Reasonable Faith: Exploring the Foundations of Christian Truth and Apologetics

John r smith: worth a read, learned a lot of good things to say.

United States on Oct 28, 2023

Sean MacDonald: "fides quaerens intellectum"

"Ours is a faith that seeks understanding" , as Saint Anselm would have said.

If you are a Christian who is looking for an excellent grounding to what you believe, then this is a must have book.

Dr Craig is rightly ranked as one of the top 50 most influential living philosophers according to thebestschools.org. This book could be studied for years, each page is crammed with excellent insight.

-From defining what it means to really know God exists v show God exists
-From his robust defence of the Kalam cosmological argument to the solid case for Jesus in light of modern historiographical technique.
- The list of recommended reading and sources used is massive. This is a well investigated and highly thought out book that is packed to the brim with quotes and research from the most senior of academics today.

This book is slightly more advanced than books such as On Guard , however the challenge to learn what has been put forward here is incredibly rewarding. To listen to the elite atheists of today and realise that the arguments put forward are not as high calibre as you would expect , it gives confidence and...

United Kingdom on Sep 23, 2019

jeremy marshall: I make this review deliberately long because I think the arguments and logic in it are so effective they deserve to be better known.

Apologetics is not about apologising but rather establishing a rational basis for the Christian faith. Of all the books I have read I think this is the best and most comprehensive overview of what you might call “non biblical apologetics”. Apologetics can cover both biblically based issues such as "Did Jesus rise from the dead?" or "Did miracles really happen?" and non biblically based questions such as "Can you prove that God exists?"

While there is a small section on the bible most of the book covers what you might call “arguments from first principle” for the Christian faith. These are increasingly important in a world at least in the West where many people are sceptical about organised religion of any type. Lane Craig points out the fallacy in the argument “nobody comes to Christ through apologetics” by quoting Gresham Machen “false ideas are the greatest obstacle to the reception of the gospel”. If we allow such ideas to go unchallenged the very concept of belief is placed outside the bounds of any rational persons...

United Kingdom on Oct 08, 2018

KHD: I discovered William Lane Craig by "accident" one day while reading the testimony of a former atheistic Frenchman who is now a well-known Christian apologist himself (Guillaume Bignon). Ever since, I have been an avid fan of WLC, having watched many of his debates, purchased several of his books, and even written him a letter (which he personally answered!). I have so much esteem for this incredibly intelligent, articulate and sincere man of God that I cannot put it into words. He has had a profound impact on my life - one I am only just beginning to realize - and on the lives of countless other souls yearning for Truth. I even recently ordered the French edition of Reasonable Faith in order to share it with my friends, family and neighbors here in France. I cannot recommend this book highly enough!

France on Dec 07, 2015

Adam: William Lane Craig writes on Christian apologetics at a number of different levels of depth. I would say that this is an excellent second book for someone learning about the various arguments in support of Christian faith and theology. If this is your very first exposure to such materials, it might be too much. For someone just starting, try reading his book  On Guard  first. It covers some of the same material, but at a more introductory level.

Reasonable Faith provides an excellent springboard for you to learn what sorts of arguments are out there, so that you can then determine what you might want to learn more about. To expand upon most of the material found in this book at a greater level of depth, you can freely access the recordings or transcripts of William Lane Craig's in-person discussion group called Defenders. You can find that on his website, which is also called Reasonable Faith. If you want to look at some of the arguments for God's existence at an academic level of rigour, there's  The Blackwell Companion to Natural Theology . Be forewarned that you'll need quite a bit of familiarity with the arguments and terminology of this field to make...

Canada on Dec 12, 2014

Mr. Peter T. Hardy: Other reviewers are entirely correct to emphasise that this a textbook for Christians to learn apologetics from, rather than a book addressed to non-Christians. However, it is not *entirely* inappropriate for a non-believer, especially as it's probably the best Christian apologetics book there is. I read it as an atheist and it did a lot towards my conversion. The most important thing I can say about this book -to the Christian and non-Christian alike- is ignore the first chapter. This suggests treating Bible as infallible which to me is irrational, futile and very off-putting. But from the third chapter onwards it is very reasonable and just keeps getting better.

It gives a very detailed account of the case for God, in addition to other central apologetic concerns. It's not exhaustive, there are plenty of other topics that need to be covered, but they can be found elsewhere (look up my listmania list). Yes it's not perfect, there's plenty of things in there I disagree with, but the central argument is solid. Speaking as a philosophy graduate, there aren't any major fallacies- contrary to what other reviewers have exhorted so emotively. If someone thinks they've found a...

United Kingdom on Jul 25, 2011

S. F. Bell: I give five stars to the third edition of William Lane Craig's "Reasonable Faith" not because I agree with it but because it makes fascinating reading while providing what is probably the maximum philosophical case available today for the truth of theism and Christianity. Any skeptic looking for a mental workout is likely to find it difficult and challenging to refute many of Craig's arguments, which, though technical at times, are generally written with a great deal of seamless clarity. Craig has obviously spent years reading, debating, and thinking deeply about the subjects he writes about and he anticipates just about any objection one is likely to put forward. Probably this book is best read alongside a work such as "The Cambridge Companion to Atheism," which offers contrasting views with a similar level of philosophical quality.

The general plan of the book is to move from the general to the specific, starting with general proofs for God's existence, then moving toward asserting the existence of miracles (the ability of God to intervene in history), and then using the argument from miracles to support the claim that Christianity is the one true revealed religion. The...

United States on Jul 30, 2010

Ronald C. Payne: This was an excellent book on Christian apologetics. By far, it is the best book on the subject by a contemporary author. In this book, Craig argues for the Christian faith using what has been called the "classical" method of apologetics. That is, he argues first for the existence of God (theism) and then for the truth of the Christian faith.

The first chapter deals with religious epistemology, or how we know that our religious knowledge is true. Here, Craig makes a distinction between showing that Christianity is true and knowing that Christianity is true. The Holy Spirit testifies to us of our sin before God, God's judgment on us and the world, and the forgiveness offered in Christ. In contrast we can show that Christianity is true by arguing for the existence of God, the historical claims to divinity made by Jesus and ultimately Jesus' resurrection from the dead. Notice that none of these by themselves or even taken together necessarily leads to Christian faith. It is the inner witness of the Spirit that convicts us of our sins, tells us that we are accountable to God, and that Christ died for us to forgive us. Apologetics can help someone come to faith but it is...

United States on Jun 25, 2009