Review: Reasons for Belief (Norman Geisler and Patty Tunnicliffe)

I like to read the apologetic books as well as books that criticize Christianity as they give me a good ground to think about and also to engage with the mind of the skeptics that I work with most of the time. This book however is not really book for skeptics, but rather for Christians to give them sort of assurance about what they believe. The structure of the book is simple to follow as it covers 10 common objections to Christian faith such as: "Real truth does not exist.", "Miracles don't happen.", "Jesus never claimed to be God.", "Jesus did not rise from the dead." or "There are many ways to God besides Jesus." However, you can guess the answers to all of them the moment you read the outline. Well, this is fine. But the depth of the arguments to the challenges is simply not enough for my friends who are sincere and genuine skeptics, but rather for doubting Christians who are at least a bit familiar with the Bible and its story.

Don't get me wrong. It is fine book for them, but not enough if you want to learn some serious answers to the objections you may have or somebody close to you may have. Geisler and Tunnicliffe respond to each statement with classic evidentialist arguments. You'll find the cosmological, teleological, and ethical arguments for the uniqueness of Scripture. Once the use of Bible is logically legitimized, other arguments are derivered from exegetical arguments. Each chapter opens with a "potential problem" paragraph that emphasizes what the danger of that chapter's challenge is before setting out to disarm it in easy and simple language that is easy to understand. But I am actually very unsure of the way the arguments are presented to change someone's mind. If I would be unbeliever, I would be thankful for knowing what Christians think, but I would still have a lots of questions to each point. As somebody else said in the reviews, the book is essentially designed with a beginner apologist in mind (possibly a teenager or new convert). So, it is okay for a starter, but not more. I would give 2,5 stars.

I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. (Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255.)