There is a branch of theological study which is called apologetics. Many people wrongly believe that this is apologizing for something because of its name. Apologetics is actually “reasoned arguments or writings in justification of something.” In other words it is using argumentation in an attempt to prove something.

In apologetics relation to theology, reasoning and argumentation are used to attempt to prove God’s existence, and that the ways that He promotes what is right. The interesting thing about apologetics is it attempts to step out of Scripture to prove the things in Scripture.

This is not done because those who do apologetic work theologically do not believe in Scripture. In fact it is the opposite. It is that those who believe in Scripture are attempting to help those who don’t believe in Scripture to show ways that there is logical proof for God. I have an entire shelf of books on apologetics in my library, but I want to mention five that you may enjoy.

1. Who made God? by Ravi Zacharias. This is a short book at a little over 200 pages. What makes it short is that it answers 100 questions. So most of the questions are answered in 2-3 pages. The answers are not detailed, but this book will wet your appetite for other apologetics books.

2.The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel. Strobel was an investigative journalist for the Chicago Tribune.  He spent time researching the claims of Christianity as an atheist, and through this became a Christian. He has written a definitive book on the case for Christ proving Christ’s historical and theological existence. There is also a much shorter student book of this edition.

3. The Apologies  of Justin Martyr. Justin Martry was born in 100 AD. This book may be a little more philosophical, but is less than 100 pages. The advantage of reading this book is its proof  that apologetics is a branch of Christianity which reaches back to the early church.

4. Apologetics for the 21st Century by Louis Markos. Markos is not as well-known as someone like Lee Strobel or Ravi Zacharias, but should be. A lot of his work has been done in great books and philosophy. In this book, Markos introduces  you to some of the great apologetic thinkers of the past 100 years like C.S. Lewis, Francis Shaeffer, Dorothy Sayers, Josh McDowell, and G.K. Chesterton. He tackles topics such as pain, Hell, miracles, and other “problem” areas of the Christian faith.

5. Miracles by C.S. Lewis. Most know  Lewis for his children’s literature. Lewis was a man of great apologetical thinking. His book on miracles is  entirely dedicated to reasoning about the reality of miracles. In this book he tackles one “problem” where the atheist would attempt to claim miracles are not real, and use that to discredit Christianity.

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