On Wednesday evenings the Church has been studying the question "Can we Trust the Bible?" This sort of apologetic study is important because there are so many people out there insinuating that we can't. The fact is that the arguments that are brought against the Bible are really very poor - but sometimes we have to show that they are. The goal of apologetics is to have the Christian ready to "give an answer for the faith that is in us". Obviously 30-40 minute lectures can only do so much. So here are some books available from Bethel Bookshop that will help with further study.
1. James R. White: 'Scripture Alone', (Bethany House, 2004). This is one of the best books for all-round study of attacks on the Bible. James White is an accomplished debater, and debates with atheists, liberals, Muslims and Mormons form the background to this book. If you get only one book on the recommended list, get this one.
2. James R. White: 'The King James Only Controversy' (second edition, Bethany House, 2009). Although forcused on the debate over Bible versions, this book is much more, being a helpful introduction to the facts about the history of the Bible, textual criticism and translation.
3.Darrell Bock: 'The Missing Gospels' (Thomas Nelson, 2006). The so-called 'Lost Gospels' are all over the media. This excellent work by a New Testament scholar examines the books, cuts through the claims and shows the actual differences between the 'Lost gospels' and the Canonical Gospels.
4. David Marshall: 'The Truth about Jesus and the "Lost Gospels"', (Harvest House, 2007). Similar to the above, but on a more popular level, Marshall discusses the actual teachings of the 'Lost Gospels' and concludes that they are not Christian at all!
5. Peter Jones: 'Stolen Identity', (Victor, 2006). Broadly similar to the two previous books, this is a good read. It begins with the 'Da Vinci Code', but moves on from there to examine Gnosticism in general.
6. Darrell L. Bock & Daniel B. Wallace: 'Dethroning Jesus' (Thomas Nelson, 2007). This is broader than the three previous books, dealing with a number of challenges to the historical Jesus. It begins with the claims of rampant manuscript corruption and ends with the rather amusing story of the so-called "Jesus family tomb".
7. Timothy Paul Jones: 'Misquoting Truth', (IVP, 2007). Directed particularly against Bart Ehrman's 'Misquoting Jesus', this is a well-written answer to the claim that the New Testament has been so badly corrupted that we cannot know what it originally said.
8. Timothy Paul Jones, 'Conspiracies and the Cross' (Front Line, 2008). This book deals with ten theories that challenge the Biblical Jesus. It is written in a popular, sometimes light-hearted manner, but that should not put the reader off.
There are of course many other books that deal with questions that affect the reliability of the Bible, but these are particularly worth reading. They can be found in Bethel Bookshop, which is open 12-2 on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. |
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