A COURSE OF READINGS IN APOLOGETICS by Dr. Tim McGrew

A Course of Readings in Apologetics

Dr. Timothy McGrew

[Thanks to Dr. McGrew for allowing me to publish this on my blog. The bibliography is all his. I tracked down the availability of these resources on several venues in order to make them available to as wide an audience as possible. Many/most are available for free download, free loan through OverDrive (if your library uses this service), on Audible, or cheap on Amazon. Enjoy! Brad]

Items preceded by an asterisk (*) are available free online in Google Books or other sources. Items marked with a dagger (†) are works by adversaries of Christianity. Items on OverDrive (for free through libraries that use this service) are noted after the title and will specify the formats available: eBook or audio. Items on Audible (audiobooks) will be noted after the title, also. Clicking on the title itself will take you to that book's listing on Amazon.

Click on the title links to find the great resources listed below 
(and then check out the growing MASTER LIST OF APOLOGETIC RESOURCES)....

Conversational Apologetics

Mandatory
Greg Koukl, Tactics *OverDrive (eBook and audio) *Audible

Recommended

Norman and David Geisler, Conversational Evangelism *OverDrive (eBook)

Supplementary
Randy Newman, Questioning Evangelism
Randy Newman, Corner Conversations

General Bible and Historical Background

Mandatory
* James M. Gray, Primers of the Faith, chs. 1‐32 (Part I) **FREE HERE
* Samuel P. Tregelles, Historic Evidence of the New Testament  **FREE HERE
E. M. Blaiklock, The Compact Handbook of New Testament Life

Recommended
E. M. Blaiklock, The Century of the New Testament
Paul Maier, In the Fullness of Time
* G. Rawlinson, The Historical Evidences of the Truth of the Scripture Records, ch. 7  **FREE HERE
* Robert Baker Girdlestone, The Building Up of the Old Testament   **FREE HERE

Supplementary
* Thomas Cooper, The Bridge of History over the Gulf of Time  **FREE HERE *FREEAudiobook

* Isaac Taylor, History of the Transmission of Ancient Books to Modern Times  **FREE HERE
* Isaac Taylor, The Process of Historical Proof    **FREE HERE

Reference
* William Binnington Boyce, Introduction to the Study of History   **FREE HERE

Basic Reasoning Skills in Apologetics

Mandatory
Peter Kreeft, Between Heaven and Hell

Recommended
Peter Kreeft, The Best Things in Life
Peter Kreeft, The Unaborted Socrates
Peter Kreeft, Socrates Meets Jesus

Positive Biblical Apologetics: Minimal Facts Argument

Mandatory
* C. S. Lewis, “Modern Theology and Biblical Criticism” (Also titled: "Fernseed and Elephants") **FREE HERE  *YouTube Audio
William Lane Craig, Reasonable Faith, chs. 7 and 8 *OverDrive (eBook)
Terry Miethe, ed., Did Jesus Rise from the Dead?
Copan and Tacelli, eds., Jesus’ Resurrection: Fact or Figment?

Recommended
Komoszewski, Sawyer and Wallace, Reinventing Jesus
Craig A. Evans, Fabricating Jesus

Supplementary
N. T. Wright, The Resurrection of the Son of God *OverDrive (eBook)
William Lane Craig, Assessing the New Testament Evidence for the Historicity of the Resurrection of Jesus
Mike Licona, The Resurrection of Jesus: A New Historiographical Approach

Positive Biblical Apologetics: Eyewitness Testimony Argument

Mandatory
* C. S. Lewis, “Modern Theology and Biblical Criticism” (Also titled: "Fernseed and Elephants") **FREE HERE  *YouTube Audio
J. W. Montgomery, Where is History Going?, chs. 2 and 3 (Also published separately as Jesus Christ and History) *FREE17 page excperpt
* Edmund Bennett, The Four Gospels from a Lawyer’s Standpoint  *FREE
* F. F. Bruce, The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable?  *FREE
* William Paley, A View of the Evidences of Christianity, Parts 1 and 2  *FREE *FREE Kindle book

Recommended
* Thomas Cooper, The Bridge of History over the Gulf of Time  *FREE  *FREE Audiobook
* John James Blunt, Undesigned Coincidences, Part 4 *FREE
Jeffrey Sheller, Is the Bible True?
Mark D. Roberts, Can We Trust the Gospels? *OverDrive (eBook)

Richard Bauckham, Jesus and the Eyewitnesses
Eddy and Boyd, The Jesus Legend *OverDrive (eBook)

Komoszewski, Sawyer and Wallace, Reinventing Jesus
Craig A. Evans, Fabricating Jesus

Supplementary
N. T. Wright, The Resurrection of the Son of God *OverDrive (eBook)

Reference
* T. H. Horne, An Introduction to the Critical Study and Knowledge of the Holy Scriptures, 8th ed., vols. 1 and 2  *FREE
* Nathaniel Lardner, Credibility of the Gospel History, 17 vols. *FREE

Positive General Apologetics: Orientation

Mandatory
C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity  *FREE  *FREE Audiobook

Recommended
Craig and Copan, eds., Contending with Christianity’s Critics *OverDrive (eBook)

Sennett and Groothuis, eds., In Defense of Natural Theology: A Post‐Humean Assessment
Timothy Keller, The Reason for God *OverDrive (eBook & audiobook) *Audible (abridged)

