Hard Sayings: A Catholic Approach to Answering Bible Difficulties Hardcover – June 30, 2016

Trent Horn never ceases to amaze me with his insights and tireless efforts in the field of Catholic apologetics. This book has something to offer for Catholics and Protestants alike. What amazes me most is the number of references the book has in order for Mr. Horn to make his point. He is not afraid to quote disbelievers and atheists and bring their best arguments to the table.(Being done in somewhat of a Thomas Aquinas style).His explanations are methodical and thorough and will, for the most part, will leave you more than satisfied. I say for the most part, as i think there are passages of the Bible that still don't seem to have a solid satisfactory answer, but at least Mr. Horn offers viable options as explanations.This book is amazing and certainly a welcome addition to my Catholic book library. It is another fine work from an author and evangelists whose field of expertise seems to keep growing and growing. Check out his other books like Answering Atheism and his book of Persuasive Pro Life. He also has many mp3 downloads on Catholic.com. Over the years Trent Horn has become my favorite apologist for the Catholic faith. I eagerly anticipate his next endeavor. In the meantime, catch him as a regular guest on Catholic Answers Live with Patrick Coffin. You can really learn some skills from this guy!

I am interested in being able to defend my Catholic faith, and I found this book to be helpful and informative. Trent Horn is a convert to Catholicism, and his approach is intellectual, but not overwhelming for the average person wanting to dig deeper into the study of scripture and its seeming contradictions. Each chapter is headed with a question, such as: Bungled History? Gospels that Can't Agree? Anti-Woman?, etc. Most helpful is the introduction, The Catholic View of Scripture, in which Horn quotes a few prominent atheists. He states that "One reason I wrote this book is that there are no works that comprehensivley explained the Bible's tough passages from a Catholic perspective." This is why I wanted this book in my library, too. I have heard Horn many times on Catholic radio programs, and his tone in answering people's questions is always ver even, utterly respectful and eloquent. I would recommend this book highly to anyone who has questions about Christianity in general, and specifically Catholicism.

This book is excellent. If you're not much of a reader, you will enjoy this book. It is a nice long read. This is an easy book to pick up and put down occasionally, the ideas are separate enough that you don't need to read it all the way through. Though you might not be able to put it down.The book reads very well. I really enjoy Trent Horn's writing style. Factual and to the point, but also heartfelt. You can tell he cares about the topic but is also able to show a topic from all angles and viewpoints. You can tell he knows the topics like the back of his hand.I recommend this to anyone who is dealing with someone who is having difficulties with things that are in the bible. There are answers, and they are in this book.

Spectacular! Meticulous, engaging, addressing all the usual criticisms. I am at about page 223 now out of 345 pages of text, plus 67 pages of great footnotes, and already I am thinking, "I hate for this book to end!" I am not a theologian, just a moderately well-read Catholic, and I have found this book to be one of the very best of dozens and dozens that I have read in the last 20+ years. I recommend it highly to all Christians. I recommend it even more to agnostics and atheists who think that they know it all and can dismiss the Bible as some sort of archaic relic of a bygone era, full of lies and distortions, full of cruelty and viciousness -- as though the so-called Christian "god" (as atheists see it) is an advocate for these things.

The author set out to defend his Catholic faith way before he wrote the first word, so no balanced argument there. He clearly pitches from one side of the fence. But then there is nothing wrong with that, since he openly discusses the problematic areas anyway, but sees it honestly, from the prism of his faith. Kinda reassuring to read, with a clear, honest stance, and some brilliant points to boot.

I have been flipping through this book and am learning to articulate the defences for the Bible better and better! This book draws not just from historical facts but also engages theological points. Like Trent Horn said, before I had this book, I refered to Protestant Norman Geisler's Big Book of Bible Difficulties. This one is so good I would recommend to Catholics and Protestants alike. It must be on the shelves of Campus Ministers as these as questions we face from young inquiring minds. Thank you Trent Horn. This book is a landmark, like Catholicism v Fundamentalism was in its day.

Think you understand what the Catholic Church teaches based on what you hear in the media, or what a non-Catholic says that it teaches? Think there are contradictions in Scripture that can't be explained or justify bad behavior? Then this is the book for you. It's eye opening when you realize that context matters, history matters, translations matter, and theology matters....and what we're told the Catholic Church (or the Bible) says is actually a lot more nuanced. Read this book, and you'll have a better understanding. I'm glad that I did.I'd also recommend listening to Trent Horn on Catholic Answers ([...]). The dude is awesome, along with Jimmy Akin and Tim Staples.

Many group Christians as all the same. The fundamentalistd are very different. This book explains the Bible from the Catholic view. With some protestants it is only faith . The Catholic Church picked the books of the Bible due to authentic witnesses and inspired prophets . The Bible was written by humans. It needs the church to interpret it. By using reason through archaeology, history etc the difficult passages make sense. Green houses are not green . They do something special. Context needs to be provided always . This book tackles all this. It needs a lot research and tradition . Often the attacks against the Bible are not new. Never disagree without understanding. Many attacks are senseless. Many are legitimate that need careful analysis to get the answers right .

I learned so much about the Bible in this book, especially about the Old Testament. As usual, Trent's writing is so easy to read and understand.

very informative, easy to read for a lay person

This was an excellent explanation of a good assortment of hard to understand issues in the Bible. I am always seeking to better understand the Bible as it is impossible task without a couple of university degrees worth of biblical background information that a man like Trent Horn has at his disposal. I would recommend this book to anyone on the same quest. If Trent Horn ever decides to expand this sort of list of topics, I will be at the front of the line to buy his next book.

I have read the first 100 pages of the book and I find the book so far mediocre. Extraordinary events such as Noah's flood, the star of Bethlehem, and the darkness at Jesus's death are not affirmed as actually having ocurred. I find this disappointing as it shows a lack of faith. The fact is that there is evidence for these extraordinary events. The documentary the Star of Bethlehem which used astronomy software to simulate the movement of the stars 2000 years ago, explains that the star was created by the extraordinary allignment of Venus, Jupiter, Jupiter's moon Regulus. The same computer simulating tools showed that the darkness at Jesus's death was caused by a Solar Eclipse. As for Noah's flood - there is strong evidence as well: if the bottom of the oceans were raised, and the land and mountains lowered - it would be possible for the whole world to be covered in 1.5miles of water. Furthermore, as indicated in the book The Flood of Noah: Legends & Lore of Survival - there are similar stories from around the world that indicate that a flood was a worldwide phonomenon. A worldwide flood would also explain why we find fish fossils in mountains... My point is not the detail all the evidence, but simply to explain that he takes the safe approach - when referring to these events as possibilities, or explaining them as poetic descriptions.On the other hand, when dealing with confusing Biblical passages, Trent Horn does go back to the original Hebrew, or Greek to analyse possible alternatives for translation. This helps reveal a very nuanced explanation to Hard Sayings.However, overall I think this book lacks courage. Trent Horn plays the game of atheists rather than challenging them - and this is no way to win an argument. I think that if he had presented more evidence for the extraordinary events of the Bible I think it would have driven home a more powerful message: That the Hard Sayings of the Bible are true, that the God of the Bible has power over matter, and that he somethimes uses extraordinary events to help us develop FAITH - and that all this requires an open heart and mind.