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The Absurdity of Unbelief: A Worldview Apologetic of the Christian Faith

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A SOUND DEFENSE OF THE CHRISTIAN FAITH!

Because all non-Christian worldviews are indefensible, it is not sufficient for skeptics to attack Christianity without also defending the foundation for their own unbelief. Everyone has a worldview, even atheists and skeptics, but only the Christian worldview is not self-contradictory. The Absurdity of Unbelief demonstrates why every possible reason for unbelief is irrational and ultimately meaningless by exposing the various self-refuting systems of thought in which these objections are rooted.3 Cheers for The Absurdity of Unbelief!"Agnostics and atheists have been making a lot of noise in recent years, in spite of the fact that their belief systems are so obviously flawed. To counter their propaganda we need a flow of books exposing just how flimsy their arguments are. Jeffrey Johnson has chosen the word 'absurdity' to characterise these, and he has chosen well. Chapter by chapter he strips unbelief of any vestige of credibility, then shows with crystal clarity why the biblical case for God stands supreme when contrasted with all other philosophical and religious belief systems. I predict that this book will be as great a help to many of its readers as it has been to me, and I commend it warmly." —John Blanchard

“A major strength of Jeffrey Johnson’s Absurdity of Unbelief is its step-by-step systematic approach. He explains what faith is (and is not), what factors drive us to adopt our beliefs, how to test them, fatal difficulties on all systems of thought not built on the foundation of Christ, grounds for holding to Christian theism, and a passionate call to faith in Jesus. Along the way he examines Christian and non-Christian thinkers and movements both ancient and contemporary, demonstrating that the principles underlying a biblical apologetic equally apply to all forms of unbelief. I plan on coming back to this book again and again.” —Joseph E. Torres

"As Christians struggle to hold onto a semblance of sanity in the midst of the collapse of Western morality and thought, a sound foundation upon which to stand in explaining our unwillingness to bow the knee to Caesar is a must. In The Absurdity of Unbelief, Jeffrey Johnson provides a clear and compelling case for the Christian faith, readable and usable for believer and unbeliever alike." —James R. White

The Absurdity of Unbelief will strengthen your understanding in the logic behind the Christian faith and arm you… by its exposure of the weak arguments held by non-Christian worldviews;… in its clear and logical presentation, providing tools to bolster your witness as you contend earnestly for the faith in the midst of an unbelieving world;...with thorough documentation, copiously citing books, notes, quotes and references for the most studious of believer in Christ’s Kingdom;… yet, written with a pastor’s heart so every false philosophy exposed and every Biblical truth illuminated is easily accessed and applied to encourage and educate fellow believers as a textbook for Bible study or used simply as a ready reference to bolster your Christian witness.

384 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 22, 2016

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About the author

Jeffrey D. Johnson

30 books67 followers
Jeff is the author of several Christian books, including the Amazon #1 Bestseller, The Church: Why Bother?

He is pastor/teacher of Grace Bible Church in Conway, Arkansas, a community where he also resides with his wife Letha and their two sons, Martyn and Christian.

Jeff graduated from Central Baptist College in Bible and earned his M. Rel. in Biblical Studies. He earned his Th.D in Systematics from Veritas Theological Seminary.

Along with his pastoral and publishing ministry, Jeff is a sought-after conference speaker and contributes regularly to the Reformed Baptist Blog.

