ARCHAEOLOGICAL CONFIRMATION OF THE OLD TESTAMENT: Resources for Study

There is a mountain or archaeological evidence confirming the historicity of the Old Testament. Here are some resources for beginning to explore it.

My Class: "Digging Up The Old Testament":
*MP3 Audio (45 minutes)
*PowerPoint Slideshow: When you click on this link, you will note the option at the top to "Open with Google Slides" or you may open with MS PowerPoint or OpenOffice Impress (which is free).
*Class Handout
*I recommend opening the audio and using the PowerPoint Slideshow as you listen (and/or the handout).

*ROBERT DICK WILSON (1856-1930). Wilson was an Old Testament scholar and defender of the text and historicity of the Old Testament. He was an incredibly gifted linguist who knew 45 languages (26 related to the study of the Old Testament). Check out this 4-minute video about Wilson by Josh McDowell. A brief biography and bibliography at Wikipedia. A 16-page biography by Brian Nicks in The Master's Seminary Journal. A complete chronological bibliography of Wilson's works at the website of the Presbyterian Church in America Historical Center. Wilson's best known work: A Scientific Investigation of the Old Testament, which can be found FREE here.

*The entire 16-week course may be found here: "HOW TO HAVE CONFIDENCE IN CHRIST THAT CHANGES THE WORLD (Apologetics 101: A Cumulative Case)"


VIDEOS
*"Does archaeology support the bible? // Social Church // Q&A with Ted Wright" (3 1/2 minutes)
"Patterns of Evidence: Exodus" (119 minutes) An excellent documentary on the evidence for the book of Exodus. Also available on Netflix streaming video.
*"The Exodus In Light Of Recent Archaeological And Geological Work In North Sinai" (78 minutes). Lecture by James Hoffmeier. "The Israelite exodus from Egypt has been the subject of scholarly interest and investigation since the dawn of Egyptology two centuries ago. In this lecture, Hoffmeier reviews the background information from ancient Egypt and focuses on new geological and archaeological data from the work of the North Sinai Archaeological Project, which Hoffmeier directed. When the results of this exciting work are combined with other recent and ongoing excavations in North Sinai, a compelling picture emerges about the route of the exodus and the location of the Re(e)d Sea."
*"EP31: Is Mount Sinai in Saudi Arabia? w/ Bob Cornuke" on Cross Examined with Frank Turek (55 minutes)
*"Ekron of the Philistines: From Sea Peoples to Olive Oil Industrialists"(93 minutes). Lecture by Sy Gitin. "The excavations of Ekron radically changed the traditional perception of the Philistines, a tribe of the Sea Peoples who migrated from the Aegean in the 12th century BCE. They settled along the southern coast of modern day Israel, became the chief antagonists of ancient Israel, and after 200 years were assimilated into one of the major ethnic groups like the Canaanites, Israelites, or Phoenicians. The Ekron Excavations have produced dramatic new evidence documenting Philistine history for an additional 400 years until the destruction wrought by the campaign of the Neo-Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar in 604 BCE. It was in the last phase, during the 7th century, that Ekron achieved the zenith of its physical and economic growth, when it became the largest olive oil industrial center known in antiquity. Among the major finds of the period was the Ekron Royal Dedicatory Inscription, one of the three most important documents outside the Dead Sea Scrolls discovered in the 20th century in Israel. The excavations also provided an answer to one of the enigmatic questions involving the Philistines, why they eventually disappeared from the pages of history." (Description from Lanier Theological Library)
*The Archaeology of the Old Testament: A Conversation with Ted Wright (2 hours) at Apologetics Academy 


