Michael Craven’s Philosophy Recommendations

Michael Craven of the Center For Christ and Culture recommends the following books on Philosophy for equipping the Church to engage the culture with the redemptive mission of Christ:

• Philosophical Foundations for a Christian Worldview, by J.P. Moreland & William Lane Craig
• How Postmodernism Serves (My) Faith: Questioning Truth in Language, Philosophy And Art, by Crystal L. Downing
• The Right Darwin?: Evolution, Religion, and the Future of Democracy, by Carson Holloway
• True Truth: Defending Absolute Truth in a Relativistic World, by Art Lindsley
• Faith and Reason, by Ronald H. Nash
• Proper Confidence: Faith, Doubt, and Certainty in Christian Discipleship, by Lesslie Newbigin

Cultural Criticism and Apologetics

The 2008 U.S. Religious Landscape Survey conducted by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life indicates that the United States is becoming less Protestant. American religious sentiment is becoming more diverse with a larger number than ever dropping any connection to a specific religious tradition.

In such an environment, Christians need to be prepared to engage the culture effectively. To that end Michael Craven of the Center For Christ and Culture recommends the following books on Culture and Apologetics:

Culture

• The Culture of Narcissism: American Life in an Age of Diminishing Expectations, by Christopher Lasch
• Culture Wars: The Struggle To Define America, by James Davison Hunter
• Bowling Alone : The Collapse and Revival of American Community, by Robert D. Putnam
• Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business, by Neil Postman
• On Earth as It Is in Advertising?: Moving from Commercial Hype to Gospel Hope, by Sam Van Eman
• Prophetic Untimeliness: A Challenge to the Idol of Relevance, by Os Guinness
• The Rape of the Masters: How Political Correctness Sabotages Art, by Roger Kimball
• Art And the Bible, by Francis A. Schaeffer
• Why America Needs Religion: Secular Modernity and Its Discontents, by Guenter Lewy

Apologetics

• Apologetics to the Glory of God: An Introduction, by John H. Frame
• Christian Apologetics, by Cornelius Van Til
• The Defense of the Faith, by Cornelius Van Til
• Tearing Down Strongholds: And Defending the Truth, by R. C. Sproul
• Christian Apologetics, by Norman Geisler
• Christian Ethics: Options and Issues, by Norman Geisler
• The New Evidence That Demands A Verdict Fully Updated To Answer The Questions Challenging Christians Today, by Josh McDowell
• Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics, by Norman L. Geisler

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RELATED CONTENT

• Apologetics and Evangelism Bibliography of Kenneth Boa & Larry Moody
• C.S. Lewis – Select Quotes
• Asking Questions of Christianity

Christian Worldview Recommendations of Michael Craven

Michael Craven of the Center For Christ and Culture recommends the following books on understanding and developing a Christian Worldview;

• Uncompromised Faith: Overcoming Our Culturalized Christianity
• Total Truth: Liberating Christianity from Its Cultural Captivity
• Christ and Culture
• The Opening of the Christian Mind: Taking Every Thought Captive to Christ
• Foolishness to the Greeks: The Gospel and Western Culture
• How Should We Then Live?: The Rise and Decline of Western Thought and Culture
• What Is Truth?: A Comparative Study of the Positions of Cornelius Van Til, Francis Schaeffer, Carl F. H. Henry, Donald Bloesch, Millard Erickson
• Building a Christian Worldview
• Clash Of Orthodoxies: Law Religion & Morality In Crisis
• How Now Shall We Live?
• Fit Bodies Fat Minds: Why Evangelicals Don’t Think and What to Do About It
• Truth to Tell: The Gospel as Public Truth
• The Lost History of Christianity: The Thousand-Year Golden Age of the Church in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia–and How It Died

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RELATED CONTENT

• Tom Ascol’s book recommendations on Christianity & Culture
• Required reading in the course “Christian Worldview Studies” taught by Dr. Chris Leland at Focus on the Family Institute

Questioning Evangelism, by Randy Newman

My friend Amy Bobo has reviewed Randy Newman’s book Questioning Evangelism. Here is an excerpt…

Did you know it is possible to present the Gospel by simply asking questions?

Randy Newman, in his book Questioning Evangelism, encourages us to pursue a more open dialogue with those who are seeking Truth. Consider some of the following:

“So, it sounds like you don’t believe in God? I’m interested in hearing your story and understanding why you believe what you do. Would you mind telling me?”

