The Good Books on The Hard Issues

Here is a list of books that will help Christians be more prepared to answer the hard questions people are asking. The list is by no means exhaustive, yet I have tried to compile one that is laymen friendly and representative of a wide range of issues. This list represents not only my personal reading but recommendations from other pastors and some seminary professors I have had along the way. These books represent apologetics, creation/evolution, the existence of God, basic theological surveys, the problem of evil, textual issues with the Bible, church history, ethics, cults and world religions. I do not have time to break them all down by category, some do well to address several issues. If anyone has any to add to the list (please pay attention to the purpose of the list), please share.  Thanks to Jason Dollar and Dave Delmotte for contributing.

C.S. Lewis

The Problem of Pain
Miracles
Mere Christianity

Lee Strobel

The Case for Christ
The Case for a Creator
The Case for Faith

Francis Schaeffer

The God Who is There
Escape from Reason
He is There and He is not Silent (all three of these books are published in a single Trilogy volume)
How Should We Then Live?

William Lane Craig

Hard Questions, Real Answers
On Guard: Defending Your Faith with Reason and Precision
Contending with Christianity’s Critics: Answering New Atheists and Other Objectors

Norman Geisler

I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist
When Skeptics Ask
When Critics Ask: A Handbook of Bible Difficulties
Philosophy of Religion
From God to Us – (textual issues of the Bible)
If God, Why Evil?
Making Sense of Bible Difficulty
Innerancy

Wayne Grudem

Christian Beliefs: Twenty Basics Every Christian Should Know
Fifty Crucial Questions: An Overview of Central Concerns About Manhood and Womanhood
Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood: A Response to Evangelical Feminism (With John Piper)
Politics – According to the Bible: A Comprehensive Resource for Understanding Modern Political Issues in Light of Scripture

Paul Copan

When God Goes to Starbucks: A Guide to Everyday Apologetics
Jesus’ Resurrection, Fact or Fiction
Is God a Moral Monster?
True for You, But Not for Me, Overcoming Objections to Christian Faith
How Do You Know You’re Not Wrong? Responding to Objections that Leave Christians Speechless

Daniel Wallace

Revisiting the Corruption of the New Testament
Dethroning Jesus: Exposing Popular Culture’s Quest to Unseat the Biblical Christ
Reinventing Jesus: How Contemporary Skeptics Miss the Real Jesus and Mislead Popular Culture

Darrell Bock

The Missing Gospels: Unearthing the Truth Behind Alternative Christianities

Key Events in the Life of the Historical Jesus

Erwin Lutzer

The Truth About Same-Sex Marriage
Hitler’s Cross: The Revealing Story of How the Cross of Christ Was Used as a Symbol of the Nazi
Seven Reasons Why You Can Trust the Bible
Slandering Jesus: Six Lies People Tell About the Man Who Said He Was God
Where was God? Answers to Tough Questions about God and Natural Disasters

Alister McGrath

Heresy: A History of Defending the Truth
Christianity’s Dangerous Idea: The Protestant Revolution
Intellectuals Don’t Need God, and Other Myths of the Modern Mind
The Twilight of Atheism: The Rise and Fall of Disbelief in the Modern World
Historical Theology
The Dawkins Delusion
Dawkins’ God: Genes, Memes, and the Meaning of Life
Science and Religion: An Introduction
Surprised by Meaning: Science, Faith, and How We Make Sense of Things

David Nobel

Understanding the Times
The Battle for the Truth

Apologetics

Handbook of Christian Apologetics – Peter Kreeft
Holman Quicksource Guide to Christian Apologetics
Tactics: A Game Plan for Discussing Your Christian Convictions
The Reason for God, Belief in an Age of Skepticism – Timothy Keller
New Evidence that Demands a Verdict - Josh McDowell

Ethics

Moral Choices – Scott Rae
Choosing the Good: Christian Ethics in a Complex World – Dennis P. Hollinger
Ethics for a Brave New World – John S. Feinberg

Church History

The Story of Christianity (Vol. 1 & 2) – Justo L. Gonzalez
Defending Constantine – Peter J. Leithhart

Cults and World Religions

Understanding Secular Religions - Josh McDowell
Kingdom of the Cults - Walter Martin
Another Gospel - Ruth Tucker