Book Review: Expository Apologetics

Voddie T. Baucham Jr. Expository Apologetics: Answering Objections with the Power of the Word.  Wheaton, IL: Crossway, May 31, 2015.  208 pp.

4 out of 5

Purchase: Amazon

Looking for an introductory book on apologetics as it is driven by a biblical worldview?  This book should be on your reading list.  The author wrote this book for everyday Christians to be equipped to defend the faith; I love how Voddie here sees a place for specialists in apologetics and yet there is the need for all Christians to defend their faith.  Apologetics isn’t for “special forces” Christians, something Voddie have expressed several times in the book, but for all Christians.  It is a discipline of every believer and yet apologetics must be done in a biblical way.  To that I say amen!  The apologetics method Voddie Bauchman advocate for here is largely presuppositional apologetics and I was pleasantly surprised to see the book mentioned Cornelius Van Til, John Frame and Sye TenBruggencate.

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Book Review: The Absurdity of Unbelief

Jeffrey Johnson. The Absurdity of Unbelief.  Conway, AR: Free Grace Press, January 22, 2016. 350 pp.

4 out of 5

Purchase: Amazon

There are books out there introducing Presuppositional Apologetics that focus more on the theory and the foundation of the Biblical method to defend the faith; but over time I want to read more books applying Presuppositional Apologetics in other areas and this include Presuppositional Apologetics’ critiques applied to other religions, philosophy and other various systems of unbelief.  I appreciate the author’s hard work in refuting false worldviews in this book.  Jeffrey Johnson is an author, teaching pastor and Presuppositional Apologist.

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Book Review: Redeeming Our Thinking about History: A God-Centered Approach” By Vern Poythress

Vern Poythress. Redeeming Our Thinking about History: A God-Centered Approach.  Wheaton, IL: Crossway, March 15, 2022.  256 pp.

4 out of 5

Purchase: Amazon

How should Christians think about the study of history?  In this book author Vern Poythress explores the biblical worldview as the foundation for history.  Poythress has written on a biblical worldview for other areas of academic discipline such as philosophy, science, sociology and linguistics.  Similar to his other works in this book Poythress draws out implications from the contents of Scripture to discuss about the method of history. Arguing in the way of Cornelius Van Til’s Presuppositional Apologetics, Poythress also advocate that only the Triune Christian worldview can give an account of history in a way that makes it intelligible and meaningful.

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I’m excited to read the upcoming “Redeeming Our Thinking about History: A God-Centered Approach” By Vern Poythress

I normally don’t write a post before I finish a book but this is one of those exceptions.  I’m looking forward to Vern Poythress’ Redeeming Our Thinking about History: A God-Centered Approach.  Its coming out March 15th, 2022.

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How the Trinity Impacts Everything: Interview with Vern Poythress

Eli Ayala of Revealed Apologetics ministry recently interviewed Dr. Vern Poythress of Westminster Theological Seminary on the topic of how the Trinity impacts and relates to everything else In the Christian life.

Dr. Poythress is one of those amazing scholars who are inter-disciplinary.  He has a Bachelor degree in mathematics from California Institute of Technology, a Ph.D. in mathematics from Harvard University (1970), a Master of Divinity from Westminster Theological Seminary, a Th.M in apologetics also from Westminster in 1974.  He’s also have a M.Litt. in New Testament from University of Cambridge (1977) and a Th.D. in New Testament from the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa.

Here’s the discussion below:

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Dr. Poythress Interview on Missions, Language Presuppositional Apologetics and Theology

Dr. Vern Poythress is one of those incredible intellectual gift to the Church.  He’s a Christian professor, a Reformed theologian, New Testament scholar, expert on hermeneutics, linguist, a Presuppositional apologist and philosopher who was a prodigy that went to Cal Tech before he was 18 and have several doctorates including a PhD in Mathematics from Harvard University.

He’s recently was interviewed for a podcast on the Missions Podcast from ABWE International.  It’s a wonderful discussion on multiple things I’m excited about:  Missions, Language Presuppositional Apologetics and Theology!

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Free E-Book: Knowing and the Trinity by Vern Poythress

There’s so many good free Christian E-books online these days.  This is one of them!

