No Doubt About It: The Case for Christianity
by Winfried Corduan
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Book Summary Information
Author: Winfried CorduanEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1997-07-01
ISBN: 0805416471
Number of pages: 304
Publisher: B&H Academic
Book Reviews of No Doubt About It: The Case for Christianity
Book Review: Sophomores only
Summary: 2 Stars
This book is useful only as an introduction. Corduan's claims and arguments will resonate with those who already share his assumptions, but they will never stand the light of day.
The author claims that evangelical Christianity is true and can be defended even by people who do not specialize in apologetics. The book is organized in chapters that begin with what are supposed to be engaging vignettes, which serve the purpose of introducing the subject matter of the particular chapter. After the content is presented, the vignettes are revisited with responses from the author based on the conclusions of the chapter. Each chapter ends with a list of goals that the reader should have accomplished, as well as a set of questions for further study, and a brief bibliography.
As is common in philosophical writing, the book begins with the defining of terms. Since this book is written for college students with limited experience in philosophy, quite a bit of space is dedicated to explaining terms and ideas such as faith, reason, doubt, truth, and knowledge. Realizing that although people are generally rational, people are not simply rational, but are subject to their individual worldviews, Corduan takes two chapters to establish the possibility of finding common ground with unbelievers with which to test worldviews, and then critiques several common worldviews including atheism, agnosticism, deism, pantheism, and panentheism.
Once the groundwork is laid, the author proceeds with an argument for the existence of God, a move typical of classical apologetics. Corduan chooses the cosmological argument for his proof. After accomplishing the task to his own satisfaction, he addresses the problem of evil. In a book full of weak moments, this is Corduan's weakest one. He dismisses with a weak argument the free will theodicy in favor of a greater-good theodicy and an unabashed admission of the necessity of evil.
In anticipation for addressing the resurrection, next the author gives a defense of miracles. At this point, Corduan considers himself to be on solid theistic ground, so that any claims or assumptions going forward are already admissible to his case for Christianity. In addition, a case is made for the possibility of reliable history. It is only at this point that Corduan gives any hint that he is at all aware of the encroachment of postmodernism.
After establishing the foundations of theism, the acceptance of miracles, and the reliability of historical documentation of real events, the author is ready to tackle the reliability of the New Testament documents and the historicity of the person of Jesus Christ. His defense of the New Testament is pretty standard with the exception of his citing Bertrand Russell as an example of someone who was repelled by the gospel accounts, ergo, the gospels cannot be altogether biased. His cites the usual external sources of Tacitus, Josephus, and the Talmud for the existence of the historical Jesus.
Even if the existence for a man named Jesus can be substantiated, was he the Messiah as is recorded in the New Testament? Corduan uses a version of C.S. Lewis' "Liar, Lunatic, or Lord" account adding a forth "L" - Legend. Oddly, he does not credit Lewis. For a defense of the virgin birth, he references J. Gresham Machen's account and Frank Morison's (not credited) case for the resurrection.
Finally Corduan draws the conclusion that Christianity is just what Jesus has taught that we should trust and obey, so that there is no disconnect between Christ and Christianity. The last chapter is a claim that Christianity is what society needs since it best represents what is true, good, and beautiful. These of course will be recognized as Platonic transcendentals, not necessarily Biblical ones.
Summary of No Doubt About It: The Case for Christianity
Our doubts and questions make us feel so faithless. But according to Dr. Winfried Corduan, the very thoughts that call our faith into question are actually signs of life and growth. "We should never fear investigating the truth," he writes. "If we have to run from the truth, maybe it's because we have something to hide." In this rigorous look at the essence of Christianity, Corduan argues from a compatability between faith and reason.
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