoptic Jesus Tradition
– Paul Eddy and Greg Boyd
- Jesus and the Eyewitnesses: The Gospels as Eyewitness Testimony
– Richard Bauckham
- Real Ethics: Reconsidering the Foundations of Morality
– John Rist
Josh Rasmussen
- Humble Apologetics: Defending the Faith Today
– John G. Stackhouse Jr.
- Reason for the Hope Within
– Michael J. Murray
- Christian Apologetics
– Norman Geisler
Randal Rauser
- How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth: Fourth Edition
– Gordon D. Fee
- Theology for the Community of God
– Stanley Grenz
- The Hiddenness Argument – J. L. Schellenberg
Jerry Walls
- Is There a God?
– Richard Swinburne
- Debating Christian Theism
– J. P. Moreland, et al.
- God Is Great, God Is Good
– William Lane Craig & Chad Meister
Peter S. Williams
- The Case for Christ – Lee Strobel
- On Guard
– William Lane Craig
- The Universe Upstairs – Merve Jones
Peter van Inwagen
Dr. van Inwagen’s response was a bit different from the rest. He recommended literally anything from N. T. Wright or Rodney Stark, saying “they’re all good.” I’ve included one of each of their works below. He also declined to comment on which works in philosophy are best. He also gets five.
- The Resurrection of the Son of God
– N. T. Wright
- The Victory of Reason – Rodney Stark
- Redating the New Testament
– John A. T. Robinson
- The Priority of John
– John A. T. Robinson
- Modern Physics and Ancient Faith
– Stephen Barr
Dr. Anonymous
- The Reason for God
– Tim Keller
- The Case for Christ – Lee Strobel
- Mere Christianity
– C. S. Lewis
WOW! Lot’s of work went into this.
The hidden problem is to actually get unbelievers to READ anything about God.
I lobe books and reading; but from my personal experience in Catholic Apologetic s for 30+ years; I have found that the best read book is OUT personal living our Faith beliefs publicly.
My personal experience with Atheist and Agnostics is that most often; until and unless they first turn to God and seek His help; they are incapable of understanding what we wish {God Inspired} to share with them. So patience, charity and prayer for them are the normal paths to be expected.
Religious Books are of GREAT merit in aiding US to better understand how we are to live our life’s as public wittiness to the existence of God by our example of loving thy neighbor as ourselves. … With “TRUE” Atheist and Agnostics, nothing we say can be comprehend and even the ability for pure logical discourse is often difficult if not darn right impossible. So after your first and second efforts are refuted {illogically}, the best thing to do is just pray for them.
By all mean’s do read to better yourself for the Battle for Soul’s; but always allow God to be in charge.
God Bless,
Patrick
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God bless you, Brother Patrick for the insightful thoughts.
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