The Redemption of: JAKE
The Redemption of: KAT
The Redemption of: MARIE
The Redemption of: JESSIE
The Redemption of: RACHEL
The Redemption of: STEVEN
Winter Camp
Imago Dei
APOLOGETICS
Apologetics to the Glory of God: An Introduction
John M. Frame
Here John M. Frame unveils some of the “variety and richness of a biblical apologetic.” Defining apologetics as “the discipline that teaches Christians how to give a reason for their hope,” he distinguishes three main kinds of apologetic: PROOF – presenting a rational basis for faith; DEFENSE – answering objections of unbelief; OFFENSE – exposing the foolishness of unbelieving thought. Frame clarifies the relationships of reason, proofs, and evidences to faith, biblical authority, and the lordship of Christ. He offers a fresh look at probability arguments and gives special attention to the problem of evil. Particularly helpful are his extensive use of Scripture and his presentation of specific lines of argument. A model dialogue in the concluding chapter shows how the various lines of argument work in a conversation with a nonbeliever.
Christianity on Trial
Vincent Caroll
In this book, Carroll and Shiflett dispassionately and systematically dissect the charges against Christianity–specifically that it has justified racism and misogyny, encouraged ignorance, and promoted the despoliation of the environment and even genocide. Then, in a narrative whose intellectual elegance and verve calls up comparisons to How the Irish Saved Civilization, they show how in fact the Christian tradition has not only injected morality into our political order, but softened brutal practices and confining superstitions, created the foundation for intellectual inquiry, and cultivated the charitable impulse. Christianity on Trial challenges readers of all beliefs–even those with a belief in disbelief itself–to question the anti-religious bigotry that thrives in our intellectual world and to reevaluate the role of Christianity not only as a source of consolation but of enlightenment and human liberation as well.
Classical Apologetics
Robert Charles Sproul, et al
Must a person accept Christianity on faith alone, or is there a reasoned defense for being a Christian? The authors of this book hold that Christianity is eminently reasonable. The primacy of the mind in the Christian faith can be affirmed without denying the importance of the heart. This book embraces reason without rationalism, personal love without personalism, faith without fideism is our capacity to love Him. The book is divided into three parts. Section I is a prolegomenon dealing with the problems and methods of apologetics. Section II develops the theistic proofs and authority of Scripture. Section III is given over to a critique of presuppositionalism in apologetics, particularly with reference to the thought of Cornelius Van Til. Classical Apologetics will help the thoughtful Christian understand his or her faith better, and it will provide more solid grounds for sharing this faith with others. Full online book here.
Jesus Under Fire
Michael J. Wilkins, James Porter Moreland
Who Is Jesus? What did he do? What did he say? Are the traditional answers to these questions still to be trusted? Did the early church and tradition “Christianize” Jesus? Was Christianity built on clever conceptions of the church, or on the character and actions of an actual person? These and similar questions have come under scrutiny by a forum of biblical scholars called the Jesus Seminar. Their conclusions have been widely publicized in magazines. “Jesus Under Fire” challenges the methodology and findings of the Jesus Seminar, which generally clash with the biblical records. It examines the authenticity of the words, actions, miracles, and resurrection of Jesus, and presents compelling evidence for the traditional teachings. The purpose of this book too is to help readers judge for themselves whether the Jesus of the Bible is the Jesus of history, and whether the gospels’ claim is valid that he is the only way to God.
Mere Christianity
C. S. Lewis
The most popular of C.S. Lewis’ works of nonfiction, Mere Christianity has sold several million copies worldwide. It brings together Lewis’ legendary broadcast talks of the war years, talks in which he set out simply to “explain and defend the belief that has been common to nearly all Christians at all times.” Rejecting the boundaries that divide Christianity’s many denominations, Lewis finds a common ground on which all Christians can stand together, and provides an unequaled opportunity for believers and nonbelievers alike to hear a powerful, rational case for their faith. It is a collection of scintillating brilliance that remains strikingly fresh and confirms C.S. Lewis’ reputation as one of the leading writiers and thinkers of our age.
