Difference between revisions of "Christian apologetics"

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'''Christian apologetics''' is the defense of the [[Christianity|Christian]] faith through logic/evidence based arguments. The word [[apologetics]] comes from the Greek word apologia  (from Greek ἀπολογία), which means "speaking in defense".
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There are a number of subfields within apologetics. Some apologists specialize in internal biblical consistency (such as [[JP Holding]], owner of the website tektonics.org), others in scientific defenses of the Bible, and still others in historical or philosophical defenses of Christianity (such as [[Gary Habermas]] or [[Lee Strobel]]). Although some feel that their faith needs no justification, many feel that Christians should be prepared to defend and spread their faith by intellectual means, especially as many people will not accept Christianity without a "rational" reason to do so.
 
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{{Christianity}}
 
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==History of Christian Apologetics==
 
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Christian apologetics has existed as long as Christianity itself.  [[Jesus]] himself spent time in the temples and synagogues, debating and explaining the meaning of the scriptures.  The [[Saint Peter|Apostle Peter]] exhorted early Christians to practice apologetics, writing,
 
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:"Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander."  1 Peter 3:15-16.
 
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The Apostle Paul also spent time in [[Athens]], debating [[Stoicism|Stoic]] and Epicurian philosophers.  Acts 17:16.
 
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Great theologians such as Athanasius, [[Irenaeus]], [[Justin Martyr]], [[Augustine]], and [[Aquinas]] continued the tradition of apologetics on a dramatic scale.  At the same time, apologetics was practiced by countless individual Christians, explaining and defending their beliefs.
 
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===Purposes===
 
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Apologetics has generally been used for two purposes: Efforts to ''persuade'' others of the truth of Christianity, and efforts to ''defend'' the reasonableness of one's own beliefs, while not seeking to convince others of their truth.
 
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==Types of Christian Apologetics==
 
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===Evidentialist apologetics===
 
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Evidential apologetics seeks to defend Christian belief through [[evidence]].  This can take the form of:
 
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* [[Christian historical apologetics|Defense of the historical accuracy of the Bible]]
 
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* [[Biblical Archaeology]], seeking to show that the Bible is consistent with the physical evidence;
 
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* [[Christian Legal Apologetics]]
 
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* [[Bible prophecy]]
 
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* [[Creation science]] and [[Creationism]], seeking to show that the creation accounts of the Bible are the most reasonable explanation for life as we know it and that the [[evolution|evolutionary paradigm]] is untenable.
 
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* [[Biblical scientific foreknowledge]]
 
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===Philosophical apologetics===
 
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Philosophical apologetics seeks to defend Christian belief through philosophical argument: primarily [[arguments for the existence of God]].  This can take the form of:
 
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* The [[Teleological argument]]: When you find a watch in the sand, you infer that it is designed, even if you do not see the designer, because it is complex, has a definite purpose, and could not have come to be through any known non-intelligent causes.  Therefore, when we observe a complex, purposeful universe which could not have come to be through any known non-intelligent cause, it is reasonable to infer the existence of a designer, aka God.
 
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:This is connected to the [[anthropic principle]], which is the argument that so much fine-tuning and exact physiological constants allows us to be here, provides evidence in support of an intelligent designer.
 
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* The [[Cosmological argument]]: Every event in the universe is caused by something.  It is impossible that everything should have a cause, going back to eternity.  Therefore, there must be a [[first cause]], which itself is not caused, and that first cause must be capable of causing the universe, aka God.  [[Creation science|Creationist scientists]] demonstrate that the [[First Law of Thermodynamics|first law of thermodynamics]] and [[second law of thermodynamics]] argue against an eternal [[universe]] and they also demonstrate that these laws point to the universe being supernaturally created.<ref>[http://godevidences.net/space/lawsofscience.php Evidences for God From Space&mdash;Laws of Science]</ref><ref>Thompson, Bert, [http://www.apologeticspress.org/articles/2329 So Long, Eternal Universe; Hello Beginning, Hello End!], 2001 (Apologetics Press)</ref><ref>http://www.creationscience.com/onlinebook/AstroPhysicalSciences14.html</ref>
 
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In the 20th century, this argument has been strongly supported by [[science]], with the discovery that the universe had a beginning. Prior to the 1920s, it had been widely believed that the universe's existence had been eternal.<ref>http://www.harvardhouse.com/Science-Religion.htm</ref> This verifies the very first three words of the [[Bible]]: "In the beginning."
 