ONLINE ARTICLES (& Book Chapters)
*"Biblical Archaeology's Top Ten Discoveries of 2018" (At the left of the article you will see links to articles for the "Biblical Archaeology's Top Ten Discoveries" of 2014 to 2017.)
*"50 People in the Bible Confirmed Archaeologically" by Lawrence Mykytiuk for the Biblical Archaeology Society. Highly recommended. Dr. Mykytiuk has added two more names to this list in an update. He has written a book on this subject and has also done audio interviews and several other articles related to this subject that are available at his Academia page.
*"TOP 30 OLD TESTAMENT ARCHAEOLOGICAL FINDS" by my friend Ronald Cram
*"Convince Me There's A God - Archaeology": My friend Mark McGee has done a series of 29 articles on the archaeological confirmation of the Bible. It was this kind of archaeological evidence that God used to bring him from a "well-known, hard-core atheist talk show commentator" with a background in journalism to a place of faith and commitment to Christ. The title link above will take you to the first article in that series (where he also explains some of his own interesting story)...or you can go to the entire series (in reverse order) here.
*"21 greatest Old Testament Biblical Archaeology Discoveries Ever (2019)" by Jonathan & Elizabeth Krotov
*"Archaeologists In Israel Find Evidence That Proves Literal Truth Of Bible" by Ruth Gledhill (Christianity Today: September 28, 2016)
*"Researchers Reconstruct Early Version of Old Testament Text from Burned Scroll"
(Wall Street Journal: September 21, 2016): “We were immediately struck that the En-Gedi scroll is identical in all details to what we call the authoritative Jewish text in use today.”
*"King Hezekiah in the Bible: Royal Seal of Hezekiah Comes to Light" (Biblical Archaeology: December 2015)

*"Archaeology Proves the Bible Record" by Paul A. Hughes
*"Does Archaeology Prove Chronicles Sources?" by Robert North
*"Archaeological Confirmation of the Old Testament" by Donald J. Wiseman
*The Big Book of Christian Apologetics: An A to Z Guide by Norm Geisler. See the article "Archaeology, Old Testament."

BOOKS
*The Popular Handbook of Archaeology and the  Bible: Discoveries that Confirm the Reliability of Scripture by Joseph M. Holden, Norman Geisler, and Walter C. Kaiser, Jr.
*The Archaeological Study Bible by Walter C. Kaiser, Jr. and Duane Garrett.
*The Stones Cry Out by Randall Price
*On the Reliability of the Old Testament by K.A. Kitchen
*Israel in Egypt: The Evidence for the Authenticity of the Exodus Tradition by James K. Hoffmeier
*Ancient Israel in Sinai: The Evidence for the Authenticity of the Wilderness Tradition by James K. Hoffmeier
*Biblical Archaeology: An Introduction With Recent Discoveries That Support the Reliability of the Bible by David Elton Graves.
*Biblical Archaeology: Vol. 2: Famous Discoveries That Support the Reliability of the Bible by David Elton Graves.
 *The Kregel Pictorial Guide to Old Testament Archaeology by Alfred Hoerth
*Archaeology and the Bible (1917) by George A. Barton. FREE
*The Biblical Archaeology Society offers several FREE ebooks.

INTERNET RESOURCES FOR RESEARCH
*An extensive bibliography (with links, FREE pdf files, and more) hosted by "Theology on the Web" (organized by book of the Bible).
*Associates for Biblical Research: tons of resources here!
*Epic Archaeology: the website of Ted Wright
*Archaeology and the Bible: Nice Q & A format at ChristianAnswers.net
*BiblicalArchaeology.org.uk: lots of resources here
*"Biblical Archaeology" page at Theopedia
*"Archaeological Confirmations of Scripture": a web page of the Christian Apologetics Alliance
*Collection of links by Dr. Craig Evans for doing archaeological research.
*Articles on Archaeology at Apologetics Press.
*Open Access Archaeology: A search engine for searching open access archaeology journals.
*Biblical Archaeological Links nicely organized at Dig The Bible
*An alphabetical List of 1587 open access journals on the ancient world hosted at AWOL - The Ancient World Online
*Online Resources from Institute for the Study of the Ancient World. An amazing array of FREE resources including a digital library, 3000 free images, online coins of the Roman world, images for 50,000 papyri, an open-source map-making program and more!
*Wabash Center has an annotated list of 44 resources.
*Biblical scholar John Kloppenborg's collection of links on "Archaeology"
*BibleArch
*Guided Biblical Archaeology Tour of the Holy Lands at Dig the Bible


RELATED PAGES
*The Historical Reliability of the Old Testament
*Archaeological Confirmation of the New Testament


