Every once in a while, a product crosses my desk which is an absolute privilege to review. I Don’t Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist (paperback, $16) by Norman L. Geisler and Frank Turek and the spiral-bound accompanying workbook ($33) by Frank Turek and Chuck Winter are just such a product, times two. The book by itself is a gem. With the workbook, this is a full apologetics curriculum for teens and adults.
“…Many religious truth claims can be investigated and their plausibility determined. Since all conclusions about such claims are based on probability rather than absolute certainty, they all — including atheistic claims– require some amount of faith. As we look at the evidence in the ensuing chapters, we’ll see that conclusions such as “God exists” and “the Bible is true” are certain beyond reasonable doubt. Therefore, it takes a lot more faith to be a non-Christian than it does to be a Christian.”
You might be asking, just what evidence does I Don’t Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist present? Chapters include:
Can We handle the Truth?
Why Should Anyone Believe Anything At All?
In the Beginning There Was a Great Surge.
Divine Design.
The First Life: Natural Law or Divine Awe?
New Life Forms: From the Goo to You via the Zoo?
Mother Teresa vs. Hitler
Miracles: Signs of God or Gullibility?
Do We Have Early Testimony about Jesus?
Do We Have Eyewitness Testimony about Jesus?
The Top Ten Reasons We Know the New Testament Writers Told the Truth.
Did Jesuss Really Rise from the Dead?
Who is Jesus: God? Or Just a Great Moral Teacher?
What Did Jesus Teach About the Bible?
For each chapter, the workbook lists key topics and terms, and then contains four sections designed to help you “understand and remember the critical points presented in the book.” The first section is the Hook which is kind of like a brain exercise and reminds you what was discussed in the chapter. This section usually includes questions to get you thinking. Here is an example of the Hook from Chapter 1. “So Why is ruth so important to people? Why do we seek out mechanics and computer technicians we can trust? Why do we hate hearing lies from politicians? Why do we want our doctors to tell us the truth about our health, or our pharmacists to be truthful about the side effects of our medications?” Doesn’t that little section just make you want to read the rest?
The second section is called “Book” which is a closer look at the key topics of the chapter, with comprehension questions. For instance, in chapter 3, the book section includes an explanation of the Second Law of Thermodynamics with this question: “Why does the fact that the universe is running out of usable energy mean that it can’t have existed eternally?” Pretty heavy stuff right?
The third section is called “Look”, and includes research assignments and other suggested activities. Students are encouraged to pick and choose which of these assignments to complete with their parent or teacher. In Chapter 5 one of the assignments is to visit Crossexamined.org and read a specific article before answering an essay type question.
The final section is called “Took” and is the application. This section always answers the question “What do I do now?”. I love this quote from the Took section of Chapter 9:
“If you profess to be a Christian, you may be challenged on these points, especially at a secular college. Can you defend your faith by showing that we have an accurate copy of the original new Testament documents? Your articulate and informed defense may one day be used to convince an opponent or bystander of the truth of the Bible. What you do can and will have eternal consequences.”
I just finished taking a leadership class at our church, at the same time I was working through I Don’t Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist myself since I don’t have any high school students yet. On the last night of class, our teacher challenged us to memorize our defense and be ready. Then I came to chapter nine and found the same challenge. I love it when God works like that! I actually enjoyed both the class and the book even more because quite a bit of the material from each the book took what we were talking about in class way further. I would like to use I Don’t Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist for a small group at our church.
I hope you can see from my examples that the book and workbook are deep, accurate, well-presented and probing. You will be challenged and you will grow as you complete this study. If that isn’t what you are looking for, you probably shouldn’t purchase anything from Apologia Educational Ministries. If on the other hand, you are seeking a challenge and growth I recommend these and all other materials carried by Apologia Educational Ministries. If you have elementary students, you might want to read my review of Who is My Neighbor by Apologia.
My Bottom Line: If you are a Christian, you should have this set. I Don’t have Enough Faith to be an Atheist with the workbook will be required curriculum for my students when they reach high school. This set receives my highest recommendation.
Amy says
Hi Amy, thank you for your review. I’m trying to decide wether this text would be suitable for Grade 9 and 10 students, or do you think it needs to be left to the senior years?
Amy Blevins says
I think it could work for 9th and 10th grade, but the older the kids are the more they wouild get out of it. Depends on the maturity of the kids I think,