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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
Profile Image for Megan.
85 reviews25 followers
April 10, 2020
This is a solid and readable book on Christian apologetics, specifically the presuppositional/transcendental argument. It felt a little bit disorganized and repetitive but that’s probably a good thing because I finally understand the argument... 👍
Profile Image for Jimmy.
1,254 reviews49 followers
July 8, 2022
There are books out there introducing Presuppositional Apologetics that focus more on the theory and the foundation of the Biblical method to defend the faith; but over time I want to read more books applying Presuppositional Apologetics in other areas and this include Presuppositional Apologetics’ critiques applied to other religions, philosophy and other various systems of unbelief. I appreciate the author’s hard work in refuting false worldviews in this book. Jeffrey Johnson is an author, teaching pastor and Presuppositional Apologist.
The book consists of six parts with a total of 28 chapters. Part one covers what is the nature of belief with three chapters on what faith is not: Faith is not blind, nor subjective nor irrational. Part 2 talks about what shapes beliefs and there are six chapters here that include chapters on how beliefs are shaped by our worldview and our presuppositions. There’s only chapter in part three which is about how to test beliefs and the chapter is short and is titled “Cohesiveness is Mandatory.” Part four is the meat of the book with ten chapters that presents “The Irrationality of Unbelief” and the chapters include the irrationality of Naturalism, Evolution, Existentialism, Postmodernity and other religions such as Islam and Eastern religions. Part 5 talks about how Christian belief is grounded by truth and the seven chapters talk about in a more positive fashion of how Christianity is supported by various streams of truths such as historical record, God’s illumination, Presuppositionalism and cohesiveness. Part 6 is on the call to believe and the one and final chapter here is appealing nonbelievers reading this to repent and trust in Jesus Christ for salvation.
I realize Jeffrey Johnson has been attacked for writing against Thomas Aquinas and accused for not understanding Thomism. I have not read his writings on Aquinas and in fact this is my first book I read by Johnson. Here though I think in this book there’s a lot of good things he writes here. His documentation of the first half of the book of quotes of atheists was really well done including his arguments against secular belief systems. One can see the preacher in him as the book is laid out well with clear organization and at times they look like neat harmonious sermon outline points with the way his chapters are titled. He makes a lot of powerful points and have good illustrations and does expose the problem of unbelief. Also the way he ended the book was a powerful preaching of the Gospel for unbelievers to be saved; that was mighty refreshing.
Still I do have questions after I read this book concerning chapters 19-20 concerning his argument about the Trinity as against unbelief in the form of non-Trinitarian religious systems. I’ll have to go over it sometime slowly. One such question I have is the author’s description that there is an eternal state of movements between the three Persons of Trinity on page 257. I do think God is immutable and also the Members of the Trinity have relationship with the other Members of the Trinity but calling the relations as “movements” seems strange and not biblical. But it might be helpful in the future Johnson explain what he means, if he has not done so already in other books or venues.
Overall a thoughtful food for thought on Christianity and the defense of the Christian faith. Besides the two chapters that I mentioned as I have questions about the rest of the book was well done.

27 reviews2 followers
September 28, 2016
From the moment I read the sampler, I could not get this book out of my mind and just as I was about to buy it I saw that I could borrow it through Amazon prime and that is what I did and I am glad I did because I am going to purchase my copy for my library. Dr Johnson goes through the world views with the skill of an experienced navigator and explains the information in such a way that any can understand. This is an excellent book that introduces the reader to the world views that are prevalent in the world today and demonstrates that Christianity should not keep defending itself as its worldview is the only one that is not absurd and that the believers in the God of the Bible can actually live their lives according to its teaching without reservation.
Very beautiful book.
3 reviews
February 12, 2021
I generally agree with the authors worldview. With that said, I wish the first 100 pages was 1/4 the length and the rebuttals of other worldview systems was longer. The middle, ~150 page section of book is mostly solid and worth reading, but I feel like the book bit off more than it could chew, somewhat understandably. There were arguments and questions that I feel like they didn't get any attention and it felt more preachy than I would have liked at times, based on what my expectations were going in.

There's a chapter about why God must be triune that I'm pretty sure never actually addresses why God must be three, but instead only why God must be internally two or more.

I sometimes wished some terminology was better defined. There are many instances where the author makes assertions about how different faith systems work, but he did not sufficiently substantiate that adherents of those systems do actually believe as he says they do. Maybe I'm just ignorant of those faith systems.

There were many instances where the author would say something that sounded nice, and maybe he is correct, but it was hard to tell if the statement would be factually correct upon additional questioning. The length of the book and the massiveness of the topic probably required that the author do "hit and runs" on a lot of the issues being discussed. The book could have been a lot longer, for better or worse.
Profile Image for JR Snow.
438 reviews31 followers
January 4, 2018
Dr. Johnson has written a wonderful book to freshen up an apologist's thinking, and also to be given to an unbeliever. His method seems to be that of a presuppositionalist who is not afraid to use and interact with evidentialist/classicalist arguments, and that is refreshing. The flow of the book is very logical and thoughtful. He begins by identifying and organizing worldviews (Naturalism, Impersonal theism, and Personal Theism) and how they answer the 3 biggest questions of life (What is real? What is right? What is true?) and discusses how all but the Christian's worldview can consistently answer them. He then moves into elevating the rationality of Christianity above the other personal religions (Judaism and Islam) by looking at the Trinity and scripture. at the end of the book he does a great job of bringing apologetics back to its end goal: the glorification of God and the gospel.
388 reviews11 followers
March 27, 2018
Excellent critique of the anti-theist worldview and intro to Presuppositional Apologetics

