Was Adam a real historical person? If so, who was he and when did he live?

William Lane Craig sets out to answer these questions through a biblical and scientific investigation. He begins with an inquiry into the genre of Genesis 1-11, determining that it can most plausibly be classified as mytho-history--a narrative with both literary and historical value. He then moves into the New Testament, where he examines references to Adam in the words of Jesus and the writings of Paul, ultimately concluding that the entire Bible considers Adam the historical progenitor of the human race--a position that must therefore be accepted as a premise for Christians who take seriously the inspired truth of Scripture.

Working from that foundation of biblical truth, Craig embarks upon an interdisciplinary survey of scientific evidence to determine where Adam could be most plausibly located in the evolutionary history of humankind, ultimately determining that Adam lived between 750,000 and 1,000,000 years ago as a member of the archaic human species Homo heidelbergensis. He concludes by reflecting theologically on his findings and asking what all this might mean for us as human beings created in the image of God, literally descended from a common ancestor--albeit one who lived in the remote past.

Christian apologetics scholar William Lane Craig provides a powerful and practical guide for defending the Christian faith.

This concise guide is filled with illustrations, sidebars, and memorizable steps to help Christians stand their ground and defend their faith with reason and precision. In his engaging style, Dr. Craig offers ways to equip Christians, including how to:

• Answer the difficult questions about your faith
• Overcome times of spiritual doubt
• Understand not just what you believe, but why you believe

Paired with personal stories from Dr. Craig's own life, this one-stop training manual will guide you in developing a biblical world view and will show you how being on guard with the truth has the power to change lives forever.

Perfect as a textbook yet excellent for lay readers, this updated edition builds a positive case for Christianity by applying the latest thought to core theological themes.

J. Gresham Machen once said, False ideas are the greatest obstacles to the reception of the gospel-which makes apologetics that much more important. Wanting to engage not just academics and pastors but Christian laypeople and seekers, William Lane Craig has revised and updated key sections in this third edition of his classic text to reflect the latest work in astrophysics, philosophy, probability calculus, the arguments for the existence of God, and Reformed epistemology.

His approach-that of positive apologetics-gives careful attention to crucial questions and concerns, including: the relationship of faith and reason, the existence of God, the problems of historical knowledge and miracles, the personal claims of Christ, and the historicity of the resurrection of Jesus. He shows that there is good reason to think Christianity is true. As Craig says, If you have a sound and persuasive case for Christianity, you don't have to become an expert in comparative religions and Christian cults. A positive justification of the Christian faith automatically overwhelms all competing world views lacking an equally strong case.

Offers a transformative journey through Christian doctrine, invites readers to engage with an intellectually enriching exploration of faith and reason

Systematic Philosophical Theology is a multi-volume explication of Christian doctrine in the classic Protestant tradition of the loci communes. Blending the disciplines of biblical theology, historical theology, and analytic theology, this landmark series provides readers with a biblically faithful, philosophically coherent articulation of the full range of Christian doctrine.

In the first volume of the series, Prolegomena, On Scripture, On Faith, distinguished theologian and philosopher William Lane Craig begins by introducing his conception of systematic philosophical theology, describing how it relates to biblical theology, dogmatics, fundamental theology, apologetics, and especially philosophy of religion. The chapters that follow defend the divine authority of Scripture, address the nature of faith, and discuss the rational justification for Christian faith. Throughout the text, Craig tackles deep philosophical issues that arise naturally from Christian doctrine, such as questions regarding the compatibility of biblical inspiration and human freedom.

Taking a synoptic, integrative approach that lays the foundation for engaging with subsequent volumes in the series, Prolegomena, On Scripture, On Faith:

• Offers a deep integration of philosophy and theology
• Characterizes the main features of systematic theology, including its nature, goals, subject matter, and relations to adjacent disciplines
• Combines sacred and secular knowledge to build a synoptic worldview bridging the gap between theology and scientific disciplines
• Presents creative formulations of Christian doctrines, such as a Molinist doctrine of biblical inspiration

Systematic Philosophical Theology, Volume I: Prolegomena, On Scripture, On Faith is essential reading for philosophers of religion, systematic theologians, analytic theologians, and Christian philosophers. It is also a valuable resource for students and scholars of religion, philosophy of religion, and theology, as well as laypeople and academics in other fields.

Why doesn't God answer my prayers? If God is so powerful, why does evil exist? And if He is so good, why do we suffer?

Nonbelievers, and even Christians, are often troubled by questions about suffering, doubt, failure, and unanswered prayer. Yet careful, compassionate answers are hard to find, in part because evangelicals have not taken the life of the mind seriously enough. The intellectual currents of our day are just too strong for simplistic responses.

In Hard Questions, Real Answers, William Lane Craig doesn't offer trite phrases or pat answers-he offers honest insights gained from a life of study and ministry. Readers in the midst of doubt and confusion will find real answers to these perplexing questions and learn to stand on the only sure foundation for hope-God Himself. This expanded new edition includes chapters on abortion and homosexuality to help readers know how to think about these volatile social issues.

