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The Case for Christ: A Journalist's Personal Investigation of the Evidence for Jesus

Lee Strobel

The Case for Christ:  A Journalist's Personal Investigation of the Evidence for Jesus Lee Strobel Amazon Price: $10.19
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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 641 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Failed to Address Any of My Questions 1 out of 5 stars.
3 of 4 people found this review helpful.

A good friend of mine, who is quite sincere in his belief, provided me with a copy of this book, believing it would quickly dispel my lifelong agnosticism. I read it in good faith, hoping that here at last might be a book that would address a lifetime's worth of questions. Unfortunately, I realized within the first few minutes of opening it that it would do no such thing. It glossed over the most fundamental objections I have within the first few pages and never looked back from there. Thus, to me, it was essentially worthless, though I labored on to finish the entire book out of respect for my friend. Thankfully, it was mercifully short, and the language made for an easy read. The content was of no value to me, but Strobel, at least, can write a coherent sentence and is a decent writer.

Christian believers should be aware of how weakly this book addresses genuine agnostic objections to the Jesus story, and how poorly it will prepare you to discuss and/or debate the matter with an informed unbeliever.

Quite simply, I have never believed the Jesus story, from the time I was a child. I don't believe in invisible things, be they ghosts, demons, leprechauns or the various and sundry gods of a thousand different religions. I have serious doubts that Jesus ever existed, though I can't rule out that the stories are not based on some bonafide rabbi who actually lived and breathed and preached for a time, even though he somehow missed the attention of Philo of Alexandria, a Jew who lived at exactly the same time and wrote extensively about the history of Palestine. I am puzzled by the existence of religion, which obviously has arisen in virtually every culture that has ever existed on this planet, but have accepted the reality that skeptics like myself are in the minority. Perhaps it is because I am a member of such a seemingly small minority that Strobel's book was not tailored to a mind like mine - but to me the fundamental flaw in his book is that he simply assumes from the very beginning that invisible and supernatural things do exist, that miracles happen, and that the stories told in the Gospels are true.

To me, it is obvious that all the biographical information we have about Jesus was first written by whoever developed the Gospel of Mark, and that little new or different regarding the actual life and biography of Jesus was added by the other three gospel writers. Thus we have what is essentially a point source regarding the life of Jesus, and I have yet to receive a compelling argument from anyone that counters my suspicion that maybe the entire story was a work of fiction invented by some literary genius now known to the world only as "Mark." Unfortunately, Strobel does not address this concern in the least. His only comment on this very serious objection is along the lines of: "these gospel writers seemed like good men, so why would they lie?"

Why indeed? The problem of course is that a devout Mormon will say the same thing about Joseph Smith, when to most outsiders it really does appear as if Smith made the entire Book of Mormon up virtually single handedly, and his motives for doing so: money, power, and even sex, are crystal clear to any outsider not caught up in the Mormon faith. The objection that no one person could have come up with the Jesus story is refuted not only by Joseph Smith, but by looking at the complex worlds created in fiction by people like Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, or J.K. Rowling. So of course one person could have come up with the Jesus story, especially since any simple course in comparative religion shows that most of the major premises of Christianity already were present in the Mediterranean basin at the time of St. Paul: whoever Mark was, living where he did, would have had access to the teachings and belief systems of Plato, Buddhism, Zoroaster/Mithras, Judaism, Heracles, and the ancient and well-developed Egyptian religion. From there, it would not be difficult to fuse and merge the best of each into a new amalgamation - the creation of such a hybrid religion would require creativity and ingenuity to be sure - but would not require the development of any new insights or philosophy - those were already there for the taking.

Strobel fails to address the fact that not a single contemporary Roman source mentions Jesus, and that references to Jesus from later writers like Tacitus and Josephus are not only scant but controversial. The oft repeated claim that the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus are "one of the most documented events in history" becomes ridiculous to anyone who has ever actually investigated the matter - but again - Strobel fails to address this.

Having thus blithely, and as I said earlier, in one sentence, dispensed with the most serious objection to Christianity - that the entire thing might have been invented, just like every other religion known to man, Strobel barrels along, treating each story in the gospel now as though it was actually witnessed by a sober and honest person.

