Kresťanská apologetika do vrecka

The IVP Pocket Reference Series

by Peter Kreeft, Ronald K. Tacceli, Zuzana Smatanová (Translator)

"Be ready to give a reason for the hope that is in you," wrote the apostle Peter.That is what apologetics is all about. Here is a concise, informative guide for anyone looking for answers to questions of faith and reason. Peter Kreeft and Ronald K. Tacelli have condensed their popular Handbook of Christian Apologetics, summarizing the foremost arguments for major Christian teachings and offering compelling responses to the most common arguments put forward against Christianity. In this book you'll find answers to questions about faith and reason the existence of God creation and evolution predestination and free will miracles the problem of evil Christ and the resurrection the reliability of the Bible life after death heaven and hell salvation and other religions objective truth The Pocket Handbook of Christian Apologetics is the place to begin for people with questions about Christianity.

Genres: Theology, Christian, Christianity, Nonfiction, Religion, Catholic, Spirituality

143 pages, Paperback

First published May 22, 2003

About the author

Peter Kreeft is an American philosopher and prolific author of over eighty books on Christian theology, philosophy, and apologetics. A convert from Protestantism to Catholicism, his journey was shaped by his study of Church history, Gothic architecture, and Thomistic thought. He earned his BA from Calvin College, an MA and PhD from Fordham University, and pursued further studies at Yale. Since 1965, he has taught philosophy at Boston College and also at The King’s College. Kreeft is known for formulating “Twenty Arguments for the Existence of God” with Ronald K. Tacelli, featured in their Handbook of Christian Apologetics. A strong advocate for unity among Christians, he emphasizes shared belief in Christ over denominational differences.

Reviews

[Jacob Aitken · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is very good read. Unfortunately, it should not be used for in-depth, advanced level apologetics. And it only recognizes one style of apologetics. However, the book itself is neatly laid out and very useful for quick, internet chat room debates.

[JR Snow · Rating 3 out of 5]

Peter Kreeft is a Catholic, and unfortunately some of the things he believes and espouses in this book are not the things I believe, and it gets in the way of what he is trying to say. Obviousley he is an evidentialist as well, which I think is fine, we can learn from both the presups and the classicals, its just a heads up to a potential reader. He uses a very logical, step-by-step approach to each argument, which is helpful, but he includes even arguments or variations of arguments it seems only to be inclusive, or to prove that something is true simply from the number of ways to prove it, but by doing that he includes many arguments that aren't very sound, sort of wasted space in my opinion. Having read the longer version of this book I can say that whoever condensed it did a good job, the essential arguments that were in the longer book are adequately preserved in this shorter one.

[Michal Lukáč · Rating 5 out of 5]

Táto kniha je užitočná na základné zorientovanie sa vo svete kresťanskej apologetiky a s týmto jej cieľom na zreteli ju aj hodnotím. Rozhodne nejde o nejakú všetko vyčerpávajúcu analýzu, ktorá by pokryla všetky námietky, no o to teraz nejde. Ide o to, aby sa čitateľ dozvedel o existencii kostry, a potom sa môže dozvedieť aj o svalstve a koži. Kniha sa venuje každej zo základných otázok kresťanskej apologetiky (existencia Boha, problém zla, Ježišovo zmŕtvychvstanie…) a ukazuje, že dogmy sa oplatí láskavo brániť aj v dnešnej demokratickej spoločnosti, ktorá môže byť podozrievavá voči jednoznačnému označeniu jedného náboženstva sko toho pravého. Pokiaľ hľadáte jednoducho a systematicky napísanú apologetickú knihu a vaša motivácia spĺňa znaky toho, čo som opísal v tejto poznámke, Kresťanskú apologetiku do vrecka môžem len odporúčať.

[Silvia Sabovíková · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyed reading this one - so simply yet so beautifully written. It reminded me of what we as Christians truly believe in. Encouraging for anyone, whether you are beginning to see God's light or you are further along the journey.

[Kimberly · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good little book on Christian apologetics that overall is an easy read for someone who is looking for the basics.

[Erik]

with Ronald Tacelli

[Scott Hayden · Rating 4 out of 5]

Takes it topic by topic beginning with the reason for apologetics and then addressing the typical categories.

[Jorge Gil Calderon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quick Read, Concise, A great resource for any Apologist to have at hand!

[Pacific Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Apologetics is an attempt to defend faith with reason. Listed below are the table of contents, each ~10 pages give or take:

1. Apologetics
2. Faith and Reason
3. Arguments for the Existence of God
4. The Nature of God
5. Creation and Evolution
6. Miracles
7. The Problem of Evil
8. The Divinity of Christ
9. The resurrection
10. The Bible: Myth or History?
11. Life After Death
12. Heaven and Hell
13. Salvation
14. Christianity and Other Religions
15. Objective Truth

Some of my thoughts after reading this pocketbook…

In arguments for God, if everything is linked in a chain of causality back to God, then how can we have free will? If the motion of every atom is dependent on everything before it, going all the way back to the big bang, isn’t this more of an argument for Deism than a God that intervenes in this world, or that has given us free will?

