Saturday, May 31, 2008
Book Recommendations For Unbelievers And Less Mature Christians
I'm interested in recommendations from any of the readers, including other members of the Triablogue staff. There are a few books I'm currently giving people, such as Charles Spurgeon's All Of Grace, John Piper's Don't Waste Your Life (Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway Books, 2003), and Reinventing Jesus (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Kregel Publications, 2006) by J. Ed Komoszewski, et al. I sometimes change the books or add some to the list, and I'm looking for recommendations. Which books have you used, or which ones most influenced you, and why?
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"One Heart Beat Away" by Mark Cahill is outstanding! It's biblically solid and written in easy to understand language. Mark is also the author of "One Thing You Can't Do in Heaven". Here's the link to Mark's website where you can read more about his ministry and books. http://www.markcahill.org/
ReplyDeleteIf unbelievers give you some recommendations, will you check them out?
ReplyDeleteLyosha07 said:
ReplyDelete“If unbelievers give you some recommendations, will you check them out?”
A recommendation isn’t enough by itself, and I haven’t suggested that it would be enough. I read books and other material by unbelievers. I’ve interacted with the writings of unbelievers on this blog. So have the other members of the Triablogue staff. But whether I read a book by an unbeliever depends on a variety of factors, not just whether somebody recommends the book.
Your question doesn’t seem to accomplish much. (Neither do the other things you post here.) What are you getting at?
To answer Jason's question, assuming they will read the Bible on their own, then it's really dependent upon the person I'm talking to as to which books I would suggest. Most of the good books are really specialized, and therefore if I was recommending something I would seek to know what exactly the person was looking for. In terms of just general, your use of Piper is good :-) and even though I'm not an evidentialist, I've found Strobel and McDowell to be good too.
ReplyDeleteHowever, if it was someone who was going to be really digging into the meat of the issues and not just hanging at the surface level, then I think it's best to get a good book on logical fallacies. For that, I've enjoyed With Good Reason by S. Morris Engel.
Understanding logical fallacies will let you then critique the invidual arguments you read from both sides, so I would say if you're talking with someone who actually wants to understand, it's paramount.
After that, it would then come back to which issues they are struggling with or wish to understand better.
Lyosha07 said:
ReplyDelete---
If unbelievers give you some recommendations, will you check them out?
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I've probably already read them, or better ones (more likely, given the source).
If they can, I'd definitely recommend checking out our weblog, Triablogue! :-) (Which, BTW, I'd like to see better organized and stuff, so that our past posts are more easily accessible to, say, a person browsing over here for the first time. Well, maybe one of these days, when we each have more time to devote to Tblog 2.0 or whatever.)
ReplyDeleteBut to actually answer the question, for unbelievers searching for the truth, one book I've found helpful is Os Guinness' Long Journey Home. Among other things, it contrasts the lives of unbelievers with believers, as a result demonstrating the existential meaninglessness of unbelief and atheism.
It might be good to have a book which addresses modern science, too. One which I recently picked up but haven't yet gotten a chance to read in its entirety is John Lennox's God's Undertaker: Has Science Buried God?. It's a pretty short book which introduces and tackles a lot of the basic issues with (from what I can tell so far) remarkable depth.
For new Christians, I very much appreciated D.A. Carson's Basic for Believers, which is an exposition of the epistle to the Philippians. As he goes through Philippians, Carson examines what things the Scriptures teach should and in fact must be central to our lives as Christians. At the same time it's a good way for new believers to indirectly learn how to apply what they read and study in the Bible to their lives. And it's also a good intro to Carson, who has written so many other books which have edified me.
Oh, and I want to mention, this is a great resource which I've recently used, too: the International Bible Society has cheap Bibles we can purchase and give away to our relatives, friends, and others as well (e.g. NIV, NASB).
Anyway, what a great question, Jason! Thanks for asking it. I'm humbly impressed with your desire to share the good news and expand the kingdom of God in this way.
I've picked up (but haven't read) Keller's The Reason for God. It covers just about all the objections to Christianity (though it capitulates to Darwinism). The guys over at Monergism say that it's something that they would hand out to unbelievers.
ReplyDeleteAlso, depending on the reading level of the audience, Strobel's The Case for the Real Jesus (which I have not read) or Komoszewski, Sawyer, and Wallace's Reinventing Jesus (a little higher level) are good for a focus on the historical issues.
I found Donald Whitney's book: "Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life", a fine book to help the Christian mature.
ReplyDelete"Without knowledge of God, no matter how long and prosperous one's earthly existence, life is meaningless and worthless. Thus on other object on earth is as valuable as the Bible, for nothing else can provide anything as essential or eternal."-Don Whitney
Also, Tozer's "The Knowledge of the Holy", is good for helping us to mature.
I usually give unbelievers a Bible, if they haven't one.
I suppose the book I just finished may be good for non-Christians. "Vintage Jesus", by Mark Driscoll. It's basically a good book for the most part, but he does say some worldly things.
For unbelievers I have found it valuable to study the Bible with them if they are open enough to read Christian literature. If they want to study Christianity on their own I recommend Josh McDowell's books or Ray Comfort's books.
