Welcome to The Apologist’s Bookshelf, a podcast dedicated to exploring the best books in Christian apologetics. I’m Gary Zacharias, a professor of English, avid reader, and passionate follower of Jesus Christ. This podcast is for anyone curious about the intellectual foundation of the Christian faith—whether you’re a believer seeking to deepen your understanding, or a skeptic exploring the truth claims of Christianity. Each episode, I feature a key book on topics like the existence of God, the historical evidence for Jesus, the reliability of the Bible, creation and design in the universe, and how to engage unbelievers with wisdom and grace. These are the books that have earned a permanent place on my apologetics bookshelf—and I want to share them with you. If you’re interested in faith and reason, defending the Christian worldview, or simply love diving into thought-provoking Christian books, this podcast is for you. Contact me at: theapolgistsbookshelf@gmail.com.
Episodes
Saturday Jul 29, 2023
Saturday Jul 29, 2023
This book challenges the popular "isms" that modern culture has worshiped. In this chapter Vince Vitale takes on the popular idea of hedonism, the idea that life is all about our happiness.
Wednesday Jul 26, 2023
Wednesday Jul 26, 2023
The revised version of a popular book covers so much good information about various religious groups. I'm looking at chapter 18, which tells how Christian Science, Jehovah's Witnesses, and Mormonism view Jesus.
Saturday Jul 22, 2023
Saturday Jul 22, 2023
Fritz Ridenour covers the New Age movement as he compares it to Christianity.
Wednesday Jul 19, 2023
Wednesday Jul 19, 2023
Hal Seed does a good job answering many questions people have about the Bible. In chapter 3 he deals with a key question--who decided what went into the Bible?
Saturday Jul 15, 2023
Saturday Jul 15, 2023
Gary Habermas, probably the leading authority on the resurrection of Jesus, has a chapter in this book in which he concentrates on two components in a historical case for the resurrection of Jesus Christ. First, how do we move from the certainty that the disciples believed that they had seen appearances of Jesus to their really seeing Jesus? Secondly, what makes the transformations of Jesus' disciples, even to the point of being willing to die for their faith, so unique?
Wednesday Jul 12, 2023
Wednesday Jul 12, 2023
Hank Hanegraaff, the "Bible Answer Man," discusses ways Christianity is different from other religions, whether all religions lead to God, what happens to a person who has never heard of Jesus, and other important issues related to religions and cults.
Saturday Jul 08, 2023
Saturday Jul 08, 2023
Phil Fernandes has written a powerful response to two atheists--Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins. In chapter 14 he looks at the prophetic insights of the German atheist Friedrich Nietzsche as well as two well-known Christian thinkers--C. S. Lewis and Francis Schaeffer. He shows that the nineteenth century's death of God has led to horrible consequences in the twentieth century.
Wednesday Jul 05, 2023
Wednesday Jul 05, 2023
Greg Koukl, one of my favorite authors and speakers, has written a collection of essays dealing with many apologetics issues. I look at his first chapter, in which he explains that Christian faith is not a leap in the dark. It's based on evidence.
Saturday Jul 01, 2023
Saturday Jul 01, 2023
Norm Geisler offers a defense of the Bible against charges by Muslims.
Wednesday Jun 28, 2023
Wednesday Jun 28, 2023
The author, Sharon Dirckx, seeks to answer an important question that people ask today with the rise of artificial intelligence: Are we just machines?