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Riley259
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What are the most persuasive books for the existence of God and the truth of Christianity? - (this may or may not mean two separate books) . thanks in advance for opinions on this.
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singerlady
Guest
I loved Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
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Friar_David_O.Carm
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The Holy Scriptures… The Bible did it for me.
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JMJ_coder
Guest
Hello,
Try Summa Theologiae by Saint Thomas Aquinas. He does an excellent job in proving God’s Exsistence from a common sense and philosophical point of view.
Try Summa Theologiae by Saint Thomas Aquinas. He does an excellent job in proving God’s Exsistence from a common sense and philosophical point of view.
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Mike_D30
Guest
I’m reading that right now, as I’ve been very down lately when contemplating things like evolution, trouble with Marian Dogma’s etc…I got fairly depressed, so I figured I would start from the beginning with this book, and it is very good.
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singerlady
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I also used to listen to Ravi Zecharias. I don’t know if he has any books out, but he is a Christian apologist and his style reminds me a lot of CS Lewis.
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Anonymous_1
Guest
The New Evidence that Demands a Verdict by Josh McDowell. You can get it on amazon.com for cheap(I got mine for like 8 bucks). Mere Christianity is good, but i really reccomend New Evidence… it covers the Trilemma and much much more.
A great apologetic resource for Catholic apologetics is The Faith explained by Leo Trese. Helped bring me back to His sheepfold, the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.
Although some of McDowells work is colored by his protestant beliefs, this book was huge for me. It is a collection of apologetics on everything from historical evidence for Christ, His divinity and ressurrection, the validity and reliability of the Bible, the existence of miracles. It is an amazing resource even though at times it get s a bit technical and philosophical when confronting findings from the “jesus seminar.”
A great apologetic resource for Catholic apologetics is The Faith explained by Leo Trese. Helped bring me back to His sheepfold, the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.
Although some of McDowells work is colored by his protestant beliefs, this book was huge for me. It is a collection of apologetics on everything from historical evidence for Christ, His divinity and ressurrection, the validity and reliability of the Bible, the existence of miracles. It is an amazing resource even though at times it get s a bit technical and philosophical when confronting findings from the “jesus seminar.”
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singerlady
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I am really glad this thread was started. I am going to look for some of these.
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Strider
Guest
Handbook of Christian Apologetics by Peter Kreeft and Ronald K. Tacelli
I’m a Kreeft fan, anyway, but this one uses philosophical dialectic rather than Scripture for its evidence.
Not that Scripture is bad, but some people don’t believe it’s the inerrant Word of God.
So, use philosophy.
I’m a Kreeft fan, anyway, but this one uses philosophical dialectic rather than Scripture for its evidence.
Not that Scripture is bad, but some people don’t believe it’s the inerrant Word of God.
So, use philosophy.
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TheRaiders
Guest
Your trouble with Marian dogmas is actually a trouble with accepting the Holy Spirit, who is the spouse of Mary. St. Louis de Montfort explains this clearly in “True devotion to Mary”, and how it is often the best way to approach her Son through her.
As far as evolution, it is not about what you believe in respects to the debate (inteligent design vs. evolution) but how you approach the debate. Creation was created, and the soul did not evolve. Those two things are fundamental beliefs. Whether God used a gradual, chaotic evolution over millions of years is His perogative, but I have been convinced this is not the case. A much more coherant and interesting theory is that the world was created diverse and that each species had the ability to adapt with its already diverse genetics. It may be a protestant movement, but don’t associate it with the sometimes unthinking movements of the Bible belt. Some of the smartest minds in the world have come to the conclusions that this is how God did it. Dr. Sarfati’s book “Refuting Evolution” is a very good read. He is one of the best minds on the planet, and I think you can find the whole thing here answersingenesis.org/home/area/re1/index.asp . It might be a shorter version. You should get the hardcopy book if you can.
In the end, however, the Bible, when read using Catholic doctrines as a lense, is the best book. St. Anne Catherine Emerich, with her gift of visions, has given us a supplement to the Bible. It is incredibly interesting and helps us visualize and conceptualize the Bible. Mel Gibson used her visions in making The Passion of Christ. I could go on forever with books you should read, but the best thing to do is spend time in front of the Blessed Sacrament, becasue you are sitting right next to Him.
