Surviving Religion 101: Letters to a Christian Student on Keeping the Faith in College

Surviving Religion 101:
Letters to a Christian Student on Keeping the Faith in College

“I can’t imagine a college student—skeptic, doubter, Christian, struggler—who wouldn’t benefit from this book.” —Kevin DeYoung

For many young adults, the college years are an exciting period of self discovery full of new relationships, new independence, and new experiences. Yet college can also be a time of personal testing and intense questioning— especially for Christian students confronted with various challenges to Christianity and the Bible for the first time.

Drawing on years of experience as a biblical scholar, Michael Kruger addresses common objections to the Christian faith—the exclusivity of Christianity, Christian intolerance, homosexuality, hell, the problem of evil, science, miracles, and the reliability of the Bible.

If you’re a student dealing with doubt or wrestling with objections to Christianity from fellow students and professors alike, this book will equip you to engage secular challenges with intellectual honesty, compassion, and confidence—and ultimately graduate college with your faith intact.

 
Table of Contents: 
Introduction

Chapter 1: I’m Worried about Being a Christian at a Secular University—How Will I Survive?
Chapter 2: My Professors Are Really Smart—Isn’t It More Likely That They’re Right and I’m Wrong?
Chapter 3: There Are a Lot of Different Views Here—How Can We Say That Christianity Is the Only Right Religion?
Chapter 4: My Christian Morals Are Viewed as Hateful and Intolerant—Shouldn’t I Be More Loving and Accepting?
Chapter 5: I Have Gay Friends Who Are Kind, Wonderful, and Happy—Are We Sure That Homosexuality Is Really Wrong?
Chapter 6: The Concept of Hell Seems Barbaric and Cruel—Wouldn’t a Loving God Save Everyone?
Chapter 7: There’s So Much Suffering in the World—How Could a Good God Allow Such Evil?
Chapter 8: Science Seems Like It Can Explain Everything in the Universe—Do We Really Need to Believe in God?
Chapter 9: I’m Finding It Harder to Believe Events Like the Resurrection—How Can I Believe in Miracles If I’ve Never Seen One?
Chapter 10: Everything I Believe Seems to Hinge on the Truth of the Bible—How Do We Know It’s Really from God?
Chapter 11: My Professor Keeps Pointing Out Contradictions in the Gospels—Can I Still Trust Them?
Chapter 12: I’m Being Told That Ancient Scribes Changed the Words of the New Testament Thousands of Times—Is That True?
Chapter 13: My Professor Says That Books Were Left Out of Our Bibles—Can We Be Sure We Have the Right Ones?
Chapter 14: Some Parts of the Bible Seem Morally Troubling—How Can a Book Be from God If It Advocates Oppression or Genocide?
Chapter 15: Sometimes It Feels Like My Faith Is Slipping Away—How Do I Handle Doubts about What I Believe?

Postscript: What Do I Do If It Feels Like Christianity Just Isn’t Working for Me?

About the Author: 
Michael J. Kruger (PhD, University of Edinburgh) is the president and Samuel C. Patterson Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at Reformed Theological Seminary in Charlotte, North Carolina, and a leading scholar on the origins and development of the New Testament canon. He blogs regularly at michaeljkruger.com.