Why Should Anyone Believe Anything At All

A Christianity Today 1995 Books of the Year Finalist Believing. Most of us take it for granted. We just do it--whether it's trusting that the sun will come up tomorrow, that the lunch we are about to eat is not poisoned or that our religious beliefs are not ill-founded. But why should we believe any of these things? Why should anyone believe anything at all? With insight and humor, James W. Sire examines the reasons people give for believing what they do and suggests what are truly satisfying and compelling reasons for belief. He then turns to the question of a specific belief--namely, belief that the Christian faith is true. Sire tackles both the best reason for belief in Christianity (the identity of Jesus ) and the chief reason against it (the problem of evil). And he responds to these issues personally and philosophically. Here is a book to challenge the skeptic and reassure the doubter in us all.

1. Preface
2. Part 1: Why Should Anyone Believe Anything? Chapter 1: It Makes My Head Hurt: The Nature and Necessity of Belief
3. Chapter 2: Why People Believe What They Believe
4. Chapter 3: The Social Context
5. Chapter 4: The Personal Context
6. Chapter 5: The Religious Dimension
7. Chapter 6: The Philosophic Dimension
8. Part 2: Why Should Anyone Believe Christianity? Chapter 7: The Gospels as Reliable History
9. Chapter 8: Jesus the Reason
10. Chapter 9: Jesus: The Dilemma of His Identity
11. Chapter 10: The Scholar's Quest for Jesus
12. Chapter 11: The Resurrection of Jesus
13. Chapter 12: The Rationality of Christian Faith
14. Chapter 13: The Problem of Evil
15. Chapter 14: The Personal Experience of Christians
16. Chapter 15: The Challenge of Belief