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Title: Handbook of Christian Apologetics: Hundreds of Answers to Crucial Questions by Peter Kreeft, Ronald K. Tacelli ISBN: 0-8308-1774-3 Publisher: Intervarsity Press Pub. Date: March, 1994 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $18.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.29 (49 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: packs in a lot of information in 400 pages
Comment: This is one of the books that brought me back from the brink of agnosticism. Christianity is a worldview that is based on historical evidence and rational arguments. The Handbook of Christian Apologetics provides a firm basis for defending Christianity by offering a wide range of reasons for belief. It is aimed at both believers and non-believers alike. Its goal is to help believers defend their faith and to help non-believers see the reasonableness of believing in Christianity.
Kreeft and Tacelli write in a lively and intelligent manner. Their train of thought is fairly easy to follow, althought it wouldn't hurt if the reader has a bit of knowledge of philosophical terms under her belt. The authors begin with a look at faith and reason. They note how both are vital, and that faith and reason can never contradict each other.
In the following chapters they tackle topics such as, Does God Exist? (they offer 20 arguments for the existence of God), The Problem of Evil, The Divinity of Christ, Life after Death, Objective Truth, just to name a few. Each chapter is followed by a number of discussion questions to help the reader digest and cogitate on what was just read. A bibliography is provided for those who wish to delve more deeply into each of the subjects presented. The authors confine themselves to the core beliefs common to all orthodox Christians. As a result, this is a book that can be read and used by all orthodox denominations and traditions.
One section I found particularly interesting was where they discuss how a person receives salvation by asking if a good pagan like Socrates could have been saved. Another good section (there's so many of them) is where they discuss free will in the chapter on evil. For example, they write, "the simplest argument for the existence of free will is observation of how we use words. We praise, blame, command, counsel, exhort, and moralize to each other. Doing these things to robots is absurd. We do not hold machines morally responsible for what they do, no matter how complicated the machines are. If there is no free will, all moral meaning disappears from language - and from life."
I highly recommend Handbook of Christian Apologetics for all who have ever yearned for answers to life's most important questions.
Rating: 3
Summary: It Accomplishes Its Goals, But...
Comment: Peter Kreeft and Ronald Tacelli clearly state in the opening chapter that their book is in the tradition of a "summa," or summary, of the major topics associated with Christian apologetics and offering a defense for arguments against Christianity. Theirs is a handbook, a catalog of sorts which files things under neat subject headings, gives brief explanations, and then moves on to another subject.
The authors do so with wit and understanding, but I felt that because the book is more of a catalog than an advanced argument for any specific tenant of the faith, it is inherently limited in its approach. At points the authors seem to give a mere cursory glance to subjects that obviously are too complex for this sort of genre, and in some cases, are better left out, for the sake of confusing those less philosophical - i.e., the section on Objective Truth, skepticism and subjectivism. Many times I also got the impression that the authors were convincing themselves more than they were their potential audience -which by the way is college students and the average layperson.
That's not to say there isn't value to studying this text - it has an enormous task - arguing for the existence of God, heaven, hell, and the whole nine yards of apologetics. It's a decent primer for the average Joe, and it avoids overly sophisticated terminology or philosophical mumbo-jumbo - but most Christians with any knowledge of the key issues will find it too cursory in too many instances to shed any real light for them...
Rating: 2
Summary: aren't we smart?
Comment: This is a glib romp through difficult terrain. The authors seem to answer lots of questions, but after a while their answers become predictable and increasingly superficial. No problem is so tough that they can't solve. No doubt is so deep that they can't dispel. They write as if they are the C. S. Lewis of the 21st Century. They aren't.
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Title: Making Sense Out of Suffering by Peter Kreeft, Sheldon Vanauken ISBN: 0892832193 Publisher: Charis Books Pub. Date: May, 1986 List Price(USD): $10.99 |
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Title: How to Win the Culture War: A Christian Battle Plan for a Society in Crisis by Peter Kreeft ISBN: 0830823166 Publisher: Intervarsity Press Pub. Date: June, 2002 List Price(USD): $11.00 |
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Title: Catholic Christianity: A Complete Catechism of Catholic Beliefs Based on the Catechism of the Catholic Church by Peter Kreeft ISBN: 0898707986 Publisher: Ignatius Press Pub. Date: July, 2001 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
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Title: A Refutation of Moral Relativism: Interviews With an Absolutist by Peter Kreeft ISBN: 0898707315 Publisher: Ignatius Press Pub. Date: October, 1999 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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Title: Reasonable Faith: Christian Truth and Apologetics by William Lane Craig ISBN: 0891077642 Publisher: Crossway Books Pub. Date: July, 1994 List Price(USD): $24.00 |
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