Surviving Religion 101: Letters to a Christian Student on Keeping the Faith in College
Digital Logos Edition
Overview
Preparing for college is exciting for young adults—but are they truly prepared for the intellectual challenges they will face in and out of the classroom? College is not just a time filled with new and formative experiences; it can also be an intense season of testing for a young Christian’s faith.
Writing in the form of a letter to his college-age daughter, Michael Kruger reflects on some of the biggest stumbling blocks Christian students often encounter at secular universities. Answering questions such as How can Christianity be the only right religion?; How can we know the Bible is really from God?; and Wouldn’t a loving God save everyone?, Kruger offers biblical, theological, and logical support for the Christian faith and provides students with the tools to navigate these challenging topics. College students wrestling with these issues will be encouraged to find security in God’s unfailing word even in the face of difficult questions.
This is a Logos Reader Edition. Learn more.
- Offers a helpful resource for college students struggling with questions about faith
- Addresses questions on hell, sexual ethics, science, and the inspiration of Scripture
- Serves as an ideal and practical graduation gift
Top Highlights
“Students often see the clash before them as one between religion and science. On the one side are those dogmatic, biased religious folk, conditioned (even blinded) by their faith commitments. On the other side are neutral, unbiased, open-minded historians—trained in the finest universities in the world—who are merely giving you the ‘facts.’ Given that framework, it is not hard to imagine why most students respond the way they do.” (Page 23)
“Third, don’t confuse not having an answer with there not being an answer.” (Page 32)
“Here’s the key point: God does not punish people in hell despite his goodness; he punishes people in hell because he is so very good—more than we ever thought.” (Page 99)
“The problem stemmed not from what I was taught but from what I wasn’t taught. I wasn’t prepared in the one area that would matter most in a university environment. I wasn’t prepared intellectually. And I would soon learn (the hard way) that intellectual preparation was what I needed more than anything.” (Pages 17–18)
“we need to train their minds to engage effectively with an unbelieving world.” (Page 23)
- Title: Surviving Religion 101: Letters to a Christian Student on Keeping the Faith in College
- Author: Michael J. Kruger
- Publisher: Crossway
- Print Publication Date: 2021
- Logos Release Date: 2021
- Pages: 262
- Era: era:contemporary
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Logos Reader Edition
- Subject: Christian college students › Religious life
- ISBNs: 9781433572074, 9781433572104, 9781433572081, 9781433572098, 1433572079, 1433572109, 1433572087, 1433572095
- Resource ID: LLS:SRVVNG101FTCLLG
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2022-09-30T03:09:19Z
Dr. Michael Kruger serves as the President and Samuel C. Patterson Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at the Charlotte campus of Reformed Theological Seminary. He earned his Ph.D. under one of the world’s leading text-critical scholars, Larry W. Hurtado, at the University of Edinburgh, where he researched a parchment fragment of an apocryphal gospel, P.Oxy. 840. He graduated summa cum laude with a M.Div. from Westminster Seminary California, and received his B.S. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His research interests center upon Christian Origins, particularly the development of the New Testament canon within the context of the early church.
Prior to joining the RTS faculty, Dr. Kruger served in the pastorate for several years at Church of the Redeemer in Phoenix, AZ. There he developed a passion for preaching and ministry which he passes on to his students in the classroom. Dr. Kruger has been a member of ETS for 18 years serving on the editorial board of the Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, as well as vice-president in 2017 and president in 2019. He is the co-founder and co-chair of the ETS study group, “NT Canon, Textual Criticism and Apocryphal Literature.” In addition to his faculty duties, he currently serves part-time as the Pastor of Discipleship Training at Uptown Christ Covenant Church in downtown Charlotte.
He is the author of thirteen books, including Bully Pulpit: Confronting the Problem of Spiritual Abuse in the Church (Zondervan, 2022, Book of the Year” award from The Gospel Coalition, ministry category). His book Surviving Religion 101: Letters to a Christian Student on Keeping the Faith in College (Crossway, 2021, “Book of the Year”, Southwestern Baptist Journal of Theology, Worldview/Apologetics category), and Christianity at the Crossroads: How the Second Century Shaped the Future of the Church (SPCK, 2017; IVP Academic, 2018, “Book of the Year”, The Gospel Coalition, history and biography category).
Dr. Kruger regularly speaks, lectures, and teaches throughout the United States and the world—including conferences such as The Gospel Coalition and the Ligonier Conference. In addition to his academic publications, his popular-level articles have appeared in places like Modern Reformation, Tabletalk Magazine, The Gospel Coalition, and the Wall Street Journal. He also blogs regularly on his own website, Canon Fodder.
Dr. Kruger and his wife Melissa B. Kruger have been married for almost 25 years and have three children.