Christian Apologetics: An Anthology of Primary Sources

by Chad V. Meister; Khaldoun A. Sweis

Publisher:

Zondervan

, 2012

Overview

Christian Apologetics: An Anthology of Primary Sources makes available over fifty primary source selections that address various challenges to Christian faith in the history of Christian apologetics. The compilation represents a broad Christian spectrum, ranging from early writers like Saint Paul and Saint Augustine, to Saint Teresa of Avila and Blaise Pascal, to more recent and present day apologists such as C. S. Lewis, Alvin Plantinga, William Lane Craig, Richard Swinburne and Pope Benedict XVI. Insightful introductions, black-and-white images, concise section headings, and discussion questions guide readers toward a clearer understanding of classical defenses of Christianity. Annotated reading lists, a bibliography, and author and subject indices contribute to the suitability of this anthology as a textbook or supplemental reader. Christian Apologetics: An Anthology of Primary Sources is an authoritative reference for key persons, concepts, issues, and approaches in the history of Christian apologetics. It is especially useful as a supplemental textbook for students, allowing them to read great apologists and thinkers in their own words.

In the Logos edition, this volume is enhanced by amazing functionality. Important terms link to dictionaries, encyclopedias, and a wealth of other resources in your digital library. Perform powerful searches to find exactly what you’re looking for. Take the discussion with you using tablet and mobile apps. With Logos Bible Software, the most efficient and comprehensive research tools are in one place, so you get the most out of your study.

Contents

Top Highlights

“Atheists do not say that they can prove there is no God. Also, an atheist is not someone who denies there is a God. Rather, an atheist says that he has examined the proofs that are offered by the theists, and finds them inadequate.” (Page 142)

“Another experiential argument, articulated with impressive force by Pascal, Søren Kierkegaard, and C. S. Lewis, might be called ‘the argument from non-religious experience.’ Drawing on Pascal, Lewis has given this argument its most famous expression, asserting that there is a ‘God-shaped hole’ in the heart of every human being. Apart from God, humans flounder in their effort to find happiness and meaning in life. Only in a relationship with God can humans find joy, meaning, and purpose.” (Page 34)

“In summary, Jesus did three things to solve the problem of suffering. First, he came. He suffered with us. He wept. Second, in becoming man he transformed the meaning of our suffering: it is now part of his work of redemption. Our death pangs become birth pangs for heaven, not only for ourselves but also for those we love. Third, he died and rose. Dying, he paid the price for sin and opened heaven to us; rising, he transformed death from a hole into a door, from an end into a beginning.” (Page 448)

“And this is what the atheist says about the existence of God: He says the case is unproved not disproved. So, an atheist is really someone who is without a belief in God, or he does not believe in a God. It is not someone who denies the existence of God, or who says that one does not exist, or that he can prove that one does not exist.” (Page 143)

Product Details

• Title: Christian Apologetics: An Anthology of Primary Sources
• Authors: Chad V. Meister, Khaldoun A. Sweis
• Publisher: Zondervan
• Print Publication Date: 2012
• Logos Release Date: 2013
• Pages: 560
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Subject: Apologetics › History--Sources
• ISBNs: 9780310517054, 9780310589686, 0310517052, 0310589681
• Resource ID: LLS:CHRSTNPLGTC
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2022-09-29T22:41:39Z

About the Editors

Chad V. Meister is professor of philosophy and theology at Bethel College in Mishawaka, Indiana. He is the author and editor of multiple books and articles including Building Belief, Evil: A Guide for the Perplexed, Debating Christian Theism with J. P. Moreland and Khaldoun Sweis, as well as God Is Great, God Is Good—winner of the Christianity Today Book of the Year. Meister is also editor of the Journal of the International Society of Christian Apologetics, book review editor for Philosophia Christi, and general editor with Paul Moser of the series Cambridge Studies in Religion, Philosophy, and Society.

Khaldoun A. Sweis teaches philosophy with the Oxford University Department for Continuing Education in the UK and is assistant professor of philosophy at Olive-Harvey College in Chicago, Illinois. His publications include Think: A Journal of the Royal Institute of Philosophy, the Journal of the International Society of Christian Apologetics, and Debating Christian Theism with J. P. Moreland and Chad Meister.