Resources on Christian Truth-Claims



Needless to say, the amount of material in the below that I agree with varies from minute to minute, and from mood to mood  (how's THAT for a clever disclaimer, eh?)

Works are not rank-ordered WITHIN a column.


Most of these are still in print, and the hotlink will connect you to Amazon.com, in case you want to order one. [The Thinktank actually receives a small 'finders fee' for these, measured in pennies, if you purchase them from their specific links below. It doesn't raise your price any, but comes out of their profit.]

These works are generally supportive of moderate-conservative Judeo-Christian faith. They typically interact with 'liberal' or more skeptical works. 

This list is offered to Christians, to those investigating the truth claims of Christianity, and to non-Christians attempting to interact with the best of Christian scholarship (for the sake of honesty and completeness).

[I do not maintain a list of skeptical materials. Those can be found at skeptical sites, academic bookstores(!), and in the bibliography/discussions within THESE books. Many of the works below are in the ' minority' position, generally, and not easy to discover--I have found. Hence this list.]

New entries since last update in RED. [last update on Sept 14/07]

Hope this helps...glenn miller....
 
 

Topic

Intro

2nd

3rd

Archeology, Chronology, Literary context

Archaeology and the Old Testament, Alfred J. Hoerth, Baker:1998

Chronological Aspects of the Life of Christ, Harold Hoehner, Zondervan:1977

Readings from the First-Century World, Walter A. Elwell and Robert W. Yarbrough (eds.), Baker:1998

Chronos, Kairos, Christos I, E. Jerry Vardaman (ed)

Chronos, Kairos, Christos II, E. Jerry Vardaman (ed)

The City in Roman Palestine, Daniel Sperber, Oxford:1998.

Bible Archaeology: An Exploration of the History and Culture of Early Civilizations. Alfred Hoerth and John McRay

Brills New Pauly, Supplements I, Chronologies of the Ancient World. Walter Eder and Johannes Renger (eds) 

Israel in the context of ANE/Egypt

The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament, John H. Walton & Victor Matthews, IVP:2000.

A History of Israel from the Bronze Age through the Jewish Wars. Walter C. Kaiser Jr., Broadman and Holman: 1998

A Biblical History of Israel. Provan, Long, Longman III. WJK:2003. [Absolutely the best available!]

A Survey of Israel's History  (Revised Ed). Leon Wood and David O'Brien

Kingdom of Priests: A History of Old Testament Israel. Eugene Merrill. Baker:1987/96.

Life in the Ancient Near East, 3100-332 BCE, Daniel C. Snell, Yale:1997

The Pentateuch in Its Cultural Environment. Livingston, Herbert G., Baker, 1987 (2nd ed)

Ancient Israelite Literature in its Cultural Context, John H. Walton, Zondervan: 1989

Israel and Egypt: The Evidence for the Authenticity of the Exodus Tradition, James K. Hoffmeier, Oxford: 1997

Ancient Egypt and the Old Testament, John D. Currid, Baker:1997.

The Bible and the Ancient Near East, Cyrus Gordon and Gary Rendsburg, Norton:1997 (4th ed)

Persia and the Bible, Edwin Yamauchi, Baker:1990/1996

Life and Culture in the Ancient Near East. Averbeck, Chavalas, Weisberg (eds). CDL:2003.

Peoples of the Old Testament World; Hoerth, Mattingly, Yamauchi (eds.), Baker: 1994

New Testament History

Behind the Scenes of the New Testament, Barnett, IVP: 1990.

New Testament History. Bruce, F.F., Anchor, 1972

The Seven Cities of the Apocalypse & Greco-Asian Culture. Roland H. Worth, Jr. Paulist:1999.

The Seven Cities of the Apocalypse & Roman Culture. Roland H. Worth, Jr. Paulist:1999.

 

Jesus "Theories" (& Jesus Seminar)

Jesus Under Fire--Modern Scholarship Reinvents the Historical Jesus., Wilkins and Moreland (eds), Zondervan: 1995.

Jesus in an Age of Controversy, Douglas Groothuis, Harvest House: 1996.

Who was Jesus?, N.T. Wright, Eerdmans:1992.

The Historical Jesus: Ancient Evidence for the Life of Christ. Gary R. Habermas. College Press:1996.

The Jesus Legend: A Case for the Historical Reliability of the Synoptic Jesus Tradition. Paul Rhodes Eddy and Gregory A Boyd

Cynic Sage or Son of God?, Gregory Boyd, Bridgepoint: 1995.

Jesus and the Victory of God, by N.T. Wright, Fortress:1996.