“How do you decide what is right and wrong?”

“How about you? You’ve heard of Jesus. What do you think about Him?”

And then, if a listener seems inquisitive, it might be appropriate to ask, “Are you interested in some verses I read in the Bible that seem to fit with our discussion?”

Basically, you can share your faith and still listen with openness and respect. God doesn’t ask us to try to read another person’s mind, nor does He urge us to push people into a decision. He just asks us to share and let the Holy Spirit draw them to Christ.

Questioning and Listening- How does that help someone make a decision?

As Newman aptly points out, if we look at what Jesus did, He asked pointed questions to those who were truly seeking. When Nicodemus asked Him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus replied, “Why do you call me good?” And to the disciples who were arguing over Jesus’ role in society, He asked, “Who do you say that I am?” Jesus knew the importance of listening to people and letting them talk through their struggles.

Click here to read all of the review.

The Reason For God, by Timothy Keller

My friend Amy Bobo has reviewed Tim Keller’s book The Reason For God.  Here is an excerpt…

“Take the leap of doubt to discover your reasons for faith,” says Tim Keller of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City. Whether you currently believe or you struggle with skepticism, doubts can be a divine invitation to grow your faith, deepen your relationship with God, and to mature into a person of substance.

With a 30-year ministry in the heart of Manhattan, Tim knows how to communicate the Gospel to this culture of intellect, and he does so with quiet dignity and respect for both sides, often acknowledging the personal, intellectual, social, and spiritual reasons people choose to think the way they do.

So, to everyone, Tim recommends we look at doubt in a radically new way. If believers go through life too busy or too apathetic to grapple with tough questions, where will we find ourselves when tragedy strikes? Or how can we truly befriend those struggling with doubt if we’ve never considered their points? And skeptics are challenged as well. Is there some bit of faith in something embedded in the arguments against God? Maybe it’s true that even our doubts are a leap of faith, because we are brave enough to consider the merits of our mostly deeply held convictions.

Click here to read more of the review.

Transcendental Meditation

Watchman Fellowship recommends the following book on Transcendental Meditation;

Encyclopedia of New Age Beliefs, by John Ankerberg and John Weldon

Therapeutic Touch

Watchman Fellowship recommends the following books on Therapeutic Touch;

Alternative Medicine: The Christian Handbook, by Donal Mathuna

Examining Alternative Medicine, an Inside Look at the Benefits and Risks, by Paul C. Reisser, Dale Mabe, and Robert Velarde

Testing the Spirits, by Elizabeth L. Hillstrom

Apologetics & Evangelism Bibliography

In the General Bibliography of I’m Glad You Asked, Kenneth Boa & Larry Moody recommend the following as books that “cover the whole range of topics related to apologetics and evangelism” in a manner less technical than most philosophy of religion books:

Joseph Aldrich, Lifestyle Evangelism

J.N.D. Anderson, Christianity and Comparative Religion

Kenneth Boa, God I Don’t Understand

Kenneth Boa, Cults, World Religions, and You

James Montgomery Boice, Does Inerrancy Matter?

James Mongomery Boice, ed., The Foundation of Biblical Authority

Colin Brown, ed., History, Criticism, & Faith

F.F. Bruce, The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable?

Edward John Carnell, The Case for Biblical Christianity

Edward John Carnell, An Introduction to Christian Apologetics

Edward John Carnell, A Philosophy of the Christian Religion

J.V. Langmead Casserly, Apologetics and Evangelism

Colin Chapman, The Case For Christianity

Colin Chapman, Christianity on Trial

Gordon, H. Clark, ed., Can I Trust My Bible

Robert E.D. Clark, Science and Christianity–A Partnership

James F. Coppedge, Evolution: Possible or Impossible?

William Lane Craig, the Existence of God and the Beginning of the Universe

William Lane Craig, the Son Rises: Historical Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus Christ

Bolton Davidheiser, Evolution and Christian Faith

David A. DeWitt, Answering the Tough Ones

David Hugh Freeman, A Philosophical Study of Religion

Norman L. Geisler, Apologetics

Norman L. Geisler, ed., Inerrancy

Norman L. Geisler, Philosophy of Religion

Norman L. Geisler an Paul D. Feinberg, Introduction to Philosophy

John Gerstner, Reason for Faith

Jerry H. Gill, the Possibility of Religious knowledge

Michael Green, Man Alive!

