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Answers to Tough Questions
Here is a wealth of Bible research and point-by-point logic to answer 65 of the toughest questions asked by skeptics - and to show precisely why Christianity stands up to even the toughest scrutiny. For more than 20 years, Josh McDowell has been one of America's most powerful and persuasive defenders of the Christian faith. An important resource for any apologetics class.
228 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1980
27 people are currently reading
613 people want to read
About the author
Josh McDowell
507 books636 followersJosh McDowell is a bestselling Christian apologist, evangelist, and author of over 150 books, including Evidence That Demands a Verdict and More Than a Carpenter. Once an agnostic, he converted to Christianity while investigating its historical claims. He went on to earn degrees from Wheaton College and Talbot Theological Seminary. For decades, McDowell has been a prominent speaker with Campus Crusade for Christ, addressing issues of faith, character, and youth culture worldwide. His work emphasizes historical and legal evidence for Christianity and tackles challenges posed by skepticism and non-Christian beliefs. He lives in California with his wife, Dottie, and is the father of four children, including fellow apologist Sean McDowell.
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Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
December 31, 2019
This is pretty much standard fare. I always enjoy these books, mainly to re-enforce and learn new ways to express old truths. Josh McDowell has always caught my attention with his writings.
August 12, 2011
This book really refreshed my faith. I used to have a bunch of questions regarding Christ and the Bible. The author specifically answer all of those tough questions regarding Jesus Christ and the Bible. It makes me feel good after reading this book and learned a lot of things. Thanks to Josh McDowell!
March 11, 2020
This was refreshing. Some sections were better than others.
March 15, 2017
This book is quite dated being wrote over thirty years ago. Regardless the way he addresses the issues is blatantly illogical. The author assumes the Bible is infallible, and answers questions based on that premise. Therefore you get very poor explanations consistently ending in circular logic proofs. For example the author specifically touches on the fact that do Christians use circular logic? He explains correctly what circular logic is, and following that completely contradicts his original statement by using the Bible as reasoning that he isn't using circular logic. The whole premise is utterly absurd, and the book is overwhelmingly littered with these types of questions and weak answers. Definitely not a book I'd recommend for Christians or atheists as it does an unfortunate disservice to anyone, and discourages critical thinking.
August 17, 2018
My father had me read this book because there were a few questions I had been wondering that this book had answers too. While I did enjoy this book, and I found answers to a lot of questions I was asking, and some to questions I wasn't. I did find though, that with some questions it did seem to skirt around the answer and never fully answered and for that, I found it quite dissatisfying, but for most of them, I found the answer that I was searching for. I recommend this book, not just for Christians who are struggling but also for non-Christians who are asking questions that no one seems to want to answer. This is the book for you. I recommend, but be ready to do some more searching for some questions.
September 6, 2024
THE FIRST BOOK BY THE MCDOWELL/STEWART DUO
Joslin "Josh" McDowell (born 1939) is a Christian author best known for his many works of apologetics; he has been affiliated with Campus Crusade for Christ (now "Cru") since 1964. In the 1980s, he and Don Stewart co-wrote a series of apologetical books; e.g., 'Reasons Why Skeptics Ought to Consider Christianity,' 'Understanding the Cults,' 'Understanding the Occult,'
'Understanding Non-Christian Religions,' 'Understanding Secular Religions,' etc. Stewart's Pentecostal-friendly background was an effective complement to McDowell's definitely NON-Pentecostal Campus Crusade orientation. (Stewart raised some eyebrows with a 2011 divorce and remarriage, however.)
They wrote in the Introduction to this 1980 book, "Lecturing on university campuses over the years has given many individuals the opportunity to ask us a variety of questions concerning the validity of Christianity and the Bible. Time has never permitted us the occasion to answer the majority of the questions completely. [This book] affords us that opportunity. Explaining many of the sincere inquiries skeptics have about Christianity is the main purpose of this book.
