This current blog series on Reflections is intended to encourage Christians to read more vigorously by providing a beginner’s guide to some of the Christian classics in such fields as theology, philosophy, and apologetics. Hopefully a very brief introduction to these important Christian texts will motivate today’s believers, as St. Augustine was called to in his dramatic conversion to Christianity, to “take…
When I get a little money, I buy books. And if there is any left over, I buy food. —Desiderius Erasmus, Dutch Renaissance scholar and theologian Reading books has been an obsession of mine since my conversion to Christianity as a college sophomore. I sensed my mind really mattered in serving the Lord; so I began a serious pursuit of…
For many of us who lived through it, the assassination of President John F. Kennedy was as shocking and emotionally jarring as the events of 9/11. That may be difficult for some people to understand given that the events of 9/11 claimed the lives of almost 3,000 innocent people, but I believe it to be true. In some important ways…
Twice this week I saw my college-aged daughter Jacqueline reading Blaise Pascal’s classic work Pensées (French for “thoughts” or “reflections”). She’s not enrolled in a philosophy or religion course; rather she said she’s reading it for inspiration and wisdom. I immediately thought to myself, “That’s my girl!” An intuitive mathematician and a gifted physicist, Blaise Pascal (1623–1662) was one of…
Writing a book isn’t easy work. After laboring to get the right words and ideas on paper, undergoing the editorial process, and meeting publisher deadlines, it is encouraging to receive good reviews on one’s work. Here are two reviews of my most recent book, 7 Truths That Changed the World.
Can a young-earth creationist value an apologetics book that was written by an old-earth creationist? I’m happy to say that the answer is yes. Pastor and Bible college instructor Daniel Ruiz has written a very helpful and thorough review of my latest book, 7 Truths That Changed the World on the Sharper Iron website: http://sharperiron.org/article/book-review-7-truths-changed-world.
Christian apologist Luke Nix penned a review of my new book on behalf of Apologetics 315. His review provides a detailed description of the seven dangerous ideas and provides helpful comments in evaluating the content of my work. Luke even describes my book as “a very good read.” I’d say the same about his thorough and gracious review, for which…
This week on Reflections I offer up a review of my new book by Christian apologist Melissa Travis, creator of the blog Hard-Core Christianity: “Book Review: 7 Truths That Changed the World” Melissa was a student of mine a few years ago in Biola University’s graduate program in apologetics. She is an engaging, thoughtful speaker and writer. I appreciate her thorough…
People often ask me for book recommendations, particularly on the topics of philosophy and theology. One that I continue to recommend is Curtis Chang’s Engaging Unbelief for its attention to the often-overlooked field of historical theology. I reviewed this important apologetics book a couple of years ago and offer it again here.
The newly revised and expanded 2005 edition of Avery Dulles’ book A History of Apologetics (first published in 1971) is arguably the most substantial of its kind (see part 1). Last week, I summarized each of the book’s seven chapters. Today I will close this review with my thoughts on the book.
Reflections 