Johnson does a very good job pointing out the fallacies of unbelief and how the naturalistic worldviews cannot account for reality, morality, logic, science, and so on. While doing that, he demonstrates how Christianity alone can provided consistent answers and explanations. It was also helpful for him to spend time on the other monotheistic religions to contrast with Trinitarian Christianity. However, as the last section astutely pointed out, sound arguments without Spirit led heart renewal will not convert anyone. This last section, while Bible and essential, could have been a bit shorter and more succinct.
462 reviews11 followers
May 18, 2018
This book tackles almost all the non-christian wordview including naturalism, evolutionism, materialism, humanism, existentialism, postmodernism, pantheism, deis and unitarianism and so on. It is like a list of arguments against each particular non-christian worldview. The best and most original section is the one against unitarianism (belief in a God who only is one person, not three like the christian God) where he gives 6 arguments. You can find this part online here : https://reformedbaptistblog.com/2015/... . At the end there is a positive defense of Christianity with theistic arguments and the resurrection of Jesus.

Very funny as the author is well known for his books against pedobaptism. Still this book is good.
Profile Image for Ronnie Nichols.
322 reviews7 followers
March 3, 2023
I wish I had this book 30 years ago in Philosophy 101! Jeffrey Johnson is a tremendous author with the ability to explain difficult things at a pace and level comfortable for the scholar and layman alike. This is a wonderful look at Christian apologetics and a fair and educational look at the secular reasoning of philosophy and "science." Every chapter, page, and argument reminded me of unbelieving friends or fellow believers who "need to hear this". I definitely have several lost friends who I have spent countless hours debating and reasoning with who will receive a copy of this book. Along with Mr. Johnson's Fatal Flaw I now have two very cherished additions to my library. Thank you sir!
9 reviews
March 30, 2024
Deeply researched

Some concepts are easily understood and others are very esoteric and obscure. The author explores the competing philosophies and religious belief systems, then shows the end result of taking these other ways of thinking to their ultimate contradiction. Well done.
Profile Image for Brian Tubbs.
95 reviews18 followers
April 15, 2025
One of the Best Defenses of the Christian Faith

“The Absurdity of Unbelief” is part apologetics, part theology. It lays out the basic options each person has when it comes to explaining reality, and shows that only the trinitarian, Bible-based Christian paradigm satisfactorily checks off all the boxes and answers all the necessary questions. Doubt me? I dare you to read it!
9 reviews1 follower
April 18, 2018
Based in Scripture, this book lays out any belief other than Christianity ultimately leads to absurdity. The author engages this issue from multiple angles, discussing science, philosophy, as well as everyday life.
93 reviews
August 13, 2023
A good philosophical view from a Christian perspective of why the other world views and religious views don't seem to come close to answering the questions to our existence and why Christianity and the Trinitarian Godhead makes the most sense.
Profile Image for Tiffany.
23 reviews
July 9, 2025
Really great! Very good trinitarian arguments especially. My only criticism would be that he seems to repeat things a lot. He may have designed it for people who are only reading one chapter here or there.
28 reviews1 follower
August 5, 2019
Not an intro to presuppositional apologetics but so so good. Johnson does well in exposing the absurdity of various worldview, and shows why the Christian world view is the only consistent worldview.
Profile Image for James Ramelli.
Author 7 books1 follower
December 5, 2019
Amazing book. The author tries too hard to sound smart, though. Break down deep thoughts, don't do the opposite, and this is an instant classic.
Profile Image for Cole Brandon.
171 reviews5 followers
June 6, 2020
Nothing new, but solid. Johnson is especially good at critiquing materialism, and his gracious call to surrender is excellent.
12 reviews
November 21, 2023
Good arguments for the truth of the Biblical worldview. I think the arguments can used apart from the Calvinist framework the book presumes..
11 reviews
October 29, 2021
A very complete argument for the Christian World View

Although it is long this is the most complete argument for a biblical world view that I have found in one book. I definitely recommend it and plan to read it again!
58 reviews4 followers
February 2, 2025
A great book that gets into the specifics of what a worldview is (epistemology, ontology, ethic) and how our most ultimate presuppositions about reality should be able to explain those things. It looks at example of different worldviews and explains logical inconsistencies and impossibilities that are the consequences of some of those positions.

