Ndefenders of the faith introduction to apologetics books

The branch of theology which seeks to provide a rational justification for the truth claims of the christian faith and present christian doctrine clearly and convincingly. Description pastor billy crone presents defenders of the faith. Thats why josh and sean mcdowell believe it is so important for each of us to study apologetics, so we can provide intelligent answers for. New books continue to be added on a regular basis, so be sure to bookmark this site for your future browsing convenience. Handout apologetics by john gerstner ligonier ministries.

Thats why josh and sean mcdowell believe it is so important for each of us to study apologetics, so we can provide intelligent answers for the questions we may be asked. Following in the footsteps of groundbreaking apologist cornelius van til, scott oliphant presents us with an introduction to reformed apologetics as he sets forth the principles behind a distinctly covenantal approach. Craig is one of the most influential defenders of christianity in our day. According to craig, reasonable faith is intended primarily to serve as a textbook for seminary level courses on christian apologetics. It is the means by which the grace of god is accounted to the believer who trusts in the work of jesus on the cross eph. A list of suggested resources for learning ones own catholic faith, so that one will be able to explain in. Defending the faith can be daunting, and a wellreasoned and biblically grounded apologetic is essential for the challenge. Apologetics and catholic doctrine, archbishop michael sheehan. Seven lectures includes seven mini apologetics lectures by. Ravi zacharias published another book on how apologetics could impact on people in. Sadly enough many christians barely now the basics of their faith, let alone the.

Here the study moves on to the subject of how we defend the churchs confidence and belief in the authority and inspiration of the bible. Aimed at preparing you to clearly and confidently defend. Though defending your faith is subtitled an introduction to apologetics it is much more than that. Remembering edward john carnellsome reflections of a great. However, if apologetics is the formal process that we have come to expect, this sounds like an impossible task. First, he had a personal experience with jesus christ. I read his master book, reasonable faith, this year. His radio program, renewing your mind, is still broadcast daily on hundreds of. It sets forth the rational basis upon which the faith rests, and through that it challenges all forms of nonbiblical truth claims. Sproul affirms four logical principles that are necessary for all real discussion and teaches you how to defend your faith in a. This requires an examination of the evidenceshistorical and rationalfor historic christianity. The ten commandments of apologetics christian research. Working through this series will challenge and equip you to defend the faith. This comprehensive guidebook provides answers to many common questions regarding the christian faith.

Throughout history there have been great and articulate defenders of the faith. The heart of marian doctrine and devotion, mark mariavalle, a simple. Scott oliphint presents an introduction to reformed apologetics, also referred to as presuppositional apologetics. From the greek apologia, a legal term meaning defense is the branch of christian theology concerned with the intelligent presentation and defense of the historical christian faith. Apologetics is the systematic defense of the christian faith.

The word apologetics comes from the greek apologia, which literally means. Apologetics increases knowledge and a confident defense of the faith. He focuses on defending the basic truth claims for two of the most crucial issues of apologetics. Apologetics from greek meaning a reasoned defense is the defense of the faith once for all entrusted to the saints jude 3. Defending your faith with reason and precision william lane craig, lee. The first letter of peter tells its addressees that they must always be prepared to make a defense apologia to anyone who calls you to account for the hope that is in you 3. Answering objections with the power of the word expository apologetics apologetics is for everyone. Sproul 19392017 was founder of ligonier ministries, an international christian discipleship organization located near orlando, florida. Students will learn to apply the biblical worldview to subjects such as evolution, carbon dating, noahs ark and the flood, and over 50 more. Evidence for faith whether youve been following jesus for 5 minutes, 5 years, or 50 years, its important to understand what you believe and why.

Join our email list to receive 52 weeks of exclusive apologetics content free. This article is adapted from my book engaging the closed minded. It began as a set of lectures for craigs own class on apologetics in 2008, craig released the third edition of reasonable faith, which featured mild revisions to the previous version contents. Scott rae, clay jones, timothy muehlhoff, scott smith, craig hazen, john bloom, fred sanders.

The bible is clear that all believers are called to defend their faith. The defense of the faith has been required of christians when they faced persecution, but apologetics have also been undertaken in the face. This was a fantastic and very detailed survey of key apologetics topics. Aimed at preparing you to clearly and confidently defend your. The book has a great introduction where flew lays out the content of the book and. Author of a number of books, including family driven faith, the everloving truth, and joseph and the gospel of many colors, baucham is also a pastor, church planter, and conference speaker. This book clearly explains the theological foundations of covenantal. There is a widespread belief that reason and faith are incompatible and opposed to each other. This concise training manual is filled with illustrations, sidebars, and memorable steps to help you stand your ground and defend your faith with reason and precision. If theres one thing the world cant stand to hear from christians in regards to their skeptical questions, its this statement, well, you just gotta accept it by faith. Christian apologetics is that which deals with answering any and all critics who oppose or question the revelation of god in christ and the bible.

Craig offers four arguments for gods existence, defends the historicity of jesus personal claims and resurrection, addresses the problem of suffering. The reasoning, the information, and the responses given to defending your faith is an amazingly well written book, as is practically every sproul book that ive ever read. Introduction to apologetics defenders reasonable faith. This introduction to christian apologetics, rather than delving into specific arguments for the faith, examines the need to think well and develop logic skills. A handbook for practical apologetics chattanooga, tn. Christianity has always been under attack, and god has always raised up apologists to. Defending your faith can be daunting, and a wellreasoned and biblically grounded apologetic is essential for the challenge. Apologetics for the bible can i trust the bible part 1 can i trust the bible part 2 can i trust the bible part 3 can i trust the bible part 4 can i trust the bible part 5 can i trust the bible part 6 does science disprove. Peter and paul had more to say about christian apologetics than anyone else. Atheism 10 comparative religion 25 conversion stories 37 doctrinal and moral errors 85 evangelization 67 general reference 40.