The Christology of Jesus, Ben Witherington III, Fortress:1990

Early Narrative Christology: The Lord in the Gospel of Luke. C Kavin Rowe

Fabricating Jesus: How Modern Scholars Distort the Gospels. Craig Evans

The Jesus Quest: The Third Search for the Jew of Nazareth, Ben Witherington III, IVP: 1995

Lord Jesus Christ: Devotion to Jesus in Earliest Christianity. Larry Hurtado. Eerdmans:2003.

How on Earth Did Jesus Become God? Historical Questions about the Earliest Devotion to Jesus. Larry Hurtado.

The Pre-existent Son: Recovering the Christologies of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Simon Gathercole

Jesus as God: The New Testament Use of Theos in Reference to Jesus, Murray Harris, Baker: 1998

Studying the Historical Jesus: Evaluations of the State of Current Research, Bruce Chilton and Craig Evans, eds. Brill: 1994

Jesus and His Contemporaries: Comparative Studies, Craig Evans, Brill:1995

Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels. Joel Green, Scot McKnight, I Howard Marshall (eds.), IVP:1992

Gospel Perspectives: The Jesus Tradition Outside the Gospels (vol 5). David Wenham (ed).

OT in the NT (& intertextuality)

Biblical Exegesis in the Apostolic Period. Longenecker, Richard. , Eerdmans Publishing, 1999.

Jesus and the Old Testament. France, R.T. , Intervarsity Press, 1971

It is Written: Scripture Citing Scripture, DA Carson and H.G.M. Williamson, Cambridge:1988

BIBLICAL criticism/reliability

The Historical Reliability of the Gospels by Craig Blomberg, IVP: 1987.

On the Reliability of the Old Testament. K A Kitchen. Eerdmans:2003.

The Case for Christ, Lee Strobel, HarperCollins:1998.

Is the New Testament Reliable? Barnett, Paul. , Intervarsity Press, 1986

The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable?, F. F. Bruce, Eerdmans: 1943.

The Old Testament Documents: Are They Reliable & Relevant? Walter C. Kaiser, Jr. IVP:2001.

Jesus and the Gospels: An Introduction and Survey, Craig L. Blomberg, Broadman & Holman:1997.

Misquoting Truth: A Guide to the Fallacies of Bart Ehrman's Misquoting Jesus. Timothy Paul Jones

Easter Enigma--Are the Resurrection accounts in conflict? 2nd. ed., John Wenham, Baker: 1992.

The Gospel and the Gospels, Peter Stuhlmacher, ed. Eerdmans: 1991

Redating Matthew, Mark, and Luke by John Wenham, IVP: 1992

The Gospels for All Christians: Rethinking the Gospel Audiences, Richard Bauckham (ed), Eerdmans:1998

Jesus and the Eyewitnesses: The Gospels as Eyewitness Testimony. Richard Bauckham

The Origins of Mark: The Markan Community in Current Debate. Dwight Petersen. Brill:2003.

Rethinking the Synoptic Problem. David Alan Black and David R Beck (eds). Baker:2001.

The Case Against Q: Studies in Markan Priority and the Synoptic Problem. Mark Goodacre. Trinity:2002.

Questioning Q: A Multidimensional Critique. Mark Goodacre and Nicholas Perrin (eds)

Foundations for Biblical Interpretation, Dockery, Mathews, Sloan (eds.), Broadman&Holman: 1994

Gospel Perspectives:

Gospel Perspectives, Volume 6: The Miracles of Jesus. David Wenham (Editor), Craig Blomberg (Editor). Wipf & Stock.

Gospel Perspectives, Volume 1: Studies of History and Tradition in the Four Gospels. R. T. France (Editor), David Wenham (Editor) . Wipf & Stock.

Gospel Perspectives, Volume 3: Studies in Midrash and Historiography. R. T. France (Editor), David Wenham (Editor) . Wipf & Stock.

Gospel Perspectives, Volume 2: Studies of History and Tradition in the Four Gospels. R. T. France (Editor), David Wenham (Editor). Wipf & Stock.

Gospel Perspectives, Volume 4: The Rediscovery of Jesus' Eschatological Discourse. David Wenham (Editor) . Wipf & Stock.

The Past of Jesus in the Gospels, Eugene Lemcio, Cambridge: 1991.

What are the Gospels: A comparison with Graeco-Roman Biography, Richard A. Burridge, Cambridge: 199

Expositor's Bible Commentary: Introductory Articles

Acts Historicity

Is the New Testament Reliable? Barnett, Paul. , Intervarsity Press, 1986

The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable?, F. F. Bruce, Eerdmans: 1943.