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*MASTER LIST OF APOLOGETIC RESOURCES
*1000s of FREE BOOKS, AUDIOBOOKS & JOURNALS FOR APOLOGETICS & BIBLE STUDY
*GUIDE TO THE CONTENTS OF MY BLOG

The Egyptian Pyramids at Giza

Image Source: Institute for the Study of the Ancient World hosted at Flickr's Ancient World Image Bank

ARCHAEOLOGICAL CONFIRMATION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT: Resources for Study

There is a mountain of archaeological evidence confirming the historicity of the New Testament. Here are some resources for beginning to explore it:

My Class: "Digging Up The New Testament"
*MP3 Audio (45 minutes)
*PowerPoint Slideshow: When you click on this link, you will note the option at the top to "Open with Google Slides" or you may open with MS PowerPoint or OpenOffice Impress (which is free).
*Class Handout
*I recommend opening the audio and using the PowerPoint Slideshow as you listen (and/or the handout).

REFERENCES FOR THE CLASS:
1. Information on Sir William Mitchell Ramsay's views about Acts before and after his archaeological work can be found at: Sir William M. Ramsay: Archaeologist and New Testament Scholar A Survey of His Contribution to the Study of the New Testament (Baker Studies in Biblical Archaeology) by W. Ward Gasque, p.23-24, 27-28.

• Example of Luke's accuracy in describing Paul's fleeing from Iconium to Lystra and Derbe in Lycaonia: See Sir William M. Ramsay: Archaeologist and New Testament Scholar A Survey of His Contribution to the Study of the New Testament (Baker Studies in Biblical Archaeology) by W. Ward Gasque, p.25-26.

2. Colin J. Hemer & Acts:

• "84 Confirmed Facts in the Last 16 Chapters of the Book of Acts" at Truthbomb Apologetics (based on Colin J. Hemer's book listed below).
• The Book of Acts in the Setting of Hellenistic History by Colin J. Hemer
• Politarchs in Thessalonica: See "Archaeology and the Book of Acts" by John McRay, p.74-75.

4. A Few More Important Finds:

• 1968: The Ossuary of Yehohanan: See the online article at the Biblical Archaeology Society website.
• 2002: The Ossuary of James, Son of Joseph, Brother of Jesus: See the excellent article by Jospeh M. Holden
• 2009/2015: Two First Century Homes at Nazareth: See "Photos: 1st-Century House from Jesus' Hometown" by Owen Jarus at Live Science AND "Is Jesus' Hometown (Nazareth) a Myth?" by Joseph M. Holden (p.319-322 of The Popular Handbook of Archaeology and the Bible: Discoveries That Confirm the Reliability of Scripture by Joseph M. Holden and Norman Geisler).

*For more info about Sir William Mitchell Ramsay (1851-1939). Highly recommended is Ramsay's magnum Opus: St. Paul the Traveler and the Roman Citizen  (1895, 1907) which is FREE at Christian Classics Ethereal Library, where you will also find a nice summary of the book and a short biography of Ramsay. And here is a short article by Don Stewart quoting from this book and showing how Sir William Ramsay is related to settling the question of the historicity of Acts. Sir William M. Ramsay: Archaeologist and New Testament Scholar -- A Survey of His Contribution to the Study of the New Testament by W. Ward Gasque, an excellent 95-page book about Ramsay and his contribution to New Testament study--available in a FREE PDF file. (NOTE: The link for the PDF file of the book is located below the title and publisher's info and immediately above the Table of Contents.) For a list of his later writings, see "The Later Ramsay: A Supplementary Bibliography of the Published Writings of Sir William Mitchell Ramsay" by Colin J. Hemer.

