Welcome to the Whoeveristhirsty book store!

You can order books from Amazon.com by clicking the "Buy from Amazon" button under each book. 

CHECK OUT THESE DVDS

The Privileged Plant and Unlocking the Mystery of Life

For those willing to seriously consider the case for intelligent design, these videos are a great place to start.  I can personally testify to their power.  Some time ago I had the privilege of seeing a young man move from atheism, to agnostics to faith.  He had been was a graduate of the Naval Academy and had a degree in physics.  He had been exposed to creationism.  Among other things, he had seen some videos and was unimpressed by their science.  So he and was very closed to the idea of a creator, or to watching yet another poorly argument creationist video.  But when he say The Privileged Planet he realized that the ID movement was something he was not prepared for, and the case made in The Privileged Planet compelling.  As short time later he believed.- Mark

These video can also be purchased separately   

BOOK OF THE MONTH

Philosophers who Believe

Edited by Kelly James Clark

The book contains the personal testimonies of some of the brightest minds of the 20th and 21st centuries, philosophers who have become believers.  The testimony of Mortimer Adler alone is worth the price of the book. -- Mark

By Mario Beauregard and Denyse O'Leary

While I do not agree with much written in the book, particularly the interpretations of the evidence presented by the authors, it a very thought provoking and useful book.  The authors build a powerful scientific and philosophical case against materialism and for the emerging truth that there is more to us than just the material.  In fact, contrary to what some materialists are saying, we really exist.  -- Mark

By Darrell L. Bock, Ph.D.

"Should the claims of the new school rewrite Christian history?  Will orthodox Christian beliefs endure the test of time?  Should the discovery of early gospels change your view of Jesus?

Darrell L. Bock takes you on a tour of the new claims as well as the controversial writing, examining their origins and comparing them with traditional sources...The Missing Gospels will help you understand the messages of all of these writings so you can form your own opinion.  This provocative tour could even change what you believe.

This is one of several books I recommend for those who have been hearing about lost gospels and theories concerning early  Christian origins, the Jesus commission, the text of the New Testament, etc. -- Mark 

By J. Budziszewski

"We are passing through an eerie phases of history in which the things that everyone really knows are treated as unheard of, a time in which the elements of common decency are themselves attached as indecent.  But J. Budziszewski...sets out to explore the lost world of common moral truths -- what we really know about right and wrong.  Bolstering the confidence of plain people in their common moral sense."

This is one of three books on natural law by one of my favorite apologists, J. Budziszewski.  Dr. Buziszewski is a Professor in the Department of government and philosophy at the University of Texas at Austin.  Budziszewski, a former atheist, wisely converted to Christianity after he received tenure, thus he still has a job in academia.  His powerful presentation of the moral argument, his use of natural law theory, and his ability to communicate, make him, in my opinion, the most interesting apologist since the death of Francis Schaeffer.  I believe this book is a must read.-- Mark

By J. Budziszewski

"Written on the Heart expounds the work of the leading architectsof theory on natural law, including Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas and John Locke.  It also takes up contemporary philosophy, theology and political science, colorfully funning against the intimidating tide of advanced pluralism that finds natural law so difficult to tolerate.  Throughout the volume, the author sure-footedly achieves his self-confessed aim of displaying the subtlety, richness and intellectual surprise." of the natural-law tradition."

This is a primer on Natural Law.  It is written in a format that would make it an excellent choice for a small group or Bible study. -- Mark

By J. Budziszewski

"Describing the political effects of Original Sin, Professor Budziszewski show how man's suppression of his knowledge of right and wrong corrupts his conscience and accelerates social collapse.  The depraved conscience grasps at the illusion of 'moral neutrality.,' the absurd notion that men can live together without a shared understanding of how things are.  After evaluating the political devices, including the American Constitution, by which men have tried in the past to work around the effects of Original Sin, Dr. Budziszewski elucidates the pitfalls of contemporary communitarianism, liberalism, and conservatism."

Reading this book my my first exposure to the thought of Dr. Budziszewski, and I would recommend that you do the same.  This man's insight, logic and ability to present his case are truly remarkable.

By Dinesh D'Souza

"Is Christianity obsolete?  Can an intelligent, educated person really believe the Bible?  Or do atheists have it right?  Has Christianity been disproven by science, debunked as a force for good, and discredited as a guide to morality?  Bestselling author, Dinesh D'Souza looks at Christianity with a questioning eye, but treats atheists with equal skepticism.   The result is a book that will challenge the assumptions of both believers and doubters and affirm that their really is, indeed, something great about Christianity."