The Book of Acts in the Setting of Hellenistic History, Colin Helmer, Eisenbrauns:1989


Acts and the History of Earliest Christianity. Martin Hengel. WipfandStock:1979

The Book of Acts in its First Century Setting: Ancient Literary Setting

The Book of Acts in its First Century Settting: Diaspora Setting

The Book of Acts in its First Century Settting: Graeco-Roman Setting

The Book of Acts in its First Century Setting:Palestinian Setting

The Book of Acts in its First Century Setting: Paul in Roman Custody

Text Criticism

Misquoting Truth: A Guide to the Fallacies of Bart Ehrman's Misquoting Jesus. Timothy Paul Jones

The Text of the New Testament--Its Transmission, Corruption, and Restoration, Bruce Metzger, Oxford 1992 (3rd ed)

Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible, Emanuel Tov, Fortress:2001 (2ndE)

 

Early Church history and issues (heresy, canon)

The Canon of Scripture, F. F. Bruce, IVP: 1988

The Rise of Christianity: A Sociologist Reconsiders History, Rodney Stark, Princeton: 1996.

The Bauer Thesis Examined: The Geography of Heresy in the Early Christian Church, T.A. Robinson, Edwin Mellen: 1988

Hellenists and Hebrews: Reappraising Division within the Earliest Church, Craig C. Hill, Fortress:1992.

The Rise of Christianity by W.H.C. Frend, Fortress: 1984. pp1022

 

JEDP/DocuHypo (see ANE also)

Before Abraham Was: The Unity of Genesis 1-11, Kikawada and Quinn, Ignatius: 1985.

The Old Testament Documents: Are They Reliable & Relevant? Walter C. Kaiser, Jr. IVP:2001.

ReThinking Genesis, Duane Garrett, Baker: 1991

On the Reliability of the Old Testament. K A Kitchen. Eerdmans:2003.

The Pentateuch in Its Cultural Environment. Livingston, Herbert G., Baker, 1987 (2nd ed)

The Redaction of Genesis, Gary A. Rendsburg, Eisenbraus:1986


Place of the Law in the Religion of Ancient Israel. Moshe Weinfeld

Biblical Intro (author, date, etc.)




 An Introduction to the New Testament (2nd Ed). DA Carson and Douglas Moo.

New Testament Introduction, Donald Guthrie, IVP:1990 (rev.ed)

Introduction to the Old Testament. Harrison, R.K.,  Eerdmans Publishing, 1969.

 

Commentaries/

Reference works/

Bible Background/

Ency/Dictionaries

The Bible Background Commentary-NT. Keener, Craig. S. , IVP, 1993.

Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentrary (4 vols). Clinton Arnold (ed). Zondervan:2002.

The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament, John H. Walton & Victor Matthews, IVP:2000.

The Expositor's Bible Commentary of the OT. Gaebelein, Frank E., ed.,

The Expositor's Bible Commentary: NT Set.

Zondervan Pictorial Ency. of the Bible 1986.

Dictionary of Judaism in the Biblical Period. Jacob Neusner and William Scott Green (eds.). Hendrickson:1996

Nelson's Illustrated Encyclopedia of Bible Facts, eds. Packer, Tenney, White. Thomas Nelson: 1995 (2nd ed)

Dictionary of New Testament Background. Craig Evans and Stanley Porter (eds). IVP:2000.



New International Commentary on the Old Testament (series)

New International Commentary on the New Testament (series)

Dictionary of the Old Testament Pentateuch, T. Desmond Alexander and David W. Baker. IVP:2003

The IVP Women's Bible Commentary. C.C. Kroeger and Mary J. Evans. IVP:2002..

Harper's Encyclopedia of Bible Life. Madeline and J Lane Miller

Life and Culture in the Ancient Near East. Averbeck, Chavalas, Weisberg (eds).

New Intl Dictionary of Old Testament Theology and Exegesis, Willem A. VanGeren (gen. Ed.), Zond:1997 (5 vols)

New Intl Dictionary of New Testament Theology, Colin Brown, eds. Zond.

Word Biblical Commentary (multi-vol)

Difficulties

Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties, Gleason L. Archer, Zondervan: 1982

Hard Sayings of the Bible, Kaiser/Davids/Bruce/Brauch, IVP:1996

Difficult Sayings in the Gospels: Jesus' Use of Overstatement and Hyperbole., Robert H. Stein. Baker: 1985.

 

ExtraBiblical/

Intertestamental Lit&Hist

The Dead Sea Scrolls Today, James VanderKam, Eerdmans:1994.

