16 Best Christian Apologetics Books For College Students
God has given us a mind to observe and learn from the ways He works in the world. Let’s engage our minds and hearts with God’s Word, and let the Holy Spirit transform our ability to understand Truth. This list of the 16 best Christian apologetics books for college students will help you learn from God’s Word, understand more of the world around you, and engage your lost friends with the Gospel.
It’s vital you and I are able to understand (and explain) the reasons for the hope that we have—especially when we arrive at college. Christ alone is our hope, and we need to be able to communicate the beauty of the Gospel message to a lost world.
“But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.”
1 Peter 3:14-16
Non-Christian friends, university professors, and the media giants of our world will do everything they can to dismantle your biblical worldview. Here’s what Jessica Hoover, a graduate of UNC Asheville, shared with Brody on a recent podcast episode said about staying faithful in a highly progressive university:
- Don’t be foolish, prideful, or headstrong.
- Cling to the body of Christ — especially your local church.
We’ve used several of these apologetics tools to train our summer camp staff, and are confident they will encourage your faith. I hope you’re able to spend some time soaking in the ideas they present.
If you like this list and want to see our top picks in other categories, then go download our Favorite Books of SWO guide. Over 129 titles are included!
Apologetics for the Glory of God
By John Frame
“There is a circularity here I do not doubt. I am defending the Bible by the Bible. Circularity of a kind is unavoidable when one seeks to defend an ultimate standard of truth, for one’s defense must itself be accountable to that standard.” –
The Case For Christ
By Lee Strobel
“The Jews proposed the ridiculous story that the guards had fallen asleep. Obviously, they were grasping at straws. But the point is this: they started with the assumption that the tomb was vacant! Why? Because they knew it was!” –
Faith Has its Reasons
By Kenneth Boa &
“There are three sources of belief: reason, custom, inspiration. The Christian religion, which alone has reason, does not acknowledge as her true children those who believe without inspiration. It is not that she excludes reason and custom. On the contrary, the mind must be open to proofs, must be confirmed by custom, and offer itself in humbleness to inspirations, which alone can produce a true and saving effect” –
Finding Truth: 5 Principles for Unmasking Atheism, Secularism, and Other God Substitutes
By Nancy Pearcy
“A mind capable of forming an argument against God’s existence constitutes evidence for his existence. That is, a conscious being with the ability to reason, weigh evidence, and argue logically must come from a source that has at least the same level of cognitive ability.” –
God’s Undertakers
By John Lennox
“The very success of science is showing us how deeply ordered the natural world provides strong grounds for believing that there is an even deeper cause for that order.” –
The God Who is There
By Francis Schaeffer
“But when the world can turn around and see a group of God’s people exhibiting substantial healing in the area of human relationships in their present life, then the world will take notice.” –
How to Be an Atheist
By Mitch Stokes
“How can you derive meaning, purpose, or ethics from evolution? You can’t. Evolution is simply a theory about the process and patterns of life’s diversification, not a grand philosophical scheme about the meaning of life. It can’t tell us what to do, or how we should behave.” –
Life’s Ultimate Questions
By Ron Nash
“There are no logical contradictions in the Christian faith. If there were even one logical contradiction at the center of the Christian faith, the Christian faith would be necessarily false.” –
Notes from a Tilt-a-Whirl
By N.D. Wilson
“The world is rated R, and no one is checking IDs. Do not try to make it G by imagining the shadows away. Do not try to hide your children from the world forever, but do not try to pretend there is no danger. Train them. Give them sharp eyes and bellies full of laughter. Make them dangerous. Make them yeast, and when they’ve grown, they will pollute the shadows.” –
Reason to Believe
By R.C. Sproul
“For a Christian to be a Christian, he must first be a sinner. Being a sinner is a prerequisite for being a church member. The Christian church is one of the few organizations in the world that requires a public acknowledgment of sin as a condition for membership.” –
Reasonable Faith
By William Lane Craig
“If there is no God, then man and the universe are doomed. Like prisoners condemned to death, we await our unavoidable execution. There is no God, and there is no immortality. And what is the consequence of this? It means that life itself is absurd. It means that the life we have is without ultimate significance, value, or purpose.” –
A Shot of Faith in the Head
By Mitch Stokes
“Moreover, the more deeply a view is ingrained, the less likely we will see it as influencing us—or see it at all. If you want to know what water is, don’t ask the fish.” –
Should Christians Embrace Evolution?
By Norman Nevin
Total Truth: Liberating Christianity from its Cultural Captivity (Study Guide Edition)
By Nancy Pearcy
“The gospel is like a caged lion,’ said the great baptist preacher Charles Spurgeon. ‘It does not need to be defended, it simply needs to be let out of it’s cage’ Today, the cage is our accommodation to the secular/sacred split that reduces Christianity to a matter of personal belief. To unlock the cage, we need to become utterly convinced that, as Francis Schaeffer said, Christianity is not merely religious truth, it is total truth- truth about the whole of reality.” –
The Universe Next Door
By James Sire
“To glorify God is not just to do so in religious worship, singing praise and enacting the traditional rites of the church. To glorify God is to reveal his character by being who we were created to be the embodiment of the image of God in human form.” –
How to Use These Books to Nurture Your Biblical Worldview
First — Let’s talk about it. We’d rather have this conversation with you in person so we could share our passion and experiences tied to these books. But until then, pick one and start reading today. Even if you’re not a college student, or studying apologetics, we are confident God will use these books to grow your faith by leaps and bounds. Send us a message and let us know what you think. We would love to hear your thoughts!
Second — Don’t forget your church. Use the topics in these books to strike up conversations within your local church. You don’t want to find yourself amassing tons of apologetics knowledge without growing biblical wisdom alongside it. These books are only helpful because they are grounded in the principles of Scripture. And, the Bible is most faithfully studied and learned within a community of other Christians humbly following Jesus and loving others.
Third — Pray for humility and love. Jesus doesn’t give us a deeper knowledge of the truth so that we can nurture our pride. Don’t hold your theological or apologetics knowledge over younger Christians (or non-believers) in a way that destroys your relationship. Let’s all work to build up others gently, with the love of Christ. That’s how we can point out sin and inaccurate worldviews so that we can offer them the eternal joy and hope found in Christ alone. As one pastor has said, “The Gospel is already offensive to those who are lost.” Let’s not offend them with our immaturity.
You and I need the body of Christ to keep us faithfully pointed toward Truth. And, we have the joy and responsibility of bringing along other brothers and sisters with us in our journey to grow in godliness.
We’ve prepped this list of recommended books from our Snowbird teachers to help encourage the habit of learning! We also encourage you to read critically, evaluating every book, Christian or secular, through the lens of the Bible. Click the link below to download the entire list of recommended books.
Want to go deeper?
Click here to view our best Biblical Apologetics Resources for teens.