On Guard for Students: A Thinker's Guide to the Christian Faith

by William Lane Craig

Do you wonder if God exists? Do you wonder if life even has any meaning at all? Do you wonder if Christian faith has answers to these and other difficult questions?

An intelligent faith begins with hard questions. In On Guard for Students William Lane Craig tackles such questions with reason and precision. He invites you to join him on a quest for ultimate reality.

This unique book takes you on an extraordinary journey of exploration as you probe for answers to life's deepest why anything at all exists, the origin and fine-tuning of the universe, the nature of moral values and the reality of evil, the historical person of Jesus of Nazareth, and so on.
 

Genres: Christian, Christianity

288 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2015

About the author

William Lane Craig is Research Professor of Philosophy at Talbot School of Theology in La Mirada, California. He and his wife Jan have two grown children.

At the age of sixteen as a junior in high school, he first heard the message of the Christian gospel and yielded his life to Christ. Dr. Craig pursued his undergraduate studies at Wheaton College (B.A. 1971) and graduate studies at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (M.A. 1974; M.A. 1975), the University of Birmingham (England) (Ph.D. 1977), and the University of Munich (Germany) (D.Theol. 1984). From 1980-86 he taught Philosophy of Religion at Trinity, during which time he and Jan started their family. In 1987 they moved to Brussels, Belgium, where Dr. Craig pursued research at the University of Louvain until assuming his position at Talbot in 1994.

He has authored or edited over thirty books, including The Kalam Cosmological Argument; Assessing the New Testament Evidence for the Historicity of the Resurrection of Jesus; Divine Foreknowledge and Human Freedom; Theism, Atheism and Big Bang Cosmology; and God, Time and Eternity, as well as over a hundred articles in professional journals of philosophy and theology, including The Journal of Philosophy, New Testament Studies, Journal for the Study of the New Testament, American Philosophical Quarterly, Philosophical Studies, Philosophy, and British Journal for Philosophy of Science.

Reviews

[Danilo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ein Buch mit den klassischen apologetischen Argumenten. Dementsprechend habe ich in diesem Buch keine großartigen neuen Einsichten gewonnen. Aber was das Buch für mich wertvoll macht ist die systematische Aufgliederung der einzelnen Argumente. William Lane Craig zeigt bei diversen Einwänden gegen Gott die versteckten Prämissen auf, die häufig in einer Diskussion verschwiegen werden. Für mich, der schon das ein oder andere Buch zu dem Thema gelesen hat, eine wertvolle Erweiterung.

[Isak Voie · Rating 4 out of 5]

God bok. Craig er dyktig, og har god oversikt over mange felt. De første kapitlene er noe vanskelig å henge med på, mens de om Jesus er MEGET bra! Relativt dårlig oversettelse. En del setninger som har engelsk oppbygging og ord direkte oversatt til norsk som gjør det tidvis unaturlig.

[Sander Benjamin Karlsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tredje gang jeg leser denne boka. Fortsatt en god bok som tar opp de mest sentrale spørsmålene i kristen tro.

Enkelte vil hevde at noen av argumentene i boka ikke er særlig sterke, og jeg kan være enig i at Craig til tider overdriver hvor gode argumentene faktisk er. Likevel opplever jeg at dette er en av de beste bøkene du kan gi en til noen som mener at det ikke finnes gode grunner til å tro på Guds eksistens og Jesu oppstandelse.

Boka kan til tider bli litt vel teknisk, så dette er kanskje ikke den beste boka å starte med viss man ikke er kjent med apologetiske fagbøker.

[Sindre Fidje Nilssen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastisk oversettelse!

[Isaac · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dr Craig as usual delivers a logical and compelling argument for the existence of a monotheistic God using science and philosophy. Then with history on his side demonstrates that the biblical world view has the most explanatory power for our world and the human predicament. Thanks Dr Craig you are a true inspiration for us. I love how you always force us to think deeply.

[Kristine Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought the student version would be better for middle school / high school. Nope. This is geared for college students who want to lend the book to unsaved friends. It lacks many of the examples and anecdotal stories.

[Dan Smale · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great outline

As always with Dr. Craig, there is no shortage of detail. Topics boiled down in manageable chunks yet still enough to challenge your thinking. Recommended for students who want to think critically.

[Michael Goldstein · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read with a student. Facilitated incredibly productive conversation about God, faith, and evangelism. In his words, "a book I will keep coming back to and revisiting."

[Sherry Bell · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is not for wimps. My head hurts. But my heart is full.

[Frank Peters · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent book. Prof. Craig is an outstanding apologist (and debater), yet is able to communicate to a broader audience in this book. The first part of the book is apologetic and answers a series of challenges to Christianity that commonly appear in the secular press, especially from sceptics and the new atheist. Using philosophical arguments, he breaks apart these challenges and shows how they end up being weak (even if they seem strong due to good rhetoric). This part of the book deserves 5 stars. The last part of the book changes into an evangelistic focus, and while still good is not at the same level as the first part of the book. I think it is a shame that the two parts are lumped together, as I can think of people I would recommend the first part of the book to, without recommending the second part.

[Trey Nowell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although I don't personally agree with everything the writer says, William Lane Craig has excellent proofs to defend what he believes in. I found much use in this book and think it would help almost anyone in a debating forum using these strategies. I really can see why he owns so many people in public debates, as he keeps things centered and does not veer away from his points, a very collected man in his thoughts. People should study his debating strategies and learn from them on how to debate topics.

[Eric Black · Rating 3 out of 5]

On Guard for Students intends to be a scaled down version of On Guard.

Craig addresses the most significant philosophical challenges to Christianity, including the existence of God, cosmology, the problem of evil, the origin of morality, Christ's resurrection, and Christian exclusivism. All are important topics in apologetics and the philosophy of religion.

While the book is more accessible to a younger audience than Craig's other works, including Reasonable Faith, the writing and syntax is too cumbersome and complicated in places for young readers today. Craig is so ensconced in the world of philosophy that it seems difficult for him to exchange jargon for more common language.

Despite the complex wording, the book is a helpful resource.