Alister McGrath
Mere Apologetics - 4b Apologetics to the Greeks: Paul’s Athens Sermon (Acts 17)
Mere Apologetics - 4b Apologetics to the Greeks: Paul’s Athens Sermon (Acts 17)
by SPCK - Alister McGrath
Apologetics to the Greeks: Paul’s Athens Sermon (Acts 17) One of the most important audiences envisaged by New Testament writers for proclamation of the gospel is “the Greeks.” In Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, “Greeks” are set alongside “Jews” as a defining group of con…
Mere Apologetics - 4 The Importance of the Audience
Mere Apologetics - 4 The Importance of the Audience
by SPCK - Alister McGrath
The Importance of the Audience We need to ensure the message of the cross is proclaimed as effectively as possible. This means asking what points of contact there are for the gospel. How can we make sure it scratches where folks itch?…
Mere Apologetics - 3b Apologetics and a Theological Vision of Reality
Mere Apologetics - 3b Apologetics and a Theological Vision of Reality
by SPCK - Alister McGrath
Apologetics and a Theological Vision of Reality Apologetics is grounded in a deep appreciation of the intellectual capaciousness and spiritual richness of the Christian faith. The task of the apologist is not to make the Christian faith attractive or relevant to the world. Rather…
Mere Apologetics - 3 The Theological Basis of Apologetics
Mere Apologetics - 3 The Theological Basis of Apologetics
by SPCK - Alister McGrath
The Theological Basis of Apologetics Apologetics is not a set of techniques for winning people to Christ. It is not a set of argumentative templates designed to win debates. It is a willingness to work with God in helping people discover and turn to his glory…
Mere Apologetics - 2c The Approach Adopted in This Book
Mere Apologetics - 2c The Approach Adopted in This Book
by SPCK - Alister McGrath
The Approach Adopted in This Book There are many different ways of doing apologetics. Some books use a “case study” approach, considering a number of objections or difficulties concerning the Christian faith. Each of these is then examined, and answers are offered…
Mere Apologetics - 2b Apologetics and Postmodernity
Mere Apologetics - 2b Apologetics and Postmodernity
by SPCK - Alister McGrath
Apologetics and Postmodernity So what are the core themes of this “postmodernism” of which we are speaking? It has become something of a sacred tradition to begin any reflections on how the church should live and witness in postmodernity with a detailed account of scholarly refle…
Mere Apologetics - 2 Apologetics and Contemporary Culture
Mere Apologetics - 2 Apologetics and Contemporary Culture
by SPCK - Alister McGrath
Apologetics and Contemporary Culture Apologetics always takes place within a specific cultural context. Christian missionaries to China and India soon discovered that the apologetic methods that seemed to work well in western Europe did not seem to be effective in Asia…
Mere Apologetics - 1c Apologetics and Evangelism
Mere Apologetics - 1c Apologetics and Evangelism
by SPCK - Alister McGrath
Apologetics and Evangelism From what has just been said, it can be seen that Christian apologetics represents a serious and sustained engagement with the “ultimate questions” raised by a culture, people group, or individual, aiming to show how the Christian faith is able to provi…
Mere Apologetics - 1b The Basic Themes of Christian Apologetics
Mere Apologetics - 1b The Basic Themes of Christian Apologetics
by SPCK - Alister McGrath
The Basic Themes of Christian Apologetics Before exploring these possibilities, we need to think a little more about the nature of apologetics. What issues does it engage? How does it help us proclaim and communicate the gospel? We could summarize the three tasks faced by apologi…
Mere Apologetics - Introduction
Mere Apologetics - Introduction
by SPCK - Alister McGrath
Introduction This book is an introduction to apologetics—the field of Christian thought that focuses on the justification of the core themes of the Christian faith and its effective communication to the non-Christian world. It commends a mindset of engagement, encouraging Christi…
The Living God - The Trinity and the enrichment of the Christian life
The Living God - The Trinity and the enrichment of the Christian life
by SPCK - Alister McGrath
Mystery or muddle? The Trinity 5 The Trinity and the enrichment of the Christian life I was invited to give a lecture at Aberystwyth University in north Wales a few years back. How best to get there from Oxford, I wondered? Travelling by train turned out to be a bad idea as I wou…
The Living God - Getting some help: C.S. Lewis and Dorothy L. Sayers
The Living God - Getting some help: C.S. Lewis and Dorothy L. Sayers
by SPCK - Alister McGrath
Getting some help: C. S. Lewis and Dorothy L. Sayers After an initial period as an atheist, Lewis developed a faith in God in 1930 and moved towards a definite Christian commitment late in 1931. As he began to explore his faith he clearly gave some thought to the idea of the Trin…
The Living God - Going deeper into reality: the Trinity and ‘surface faith’
The Living God - Going deeper into reality: the Trinity and ‘surface faith’
by SPCK - Alister McGrath
Mystery or muddle? The Trinity 5 Going deeper into reality: the Trinity and ‘surface faith’ Now some will read these words and rightly wish to raise an objection. Their faith is simple; and they like it that way. They trust in God and believe firmly that they’ve been redeemed thr…
The Living God - The Christian story of salvation: doing justice to God
The Living God - The Christian story of salvation: doing justice to God
by SPCK - Alister McGrath
Mystery or muddle? The Trinity 5 The Christian story of salvation: doing justice to God The Christian Church has always realized that getting God right trumps everything. The doctrine of the Trinity aims to integrate all the elements of the rich and complex biblical witness to th…
The Living God - Mystery or muddle? The Trinity
The Living God - Mystery or muddle? The Trinity
by SPCK - Alister McGrath
Mystery or muddle? The Trinity 5 When I was an atheist I regarded religious people as deluded and irrational souls who believed all sorts of ridiculous nonsense. If I had been asked to single out what I regarded as the most absurd aspect of Christian belief, I would have pointed …
The Living God - Creation and science