Thursday, December 4, 2008

Why Good Arguments Often Fail, by James W. Sire

This book is not about the specific arguments of Christian apologetics, but about the weaknesses in human nature that prevent the apologist from making his case. This happens both on the side of the apologist and the his or her audience. Most of the book is pretty basic, in terms of stating and giving examples of both informal and formal logical fallacies. Sprinkled throughout are good quotes and bits of wisdom about the philosophy of apologetics. By far, the best section of the book are his reading recommendations, which I always appreciate given my love of books. Overall, this was a very basic book, one which I’d only recommend to Christian apologetic beginners.