Click on the title links to find the great resources listed below
(and then check out my growing MASTER LIST OF APOLOGETIC RESOURCES)....
1. The Bible
Just having a solid understanding of the Bible will quickly dispel a large number of the questions that arise, strengthen your faith and enable you to give the reason for the hope that is in you (1 Peter 3:15). And more importantly, it is key to having a relationship with God, who is the source of all wisdom, knowledge and understanding.
The YouVersion Bible app is great for staying on track with a Bible reading program and you can use just about any version available to read or listen to the Bible all the way through. I am currently using the plan that takes you through the Bible in 90 days. You can download the YouVersion app to your smartphone or tablet to use it anywhere (even without internet access).
Blue Letter Bible and Biblegateway are my two favorite Bible web sites. Blue Letter Bible has an amazing array of easily accessible tools for digging deeper into the Scriptures. There are video tutorials for using the Blue Letter Bible available on their home page (which is where the link above will take you).
If you are willing to spend just a little money, you can find a good study Bible to help you every step of the way. I highly recommend the NIV Study Bible. Perhaps, even better is the new NIV Essentials Study Bible, that is (as I am posting this) only $3.99 on Kindle (which can be used on any computer, tablet or smartphone using the free Kindle app). And you may also wish to get The Apologetics Study Bible (Kindle Version here) or The Apologetics Study Bible for Students. The ESV Global Study Bible is currently FREE for Kindle. Or check out the FREE online "Answer Bible" at God Scholar.
It's always very helpful to get an overview of the Bible so that you can get a better idea of how the part you are reading fits in the bigger story of the Bible. I recommend BIBLE SURVEY: A BIG SCREEN PERSPECTIVE by Dr. Bert Downs (5 hours 25 minutes)....OR you can scroll down to "8. BIBLE OVERVIEW" at this page and choose from several other options.
And if you are ready to go deeper in your Bible study, you can pick a book of the Bible that you want to study more in depth, find a FREE online course, and be taught by one of the leading experts on that book of the Bible. Or you can go to Best Commentaries to find a commentary for that book and use that route (or both) to go deeper. Plus, there are excellent FREE commentaries available (in addition to the ones available at Blue Letter Bible)
As if the above were not enough, there are a ton of other resources available for helping you with reading the Bible.
2. Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis (1898-1963)
Available for FREE in ebook or audiobook. Perhaps no other book written in the 20th Century has had a greater impact than this classic. Mere Christianity was chosen as one of the top 25 Christian books of all time by Christian History Magazine, which devoted an article to it that serves as a very nice introduction. You can find a brief biography of Lewis (and much more) here.
3. Orthodoxy by G.K. Chesterton (1874-1936)
Available for FREE in PDF ebook or Kindle or audiobook. Chesterton was a huge influence on C.S. Lewis and this is among Chesterton's best (my personal favorite so far). You can find a brief biography of Chesterton here.
4. The Person of Christ by Philip Schaff (1819-1893)
Available for FREE in ebook or audiobook. The full title is The Person of Christ: The Miracle of History. With a Reply to Strauss and Renan, and a Collection of Testimonies of Unbelievers. In my opinion, this great little book has received far too little attention. Schaff is one of the great scholars of the 19th Century. You can find his biography here.
5. Pensees by Blaise Pascal (1623-1662)
Available for FREE in PDF ebook or Kindle or audiobook. Pascal was a brilliant mathematician and scientist...and a popular and wild-living atheist in the lively city of Paris; but when he came to Christ he became a passionate follower. This book is really a collection of Pascal's notes for a book that he was writing to persuade his atheist friends. After his death, his friends gathered his notes and published them as Pensees (French for "thoughts"). You can find a brief biography of Pascal here and a more extensive biography here. I also highly recommend Douglas Groothuis' little book On Pascal and his brief (10 minute) lecture on "Pascal's Anthropological Argument." Even more resources on Pascal here.
6. Church History by Eusebius of Caesarea (263-339)
Available for FREE in ebook or audiobook. Also available on Kindle for just 99 cents. Eusebius wrote the first history of the early church (not including Acts) and it also has a lot of emphasis on apologetics. For both reasons, it is a must read for strengthening your knowledge and understanding of apologetics. A brief biography of Eusebius can be found here. I also highly recommend Paul Maier's highly readable translation and commentary.
7. Commentary on Galatians by Martin Luther (1483-1546)
Available for FREE in ebook or audiobook Luther was the catalyst for the reformation of the Church in the 16th Century and this book is a powerful defense of the Gospel. Galatians was Luther's favorite book of the Bible and this commentary is based on his lectures on Galatians. You can find a brief biography of Luther here.
8. First Apology of Justin Martyr (100-165)
Available for FREE in ebook or audiobook. The works of Justin preserve a glimpse into how apologetics was done in the middle of the Second Century. (If interested, you can also check out the Apology of Quadratus and the Apology of Aristides, which came about a decade or so before Justin's apologies.) A brief biography of Justin can be found here or here and many other resources on Justin Martyr and his First Apology (and other works) can be found here.
9. Bridge of History Over the Gulf of Time by Thomas Cooper (1805-1892)
Available for FREE in ebook or audiobook. This great little book is a unique apologetic argument written in the 19th Century by a man who became a hardened and outspoken skeptic. But when he came to Christ, he became a very powerful and tireless defender of the Gospel. A short but interesting biography of Cooper can be found here.
10. Christianity and Liberalism by J. Gresham Machen (1881-1937)
Available for FREE in ebook or audiobook or read online or for 99 cents on Kindle. Machen was one of the great scholars of the early 20th Century. (I cut my teeth on his New Testament Greek for Beginners during my first year of Greek.) He recognized the Trojan Horse of liberalism and wrote this prophetic classic to awake the Church. A brief biography of Machen can be found here.
10 MORE HERE!
1000s MORE HERE!
Looking for more great resources for apologetics and Bible study?....
....then check out my growing MASTER LIST OF APOLOGETIC RESOURCES.
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