"Christian apologetics is the task of presenting a defense of the person and the message of Jesus Christ."
Ravi Zacharias, Jesus Among Other Gods
Studying Christian apologetics is a hobby and passion of mine. I thought I'd post a few of my favorite resources for those that might want to learn more or have faced difficult challenges or questions from others or might have challenges to Christianity themselves.
Books
I read almost every day and now that I recently got a Kindle it's even easier to take my books where ever I go. Many of these are probably available at the library and if you're near me I'm always happy to lend my copy. Here are just a few of my favorites:
The Case For Christ by Lee Strobel
This is the first apologetics book I read not too long after becoming a Christian. It really opened my eyes to the evidence for Jesus and the Bible. It was written by a former atheist who was an investigative reporter for the Chicago Tribune. He set out to disprove Christianity and ended up being so convinced by the evidence he become one instead.
I Don't Have Enough Faith To Be An Atheist by Norman L Geisler and Frank Turek
Norm Geisler is a Christian apologist and has written some of the best books around answering the tough questions of Christianity. It covers everything from origins of the universe, evolution, morality, the problem of evil, the reliability of the New Testament, eye witness accounts of Jesus, the resurrection, and more. Great explanations of the challenges made by atheists and skeptics and the Christian answers to those challenges.
Darwin's Black Box by Michael Behe
Behe is a professor and has a Ph.D. in biochemistry. He puts forth an argument he calls irreducible complexity. He argues that some molecular structures are too complex to be explained by evolutionary methods. Evolution is a scared cow and he challenges it head on with proven science and reason. The book has generated lots of challenges and praise as well. It's a little more technical than most books but still very readable. I love science and this book was excellent. I've read a lot of different challenges to this book but haven't felt like those challenges have overcome this powerful argument for intelligent design. Behe also has a blog.
Jesus Among Other Gods by Ravi Zacharias
Ravi was born in India and immigrated to Canada at about 20 and then later to the U.S. He is a brilliant philosopher and apologist. He has spoken and debated all around the world and writes in a way that is both very intellectual but plain and straightforward. I read and listen to anything I can get my hands by him.
Podcasts
If you don't listen to podcasts you're missing out on some great material for humor, learning, and enjoyment. Podcasts are free recorded internet audio or video and can be anywhere for a few minutes to hours long. You can listen on your computer or subscribe through iTunes and get them on your iPod, iPad, or iPhone. Most smartphones or mp3 players will support podcast subscription as well. Usually they are done on a regular frequency, like daily or weekly.
This is a weekly show done by J. (Jim) Warner Wallace. Jim is a cold case homicide detective and a former atheist. He has a unique view point and I share a lot of his perspective on things. He discusses different topics each week and reads e-mail questions and answers them each week. Sometimes he has guests as well. I've had the pleasure of talking with Jim on the phone and he's a real down to earth guy.
This is a weekly radio show hosted by Greg Koukl. This is a live radio show that's recorded and podcast each week. He usually has a couple of topics he leads with and then takes caller questions. He also has some great guests on the show. It's a little long (2 hours) but the description on the podcast info has the questions and topics indexed by time code so you can listen to those topics or questions that are most interesting to you.
Websites
All kinds of information and answers to the most challenging problems for Christianity. Same guy that does the podcast above. Blogs, articles, and videos are posted on the website.
This is the Stand To Reason website which puts on the podcast above. All kinds of articles, blogs, books, videos, etc. addressing the toughest criticisms to Christianity.
Documentaries
If you're a visual person these are very good DVDs addressing many of the topics in the resources above.
A documentary based on the book by the same name. The quality is excellent and is not a defense of Christianity per se but is a case for creation of the universe. If my blog post a few days ago interested you on this topic then this DVD is a must see. Several scientists are interviewed and some are theists (believing in God) and some are not. I think this one aired on PBS but don't hold me to that.
About the idea of intelligent design. It goes through the arguments for intelligent design including irreducible complexity as mentioned above. Great quality DVD and has interviews with scientists again both theistic and agnostic.
Documentary on a book by the same name written by the author of The Case For Christ. Lee Strobel interviews scholars and scientists on the subject of intelligent design.
I have all of these resources (and others) so if you're near me and want to borrow something I'd be happy to lend them. I don't have too many books on my Kindle yet but I think those can be lent out as well but I haven't tried it. If you want to try that we can give that a shot. I think there's a limit on how many times and how long you can lend something on Kindle. All of the books and DVD's are available on Amazon.
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