Patrick Brown
As far as evolution, it is not about what you believe in respects to the debate (inteligent design vs. evolution) but how you approach the debate. Creation was created, and the soul did not evolve. Those two things are fundamental beliefs. Whether God used a gradual, chaotic evolution over millions of years is His perogative, but I have been convinced this is not the case. A much more coherant and interesting theory is that the world was created diverse and that each species had the ability to adapt with its already diverse genetics. It may be a protestant movement, but don’t associate it with the sometimes unthinking movements of the Bible belt. Some of the smartest minds in the world have come to the conclusions that this is how God did it. Dr. Sarfati’s book “Refuting Evolution” is a very good read. He is one of the best minds on the planet, and I think you can find the whole thing here answersingenesis.org/home/area/re1/index.asp . It might be a shorter version. You should get the hardcopy book if you can.
In the end, however, the Bible, when read using Catholic doctrines as a lense, is the best book. St. Anne Catherine Emerich, with her gift of visions, has given us a supplement to the Bible. It is incredibly interesting and helps us visualize and conceptualize the Bible. Mel Gibson used her visions in making The Passion of Christ. I could go on forever with books you should read, but the best thing to do is spend time in front of the Blessed Sacrament, becasue you are sitting right next to Him.
Patrick Brown
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stella95
Guest
Screwtape Letters and The Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis. Boethius’ Consolation of Philosophy did it for me but I’m a medievalist.
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nucatholic
Guest
I havn’t seen any good arguments from philosophy for the existence of God. I’ve contemplated all of the major arguments, the ontological, the cosmological, the fine-tuning of the universe and others. None of them completely satisfy justification. Maybe someone will come up with a good one some day, but not I havn’t seen it yet. The best argument is from personal (not second hand) religious experience. Personal religious experience might be a decent justification for your faith, but then again we all interpret abnormal occurences in our own light and our own way. After all, there are many natural occurences that are very rare. Take a total eclipse of the sun for example. Before we discovered the cause of an eclipse, people all over the world interpreted this as an omen, a miracle, a sign from God or whatever. It was for most a once in a lifetime thing after all and extremely stunning. They interpreted it as divine because they were ignorant of the true cause. This might be said for religious experience also. However, if you are a person of faith, perhaps you don’t need proof. After all, God tells us “Blessed are those who have not seen and still believe.”
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Petergee
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How exactly does The Chronicles of Narniapersuade you of the existence of God and the truth of Christianity?
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FightingFat
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My I recommend The Founder of Christianity by C.H. Dodd?
It is easy to read, excellent literary style, covers all the bases (historicity, contextual history, the man, his associates etc) and has a great realism and history throughout.
It is easy to read, excellent literary style, covers all the bases (historicity, contextual history, the man, his associates etc) and has a great realism and history throughout.
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Ghosty
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I can’t believe no one has mentioned it yet, but Orthodoxy by G.K. Chesterton is practically an otherwordly combination of St. Thomas Aquinas and C.S. Lewis; in other words it’s a plain English, common sense approach to the Faith that leaves you going “Duh, why didn’t I think of that?” Most interesting is that it was written when G.K. was still an Anglican, though you wouldn’t know it from the book itself. It even expresses why Peter was the the Rock!
I highly recommend reading it in book format, but you can read it online in its entirety here. His wit and wisdom will astound you, just as it did C.S. Lewis, who credited Chesterton for his conversion, at least partially. The man is simply brilliant, and few writers in the English language will inspire you as much as him. If he was good enough for Lewis, he’ll be good enough for you
Peace and God bless!
I highly recommend reading it in book format, but you can read it online in its entirety here. His wit and wisdom will astound you, just as it did C.S. Lewis, who credited Chesterton for his conversion, at least partially. The man is simply brilliant, and few writers in the English language will inspire you as much as him. If he was good enough for Lewis, he’ll be good enough for you
Peace and God bless!
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