Though I do not agree with everything D'Souza says (his views on evolution, for example), this book is one of my new favorites.  D'Souza has done an outstanding job of demonstrating the fallacy of New Atheism.  His chapter on the beginning is worth the price of the book. -- Mark

By Antony Flew

"A wave of modern atheists have taken center stage and brought the long standing debate about the existence of God back into the headlines...Although this movement is billed as 'new,' the foundation of its argument is indebted to philosopher Antony Flew and his groundbreaking paper, "Theology and Falsification"....Flew built his highly acclaimed academic career publicly debunking the existence of God.  But now the renowned philosopher has arrived at the opposite conclusion and officially joined the other side.  In There is a God, Flew discloses his newfound belief in a God who created the universe.  Flew earned his fame by arguing that one should presuppose atheism until evidence of God surfaces.  How he believes there is such evidence."

While not yet a Christian, Flew is moving our direction (as witnessed by his inclusion of a defense of the resurrection by N.T.Wright in an appendix.  It is refreshing to read the writing of an honest man who is really willing to go where the evidence leads. -- Mark

By Douglas Groothuis

"The concept of truth as absolute, objective and universal has undergone serous deterioration in recent years.  No longer is it a goal for all to pursue.  Rather postmodernism sees truth as inseparable from culture, psychology, race and gender.  Ultimately, truth is what we make it to be.  What factors have accelerated this decay of truth?  Why are people willing to embrace such a devalued concept?...While postmodernism contains some truthful insights, Douglas Groothuis sees its basic tenets as intellectually flawed and hostile to Christian views.  In this spirited presentation of a solid, biblical and logical perspective, the author unveils how truth has come under attack and how it can be defended in the vital areas of theology, apologetics, ethics and the arts."

The second best book on postmodernism from a Christian perspective I have found.  The first best The Death of Truth: Responding to Multiculturalism, the Rejection of Reason, and the New Postmodern Diversity, but it is sold privately so you will have to go to this website to order it: http://www.xenos.org/

By Philip Jenkins

Was Jesus really a subversive mystic whose true teachings were suppressed by an authoritarian church?  Has the real nature of Christianity been deliberately obscured for centuries?  Do recently discovered texts such as the gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of Mary, and even the Dead Sea Scrolls undermine the historical validity of the New Testament?  In this incisive critique, Philip Jenkins (Penn State) thoroughly and convincingly debunks such claims.  Jenkins places the recent controversies surrounding the hidden gospels in a broad historical context...And by employing the appropriate scholarly and historical methodologies, he demonstrates that the text purports to represent pristine Christianity were in fact composed long after the canonical gospels found in the Bible.  Produced by obscure heretical movements, these texts offer no reliable new information about Jesus or the early church."

For those who really want to learn of the position taken by most scholars on the questions raised by the likes of B. Ehrman.  I don't know what Jenkins' personal beliefs are, that's good, it demonstrates his objectivity.  -- Mark

By Timothy Paul Jones

"Timothy Jones sets the record straight in the courteous but direct critique of charges about misquoting Jesus and alternate or lost Christianities.  Abreast of all the latest and best scholarship, he nevertheless writes in a straightforward, easy-to-read style that any thoughtful layperson can handle.  An absolute must-read fro anyone confused or taken in by the revisionist biblical historians of our day."

Bart Ehrman's stated mission to destroy the faith of this childhood and youth doesn't seem to cause many to question the seriousness of his scholarship, or the reasons he reaches the conclusions he reaches.  He Bias would be easy to impeach in a court of law, as would his unsubstantiated theories.  His high time that qualified scholars take on the teaching of this man and others like him, who project their own prejudices and preferences into the past to try to create an alternate reality that never actually existed. - Mark. 