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Free E-Book: My Child, His Child by Diane Poythress

This is a Free E Book by Diane Poythress.  She is the wife of Christian scholar Vern Poythress.  Vern Poythress is one of the rare individual who is a genius; while he is a New Testament professor he’s one of those guys that knows a lot and is down to earth about it.  He’s written on a Christian view of hermeneutics, logic, math, language, science and of course the Bible.  But enough about Vern; there’s a free electronic version of a book written by his wife.

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Review of Two Spiritual Booklets Read in Late 2017

Here are two Christian booklets I read towards the end of this year.

William P. Smith.  When Bad Things Happen: Thoughtful Answers to Hard Questions.  Greensboro, NC: New Growth  Press, September 1st 2008. 22 pp.

5 out of 5

Purchase: Westminster | Amazon

This was a helpful and edifying booklet.  It is a “minibook” that is part of the “Resources for Personal Change” series published by New Growth Press.  The author William Smith is an adjunct faculty in the Christian Counseling and Educational Foundation has written an excellent resource for those who are going through trials and asking the question of why God allows bad things to happen.  It is an excellent resource for Biblical and Pastoral Counselors to give the counselee and have them read and highlight/underline for study and meditation.  For my own use I read this title along with a church member I was discipling and counseling as a pastor.

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Review: Christian Interpretations of Genesis 1

Vern Poythress. Christian Interpretations of Genesis 1.  Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing, September 20^th, 2013. 32 pp.

4 out of 5

Purchase: Westminster | Amazon

This is another work in the “Christian Answers to Hard Questions” series published by Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing.  Here the author Vern Poythress looks at how Christians should interpret the first chapter of Genesis.  Although the author is a New Testament professor I think Poythress is more than capable to write on this subject given his expertise in hermeneutics, linguistics, science and theology.

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Mid April 2015 Presuppositional Apologetics’ Links

These are links gathered between April 8th-14th, 2015.

1.) Twenty Ways to Answer A Fool [14]

2.) Frontline Apologetics 2015 March Ministry updates 

3.) PHILOSOPHY MEMES

4.) Credo Magazine: An Interview with Vern Poythress on the “Big Questions”

5.) Some Gappy Notes on Michael Rea’s World Without Design

6.) Review: Computer Science: Discovering God’s Glory in Ones and Zeros by Jonathan R. Stoddard

 

Missed the last round up?  Check out the re-blogged post from a friend

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Free PDF: Issues in Hermeneutical Foundations by Vern Poythress

There is a free PDF of a work by New Testament Scholar Vern Poythress titled “Issues in Hermeneutical Foundations: Selected articles on hermeneutics and biblical interpretation.”  It is a collection of various articles by Poythress that appeared various theological publications.

The PDF is hosted on Westminster Bookstore and available by clicking here.

(HT)

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Presuppositional Apologetics’ Links: Third Week of November 2014

These are Presuppositional apologetics’ links gathered from the Web between November 15th-21st, 2014.

Enjoy!

1.) Rebutting Bill Nye’s Evolutionary Oath

2.) Does the Bible teach that a woman has to marry her rapist?

3.) Free on PDF! Redeeming Philosophy: A God-Centered Approach to the Big Questions by Vern Poythress

4.) A Denied Christian Newspaper Article

5.) The Circularity of Evolutionary Trees

6.) Apologetics for the Average Christian: Asking Good Questions

7.) Reformed Forum Show: Redeeming Philosophy

8.) Proofs, Persuasion and the Truth Problem

Last Installment: Mid-November 2014 Presuppositional Apologetics’ Links

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Free on PDF! Redeeming Philosophy: A God-Centered Approach to the Big Questions by Vern Poythress

I just posted a few minutes ago but this is too good not to share right now!

Dr. Vern Poythress of Westminster Theological Seminary has just had his book Redeeming Philosophy published just a few weeks ago last month.  Apparently he has made this book available for free online as a PDF!

You can download the file if you click HERE.

Here’s the book’s description from the publisher’s website:

Who am I? Why am I here? Where do I find meaning?