This book is the practical application of the presuppositional method to a variety of different positions. If you are unfamiliar with presuppositional apologetics, then I recommend reading a book that explains the presuppositional approach first then coming back to this book. This book isn’t necessarily a difficult read, but presuppositional apologetics is unique and an intro to it would be a big help.
501 reviews9 followers
November 28, 2016
A common refrain in non-Christian circles is that belief in the truth claims of Christianity is irrational. Instead of shying away from such criticism, this book faces them head-on and puts non-Christian beliefs on trial. Do they meet the test of rationality? The book is organized into six parts:

1. The nature of unbelief
2. What shapes beliefs
3. How to test beliefs
4. The irrationality of unbelief
5. The grounds for belief
6. The call to believe

The first three sections are a prelude to the main section putting various types of unbelief to the test. The belief systems under consideration are:

- Naturalism
- Evolution
- Empiricism
- Determinism
- Relativism
- Nihilism
- Existentialism
- Postmodernism
- Nontheistic religions
- Islam
- Judaism
- Non-trinitarian religions
- Unitarian monotheism

Part 5 presents arguments for the rationality of Christianity, and the final part is a call to believe, a move from apologetics to evangelism. I like this because the ultimate goal of apologetics is not to win the argument or demonstrate one's brilliance; it is to win the soul for Christ and to save a lost sinner from the fires of hell.

This is an ambitious project that results in some compromises and weaknesses. The subject matter is too broad for the book to go into great depth. In Chapter 6, Shaped by Conscience, the number of quotes caused me to question whether the author was appealing to authority or using the quotes to better describe the subject matter. I suspect the latter and believe that a little more depth might have been appropriate. In chapter 11, The Irrationality of Naturalism, the author starts the chapter with the sentence, "The Christian worldview is true because of the impossibility of the contrary." On the surface, this seems to be stacking the deck, although I believe this to be a poorly worded statement of what the chapter is trying to prove.

Over the years I have occasionally dealt with Christians who are more full of themselves than Christ and who see themselves as superior to the foolish unbelievers. For this reason, I don't doubt that some will be put off by the title of the book, thinking it is mocking or belittling unbelievers. Such a reaction would be unjustified. The following paragraph, quoted from the book, explains what is meant by the absurdity of unbelief:

"Deciding not to follow Christ proves you don't want to be saved from your sins. Rather, your pride, ego, and self-centeredness keep you from accepting a Love to reside in your heart that is greater than all loves. It is absurdity to reject such a humble Savior, the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords. You reject life, meaning, purpose, and happiness so that you can hang onto sin, death, meaninglessness, and despair. You exchange the truth for a lie and heaven for hell. This is the absurdity of unbelief."

In other words, this absurdity of unbelief is not a cause for mockery; rather, it is one of the clearest descriptions that I have ever heard about the condition of those who are lost.

Although the book could have gone deeper, I found it to contain numerous profound insights. What can I say to the author? Well done!
65 reviews
April 20, 2024
The Absurdity of Unbelief in combination with Fabricating Jesus by Craig A. Evans are a comprehensive duo that cover just about every objection to Christianity that has ever been raised in a manner available to the layman. Back these up with any of several excellent books on Intelligent Design by Stephen Meyer, Hugh Ross, or Michael Behe and "fear not!"
Profile Image for whit.
107 reviews2 followers
February 14, 2017
The conclusions reached within this book are well researched. The material can also be very self-affirming. However, this is a tough read. Lots of "-isms" and "-ists".
8 reviews
June 13, 2016
One of the best at putting into plain speak the complexities of Christian apologetics without falling into the trap of becoming too elementary. Excellent!
Profile Image for thomas schell.
15 reviews
November 22, 2016
Absurdity to clarity

This book was very informative and I enjoyed it very much. From a pure and simple point of view. The logic of this book made perfect sense.
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews

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