A Review of Defending the Faith Looking for a book on women’s ministry that stands out from the crowd? I found one. It’s a great new book I was given by Kregel on apologetics in women’s ministry: Defending the Faith by Mary Jo Sharp. … [Read more...]
7 Tips on Engaging Skeptics Like Paul Did in Athens [Part 3]
7 Cultural Engagement Tips from Acts 17 Today, I’m closing out my series of 3 cultural engagement posts called “7 Tips on Engaging Skeptics Like Paul Did in Athens.” In parts 1 and 2, I shared 5 simple lessons from Paul’s time in Athens: Care About People Prepare for Insults and Interest Find a Point of Contact Help Them Connect the Dots Recognize the Potential for Truth … [Read more...]
America After 9/11: Is Religion Evil?
Attitude Adjustment How did 9/11 change America’s attitude toward religion? A recent post on CNN’s Belief Blog says: “Before 9/11, many atheists kept a low profile. Something changed, though, after 9/11. They got loud… Criticism of all religion, not just fanatical cults, was no longer taboo after 9/11.” Indeed. Around the 10-year anniversary of 9/11, American Atheists hit the … [Read more...]
Making Sense of the Historical Jesus Debate (vid)
Check out the interview I did with my mentor, Dr. Darrell Bock, after his presentation on “Making Sense of the Historical Jesus Debate” at the Table Conference in Carrollton, Texas. In this video clip, I ask him three questions about orality in the New Testament, the claim that there were many Messiahs in Jesus’ day and how to proceed in a spiritual conversation with someone … [Read more...]
7 Tips on Engaging Skeptics Like Paul Did in Athens [Part 2]
3 More Cultural Engagement Tips Today, we’re moving on in my new series of posts called, “7 Tips on Engaging Skeptics Like Paul Did in Athens.” In part one, we took a brief look at some historical background and focused on two simple lessons from Paul’s encounter in Acts 17: Care About People Prepare for Insults and Interest In this article, I’ll share 3 more cultural … [Read more...]
Speaking the Truth in Love
William Lane Craig was my teacher This was while I was doing my graduate work at Biola University. In this post, I’ll share an important lesson I learned from William Lane Craig about speaking the truth in love. I remember how he began our “Philosophical Issues for Apologists” course by saying he often signs his books with 2 Corinthians 10:5 as a subscript: We demolish … [Read more...]
Argue Without Being Argumentative
Who likes to argue? Depends what you mean. Unfortunately, apologists use words which could give people the wrong impression: “Apologetics” sounds like apologizing. “Defense” sounds like training for hand-to-hand combat. And “argue” sounds like the thing you hate doing with your family on the way to church! … [Read more...]
Defend Without Getting Defensive
Ever get uncomfortable listening to opposing views? Some believers get defensive and feel pressure to defend the entire Christian worldview when confronted with one objection to the faith! I’m suggesting we reduce this pressure by employing a modest goal and a simple strategy: Get the skeptic thinking by asking sincere, but strategic questions. … [Read more...]
Why Study Apologetics?
Ever met a Christian who told you not waste your time studying apologetics? I’ve known some well-meaning, but seriously misinformed believers who look down on the practice of providing evidence for the truth of Christianity. Why learn to give people reasons to believe? Here’s a quick response: Because Jesus gave people reasons to believe (See my previous post on this). His … [Read more...]
Questioning Evangelism by Randy Newman – Book Review
Questioning Evangelism Looking for a short read that's insightful and practical? Check out a very accessible book called Questioning Evangelism by Randy Newman. I almost put this on the required reading list for my "Practicing Apologetics and Evangelism" class at Western Seminary, but I ended up leaving it off, thinking the course load was already pretty tough. In hindsight, I … [Read more...]