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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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 4c Apologetics to the Romans: Paul’s Legal Speeches (Acts 24-26)
Mere Apologetics - 4c Apologetics to the Romans: Paul’s Legal Speeches (Acts 24-26)
by SPCK - Alister McGrath
Apologetics to the Romans: Paul’s Legal Speeches (Acts 24-26) The third audience early Christianity encountered was the Romans. At that time, Rome was the imperial force dominating the Mediterranean world. It is clear that the imperial Roman authorities regarded the emergence of …
Mere Apologetics - 5 The Reasonableness of the Christian Faith
Mere Apologetics - 5 The Reasonableness of the Christian Faith
by SPCK - Alister McGrath
The Reasonableness of the Christian Faith Apologetics is about persuading people that Christianity makes sense. C. S. Lewis, perhaps the greatest Christian apologist of the twentieth century, describes the capacity the Christian faith has to make sense of things with characterist…
Mere Apologetics - 5b Why Does the Reasonableness of Christianity Matter?
Mere Apologetics - 5b Why Does the Reasonableness of Christianity Matter?
by SPCK - Alister McGrath
Why Does the Reasonableness of Christianity Matter? Why is this point so important? Why should we need to show that Christian belief is reasonable? Why not just assert it? One of the apologetic points we need to emphasize here is that it is difficult to defend ideas that seem cou…
Mere Apologetics - 5c The Philosophy of Science as a Resource for Apologetics
Mere Apologetics - 5c The Philosophy of Science as a Resource for Apologetics
by SPCK - Alister McGrath
The Philosophy of Science as a Resource for Apologetics In narrating the story of his conversion in Surprised by Joy, C. S. Lewis makes it clear he did not come to believe in God as the result of a deductive argument, but rather by reflection on his experience. This thought leads…
Mere Apologetics - 5d Making Sense of Things: A Case Study
Mere Apologetics - 5d Making Sense of Things: A Case Study
by SPCK - Alister McGrath
Making Sense of Things: A Case Study To explore this further, we shall consider how effective the Christian way of seeing things is at making sense of what we observe. How good is the fit between theory and observation? So how can we make sense of the shape of history and the dis…
Mere Apologetics - 6 Pointers to Faith
Mere Apologetics - 6 Pointers to Faith
by SPCK - Alister McGrath
Pointers to Faith American poet Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892–1950) spoke of “a meteoric shower of facts” raining from the sky. These facts are like threads that need to be woven into a tapestry, clues that need to be assembled to disclose the big picture. As Millay pointed out, …
Mere Apologetics - 6b Clue 3: Order—The Structure of the Physical World