Contending with Christianity's Critics: Answering New Atheists and Other Objectors (Paperback)

~ (Editor), William Lane Craig (Editor)

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Product Description

Contending with Christianity’s Critics is book two in a series on modern Christian apologetics that began with the popular Passionate Conviction. This second installment, featuring writings from eighteen respected apologists such as Gary Habermas and Ben Witherington, addresses challenges from noted New Atheists like Richard Dawkins (The God Delusion) and other contemporary critics of Christianity concerning belief in God, the historical Jesus, and Christianity’s doctrinal coherence. Contending with Christianity's Critics and Passionate Conviction are the result of national apologetics conferences sponsored by the Evangelical Philosophical Society (www.epsociety.org).

About the Author

Paul Copan is a professor and the Pledger Family Chair of Philosophy and Ethics at Palm Beach Atlantic University in West Palm Beach, Florida. He holds a Ph.D. in Philosophy from Marquette University.

William Lane Craig is research professor of Philosophy at Talbot School of Theology in La Mirada, California. His Ph.D. in Philosophy is from the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom.

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Product Details Paperback: 304 pages Publisher: B&H Academic (August 1, 2009) Language: English ISBN-10: 0805449361 ISBN-13: 978-0805449365 Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.7 inches Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies) Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews) Amazon.com Sales Rank: #88,988 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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3 Reviews 5 star:  (2) 4 star:  (1) 3 star:    (0) 2 star:    (0) 1 star:    (0)           Average Customer Review 4.7 out of 5 stars (3 customer reviews)		Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews 14 of 15 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Another Homerun --- Excellent Essays that deal with Important Issues, June 30, 2009 By  Lemaro Thompson "christ follower" - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)    Amazon Verified Purchase This collection is wonderful, especially in combination with the previous collection Passionate Conviction. It really does provide excellent essays to rationally and reasonably defend the truth of Christianity. The best thing about this book is that it deals with numerous contemporary issues and concerns. It is hard since the popularization of Dawkins and Erhman for one to simply jump to the gospel, without first having to sort out "delusional" issues or "mistranslations" or "corruptions." This book provides some of the necessary tools. Now looking at the essays covered, one will realize that other issues that are important are missing, namely that of relativism or comparative religions. So it is not a complete guide, but if one picks up passionate conviction those issues are addressed. Therefore one might want to see which issues are of most concern to you and thus pick volumes accordingly. The minor let down, was getting the book and starting to read Craig's critique of dawkins only to find that it was about 3 pages (other authors give a more substantive analysis). Although it did address some issues, I wanted a lot more. Additionally, if one owns a huge collection of apologetics textbooks, one may ask is it worth it? For example Craig Evans has a chapter on Fabricating Jesus, but he has written a whole book on the issue. There are other instances of this (mostly with the Jesus of History section), in which I owned the book, in which the expert has written and from which the article may have been derived or adapted. Moments like those made me wonder if I was getting my full money's worth (or if i own too many books !) , but in the end I was pleased as it was a great recap and so there is so much good material in a portable compact volume. It is an excellent volume, especially recommended for those new to the issues and challenges of the New Athiests. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- OUTLINE OF THE BOOK Table of Contents: Preface vii PART 1 THE EXISTENCE OF GOD Chapter 1 Dawkins's Delusion William Lane Craig 2 Chapter 2 At Home in the Multiverse? James Daniel Sinclair 6 Chapter 3 Confronting Naturalism: The Argument from Reason Victor Reppert 26 Chapter 4 Belief in God: A Trick of Our Brain? Michael J. Murray 47 Chapter 5 The Moral Poverty of Evolutionary Naturalism Mark D. Linville 58 Chapter 6 Dawkins's Best Argument Against God's Existence Gregory E. Ganssle 74 PART 2 THE JESUS OF HISTORY Chapter 7 Criteria for the Gospels' Authenticity Robert H. Stein 88 Chapter 8 Jesus the Seer Ben Witherington III 104 Chapter 9 The Resurrection of Jesus Time Line Gary R. Habermas 113 Chapter 10 How Scholars Fabricate Jesus Craig A. Evans 126 Chapter 11 How Badly Did the Early Scribes Corrupt the New Testament? An Examination of Bart Ehrman's Claims Daniel B. Wallace 148 Chapter 12 Who Did Jesus Think He Was? Michael J. Wilkins 167 PART 3 THE COHERENCE OF CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE Chapter 13 The Coherence of Theism Charles Taliaferro and Elsa J. Marty 184 Chapter 14 Is the Trinity a Logical Blunder? God as Three and One Paul Copan 205 Chapter 15 Did God Become a Jew? A Defense of the Incarnation Paul Copan 218 Chapter 16 Dostoyevsky, Woody Allen, and the Doctrine of Penal Substitution Steve L. Porter 233 Chapter 17 Hell: Getting What's Good My Own Way Stewart Goetz 249 Chapter 18 What Does God Know? The Problems of Open Theism David P. Hunt 265 Contributors 283 Author Index 287 Scripture Index 290 15 of 17 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Great Collection, July 13, 2009 By  Michael R. Baldwin (Michigan) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)    This is an excellent collection of essays defending the Christian faith and doctrines. Starting from William Lane Craig's knockout to Richard Dawkins (no wonder Dawkins is to afraid to debate Craig) and continuing with victory blows from an all-star cast of Christian thinkers. This isn't an end all debates collection but it's powerful nontheless. Some surprises here too, like Chapter 16 on the doctrine of Penal Substatution and Chapter 12 "Who did Jesus think he was?", which took an approach I didn't expect (defending Mark 8:29-30). Chapter 9, "The Resurrection of Jesus Time Line" by Gary Habermas is a very important essay for every Christian to read and ought to be taught in every church. Chapter 10 by Craig A. Evans covers some of the information he gives in his "Fabricating Jesus" book, which is worth reading on it's own. 2 of 2 people found the following review helpful: 4.0 out of 5 stars You Want To Buy This, Don't You?, September 16, 2009 By  Daniel L. Marler (Oak Lawn, IL, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)    "Contending With Christianity's Critics" is the second book in a series on "cutting-edge Christian apologetics". It includes 18 essays from various Christian scholars on a number of different subjects. So, how much a person likes or dislikes the book would, in part, be influenced by how interested she is in the topics that are addressed. If you're considering buying the book, do this: look at the Table of Contents. If this has you longing to explore further then: #1) you're likely to be something of an apologetics book nerd like me--that's the bad news; and 2) go ahead and dive in, you've hit pay dirt. The book is divided into three parts: 1) The Existence of God; 2) The Jesus of History; and 3) The Coherence of Christian Doctrine. I found part one on "The Existence of God" to be the most interesting. And the final chapter deals with Open Theism, I found it to be a helpful take on the subject. If you're even reading this far you might as well get the book because it's clear that you like this stuff. On the other hand, if you're on this page by accident all I can say is: "See what happens when you're not careful with your mouse."		Ad feedback   Search Customer Reviews Only search this product's reviews