"We have tried to deal with as many questions as possible. This means we have, by design, been succinct in our answers. For those who desire to go into greater detail there are bibliographic references at the end of most answers... For the greater part, we have tried to deal mainly with those questions that relate to the credibility of Christianity. Later on we desire to do several more volumes..." They divide the questions into the following categories: The Bible; Jesus Christ; God; Miracles Now and Then; Bible Difficulties; World Religions; Christianity; Believing Faith; The Shroud of Turin; and Creation Accounts.
In response to a question about the "contradictions in the resurrection story," they state, "If all four Gospels gave exactly the same story, in exactly the same order, with exactly the same details, we would immediately become suspicious... It is quite clear that all of the Gospels relate their portraits of Jesus differently. This is what we should expect. No four witnesses (or news reporters), all of whom witness a series of events, will write them up in exactly the same way, detail for detail. If they did, there would be obvious collusion. If the differences concerned the main points of the story, then there would be justification for doubt, but when the salient points are agreed upon by every witness, insignificant differences add to, rather than subtract from, the validity. It should be noted, too, that none of the details flatly contradicts any others, but in some plausible way they correlate together to supply the larger picture. The variations in detail the different writers chose to include in the resurrection narratives consist of incidental things which in no way jeopardize the main plot of the story." (Pg. 52-53)
About the different genealogies of Jesus in Matthew 1 and Luke 3, they say, "At first glance, the impression is created that both accounts are tracing the family line of Jesus through His earthly father Joseph, in which case we would be faced with an obvious contradiction, because Matthew 1:16 indicates Jacob is Joseph's father, while Luke 3:23 tells us that Heli is the father of Joseph. A plausible solution to this difficulty is to understand that Matthew is indeed giving us Joseph's family line, but Luke is tracing the genealogy of Mary. The reason that Mary is not mentioned in Luke 3 is because she has already been designated the mother of Jesus in several instances." (Pg. 60)
About the extinction of dinosaurs and other animals, they suggest, "Additional evidence for [dinosaurs'] existence, and at the same time as man, is ... from fossil evidence of human and dinosaur footprints in the same formation. As to why and how they became extinct, we can only conjecture... It is possible that God left out some of the earth animals, that he didn't cause them to come to Noah... because, plausibly, God intended them to become extinct at that time, or that because of climatic conditions after the flood, they failed to reproduce in sufficient numbers and died out. We simply don't have enough data to go beyond conjecture at this point." (Pg. 94-95)
About the Shroud of Turin, they argue, "It is totally unthinkable that the apostles and Christians of the first years of Christianity would not mention a cloth that had an image scorched on it of the crucified and resurrected Christ... [is it] conceivable that no one, especially the New Testament writers and church fathers, would ever mention the Shroud in relationship to Christ and his resurrection?... The evidence so far in no way supports the Shroud's authenticity as the burial cloth of Christ." (Pg. 168-169)
This book is of definite and ongoing interest to anyone interested in Christian apologetics.
Joslin "Josh" McDowell (born 1939) is a Christian author best known for his many works of apologetics; he has been affiliated with Campus Crusade for Christ (now "Cru") since 1964. In the 1980s, he and Don Stewart co-wrote a series of apologetical books; e.g., 'Reasons Why Skeptics Ought to Consider Christianity,' 'Understanding the Cults,' 'Understanding the Occult,'
'Understanding Non-Christian Religions,' 'Understanding Secular Religions,' etc. Stewart's Pentecostal-friendly background was an effective complement to McDowell's definitely NON-Pentecostal Campus Crusade orientation. (Stewart raised some eyebrows with a 2011 divorce and remarriage, however.)
They wrote in the Introduction to this 1980 book, "Lecturing on university campuses over the years has given many individuals the opportunity to ask us a variety of questions concerning the validity of Christianity and the Bible. Time has never permitted us the occasion to answer the majority of the questions completely. [This book] affords us that opportunity. Explaining many of the sincere inquiries skeptics have about Christianity is the main purpose of this book.
"We have tried to deal with as many questions as possible. This means we have, by design, been succinct in our answers. For those who desire to go into greater detail there are bibliographic references at the end of most answers... For the greater part, we have tried to deal mainly with those questions that relate to the credibility of Christianity. Later on we desire to do several more volumes..." They divide the questions into the following categories: The Bible; Jesus Christ; God; Miracles Now and Then; Bible Difficulties; World Religions; Christianity; Believing Faith; The Shroud of Turin; and Creation Accounts.
