Have you ever wondered just exactly what one would study in an apologetics program? Below is a list of apologetic books in my courses at Houston Baptist University’s Masters in Cultural Apologetics. Each person’s degree plan is slightly different depending on their interests, focus, and scheduling.

Cultural apologetics focuses not only on the theology and beliefs of people throughout history, but other environmental and cultural factors that shaped their thinking. It focuses on why people believe what they do, or as I call it, “marketing research for Jesus.” (Some of my fellow program members would cringe at that. 🙂 ) Examining what people think is one part of the equation, the second part is not only knowing, but being able to explain and defend what you believe. The program includes courses on philosophy, theology, and Scripture.

If there is an area in which you would like to expand your knowledge, pick one of the areas and read through the selected texts.

Update November 2024: I first published this list of apologetics books in 2017 as I was finishing the program at Houston Baptist University. This was the reading for the program when I went through it. It is very different now.

The links below are affiliate links on Amazon and Bookshop. When you click through on the link and complete your purchase, I will receive a small commission on that sale a couple of months later. (Maybe. Either Amazon or someone else has been skimming the commissions, but I should receive something.)

Film, Visual Arts and Apologetics

This was a fun class to start out the program. In addition to the required text, there was a list of required films to view ranging from The Birds by Hitchcock, to The Last Temptation of Christ by Scorsese, to The Decalogue by Kieślowski.

Books on Film & Apologetics

Beholding the Glory:
on Amazon

Shows About Nothing:
on Amazon

Reel Spirituality:
on Amazon

Visual Faith:
on Amazon

The Way Hollywood Tells It: on Amazon

The Way Hollywood Tells It: on Amazon

The Way Hollywood Tells It: on Amazon

Movies & Apologetics

Part of apologetics is knowing the conversation that are going on in our culture.  In today’s culture, morals and values are not transmitted by religious institutions, but by the shows we watch and the movies we go see.  This class covered not only the technical details of how stories are told, but examined what the underlying message of the storyteller was.  Some of these movies, such as Obvious Child, have no value in and of themselves other than highlighting how our postmodern culture views a certain topic (actually, Obvious Child is the only one on this list that has absolutely no redeeming qualities), others, such as Christopher Nolan’s films that explore the problem of evil from a nihilist perspective, are really discussing the same issues that philosophers have pondered for centuries.

The Birds:  On Amazon

Rear Window:
On Amazon

Moonrise Kingdom:
On Amazon

Palm Beach:
On Amazon

Psycho:
On Amazon

The Royal Tenenbaums:
On Amazon

Rushmore: On Amazon

The Life Aquatic:
On Amazon

The Fantastic Mr. Fox:
On Amazon

Crimes & Misdemeanors:
On Amazon

Dogma:
On Amazon

Shadow & Fog:
On Amazon

Lars & the Real Girl:
On Amazon

Obvious Child:
On Amazon

The Prestige:
On Amazon

The Dark Knight:
On Amazon

Close Encounters:
On Amazon

Fight Club:
On Amazon

Children of Men:
On Amazon

The Decalogue:
On Amazon

Inception:
On Amazon

Stardust Memories:
On Amazon

Tree of Life:
On Amazon

Medieval Philosophy and Culture

When we think of the Middle Ages, most probably think of the thousand year period between the fall of Rome and the Renaissance as the “Dark Ages.”  However, this common belief is a misconception as explained in the video below by Anthony Ensolen (translator of the Divine Comedy listed below.)  Not only was it a time of growth in terms of community, but also Christian scholarship and art.

In terms of conveyance of moral values and the Gospel message, the literature of the day was infused with it.  One of the best illustrations and explanations of the problem of evil was written by the unknown Anglo-Saxon writer of “Pearl” included in the Tolkien edited anthology of Anglo Saxon works along with “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.”

If the stories we tell define we we are as a people, compare the stories of the Anglo-Saxon period, the epic of Beowulf, and Dante’s Trilogy to those propagate in our culture today such as The Game of Thrones and the Twilight series.  If the standard of our creative efforts is St. Paul’s exhortation in Philippians 4:8, which age would earn the label of “dark?”