Apologetics defending the word of god knowing jesus christ. Matt is also the president of acts 29, a worldwide churchplanting organization, and is involved in church planting efforts both locally and internationally. Introduction goals o to convince you that you can adequately defend the faith without being an expert in everything o to provide a framework for apologetics that will allow you to deal with any form of unbelief structure of the summer series see other handout i. The book is structured around the loci communes of systematic theology. His greatest joy outside of jesus is being married to lauren and. More extensive bibliographies are to be found in reasonable faith, after each respective chapter. So i am pleased to recommend his book on apologetics. There are several reasons why we need apologetics the first and most obvious is that we are commanded to defend the faith. Jan 06, 2017 gradually, apologetics evolved over time to become a branch of christian theology that engages in a reasoned defense of the christian faith. A wholistic model of apologetics for equipping the youth digital.

It is important to be able to answer the charge of elitism that is often leveled at christianity today, and this essay concludes with some cogent statements making a case for christianity. There are several reasons why we need to learn and practice apologetics. Offensive apologetics being comprised of natural theology and christian evidences, and defensive apologetics being comprised of answers to the objections to arguments for the existence of god and also of a defense of the reliability of the new testament and of the absoluteness of salvation through christ alone in response to the objectors to. He has several other books, however, that are more concise in nature. All products, books, apologetics defending the faith. Reasonable theologys ten most recommended apologetics books include titles from ravi zacharias, lee strobel, greg koukl, norman geisler and other top apologists. Christian apologetics is the discipline of rationally justifying ones belief in christianity through systematic discourse. The intellectual defense of the truthfulness of christianity.

Apr 23, 2007 offensive apologetics being comprised of natural theology and christian evidences, and defensive apologetics being comprised of answers to the objections to arguments for the existence of god and also of a defense of the reliability of the new testament and of the absoluteness of salvation through christ alone in response to the objectors to. Five lessons for everyday defenders of the faith del. Additional apologetics books being published this year include the landscape of faith. His chief work in apologetics is the book an introduction to christian apologetics. Defenders of the faith introduction to apologetics. This bibliography is structured according to the main subdivisions of the field of christian. Second, studying apologetics helps us to know our faith.

This book is an excellent introduction to apologetics. Just as good attorneys defend their clients in courts of law by presenting solid evidence and sound reasoning, so too apologists defend the truth of christianity through wellreasoned answers to the. Faith should be understood as synonymous with trust and or confidence in something. Wouldnt it be right to say that the proper starting point in apologetics is the defense of sacred scripture. Testanswer key9th 12th grade1 yearapologetics1 creditpackage includes. I get this question from time to time, stephen, so i put together a short list of helpful christian apologetics books. Christian truth and apologetics is a 1994 book by the philosopher william lane craig. It is the means by which the grace of god is accounted to the believer who trusts in. Presenting your faith to the confirmed unbeliever grand rapids. He was also founding pastor of saint andrews chapel in sanford, florida, first president of reformation bible college, and executive editor of tabletalk magazine. Essentially this is apologetics that focuses to begin with not on scripture, but on epistemology. Every two years we produce a new catalog in both print and electronic editions.

Sep 01, 2003 though defending your faith is subtitled an introduction to apologetics it is much more than that. But we can learn a lesson in apologetics from an unlikely example, a blind man in john 9. An explorers guide to the christian creeds by alister mcgrath spck, and two books from baker academic. Developed to provide the answers to so many objections of the faith. Of course, they were both apostles, leaders in the early church. Faith is viewed as subjective, emotional, a crutch for those who find the real world too hard. I read christian books and attended christian meetings. This study explores a whole host of doctrines important to the church and defends them all against common objections and misconceptions. Pdf books in addition to our two popular monthly journals, apologetics press also publishes numerous books, tracts, research articles, article reprints, video tapes, audio tapes, and other items. Following in the footsteps of groundbreaking apologist cornelius van til, k. List of catholic apologetics books to study and defend the faith. If theres one thing our world cant stand to hear from christians in regards to their skeptical questions its this statement, well, you just got to accept it by faith.

This is a fresh, clear, and practical introduction to apologetics from someone who doesnt just talk. Sproul clearly and simply argues that at its core christianity is rational. Sproul affirms four logical principles that are necessary for all real discussion and teaches you how to defend your faith in a faithless world. The substance remains the same, but the language is streamlined and made more accessible to the layperson. I wouldnt recommend diving straight into it if youre new to apologetics but absolutely would if youve done some preliminary reading. Sep 25, 2009 this is an excellent introduction to apologetics that places the bulk of the emphasis on the philosophical arguments typically used against theists. Or put another way, it is using reason, evidence, and testimony to explain the christian faith. The reasoning, the information, and the responses given to defending your faith is an amazingly well written book, as is.

Understanding and responding to critical issues that christians face today. Apologetics as defenders of truth can play a key role in. Matt speaks at conferences throughout the world and has authored two books, the explicit gospel and creature of the word. See also his defenders of the faith in word and deed. On guard is craig s introduction to the wealth of information, logic, and. Sproul shows that the first thing to do is to establish the existence of god. Though many of the worlds finest minds hold this view, the bible teaches that it is the fool who says there is no god. Apologetics is the science and art of presenting reasonable defenses for the truth of christianity. Shop for books to help you understand the christian faith and answer questions.