Scaling the Secular City: A Defense of Christianity
J. P. Moreland
Here Moreland provides an intellectual defense for the basic truths of the Christian faith. He gives arguments for God’s existence, Jesus’ deity, and the historical accuracy of Jesus’ resurrection. Perfect for a non-believer with questions about Christianity, or for helping you defend your faith to a cynical world.
The Defense of the Faith
Cornelius Van Til
Attacks on Christianity have become more numerous and more pronounced in today’s world. Cornelius Van Til’s book The Defense of the Faith is a classic treatment on apologetics and endures for our time as crucial reading for the thinking Christian. Designed to stop secularists in their tracks, it is the kind of seminal work that serious defenders of the faith cannot afford to ignore. After laying a foundation in the Christian views of God, man, salvation, the world, and knowledge, Van Til explores the roles of authority, reason, and theistic proof, while contrasting Roman Catholic, Arminian, and Reformed methods of defending the faith.
More Than A Carpenter
Josh McDowell
Author and renowned speaker Josh McDowell acknowledges that while the topic of God is widely accepted, the name of Jesus often causes irritation. “Why don’t the names of Buddha, Mohammed, Confucius offend people? The reason is that these others didn’t claim to be God, but Jesus did.” By addressing questions about scientific and historical evidence, the validity of the Bible, and proofs of the resurrection, McDowell helps the reader come to an informed and intelligent decision about whether Jesus was a liar, a lunatic, or the Lord. This short, 128-page gem does not employ fancy theological words, forsaking the layman, but reads more like an intimate research document laying out the facts with veracious accuracy, from reliable sources ranging from secular scientists to conservative seminarians. McDowell adeptly articulates fundamental answers to poignant questions that cause the skeptic to consider whether Jesus was a liar causing countless martyrs to die in his wake, a lunatic deserving death, or actually the Lord of the universe
Reason For God
Timothy Keller
Why does God allow suffering in the world?
How could a loving God send people to Hell?
Why isn’t Christianity more inclusive?
How can one religion be “right” and the others “wrong”?
Why have so many wars been fought in the name of God?
These are just a few of the questions and doubts even ardent believers wrestle with today. As the founding pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City, Timothy Keller has compiled a list of the most frequently voiced “doubts” skeptics bring to his church as well as the most important reasons for faith. And in The Reason for God, he addresses each doubt and explains each reason.
The Case For Christ
Lee Strobel
The Case for Christ records Lee Strobel’s attempt to “determine if there’s credible evidence that Jesus of Nazareth really is the Son of God.” The book consists primarily of interviews between Strobel (a former legal editor at the Chicago Tribune) and biblical scholars such as Bruce Metzger. Each interview is based on a simple question, concerning historical evidence (for example, “Can the Biographies of Jesus Be Trusted?”), scientific evidence, (“Does Archaeology Confirm or Contradict Jesus’ Biographies?”), and “psychiatric evidence” (“Was Jesus Crazy When He Claimed to Be the Son of God?”). Together, these interviews compose a case brief defending Jesus’ divinity, and urging readers to reach a verdict of their own.
Case for Faith
Lee Strobel
1) If there’s a loving God, why does this pain-wracked world groan under so much suffering and evil?
2) If the miracles of God contradict science, then how can any rational person believe that they’re true?
3) If God is morally pure, how can he sanction the slaughter of innocent children as the Old Testament says he did?
4) If God cares about the people he created, how could he consign so many of them to an eternity of torture in hell just because they didn’t believe the right things about him?
5) If Jesus is the only way to heaven, then what about the millions of people who have never heard of him?
6) If God really created the universe, why does the evidence of science compel so many to conclude that the unguided process of evolution accounts for life?
