Without a Doubt: Answering the 20 Toughest Faith Questions [Paperback]

Kenneth R. Samples (Author), Ronald Nash (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 2004

Never be at a loss for words again.

Without a Doubt offers solid, succinct answers to twenty questions that challenge the Christian faith. These rational explanations can help you when encountering those who have questions about the faith or question faith altogether.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Always be prepared to give an answer.

One of the unique aspects of Christianity is that it stands up to honest intellectual scrutiny. Without a Doubt offers solid, succinct answers to twenty classic questions that challenge the Christian faith, including:

-God's existence
-creation and the universe
-the historical veracity of Scripture
-Jesus Christ's true identity
-God as Trinity
-faith vs. science
-God and evil
-Christianity and other religions

Authorities ranging from prophets and philosophers to scientists and the Scriptures provide rational explanations and compelling evidence for those who have questions about their faith or question faith altogether.


"Samples exhibits the virtues of charity and intellectual integrity along with a deep understanding of the sorts of challenges to the Christian faith that are offered in our contemporary world and must be met by the serious Christian. Without a Doubt is a wonderful work."--Francis J. Beckwith, Baylor University, author of Relativism

"Without a Doubt fills a specific void in the apologetic literature. It brings together very careful research with a reader-friendly style. A great read for anyone interested in answers to some of life's most puzzling questions."--J. P. Moreland, Talbot School of Theology, author of Love Your God with All Your Mind

"Rarely does one find such an array of issues and quality responses under one cover, all ready for personal use or in addressing questions or challenges."--Gary R. Habermas, Liberty University, author of The Historical Jesus

About the Author

Kenneth Samples is vice president of philosophical and theological apologetics with Reasons to Believe. He is founder and president of Augustine Fellowship Study Center, formerly worked for the Christian Research Institute, and has cohosted "The Bible Answer Man." He also serves as an adjunct instructor at Biola University and lives in southern California with his wife, Joan, and their three children.

Product Details

• Paperback: 287 pages
• Publisher: Baker Books (July 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0801064694
• ISBN-13: 978-0801064692
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #233,687 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

40 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding Overview of the Rationality of Christianity, September 4, 2005

By 

Douglas Groothuis "Douglas Groothuis" - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Without a Doubt: Answering the 20 Toughest Faith Questions (Paperback)

Mr. Samples has given us a clearly written, well-documented, and deeply helpful book on why anyone should believe the Christian worldview to be true and rational. Books on this topic--Christian apologetics--are fairly plentiful, but few of them are as theologically and philosophy astute as this volume. Unlike many introductory to intermediate level books on this topic, Samples articulates a consistently Reformed approach to Christianity (which comports with my own), even offering a concise but astute chapter on the value of creeds to apologetics. I know of no other apologetics book with such a chapter.

The book is organized around twenty questions broken into three sections: (1) Thinking Through Questions about Faith in God (2) Thinking Through Questions about Faith in Jesus Christ (3) Thinking Through Objections to Christian Faith. Most all the pertinent topics of apologetics are covered, with a few minor exceptions. The two chapters on the relationship of Christianity to other religions are superb and highly pertinent, since this is one of the major issues facing Christians today. (Even so, many texts on apologetics sadly ignore this issue.) His chapter on Blaise Pascal and the wager was much appreciated by this Pascalian! (See my book, "On Pascal.")

Samples says his apologetic method is "eclectic" and simply asks us to discover it as he answers questions. That is allowable, but one wishes for a short statement on his basic means of argumentation. Although Samples' chapter on Christianity and science nicely covers the Christian basis of modern science and the problems with scientism, he says nothing directly about the problems with Darwinism (although has some helpful comments about philosophical naturalism, the philosophy that artificially props up Darwinism) or how one might reconcile Genesis and the deliverances of science.

But these are minor complaints. "Without a Doubt" is one of the best one-volume introductions to apologetics published in recent years. May it become a textbook in colleges, seminaries, and churches around the country and the globe. I am using it as a supplemental text for "Defending Christian Faith" at Denver Seminary.

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding Work -- Accessible But Still Rich, May 3, 2005

By 

M. Perez (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Without a Doubt: Answering the 20 Toughest Faith Questions (Paperback)

Many books attempting to answer tough questions in the Christian faith are either simplistic or too academic. In this book, Mr. Samples has produced an outstanding work which is as useful for the untrained layman as it is for the advanced scholar. The answers are intellectually satisfying, sufficiently deep, and span enough breadth to engage the problems meaningfully and thoughtfully.

This book will give you honest, well-researched answers that fall within all the major traditions of the historic Christian faith. Because it answers many of the questions that skeptics have asked recently and through the ages, this book is useful for non-Christians who really want to know the intellectual basis for many of Christianity's major beliefs. It's also tremendously useful for Christians who have honest questions that they haven't got answered in their own church.

The book is in an ideal format for group study or Sunday school class, and it's easy enough to read to engage anyone from High School on up.

28 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Concise yet fully informative, August 12, 2005

By 

E. Johnson (El Cajon, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Without a Doubt: Answering the 20 Toughest Faith Questions (Paperback)

A critic of Samples writes that there is nothing new in this book and that he is more convinced it is Christianity that is wrong, not atheism. Pardon me, but did this fellow read the book? Samples offers some of the very best in Christian apologetic responses to humankind's most pressing questions. If the fellow was expecting a centerfold with pictures of God, Jesus leaving the tomb, etc., then I'm afraid this is never going to happen. But the evidence is clearly there to show that, while we don't have full knowledge of all spiritual inquiries, the information we do have available very clearly shows that there are plausible answers to even the tough questions. We just don't have easy answers, and this is because we lack omniscience. (Yet even science does not have all the answers, or I ask, "How many planets are there?" Nine, all textbooks say, even the most up-to-date. But could there be 10, as a recent discovery in July 2005 shows? And really, how do we know that there are not 11 or 12 planets?)

While the information in this book is certainly available elsewhere (When Skeptics Ask by Geisler and Handbook of Chrsitian Apologetics by Kreeft come to mind), I believe Samples did a wonderful job by making "Without a Doubt" very understandable. I really believe that the typical layperson should be able to pick this up and, in three weeks (one chapter a night), have better answers to give those who ask these questions (1 Peter 3:15-16). Therefore, I recommend the book, even to the skeptical atheist. But then, if you remain atheistic in your belief system, I would love to see your answers to these questions.