Life is full of big questions. The study of philosophy seeks to answer such questions. In his latest book, prolific author Vern Poythress investigates the foundations and limitations of Western philosophy, sketching a distinctly Christian approach to answering basic questions about the nature of humanity, the existence of God, the search for meaning, and the basis for morality.

For Christians eager to engage with the timeless philosophical issues that have perplexed men and women for millennia, this is the place to begin.

Here is the table of content:

Table of Contents

Part 1: Basic Issues in Exploring Big Questions

1. The Big Questions about Life
2. The Bible as a Resource
3. Opposite Approaches to Philosophy

Part 2: Metaphysics: What Is There?

4. Inadequate Philosophies
5. Christian Metaphysics

Part 3: Perspectives

6. Introducing Perspectives
7. Multiperspectivalism
8. Perspectives on God
9. Perspectives on the World
10. Perspectives through Language
11. Implications for Theology

Part 4: Examples of Metaphysical Analysis

12. Metaphysics of an Apple
13. Metaphysics of Walking
14. Metaphysics of a Bookmark
15. Perspectives in Combination

Part 5: Other Subdivisions of Philosophy

16. Ethics
17. Epistemology
18. The Soul, the Mind, and Psychology
19. Logic
20. Aesthetics
21. Specialized Branches of Philosophy

Part 6: Interacting with Defective Philosophies

22. The Challenge of Philosophies
23. Immanuel Kant
24. Edmund Husserl
25. Analytic Philosophy

Appendix A: Cosmonomic Philosophy
Appendix B: Perspectives on the Trinity
Appendix C: The Structure of a Bookmark

 

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Free on PDF: Chance and the Sovereignty of God by Vern Poythress

Earlier this year Crossway published a 368 page book by Dr. Vern Poythress titled Chance and the Sovereignty of God: A God-Centered Approach to Probabiliy and Random Events.  I appreciate how Dr. Poythress has made many of his books  available to the public for free as a PDF.  This new book is now among them!

You can download the PDF by clicking HERE.

The description of the book on the publisher Crossway’s website is as follows:

What if all events—big and small, good and bad—are governed by more than just blind chance? What if they are governed by God?

In this theologically informed and philosophically nuanced introduction to the study of probability and chance, Vern Poythress argues that all events—including the seemingly random or accidental—fall under God’s watchful gaze as part of his eternal plan. Comprehensive in its scope, this book lays the theistic foundation for our scientific assumptions about the world while addressing personal questions about the meaning and significance of everyday events.

Here’s the table of content:

Table of Contents

Introduction: Experiences with Unpredictable Events
Part 1: The Sovereignty of God
1.  The Bible as a Source for Knowledge
2.  God’s Sovereignty
3.  Unpredictable Events
4.  Disasters and Suffering
5.  Human Choice
6.  Small Random Events
7.  Reflecting on Creation and Providence
8.  God’s Sovereignty and Modern Physics
9.  What Is Chance?
Part 2: God as the Foundation for Chance
10. Regularities and Unpredictabilities
11. Trinitarian Foundations for Chance
12. Responding to Chance
13. Chance in Evolutionary Naturalism
14. Chance and Idolatry
Part 3: Probability
15. What is Probability?
16. Predictions and Outcomes
17. Theistic Foundations for Probability
18. Views of Probability
19. Subjectivity and Probability
20. Entanglement of Probabilities
21. Probabilistic Independence
22. Independence and Human Nature
23. Is God Probable?
Part 4: Probability and Mathematics
24. Pictures of Probability
25. Mathematical Postulates for Probability
26. Theistic Foundations for Some Properties of Probability
27. Limitations in Human Thinking about Events and Probabilities
28. Conclusion
Appendices
Appendix A: Why Gambling Systems Fail
Appendix B: The Real Problem with Gambling
Appendix C: A Puzzle in Probability
Appendix D: Interacting with Secular Philosophical Views of Probability
Appendix E: Permutations and Combinations
Appendix F: The Birthday Problem
Appendix G: Diseases and Other Causes
Appendix H: Proofs for Probability
Appendix I: Statistics
Appendix J: The Law of Large Numbers versus Gamblers

Enjoy!

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