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Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: B&H Academic (August 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0805449361
• ISBN-13: 978-0805449365
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #88,988 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another Homerun --- Excellent Essays that deal with Important Issues, June 30, 2009

By	Lemaro Thompson "christ follower" - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Amazon Verified Purchase

This collection is wonderful, especially in combination with the previous collection Passionate Conviction. It really does provide excellent essays to rationally and reasonably defend the truth of Christianity.

The best thing about this book is that it deals with numerous contemporary issues and concerns. It is hard since the popularization of Dawkins and Erhman for one to simply jump to the gospel, without first having to sort out "delusional" issues or "mistranslations" or "corruptions."

This book provides some of the necessary tools. Now looking at the essays covered, one will realize that other issues that are important are missing, namely that of relativism or comparative religions. So it is not a complete guide, but if one picks up passionate conviction those issues are addressed.

Therefore one might want to see which issues are of most concern to you and thus pick volumes accordingly.

The minor let down, was getting the book and starting to read Craig's critique of dawkins only to find that it was about 3 pages (other authors give a more substantive analysis). Although it did address some issues, I wanted a lot more. Additionally, if one owns a huge collection of apologetics textbooks, one may ask is it worth it? For example Craig Evans has a chapter on Fabricating Jesus, but he has written a whole book on the issue. There are other instances of this (mostly with the Jesus of History section), in which I owned the book, in which the expert has written and from which the article may have been derived or adapted.

