
Enjoy fast, free delivery, exclusive deals, and award-winning movies & TV shows with Prime
Try Prime
and start saving today with fast, free delivery
Amazon Prime includes:
Fast, FREE Delivery is available to Prime members. To join, select "Try Amazon Prime and start saving today with Fast, FREE Delivery" below the Add to Cart button.
Amazon Prime members enjoy:- Cardmembers earn 5% Back at Amazon.com with a Prime Credit Card.
- Unlimited Free Two-Day Delivery
- Streaming of thousands of movies and TV shows with limited ads on Prime Video.
- A Kindle book to borrow for free each month - with no due dates
- Listen to over 2 million songs and hundreds of playlists
- Unlimited photo storage with anywhere access
Important: Your credit card will NOT be charged when you start your free trial or if you cancel during the trial period. If you're happy with Amazon Prime, do nothing. At the end of the free trial, your membership will automatically upgrade to a monthly membership.

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.
Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.
Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.
Follow the author
OK
How Reason Can Lead to God: A Philosopher's Bridge to Faith Paperback – July 30, 2019
Purchase options and add-ons
Do you seek the truth? Do you value reason, science, and independent thinking? Are you skeptical of beliefs that people maintain merely "on faith," yet you remain interested in the big questions of life? Do you hope there could be a greater purpose to the universe, if only that were realistic? If so, then philosopher Joshua Rasmussen can encourage you in your journey. Beginning with his own story of losing faith and the belief in any ultimate purpose in life, he then builds a bridge to a series of universal truths about ultimate reality. Using only the instruments of reason and common experience, Rasmussen constructs a pathway―step by step, brick by brick―that he argues can lead to meaning and, ultimately, a vision of God.
- Print length208 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherIVP Academic
- Publication dateJuly 30, 2019
- Dimensions5.5 x 0.7 x 8.25 inches
- ISBN-100830852522
- ISBN-13978-0830852529
The Amazon Book Review
Book recommendations, author interviews, editors' picks, and more. Read it now.
Frequently bought together

