Can We Still Believe in God? Answering Ten Contemporary Challenges to Christianity
Overview
People regularly give certain reasons for not believing in God, but they are much less aware of what the New Testament actually teaches. Although challenges to Christianity are perennial and have frequently been addressed, they are noticeably more common today and are currently of particular interest among evangelicals.
Skeptics of Christianity often ask highly regarded biblical scholar and popular speaker Craig Blomberg how he can believe in a faith that seems so problematic. How can God allow evil and suffering? Isn’t the Bible anti-women, anti-gay, and proslavery? Isn’t the New Testament riddled with contradictions? What about the nature of hell, violence in Scripture, and prayer and predestination? Following the author's successful Can We Still Believe the Bible?, this succinct and readable book focuses on what the New Testament teaches about ten key reasons people give for not believing in God.
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- Focuses on what the New Testament teaches about ten key reasons people give for not believing in God
- Addresses common question and objections
- Provides thoughtful biblical teaching and insightful commentary
- Introduction
- If There Is a God, Why Does He Allow So Much Suffering and Evil?
- Must All the Unevangelized Go to Hell (and What Is Hell)?
- Slavery, Gender Roles, and Same-Sex Sexual Relations
- The Meaning of the Miracles
- Weren’t the Stories of Jesus Made Up from Greco-Roman Myths?
- How Should We Respond to All the Violence in the Bible?
- The Problems of Prayer and Predestination
- What about All the Apparent Contradictions in the Gospels?
- Hasn't the Church Played Fast and Loose with Copying and Translating the New Testament?
- The Alleged Undesirability of the Christian Life
- Conclusion
Craig Blomberg has developed a reputation for walking where angels fear to tread, taking on controversial areas and making them clear. This work is no exception. Can We Still Believe in God? takes on some of the most problematic questions asked today and walks through them, with biblical options presented. He even nuances some topics to allow for why a specific choice may not be clear. One learns much in that journey while having faith strengthened through a look at why faith in God not only matters but makes the most sense out of life.
—Darrell L. Bock, executive director for cultural engagement, Howard G. Hendricks Center for Christian Leadership and Cultural Engagement, senior research professor of New Testament studies, Dallas Theological Seminary
This book provides a valuable, gracious, multifaceted, and welcoming response to key questions of nonbelievers that invite the expertise of a mature New Testament scholar such as Craig Blomberg.
—Craig S. Keener, F. M. and Ada Thompson Professor of Biblical Studies, Asbury Theological Seminary
Over the years, Craig Blomberg has been a reliable guide in New Testament studies. His work has been a valuable resource for many Christian apologists, who have profitably drawn on his sturdy scholarship on the Gospels and the historical Jesus. And in this volume, Blomberg brings us much distilled wisdom, apologetic insight, and pastoral sensitivity in his evenhanded, biblically informed treatment of key contemporary questions concerning belief in God.
—Paul Copan, Pledger Family Chair of Philosophy and Ethics, Palm Beach Atlantic University; author of Loving Wisdom: A Guide to Philosophy and Christian Faith
- Title: Can We Still Believe in God?: Answering Ten Contemporary Challenges to Christianity
- Author: Craig Blomberg
- Publisher: Brazos
- Print Publication Date: 2020
- Logos Release Date: 2021
- Pages: 217
- Era: era:contemporary
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Logos Reader Edition
- Subject: Apologetics
- ISBNs: 9781493426485, 9781587434044, 9781587434938, 1493426486, 1587434040, 1587434938
- Resource ID: LLS:CNWSTLLBLVNGD
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2022-09-29T22:53:48Z
Craig Blomberg is distinguished professor of New Testament at Denver Seminary, where he has been teaching since 1986. Blomberg earned degrees from Augustana College, Trinity Divinity School, and Aberdeen University in Scotland. He previously taught at Palm Beach Atlantic College and spent one year in Cambridge as a research fellow with Tyndale House. He has been on translation committees for the New Living Translation, English Standard Version, and the Holman Christian Standard Bible.
Blomberg is the author, coauthor, or co-editor of numerous books and more than 80 articles in journals or multi-author works. A recurring topic of interest in his writings is the historical reliability of the Scriptures, and he has also covered such diverse issues as wealth and poverty, hermeneutics, and women in ministry. His books include Jesus and the Gospels: An Introduction and Survey, 2nd ed., Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament: James, A Handbook of New Testament Exegesis, Making Sense of the New Testament, Preaching the Parables, and The NIV Application Commentary: 1 Corinthians.