Customer Reviews

Scaling the Secular City: A Defense of Christianity

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This is one of the best books I have ever read on the topic of defending Christianity rationally. That said, for a Christian new to this topic, a more entry-level book would be more helpful (e.g. Lee Strobel's two books: The Case for Christ, The Case for Faith).

The book is written to an educated audience and parts of it are difficult. The most difficult part was Moreland's discussion of the kalam cosmological argument and the mathematical part evidence therein. Moreland is an excellent scholar; in total, there are 359 footnotes where Moreland documents arguments, refers to other philosophers and so on. There is also an excellent bibliography at the end where Moreland classes the books under three categories: Basic, Intermediate, and Advanced.

Moreland covers what one would expect to find in an apologetics book:
The Cosmological Argument
The Design Argument
The Historicity of the New Testament
The Resurrection of Jesus

Much of this material can be found in hundreds of other books. In his chapter on the Cosmological Argument, Moreland focuses on a specific form of it, recently revived by William Lane Craig, namely the kalam Cosmological argument (in brief: If the universe had a beginning, then it was either caused or not-caused, if caused, then the cause is either personal or not-personal). In the Design Argument, Moreland covers different forms of Design, some of which are untouched, even if evolution is true (e.g. Design as Order, Purpose, Simplicity, Complexity, Beauty, Sense and Cognition, Information and Cosmic Constants).

Moreland's defense of the Resurrection is similar in many respects to Craig's; see my reviews of, "Jesus' Resurrection: Fact or Fiction," and, "Will the real Jesus please stand up?"

However, Moreland has several chapters that make his book stand out from the crowd:

God and the Argument from the Mind
God and the Meaning of Life
Science and Christianity
Four Final Issues

In the Mind chapter, Moreland argues for and defends the idea of substantial, immaterial human souls or minds to the existence of an original Mind or Soul (i.e. God). In the Meaning chapter, Moreland looks at the ethics dimension of the question, examines the options (e.g. Nihilism, optimistic humanism, immanent purpose and Christianity), and concludes that Christianity is not only the most rational but also provides more meaning than the competing views.

In the Science chapter, Moreland discusses philosophy of science and the creation/evolution debate. Often, there is an idea that either science and theology are working in totally different spheres of reality or that science should dictate to theology what it can and cannot do. I think Moreland makes an important advance here; his approach takes both science and the Bible seriously. He concludes the chapter with a discussion of evolution and offers a serious of reasons why creation science IS NOT a religion.

In the last chapter, he looks at four final issues; the problem of the visibility of God, the religious experience argument for God, the objection that God is merely a psychological projection and relativism. To explain the visibility problem is the view that sense God cannot be seen, one cannot know He exists; Moreland rightly exposes this as, crude empiricism. The author offers two fairly convincing arguments based on religious experience; the reader must keep in mind that even if you reject this argument, there are numerous other objective arguments that are objective in nature. Psychologists and sociologists originally came up with the idea that God is a projection of the mind, or a fulfillment of psychological needs, obviously forgot that philosophy is not their realm. Moreland responds by saying that to explain the origin of the belief does not show whether one is justified in believing it (to discredit an idea solely by pointing to its origin is to commit the genetic fallacy), and Moreland also questions the premise that people project God. Relativism is the view that there are no universal moral rules that apply to all people, all cultures and all times; for more on this topic, see my review of, Relativism: Feet Firmly Planted in Mid-Air.

Throughout the book, Moreland considers objections to his arguments and systematically disables them. He does not make up objections, but footnotes specific books written by advocates of different philosophies. To those that claim that Christianity is intellectually bankrupt, irrational or whatever, you have a challenge to deal with. Moreland shows the intellectual strength of Christianity and makes it difficult to dismiss Christianity casually.

I would highly recommend this book to college and university students and all those who long for a robust defense of the faith.

This book is fantastic! Moreland tackles certain issues in a thorough way, which is not attained by any other book I know of. He very clearly lays down all the arguments and all the counterarguments and his conclusions seem inescapable. Here are the chapters:
1 The cosmological argument
2 The design argument
3 God and the argument from mind
4 God and the meaning of life
5 The historicity of the New Testament
6 The resurrection of Jesus
7 Science and Christianity
8 Four final issues
The excellent treatments of these issues are however not integrated, linked together. One must already have an idea of their relevance (I can recommend here the book of N. L. Geisler, "Christian Apologetics", Baker Book House). I also would like to recommend Moreland's other books ("The Creation Hypothesis", "Jesus under fire", ...).