The problem of evil isn’t addressed well, too, in my opinion. I don’t think any explanation will be adequate to the human mind. The amount of suffering endured in the world, not of any moral doing, such as horrible childhood illnesses, really cannot be explained if there is a good, omnipotent God. The best we can say is that we don’t know why it exists, but maybe point to the fact that God chose not to eliminate suffering but instead to send Christ down to suffer with us.

Arguments for the historicity of Biblical accounts I think underplays the strength of human psychology. The same mistake is made as earlier Greeks in assuming that human beings are essentially rational beings. You don’t have to be lying to believe something false in earnest. A lot of these chapters were unconvincing for me…

I want to believe that Christianity is true. I am somewhat disappointed, but I remain hopeful. I am more open to believing that miracles could have happened. The section on objective truth at the end cheered me up, and so did the skeptic’s prayer in the conclusions. It is true that if there is an objective plane, if good and evil are not illusions but actually exist, the greatest mistake I could be making is denying it. I will come back to this handbook when my understanding has matured a bit more.

[Steven R. McEvoy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an abridged version of Handbook for Christian Apologetics written by the same authors. This 'scaled down' version is a great little reference book, and is easily digestible, and hopefully it will draw you in enough to read the larger more complete work. This book is also one in a series, either sold separately or in a boxed set, that includes the following titles: Pocket Dictionary of North American Denominations, Pocket Dictionary for the Biblical Study of Hebrew, Pocket History of Theology, Pocket Dictionary of New Religious Movements.

This volume has 15 short, concise chapters written to answer the following questions:

1. Apologetics
2. Faith & Reason
3. Arguments for the Existence of God
4. The Nature of God
5. Creation and Evolution
6. Miracles
7. The Problem of Evil
8. The Divinity of Christ
9. The Resurrection
10. The Bible: Myth or History?
11. Life After Death
12. Heaven and Hell
13. Salvation
14. Christianity and Other Religions
15. Objective Truth

And it has a concluding page called 'The Bottom Line'. Each of these chapters is full of information to help you know your faith deeper if you are a Christian, or to help you understand the claims of Christianity if you are not.

This is a great resource, either for writing essays, for research, or for personal growth. It will give you all the basics of the Christian faith in one compact little book. Check it out. Like all of Kreeft's other works I have reviewed, I would have to highly recommend this book.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un libro molto interessante sia per credenti che non: nel primo caso, come affermano gli scrittori, vengono forniti degli spunti di riflessione per affrontare dibattiti su vari argomenti a confronto con la fede (in modo particolare la scienza e le teorie sulla creazione del mondo, l'esistenza o meno di Dio, della resurrezione di Nostro Signore, il confronto con le altre religioni, l'esistenza del male ecc), per i secondi l'occasione di un confronto costruttivo e la possibilità di valutare le questioni da un diverso punto di vista. Lo stile è conciso e molto "manualistico" come tipico degli autori americani e la lettura è a mio parere facilitata anche dall'organizzazione dei capitoli in domande, obiezioni e risposte. Consigliatissimo!
Ps: non fatevi ingannare dai tempi della mia lettura: dilatata nel tempo, questo sì, ma comunque fatta di pochissime sessioni.

[Leandro Couto · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very short book that tries to cover many bases. Some of the arguments are presented in very short form, which I suspect might beg some clarification if it's one's first contact with them, but as a platform to kickstart curiosity about these ideas, it works well. The bullet point format (something like "here are answers to 8 objections to the existence of heaven") is didactic and makes for an easy read.

[Emil Avedisian · Rating 4 out of 5]

A concise apologetic book giving the basic (but strong) arguments for Christianity, covering a decent number of topics.
The author is Catholic but he wrote it from a general Christian perspective, adhering to beliefs like the authority of scripture and the necessity of a personal faith for salvation.

[Emerson John Tiu Ng · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short books answer most questions about Christian faith

[Michael Sponsler · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very helpful book for someone wanting to explore the reasoning behind Christian beliefs. I did not know what apologetics were, and it is not what it sounds like!

[Macy McCartney]

Easy introduction into philosophy of Christianity. Definitely a book to keep close by, it will likely be a quick/easy reference.

[Steve Samrow · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best christian book ever

[Jean Klee]

Thanks for pointing out that Peter Kreeft is Catholic. I am now comfortable ordering this book.