From Text to Tradition: A History of Second Temple & Rabbinic Judaism, Lawrence H. Schiffman, KTAV:1991

Noncanonical Writings and New Testament Interpretation, Craig Evans, Hendrickson: 1992

Ancient Texts for New Testament Studies--A Guide to the Background Literature. Craig Evans

Exploring Jewish Literature of the Second Temple Period, Larry R. Helyer, IVP:2002.

Introduction to the Apocrypha: Message, Context, and Significance. David deSilva. Baker:2002.

Judaism and Hellenistic: Studies in their Encounter in Palestine during the Early Hellenistic Period, Martin Hengel, Fortress:1974

Jews in the Mediterranean Diaspora, Barclay:1996.

Introduction to the Talmud and Midrash, H.L. Strack and Gunter Stemberger, Fortress:1992

Jewish Writings of the Second Temple Period: Apocrypha, Pseudepigrapha, Qumran Sectarian Writings, Philo, Josephus. Michael E. Stone (ed.), Fortress:1984

Mikra:Text, Translation, Reading and Interpretation of the Hebrew Bible in Ancient Judaism and Early Christianity, Martin Jan Mulder (ed.).

Prophetic Figures in Late Second Temple Jewish Palestine: The Evidence from Josephus, Rebecca Gray, Oxford:1993.

The Literature of the Sages: Oral Tora, Halakha, Mishna, Tosefta, Talmud, External Tractates, Shmuel Safrai (ed), Fortress:1987

Messianic beliefs,

Judaism issues

The Messiah in the Old Testament, Walter Kaiser, Jr., Zondervan: 1995, 256p.

Judaism Before Jesus: The Events and Ideas that Shaped the New Testament World. Anthony Tomasino. IVP:2003.

Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus: Messianic Prophecy Objections. Michael L Brown. Baker:2003.

Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus, vol 4: New Testament Objections. Michael Brown

The Lord's Anointed: Interpretation of Old Testament Messianic Texts. Satterthwaite, Hess, and G. Wenham (eds.), Paternoster:1995

Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus: General and Historical Objections. Michael L. Brown. Baker:2000.

Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus: Theological Objections. Michael L. Brown. Baker:2000

The Messiah Texts--Jewish Legends of Three Thousand Years, Raphael Patai, Wayne State: 1979.

Jesus in the Talmud. Peter Schafer

Jewish Believers in Jesus: The Early Centuries. Oskar Sharsaune and Reidar Hvalvik (eds)

The Scepter and the Star--The Messiahs of the Dead Sea Scrolls and Other Ancient Literature, John J. Collins, Doubleday: 1995

Christianity in Talmud and Midrash, R. Travers Herford, KTAV: 1903

Israel's Messiah in the Bible and the Dead Sea Scrolls. Richard Hess and M Daniel Carroll R (eds). Baker:2003.

Where is Boasting? Early Jewish Soteriology and Paul's Response in Romans 1-5. Simon J. Gathercole. Eerdmans:2002.

The Limits of Orthodox Theology: Maimonides' Thirteen Principles Reappraised. Marc Shapiro. Littman:2004.

Jewish Christianities Reconsidered: Rethinking Ancient Groups and Texts. Matt Jackson-McCabe

The Suffering Servant: Isaiah 53 in Jewish and Christian Sources. Bernd Janowski and Peter Stuhlmacher (eds)

Paul / James

What Saint Paul Really Said--Was Paul of Tarsus the Real Founder of Christianity?, by N.T. Wright, Eerdmans:1997

Paul--Follower of Jesus or Founder of Christianity?, David Wenham, Eerdmans: 1995.

Paul between Damascus and Antioch, Martin Hengel and Anna Maria Schwemer, WJK:1997

The Pre-Christian Paul, Martin Hengel, SCM/Trinity:1991

The Paul Quest: The Renewed Search for the Jew of Tarsus, Ben Witherington III, IVP:1998

A Challenge to the New Perspective: Revisiting Paul's Doctrine of Justification. Peter Stuhlmacher. IVP:2001.

Perspectives Old and New on Paul: The Lutheran Paul and his Critics. Shephen Westerholm. Eerdmans:2004.

A Challenge to the New Perspective: Revisiting Paul's Doctrine of Justification. Peter Stuhlmacher


James the Just and Christian Origins. Bruce Chilton and Craig A. Evans (eds.). Brill:1999

Where is Boasting? Early Jewish Soteriology and Paul's Response in Romans 1-5. Simon J. Gathercole. Eerdmans:2002.

Dictionary of Paul and his Letters. Gerald Hawthorne, Ralph Martin, Daniel G. Reid (eds.), IVP:1993.