Bruno Granger,
The Hague, Hollan

J.P. Moreland has done an excellent job in presenting a cumulative case for the truth of Christianity. Chapter 1--The Cosmological Argument--Moreland surveys the three forms of the argument and defends the kalam version. Much of this chapter tries to establish an ultimate beginning of the universe by appealing to philosophical and scientific reasons. Moreland makes the case that it is rational to believe that the universe has a personal cause (God).Chapter 2--The Design Argument--Moreland considers different kinds of design and different forms of the design argument. The richness and force of the design argument is shown in this chapter and common objections are considered as well.Chapter 3--God and the Argument from the Mind--In this chapter, Moreland presents a case for substance dualism and critiques different forms of physicalism as insufficient in explaining the mind.Chapter 4--God and the Meaning of Life--This section examines nihilism, optimistic humanism, the immanent purpose view, and Christian theism. The first three are shown to be inconsistent and lacking in their explanatory power and scope. Christian theism is defended as providing the necessary preconditions for a meaningful life.Chapter 5--The Historicity of the New Testament--Moreland attempts to show that the New Testament documents pass general tests for historicity and can be trusted as reliable. A defense of the early dating of the Gospels and Acts is given along with helpful cultural considerations which point to the general trustworthiness of the New Testament.Chapter 6--The Resurrection of Jesus--This chapter gives the usual arguments for the resurrection including the empty tomb, appearances, and early features of the church. This section is a good outline which gives a great starting point for further research. Hellenistic influences are also briefly addressed.Chapter 7--Science and Christianity--In perhaps the most original of the eight chapters, Moreland gives an introduction to the philosophy of science and gives possible solutions for the integration of science and theology. Also, creation science (in a broad sense) is shown to have scientific merit, contrary to popular belief. A brief treatment of the creation/evolution debate is offered. However, one may wonder if Moreland may be endorsing a young-earth view, which is obviously untenable. However, Moreland doesn't seem to take a strict position on the age of the earth, rather, he argues that there is a wide variety of interpretation in Genesis.Chapter 8--Four Final Issues--In the last chapter, Moreland address the visibility (or lack thereof) of God, God as a psychological projection, religious experience, and different forms of relativism. The section on religious experience is unique and worth consideratiion, while the other three are also important. Conlusion--Moreland ties all eight chapters together and summarizes each of them._Scaling the Secular City_ is an excellent introduction to Christianity and should be considered by skeptics and believers alike to challenge and stimulate.

Moreland wrote this book 15 years ago at a time when the intellectual veracity of evangelical thought was being attacked from all sides. 15 years later, there is a growing, albeit grudgingly, consensus among secular scholars and philosophers that intellectual evangelicalism is not the intellectual lightweight that many once thought. Moreland has proven himself to be one of an increasing number of evangelical thinkers that have forced such a reappraisal due to his sound argumentation, internally consistent philosophy, and compelling apologetical viewpoints. This book was Moreland's attempt to bring his level of evangelical thought out of the seminary classroom and outside obscure scholarly journals, to everyday readers. I believe he succeeds in this effort.

Moreland clearly demonstrates himself to be of a classical apologetic bent, by putting forth and defending many of the traditional arguments for God's existence. His discourse on the cosmological argument is very good, as is his design argument. These philosophical arguments have been sources of severe debate for decades, not only between theists and non-theists, but also among theists of differing apologetic approaches. I happen to agree with Moreland that these arguments remain compelling and have actually been made sharper as a result of the many arguments that have been waged against them.

Overall, I felt that Moreland has produced an effective multifaceted presentation for why belief in the Christian God is plausible and reasonable, and that such belief appears to stand on firmer ground than believing in alternative viewpoints.

Although I admit that this is not a fair criticism, I will point out something to interested readers. A few years after this book by Moreland, Bill Craig came out with his 'Reasonable Faith'. In my view, Craig's book is stronger on the cosmological argument, the veracity of the Bible and the resurrection of Christ than Moreland is here in this book. I recognize that it's not really fair to demote the review of this book based on a book that came out subsequently, and that's why I'm giving this book 5 stars. At the time, it was probably the best contemporary apologetic in print that was accessible to a wide audience of lay readers. But given a choice between this book and 'Reasonable Faith' by Craig, I believe the latter is a slightly better book for today's reader. I highly recommend both and believe that everyday Christians should pray for God to give them a passion to study these issues and reflect upon them, so that they may be equipped to lovingly contend for the faith in a world that's trying to convince them their beliefs are wrong, as well as to enhance and deepen one's own Christian walk by intellectually meditating upon these issues and how they relate to the God we worship.