ReplyDeleteFor serious disciples who want to go deeper I recommend E.M. Bounds on prayer, Leonard Ravenhill's WHY REVIVAL TARRIES?, and A.W. Tozer's books. All are classics and all point the believer to loving Jesus with all your heart, mind, soul and strength (Mark 12:29-31). I also encourage them to read books on evangelism such as Ray Comfort's HELL'S BEST KEPT SECRET or J.I. Packer's EVANGELISM & THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD.
Being a good Arminian I can't help but encourage them to read the works of Arminius but boy are they tough reading! :)
The Mystery of Providence by John Flavel is an excellent choice. It's extremely practical and equally applicable to all Christians, in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteCMA
@Saint and Sinner:
ReplyDeleteI've read and I'd give Keller's The Reason For God a thumbs up, particularly for the sort of person who is like the demographic at Redeemer.
Keller does consider Gen. 1 to be poetic/allegorical, but other than that, there's not much in the book with which I'd quibble.
"A recommendation isn’t enough by itself, and I haven’t suggested that it would be enough. I read books and other material by unbelievers. I’ve interacted with the writings of unbelievers on this blog. So have the other members of the Triablogue staff. But whether I read a book by an unbeliever depends on a variety of factors, not just whether somebody recommends the book.
ReplyDeleteYour question doesn’t seem to accomplish much. (Neither do the other things you post here.) What are you getting at?"
Okay, first, I wasn't suggesting that you should read every book that is recommended to you. In answer to your last question, I wasn't "getting" at anything ... it was a simple and direct question, Jason. I guess being a Christian internet apologist sometimes makes you a little paranoid whenever people of opposing viewpoints make a simple utterance.
The mere fact that you and other people on Triablogue have "interacted with the writings of unbelievers" does not say much, Jason. I know that you guys try to answer some criticisms of your irrational faith, but that doesn't make you the experts that you try to portray yourselves as. The Mormons at BYU dedicate a lot of time and "scholarship" to answer criticisms of their irrational faith, but that does not mean that their arguments are respectable. The fact that some people have wasted long portions of their lifetime writing online articles in defense of a tribal deity does not qualify them as "experts" or prove that they are capable of dealing with the facts rationally.
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"I've probably already read them, or better ones (more likely, given the source)."
Sure you have, Peter. You just always just come across as so sophisticated and erudite in your posts.
I'm looking for a book having extensive catalog of arguments of the existence of God and defending Christian view of God; maybe a college (or less) level reading difficulty. Any recommendations?
ReplyDeleteAlso what are the good books for unbelievers to read about the historicity of Jesus and a comparison of beliefs of different Christian denominations. Suggestions?
Lyosha07 said:
ReplyDeleteI guess being a Christian internet apologist sometimes makes you a little paranoid whenever people of opposing viewpoints make a simple utterance.
Nothing Jason said to you above sounds the least bit paranoid. You're reading paranoia into his words.
The mere fact that you and other people on Triablogue have "interacted with the writings of unbelievers" does not say much, Jason. I know that you guys try to answer some criticisms of your irrational faith, but that doesn't make you the experts that you try to portray yourselves as. The Mormons at BYU dedicate a lot of time and "scholarship" to answer criticisms of their irrational faith, but that does not mean that their arguments are respectable. The fact that some people have wasted long portions of their lifetime writing online articles in defense of a tribal deity does not qualify them as "experts" or prove that they are capable of dealing with the facts rationally.
Not that it would necessarily be wrong, but to my knowledge none of us has tried to portray ourselves as "experts" in an academic or scholarly sense -- perhaps such as by trumpeting academic credentials in lieu of argumentation (although I should point out that some Tbloggers are scholars, e.g., Anderson, Sudduth). Again, you're reading into our words.
Rather, we've made our arguments for certain positions, interacted with other arguments, and so on. So deal with our arguments.
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Peter said:
I'm looking for a book having extensive catalog of arguments of the existence of God and defending Christian view of God; maybe a college (or less) level reading difficulty. Any recommendations?
Also what are the good books for unbelievers to read about the historicity of Jesus and a comparison of beliefs of different Christian denominations. Suggestions?
Hi Peter,
As to your first question, one book which comes to mind is A Reasonable Faith by William Lane Craig. As to your second question, Jason already mentioned a good one called Reinventing Jesus by Ed Komoszewski, et al. I think both books are suitable for college level students.
More importantly, check out Steve's past recommendations:
1. Christian starter kit
2. Improving the church
3. Why believe the Bible
4. Read any good books, lately? 1
5. Read any good books, lately? 2
You didn't ask about science or Christian biographies, but these additional bibliographies from Steve might still prove helpful to you (or someone else):
6. Shades of truth and error
7. A great cloud of witnesses
BTW, here is Steve's review of Reinventing Jesus.
ReplyDeleteAnd here (PDF) is Steve's (along with Jason's and Gene's) review of The Empty Tomb by Price and Lowder. It's a good resource, too.