I do not make these comments in an effort to stir up a debate, but in the event a Christian apologist happens to make a good faith effort to refute any of the concerns I've just expressed in the last few paragraphs in a "comment" to this review, I would observe that his or her efforts would be far superior and far more useful to me than anything in Strobel's book.

And THAT, more than anything else, drives home the point that Strobel's book is useless. If a stray Christian passerby can spend five minutes responding to me and come up with more compelling and direct arguments than Strobel did in the year or so he spent writing this book, that ought to tell you something about how useful Strobel's book really is as a refutation to agnosticism.

Editorial Review:

The Case for Christ records Lee Strobel's attempt to "determine if there's credible evidence that Jesus of Nazareth really is the Son of God." The book consists primarily of interviews between Strobel (a former legal editor at the Chicago Tribune) and biblical scholars such as Bruce Metzger. Each interview is based on a simple question, concerning historical evidence (for example, "Can the Biographies of Jesus Be Trusted?"), scientific evidence, ("Does Archaeology Confirm or Contradict Jesus' Biographies?"), and "psychiatric evidence" ("Was Jesus Crazy When He Claimed to Be the Son of God?"). Together, these interviews compose a case brief defending Jesus' divinity, and urging readers to reach a verdict of their own.

The Complete C. S. Lewis Signature Classics

C. S. Lewis

The Complete C. S. Lewis Signature Classics C. S. Lewis Amazon Price: $17.79
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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 78 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Awesome book. 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I have not finished reading the whole thing, but I have read three of the books included already. This man was a genius.

Wonderful Investment 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

An awesome, moving, collection of books. I am a changed man for reading his works.

This book is HUGE! 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I usually know when my husband is asleep when he drops his book, which usually lands on my head. As he climbed in bed with this HUGE text-book sized book, he said to me, "Been nice knowin' ya."
It's neat to have all CS Lewis' books together in one place, but this thing really is huge. Too heavy to hold to read comfortably unless you're at a desk and it's laying flat. Or maybe if you're sitting up and it can lay in your lap. But for snuggly bedtime reading, no go. (Except it will put you to sleep since it takes so much concentration to understand Lewis' deepth of thinking.)

Editorial Review:

Seven Spiritual Masterworks by C. S. Lewis

This classic collection includes C. S. Lewis's most important spiritual works:

Mere Christianity
The Screwtape Letters
The Great Divorce
The Problem of Pain
Miracles
A Grief Observed
The Abolition of Man

Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine

Wayne Grudem

Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine Wayne Grudem Amazon Price: $29.69
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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 135 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Outstanding and Unsurpassed 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

The title of my Review says it all, and since there are already over 130 Reviews, I will make this short. This is simply the best comprehensive modern systematic theology in one volume on the market I have seen in 40 years of ministry. Why? It covers charismatic, evangelical, historical, liturgical and every other angle theologically, is reader friendly, loaded with footnotes and references from every Christian persuasion, and yet not avoiding thorny and difficult topics usually only tackled by very independent writers. No wonder it has sold over a quarter of a million copies in such a short time.

Thank God 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

This a fantastic book!,Imagine a book on Theology for everyman to enjoy,From the scholar to the layperson,everyone can enjoy understanding who God is.And this gentleman seems to write from a perspective of really loving God and people too,without any desire to impress anyone with his knowledge as Mr Grudem could easily do,This is a masterpiece and I cannot overemphasize how enjoyable and solid this hefty volume is,We need more men like this to break down these wonderful truths for us and yet they are still as meaty and can be as deep as you need to go with them,I thank my God for using Mr Grudem to bring this to us,all Glory to Him!!

Editorial Review:

This introductory textbook has several distinctive features: a strong emphasis on the scriptural basis for each doctrine; clear writing, with technical terms kept to a minimum; and a contemporary approach.

The Case for a Creator: A Journalist Investigates Scientific Evidence That Points Toward God

Lee Strobel

The Case for a Creator: A Journalist Investigates Scientific Evidence That Points Toward God Lee Strobel Amazon Price: $10.19
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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 217 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Are Christianity and science incompatible? If there is a God, is he only an impersonal starter force? An introductory high school biology class first propelled Lee Strobel toward a life of atheism. God and science, he reasoned, were mutually exclusive. When the former legal editor of the Chicago Tribune converted to Christianity, he decided to investigate the science he had once accepted as truth. Did science point toward or away from God? As Strobel interviews a variety of scientists on everything from debunking evolutionary icons to the implications of the Big Bang to the existence of the human soul, he builds his case: scientific evidence points toward Intelligent Design.

