revised: 2/17/04

The following are the readings we talked about at the "Does God Exist?" Debate. The first list is from the theist speaker and the second from the atheist speaker. I have added in a few links as well. Enjoy!
 

Steve Neef and James Louviere's Recommended Theist Readings:

For those interested in further study or research of this important subject, a number of scholarly books that are well worth reading and which can help to broaden one's perspective and deepen one's knowledge of the pertinent issues involved include:

- The Intellectuals Speak Out About God edited by Roy Abraham Vanghese.  This is a book that includes the opinions of some of the world's leading and most respected scientists, philosophers, psychologists, and theologians who explain why they have reached the conclusion that the evidence accepted in various fields of study and scholarly circles today points to the existence of God.

- The Case For Christ by Lee Strobel.  This is a detailed scholarly account of one prominent award-winning journalist's search for the truth regarding the claims of the Christian Church.  As a graduate of Yale Law School and an agnostic at the time of his research, the author applied his investigative skills as an experienced journalist and his training in law to rigorously test the credibility of the New Testament writings, the reported miracles, the Resurrection of Jesus, the identity of Christ, and so forth by challenging leading experts in the fields of linguistics, ancient documents, history, archaeologists, medicine, psychology, comparative religion, etc.

- The Case For Faith by Lee Strobel.  The (above) author applies the same method of testing by challenging some of today's leading scholars to answer some of the most difficult questions about Christianity such as the problem of suffering and evil, the claims of Jesus to be the way to God, scandals in the Chruch, and so on.

- Faith On Trial by Pamela Ewing.  The author, an attorney at one of the most prominent law firms in America, applies the standard rules of law and the court system to test the evidence of the four New Testament gospels as to whether or not these ancient writings would stand up in a U.S. court of law.  In other words, would the evidence concerning the oldest and most important Christian writings be considered credible, admissible, and compelling in our court system today?

- Books (and tapes) by William Lane Craig are very pertinent to this discussion.   Dr. Craig earned his doctorate in philosophy from the University of Birmingham, England and his doctorate in theology from the University of Munich after obtaining a Master of Arts from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School.  And he has served as a visiting  scholar at the Higher Institute of Philosophy at the University of Louvain near Brussels, Belgium.  Dr. Craig is a member of nine (9) professional societies including the American Philosophical Association and the American Academy of Religion.  He has authored a number of books on the subject including:

   - The Existence of God and the Beginning of the Universe
   - Theism, Atheism, and Big Bang Cosmology
   - Reasonable Faith
   - Knowing the Truth About the Resurrection
   - No Easy Answers
   - The Only Wise God

And he has contributed to a number of other works including:

   - The Intellectuals Speak Out About God (see above)
   - Does God Exist?
   - In Defense of Miracles
   - Jesus Under Fire

NOTE: William Craig's website http://www.leaderu.com/offices/billcraig/index.html
 contains the scripts of a number of debates he's participated in with prominent leaders over the years.

- Dr. Peter Kreeft, a professor of Philosophy at Boston College, has also written some pertinent books on this subject.  Among those recommended include:

   - The Handbook of Christian Apologetics
   - Christianity For Pagans
   - Making Sense Out Of Suffering
 
 
 

Dr. Korcz's Recommended Atheist Readings:

Introductory:

What Is Atheism? A Short Introduction by Douglas E. Krueger
- Answers eight common questions about atheism.

The Unauthorized Version: Truth and Fiction in the Bible by Robin Lane Fox
- Discusses many historical flaws in the Bible, and a great read. Fox is a Fellow of the University of Oxford, and has published several books on ancient history.

The Encyclopedia of Biblical Errancy by C. Douglas McKinsey
- Huge compendium of contradictions and errors in the Bible, also critiques some apologetic responses.

The Case For Humanism by Lewis Vaughn and Austin Dacey
- Discusses a variety of issues from an atheistic viewpoint.

The Case Against Christianity by Michael Martin
- Discusses various historical and moral problems with Christianity. Martin is a philosophy professor at Boston University, with a Ph.D. from Harvard.
 

More Advanced Books:

Atheism: A Philosophical Justification by Michael Martin
- Discusses tons of arguments for theism and atheism.

The Impossibility of God edited by Michael Martin and Ricki Monnier
- Anthology of numerous arguments for atheism by various philosophy professors.

The Evidential Argument From Evil edited by Daniel Howard-Snyder
- Excellent collection of articles from philosophy professors debating both sides of the argument.

A good website with lots of readings on-line is The Secular Web.
 

Philosophy Club, HLG 563, 141 Rex St., Lafayette, LA  70504,
(337) 482-6806, philosophy@louisiana.edu, http://www.louisiana.edu