Lyosha07 responds in his usual manner:
ReplyDelete"Okay, first, I wasn't suggesting that you should read every book that is recommended to you. In answer to your last question, I wasn't 'getting' at anything ... it was a simple and direct question, Jason. I guess being a Christian internet apologist sometimes makes you a little paranoid whenever people of opposing viewpoints make a simple utterance."
People post comments for a reason. To say that you weren't getting at anything doesn't make sense. Why post a "simple utterance" for no reason? I think it's more likely that you had a bad reason for asking the question, and you'd prefer to not have to defend that bad reason.
You write:
"I know that you guys try to answer some criticisms of your irrational faith, but that doesn't make you the experts that you try to portray yourselves as. The Mormons at BYU dedicate a lot of time and 'scholarship' to answer criticisms of their irrational faith, but that does not mean that their arguments are respectable."
You're changing the subject. Whether we interact with unbelievers is a different issue than the quality of our interactions with them.
I haven't claimed to be an "expert", but we do interact with our opponents more than you interact with yours on this blog, and we've made a better case for our beliefs than you've made for yours. Anybody unconvinced by our arguments would have to be even more unconvinced by yours.
Peter said:
ReplyDelete"Also what are the good books for unbelievers to read about the historicity of Jesus and a comparison of beliefs of different Christian denominations."
On the historicity of Jesus, read Richard Bauckham's Jesus And The Eyewitnesses (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans, 2006) and Paul Eddy and Gregory Boyd's The Jesus Legend (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, 2007). I've posted a lot of comments about and quotes from both books, which you can find in the archives. It's also helpful to consult commentaries on individual books of the Bible. For example, if you consult Darrell Bock's commentary on Luke or Craig Keener's commentary on John, you'll find a lot of material on the historicity of those gospels.
I don't know as much about books comparing denominational beliefs. One that comes to mind is Handbook Of Denominations In The United States (Nashville, Tennessee: Abingdon Press, 1995) by Frank Mead and Samuel Hill.
1. Mere Christianity by CS Lewis
ReplyDelete2. What is Reformed Theology? by RC Sproul
3. How to get the most out of God's Word by John Macarthur
4. The Forgotten Trinity by James R. White
5. Vintage Jesus by Mark Driscoll
Decision Making and the Will of God, by Garry Freisen.
ReplyDeleteA Fresh Start by John Chapman
ReplyDeletehttp://secure.fellowworkers.com/cgi-bin/mmstore/afs.html
Thanks for all the suggestions, I might get couple of those to read. I have read some of those already and I must say that A Fresh Start by John Chapman is not a good book to recommend to a non-believer. It is full of special pleadings, circular reasonings and misinformation, and the part 2 aimed at non-believers is basically quoting Bible verses and telling it is true. I don't think John Chapman has ever talked to a non-believer. Maybe I should post a review of that book somewhere. After reading that book a non-believer will walk away thinking are these the best arguments for the Christianity.
ReplyDeleteWilliam Lane Graig goes heavy in theology in his podcasts, but I find that in debates he usually repeats the same arguments even when his previous opponents have refuted at least one of them. I find his arguments a bit stagnated, but I'll put his "A Reasonable Faith" in my to be read list.
Peter said:
ReplyDeleteWilliam Lane Graig goes heavy in theology in his podcasts, but I find that in debates he usually repeats the same arguments even when his previous opponents have refuted at least one of them. I find his arguments a bit stagnated, but I'll put his "A Reasonable Faith" in my to be read list.
Hm, I'm not exactly sure what you mean by his arguments being "stagnated." But just to be clear: I'm not suggesting A Reasonable Faith is without its deficiencies. Let alone that I agree with everything Craig has ever written or spoken. However, the book does offer and defend standard arguments in favor of the existence of God from a traditional Christian standpoint. And, at least in my opinion, it would be suitable for a college level student.
But, yeah, if you like, you could look at the works of (Christian) philosophers such as Peter van Inwagen, Richard Swinburne, Alvin Plantinga, etc. on the existence of God. Obviously these guys are sophisticated philosophers who have written highly technical philosophical works. All I know, however, is that they're big names but I've never read any of their books, so I can't say much of anything at all in the way of recommendations or suggestions here. I'm sure other Tbloggers could easily weigh in though. (I will mention, though, that Plantinga's "Two Dozen (or So) Theistic Arguments" is useful.)
But I did read Greg Ganssle's Thinking About God, and thought it was good. Jeremy Pierce has a positive review on it.
Another good book with several good essays on a variety of topics (not just the existence of God) written by several Christian philosophers and which would be suitable for a college level student is Reason for the Hope Within.
And, again, see Steve's lists for far better book recommendations.
Aside from Mere Christianity, I currently often lend out The Christ Files by John Dickson (either the book, or the newly released DVD). It's a short piece which seeks to answer common questions and misconceptions about the NT documents. Dickson I particularly like because he is careful not to exaggerate the evidence.
ReplyDeleteThere may be other books which do a better job, but these two were very helpful for me personally in my transition from an atheist to a believer last year.