Although the discussion often veers into the academic, Strobel works hard to make it accessible to those without scientific training. Throughout the book, he salts interview transcript information with interesting personal stories of his own spiritual and scientific quest for knowledge, as well as sometimes over-detailed descriptions of the actual interviews (right down to the type of beverages consumed). Each chapter contains suggestions for further reading on particular issues of science and faith.

Strobel concludes that, when correctly interpreted, science and biblical teaching support each other. He quotes physicist Paul Davies, "…science offers a surer path to God than religion." Open-minded readers will find that this book, and its questions for reflection and group study, invites conversation and investigation.--Cindy Crosby

St. Augustine Confessions (Oxford World's Classics)

Saint Augustine

St. Augustine Confessions (Oxford World's Classics) Saint Augustine Amazon Price: $7.95
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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 46 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

In his own day the dominant personality of the Western Church, Augustine of Hippo today stands as perhaps the greatest thinker of Christian antiquity, and his Confessions is one of the great works of Western literature. In this intensely personal narrative, Augustine relates his rare ascent from a humble Algerian farm to the edge of the corridors of power at the imperial court in Milan, his struggle against the domination of his sexual nature, his renunciation of secular ambition and marriage, and the recovery of the faith his mother Monica had taught him during his childhood. Now, Henry Chadwick, an eminent scholar of early Christianity, has given us the first new English translation in thirty years of this classic spiritual journey. Chadwick renders the details of Augustine's conversion in clear, modern English. We witness the future saint's fascination with astrology and with the Manichees, and then follow him through scepticism and disillusion with pagan myths until he finally reaches Christian faith. There are brilliant philosophical musings about Platonism and the nature of God, and touching portraits of Augustine's beloved mother, of St. Ambrose of Milan, and of other early Christians like Victorinus, who gave up a distinguished career as a rhetorician to adopt the orthodox faith. Augustine's concerns are often strikingly contemporary, yet his work contains many references and allusions that are easily understood only with background information about the ancient social and intellectual setting. To make The Confessions accessible to contemporary readers, Chadwick provides the most complete and informative notes of any recent translation, and includes an introduction to establish the context. The religious and philosophical value of The Confessions is unquestionable--now modern readers will have easier access to St. Augustine's deeply personal meditations. Chadwick's lucid translation and helpful introduction clear the way for a new experience of this classic.

The New Evidence That Demands A Verdict Fully Updated To Answer The Questions Challenging Christians Today

Josh McDowell

The New Evidence That Demands A Verdict Fully Updated To Answer The Questions Challenging Christians Today Josh McDowell Amazon Price: $19.79
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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 97 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Great Resource 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 4 people found this review helpful.

This is an incredible tool for anyone studying the Bible, defending the Bible, or just wants a solid resource in this skeptical 21st century. I have found it profoundly informative and a must for anyone who wanted a more in-depth view of the Bible, History and profound truths therein.

Editorial Review:

Bestselling author and Christian apologist Josh McDowell hopes The New Evidence That Demands a Verdict will further document historical evidence of the Christian faith. As such, it is a straightforward compilation of notes prepared for his lecture series, "Christianity: Hoax or History?" The entire book (over 750 pages) is laid out in outline form, which makes it easier for researchers, scholars, and students to access. As a result, this is not reflective fireside reading. Rather, it is a tool for locating supporting "evidence" whenever the need arises. Part I addresses the trustworthiness of the Bible; Part II offers historical evidence and supporting attestations for Jesus' claim to God; Part III addresses "radical Christian criticism" of the Bible; Part IV is devoted to quelling the voice of numerous skeptics, including "a defense for the existence of miracles" and "answers to divergent worldview."

The Devil's Delusion: Atheism and Its Scientific Pretensions

David Berlinski

The Devil's Delusion: Atheism and Its Scientific Pretensions David Berlinski Amazon Price: $16.29
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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 67 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Militant atheism is on the rise. Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Daniel Dennett, and Christopher Hitchens have dominated bestseller lists with books denigrating religious belief as dangerous foolishness. And these authors are merely the leading edge of a far larger movement–one that now includes much of the scientific community.