Five arguments to defend your faith.

In an increasingly secular world, Christians face more pressure to justify their beliefs. Confronted by confident atheists, can you be sure your faith in God is reasonable?

In How Do We Know God Exists?, William Lane Craig offers five air-tight arguments for God's existence. Not only are these arguments rational, but they have not been disproven--let alone adequately challenged. You can have confidence that your faith is grounded.

The Questions for Restless Minds series applies God's word to today's issues. Each short book faces tough questions honestly and clearly, so you can think wisely, act with conviction, and become more like Christ.

Through his death on the cross, Christ atoned for sin and so reconciled people to God. New Testament authors drew upon a range of metaphors and motifs to describe this salvific act, and down through history Christian thinkers have tried to articulate various theories to explain the atonement. While Christ's sacrifice serves as a central tenet of the Christian faith, the mechanism of atonement--exactly how Christ effects our salvation--remains controversial and ambiguous to many Christians.

In Atonement and the Death of Christ, William Lane Craig conducts an interdisciplinary investigation of this crucial Christian doctrine, drawing upon Old and New Testament studies, historical theology, and analytic philosophy. The study unfolds in three discrete parts: Craig first explores the biblical basis of atonement and unfolds the wide variety of motifs used to characterize this doctrine. Craig then highlights some of the principal alternative theories of the atonement offered by great Christian thinkers of the premodern era. Lastly, Craig's exploration delves into a constructive and innovative engagement with philosophy of law, which allows an understanding of atonement that moves beyond mystery and into the coherent mechanism of penal substitution.

Along the way, Craig enters into conversation with contemporary systematic theories of atonement as he seeks to establish a position that is scripturally faithful and philosophically sound. The result is a multifaceted perspective that upholds the suffering of Christ as a substitutionary, representational, and redemptive act that satisfies divine justice. In addition, this carefully reasoned approach addresses the rich tapestry of Old Testament imagery upon which the first Christians drew to explain how the sinless Christ saved his people from the guilt of their sins.

Was Adam a real historical person? If so, who was he and when did he live?

William Lane Craig sets out to answer these questions through a biblical and scientific investigation. He begins with an inquiry into the genre of Genesis 1-11, determining that it can most plausibly be classified as mytho-history--a narrative with both literary and historical value. He then moves into the New Testament, where he examines references to Adam in the words of Jesus and the writings of Paul, ultimately concluding that the entire Bible considers Adam the historical progenitor of the human race--a position that must therefore be accepted as a premise for Christians who take seriously the inspired truth of Scripture.

Working from that foundation of biblical truth, Craig embarks upon an interdisciplinary survey of scientific evidence to determine where Adam could be most plausibly located in the evolutionary history of humankind, ultimately determining that Adam lived between 750,000 and 1,000,000 years ago as a member of the archaic human species Homo heidelbergensis. He concludes by reflecting theologically on his findings and asking what all this might mean for us as human beings created in the image of God, literally descended from a common ancestor--albeit one who lived in the remote past.

A simple, illustrated textbook for children which teaches them the basic rules of logic.

Offers a transformative journey through Christian doctrine, invites readers to engage with an intellectually enriching exploration of faith and reason

Systematic Philosophical Theology is a multi-volume explication of Christian doctrine in the classic Protestant tradition of the loci communes. Blending the disciplines of biblical theology, historical theology, and analytic theology, this landmark series provides readers with a biblically faithful, philosophically coherent articulation of the full range of Christian doctrine.

In the second volume of this series, On God: Attributes of God, renowned theologian and philosopher William Lane Craig describes God's nature as an infinite and personal being of maximal greatness. He carefully defines and explicates divine attributes such as incorporeality, aseity, eternality, omnipresence, omniscience, and holiness. Throughout the text, Craig integrates Scriptural and secular knowledge to engage with deep philosophical questions raised by various doctrines, such as divine necessity, simplicity, omnipotence, and goodness.

The second volume of the Systematic Philosophical Theology series, On God: Attributes of God:

• Presents a rational formulation of Christian doctrine that tackles the profound philosophical questions that arise for Christian doctrine
• Explains strong theories of divine necessity, aseity, omniscience, and omnipotence
• Defends a semi-classical concept of God against coherence objections
• Offers fresh perspectives on traditional concepts, such as God's relationship to abstract objects and God's relationship to time and space

Systematic Philosophical Theology, Volume IIa: On God: Attributes of God is a must-read for philosophers of religion, systematic theologians, analytic theologians, and Christian philosophers. It is also a valuable resource for students and scholars of religion, philosophy of religion, and theology, as well as laypeople and academics in other fields.

With the help of in-depth essays from some of the world's leading philosophers, The Blackwell Companion to Natural Theology explores the nature and existence of God through human reason and evidence from the natural world.

