
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 Apr 15, 2023
Understanding the Faith, Part 2 | The Apologist’s Bookshelf
Saturday Apr 15, 2023
Saturday Apr 15, 2023
Since this is such a definitive resource book, I wanted to continue with my last podcast exploring Chapter 16, "Is God a Mean Bully?" This time we will go over the challenge that the Bible endorses slavery and that the Bible is oppressive to women.

Wednesday Apr 12, 2023
Understanding the Faith, Part 1 | The Apologist’s Bookshelf
Wednesday Apr 12, 2023
Wednesday Apr 12, 2023
This book is big enough and the chapter is important enough that I want to spend the next two podcasts covering Chapter 16, which asks "Is God a Mean Bully?" In this podcast I discuss the first half of the chapter that deals with charges of genocide in the Old Testament and the treatment of homosexuality in the Bible.

Saturday Apr 08, 2023
Unearthing the Bible | The Apologist’s Bookshelf
Saturday Apr 08, 2023
Saturday Apr 08, 2023
Titus Kennedy, a professional field archeologist, presents 101 objects that provide powerful evidence for the historical reliability of the Bible. In this podcast, I cover evidence of the conquest of Canaan by Joshua, the time of the judges, the united kingdom under David and Solomon, and the divided kingdoms that followed.

Wednesday Apr 05, 2023
Truth in a Culture of Doubt | The Apologist’s Bookshelf
Wednesday Apr 05, 2023
Wednesday Apr 05, 2023
Three professors tackle skeptical challenges to the Bible. In chapter five they deal with several claims--the gospels weren't written by Jesus' companions, the first disciples were illiterate and couldn't have written the books attributed to them, many New Testament books are forgeries, other writings have a valid claim to be included in the New Testament.

Sunday Apr 02, 2023
Unspeakable | The Apologist’s Bookshelf
Sunday Apr 02, 2023
Sunday Apr 02, 2023
Os Guinness, the well-respected author and thinker, wrestles with the problem of evil in this book. In chapter 9 he covers what Solzhenitsyn has called "the tilt of freedom toward evil." The chapter discusses three grand erosions of traditional barriers to evil that Americans have allowed to happen in the last generation.

Wednesday Mar 29, 2023
Answering Jehovah’s Witnesses Subject By Subject | The Apologist’s Bookshelf
Wednesday Mar 29, 2023
Wednesday Mar 29, 2023
This book does a good job covering many issues connected with Jehovah's Witnesses. In this podcast we look at the failed prophecies of this organization as well as the lives of its two early leaders--Charles Russell and Judge Rutherford.

Saturday Mar 25, 2023
Think Christianly | The Apologist’s Bookshelf
Saturday Mar 25, 2023
Saturday Mar 25, 2023
One chapter in this useful book is titled "Truth, Tolerance, and Relativism." These are huge issues we as Christians need to understand and deal with when we interact with others. The chapter also tells of two myths we need to expose, and it has a great interview with Craig Hazen, professor of comparative religion and Christian apologetics at Biola University.

Wednesday Mar 22, 2023
Scientism and Secularism | The Apologist’s Bookshelf
Wednesday Mar 22, 2023
Wednesday Mar 22, 2023
J. P. Moreland shows the problems associated with scientism, the belief that only the hard sciences have the intellectual authority to give us knowledge of reality. For this podcast I look at chapters 4 and 5 in the book, which explain how scientism is self-refuting and is actually the enemy of science.

Saturday Mar 18, 2023
Sharing the Good News With Mormons | The Apologist’s Bookshelf
Saturday Mar 18, 2023
Saturday Mar 18, 2023
In this helpful book, the authors Eric Johnson and Sean McDowell discuss practical strategies for getting a conversation started with our Mormon friends. Chapter 2 focuses on the danger of disillusioned Mormons embracing atheism rather than evangelical Christianity. They tell how to have an evidence-based approach to argue for the existence of God.

Thursday Mar 16, 2023
The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Bible | The Apologist’s Bookshelf
Thursday Mar 16, 2023
Thursday Mar 16, 2023
In chapter 6 of this book, the author discusses the early chapters of Genesis with special emphasis on evolution, the flood story, and the creation of people with the image of God.