What are some good resources that explain the rational reasons behind the faith for a questioning Atheist?
Upvote:2
Technically this is off topic and your absolute best course of action is to talk with pastors, priests etc... But your query is so obviously crying out for one witness in particular that I want to break the "rules" of this site and give you an answer. I do not wish to speak to your personal circumstance - you really need a person for that, but there is one answer that I suspect you'll hear a lot if you ask.
Fifty years ago today (November 22, 1963), C.S. Lewis died. If there ever was a man "convinced by reason" into the Kingdom of God, it was he. Lewis was an Atheist Oxford don whose rationality and logic convinced him of the existence of God.
His semi-autobiography "Surprised By Joy" will probably seem very familiar to you.
"Mere Christianity" is a classic if densely packed work of systematic theology see below that also seeks to present the reasons for the basics of the faith in a clear, rational fashion.
"The Weight of Glory" is a brief sermon in which Lewis talks about the real reason for the faith - JOY, and not just mere pleasure. He argues that faith in God enables a man to see more clearly what man was created for, if man is willing to trust in God.
"The Lion, the Witch, and The Wardrobe" is a children's book, in which an allegory in which the sacrifice of Christ and its role in salvation is pretty explicit.
"The Abolition of Man" is a brief invective against an educational system that seeks to remove virtue from its aims. "Men without chests" is a phrase he uses to decry the condition.
The "Screwtape Letters" further explores how Christians can avoid the truth of the love of God in extraordinarily clever writing.
The "Great Divorce" highlights how the choices we make have logical consequences in the afterlife. It has changed my life.
Finally, if C.S. Lewis isn't your cup of tea, consider Lee Stroebel's "The Case for Faith".
If you are an academic looking for the meatiest of systematic theologies and something older, consider Calvin's The Institutes of Christian Religion. Any good systematic theology - J.I. Packer, Wayne Grudem, Thomas Aquinas, Peter Lombard, Francis of Assisi, Karl Barth, Alistar McGrath, Louis Berkhof, etc... - these are all books that attempt to systematize and explain the reasons behind the articles of dogma many Christians take for granted. While rarely a starting point to convince someone of the faith, they are really good for explaining it.
Finally, for most people, reading the Bible (John is usually a good book to start) and talking to other Christians and or trying out several churches is usually the best way to go. I have a particular passion for the intellectual who is seeking with rationality and faith so I get your reluctance to start with the followers and I wish you well on this journey.
More post
- 📝 Does the State have the right to correct the Church in theological matters?
- 📝 Can a marriage proceed if fiancé is unconscious?
- 📝 Are Catholics free to disagree about whether it is prudential to not forbid abortion by law?
- 📝 Transubstantiation and John 6:27
- 📝 How do Evangelicals celebrate Pentecost?
- 📝 How do Trinitarians interpret John 14:10?
- 📝 Does the Catholic Church verify whether candidates to the priesthood are really men?
- 📝 Which groups believe that Jesus is a Created Being?
- 📝 Has T. D. Jakes clarified what he believes about the Trinity?
- 📝 According to post-2000 Young Earth Creationists / premillennialists, when do (did) we reach year 6000?
- 📝 What did Jesus mean by 'going for a second mile '?
- 📝 On what basis does the Catholic Church teach that women cannot be ordained?
- 📝 Was there baptism in the Old Testament?
- 📝 What caused the shift from "Faith Of Christ" to "Faith In Christ" in modern translations?
- 📝 How does King James-only-ism apply to other languages?
- 📝 Why is God considered by many to be a male?
- 📝 Can a Catholic mass be said for a deceased Protestant?
- 📝 Jesus' Brothers (Matthew 12:46)
- 📝 Has Revelation 14:9 changed from bibles printed over 40 years ago?
- 📝 If the Bible is open to interpretation, how does one know which one is right?
- 📝 Trinitarian Ontology... What is it? Being vs person vs essence vs _______
- 📝 What is the Wesleyan Church's View of Initial, Progressive, and Entire Sanctification?
- 📝 Can a Catholic marriage be annulled because one doesn't believe to Sacred Trinity anymore?
- 📝 Why doesn't God have to keep his own commandments such as "Do not murder"?
- 📝 What is the norm for celebrating First Friday/Saturday Novena Masses on Holy Days of Obligation?
- 📝 The Last Judgement: a civilized trial or a barbaric ordeal?
- 📝 Does any church believe in Sola Scriptura, but without allowing private interpretation?
- 📝 Is there a standard text of the Litany of Loreto accepted for universal use by the Catholic Church?
- 📝 Scriptural reference to explain what the word "gospel" means?
- 📝 How do deniers of Jesus' preincarnate existence interpret 2 Corinthians 8:9?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 What are some good resources that explain the rational reasons behind the faith for a questioning Atheist?
- 📝 What are the theological reasons some Protestants are Zionists?
- 📝 What is the biblical basis for the belief that good works are the fruits of faith?
- 📝 What is the Catholic biblical or canon basis saying some moral works without grace (transient or permanent) are good (or not have the nature of sin)?
- 📝 What are the traditional reasons ascribed to why God saw it fit that Jesus be born of a virgin?
- 📝 What are some of the reasons for which mainstream non-Catholic Christians are against gender-neutral secular marriage?
- 📝 What are the most common reasons that cause Christians to deconvert to atheism/agnosticism?
- 📝 What are some of the reasons for which Catholics are against gender-neutral secular marriage?
- 📝 Are there aspects of the Imitation of Christ that are biased towards a Devotio Moderna perspective? What are some of them?
- 📝 What parts of Protestantism accept that there are some on earth who 'smite the earth with plagues' till the end of time (Revelation 11:6)?
- 📝 What are the historical and scriptural reasons why women are prohibited and/or discouraged from wearing pants in some churches?
- 📝 What are some of the reasons why Catholics would feel more drawn to focus on pius devotions than the Psalms?
- 📝 What are some comprehensive, reliable resources to learn about the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church?
- 📝 What are the biblical arguments that the Bible canon is closed?
- 📝 What is the basis that some Protestants teach the non-necessity of baptism for salvation?
- 📝 What is the Biblical evidence that there are ONLY three persons in the "Trinity"?
- 📝 What important Mormon doctrines are taught in the book of Mormon that we couldn't find in the Bible already?
- 📝 What are the reasons for calling oneself a "follower of Jesus" rather than a Christian?
- 📝 What is the basis for the belief by some groups that a Christian can live a sinless life?
- 📝 What are the arguments that Acts was written prior to 70 AD?
- 📝 What are the good Bahasa / Malay / Indonesian words to refer to the Christian God?
- 📝 What are the Biblical reasons for getting married?
- 📝 What is the basis for why certain musical beats are deemed by some to be unchristian or immoral?
- 📝 What is the protestant apologetic for James' explicit statement that we are justified by works?
- 📝 What does it mean that Jesus, Father, and Holy Spirit are of the same nature but different personas?
- 📝 Is there a name for the belief that some individuals would always freely reject salvation no matter the world in which they are created?
- 📝 What are some of the benefits of going to church?
- 📝 What is the biblical basis for the belief held by Jehovah's Witnesses that Jehovah and Jesus Christ are separate entities?
- 📝 What is the biblical basis used by Reformed theologians to argue that all those dying in infancy are saved?
- 📝 What is the Meaning of Hebrews 2:11 - he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one
