Faith's Reasons for Believing: An Apologetic Antidote to Mindless Christianity

published	May 1st 2008 by Mentor
binding	Paperback
isbn	1845503376 (isbn13: 9781845503376)
ebook
pages	480
description	Using extensive Biblical references, Reymond takes us on a comprehensive tour of why it is possible for belief to exist as a result of knowledge in th...more [close] Using extensive Biblical references, Reymond takes us on a comprehensive tour of why it is possible for belief to exist as a result of knowledge in the Christian faith. He gives us both reasons for believing in key aspects of the Christian faith and a defence of the presuppositional apologetic method. [close]
date added	04-03-08 edit book

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Paul rated it:

06/14/08

bookshelves: apologetics

Read in June, 2008

When I finished all I could say was, "Thank you for rescuing me from apologetic hell!" This book will be of almost zero help to anyone who wants to engage the unbelieving world in any cogent way. This book is a prime example of (a) the shallow talent pool currently enjoyed by my Reformed community, (b) the utter lack of philosophical ability required for one to be a good apologist. Reymond's a good contemporary Reformed theologian (not the best, but good). He should stick...more When I finished all I could say was, "Thank you for rescuing me from apologetic hell!" This book will be of almost zero help to anyone who wants to engage the unbelieving world in any cogent way. This book is a prime example of (a) the shallow talent pool currently enjoyed by my Reformed community, (b) the utter lack of philosophical ability required for one to be a good apologist. Reymond's a good contemporary Reformed theologian (not the best, but good). He should stick to writing theology (though his book on the doctrine of God is also deficient!).

Reymond seems to want to impress the reader with his knowledge of arcane Latin and Greek. His overuse of the terms are simply irrelevant and distracting. Reymond also seem utterly oblivious to contemporary moves in epistemology. Not only that, he tries an unholy blending of Clark and Van Til, the finished product is that he takes (almost) the worst parts from both camps. (I also some major parroting of Bahnsen, yet no credit was given.) Reymond also trots out the tired Clarkian arguments against empiricism and inductive reasoning.

The book is riddled with mere assertion after assertion. Hardly any actual argument is offered for his claims. One example is his attempt to show how Christian theism supplies the only valid epistemology. After bringing out the usual whipping boys - Descartes, Hume, and Kant - Reymond has just a few paragraphs on the Christian theory of knowledge and his argument for its superiority. Anything resembling an argument is missing from the text.

The footnoting is atrocious. The book would have been 200 pages less without the massivly long footnotes. Many went on for more than two pages and thus were terribly distracting from the main text.

There's too much to say and it would be too depressing for me to write a fuller review. I post this to save others the time and money of getting yet another failed apologetic book from a Reformed Christian. Reymond said that this book is what he used to teach a seminary apologetics course. Is this what seminary students are learning apologetics-wise? Oy vey!!

And, here's a hint to the publishing world: Enough with the intro level apologetic books by pastors who have no idea the state of the debate today! This is only harming the Reformed community. After the 10,000th intro level apologetic work, we're ready to move on now.

This isn't to say that there are no good Reformed apologists. But I can count them on both hands, with a couple fingers left over. And, we do have many in post-graduate departments across the world, so I thank God our situation will be remedied soon.

Lastly, sorry for the lack of any in-depth responses on my end. The rant doesn't suffice for a serious critique. Hopefully I have shown that I am a fair reviewer through past reviews. But, if you don't believe me, get the book. Don't say I didn't warn you, though.
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Becky rated it:

04/03/08

bookshelves: books-i-own, christian-apologetics, christian-theology, my-favorites

Read in July, 2007

recommends it for: all Christians and all skeptics

This is the best work on Apologetics I have ever read. I had the privelage of sitting in a 5-day class with the author himself, at Seminary, working through this book in 3-ring-binder form. I was one of the fifteen or so first people ever to see the text. It gives an excellent argument for presuppositionalism, and the best proofs for several historical biblical facts, that I've ever seen. I can't wait until it comes off the press!

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