*The entire 16-week course may be found here: "HOW TO HAVE CONFIDENCE IN CHRIST THAT CHANGES THE WORLD (Apologetics 101: A Cumulative Case)"


RESOURCES FOR DIGGING DEEPER....
ONLINE ARTICLES (& BOOK CHAPTERS)
*"Why Doesn’t Archaeology Corroborate Every Detail of the New Testament Accounts?" by J. Warner Wallace
*"The Archaeological Evidence for Jesus" by Craig Evans
*"Archaeology and the Historical Reliability of the New Testament" by Peter S. Williams

*"Archaeology and the New Testament" by Kyle Butt

*TOP 30 NEW TESTAMENT ARCHAEOLOGICAL FINDS by Ronald Cram
*"Archaeology Proves the Bible Record" by Paul A. Hughes
*"The Nativity Cave and Gentile Myths" by Craig Keener
*"Photos: 1st-Century House from Jesus' Hometown" by Owen Jarus at Live Science
*"The Nazareth Home of Jesus?" by Larry Hurtado
*"Is Jesus' Hometown (Nazareth) a Myth?" by Joseph M. Holden
*"Has the House of Peter and Andrew Been Discovered in Capernaum?" by Sean McDowell
*"Archaeological Confirmation of the New Testament" by F.F. Bruce
*"Archaeology and the Book of Acts" by John McRay
*"84 Confirmed Facts in the Last 16 Chapters of the Book of Acts" at Truthbomb Apologetics (based on Colin Hemer's book listed below).
*I Don't Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist by Norm Geisler and Frank Turek, pages 255-268. Lists and explains the importance of 84 facts confirmed in Acts (from Hemer's book listed below) and 59 facts confirmed in the Gospel of John (from Blomberg's book listed below).
*The Big Book of Christian Apologetics: An A to Z Guide by Norm Geisler. See the article "Archaeology, New Testament."
*Associates for Biblical Research has dozens of articles on the "New Testament Era."
*Last Seminary hosts 4 articles on archaeology and the New Testament that can be download for FREE--with brief abstracts for each.

BOOKS
*The Archaeology of the New Testament: 75 Discoveries That Support the Reliability of the Bible (2020) by David E. Graves

*Excavating the Evidence for Jesus: The Archaeology and History of Christ and the Gospels by Titus Kennedy

*Jesus and Archaeology edited by James H. Charlesworth

*The Popular Handbook of Archaeology and the  Bible: Discoveries that Confirm the Reliability of Scripture by Joseph M. Holden, Norman Geisler, and Walter C. Kaiser, Jr.
*The Archaeological Study Bible by Walter C. Kaiser, Jr. and Duane Garrett.
*The Stones Cry Out by Randall Price
*The Earliest Christian Artifacts: Manuscripts and Christian Origins by Larry Hurtado
*The Historical Reliability of John's Gospel by Craig Blomberg
*Archaeology and the New Testament by John McRay
*The Kregel Pictorial Guide to Archaeology and the New Testament by John McRay
*Jesus and Archaeology edited by James Charlesworth
*The Book of Acts in the Setting of Hellenistic History by Colin J. Hemer

*The Archaeology of the New Testament by Jack Finegan
*St. Paul the Traveler and the Roman Citizen  (1895, 1907) by William Ramsay. FREE at Christian Classics Ethereal Library, where you will also find a nice summary of the book and a short biography of Ramsay. And here is a short article by Don Stewart quoting from this book and showing how Sir William Ramsay is related to settling the question of the historicity of Acts.
*Jesus and the Remains of His Day (2015) by Craig Evans
*Jesus and His World: The Archaeological Evidence (2012) by Craig Evans
*The World of Jesus and the Early Church (2011) edited by Craig Evans
*Archaeology and the Bible (1917) by George A. Barton. FREE
*The Biblical Archaeology Society offers several FREE books.

INTERNET RESOURCES FOR RESEARCH
*Collection of links by Dr. Craig Evans for doing archaeological research.
*A substantial bibliography (with links, FREE pdf files and more) by Theology on the Web
*Associates for Biblical Research: tons of resources here

