Thursday, April 7, 2016

Book Review: Reasons we believe, by Nathan Busenitz

Reasons We Believe: 50 Lines of evidence that confirm the Christian faith, by Nathan Busenitz.

I am a little conflicted about how to describe this book. Busenitz' volume is primarily a small encyclopedia of internal evidence: in other words, it recounts what the Bible itself says about the fifty lines of evidence. It's a great book for answering a question in the form of, "does the Bible really teach that?"

If someone asks you, "does the Bible really teach that it is the Word of God?" or "does the Bible really teach that Jesus is God?" Busenitz provides, in compact form, a precis with many biblical references providing the ammunition you need to answer the question. Not all, but nearly all the evidence Busenitz provides comes from within the covers of the Bible itself--and his reasoning from the biblical text is very solid.

However, his use of external evidence is a little uneven--sometimes he uses it, sometimes not. When he does, it's invariably excellent.

If you are looking for a work on apologetics, I would recommend Busenitz plus. In other words, get Busenitz because of his excellent, faithful use of internal evidence. Add to it something like I Don't Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist by Geisler and Turek, which is stronger on external evidences. Between the two you'll get a more complete accounting of God's supernatural works in a material world.