An apologetics challenge: Raising the bar

I've observed that when churches attempt to tackle apologetics, they usually fall back on books like "The Case for Faith" and "The Case for Christ." There's nothing inherently wrong with that; however, I think we need to set the bar higher.

Churches need to develop teachers who can teach on a wide variety of topics, and from multiple perspectives. They should be able to address issues in ways that go far beyond what these popular books can offer.

Category:

People & Blogs

Tags:

• Apologetics
• Christianity
• Bible
• logic
• defending
• faith

[AQuinault]

Out of curiosity - how do you rate James White? He concentrates on exegesis in his apologetics as opposed to the 'classical' proofs. He's no dummy but his approach differs from yours & Craig's.

[grammastola]

"Out of curiosity - how do you rate James White?"

I like James White, but I think he's decidedly more narrow in his approach. He's more of a Bible scholar than a general purpose apologist. I think we need scholars who can defend the Bible using extrabiblical means as well as Biblical exegesis.

[KabaneTheChristian]

The internet is delivering an easy to swallow pseudointellectual meal to gullible atheists, such as Jesus mythicism.

[KabaneTheChristian]

Klaratu, that is fideism. Apologetics is used to defend the scriptures, and cultural context must be applied to properly interpret and defend it. We must also apply criteria of authenticity to defend the gospels and apply standard criteria of authorship. We may draw from secular sources such as Josephus and Tacitus. In shorter words, your comment is wrong.

[Sanai777]

very nice man, i often don't go to sunday school because it's not 'enough' i started reading the bible on my own and going over the works of C.S. Lewis and raising question myself and seeking the answers. this has been working for me for the past year or so but it would be nice to see some better education of the gospel and god's great mystery being taught in the churches themselves

[Glorthac]

I'll be sure to raise the bar once I get my degree in Christian Theology and become a Calvinist Reverand.

Thanks for the inspiration.

[grammastola]

"The same arguements for and against have been going around for ages, and theologically not much more can be said..."

I strongly disagree. The work of Alvin Plantinga, for example, is new and revolutionary. So is much of Michael Licona's research.

Besides, even if you were right, the point is that most Christians are poorly equipped to defend the faith. This must change.

[IisBoudreaux]

it makes me glad to see people saying these things that everyone else seems to avoid... like the elephant in the room type stuff

[Camua]

What can you say about CARM or The Bereans?

[slicedeep]

I think apologist need an association. They are leaders because they have a deeper understanding and vision. They also need communication skills that are equally important so they don't become irrelevant or too exclusive. Very often, you need to mentor a few people who would be trained to reach out to others in a winsome but precise way. We have been doing this for years and would love to exchange ideas with other leaders who have caught the vision. Myrtle Beach