Moments like those made me wonder if I was getting my full money's worth (or if i own too many books !) , but in the end I was pleased as it was a great recap and so there is so much good material in a portable compact volume.

It is an excellent volume, especially recommended for those new to the issues and challenges of the New Athiests.



---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
OUTLINE OF THE BOOK

Table of Contents:
Preface vii

PART 1 THE EXISTENCE OF GOD
Chapter 1 Dawkins's Delusion
William Lane Craig
2
Chapter 2 At Home in the Multiverse?
James Daniel Sinclair
6
Chapter 3 Confronting Naturalism: The Argument from Reason
Victor Reppert
26
Chapter 4 Belief in God: A Trick of Our Brain?
Michael J. Murray
47
Chapter 5 The Moral Poverty of Evolutionary Naturalism
Mark D. Linville
58
Chapter 6 Dawkins's Best Argument Against God's Existence
Gregory E. Ganssle
74

PART 2 THE JESUS OF HISTORY
Chapter 7 Criteria for the Gospels' Authenticity
Robert H. Stein
88
Chapter 8 Jesus the Seer
Ben Witherington III
104
Chapter 9 The Resurrection of Jesus Time Line
Gary R. Habermas
113
Chapter 10 How Scholars Fabricate Jesus
Craig A. Evans
126
Chapter 11 How Badly Did the Early Scribes Corrupt the New Testament? An Examination of Bart Ehrman's Claims
Daniel B. Wallace
148
Chapter 12 Who Did Jesus Think He Was?
Michael J. Wilkins
167

PART 3 THE COHERENCE OF CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE
Chapter 13 The Coherence of Theism
Charles Taliaferro and Elsa J. Marty
184
Chapter 14 Is the Trinity a Logical Blunder? God as Three and One
Paul Copan
205
Chapter 15 Did God Become a Jew? A Defense of the Incarnation
Paul Copan
218
Chapter 16 Dostoyevsky, Woody Allen, and the Doctrine of Penal Substitution
Steve L. Porter
233
Chapter 17 Hell: Getting What's Good My Own Way
Stewart Goetz
249
Chapter 18 What Does God Know? The Problems of Open Theism
David P. Hunt
265

Contributors
283
Author Index 287
Scripture Index 290

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Collection, July 13, 2009

By	Michael R. Baldwin (Michigan) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is an excellent collection of essays defending the Christian faith and doctrines. Starting from William Lane Craig's knockout to Richard Dawkins (no wonder Dawkins is to afraid to debate Craig) and continuing with victory blows from an all-star cast of Christian thinkers. This isn't an end all debates collection but it's powerful nontheless. Some surprises here too, like Chapter 16 on the doctrine of Penal Substatution and Chapter 12 "Who did Jesus think he was?", which took an approach I didn't expect (defending Mark 8:29-30). Chapter 9, "The Resurrection of Jesus Time Line" by Gary Habermas is a very important essay for every Christian to read and ought to be taught in every church. Chapter 10 by Craig A. Evans covers some of the information he gives in his "Fabricating Jesus" book, which is worth reading on it's own.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars You Want To Buy This, Don't You?, September 16, 2009

By	Daniel L. Marler (Oak Lawn, IL, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

"Contending With Christianity's Critics" is the second book in a series on "cutting-edge Christian apologetics". It includes 18 essays from various Christian scholars on a number of different subjects. So, how much a person likes or dislikes the book would, in part, be influenced by how interested she is in the topics that are addressed.

If you're considering buying the book, do this: look at the Table of Contents. If this has you longing to explore further then: #1) you're likely to be something of an apologetics book nerd like me--that's the bad news; and 2) go ahead and dive in, you've hit pay dirt.

The book is divided into three parts: 1) The Existence of God; 2) The Jesus of History; and 3) The Coherence of Christian Doctrine.

I found part one on "The Existence of God" to be the most interesting. And the final chapter deals with Open Theism, I found it to be a helpful take on the subject.

If you're even reading this far you might as well get the book because it's clear that you like this stuff. On the other hand, if you're on this page by accident all I can say is: "See what happens when you're not careful with your mouse."