“The attack on traditional religious thought,” writes David Berlinski in The Devil’s Delusion, “marks the consolidation in our time of science as the single system of belief in which rational men and women might place their faith, and if not their faith, then certainly their devotion.”

A secular Jew, Berlinski nonetheless delivers a biting defense of religious thought. An acclaimed author who has spent his career writing about mathematics and the sciences, he turns the scientific community’s cherished skepticism back on itself, daring to ask and answer some rather embarrassing questions:

Has anyone provided a proof of God’s inexistence?
Not even close.

Has quantum cosmology explained the emergence of the universe or why it is here?
Not even close.

Have the sciences explained why our universe seems to be fine-tuned to allow for the existence of life?
Not even close.

Are physicists and biologists willing to believe in anything so long as it is not religious thought?
Close enough.

Has rationalism in moral thought provided us with an understanding of what is good, what is right, and what is moral?
Not close enough.

Has secularism in the terrible twentieth century been a force for good?
Not even close to being close.

Is there a narrow and oppressive orthodoxy of thought and opinion within the sciences?
Close enough.

Does anything in the sciences or in their philosophy justify the claim that religious belief is irrational?
Not even ballpark.

Is scientific atheism a frivolous exercise in intellectual contempt?
Dead on.

Berlinski does not dismiss the achievements of western science. The great physical theories, he observes, are among the treasures of the human race. But they do nothing to answer the questions that religion asks, and they fail to offer a coherent description of the cosmos or the methods by which it might be investigated.

This brilliant, incisive, and funny book explores the limits of science and the pretensions of those who insist it can be–indeed must be–the ultimate touchstone for understanding our world and ourselves.

A Divine Revelation of Hell

Mary K. Baxter

A Divine Revelation of Hell Mary K. Baxter Amazon Price: $10.39
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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 344 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Not very divine after all 1 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I remember reading this not long after it came out. I ate it up! It took me a few years to conclude that it was all her fertile imagination. I agree with another review posted here that asserts that the "Jesus" of Baxter's so-called "revelation" bears little to no resemblance to the Jesus of the Bible or traditional church teaching. I think this "revelation" can be safely ignored. As a telling side-note, has anyone else noticed her "A Divine Revelation of..." series of books? Looks like she started herself a franchise along the lines of "Chicken Soup For The (fill in the blank) Soul"!! Sounds like money might be the big revelation here.

Loved the book, bought it for my niece. 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I read this book a few years back and I loved it. Recently my niece wanted to read it, so I ordered it for her.

Editorial Review:

Over a period of forty days, God gave Mary K. Baxter visions of hell and commissioned her to tell all to choose life. Here is an account of the place and beings of hell contrasted with the glories of heaven. It is a reminder of the need each of us has for the miracle of salvation.

The End of Reason: A Response to the New Atheists

Ravi K. Zacharias

The End of Reason: A Response to the New Atheists Ravi K. Zacharias Amazon Price: $10.18
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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 19 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Disappointing and simplistic 2 out of 5 stars.
6 of 8 people found this review helpful.

In _The End of Reason_, Ravi Zacharias ultimately fails to counter arguments put forth by the so-called "new atheists," particularly Sam Harris, who authored _The End of Reason_ and _Letter to a Christian Nation_. Zacharias offers two major arguments in favor of a theistic worldview, but neither one is ultimately persuasive.

Zazharias's first argument is that a life without God has no meaning. In Zacharias's view, the inevitable conclusion to this worldview is suicide. No meaning? No reason to live. Zacharias further excoriates those who, confronted with meaninglessness, instead seek meaning through empty hedonism.

Zacharias's conclusion seems simplistic. This seems overly simplistic, and entire schools of philosophy -- existentialism in particular -- confront the question of whether a person should suicide, given a lack of meaning in the universe. Moreover, I suggest that if a person concludes that there is no God to grant meaning to life, then perhaps that person can find that meaning elsewhere. Through family or through friends. Through work or through craftsmanship. Through intellectual debate, if nothing else.

