SPEAKING THE TRUTH IN LOVE by Larry Stout, 5/18/08
SPEAKING THE TRUTH IN LOVE by Larry Stout
I was once taught a trick about learning that I never forgot. To learn a new subject area, simply find the three top books in this field and read them. I am often asked by young people to suggest a short list of best books in a particular area, so I thought I should begin to do this in a more systematic way.
I would hope that this could become a regular series on various topics, and hopefully those faithful readers of the PrayerNet would recommend their own favorites. My first topic is apologetics – what are the best books that would be useful to a Christian interested in sharing their faith in this post-Christian world.
Can Man Live Without God by Ravi Zacharias (Nelson, 1994, 2004). Through the generosity of Agape Latvia, I was able to distribute the first edition of this book to every incoming student at SSE Riga in 1999. I have not seen the new edition, but I am sure it is exemplary. Zacharias is a brilliant speaker and writer, and his logic cuts right to the heart. I have found myself consistently using illustrations from this book because they are appropriate in so many situations.
Beyond Opinion: Living the Faith We Defend edited by Ravi Zacharias (Nelson, 2007). This book contains articles by various writers on subjects such as the challenges of Islam, the challenges from science, existential challenges of evil and suffering, etc. The writers suggest a new apologetic where the commitment is to winning people rather than winning arguments. This book has probably reached my heart as much as my head.
Simply Christian: Why Christianity Makes Sense by N. T. Wright (HarperCollins, 2006). If I was asked to recommend one book for a person on a faith journey, this one would be it. Wright purposely tried to write a version of C. S. Lewis’ Mere Christianity for this generation, and for my money, he succeeded. Wright has a somewhat controversial theology in the area of justification (John Piper has recently written an entire book as a rebuttal), but I could not find anything in this book that was not solidly evangelical. Wright faces the really tough dilemmas of the faith squarely in the eye with an honesty that I rarely see in the Christian world, and best of all, he writes with a simplicity that reminds us of Lewis himself.
With the wide popularity of writers who are ripping at Christianity such as Dan Brown, Richard Dawkins, and Christopher Hitchens, it is more important than ever that believers are “prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.” (1 Peter 3:15). These three books are the best I can think of in this regard.
I was once taught a trick about learning that I never forgot. To learn a new subject area, simply find the three top books in this field and read them. I am often asked by young people to suggest a short list of best books in a particular area, so I thought I should begin to do this in a more systematic way.
I would hope that this could become a regular series on various topics, and hopefully those faithful readers of the PrayerNet would recommend their own favorites. My first topic is apologetics – what are the best books that would be useful to a Christian interested in sharing their faith in this post-Christian world.
Can Man Live Without God by Ravi Zacharias (Nelson, 1994, 2004). Through the generosity of Agape Latvia, I was able to distribute the first edition of this book to every incoming student at SSE Riga in 1999. I have not seen the new edition, but I am sure it is exemplary. Zacharias is a brilliant speaker and writer, and his logic cuts right to the heart. I have found myself consistently using illustrations from this book because they are appropriate in so many situations.
Beyond Opinion: Living the Faith We Defend edited by Ravi Zacharias (Nelson, 2007). This book contains articles by various writers on subjects such as the challenges of Islam, the challenges from science, existential challenges of evil and suffering, etc. The writers suggest a new apologetic where the commitment is to winning people rather than winning arguments. This book has probably reached my heart as much as my head.
Simply Christian: Why Christianity Makes Sense by N. T. Wright (HarperCollins, 2006). If I was asked to recommend one book for a person on a faith journey, this one would be it. Wright purposely tried to write a version of C. S. Lewis’ Mere Christianity for this generation, and for my money, he succeeded. Wright has a somewhat controversial theology in the area of justification (John Piper has recently written an entire book as a rebuttal), but I could not find anything in this book that was not solidly evangelical. Wright faces the really tough dilemmas of the faith squarely in the eye with an honesty that I rarely see in the Christian world, and best of all, he writes with a simplicity that reminds us of Lewis himself.
With the wide popularity of writers who are ripping at Christianity such as Dan Brown, Richard Dawkins, and Christopher Hitchens, it is more important than ever that believers are “prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.” (1 Peter 3:15). These three books are the best I can think of in this regard.
login to post comments
Except where otherwise noted, this site is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License