7) If God is the ultimate overseer of the church, why has it been rife with hypocrisy and brutality throughout the ages?
If I’m still plagued by doubts, then is it still possible to be a Christian?
These are mighty tough questions, and Strobel fields them well. Rather than write a weighty dissertation about the merits of faith, he brings us along on his quest as we meet leaders in the Christian community, such as Peter Kreeft and William Lane Craig. The use of dialogue from personal interviews and a scene-by-scene active narrative makes this an easy and engaging read. However, easy does not mean breezy. This is a book of substance and merit, one that will help Christians defend their faith, especially during the hardest of times, when they have to defend their faith to themselves in moments of doubt.
Kingdom of the Cults
Walter Martin
Major cults & religions covered: Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormonism, New Age Cults, The Unification Church, Rajneeshism, Baha’i Faith, ISKCON, Hinduism, Transcendental Meditation, Buddhism, World Faith movement, The Theosophical Society, Apocalyptic Cults, Islam, Christian Science, and Unitarian-Universalism.
In an era of rapid cult growth worldwide, Christians today more than ever need the trustworthy information contained in The Kingdom of the Cults. This comprehensive new edition equips readers from every walk of life to use biblical truth to counter the efforts of cults to masquerade as mainstream Christians.
CHRISTIAN LIFE
Desiring God : Meditations Of A Christian Hedonist
John Piper
Scripture reveals that the great business of life is to glorify God by enjoying Him forever. Now revised and expanded, Desiring God reveals how delighting in God can motivate us to glorify Him through worship, stewardship, loving our neighbor, rejoicing in suffering, and other “duties.” John Piper reveals that the debate between duty and delight doesn’t truly exist: Delight is our duty. Discover how to lay a biblical foundation for a life of celebration by truly desiring the Lord.
Orthodoxy
G. K. Chesterton
Orthodoxy as author G.K. Chesterton employs the term here, means “right opinion.” In this, the masterpiece of his brilliant literary career, he applies the concept of correct reasoning to his acceptance of Christian faith. Written in a dawn-to-earth and familiar style, this book nevertheless presents formal, scholarly arguments. Paradox and contradiction, Chesterton maintains, do not constitute barriers to belief; imagination and intuition are as relevant to the process of thought and understanding as logic and rationality. He defines his insights with thought-provoking analogies, personal anecdotes, and engaging humor, making this century-old book a work of enduring charm and persuasion.
CHURCH HISTORY
Church History In Plain Language Updated 2nd Edition
Bruce L. Shelley
Faced with some astonishing changes in the Islamic world, a global resurgence of Roman Catholicism, the decline of Christianity in the West coupled with the rapid growth of evangelical and Pentecostal Christianity in the southern and eastern hemispheres, readers need a current explanation with intellectual substance that will provide historical context and update readers on all these new developments. The new edition of Church History in Plain Language does that in a stimulating manner, and it promises to be the new standard for readable Church History.
CULTS
Kingdom of the Cults
Walter Martin
Major cults & religions covered: Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormonism, New Age Cults, The Unification Church, Rajneeshism, Baha’i Faith, ISKCON, Hinduism, Transcendental Meditation, Buddhism, World Faith movement, The Theosophical Society, Apocalyptic Cults, Islam, Christian Science, and Unitarian-Universalism.
In an era of rapid cult growth worldwide, Christians today more than ever need the trustworthy information contained in The Kingdom of the Cults. This comprehensive new edition equips readers from every walk of life to use biblical truth to counter the efforts of cults to masquerade as mainstream Christians.
Included is all the authoritative data of previous editions as well as an analysis of the latest ideological and organizational developments of cults old and new. Updated statistics and references detail the alarming spread of the cults, particularly on the mission fields of the world. This edition also recounts the startling yet welcome embrace of orthodox Christian faith by the Worldwide Church of God. Readable and reliable to a wide cross-section of Christians—from teachers and pastors to lay believers trying to understand and witness to their neighbors, The Kingdom of the Cults is certain to set the standard for cult reference texts.
