Dear Visitor...
12/22/95
Well, well, well...
Seems I have spent the last two months in reading, thinking, traveling, suffering.
Several of you have noticed the slowness of my postings. I HAVE done considerable reading (without being able to finish to the point of write-up) in several areas. I have spent probably 60 hours this month alone doing private emails to many of you. [In the last week, I have cut my inbox down from 570 emails to 270...but I get 20-40 a day, so I don't expect it to stay low very long.]
And, as some of you surmised, I have also been deluged by the challenges I mentioned in my previous letter (plus another one or two!)...
I want to point out some new things about the Tank. First, I have started a new section called "Thumbnails". These are first-person responses I WOULD MAKE to traditional questions about the faith one might get at the office, on the street, at home, or on the campus. These are NOT documented (at least not initially) since that would not be available in on-the-spot conversations. They are intended as both summaries of my understandings, and as potential suggestions for how to communicate some of this material. I have 8 done now, and will be adding them as they come up in the correspondence.
I have also added a Bookbag section--in which I talk NOT about the books I am buying, but about the books I am reading (and therefore carrying on airplanes in my briefcase/bookbag) [PAGE DELETED].
Also, I wanted to give a list of books I would recommend for every Christian student and likewise for Christians in intellectually-charged life situations. These are generally not specific-topics oriented, but of broad utility, including encouragement. The list as it sits currently:
Books for science-oriented Christians:
- Evidence of Purpose, John Marks Templeton (ed.), Continuum: 1994. [Collection of essays by respected Christian scientists, on the issue of design in nature.]
- Scientists Who Believe: 21 Tell their own stories ed. By Barrett and Fisher. Moody, 1984.
- Not a Chance: The Myth of Chance in Modern Science and Cosmology, R.C. Sproul Baker: 1994. I have had this book suggested to me so many times, I finally submitted to the will of the people, and took a chance on it.
- The Natural Limits to Biological Change, Lester & Bohlin, Probe Books: 1989. [Just finished it--outstanding book! 7/23/95]
- Why I am Still a Christian, Zondervan (forgot the author, date). Essays by leading British scientists, responding to B. Russell's skeptical work.
Books for philosophy-oriented Christians:
- Reason and Religious Belief by Peterson, Hasker, Reichenback, and Basinger, Oxford: 1991. Four authors, not editors! Mavrodes says on the back cover "Best book of its kind"--couldn't agree more.
- Philosophers Who Believe ed. by Kelly James Clark, IVP:1993. Spiritual autobiographies by notable Christian philosophers, like Plantinga and Swinburne.
- Reasonable Faith: Christian Truth and Apologetics, William Lane Craig, Crossway:1994 (2nd ed.), 350pp.
- God and the Philosophers, Thomas Morris (ed.), Oxford: 1994. [A UK version of 'Philosophers who believe'--more generally focused on general theism...could be very encouraging for students.]
- Classical Apologetics by Sproul, Gerstner, Lindsley. Zondervan (Academie Books), 1984. (I was interested in its analysis of the Van Tillian school.)
- Apologetics to the Glory of God by John Frame. P&R: 1994. 260+pp.
Comparative/world religions:
- Christian Faith and Other Faiths by Stephen Neill, IVP:1984.
- Religions and the Truth by Hendrik M. Vroom, Eerd: 1989.
- Christianity and Comparative Religion, JND Anderson, IVP: 1970.
New Testament Reliability Issues:
- [BLOM]The Historical Reliability of the Gospels by Craig Blomberg, IVP: 1987.
- [EE] Easter Enigma--Are the Resurrection accounts in conflict? 2nd. ed., John Wenham, Baker: 1992.
- [JUF] Jesus Under Fire--Modern Scholarship Reinvents the Historical Jesus., Wilkins and Moreland (eds), Zondervan: 1995.
Finally, I want to indicate the areas I will be concentrating ("Lord willing") on for 1996:
- Finishing the response to the Messianic Prophecies
- Finishing the response to Still on the NT formation
- A major project on the Trinity
- The problem of evil/suffering
- Finishing the comparative religious claims problem
- updating some of the older works
- (maybe) some work on the 30-60ad period...
And of course, I want to thank all of you--believers and skeptics alike--for the interaction and engagement that you granted me, which undoubtedly moved ALL of US farther along our spiritual journey.
May this holiday season confront you all with His heart...
Glenn Miller
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