*Bible Archaeology Report: some excellent articles here
*Archaeology and the Bible: Nice Q & A format at ChristianAnswers.net
*BiblicalArchaeology.org.uk: lots of resources here
*"Biblical Archaeology" page at Theopedia
*"Archaeological Confirmations of Scripture": a web page of the Christian Apologetics Alliance
*Articles on Archaeology at Apologetics Press.
*NT Gateway: Links and bibliography on New Testament archaeology maintained by Dr. Mark Goodacre. Part of a large directory of academic internet resources, though sadly lacking in some of the best evangelical scholarship.
*Open Access Archaeology: A search engine for searching open access archaeology journals.
*Biblical Archaeological Links nicely organized at Dig The Bible
*An alphabetical List of 1587 open access journals on the ancient world hosted at AWOL - The Ancient World Online
*Online Resources from Institute for the Study of the Ancient World. An amazing array of FREE resources including a digital library, 3000 free images, online coins of the Roman world, images for 50,000 papyri, an open-source map-making program and more!
*Wabash Center has an annotated list of 44 resources.
*New Testament scholar John Kloppenborg's collection of links on "Archaeology"
*BibleArch
*Guided Biblical Archaeology Tour of the Holy Lands at Dig the Bible

The Arch of Titus (82 AD) depicting the sacking of Jerusalem in 70 AD

Image Source: Institute for the Study of the Ancient World hosted at Flickr's Ancient World Image Bank

GETTING STARTED IN APOLOGETICS: Resources for the Beginner

It has been said that we are in the "Golden Age of Apologetics." I think that that is true. And there has never been more need for it. The result is that there are a dizzying number of apologetics resources. This is your guide for the best resources for getting started in learning about apologetics.

PLACES TO ASK QUESTIONS
*Online Groups: A good online group that is well-moderated, has plenty of interaction and has knowledgeable apologists is an amazing resource. In fact, I think it is the most important resource you can have. I highly recommend you join one. There are many such groups online, but the link above will take you to my top recommendations. 
*Local Groups & Events: Local groups and events are another good place to ask questions, make connections and be encouraged.


FREE ONLINE COURSES
**HOW TO HAVE CONFIDENCE IN CHRIST THAT CHANGES THE WORLD by Brad Cooper: This is my FREE course presenting a basic cumulative case for Christianity. Each class includes audio, handouts, PowerPoint, and lots of resources for digging deeper.
*FREE ONLINE CLASSES & LECTURES FOR STUDYING THE BIBLE & APOLOGETICS: My blog page with links to dozens of excellent FREE courses.


EXCELLENT WEBSITES
Interactive Website
*Belief Map by Blake Giunta....A very unique and easy way to navigate the maze of some of the most important areas of apologetics. Highly recommended. Check out the 3-minute video tutorial.
*The Poached Egg: A continually updated source of the best apologetic articles and videos being produced....and the best deals in Kindle books. 


APOLOGETICS TV & PODCASTS
TV & YouTube CHANNELS
*The John Ankerberg Show
*Cross Examined
*Reasonable Faith YouTube Channel (also here)


PODCASTSCold-Case Christianity: Famous L.A. Cold-Case Detective Jim Warner Wallace

CrossExamined: Dr. Frank Turek
Stand To Reason (STR): Greg Koukl 

Reasonable Faith: Dr. William Lane Craig
Unbelievable?: Justin Brierly moderates informal debates between apologists and skeptics


WHAT TO READ
What to Read First
*The Bible: Reading, knowing and understanding the Bible is of first importance--both for your relationship with God and others and also for you as an apologist. If you don't know the Bible, you don't even know what you are defending. And knowing the Bible well will enable you to answer a majority of the issues that come your way. Check out "My Top Picks" for getting started reading the Bible.
*After the Bible, What Apologetics Book Should You Read First? Clicking on this link will take you to my blog article by that name for 15 books to choose from....or skip that and this next section ("What to Read Next") and scroll down on this page to see "A Simplified List of What to Read."

What to Read Next

• There are several options here (or see my simplified list below):
• (a) Read the book Tactics by Greg Koukl to learn how to have an effective apologetics conversation with your friends and family.
• (b) Read more books from the page What Apologetics Book Should You Read First?--especially the books by David Marshall, Edgar Andrews, C.S. Lewis, and Nancy Pearcey (which are must-reads and are completely unique from the others). 
• (c) Choose one or more of the "Longer Reads" from that page.
• (d) If you love to read and are determined to master apologetics, you will want to check out my friend Dr. Timothy McGrew's "A Course of Readings in Apologetics". 

OR....

