History and Christianity [Paperback]

John Warwick Montgomery (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1986

A stirring defense of the faith by one of Christianity's ablest defenders.

Dr. John Montgomery, scholar, theologian and apologist for the faith, developed this book from a seminar he presented at the University of British Columbia. Readable and convincing, the book is divided into four sections:

Section One deals with four basic errors usually committed by those who attack the historicity of the New Testament.

Section Two defends the accuracy of the New Testament documents, using tests which are commonly applied to any ancient document.

Section Three, entitled "God Closes In," is a powerful defense of the truly divine and truly human nature of Christ.

Section Four clearly shows that if Jesus were not the Son of God, the only other alternatives are either liar or lunatic.

The book includes the transcript of a panel discussion in which Dr. Montgomery convincingly argues from the above four points to demonstrate their application for the reader. Here is excellent material for class discussion or individual study, particularly suited to helping young people combat humanistic concepts of the Bible and Christianity.

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About the Author

size : 5.2 x 8

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Bethany House Pub (June 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 087123890X
• ISBN-13: 978-0871238900
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.2 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #884,979 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Concise presentation of the historical evidence for Jesus, November 18, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: History and Christianity (Paperback)

This text was first published in the 1960s and has proven to be a classic work inspiring other Christian apologists like Josh McDowell. The book arose out of a series of lectures delivered in Canada. Montgomery's style is eminently readable. He sets out three essential tests in historiography and applies each test to the gospel records. His purpose is to demonstrate that the gospel accounts are historically sound and reliable sources of data for the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. From the quantity and quality of extant Greek manuscripts of the gospels, the internal eyewitness value of the documents and the external verification of them, Montgomery shows we can depend on them. He then explores the portrait of Jesus as the incarnation of God and delves into the evidence for his bodily resurrection from the dead. This is a superb, succinct treatment of the subject, and its continuing circulation in print is a testament to its worth. A book that non-Christians can grapple with if they doubt the veracity of the Gospels.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Jesus of the Bible = Jesus of History, October 19, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: History and Christianity (Paperback)

In an age of controversy concerning the historicity of Jesus of Nazareth, Dr. Montgomery's book is still a refreshing look at who is Jesus. If you want to read a text devoid of the higher critcism tactics utilized by the "Jesus Seminar" then this is definitely a book that you should buy!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THE MOST POPULAR APOLOGETICS WORK BY A MAJOR PHILOSOPHICAL APOLOGIST, February 17, 2010

By 

Steven H. Propp (Sacramento, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: History and Christianity (Paperback)

John Warwick Montgomery (b. 1931) is one of the major philosophical apologists of the 20th century. He is also a trained lawyer, which influenced his "historical/legal" approach to Christian apologetics. He is perhaps best known as a writer for his book History and Christianity, as well as for his debates with the infamous atheist Madalyn Murray O'Hair (1967), with the "Death of God" theologian Thomas Altizer (reprinted in Montgomery's book The Suicide of Christian Theology), as well as with Joseph Fletcher, who wrote the book Situation Ethics, The New Morality. (The Montgomery/Fletcher debate is reprinted in Situation ethics; true or false?: A dialogue between Joseph Fletcher and John Warwick Montgomery (Dimension books).)

This brief (110 pages) book began in 1963 as two lectures, which were subsequently expanded into four articles in HIS Magazine in 1964-1965. C.S. Lewis even wrote a letter (one of the very last Lewis wrote) to Montgomery, lauding the book (the letter is printed in the book). Josh McDowell's Evidence That Demands a Verdict gave a lot of attention to Montgomery's book, as well.

Here are some representative quotations from the book:

"This is not to say that New Testament writers did not ever employ sources. We have seen that Luke expressly asserts that he did so. But with the small time interval between Jesus' life and the Gospel records, the Church did not create a 'Christ of faith' out of a simple, moralistic Jesus."

"Would the disciples of Jesus, steeped in the Jewish faith, have deified a mere man, thereby contradicting the central tenet of the Jewish faith, that 'thou shalt have no other gods before me'?"

Montgomery's arguments (remember he is also a lawyer) retain their pungency, even nearly fifty years after they were written. This is an essential work of Christian apologetics.