Emergent Church
Why We’re Not Emergent (By Two Guys That Should Be)
Kevin DeYoung and Ted Kluck
The Emergent Church is a strong voice in today’s Christian community. And they’re talking about good things: caring for the poor, peace for all men, loving Jesus. They’re doing church a new way, not content to fit the mold. Again, all good. But there’s more to the movement than that. Much more. Kevin and Ted are two guys who, demographically, should be all over this movement. But they’re not. And Why We’re Not Emergent gives you the solid reasons why. From both a theological and an on-the-street perspective, Kevin and Ted diagnose the emerging church. They pull apart interviews, articles, books, and blogs, helping you see for yourself what it’s all about.
Missions
Let the Nations Be Glad!
John Piper, Tom Steller
More than 100,000 sold! Piper’s must-read plea for God-centeredness in evangelization points to worship as the church’s ultimate goal and proper fuel for outreach.
SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINES
Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life
Donald S. Whitney
If you’d like to embark on a lifelong quest for godliness, Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life will help you on your way. Drawn from a rich heritage left us by the early church fathers, the Puritan writers, and Jesus Christ Himself, Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life will guide you through a carefully selected array of disciplines including Scripture reading, prayer, worship, Scripture meditation, evangelism, serving, stewardship, Scripture application, fasting, silence and solitude, journaling, and learning.
By illustrating why the disciplines are important, showing how each one will help you grown in godliness, and offering practical suggestions for cultivating them on a long-term basis, Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life will provide you with a refreshing opportunity to embrace life’s greatest pursuit-the pursuit of holiness-through a lifelong delight in the disciplines.
The Cross
The Cross of Christ
John Stott
Now from one of the foremost preachers and Christian leaders of our day comes theology at its readable best, a contemporary restatement of the meaning of the cross. At the cross Stott finds the majesty and love of God disclosed, the sin and bondage of the world exposed.
More than a study of the atonement, this book brings Scripture into living dialog with Christian theology and the twentieth century. What emerges is a pattern for Christian life and worship, hope and mission.
Destined to be a classic study of the center of our faith, Stott’s work is the product of a uniquely gifted pastor, scholar and Christian statesman. His penetrating insight, charitable scholarship and pastoral warmth are guaranteed to feed both heart and mind.
World Religions
Jesus Among Other Gods
Ravi Zacharias
In his most important work to date, apologetics scholar and popular speaker Ravi Zacharias shows how the blueprint for life and death itself is found in a true understanding of Jesus. With a simple yet penetrating style, Zacharias uses rich illustrations to celebrate the power of Jesus Christ to transform lives. Jesus Among Other Godscontrasts the truth of Jesus with founders of Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism, strengthening believers and compelling them to share their faith with our post-modern world.
Worship
Worship by the Book
ed. D.A. Carson
A how-to book on corporate worship for the twenty-first century: how to be authentic and contemporary without being glitzy or faddish.
Worship in Spirit and Truth
John Frame
This fresh, practical study of worship throws needed light on questions about worship content, music, atmosphere, structure, freedom, clarity, recent trends and much more. You will profit from this insightful look at the kind of worship that pleases God.
SUFFERING
GRIEF OBSERVED
Lewis, the Oxford don whose Christian apologetics make it seem like he’s got an answer for everything, experienced crushing doubt for the first time after his wife’s tragic death. A Grief Observed contains his epigrammatic reflections on that period: “Your bid–for God or no God, for a good God or the Cosmic Sadist, for eternal life or nonentity–will not be serious if nothing much is staked on it. And you will never discover how serious it was until the stakes are raised horribly high,” Lewis writes. “Nothing will shake a man–or at any rate a man like me–out of his merely verbal thinking and his merely notional beliefs. He has to be knocked silly before he comes to his senses. Only torture will bring out the truth. Only under torture does he discover it himself.”