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* The [[Ontological argument]]: God is the being than which no greater can be conceived.  It is greater to exist than to not exist.  Therefore, if you conceive God as not existing, you are not conceiving the being than which no greater can be conceived, and are therefore not conceiving God.  Therefore, it is impossible to conceive of God as not existing.  Therefore, God exists. 
 
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* The Argument from morality: All humans are born with a natural, moral code.  A moral code implies a moral code giver, aka God.
 
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===Presuppositional apologetics===
 
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[[Presuppositional Apologetics]] seek to defend Christian belief by showing that belief in Christian precepts is necessary to make sense of the human experience as a whole.
 
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=== Growth of Christian apologetics in the world today while atheist apologetics is stagnating ===
 
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Today, there is a growth of Christian apologetics in the world, while the atheist apologetic community is in a state of stagnation. See: [[Rebuttals to atheist arguments|Growth of Christian apologetics]]
 
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== Christian Apologetics and the Resurrection of Jesus Christ ==
 
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{{See also|Christian Apologetics and the Resurrection of Jesus Christ}}
 
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The [[resurrection of Jesus Christ]] is critical to the Christian faith.  The Apostle Paul wrote, "if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain" (I Cor:15:14).  Traditionally, Christianity has believed in a physical resurrection of Jesus Christ.<ref>http://www.iclnet.org/pub/resources/text/cri/cri-jrnl/crj0056a.txt</ref> The Christian apologist Michael Horner of [[Campus Crusade for Christ|CRU]] has an excellent resource which offers a defense of the resurrection of Jesus Christ entitled  [http://powertochange.com/discover/faith/jesusrose1/ Did Jesus really rise from the dead?]. In addition, Dr. Gary Habermas offers [http://www.garyhabermas.com/audio/audio.htm an online audio library which defends the resurrection of Jesus Christ.]
 
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In recent history, Dr. [[Gary Habermas]] is considered the foremost Christian apologist for defending the resurrection of Jesus.<ref>http://www.garyhabermas.com/articles/dialog_rexperience/dialog_rexperiences.htm</ref><ref>http://www.tektonics.org/books/lichabrvw.html</ref><ref>http://faculty.gordon.edu/hu/bi/Ted_Hildebrandt/NTeSources/NTArticles/CTR-NT/Habermas-Resurrection2-CTR.pdf</ref><ref>http://www.garyhabermas.com/articles/crj_explainingaway/crj_explainingaway.htm</ref><ref>http://www.apologetics.com/default.jsp?bodycontent=/articles/historical_apologetics/habermas-nt.html</ref>  Dr. Habermas had a debate against the philosopher Antony Flew regarding the resurrection which was chronicled in the work ''Did Jesus Rise from the Dead? The Resurrection Debate'' and the debate had a panel of debate judges.  J. Hampton Keathley, III, Th.M. in his essay ''Evidences for the Resurrection'' wrote: "The decision of the judges were as follows. The panel of philosophers judging content cast four votes for Habermas who argued for the fact of the resurrection, none for Flew, and one draw. The panel of professional debate judges voted three to two, also in favor of Habermas, this time regarding the method of argumentation technique." <ref>http://www.bible.org/page.asp?page_id=639</ref>
 
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In recent history some notable defenders of the resurrection include: [[William Lane Craig]], Ben Witherington, [[Lee Strobel]], [[Josh McDowell]], Edwin M. Yamauchi, [[N.T. Wright]] and Michael Horner.<ref>http://www.leaderu.com/offices/billcraig/menus/historical.html</ref><ref>http://www.leaderu.com/everystudent/easter/articles/josh2.html</ref><ref>http://www.leaderu.com/everystudent/easter/articles/yama.html</ref><ref>http://www.ntwrightpage.com/Wright_Early_Traditions.htm</ref><ref>http://powertochange.com/discover/faith/jesusrose1/</ref>
 