By Paul Johnson

In can't quote from the book cover on this one, since my copy walked away (i.e. I forget who I loaned it to).  But I love this book in which one of my favorite historians argues that the leading intellectuals of modern times may have had an agenda other than truth in reaching their anti-Christian, anti-God conclusions.  He convinced me.  I think of them as similar to little children who are doing something the know their parents wouldn't like; so they cover their eyes, thinking,"If I pretend they're not they're they can't see me."   So secularists do the same, refusing to believe, not because of an absence of evidence, but an absence of morality.  Libido trumps truth. -- Mark

By Paul Johnson

"Sorry, I only own a paperback edition, so I can't quote from the book jacket, but this is one of those books I wish I could force everyone to read.  My experience has been, and I mean this kindly, that many atheists are very well versed in science, but they don't understand how we arrived at the present moment in history.  This book will help correct that. -- Mark

By Phillip E. Johnson

Phillip E. Johnson graduated from Harvard University and the University of Chicago Law School.  He was a law clerk form Chief Justice Earl Warren and has taught for more than 30 years at the University of California, Berkeley.  One day this recognized expert in evidence picked up a book on evolution, just so that he could learn more about it.  He was against at the lack of real evidence for such an influential theory.  This led him on a journey that including helping to launch the intelligent design movement.  In this book Johnson demonstrates that its a good thing scientists are not required to subject their most sacred theory to the rules of evidence.  It's good reading for the open minded evolutionist who is willing to consider the possibility the he or she just might be wrong. I wish someone would send a copy to Dinesh D'Souza. -- Mark

By Phillip E. Johnson

More far reaching that Darwin on Trial, the brilliant jurist constructs a powerful case against secularism, naturalism and a few other isms too.  This is a powerful argument made by one of the most powerful legal minds in America. -- Mark

By C.S. Lewis

Still one of the best argued cases for the reasonableness of Christianity that has ever been written. -- Mark

By Alister McGrath

Antony Flew has pointed out that when a person makes a philosophical argument one must make a philosopher's case. New Atheist, Richard Dawkins and others have strayed out of their field, beyond the evidence, beyond their area of expertise, and attempted to make a case against God.   McGrath fills in the details of a point Flew makes; they may be good scientists but they're lousy philosophers.  As with Bart Ehrman, it's is good to see top flight thinkers stand up to the clatter of New Atheism and say; ENOUGH OF THE SILLINESS. -- Mark

S.I. McMillen -- Revised and Expanded by David E. Stern, M.D.

This is an older apologetic, parts of it are Quaint and dated, and a couple of the arguments are forced; but the basic argument, that the Torah contains medical and hygienic  information that presupposes a knowledge of hygiene and disease that was unknown until modern times, is still a powerful apologetic in the right hands.  As with D'Souza's argument about "the beginning," one is left with the question; if God didn't reveal it to them how could they have possibly known these things. -- Mark

By Nancy Pearcy

"In today's cultural etiquette, it is not considered polite to mix public and private or sacred and secular...In Total Truth, Nancy Pearcy offers a razor-sharp analysis of teh public/private split, explaining how it...ultimately reflects a division in the concept of truth itself.  Finally, she makes a passionate case that Christianity is not just religious truth but truth about total reality.  It is total truth.

This is a good book for those who have not yet read Schaeffer.  For those who have there will be be a redundancy to it. -- Mark

By Francis A. Schaeffer

This volume contains Francis Schaeffer's first three books: The God Who is There, Escape from Reason, and He's There, and He's not Silent.  It was through reading and understanding these books that I first began to understand the world I lived in.  I have on several occasions, that if I can see and understand the world at all, it is because I'm standing on the shoulders of Francis Schaeffer. These books, written over three decades ago, I believe they are more relevant today than when they were first written. -- Mark

Genesis in Space and Time

By Francis Schaeffer

This Schaeffer classic would be a good book to read in conjunction with our current series on the God of the Old Testament, because I am planning on spending quite a bit of time discussing Genesis over the next few months. -- Mark

By Francis A. Schaeffer

"After 40 years of intense study and world-wide ministry, Dr. Francis Schaeffer completed his crowning work of scholarship.  [His] brilliant analysis of the past and predictions for current trends have proven so uncannily accurate that this amazing book seems contemporary almost three decades after its publication."

Indeed it does.  Schaeffer was nothing less that a modern prophet. -- Mark

By Dr. Paul C. Vitz.

"Despite its pretension of cool-headed rationality, modern atheism originated in the irrational, often neurotic, psychological needs of a few powerfully influential thinkers.  The psychologist Paul Vitz subjects the apostles o atheism to the same psychological analysis with which they attempted to debunk religious belief.  The psychological source of the militant atheism, he shows, was the absence of a good father."

Atheists won't like this, but I have often found Vitz's argument to be correct. -- Mark