Similar items that may deliver to you quickly
From the brand

Editorial Reviews
Review
"This short book contains a bold, original, and provocative argument that shows how reason can lead a person who is genuinely seeking truth to God. It is written in simple, ordinary language and makes no appeal to authority. Although Rasmussen appeals only to truths that he thinks should be universally accepted, a good deal of the force of the book stems from the personal story of Rasmussen himself; his courage and honesty draw the reader into a similar journey." -- C. Stephen Evans, university professor of philosophy and humanities, Baylor University
"How Reason Can Lead to God is beautifully written. It is truly exceptional in its clarity and simplicity of prose. While some concepts and arguments may be difficult to digest, the interested reader, up for a rigorous, intellectual workout, will be very richly rewarded. Engaging. Humble. Winsome. Rasmussen strikes just the right tone given the aim(s) of the book. A real gem!" -- Kevin Corcoran, professor of philosophy, Calvin College
"Rasmussen provides a masterpiece argument for God. He delivers every step in a clear and engaging style. Powerful. Beautiful. Transformative." -- William Lane Craig, professor of philosophy, Talbot School of Theology and Houston Baptist University, coauthor of Philosophical Foundations for a Christian Worldview
"Rasmussen's superb and unique book provides arguments that are deep, convincing, expressed with admirable clarity, and informed by the very latest in philosophical thought." -- Alexander R. Pruss, director of graduate studies and professor, department of philosophy, Baylor University
"Professor Rasmussen is a top Christian philosopher, a deeply devoted believer, and a longtime personal friend. He identifies his primary audience as a skeptic who cares about truth, is interested in life's big questions, and believes only what can be supported by reason. And Rasmussen hits the bull's-eye. Along with Mere Christianity, How Reason Can Lead to God is the book to give to such a person. But don't let this aim fool you. This book is a must-read for believers who love philosophy or apologetics. You will learn a ton by reading this book, and by reading it your ability to think will be vastly increased. The flow of Rasmussen's argument for God is developed with such precision and care that, quite frankly, it could not be improved. I am so excited about How Reason Can Lead to God and can't wait to see its impact. So put on your thinking hat, buy it, and study it carefully." -- J. P. Moreland, distinguished professor of philosophy, Talbot School of Theology, Biola University, author of Scientism and Secularism
"How Reason Can Lead to God is an extraordinary book. Rasmussen builds, piece by piece, a bridge from the basic structures of reality to God. This work is meticulously structured. Rasmussen's writing style fits perfectly with the project. He is clear, careful, and patient. He never jumps to a conclusion. He considers objections fairly and engages them thoughtfully. This is simply the best philosophical defense of theism I have read in a long while. But, it is more than a defense of theism. It is a guided tour through the foundations of metaphysics." -- Gregory E. Ganssle, professor of philosophy at Biola University, author of Our Deepest Desires: How the Christian Story Fulfills Human Aspiration
"A magnificent and prodigious talent as deft in analytic skill as he is adept at uncommon common sense, Joshua Rasmussen has produced a disarming, brilliant, bridge-building book that renders the recondite accessible. It takes readers on a fascinating journey, inviting them to think for themselves, try out his arguments, and come to their own conclusions. He is a remarkable philosopher in the best and old-fashioned sense: respecting his readers; asking vitally important, existentially central questions; rigorously following the evidence where it leads; animated by deep confidence in the revelatory power of reason to show the way. Any genuine seeker of wisdom and truth will find in these pages an eminent kindred spirit and faithful fellow traveler." -- David Baggett, coauthor of The Morals of the Story: Good News About a Good God
Review
"A magnificent and prodigious talent as deft in analytic skill as he is adept at uncommon common sense, Joshua Rasmussen has produced a disarming, brilliant, bridge-building book that renders the recondite accessible. It takes readers on a fascinating journey, inviting them to think for themselves, try out his arguments, and come to their own conclusions. He is a remarkable philosopher in the best and old-fashioned sense: respecting his readers; asking vitally important, existentially central questions; rigorously following the evidence where it leads; animated by deep confidence in the revelatory power of reason to show the way. Any genuine seeker of wisdom and truth will find in these pages an eminent kindred spirit and faithful fellow traveler."
-- David Baggett, coauthor of The Morals of the Story: Good News About a Good GodAbout the Author
Joshua Rasmussen (PhD, Notre Dame) is associate professor of philosophy at Azusa Pacific University. He is the author of How Reason Can Lead to God, Defending the Correspondence Theory of Truth, and The Bridge of Reason, coauthor of Necessary Existence and Is God the Best Explanation of Things?: A Dialogue, and coeditor of A New Theist Response to the New Atheists.
Product details
- Publisher : IVP Academic (July 30, 2019)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 208 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0830852522
- ISBN-13 : 978-0830852529
- Item Weight : 8.8 ounces
- Dimensions : 5.5 x 0.7 x 8.25 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #306,445 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #340 in Religion & Philosophy (Books)
- #539 in Religious Philosophy (Books)
- #870 in Christian Apologetics (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more
Customer reviews
Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.
To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.
Learn more how customers reviews work on Amazon-
Top reviews
Top reviews from the United States
There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.
The book has its limitations. For instance, I do not find all of the individual arguments persuasive. Also, I agree with the main negative review that Rasmussen's prose can be labored and clunky. At the same time, I think this book works as an elegant overall explication of how classical theism makes sense of many of our observations and intuitions about reality. By no means the final word, but a worthy contribution to the dialogue.
1) He incorporates recent work on an important and powerful case for God in a way that is understandable to a reader willing to put in some effort. He alerts you along the way to secondary and tertiary issues, but then urges us to focus on the mainline of argument.
2) His tone is in no way condescending or meant to instill tribal-feelings or groupthink. One will never get the sense that Rasmussen is on team "God" and others are on team "not-God." Instead, the tone throughout is cordial, inviting, and aims to help individuals seek the truth wherever it leads them.
3) I particularly enjoyed his chapter "Challenging the Bridge" which answers the logical and evidential problems of evil, while also acknowledging the fact that these are deep issues that not everyone is in a position to see.
Overall, it's an excellent work of philosophy, and I encourage others to check it out and see where reason leads them.
Rasmussen is conversational and easy-to-read. Though he plumbs some abstruse philosophical topics - metaphysics, mereology, and morality - a novice to the world of philosophy could follow him. In that sense, it's a great beginner's guide, but it isn't shallow.
His subject matter begins in a highly unusual place. Rather than launching from personal experience, like C.S. Lewis making observations about how people argue, or from commonly acknowledge science, like W.L. Craig's cosmological argument, Rasmussen begins with a description of the nature of reality that hearkens from Aristotle and Aquinas. Reading HRCLTG is like picking up a conversation with Aquinas after he's read some of modern philosophy of mind and science.
In its scope, the book is expansive. Rasmussen explores philosophy of mind, metaphysics, morality, free will, theology, and logic. There are few subjects for which he doesn't find use for his greater cause of finding a way from the nature of reality to an explanation that accounts for reality.
It was an interesting read with a unique bent. I recommend it.
The book has the merit of being written in a spirit of service. Josh does not wish to club you over the head with arguments and overly complicated philosophical concepts. Instead, he attempts to bring you along on a progressive journey of reasoning and help you "separate the clear from the unclear" as he likes to say.
The book makes a case for the perfect being of classical theism. Whether you end you agreeing with the arguments or not, there is still value in reading the book.
Top reviews from other countries


This is basically essential reading for anyone into questions about the foundations of reality