In response to a question about the "contradictions in the resurrection story," they state, "If all four Gospels gave exactly the same story, in exactly the same order, with exactly the same details, we would immediately become suspicious... It is quite clear that all of the Gospels relate their portraits of Jesus differently. This is what we should expect. No four witnesses (or news reporters), all of whom witness a series of events, will write them up in exactly the same way, detail for detail. If they did, there would be obvious collusion. If the differences concerned the main points of the story, then there would be justification for doubt, but when the salient points are agreed upon by every witness, insignificant differences add to, rather than subtract from, the validity. It should be noted, too, that none of the details flatly contradicts any others, but in some plausible way they correlate together to supply the larger picture. The variations in detail the different writers chose to include in the resurrection narratives consist of incidental things which in no way jeopardize the main plot of the story." (Pg. 52-53)
About the different genealogies of Jesus in Matthew 1 and Luke 3, they say, "At first glance, the impression is created that both accounts are tracing the family line of Jesus through His earthly father Joseph, in which case we would be faced with an obvious contradiction, because Matthew 1:16 indicates Jacob is Joseph's father, while Luke 3:23 tells us that Heli is the father of Joseph. A plausible solution to this difficulty is to understand that Matthew is indeed giving us Joseph's family line, but Luke is tracing the genealogy of Mary. The reason that Mary is not mentioned in Luke 3 is because she has already been designated the mother of Jesus in several instances." (Pg. 60)
About the extinction of dinosaurs and other animals, they suggest, "Additional evidence for [dinosaurs'] existence, and at the same time as man, is ... from fossil evidence of human and dinosaur footprints in the same formation. As to why and how they became extinct, we can only conjecture... It is possible that God left out some of the earth animals, that he didn't cause them to come to Noah... because, plausibly, God intended them to become extinct at that time, or that because of climatic conditions after the flood, they failed to reproduce in sufficient numbers and died out. We simply don't have enough data to go beyond conjecture at this point." (Pg. 94-95)
About the Shroud of Turin, they argue, "It is totally unthinkable that the apostles and Christians of the first years of Christianity would not mention a cloth that had an image scorched on it of the crucified and resurrected Christ... [is it] conceivable that no one, especially the New Testament writers and church fathers, would ever mention the Shroud in relationship to Christ and his resurrection?... The evidence so far in no way supports the Shroud's authenticity as the burial cloth of Christ." (Pg. 168-169)
This book is of definite and ongoing interest to anyone interested in Christian apologetics.
September 29, 2023
Hab ab der Hälfte nur noch durchgeblättert und interessante Fragestellungen gesucht
Kurzfassung: alter Prediger verteidigt das Christentum um jeden Preis und benutzt Literatur, die bereits 1997 widerlegt wurde
Am besten fand ich die Stelle als er mir erzählen wollte, dass die Dinos vllt durch die Sintflut gestorben sind
Kurzfassung: alter Prediger verteidigt das Christentum um jeden Preis und benutzt Literatur, die bereits 1997 widerlegt wurde
Am besten fand ich die Stelle als er mir erzählen wollte, dass die Dinos vllt durch die Sintflut gestorben sind
July 22, 2017
A great book with analytical and biblical answers to many questions that skeptics may have about Christian faith.
June 11, 2018
I read this one back in high school. I think I liked it a lot at the time, but I don't remember much from it, so it must not have made a big impression.
September 22, 2018
Read this as a young person. Helped answer my questions.
February 10, 2019
enlightening
October 12, 2019
Muchas de las preguntas se me hacían como si un niño de 8 años las preguntara, en general una buena forma para entender el cristianismo.
February 10, 2023
Knygą skaičiau lietuvių kalba, tiesiog nebuvo kitokio pasirinkimo įsikeliant. Skaičiau vien tam, kad žinočiau, ką dovanosiu kitam apie (ką bus rašoma konkrečiai joje)
February 5, 2024
Has some good points but not always provided answers to the questions.