A Simplified List of What to Read (in addition to the Bible): 

My Recommendation for the First 7 Apologetics Books You Should Read (plus more):

*Note: Clicking on the titles will take you to Amazon.  I have also linked to Overdrive, which is a service that many libraries use so that you can borrow ebooks and audiobooks. 

1. Cold-Case Christianity by J. Warner Wallace (288 pages). Available in paperback, Kindle, Audible & Audio CD. Also at Overdrive in ebook & audiobook. 
2. Tactics by Greg Koukl (208 pages). Available in paperback, Kindle, Audible & Audio CD. Also at Overdrive in ebook & audiobook. Also at Overdrive in ebook & audiobook.

3. How Jesus Passes the Outsider Test by David Marshall (210 page). Available in paperback and Kindle only. 

4. Who Made God? by Edgar Andrews (304 pages). Available in hardcover, paperback and Kindle. Also at Overdrive in ebook. 

5. Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis (266 pages). Available in hardcover, paperback, Kindle, & Audible. Also at Overdrive in ebook & audiobook. Or you can download it for FREE in ebook or audiobook.

6. Total Truth by Nancy Pearcey (480 pages). Available in hardcover, paperback, Kindle, Audible, & Audio CD. Also at Overdrive in ebook & audiobook

7. Choose between I Don't Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist by Geisler and Turek, Christian Apologetics by Douglas Groothuis, or Reasonable Faith by William Lane Craig. You will find info and links for them under "Longer Reads" at What Apologetics Book Should You Read First?

8. Then, if you are academically minded and want to master apologetics, begin working your way through Dr. Timothy McGrew's "A Course of Readings in Apologetics". If academics intimidate you, then I recommend you work through the excellent reading plan at Apologetics315. Or, if you are feeling a passion for a specific area of apologetics, then look through my bibliographies for "Specific Areas of Apologetics" at the Master List of Apologetics Resources. And if you do not see a bibliography for the area you are interested in, please leave a comment or message me and I will be glad to help.

9. Get a copy of The Big Book of Christian Apologetics: An A to Z Guide by Norman Geisler. It is a reference book filled with excellent articles for answering your questions about apologetics.
10. At some point, I would really encourage you to read Pascal's Pensees. You can find guidance for that here.
11. You can also find some other very important apologetics books to read for FREE at these links: Top 10 *FREE* Classic, Must-Read Apologetics Books in Ebook and Audio and 10 MORE GREAT APOLOGETICS BOOKS THAT ARE FREE! 

THEN....begin building your Bible & apologetics reference library.

ALSO....check out the huge and growing Master List of Apologetics Resources......
AND the list of 1000s of FREE ebooks & audiobooks for Apologetics & Bible Study....plus millions more for general reading!....

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WORKS OF 17TH CENTURY APOLOGISTS: Resources for Study

Below are links to the works of 17th Century apologists, which are FREE!....

Most of the questions and allegations brought against Christianity today were already answered soundly by these brilliant and godly men. 

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*Clicking on the apologist's name will take you to the search results at the University of Pennsylvania's "Online Book" search.

APOLOGISTS OF THE ERA

• *Blaise Pacal (1623-1662). His Pensees should be at the top of every apologist's reading list. You can find my selected bibliography for Pascal and his Pensees here.
• *Charles Leslie (1650-1722). You can find a brief biography of Leslie and an introduction to his Short and Easy Method with the Deists at the Library of Historical Apologetics. You will also find links there where you can access this work online.
• Digital Public Library of America has 48 ebooks in the category "Apologetics--History--17th Century."
• The Online Books Page (University of Pennsylvania) has 6 ebooks in the category "Apologetics--History--17th Century."