Os Guinness, The Dust of Death

Don J. Gutteridge, Jr., The Defense Rests Its Case

Gary R. Habermas, The Resurrection of Jesus

R. Laird Harris, Inspiration and Canonicity of the Bible

Arthur F. Holmes, Faith Seeks Understanding

Arlie J. Hoover, The Case for Christian Theism

Arlie J. Hoover, Fallacies of Unbelief

Cedric B. Johnson and H. Newton Malony, Christian Conversion: biblical and Psychological Perspectives

C.S. Lewis, The Abolition of Man

C.S. Lewis, God in the Dock

C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

C.S. Lewis, Miracles. A Preliminary Study

C. S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain

Gordon R. Lewis, Judge for Yourself

Gordon R. Lewis, Testing Christianity’s Truth Claims

Paul E. Little, How to Give Away Your Faith

Paul E. Little, Know Why You Believe

Wayne McDill, Making Friends for Christ

Josh McDowell, Evidence That Demands a Verdict

Josh McDowell, More Than A Carpenter

Josh McDowell, The Resurrection Factor

Josh McDowell and Don Stewart, Answers To Tough Questions

Josh McDowell and Don Stewart, Reasons Why Skeptics Ought to Consider Christianity

Alan Loy McGinnis, The Friendship Factor

John Warwick Montgomery, ed., Christianity for the Tough Minded

John Warwick Montgomery, Faith Founded on Fact

John Warwick Montgomery, ed., God’s Inerrant Word

John Warwick Montgomery, History and Christianity

Frank Morrison, Who Moved the Stone?

Henry Morris, biblical Cosmology and Modern Science

Henry Morris, Many Infallible Proofs

Jon Tal Murphree, A Loving God and A Suffering World

J.I. Packer, God Has Spoken

Jim Peterson, Evangelism As A Lifestyle

Clark Pinnock, Reason Enough

Clark H. Pinnock, Set Forth Your Case

Mattew Prince, Winning Through Caring

Richard L. Purtill, Reason To Believe

Earl Radmacher, ed., Can We Trust the Bible?

Bernard Ramm, A Christian Appeal to Reason

Robert L. Reymond, The Justification of Knowledge

Don Richardson, Eternity In Their Hearts

Francis Schaeffer, Escape From Reason

Francis Schaeffer, The God Who Is There

Francis Schaeffer, He Is There and he Is Not Silent

Francis Schaeffer, How Should We Then Live

Hugh Sylvester, Arguing With God

James Sire, The Universe Next Door

A.E. Wilder Smith, Man’s Origin, Man’s Destiny

R.C. Sproul, If There Is a God, Why Are There Atheists

R.C. Sproul, Objections Answered

Kenneth E. Stevenson and Gary R. Habermas, Verdict on the Shroud

John R.W. Stott, Basic Christianity

Merrill C. Tenney, The Reality of the Resurrection

L. Duane Thurman, How to Think About Evolution

Cornelius Van Til, Apologetics

Cornelius Van Til, Christian-Theistic Evidences

Cornelius Van Til, The Defense of the Faith

John Wenham, The Goodness of God

Rheinallt Nantlais Williams, Faith, Facts, History, Science–and How They Fit Together

Clifford A. Wilson, Rocks, Relics, and Biblical Reliability

Nicholas Wolterstorff, Reason Within the Bounds of Religion

Barry Wood, Questions Non-Christians Ask

Edwin Yamauchi, The Stones and the Scriptures

Philip Yancey, Where is God When It Hurts?

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More Books of Interest

Theosophy

Watchman Fellowship recommends the following books on Theosophy;

Spirit Wars, by Peter Jones

Unmasking the New Age, by Douglas Groothuis

Spiritual Abuse

Watchman Fellowship recommends the following books on Spiritual Abuse;

The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse, by David Johnson and Jeff VanVonderen

Damage Disciples, by Ron and Vicki Burks

Faith that Hurts, Faith that Heals, by Stephen Arterburn and Jack Felton

Breaking Free, by David R. Miller

Wisdom Hunter, by Randall Arthur

Churches That Abuse, by Ronald Enroth

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