Case Against Christ

by John Young

John Young provides a defence of the Christian faith for atheists, agnostics, enquirers and Christians. It answers the questions - what keeps people in the Church and is Christianity worth... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0340393718
• ISBN13: 9780340393710
• Release Date: January 1986
• Publisher: Trafalgar Square Publishing
• Weight: 0.31 lbs.

Customer Reviews

A helpful, if brief, look at some of the objections to Christianity and some possible responses

This is a thorough revision of the book first published in 1986 and it is updated with large numbers of modern references - The Da Vinci Code, Hurricane Katrina, Britney Spears. The book sets out the case for Christianity whilst exploring potential objections about the church, science, the Bible, suffering, Jesus and proof. It's easy to read with lots of helpful quotations but by necessity in a 200 page book it doesn't delve all that deeply into any of the subjects. Although argued well, I am dubious that it would convert any atheists or agnostics - I suspect it's most helpful as a tool for Christians to be able to "give reasons for the hope that is in you".

A Short Presentation of Christian Apologetics

Some people think that being a Christian means that you have to put your brain on standby modus. John Young does not agree. At the time when he published his first book, The Case Against Christ, John Young was chaplain-lecturer at Bishop Otter College in Chichester, England. He wrote the book both to present non-believers with the evidence for the Christian faith and to equip fellow believers to know how to answer common attacks against Christianity. Hence the subtitle "Some Statements for the Defence." THE QUESTIONS The following are the main arguments against Christianity that Mr. Young addresses: 1. Isn't it only odd people who become Christians? 2. Hasn't science disproved Christianity? 3. Isn't the Bible mostly fiction? 4. How can you believe in God if you look at all the suffering in the world? 5. What makes Jesus so different from other founders of religion? 6. Do you really expect me to believe something so fantastic as the resurrection? 7. Where is the proof for God's existence and the truth of Christianity? THE ANSWERS The answers provided by the author are these: 1. Christianity attracts all kinds of people, including the odd ones. But this does not prove anything about the truth or falsehood of Christianity; it merely proves that Christianity is a religion in which the down-and-outers find acceptance and forgiveness. 2. No, science has not shown Christianity to be false. The very nature of science is to look at how reality functions; it does not deal with the issue of why it functions or what makes it work. To the question "Why is the kettle boiling?" science would answer "When the temperature of water is raised to 100°C (at standard pressure), extremely rapid evaporation takes place." But this only explains the physical processes of boiling water. The answer as to the why of the boiling in this particular case might be "Because it is 4 o'clock, and old Mrs. Brown always makes a cup of tea at that time." The former scientific statement does not contradict the latter statement about Mrs. Brown; both answers are true because they address different issues. It is the same with science and Christianity. 3. No, the Bible is not mostly fiction. There is enough evidence to believe that the most important things in the Bible (such as the life of Christ) give us quite an accurate picture of what really happened. John Young uses several arguments and research data to substantiate his position. 4. The suffering in the world is not an easy problem, but the ultimate answer lies in the cross of Christ. Whatever God is up to in this difficult world, He Himself has taken his own medicine, so to speak. 5. The main difference between Jesus and other founders of religion is His claim of being God. This shocking claim gives us three options: (1) either Jesus was an outright liar, (2) a lunatic, or (3) the God that He claimed to be. Mr. Young shows the only sensible answer is number 3. 6. In light of historical evidence, the resurrection is not so fan