April 2, 2024
Great apologetic book for quick answers
February 12, 2014
This book answers some legitimate questions about the Christian faith. Despite their brevity, the answers McDowell gives are sufficiently thorough for the most part.
Although Answers uses a scientific/literary approach to answer questions, it does swerve off its intended course to make a political promotion of Zionism. I noticed three times that this happens:
1. McDowell answers three questions about Islam, covering seven disparaging pages, concluding that is Islam is not compatible with Christianity. While this statement is true, no such claim is made about Judaism. Instead Judaism is treated with kid gloves.
2. McDowell demonstrates this in a blaring self-contradiction. On page 18 he states, “From beginning to end, there’s one unfolding story of God’s plan of salvation for mankind. This salvation is through the person of Jesus Christ (John 14:6). Jesus Himself testified that He was the theme of the entire Bible.” However, page 112 says, “the Jews believe in the Old Testament and the Christians put their faith in both the Old and New Testaments”. According to page 18, if Jews really do believe the Old Testament, then they will really believe that Jesus is the Christ (the Messiah).
3. McDowell gives an artificial answer to the artificial question: “Why is the existence of the Jewish people objective evidence that the Bible is true?” (pages 39-43). An objective analysis demonstrates that the nature and function of the modern state of Israel has no prophetic part of Biblical prophecy; that its measurement against the rule of Biblical prophecy comes up short; and that there is no observable evidence of prophetic fulfillment in the modern state of Israel. The people of God is rooted in faith, not in appellation, statehood, or genetic code.
While such a distraction may have created more sales among the mass 20th century book market of dispensationalists, such a regression takes away from the validity of this book.
Although Answers uses a scientific/literary approach to answer questions, it does swerve off its intended course to make a political promotion of Zionism. I noticed three times that this happens:
1. McDowell answers three questions about Islam, covering seven disparaging pages, concluding that is Islam is not compatible with Christianity. While this statement is true, no such claim is made about Judaism. Instead Judaism is treated with kid gloves.
2. McDowell demonstrates this in a blaring self-contradiction. On page 18 he states, “From beginning to end, there’s one unfolding story of God’s plan of salvation for mankind. This salvation is through the person of Jesus Christ (John 14:6). Jesus Himself testified that He was the theme of the entire Bible.” However, page 112 says, “the Jews believe in the Old Testament and the Christians put their faith in both the Old and New Testaments”. According to page 18, if Jews really do believe the Old Testament, then they will really believe that Jesus is the Christ (the Messiah).
3. McDowell gives an artificial answer to the artificial question: “Why is the existence of the Jewish people objective evidence that the Bible is true?” (pages 39-43). An objective analysis demonstrates that the nature and function of the modern state of Israel has no prophetic part of Biblical prophecy; that its measurement against the rule of Biblical prophecy comes up short; and that there is no observable evidence of prophetic fulfillment in the modern state of Israel. The people of God is rooted in faith, not in appellation, statehood, or genetic code.
While such a distraction may have created more sales among the mass 20th century book market of dispensationalists, such a regression takes away from the validity of this book.
April 9, 2016
Answers to Tough Questions about the Christian Faith is a short, simple, apologetic aid providing insight to some of the most common questions sceptics pose about Christianity in a question and answer format. Generally the book was well written, well researched, and well reasoned; however, I did have a few issues with the text itself. Firstly, while I thought the Scripture passages used were relevant to the topics, I do not see much of a benefit quoting almost solely from the King James Bible. While I do know that certain conservative denominations only use the KJV, most Biblical scholars readily admit that other translations are better (because at the time the KJV was written we did not have as many original language resources at our disposal). On a more practical level, I cannot see myself telling a modern day secular person to read the KJV because this likely would trip them up and seem foreign to them. I think it would have been much better to use a well-researched modern day translation such as the NSAB, NIV, or ESV. Secondly, there were a few historical and theological inaccuracies in what was shared. Nothing too major... but anyone who studied theology could probably pick up on them. Finally, I thought the last chapter dragged on too much. For the most part the book provided a good balance between practical and deeply theological concepts and I would not hesitate to give it to a non-Christian friend or to use it for my own defence of the Gospel. The book accurately portrayed the deepest and most frequent questions Christians are asked, however the mode and method were a little dated.
