Defending the Faith in a Messy World

Defending the Faith in a Messy World book cover

Defending the Faith in a Messy World

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SKU: 9781948969116
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Much to the dismay of its critics, defending the Christian faith does not rest on a complicated, philosophical quest nor illogical assumptions. The task of defending the Christian faith – or Christian apologetics – is for every Believer. In this easy-to-read, beginners guide to Christian apologetics, scholar and apologist Dr. John Warwick Montgomery lays the groundwork for why the case for Christianity is factually and historically compelling as well as how we should defend the faith.

The book's three sections will lead you through the importance of Christian apologetics, issues the nonbeliever may raise, and how to bring the centrality of the faith – Christ on the cross – before atheists, skeptics and people from other worldviews.

For those who want a lighthearted yet thorough introduction to the how, why and what of Christian apologetics, this primer is a go-to guide for those who hope to “be ready always to give an answer for the faith that is within” (1 Peter 3:15). 

The book's three sections will lead you through the importance of Christian apologetics, issues the nonbeliever may raise, and how to bring the centrality of the faith – Christ on the cross – before atheists, skeptics and people from other worldviews.To use C. S. Lewis's words, John Warwick Montgomery was brought over the threshold of Christian faith "kicking and struggling."

The year was 1949. The place, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York. Herman John Eckelmann, a persistent engineering student succeeded in goading Montgomery into religious discussions. Montgomery, a philosophy major disinterested in religion, found himself forced to consider seriously the claims of Jesus Christ in the New Testament in order to preserve his intellectual integrity. After no mean struggle he acknowledged his rebellion against God, asking His forgiveness.

Today, he is considered by many to be the foremost living apologist for biblical Christianity.

A renaissance scholar with a flair for controversy, he lives in France, England and the United States. His international activities have brought him into personal contact with some of the most exciting events of our time: not only was he in China In June 1989, but he was In Fiji during its 1987 bloodless revolution, was involved in assisting East Germans to escape during the time of the Berlin Wall, and was in Paris during the 'days of May' 1968.

He is an ordained Lutheran clergyman, an English barrister, and is admitted to practise as a lawyer before the Supreme Court of the United States and inscrit au Barreau de Paris, France. He obtained acquittals for the 'Athens 3' missionaries on charges of proselytism at the Greek Court of Appeals in 1986 and won the leading religious liberty cases of Larissis v. Greece and Bessarabian Orthodox Church v. Moldova before the European Court of Human Rights.

Dr. Montgomery is the author of more than fifty books in five languages. He holds ten earned degrees, Including a Master of Philosophy in Law from the University of Essex, England, a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago, and a Doctorate of the University in Protestant Theology from the University of Strasbourg, France, and the higher doctorate in law (LL.D.) from the University of Cardiff, Wales.

Find out more at: http://wherechristispresent.com and www.1517.org

Part 1: Some Essential Preliminaries

  1. Why This Primer?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . 3
  2. Why Defend the Faith—and How?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . 5
  3. But Aren’t All Unbelievers Blind to Evidence? . . … . . . . . . .. . . . . 9
  4. Common Sense—or Revelation?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13

Part 2: The Issues

  1. God: Is Someone out There? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19
  2. Christ: Evolved Humanity or God in the Flesh?. . . ……. . . . . . . . .25
  3. The Trinity: Does Three Equal One?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . … . . . . . .33
  4. How Reliable Is the Bible? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . .37
  5. What about Evolution?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . .. . . . . .43
  6. Sexual Issues: Isn’t Christianity Out-of-Date?. . . . . . . . . …… . . . .51
  7. How Can God Exist in a World of Misery?. . . . . . . . . . . ……. . . . .55
  8. Hell: Only on Earth? Heaven: Pie-in-the-Sky?. . . . . . . ……. . . . . .59

Part 3: Decision Time

  1. Why Not Other Worldviews?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ………. . . . . . . .65
  2. Doesn’t an Extraordinary Claim Require Extraordinary Evidence?. . . 71
  3. A Push from Inside. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ……… . . . . .75
  4. But as an Agnostic, Can’t I Put off the Decision for a While?. . . . . . . .79
  • Reading Can’t Hurt: Suggested Resources……………………………………81
  • Appendix A: How Much Evidence to Justify Religious Conversion?…. 83
  • Appendix B: A Computable Universe?…………………………………………. 99
  • Appendix C: How Not to Interpret the Bible…………………………………. 103
  • About the Author …………………………………………………………………….. 107

Additional information

Dimensions 0.27 × 6 × 9 in
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Format

Author

Audience

BISAC

,

Subjects

REL082000, evidential apologetics, defending the faith, apologetics, christian theology, REL051000
ISBN-13

ISBN-10