Product Description

Does God exist? What if he is not all-powerful? Where did evil come from? Are miracles mythological? Why is Jesus better than other teachers? When skeptics ask questions like these, believers can turn to this helpful, user-friendly guide for thoughtful answers and clear explanations. In When Skeptics Ask, apologetics experts Geisler and Brooks explain how to defend the authority and inspiration of the Scripture. Readers will discover answers for objections to classic Christianity and learn to identify and respond to the misuse of Scripture by nonbelievers.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #48951 in Books
• Published on: 2008-06-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

From the Back Cover
Does God exist? What if he is not all-powerful? Where did evil come from? Are miracles mythological? Why is Jesus better than other teachers? When skeptics ask questions like these, believers can turn to this helpful, user-friendly guide for thoughtful answers and clear explanations. In When Skeptics Ask, apologetics experts Geisler and Brooks explain how to defend the faith, using the authority and inspiration of Scripture. Readers will discover answers for objections to classic Christianity and learn to identify and respond to the misuse of Scripture by nonbelievers. "Geisler is one of the foremost defenders of the Christian faith today."--Josh McDowell "Geisler has been a model of apologetical activism to a generation of evangelicals. When Skeptics Ask is no exception to this rule."--J. P. Moreland "This is an excellent tool for Christians who want to be able to provide sound answers to real intellectual questions about the Christian faith."--R. C. Sproul Norman L. Geisler is cofounder and former dean of Southern Evangelical Seminary. He is the author of more than seventy books, including the Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics. Ronald M. Brooks formerly of X-press Ministries, is coauthor of Come, Let Us Reason.

About the Author
Norman L. Geisler (PhD, Loyola University of Chicago) is cofounder and former dean of Southern Evangelical Seminary. He is the author of more than sixty books, including the Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics. He lives in Charlotte, North Carolina. Ronald M. Brooks (ThM, Dallas Theological Seminary) formerly of X-press Ministries, is coauthor of Come, Let Us Reason and lives in Greeley, Colorado.

Customer Reviews

Sound logic :) Good read so far...
Haven't read much of the book yet but the sections are very interesting, including answers for questions about evolution vs. creation, as well as basic things like, if God created us, then where did God come from? Lots of Biblical verses to back up their logic as well...
The book arrived on time and in excellent condition. Looking forward to reading more!

Part of the Essential Geisler Reference Desk
In some ways, this book was the forerunner to his _Encyclopedia of Apologetics_. It is like a compendium of Giesler. It has tidbits from most of his best-selling books. One of the neatest things is that the book is organized into questions on different topics, well over three dozen questions in all. There are Questions on God, Other Gods (a précis of _Worlds Apart here), Evil, Miracles, Christ, the Bible, Archeology, Evolution, Afterlife, Truth, and Morals. For a handy reference book, it is surprisingly thorough (though always meant to be an introduction, not an end-in-itself). This is also where the "12 points" tape available got its start (see NormGeisler.com) as the Appendix: Reasoning to Christianity from Ground Zero. Though only an outline, they demonstrate Norm's pervasive ability to think in fundamental philosophical terms. The book also sports a nice Glossary, Topical Index, Person Index, and Scripture Index. It's a very user friendly book and, along with Kreeft's _Encyclopedia of Apologetics_ one of two best Apologetics reference works beyond a dictionary (which is more what Norm's Encyclopedia is).

Accessible resource for arguments supporting Christianity
The strength of this particular work of apologetics lies both in its accessibility to the layreader inexperienced with philosophy, and the potency of the arguments contained therein. Dr Geisler and Ron Brooks have outdone themselves in compiling this eminently readable resource for Christians who routinely encounter difficult questions attacking their faith, such as the problem of evil, religious pluralism, and the historicity of Christ's resurrection.

The lucidity with which the cosmological argument is presented is especially impressive. The purpose of the cosmological argument is to shed light on the question of Why there is something rather than nothing. Since all limited, finite things are just that -- limited and finite -- it follows from the law of causality that they were caused by something independent of themselves. And since the law of causality dictates that whatever has a beginning must be caused by something independent of itself, Geisler and Brooks postulate that what orchestrated the transcendent cause of the universe was a timeless, necessary, uncaused supernatural being of inconceivable power. The current reigning cosmological model, the Big Bang theory, which posits that the beginning of the universe was ignited by an enormous explosion fifteen billion years ago, is perfectly consistent with this hypothesis.

Geisler and Brooks point out to atheists who apply the law of causality to the Creator that they need remedial reading lessons. Theists have never claimed that "everything" needs a cause, just everything that has a beginning; and since a self-caused being is impossible, God is ergo an uncaused, necessary being. Atheists have also countered the cosmological argument by claiming that the universe is eternal (occasionally invoking the long-debunked Steady State Theory to make their case), and therefore doesn't require a first cause to account for its existence. But Geisler and Brooks explain this doesn't work for two reasons. Firstly, the second law of thermodynamics makes clear the fact that the universe is running out of usable energy; and since what is running down must have been wound up, the universe couldn't be eternal. Secondly, if time stretches infinitely into the past, then we never would have arrived at this moment today. For to reach this moment today, we would have had to pass through an infinite series, which is impossible.

Most readers will find the book's treatment of the problem of evil sufficient enough to disarm non-believers who use it as evidence against the existence of an all-loving God in debate. Many Christians have been faced with this perfectly legitimate question before: how can belief in the existence of an all-loving God be reconciled with the amount of evil that goes on in the world on a daily basis? Moreover, if God is the creator of everything -- and evil surely qualifies as "something" -- then God is also responsible for evil. Geisler and Brooks respond by denying the supposed incompatibility between the existence of an all-loving God with the existence of evil by raising several points. Firstly, God created free will, enabling man with the option of chosing both good and evil. If God were to eliminate evil, free will would also have to be eliminated, itself an evil act. This is so simply because God gave human beings free will to realize their greatest good -- to love freely. Secondly, in decrying evil atheists are actually presupposing God's existence; for if God doesn't exist, then neither do objective moral values. But the fact that atheists recognize that things like genocide and rape are evil suggests they aren't mere social-conventions to the atheists.

An excellent primer for Christians beleagured with questions attacking their faith.