Moreland's work must be considered one of the premier works on apologetics written by an evangelical. Although William Lane Craig is probably now worthy to be called the dean of evangelical apologists, Moreland's volume from the 1980s still stands alone as the best single volume in dealing with challenges to the Christian faith. This is due in large part to two factors: the format of the book and Moreland's concise way in handling the issues under discussion.

For the most part, individual chapters are self-contained-they can be read apart from the others. They thus serve as extremely concise summaries of the key arguments.

Moreland's strength clearly shows up in the philosophy portions of the work, as he deals with most of the classical theistic proofs. However, he also takes on other issues, such as God as a mental projection, in a concise way that allows the reader to grasp the significant issues quickly.

W. L. Craig has a much longer bibliography in this area and must necessarily be consulted on most of the topics that Moreland covers here, but if you need one apologetics volume to keep handy to refresh your memory on the issues, this is the one to have.

Moreland has written a lucid and compelling defense of Christianity. True, the arguments are theoretical and often difficult to grasp; however, the time spent attempting to understand them will not be time wasted.

While the work is fantastic from beginning to end, Moreland's explication of the Kalam cosmological argument--an argument originally devised by MUSLIM scholars and mathematicians--is breathtaking. The other arguments--cosmological, teleological, etc--rely on premisses that some non-theists might find initially unacceptable; the kalam argument, however, relies on the nature and limits of the most exact of the sciences: mathematics.

Beyond this, Moreland's work with and understanding of science and its interface with philosophy and theology is especially helpful. He makes a powerful case not only for the value, but the necessity of a philosophy of science.

In sum, the work is indispensable for anyone willing to honestly investigate the plausibility of the Christian worldview. A close, reflective reading will not go unrewarded.

Scaling the Secular City is a significant apologetic work. Moreland argues
his case without being condescending to the skeptic or disrespectful toward
his philosophical opponents. His arguments concerning the historicity of
the New Testament and the resurrection of Jesus are simple yet compelling.
Moreland's arguments opposing evolutionary theory are sophisticated and
enlightening. Portions of his discussion within the philosophy of science
may be challenging for novices but overall the book is not a difficult read.
I recommend the book to all those intellectually and philosophically
investigating the claims of Christianity.

J.P. Moreland, one of today's top evangelical philosophers, released this valuable apologetics work about 15 years ago. Despite its age, the book is very relevant and useful even today.

Throughout the book, Moreland discusses various issues of importance to the Christian faith. The first few chapters cover arguments for the existence of God, such as the Cosmological Argument and the Argument from Mind. Moreland is thorough and persuasive in his powerful presentations of these arguments for a personal Creator.

Moreland also discusses issues dealing with the historicity of the New Testament and the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Finishing off the book is a chapter on Christianity and Science, and a chapter that deals with various miscellany.

Also useful is a bibliography of recommended further material provided at the end of the book. Moreland offers suggestions for all sorts of topics, and each book is rated Beginner, Intermediate, or Expert. With this feature, Moreland solidifies his work as an excellent apologetic. If there is one apologetics book you buy, Moreland's "Scaling the Secular City" is a great choice.

As other reviewers have indicated, Moreland surveys a number of theistic proofs and defends the core truth-claims of Christianity. The arguments are presented well and the author provides extensive references to the primary literature. The treatment of the Kalam Cosmological Argument (repopularized in the 1970s by William Lane Craig) deserves careful consideration by readers.

Perhaps the best book on Christian apologetics presently in print.

David A. Frenz
Duluth, Minnesota, USA

JP says he wrote the book as as a moderate scholarly material but this is a harder going than CS Lewis' "Mere Christianity". When one reads chapter 3 on "God and the Argument from Mind", you would be able to tell that philosophy is his strong point and his style is approaching a scholarly material type.

Each chapter is self contained and can be read indiviually. Footnotes are at the bottom of each page for easy reference which we find handy.

In the chapter "Historicity of the NT", there is a table of ancient people and the number of manuscripts that we have of them. This was taken from Josh McDowell's "Evidence that demands a Verdict".