Reddit reviews More Than a Carpenter

New Evidence that Demands a Verdict

More Than a Carpenter

Cold Case Christianity: A Homicide Detective Investigates the Claims of the Gospels On my to read list.

Faith on Trial: An Attorney Analyzes the Evidence for the Death and Resurrection of Jesus

The Case for Christ

The Case for Faith

The Case for a Creator

The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus On my to read list.

The Historical Jesus: Ancient Evidence for the Life of Christ On my to read list.

Besides the apologetics books, you can watch John Lennox on YouTube. He is a very well-spoken and kind (doesn't attack the other debater) debater. Very well thought out responses. The Dawkins vs Lennox debate was awesome! Ditto Gary Habermas as well.

I admire the way you're going about this! It's really wonderful to see people critically exploring belief systems. As a Christian, I have admittedly not done as much research on other faiths as I can, but I have enjoyed learning what I have. It's really incredible to see the similarities and nuances among them!

So to the point, I believe that the Christian Gospel is so simplistic and selfless that no human or demon could have imagined it.

That a perfect being was born as a human, exposed to diseases and hard labor, and endured the full human experience is absolutely mind-blowing to me. He didn't just walk among us and laugh and be divine; he wept and felt pain with us. The death he suffered was completely selfless and was entirely for us. It's beautiful and simple.

I'm sure other Christians can explain this far better than I. I'm still learning my own faith, so I'd love to hear what others have to say, too.

As far as reading material, More Than a Carpenter is great. It's only about 100 pages, but it packs a punch and is one of the go-to Christian 101 type books.

Hello,

This book is a robust examination of the Christian faith, looking not only at doctrine but the evidence for the truth claims of scripture.

https://www.amazon.com/Cold-Case-Christianity-Homicide-Detective-Investigates/dp/1434704696

I greatly respect your attitude towards your husbands faith. The fact that you're here asking this speaks volumes.

edit: bonus recommdations

https://www.amazon.com/More-Than-Carpenter-Josh-McDowell/dp/1414326270/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

https://www.amazon.com/New-Evidence-That-Demands-Verdict/dp/0785242198/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

I would suggest two things:

1. Read. Read your bible. If Christ is true this is the way you will gain faith, just like it says in the NT faith comes from hearing the word. Also try reading some apologetics, an easy and quick one is "more than a carpenter" you can find it on amazon here.
   
   
2. Get out and actually do what Jesus would want you to. Go give money to homeless people, talk to them about life, show them you care. Go out of your way to do things that inconvenience you to help others. Actually doing what god wants is the only way to mature beyond simple faith.
   
   You can PM me if you want more book suggestions, some good ones are free on amazon if you have prime.

More Than A Carpenter

I'm currently reading More Than a Carpenter because it was recommended to me by a door-to-door proselytizer. As people who are most often on the defensive, I think being better informed on where the other side is coming from would provide the most benefit.

>I don't really know if there's a god

A really excellent little book I can recommend is More Than a Carpenter, by Josh & Sean McDowell. On that Amazon link, the first review is by someone who was raised as a Catholic, which you might relate with. I hope you find this helpful in reconnecting with God; having Him as your anchor helps when your life is a stormy sea.

This guy (josh mcdowell) was an avid skeptic and thought christians were crazy. He spent years of his life trying to disprove Jesus and finally gave up and wrote a book on why Jesus is who he says he is. 128 pages laying out the facts.

"more than a carpenter"

http://www.amazon.com/More-Than-Carpenter-Josh-McDowell/dp/1414326270/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1397184490&sr=8-1&keywords=more+than+a+carpenter

Josh McDowell's book "More Than a Carpenter" documents all the archeological evidence he found when he researched in Europe. Chapter 10 is dedicated to proving that the Resurrection happened, although I recommend reading all the other chapters before it, otherwise some things in Chapter 10 won't make sense.

You can get a used copy of that book for as little as five bucks on amazon.com: https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/1414326270/ref=tmm_pap_used_olp_0?ie=UTF8&condition=used&qid=&sr=

To wet your appetite, here's the prologue of that book in PDF format: https://files.tyndale.com/thpdata/firstChapters/978-1-4143-2627-6.pdf

Pages 15-17 state in pertinent part...

> I knew that if I could uncover indisputable evidence that the Bible is an unreliable record, the whole of Christianity would crumble... I spent months in research. I even dropped out of school for a time to study in the historically rich libraries of Europe. And I found evidence. Evidence in abundance. Evidence I would not have believed had I not seen it with my own eyes. Finally I could come to only one conclusion: If I were to remain intellectually honest, I had to admit that the Old and New Testament documents were some of the most reliable writings in all of antiquity... I want to share with you the core of what I learned in my months of research so that you, too, may see that Christianity is not a myth, not the fantasy of wishful dreamers, not a hoax played on the simpleminded. It is rock-solid truth.