Reference
Craig and Moreland, eds., The Blackwell Companion to Natural Theology *OverDrive (eBook)

Positive General Apologetics: The Kalam Argument

Mandatory
* William Lane Craig, “The Existence of God and the Beginning of the Universe” FREE
William Lane Craig, Reasonable Faith, chs. 3 and 4 *OverDrive (eBook)

Supplementary
William Lane Craig, The Kalam Cosmological Argument
Craig and Smith, Theism, Atheism, and Big Bang Cosmology

Reference
William Lane Craig, The Cosmological Argument from Plato to Leibniz

Positive General Apologetics: The Origin of Life

Mandatory
Stephen Meyer, “The Explanatory Power of Design,” in Mere Creation
Dean Overman, A Case Against Accident and Self‐organization

Recommended
J. P. Moreland, ed., The Creation Hypothesis, ch. 5
C. Thaxton, W. Bradley, and R. Olsen, The Mystery of Life’s Origin
Robert Shapiro, Origins: A Sceptic’s Guide to the Creation of Life on Earth
Stephen Meyer, Signature in the Cell *OverDrive (eBook)

Positive General Apologetics: Intelligent Design

Mandatory
† Richard Dawkins, The Blind Watchmaker, chs. 1‐4 *OverDrive (eBook) *Audible
J. P. Moreland, ed., The Creation Hypothesis, Intro. and chs. 1 & 2
Michael Behe, Darwin’s Black Box *OverDrive (eBook)

Jonathan Wells, Icons of Evolution *Audible

Recommended
William Dembski, ed., Mere Creation
Jon Wells, The Politically Incorrect Guide to Darwinism and Intelligent Design *OverDrive (eBook & audiobook) *Audible

Supplementary
* Tim McGrew, “Toward a Rational Reconstruction of Design Inferences” FREE

Positive General Apologetics: The Moral Argument

Mandatory
C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, Book I  *FREE  *FREE Audiobook
* Paul Copan, “God, Naturalism, and Morality,” from The Future of Atheism

Recommended
C. E. M. Joad, The Recovery of Belief, ch. 3
Mark Linville, “The Moral Poverty of Evolutionary Naturalism,” in Contending with Christianity’s Critics *OverDrive (eBook)

Defensive General Apologetics: The Challenge of Naturalistic Science

Mandatory
C. S. Lewis, Miracles: A Preliminary Study, ch. 3 *OverDrive (eBook & audiobook) *Audible
John Lennox, God’s Undertaker: Has Science Buried God? *OverDrive (eBook)

Recommended
* Arthur James Balfour, The Foundations of Belief, 8th ed.

Supplementary
Rodney Holder, Nothing but Atoms and Molecules?

Defensive General Apologetics: The Problem of Evil

Mandatory
† David Hume, Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion, Section X  *FREE  *FREE Audiobook

William Lane Craig, Hard Questions, Real Answers, chs. 4 and 5

Recommended
C. S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain *OverDrive (eBook & audiobook) *Audible

Defensive General Apologetics: The Objection to Miracles

Mandatory
† David Hume, “Of Miracles” *FREE
* William Adams, An Essay in Answer to Mr. Hume’s Essay on Miracles, 3rd ed. *FREE

Recommended
* George Campbell, A Dissertation on Miracles *FREE

Habermas and Geivett, eds., In Defense of Miracles

Supplementary
* John Douglas, The Criterion *FREE
C. S. Lewis, Miracles: A Preliminary Study *OverDrive (eBook and audiobook) *Audible

Reference
* Tim McGrew, “Miracles,” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy *FREE

Defensive General Apologetics: Other General Objections

Recommended
Paul Copan, When God Goes to Starbucks *OverDrive (eBook)

William Lane Craig, Hard Questions, Real Answers
Craig and Copan, eds., Contending with Christianity’s Critics *OverDrive (eBook)

Reference
* John Leland, A View of the Principal Deistical Writers, 2 vols. *FREE
Geisler and Brooks, When Skeptics Ask

Defensive Biblical Apologetics

Mandatory
* Richard Watson, An Apology for the Bible  *FREE

Recommended
Paul Copan, Is God a Moral Monster? *OverDrive (eBook)

* Joseph Butler, The Analogy of Religion  *FREE

* William Paley, A View of the Evidences of Christianity, Part III *FREE  *FREE Kindle book

Supplementary
* B. F. Westcott, A General Survey of the History of the Canon of the New Testament  *FREE

Köstenberger and Kruger, The Heresy of Orthodoxy
Eddy and Boyd, The Jesus Legend *OverDrive (eBook)

Reference
* Haley, An Examination of the Alleged Discrepancies of the Bible  *FREE

* Tuck, A Handbook of Biblical Difficulties, 2 vols.  *FREE

* John Thein, The Bible and Rationalism, 4 vols. *FREE
* T. H. Horne, An Introduction to the Critical Study and Knowledge of the Holy Scriptures, 8th ed., vols. 1 and 2  *FREE
Gleason Archer, Encyclopediaof Bible Difficulties *OverDrive (eBook)

Geisler and Howe, TheBig Book of Bible Difficulties

Michael Brown, AnsweringJewish Objections to Jesus, 5 vols. *OverDrive (eBook)