GENERAL
ONLINE RESOURCES
*Works of Dead Apologists: Resources for Study
*The Library of Historical Apologetics: An excellent resource by Dr. Timothy McGrew.
*"Juridical Apologists 1600-2000 AD: A Bio-Bibliographical Essay" by Philip Johnson
*Dead Apologists Society: An evangelical Facebook group for discussing the works of past apologists. I encourage you to join.
*"A Course of Readings in Apologetics": Dr. Timothy McGrew's recommended readings include many books from this period.
*Apologetic Methodologies Past and Present: A series of 5 lectures by Phil Fernandes. Part of the Tabor Lecture Series at Western Reformed Seminary.
*Top 10 *FREE* Classic Apologetics Books in ebook and audio
*Brief profiles of apologists from the past at Apologetics315


BOOKS
*A History of Apologetics by Avery Cardinal Dulles. You can find a 3-part review of this book here.
*Christian Apologetics Past and Present (Volume 1, To 1500 AD): A Primary Source Reader, edited by William Edgar and K. Scott Oliphint
*Christian Apologetics Past and Present (Volume 2, From 1500 AD): A Primary Source Reader, edited by William Edgar and K. Scott Oliphint

*Christian Apologetics: An Anthology of Primary Sources, edited by Khaldoun A. Sweis and Chad V. Meister

Blaise Pascal (1623-1662)

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BLAISE PASCAL: Resources for Study

Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) was a brilliant mathematician and scientist and an atheist. But when he came to Christ, his passion was to win his atheist friends and he began to write a unique book of apologetics for that purpose. But he died before he could finish it. His friends collected his notes for this work and published what is known as Pascal's Pensees (French for "thoughts"). 

It has become a classic that every apologist should put at the top of their reading list. I remember hearing Os Guinness saying in one of his lectures that he makes it a habit to read it every year. Peter Kreeft has said that it is an apologetic for our times. Kreeft writes: "He is three centuries ahead of his time. He addresses his apologetic to modern pagans, sophisticated skeptics, comfortable members of the new secular intelligentsia. He is the first to realize the new dechristianized, desacramentalized world and to address it. He belongs to us." (from "Pascal for Today")

This bibliography provides links to some excellent resources for learning from this brilliant and godly man who left us a legacy....

LINKS TO PASCAL'S PENSEES

*Amazon Kindle: FREE

*PDF, etc.: FREE

*Librivox MP3 audio: FREE

*Amazon: paperback 

*Audible

*Christianity for Pagans: Pascal's Pensees Edited, Outlined, and Explained by Peter Kreeft

BIOGRAPHIES OF PASCAL

*Brief Biography at Christian Classics Ethereal Library

*Long Article at the online Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

*On Pascal by Douglas Groothuis. My Amazon review of this book.

OTHER RESOURCES

VIDEO

*"Pascal's Anthropological Argument" (10 minutes) by Douglas Groothuis

AUDIO

*"Pascal's Wager" by Douglas Groothuis. An excellent lecture by an expert on Pascal.
*"Arguments for God's Existence" by Peter Kreeft (78 minutes). The last half of this lecture is an excellent presentation of Pascal's Wager.
*Kenneth Samples' former podcast, Straight Thinking, contains four episodes that discuss Blaise Pascal: “Blaise Pascal: Man of Reason and Faith,” “Blaise Pascal: Two Apologetics Insights,” “Blaise Pascal: The Wager, Part 1,” and “Blaise Pascal: The Wager, Part 2.”*Apologetic Methodologies Past and Present: A series of 5 lectures by Phil Fernandes. Part of the Tabor Lecture Series at Western Reformed Seminary. One of the lectures includes thoughts on Pascal.

ARTICLES

*"Christian Thinkers 101: A Crash Course on Blaise Pascal" by Kenneth Samples. Part of an excellent series on apologists of the past.
*"The Apologetic Methodology of Pascal" by Phil Fernandes. An excellent 14-page analysis of Pascal's Pensees. FREE.

*"Pascal for Today" by Peter Kreeft. From the Preface to Christianity for Pagans: Pascal's Pensees Edited, Outlined and Explained. FREE.
*"Deposed Royalty: Pascal's Anthropological Argument" (Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society) by Douglas Groothuis. FREE.
*"A Critique of Pascal's Wager: Argument Against Natural Theology" by Douglas Groothuis. FREE.
*"The Truth About Pascal's Wager" by David Marshall. FREE.
*Last Seminary hosts five articles on "Pascal's Wager" that can be download for FREE--with brief abstracts for each.
*Last Seminary hosts 3 articles on "Pascal's Anthropological Argument" that can be download for FREE--with brief abstracts for each.

BOOKS

*Online Books Page at the University of Pennsylvania Library. FREE.

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