How Do You Know You’re Not Wrong: Responding to Objections That Leave Christians Speechless
Overview
If you’ve recently tried to tell your friends about Jesus, this is surely a familiar phrase. Besides being familiar, such challenges from today’s unbelievers are also frustrating. In fact, they can sometimes leave you speechless. So how do you respond?
Expert Christian apologist Paul Copan calls these objections “anti-truth claims.” And he knows they’re relevant—he’s faced them over and over in his apologetics ministry on university campuses and in coffee shops across the country. In How Do You Know You’re Not Wrong? he presents a collection of objections regarding reality, worldviews, and Christianity and thoroughly addresses each from a biblical standpoint. If you’ve ever been left lost for words when discussing matters of faith, this insightful book will give you the tools you need to confidently, lovingly, and effectively respond to colleagues, acquaintances, and friends.
In the Logos edition, this volume is enhanced by amazing functionality. Scripture citations link directly to English translations, and important terms link to dictionaries, encyclopedias, and a wealth of other resources in your digital library. Perform powerful searches to find exactly what you’re looking for. Take the discussion with you using tablet and mobile apps. With Logos Bible Software, the most efficient and comprehensive research tools are in one place, so you get the most out of your study.
- Addresses difficult questions regarding worldviews and reality with a biblical perspective
- Provides tools for effectively responding to people who challenge the Bible
- Highlights logic, objectivity, truth, and reality within responses
- Part I: Slogans Relate to Truth and Reality
- How Do You Know You’re Not Wrong?
- Whatever Works for You
- Part II: Slogans Related to Worldviews
- Naturalism Is a Simpler Explanation Than Theism
- Unless You Can Scientifically Verify or Falsify Your Belief, It’s Meaningless
- You Can’t Prove That Scientifically
- The Soul Is Nothing More Than the Brain
- Why Think Immaterial Things Like Souls Exist?
- How Can an Immaterial Soul Influence a Material Body?
- You’re a Speciesist If You Think Humans Are Superior to Nonhuman Animals
- Animals Have Rights Just Like Humans Do
- Part III: Slogans Related to Christianity
- How Could God Command Abraham to Sacrifice Isaac?
- Many Old Testament Laws Are Strange and Arbitrary
- Why Are Some Old Testament Laws Harsh and Oppressive?
- It’s Unfair That Humans Are Punished for Adam’s Sin (Part 1)
- It’s Unfair That Humans Are Punished for Adam’s Sin (Part 2)
- Why Were Certain Texts Arbitrarily Excluded from the New Testament Canon?
- Isn’t the Gospel of Thomas a Legitimate Source about the Historical Jesus?
Top Highlights
“Good philosophy must exist, if for no other reason, because bad philosophy needs to be answered.’” (Page 11)
“Descartes’ solution was that even if he doubted everything, he couldn’t doubt that he was doubting. And since doubting is a form of thinking, he concluded, ‘I think; therefore, I am [cogito, ergo sum].’” (Page 18)
“R. T. France observes, Jesus didn’t proclaim a specific socioeconomic program for society. Rather, he addressed underlying attitudes such as greed, generosity, industriousness, and contentment.” (Page 10)
“The assumption is that if you can’t perfectly prove that you’re not being deceived, then you can’t claim knowledge of something. Or if you can’t have 100 percent certainty about something, then knowledge is up for grabs; one view is just as legitimate as another.” (Page 18)
“We should begin our understanding of man as, first of all, God’s good creation and only secondarily as a fallen creature.” (Pages 198–199)
Paul Copan has an amazing gift. He is able to take complex philosophical issues and make them accessible to ordinary folks without compromising accuracy or integrity. Professor Copan takes on some of the strongest challenges to Christian faith and responds to them with clarity, generosity, and laser-like logic.
—Francis J. Beckwith, associate professor of Church-State Studies, Baylor University
Nonbelievers frequently challenge Christians with questions like, ‘How do you know that what you believe is true?,’ ‘Doesn’t science disprove faith?,’ ‘How could God make the strange commands that we find in the Old Testament?,’ ‘How can God punish me for sins committed by Adam?,’ and ‘Didn’t early Christian leaders arbitrarily exclude from the Bible texts about Jesus that they didn’t like?’ On these and other important issues, Paul Copan gives clear and illuminating answers. Despite the depth and power of his arguments, this lively and helpful book will be understandable to intelligent laypersons. I enthusiastically recommend it.
—Stephen T. Davis, Russell K. Pitzer Professor of Philosophy, Claremont McKenna College
Copan addresses tough questions about faith and Christianity without sidestepping the reasoning of skeptics or issues of objectivity, truth, and reality. Appropriate for inquisitive students, skeptics, seminarians, and clergy, this is recommended for academic and large public libraries.
—Library Journal
With solid reasons why you are not wrong to believe and what makes Christianity logical, this book will give you the confidence to deal with a world in which Christians are resident aliens.
—Huntress Reviews
Paul Copan is the Pledger Family Chair of Philosophy and Ethics at Palm Beach Atlantic University in Florida. Previously, he taught at Georgia Perimeter College, Bethel Seminary, Alliance Theological Seminary, and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He is the author of several apologetics books and the president of the Evangelical Philosophical Society.