My Most Recommended Apologetics Resources

John and I just returned from a week in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. That is one of our favorite places to escape to beauty, and ride the beautiful bike trails, and hike around the lakes in Teton National Park.

One day, after a hike, we stopped at a sandwich shop that we know of near the entrance to the park. As we sat at a picnic table outside the shop eating our sandwiches, a young man came and sat across from us during his lunch break. So we struck up a conversation with him.

He told us that he was a student at Brigham Young University (BYU) in Provo Utah, and that he was not going on a mission trip because he felt it was unnecessary. So now I know two things. He’s Mormon, and he’s not as devoted to Mormonism as some Mormons are. We started a conversation, and after getting the strong vibe from him that he was unhappy with his job and his religion, I started asking him probing questions. One of them was,  “If someone asked you to explain the problem of evil, how would you answer that?” His answer was vague. After he said something about the works that he was doing, I reached across the table and put my hand near his, and said, “Greg (not his real name), you don’t have to do a thing. Ephesians 2:8 says that you have been saved by Grace, not by works. The work was done by Jesus on the Cross. It’s been done already. If you could earn your salvation by works, then Jesus died for nothing.” He shook his head up and down and said, “That’s a good point.”

Somehow the conversation shifted to our Bible versus the Mormon Books such as the Pearl of Great Price, and The Book of Mormon. I explained to him that the books of the Bible that were admitted to the canon were admitted because of two important things—Apostolic witness, and inspiration. I explained that the Mormons, added books to it that were not inspired or necessary. After much discussion, the final thought I left with him on that topic was this, “The Bible is sufficient.”

Bottom line is that I left a couple of rocks in his shoes, as my friend, Greg Koukl would say. Things to think about. I didn’t try to close him or convert him on the spot. That’s not my job. All we are called to do as Christians is leave a rock in their shoe. Just water the garden.

You don’t have to have a Master’s degree in Apologetics to do this. Although, I will say that my degree has made me much more confident when it comes to talking to others because of what I now know not just about Christianity but about other religions as well. I’m glad I have it. There are plenty of good resources you can read or listen to that will equip you for these kinds of conversations.

My Most Recommended Books

1. Cold Case Christianity by J. Warner Wallace. Check out Jim’s website for his available books. Jim is a former atheist, and retired cold case homicide detective who used his cold-case solving techniques, by applying them to the gospels to see if they were true. In doing so, he became a Christian and is now an author and national speaker.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

2. Tactics by Greg Koukl. Greg has had a radio show for 27 years. He is also an author and national speaker and in this book, he has compiled stories of conversations he has had over the years with people of different world views. He explains how he got the conversation started, how he drew information out of people, how to stay in the driver’s seat of a conversation, what to do when you’re in the hot seat, and why he answered the way he did. It’s is the one book everyone must have on their shelf. You can also find Greg’s book, Relativism—Feet Firmly Planted In Mid-Air at this same website.

3. I Don’t Have Enough Faith To Be An Atheist by Frank Turek and Norman Geisler. This book is the book John and I used when we taught apologetics at our church. It covers many topics, such as the arguments for the existence of God, the Fine-Tuning Argument, Morality, Miracles, reliability of the New Testament and entire Bible, and Jesus deity. It is an excellent book that you won’t want to put down.

Some Helpful Podcasts

1. Stand To Reason with Greg Koukl. Greg is an amazing teacher. John and I had two classes with him during our Master’s in Apologetics program at Biola. You will really enjoy his podcast. He usually does a teaching monologue in the beginning, then he takes questions from callers. You can listen here or in the Stand To Reason app.

2. Theology Mom/All The Things with Krista Bontrager and Monique Duson. Krista and Monique are ministry partners. Krista is a theologian who graduated from Talbot Seminary. She is a very knowledgeable theologian who I highly respect. Monique started the Center for Biblical Unity after coming out of Critical Race Theory herself. Krista and Monique now speak nationally and they are both incredible speakers.

3. I Don’t Have Enough Faith To Be An Atheist Podcast with Frank Turek. John and I took a couple of Speaker Training Classes from Frank. He’s is a great teacher of apologetics, and he does it in a fun way. I have learned a lot from Frank.

4. Coffee House Questions with Ryan Pauly. Ryan is a personal friend of ours. We had classes with him at Biola when earning our Master’s in Apologetics degree. His is a young (well, younger than me) apologist who spent time in the Dominican Republic as a missionary where he started a coffee house and started apologetic discussions there. Even before he graduated, he started a podcast and his audience has grown tremendously. He has interviewed the greats such as Greg Koukl, J.P. Moreland, William Lane Craig, Krista Bontrager, Hugh Ross…all the well-known apologists. He speaks nationally and has been a speaker for Hume Lake, Summit Ministries and Stand To Reason. You may have heard him as a guest on Apologetics.com radio. Tune in to his podcast. Ryan, I still say that you will have your own radio show someday!

You Tube Channels

I subscribe to many You Tube Channels, but these are my favorites, and regularly accessed.

1. Red Pen Logic with Tim Barnett. This is probably my favorite You Tube channel that I subscribe to. Tim is one of the speakers for Stand To Reason. He used to be a high school science teacher who graded tests with a red pen. But he wouldn’t just mark the answers wrong, he would explain to the students why their answers were wrong. After seeing some bad logic by atheists and other non-believers on social media posts, he thought he could apply the red pen to those too. So he created Red Pen Logic as a ministry to refute bad thinking with good thinking, and he’s darned funny in the process too. You will really enjoy his channel.

2. Living Truth Christian Fellowship. This is my home church. My pastor, Michael Lantz is amazing. He has the theological educational background, and chops to preach the word in an exegetical fashion. He just preaches right through the Bible, he stays on track, and brings home the main idea by applying it to our lives, and he throws in some humor too. He is incredible.

3. Ryan Pauly. Yes, Ryan has his own You Tube Channel too! Check it out.

I hope this information is encouraging to you and strengthens your confidence as Christians. If you are not a Christian but have questions about Christianity, these resources would be informative to you as well. As I say in my Truth talk, we need to engage the culture, rather than withdraw from it. When the church stops living in the culture, we are not going to have an impact on it. As Christians, we need to influence the culture, rather than let the culture influence us.