• Provides in-depth and cutting-edge treatment of natural theology's main arguments
• Includes contributions from first-rate philosophers well known for their work on the relevant topics
• Updates relevant arguments in light of the most current, state-of-the-art philosophical and scientific discussions
• Stands in useful contrast and opposition to the arguments of the 'new atheists'

In this magisterial collection, the contemporary complaints against belief in God are addressed with intellectual passion and rigor by some of the most astute theological and philosophical minds of the day. Including an interview by Gary Habermas with noted convert to theism Antony Flew, and a direct critical response to Richard Dawkins's God Delusion by Alvin Plantinga, God Is Great, God Is Good offers convincing and compelling reassurance that though the world has changed, God has not.

The ancient problem of fatalism, more particularly theological fatalism, has resurfaced with surprising vigour in the second half of the twentieth century. Two questions predominate in the debate: (1) Is divine foreknowledge compatible with human freedom and (2) How can God foreknow future free acts?
Having surveyed the historical background of this debate in The Problem of Divine Foreknowledge and Future Contingents from Aristotle to Suarez (Brill: 1988), William Lane Craig now attempts to address these issues critically. His wide-ranging discussion brings together a thought- provoking array of related topics such as logical fatalism, multivalent logic, backward causation, precognition, time travel, counterfactual logic, temporal necessity, Newcomb's Problem, middle knowledge, and relativity theory.
The present work serves both as a useful survey of the extensive literature on theological fatalism and related fields and as a stimulating assessment of the possibility of divine foreknowledge of future free acts.

How did Christ's death overcome the estrangement and condemnation of sinners before a holy God, so as to reconcile them to Him? A great variety of theories of the atonement have been offered over the centuries to make sense of the fact that Christ by his death has provided the means of reconciliation with God: ransom theories, satisfaction theories, moral influence theories, penal substitution theories, and so on. Competing theories need to be assessed by (i) their accord with biblical data and (ii) their philosophical coherence.

In 2018, William Lane Craig and Erik J. Wielenberg participated in a debate at North Carolina State University, addressing the question: God and Morality: What is the best account of objective moral values and duties? Craig argued that theism provides a sound foundation for objective morality whereas atheism does not. Wielenberg countered that morality can be objective even if there is no God. This book includes the full debate, as well as endnotes with extended discussions that were not included in the debate. It also includes five chapters by other philosophers who have written substantive responses to the debate - J. P. Moreland, David Baggett, Mark Linville, Wes Morriston, and Michael Huemer. The book provides crucial resources for better understanding moral realism and its dependence on, or independence from, theistic foundations.

Key Features

• A valuable debate about whether or not God is the best explanation for objective morality, bringing together theists and atheists working on the same subject who normally are not in conversation with each other.
• Includes clear coverage of ontological and epistemological issues in metaethical theories, focusing on Divine Command Theory and Non-natural Robust Moral Realism.
• Engaging and accessible throughout, making the book well suited for undergraduate and seminary classrooms.

This combined anthology and guide aims to bring to the student the very best of cutting-edge work on important topics in the field. The anthology is comprised of six sections, each of which opens with a substantive introductory essay followed by a selection of influential writings by philosophers of religion:

he present book and its companion volume The Tensed Theory of Time: a T Critical Examination are an attempt to adjudicate what one recent discussant has called the most fundamental question in the philosophy of time, namely, whether a static or a dynamic conception ofthe world is correct. ] I had originally intended to treat this question in the space of a single volume; but the study swelled into two. I found that an adequate appraisal of these two competing theories of time requires a wide-ranging discussion of issues in metaphysics, philosophy of language, phenomenology, philosophy of science, philosophy of space and time, and even philosophy of religion, and that this simply could not be done in one volume. If these volumes succeed in making a contribution to the debate, it will be precisely because of the synoptic nature of the discussion therein. Too often the question of the nature of time has been prematurely answered by some philosopher or physicist simply because he is largely ignorant of relevant discussions outside his chosen field of expertise. In these two complementary but independent volumes I have attempted to appraise what I take to be the most important arguments drawn from a variety of fields for and against each theory of time.

Questions about divine providence have preoccupied Christians for generations: to what degree does God concern himself with and intervene in the affairs of everyday life?

This book introduces readers to four prevailing views on divine providence, with particular attention to the questions of human free will, the problem of evil, and God's perception of time.

Volume contributors and their basic viewpoints are:

• Paul Helseth - God causes every creaturely event that occurs.
• William Lane Craig - through his middle knowledge, God controls the course of worldly affairs without predetermining any creatures' free decisions.
• Ron Highfield - God controls creatures by liberating their decision-making.
• Gregory Boyd - human decisions can be free only if God neither determines nor knows what they will be.

Introductory and closing essays by Dennis Jowers give relevant background and guide readers toward their own informed beliefs about divine providence.

Four Views on Divine Providence helps readers think theologically and biblically about all the issues involved in exploring this doctrine. The point-counterpoint format reveals the assumptions and considerations that drive equally learned and sincere theologians to disagreement with each other. It unearths the genuinely decisive issues beneath a philosophically dense debate.

The Counterpoints series presents a comparison and critique of scholarly views on topics important to Christians that are both fair-minded and respectful of the biblical text. Each volume is a one-stop reference that allows readers to evaluate the different positions on a specific issue and form their own, educated opinion.