Zacharias's second argument also largely fails. Zacharias argues that without a divine lawgiver, there can be no morality. In particular, Zacharias spends inordinate amount of ink claiming inconsistency in Harris's belief in moral standards and denial of God. If there is an absolute moral standard, Zacharias reasons, there must be a God. There are moral standards, therefore there is a God.

Again, Zacharias's ship of argument cracks open against the shoals of complication. For some reason, Zacharias chooses to ignore entire theories on the origin of morality, any numebr of which lack a divine origin. Social contract theory? Non-existent. Consequentialism? Not a chance. Deontology? Only in the context of a divine lawgiver. Evolutionary development of morality? Absent.

Again and again and again, Zacharias assays simplistic approaches to complicated philosophical issues. And again and again and again, Zacharias's approach is unsatisfactory and unpersuasive. I cannot recommend this book as a suitable rebuttal to the "New Atheists."

That said, Zacharias still merits a two-star, rather than one-star rating for one thing. Both of Harris's works are replete with an attitude just short of outright hatred toward the faithful and organized religion, and Zachrias rightfully takes Harris to task for this religious bigotry.

Editorial Review:

When Sam Harris wrote his book Letter to a Christian Nation, stating that Christians display “murderous intolerance,” Dr. Ravi Zacharias felt called to answer. The End of Reason is a clear and powerful response to the “utter bankruptcy” of Harris’s New Atheism as it explains the true nature of God, the foundation for evil in the world, and the basis of true morality.

Theology Of The Body For Beginners

Christopher West

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 14 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

A Tragic Quasi-Theology of the Body 1 out of 5 stars.
15 of 40 people found this review helpful.

As an academic theologian, I was intrigued when this book was not only being passed around among my friends and students but was recommended as one of the finest explications on the body, gender, and sexual intimacy as seen through the writings of John Paul II. It is not. And I say this not as a critic of those with conservative Christian beliefs (I am one), I say this because what West teaches in this volume is so sadly misdirected. In fact, I shared an outline of this book with a number of colleagues who gasped just as I did. "Surely," one said, "this guy doesn't have a degree in theology." And that was it. To the trained reader, this book falls apart not long after one begins to read it. West needs a theological mentor.

In a word (a fuller exploration is impossible), West thinks our society has become "Gnostic" and so flees from this heresy into the arms of a materialism ('monism') with an application to sex that we haven't seen since the 1960s. A colleague linked it to ancient near east pagan fertility religions. West exploits our understanding of marriage and misconstrues the place of sexual intimacy within it. For West, sex is no longer a gift from God, it is a "participation" in divine life -- on a parallel to how one participates with God in sacramental worship (e.g. the eucharist). Therefore to have sex (within marriage) is to gain some access to divine reality that one does not gain elsewhere. And with this surprising announcement, West thinks that the church will not only protect the sanctity of sex but recharge marital sex with all the exciting goodness God planned for it. There is a lot more, but this is the gist of it.

The book ends -- really, it is a major part of the book -- with an angry screed against any form of contraception. The ethical and medical arguments are considered, but the theological conclusions are utterly irresponsible. To use contraception is to reap the most severe criticisms. It is to deny any relationship with God, to void one's marriage, and to sin in the most profound sense. Of course, Natural Planning is the only option offered.

There are a lot of solid orthodox books of sexuality, the intimacy of persons, marriage, and the relationship of sexual life to marriage. One will find solid Catholic works on the relationship of marriage to sacramental life. But this is not one of them.

I couldn't help thinking that the outrageous, pop-theology style of West is one of the things that make people want to read him. Surely Christian theology, even bright laity like West, can do better than this. At least we should stop recommending him to our friends.

Editorial Review:

According to Pope John Paul II, if we live according to the true meaning of our sexuality, we "fulfill the very meaning of [our] being and existence." The human body is a "theology" because it is meant to be a sign of God's own life and love in the world. With clarity and precision, Christopher West unpacks John Paul II's Theology of the Body, translating it into a language everyone can understand.

Theology of the Body for Beginners explores the profound interconnections between sex and the deepest questions of human existence, including:

What is the meaning of life?
Why did God create us male and female?
How do we attain true happiness on earth?
What kind of joys await us in heaven?
Why is there evil in the world and how do we overcome it?
How can we experience the love we long for in the depth of our hearts?


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