Reason Enough: A Case for the Christian Faith [Paperback]

Clark H. Pinnock (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 126 pages
• Publisher: Wipf & Stock Publishers (October 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1579100465
• ISBN-13: 978-1579100469
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.8 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,815,953 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Clark H. Pinnock is professor of theology at McMaster Divinity College.

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars AN EXAMPLE OF PINNOCK'S EARLIER APOLOGETIC WORK, February 17, 2010

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Steven H. Propp (Sacramento, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Reason Enough: A Case for the Christian Faith (Paperback)

Clark H. Pinnock (b. 1937) has become somewhat controversial in conservative Christian circles, due to his espousal of conditional immortality (Four Views on Hell, A Wideness in God's Mercy: The Finality Of Jesus Christ In A World Of Religions), Open Theism (The Openness of God: A Biblical Challenge to the Traditional Understanding of God), and his rejection of "classic" biblical inerrancy (Scripture Principle, The,: Reclaiming the Full Authority of the Bible; he earlier defended inerrancy in Defense of Biblical Infallibilty O/P).

However, Pinnock used to be a rather conservative young Christian apologist, similar to Josh McDowell (in Evidence That Demands a Verdict, McDowell endorsed Pinnock's earlier apologetic book Set Forth Your Case).

This 1980 book published by Inter-Varsity Press gives a reasonably "definitive" presentation of Pinnock's earlier apologetic stance. He states in the Preface, "My purpose in writing this book is to communicate with people who are interested in investigating the truth claims made on behalf of the Christian message. Is Christianity, in fact, true? I also want to help believers who from time to time find themselves asking the same question."

In five chapters, Pinnock outlines the Pragmatic, Experiential, Cosmic, Historical, and Community basis for faith, closing with a chapter "In Case of Doubt," and ending on the note, "The purpose behind my writing this book is to call the reader to consider making a paradigm shift, specifically, to start to view reality from a new perspective, from the position of a faith-commitment to Jesus Christ. I have tried to show reason why this ought to be done."

After this, Pinnock turned away from apologetics and toward theology, so this is perhaps his "definitive" statement in the area of apologetics.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not a Fundie, September 30, 2007

By 

Glenn (Reading, PA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Reason Enough: A Case For the Christian Faith (Paperback)

The copy I have read is actually from 1980, not 1985, and it is an adaptation of articles written in the 1970's. Antony Flew recently converted from atheism, but when this book was written, Flew was the equivalent of today's Richard Dawkins, or Christopher Hitchens, or Sam Harris. Pinnock gives the best answers to what today's athesists are saying, even before they said it, and I think he does it much better than many 21st Century Christians are doing. Although some of the mentioned films and such are no longer part of our popular culture, there is enough longevity to Pinnock's writing that it is great for today. Pinnock does not overplay the strengths in Christian or theistic arguments, but neither does he downplay them.

He is bold in one chapter to actually talk about the value of faith or religion in general, not just in Christianity in particular, even citing certain merits of Satanism or Wicca. He is no fundamentalist in his sparing use of Scripture, and is very well-read even outside of Christian literature.

The reading level does not require a full university education, as his work The Scripture Principle probably does. (I recently read that work as well, and loved it!) A good high school education will suffice for this one. I highly recommend Reason Enough, and I am curious what the 1997 edition has to offer compared to the older editions. What I know is that I can get more copies of the older edition for less money, and I plan to.