Kenneth D. Boa and Robert M. Bowman Jr.
1st edition, Colorado Springs: NavPress, 2001.
2nd edition, Paternoster/Authentic Media, 2005; InterVarsity Press—Biblica, 2006.
Winner, Gold Medallion Award (first edition).
Endorsements and Reviews
“A brilliantly done apologetics reference.”
Charles W. Colson, Prison Fellowship
“I know of no better analysis of Christian apologetic systems than Faith Has Its Reasons. It is comprehensive and rigorous, yet eminently readable.”
Francis J. Beckwith, author of David Hume’s Arguments against Miracles
“Applying the principle of ‘unity in diversity’ to apologetic systems, this book integrates the best insights of each approach. In challenging readers to maximize the stunning reasons for faith in concert with the magnetic power of transformed hearts, Faith Has Its Reasons charts the right course for the future of apologetics.”
David K. Clark, author of Dialogical Apologetics
“Exceedingly useful.”
John Warwick Montgomery, author of Faith Founded on Fact
“An excellent, thorough survey of apologetic approaches.”
John M. Frame, author of Apologetics to the Glory of God
“This volume is an excellent overview of the field of apologetics. It gives not only a superb historical survey but also a look at the different types and approaches to the subject…. This reviewer is so inspired with this volume he plans to go back through and study the text in more detail. In some ways it may be said that the book has in it almost everything you want to know about this important field of study.”
Mal Couch, Tyndale Seminary
“A massive work of scholarship…provides a wealth of information for those wishing to deepen their understanding of a difficult area of study—Christian apologetics.”
Westminster Bookstore Online Reviews
“Extensively researched, and offering countless other resources for further study with regard to each theological challenge, Faith Has Its Reasons is a ‘must-read’ for anyone seeking a powerfully argued case for faith in God and Christianity.”
James A. Cox, Midwest Book Review
“In this well-researched resource, Boa and Bowman offer an overview of how the greatest
thinkers in the Christian faith have engaged in apologetics, the defense of the faith. . . . Faith Has Its Reasons is an excellent academic and historical resource for anyone interested in learning more about how to defend the gospel.”—Adam R. Holz, Discipleship Journal
“An excellent new book which helps clarify the various approaches to apologetics. Above all, the authors bring together the relative strengths of various views into a highly integrated overall approach. A must read—and one of the best contributions to the field of Christian apologetics we have seen in quite a while.”
The Discerning Reader
“Because this book is exhaustive in its research and detailing of information, it seems
overwhelming at first. But it isn’t. For a fact, it is well-organized, written in layperson’s
language, and thoroughly documented…. If used as a reference book and taken in smaller bites, this text is helpful, contemporary, and factually solid.”
Church Libraries, Spring 2002
Faith Has Its Reasons is a multi-faceted book, dealing comprehensively with every form of apologetic approach in a way that is not only readable but also in-depth. . . . In a book of about 600 pages, Boa and Bowman seem to have left few stones unturned, and they accomplish this depth and breadth of treatment accurately and fairly, finding the good aspects of each approach without naively endorsing any single approach. Moreover, the philosophical sophistication of the treatment of the views of many apologists is truly impressive. . . .
The author should not be embarrassed to have a professional philosopher read his work, even though it is also intended for the general intelligent audience. This text satisfies the accuracy requirement quite well, without being overly convoluted, as philosophical works sometimes (necessarily) can become. But make no mistake, the subtle analysis of each system and its proponents is quite impressive.
It was also a real thrill finally to see all the different apologetic approaches treated in such
detailed fashion in one book. I have rarely seen this in any apologetic work. Moreover, the
examination was not naive but properly critical regarding each system. . . . Each approach is carefully and lucidly distinguished by the book.
This book cannot be too highly recommended for classroom use. It is, as I said, extremely lucid, and well organized. Nor would it be at all beneath a professional philosopher or theologian to read it. In fact, many professionals, especially those whose specialty is not in philosophy of religion, could benefit by the succinct, lucid, sophisticated and accurate account of the various apologetic approaches. I have used the book for a survey in apologetics and have found it to be the best overall survey treatment of apologetics available. I would venture to say that the book will be a standard for apologetic surveys for some time to come.
—Marc A. Clauson, in Book Reviews, Asbury Theological Journal 57.2/58.1 (Fall 2002/Spring 2003): 224–27.