The Anglo Saxon World:
On Amazon

Faith, Hope & Poetry:
On Amazon

Beginnings of Western Science: On Amazon

The Discarded Image:
On Amazon

Thomas Aquinas: Selected Writings: on Amazon

Beowulf:
on Amazon

Dante’s Inferno:
on Amazon

Dante’s Purgatory:
on Amazon

Dante’s Paradise:
on Amazon

A Treatise on Divine Images: on Amazon

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight: on Amazon

Elizabethan World Picture:
On Amazon

On Apologetics with Dr. William Lane Craig

Dr. William Lane Craig is one of the foremost Christian philosophers alive today.  He is known for the Kalaam argument and work on the defense of the resurrection.  His ministry, Reasonable Faith, publishes articles, podcasts and other apologetic resources, and he speaks and participates in debates around the world.  Each semester, he teaches a one week special topic at HBU.  The first class I took with him was on apologetic arguments and covered his book On Guard.  The book covers a range of arguments, such as the cosmological argument, the problem of evil, and the exclusivity of the Christian faith.

On Guard:
on Amazon

Books on World Religions & Apologetics

In order to communicate effectively with someone about faith, it is helpful to have a basic understanding of the religion they follow. According to the latest and best estimate, there are over 4,000 religions in the world. No one can possibly know everything there is to know about every religion, but we can learn the basic tenets of the major religions of the world apart from Christianity: Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Judaism.

“If you are a Christian you do not have to believe that all the other religions are simply wrong all through. If you are an atheist you do have to believe that the main point in all the religions of the whole world is simply one huge mistake.” – C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

As C.S. Lewis pointed on in Mere Christianity, other religions are not all wrong, every religion contains some true. When talking to someone of another faith, find points of agreement and things to value and appreciate in their religion. It is also helpful to know what their scriptures actually say. Just as many Christians don’t actually know the Bible, many followers of other religions don’t know what their religion actually teaches either.

Jesus in Other Religions

It is also important to keep in mind that Jesus is taught and recognized in other religions and cults. Not as the immanent and all-powerful God who became man to save the world; however, there are other religions that view him as a prophet or sage. There are many more in other religions who admire Jesus and his teachings. It is always a good thing to recognize good … and Jesus is the ultimate Good and Truth, but being a Jesus fan won’t save you.

Note: “Against Heresies” by Irenaeus of Lyons was not part of the assigned reading for the class, but I’ve included it in the list of reading as I quoted from “Against Heresies” in every single response I wrote for the class.

Jesus Beyond Christianity:
on Amazon

Religions of the World:
on Amazon

Jesus Beyond Christianity:
on Amazon

Knowing Christ in the Challenge of Heresy:
on Amazon

The Quran:
on Amazon

Hadith of Bukhari:
on Amazon

Diamond Sutra:
on Amazon

Tao Te Ching:
on Amazon

The Bhagavad Gita:
on Amazon

The Upanishads:
on Amazon

The Smaller Sukhavati-Vyuha: on Amazon

The Infinite Life Sutra:
on Amazon

The Laws of Manu:
on Amazon

Apologetics Research and Writing

The apologetics program that I graduated from was as it was originally designed by Dr. Holly Ordway. The “Apologetics Research & Writing” was the core class that the entire program centered around. Both tracks in the program, cultural and philosophical, took this class. The reading focused on developed excellence in both the technical aspects of writing as well as the quality of arguments.

When you are entering a program designed to train you to defend faith in one who is Truth, it is important to be able to identify and qualify truth, to break down false arguments, and to cogently explain actual truth. The original reading for this class did a deep dive into the “banality of evil” as Hannah Arendt phrased through the reading of Macbeth by William Shakespeare and how easily man is corrupted when we view truth as centered in ourselves as C.S. Lewis warned in The Abolition of Man. 

Books for Apologetic Writing

How to Read a Book:
on Amazon

A Manual for Writers:
on Amazon

Line by Line:
on Amazon

Apologetics for the 21st Century:
on Amazon

C.S. Lewis vs the New Atheists:
on Amazon

Mere Christianity:
on Amazon

The Abolition of Man:
on Amazon

Macbeth:
on Amazon