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Legal scholars, legal authorities, and eminent lawyers such as [[Simon Greenleaf]], John Warwick Montgomery, Lord Darling, John Singleton Copley, [[Hugo Grotius]], Lord Caldecote, J. N. D. Anderson, [[Lionel Luckhoo]], and many others have asserted that western legal standards argue for the resurrection of Christ.<ref>http://www.bibleteacher.org/sgtestimony.htm</ref><ref>http://www.mtio.com/articles/bissart1.htm</ref><ref>http://www.ankerberg.com/Articles/apologetics/AP0302W3.htm</ref><ref>http://lawreligionculturereview.blogspot.com/2005_01_01_lawreligionculturereview_archive.html</ref><ref>http://www.trinitysem.edu/journal/philjohnsonpap.html</ref>
 
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== Christian Apologetic Ministries ==
 
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There are a number of [[Internet]] based Christian apologetic Ministries or Christian apologetics ministries which have an Internet presence.  Some of the more notable Christian apologetic ministries are: Fixed Point Foundation,<ref>http://www.fixed-point.org</ref> Tekton Apologetics Ministries, LeadershipU, Probe Ministries, Christian Answers Network, Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry, A Christian Thinktank, Reasonable Faith, Answers for Hope, and Catholic Answers<ref>http://www.catholic.com</ref>.
 
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== Christian websites with a large focus on the topic of atheism  ==
 
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[[File:TFT.JPG|right|300px|thumbnail|[[True Freethinker]] is a Christian apologetics website run by Ken Ammi which offers many refutations of [[atheism]].]]
 
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{{See also|Atheism vs. Christianity}}
 
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Four of the more notable Christian apologetics which have a large focus on the topic of atheism are: [[True Freethinker]], the [[Creation Ministries International and atheism|Creation Ministries International resources on atheism]], the [[Fixed Point Foundation]] website, and [[Atheism Analyzed]].
 
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== Christian apologetics clubs on college campuses ==
 
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[[Ratio Christi]] is a global movement that equips university students and faculty to give historical, philosophical, and scientific reasons for following Jesus Christ.
 
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The Christian apologetics organization Stand to Reason wrote:
 
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{{cquote|Ratio Christi, a fairly new apologetics organization that is seeking to change the intellectual atmosphere at universities by bringing Christianity into public, academic discussion. Their goal is to start on-campus apologetics clubs at 500 universities in the next five years. This is where you come in--because it’s also Ratio Christi’s goal to connect each of these clubs with a person who has been trained in apologetics (but who probably has a different day job) to act as chapter director.
 
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Ratio Christi helps each chapter organize one or two campus-wide events a year by connecting them with speakers and debaters like William Lane Craig and Gary Habermas, helping them find the funding, etc. But after the event has come and gone, the lay apologist is still there to lead discussions and interact with the Christians, skeptics, atheists, and seekers who may never have realized that Christianity has a weighty intellectual tradition behind it.<ref>[http://str.typepad.com/weblog/2011/05/ratio-christi-apologetics-clubs.html Ratio Christi Apologetics Clubs]</ref>}}
 
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== Christianity apologetics and the developing world ==
 
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{{See also|Christian apologetics and education}}
 
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Because of the rapid growth of Christianity in the developing world where people often have modest incomes, there is a large pent up demand for theological/Christian apologetic higher education which has spawned various initiatives such as [[Trinity Graduate School of Apologetics and Theology]] which offers free/low cost training in these academic disciplines.<ref>[http://www.anglicannews.org/news/2013/09/global-survey-documents-theological-education-trends.aspx Global survey documents theological education trends],'' Anglican Community News Service'',  September 19, 2013</ref><ref>[http://www.trinitytheology.org/why-free-graduate-theology-programs/ Why Free Graduate Theology Programs]</ref> Trinity has over 40 international, highly qualified, and highly experienced faculty members and mentors.<ref>[http://www.trinitytheology.org/trinity-international-committee/ Trinity International Committee]</ref> The majority of degrees obtained through Trinity are done so through distance learning over the internet.
 
