william lane craig reasonable faith book

Craig concludes “neither the supposed problem of lack of direct access to the past nor the supposed problem of the lack of neutrality can prevent us from learning something from history” (p. Craig surveys and assesses the work of historical and contemporary thinkers before offering his own take on the strongest arguments for theism.Ĭhapter 5 tackles the “problem of historical knowledge” and demolishes post-modern critiques against the objectivity of history, showing them to be self-refuting. The cosmological, teleological, moral, and ontological arguments for God’s existence are each presented with exceptional erudition.

Craig’s philosophical expertise really shines through in this section, as does his knowledge of science and cosmology. Chapters 3 and 4 utilize natural theology to give several good arguments for the existence of God.

Chapter two uses cultural/worldview apologetics to show the absurdity of life without God as compared to biblical Christianity, which offers the necessary foundations for “meaningful, valuable, and purposeful life” for humans. The knowing is “primarily by the self-authenticating witness of God’s Spirit,” while the showing is achieved by presenting good arguments for Christianity’s central tenets (p. Good apologetics as modelled by Craig is an important ministry that can serve to help shape culture, strengthen believers, as well as evangelize unbelievers.Ĭhapter one answers the question, “How do I know Christianity is true?” Craig makes the helpful distinction between knowing Christianity to be to and showing it to be true. Noting the difference between offensive apologetics (making a positive case) and defensive apologetics (a negative approach that nullifies objections), Craig says his preferred starting choice is the offensive approach, which has the advantage of “automatically overwhelming all competing worldviews” lacking a case equally strong as that of the Christian faith (p. In line with the title, apologetics is defined as “that branch of Christian theology which seeks to provide a rational justification for the truth claims of the Christian faith” (p. Craig is an advocate of classical apologetics and has structured the book’s five parts according to the loci communes of systematic theology (faith, man, God, creation, and Christ).

Reasonable Faithby William Lane Craig is a 400-page seminary apologetics textbook that sets forth a comprehensive positive apologetic for Christianity.

William lane craig reasonable faith book