September 11, 2008
I really, really wish Josh McDowell would have written this book to try to convince everyone why Christianity is right instead of just those who already believe it. His arguments are simply ridiculous, and many of them include the assumption that you believe certain things, like that the Bible is the Word of God or that people would all by psycho killers is God hadn't given us morals. There is maybe 10% of the book that was slightly interesting to me as an atheist.
If you're an atheist and are looking for an intelligent Christian to argue his side, don't look here. I recommend the book God?: A Debate between a Christian and an Atheist (Point/Counterpoint Series (Oxford, England).), instead. William Lane Craig is an intelligent man who offers logical, scientific reasoning for many of his arguments. While I still disagree with him, at least he makes me think, and at least he's not preaching to the choir.
If you're an atheist and are looking for an intelligent Christian to argue his side, don't look here. I recommend the book God?: A Debate between a Christian and an Atheist (Point/Counterpoint Series (Oxford, England).), instead. William Lane Craig is an intelligent man who offers logical, scientific reasoning for many of his arguments. While I still disagree with him, at least he makes me think, and at least he's not preaching to the choir.
February 20, 2009
A bit dated, but not bad. The first main eight sections were really interesting to read; but the last two were pretty long and drawn out, and not very readable.
This book provides some good evidential answers to Christianity, which can certainly be beneficial in edifying a believer's faith. They can also be helpful for an unbeliever-yet-to-be-regenerated who is seeking evidence in support of Christianity (although that's a rare find).
This is not an apologetic book from a presuppositional viewpoint. But like so many others, I really do appreciate Josh McDowell's research and synthesis of the evidences.
While this book was interesting and had some neat insights, if you're a believer seeking how to defend the faith from a Biblical standpoint, I'd recommend 'Always Ready' by Greg Bahnsen and 'Every Thought Captive' by Richard Pratt to be much more helpful and effective.
This book provides some good evidential answers to Christianity, which can certainly be beneficial in edifying a believer's faith. They can also be helpful for an unbeliever-yet-to-be-regenerated who is seeking evidence in support of Christianity (although that's a rare find).
This is not an apologetic book from a presuppositional viewpoint. But like so many others, I really do appreciate Josh McDowell's research and synthesis of the evidences.
While this book was interesting and had some neat insights, if you're a believer seeking how to defend the faith from a Biblical standpoint, I'd recommend 'Always Ready' by Greg Bahnsen and 'Every Thought Captive' by Richard Pratt to be much more helpful and effective.
October 28, 2019
Most books are rated related to their usefulness and contributions to my research.
Overall, a good book for the researcher and enthusiast.
Read for personal research
- found this book's contents helpful and inspiring - number rating relates to the book's contribution to my needs.
Overall, a good book for the researcher and enthusiast.
Read for personal research
- found this book's contents helpful and inspiring - number rating relates to the book's contribution to my needs.
Currently reading
August 10, 2007I just got it today and its intresting
August 20, 2009
Wow! I got this book from Aileen's dad. It goes through so many questions on faith. Many of which I have already asked not only myself, but others as well.
Read
August 5, 2011awesome book! You learn a lot and learn how to answer others' questions about God. It gets scientific, but it is easy enough to understand.
May 23, 2012
I really liked this book. The only area of real disagreement would be the whole section on the Shroud of Turin. I don't know that I agree with his conclusions.
October 4, 2012
Some good brief answers. Ultimately needed to be a longer book so they could give more detailed answers.
November 21, 2012
Pretty good. Some answers were better than others.
October 20, 2016
A handy handbook and a reference book that every Christian must have. Josh Mcdowell has done it again!
June 15, 2018
Ich finde das Buch sehr interessant, bis auf den Teil mit dem Grabtuch von Turin. Ansonsten beantwortet es sehr viele Fragen.
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews