Christianity Considered: A Guide for Skeptics and Seekers
The Christian Intellectual Tradition
Christianity is more than a religion: it is also a complex intellectual tradition.
Christians and non-Christians alike who want to understand the world as it is today have to understand Christianity too. Christianity makes objective claims, but also presents a new way of thinking about the world. In Christianity Considered renowned theologian John Frame introduces the reader to the Christian religion and its unique intellectual framework, describing the key pillars of Christian thought and how these shape the Christian worldview. Covering a range of topics, from the resurrection to the Christian posture toward politics, Christianity Considered is a valuable guide to understanding the Christian faith as an intellectual tradition.
Useful for both the Christian reader looking for a better understanding of the faith and the skeptical reader who seeks to understand the intellectual tradition that has done much to shape the modern world.
Praise for Christianity Considered
This remarkably refreshing book gives good reasons why non-Christians should believe that Christianity is true, provides an insightful explanation of what it means to begin to believe in Jesus Christ, answers common objections to the Christian faith (especially from philosophers), and explains why Christians think differently about every important question in life. This book will be an excellent resource both for nonbelievers who want to learn about the Christian faith and for Christians who want to understand better how non-Christians think.
—Wayne Grudem, Research Professor of Theology and Biblical Studies, Phoenix Seminary
Here is an excellent piece to present to non-Christian inquirers, and an illuminating example of how presuppositional apologetics looks in the actual practice of trying to persuade an unbeliever.
—Vern Poythress, Professor of New Testament Interpretation, Westminster Theological Seminary
John Frame always said he was not very good at engaging in conversations with unbelievers. This new book proves him wrong! It is personal, persuasive, and addresses real people with real questions, giving solid, biblical answers. I plan to acquire many copies and hand them out to friends who are, or ought to be, looking into the Christian faith. Thank you, John Frame!
—William Edgar, Professor of Apologetics, Westminster Theological Seminary
Imagine an engaging apologetic for Christianity which manages to blend the holistic vision of Abraham Kuyper, the epistemological sophistication of Cornelius Van Til, the biblical theology of John Murray, and the winsome prose of John Stott. Imagine further that this apologetic incorporates philosophical and psychological insights mined through a lifelong study of God’s Word and its implications for how we should understand the world. What you are imagining—if indeed you can imagine it!—is John Frame’s latest masterpiece, Christianity Considered. This is a real gem of a book. May the Holy Spirit be pleased to use it to bring many to saving faith in Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
—James N. Anderson, Associate Professor of Theology and Philosophy, Reformed Theological Seminary
Top Highlights
“Thus it amounts to an abdication of intellectual responsibility: it boils down to a policy of believing what you want to believe and being skeptical about what you don’t want to believe. That policy frees you from the responsibility of ever having to seriously examine evidence.” (Page 10)
“If there is no objective truth, then any kind of argument, analysis, or evaluation is doomed from the start. If there is no universal truth, but only ‘truth for me’ or ‘truth for you,’ then there is no point in trying to persuade anybody of anything.” (Page 10)
“he will not let people find him by methods that presuppose their own autonomy” (Page 47)
“In the debate over Christianity, modernists claim that Christians don’t have sufficient evidence and argument. Postmodernists question whether Christians have any right to claim that they know any truth at all.” (Page 13)
“So the problem of unbelief is not ignorance, but rebellion, suppression of the truth (Rom 1:18” (Page 35)
Contents
- Christianity as Intellectual Radicalism
- Why You Are Not Fully Educated Until You Have Considered the Christian Truth Claim
- Why It Seems So Difficult Today to Believe in Christianity
- Believing and Autonomy
- Believing Something for a Reason
- Believing, Willing, Feeling
- The Uniqueness of the Biblical God
- Why Believe in God?
- Right, Wrong, and God
- Right, Wrong, and Believing
- Everything is Evidence for God
- Does God Speak to Us?
- A Holy Book
- The Written Word of God
- Jesus
- The Death of Jesus
- The Resurrection of Jesus
- The Holy Spirit
- Reading the Bible
- Praying
- Going to Church
- The Church in the World
- Religion
- Philosophy
- Morality
- Politics
- Science
- The Return of Jesus
- Epilogue
Product Details
- Title: Christianity Considered: A Guide for Skeptics and Seekers
- Author: John Frame
- Publisher: Lexham Press
- Publication Date: 2018
- Pages: 128
- Format: Logos Digital, Paperback
- Trim Size: 5x8
- ISBN: 9781683590866
John M. Frame (b. 1939) is an American philosopher and a Calvinist theologian especially noted for his work in epistemology, presuppositional apologetics, systematic theology, and ethics. He is one of the foremost interpreters and critics of the thought of Cornelius Van Til. Dr. Frame formerly taught at Reformed Theological Seminary, Orlando, and Westminster Theological Seminary.