Rating: 
Summary: McDowell uses fiction to prove fiction
Review: This book is good and addresses a variety of questions, and is easy to understand as well. So for a Christian, it is a great book to have.However, if we want to get real here, it has a very big faulty premise in that it assumes without doubt that the New Testament is a record of actual history when in reality it is at best just hearsay upon hearsay written many years after Jesus lived. The primary flaw with McDowell's arguments is that he uses fiction to prove fiction. That means that he uses other parts of the Bible to prove that other parts are true. This can be done with any book or movie. For example, say that the proof that Jesus was divine is that he did many miracles throughout his journey. Using the same type of "proof" I could also say that Superman was not of this world because he could fly and stop bullets as well, and the people of Metropolis were eyewitnesses to his superhuman powers, therefore Superman must be a real historical figure sent here from out of this world, which is further proof that the planet Krypton was real as well. You see how that works now? Likewise, I could say that there is evidence in Star Wars that Yoda existed because both Luke Skywalker and Ben Kenobi saw him and were witnesses to Yoda's existence. I know that's silly, but that's basically the kind of reasoning that Christian apologetics use. Just analyze their arguments to support the validity of their faith or the Bible and you'll see the same used over and over again, that is, fiction used to prove fiction.
Rating: 
Summary: very helpful
Review: This book provides tough answers to basic questions that non-Christians and Christians may have. Its not supposed to be some full apologetic reference! Its just a book giving you the basic answers to tough questions and I think that they did a wonderful job. The truth is that no matter what or how good a book is written, skeptics won't be convinced if they don't want to be. No book or debate can convince a person if they're not going to be open to God. Not everyone will be a follower of Jesus. There is such a thing as free will. The authors did a wonderful job of identifying the hard questions. They really helped me. This is a basic book for anyone wanting to understand the harder questions of the Bible. The book doesn't claim to be some all knowing reference apologetic book & its not. It just answers the basic questions that people might have like why there are two accounts of creation in the Bible, etc.
Rating: 
Summary: This may very well be the most stupid book ever published
Review: This book seems to have been written for an audience of five-year-olds. None of the "answers" McDowell presents make any sense whatsoever. He completely ignores any factors or evidence which would be against his point of view, and he basically makes up supporting material and presents it as certainity. Even deeply-believing Christians should be offended by this gross insult to our intelligence. This is true of everything this author writes. Josh McDowell is a moron. Ignore this book; spend your five bucks on a hamburger instead.
Rating: 
Summary: a good book to start with
Review: This is a good book to start out with for someone who has never read any of this type of material before; it's in a Q&A format with answers to basic, tough, honest questions. For someone looking for more "technical" historical evidence, who has already read basic apologetics, I would recommend "Evidence That Demands a Verdict" over this one. As far as the claims that McDowell uses the bible to prove the bible: false. He first objectively establishes a case to believe in the bible, with reasoning apart from itself.
Rating:
Summary: Another ignorant literalist
Review: This is just another piece of ignorance written by an extreme literalist who is in way over his head. Needless to say, by "Christianity" he means the caricaturized version *he* calls Christianity. Anyone who uses his "answers" against someone who really knows their stuff will get absolutely and embarrassingly blind-sided. Marc A. Schindler
Spruce Grove, Alberta, Canada -- Gateway to the Boreal Parkland.
Rating:
Summary: OK for beginners
Review: When this book was written 14 years ago, it was much-needed, and I used it a number of times to help in my research of certain questions. However, in 2000, there are so many other books like this available today that are much more detailed and better organized. Several include When Skeptics Ask and When Critics Ask by Norman Geisler. Even McDowell's A Ready Defense is better than the Answers book. But if you are looking for a simple beginner's manual, then I suppose this could be very useful to you. It's small, inexpensive, and McDowell is very clear about his answers. For many, though, a good look through the apologetics section of Amazon or any Christian bookstore worth its salt will turn up better choices.
Rating:
Summary: Silly, simplilstic, unworthy of serious Christians
Review: Yet another silly, simplistic mess of a book from McDowell (he's making a career of this) that takes gigantic, ridiculous leaps of logic, that ignores facts, that treats THINKING people like children, and that is unworthy of intelligent, thinking Chistians. You want to know the answers to the tough questions? READ THE BIBLE AND USE YOUR OWN BRAIN, AS GOD INTENDED -- because the answers McDowell offers are brainless prattle and they don't answer those tough questions adequately. A fourth grader could do better.
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