Philosophy/Apologetics

No Doubt About It : The Case for Christianity , Winfried Corduan, Broadman&Holman:1993.

Philosophers Who Believe, IVP.

God and the Philosophers, Morris.

Why Believe? Reason and Mystery as Pointers to God. C. Stephen Evans, 1996.

A Concise Encyclopedia of the Philosophy of Religion. Anthony Thiselton

To Everyone an Answer: A Case for the Christian Worldview. Beckwith, William Lane Craig, Moreland (eds).

Reasonable Faith, William Lane Craig, Crossway Books:1994.


Experience of God and the Rationality of Theistic Belief. Jerome Gellman

Reason and Religious Belief by Peterson, Hasker, Reichenback, and Basinger, Oxford: 1997 (2nd ed)

In Defense of Miracles, Geivett & Habermas (eds.)

Christianity and Western Thought : A History of Philosophers, Ideas and Movements : From the Ancient World to the Age of Enlightenment, Colin Brown:1990

Philosophy and the Christian Faith : A Historical Sketch from the Middle Ages to the Present Day, Colin Brown: 1980.

Risen Indeed--Making Sense of the Resurrection, Stephen T. Davis, Eerdmans: 1993

Reason for the Hope Within. Michael Murray (ed.). Eerdmans:1999 [the Best!]

The Evidential Argument from Evil.Daniel Howard-Snyder, 1996.

God and Evil: An Introduction to the Issues. Michael L. Peterson, 1998.

World Religions

The Supremacy of Christ, Ajith Fernando, Crossway: 1995.

Neighboring Faiths: A Christian Introduction to World Religions, Winfried Corduan, IVP:1998.

A Tapestry of Faith: The Common Threads between Christianity and World Religions. Winfried Coruan. IVP:2002

Christianity and World Religions, JND Anderson, IVP: 1984 (rev.ed.).

The Bible and the Quran: A Question of Integrity. Steven Masood. [Exceptionally useful book]

Kissing Cousins? Christians and Muslims Face to Face. Bill Musk. [absolutely the first book you should ever read on Islam--this has the God's heart in it...]

Christian Faith and Other Faiths by Stephen Neill, IVP:1984

Answering Islam, Norman Geisler and Abdul Saleeb, Baker: 1993

The Bible and the Quran. Jacques Jomier. Ignatius:1959 (trans. 1964)

Leaving Islam: Apostates Speak Out. Ibn Warraq (ed). Prometheus:2003.

The Quran. M A S Abdel Haleem. [The best and most helpful translation of the Quran I have found. Beautiful tone, helpful explanations.]

Religions and the Truth by Hendrik M. Vroom, Eerd: 1989.

The Global God: Multicultural Evangelical Views of God, Aida Besancon Spencer and William David Spencer (eds.), Baker:1998.

The Quran and its Exegesis: Selected Texts with Classical and Modern Muslim Interpretations. Helmut Gatje

Quranic Christians: An Analysis of Classical and Modern Exegesis. Jane Dammen McAuliffe

Source Materials:

 

 

 

Dead Sea scrolls

The Dead Sea Scrolls Translated: The Qumran Texts in English, Florentino Martinez, Brill: 1996 (2nd ed.)

 

 

Judaism in Antiquity

The Jews among the Greeks & Romans:A Diaspora Sourcebook. Margaret K. Williams. Johns Hopskins:1998.

 

Greek and Latin Authors on Jews and Judaism (3vols), Menahem Stern, The Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities:1980

NT papyri

New Documents Illustrating Early Christianity (volumes 1- 6)

New Documents Illustrating Early Christianity (volume 7)

New Documents Illustrating Early Christianity (volume 8)

 

 

NT Apocrypha

New Testament Apocrypha, Wilhelm Schneemelcher (ed) and R. McL. Wilson (trans.), Westminster/John Knox:1991 [Vol 1 and Vol 2]

 

 

OT Pseudepigrapha

The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, Charlesworth (ed), 1983. [Vol 1 and Vol 2]

 

 

ANE literature

The Ancient Near East : An Anthology of Texts and Pictures. JB Pritchard. Princeton:1958

The Ancient Near East : A New Anthology of Texts and Pictures. JB Pritchard. Princeton:1975.

 

Ancient Near Eastern Texts : Relating to the Old Testament (Supplement Included) JB Pritchard. Princeton: 1969 (3rd ed)

The Context of Scripture: Canonical Compositions from the Biblical World, William W. Hallo and K. Lawson Younger, eds., Brill: 1997.

The Context of Scripture, vol 2: Monumental Inscriptions from the Biblical World. Hallo and Younger (eds.). Brill:2000.

[Volume 3 in the above series]




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