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Students from developing countries receive a free education from Trinity and students from developed countries pay a nominal registration, but they pay no fees.<ref>[http://www.trinitytheology.org/why-free-graduate-theology-programs/ Why Free Graduate Theology Programs]</ref>
 
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== Recommended books ==
 
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'''General Christian apologetics:'''
 
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*Carl Gallups, ''The Magic Man in the Sky: Effectively Defending the Christian Faith'', WND Books, 2012, ISBN 1936488523 [http://www.amazon.com/The-Magic-Man-Sky-Effectively/dp/1936488523]
 
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*[[Josh McDowell]], ''The New Evidence That Demands A Verdict Fully Updated To Answer The Questions Challenging Christians Today'', 1999, ISBN 0785242198
 
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*[[Lee Strobel]], ''Case for Christ: A Journalist's Personal Investigation of the Evidence for Jesus '', Zondervan, 1998, ISBN 0310209307
 
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*[[Gary Habermas]] and Michael Licona, ''The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus'', Kregel Publications, 2004, ISBN 0825427886
 
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'''Old Testament apologetics:'''
 
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*Walter C. Kaiser, Jr., ''The Old Testament Documents: Are They Reliable & Relevant?'', IVP Academic, 2001, ISBN 0830819754
 
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*Kenneth Kitchen, ''On The Reliability of the Old Testament'', Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2006. ISBN 0802803962
 
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'''Biblical creation apologetics:'''
 
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*[[Jonathan Sarfati]], ''Refuting Evolution'', Master Books, 1999 [http://www.creation.com/content/view/4014/ (Free on-line version)] ISBN 0890512582
 
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*Jonathan Sarfati, ''Refuting Evolution 2'', Master Books, 2002,[http://www.creation.com/content/view/4013/ (Free on-line version)] ISBN 0890513872
 
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*[[Phillip E. Johnson|Phillip Johnson]], ''Darwin on Trial''. InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove, Illinois. 1991<ref>http://www.leaderu.com/orgs/probe/docs/darwin.html</ref> ISBN 0-8308-1324-1
 
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*[[Duane Gish]], ''Evolution: The Fossils Still Say No!'', El Cajon: [[Institute for Creation Research]], 1996<ref>http://www.icr.org/store/index.php?main_page=pubs_product_book_info&products_id=2176</ref> ISBN 9780890511121
 
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*[[R. C. Sproul]], ''Not a Chance: The Myth of Chance in Modern Science and Cosmology'', Baker Book House: 1994<ref>http://www.ldolphin.org/chance.html</ref> ISBN 080105852X
 
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=== Christian apologetics books on atheism ===
 
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* [[Christian apologetics books on atheism]]
 
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==See also==
 
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*[[Resources on becoming a Christian]]
 
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* [[Logical arguments for the existence of God|22 arguments for the existence of God]]
 
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*[[Philosophical naturalism]]
 
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*[[Atheism]]
 
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*[[Evolution]]
 
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*[[Christian apologetics websites|Christian apologetics website resources]]
 
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*[[Harmony of the Gospel (Conservative Version)]]
 
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*[[Israel Tourism]] for some biblical archaeological sites available to tourists
 
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*[[Inspiration of Holy Scripture: An Eastern Christian and Jewish Perspective]]
 
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*[[List of proofs of God]]
 
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*[[Essay: How to "get" a church]] For the experience of the supernatural as aid to the acceptance of the miraculous of the Biblical story
 
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*[[Essay: The superiority of the King James Bible: Looking through!]] For the support that correct linguistic understanding gives to the resolutiion and reasonableness of apparently confusing, conflicting, or non convincing understandings.
 
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*[[Adiabene]] for the support of history for the Biblical Son and rule of David
 
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*[[House of David]] for the support of archaeology and epigraphy for the Biblical witness to David and David's kingdom
 
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*[[New Testament understanding through the Jewish perspective]] For the contemporary 1st century and normative Jewish approach and custom authenticating New Testament data and perspective.
 
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*[[Life and Doctrine]]
 
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== External links ==
 
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=== General Christian apologetics websites ===
 
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*[http://searchcreation.org SearchCreation.org Search Engine]
 
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* [http://creation.com/christian-apologetics-questions-and-answers Christian apologetics]
 
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* [http://www.str.org/site/PageServer Stand to Reason]
 
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* [http://www.apologetics.com Apologetics.com]
 
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* [http://www.tektonics.org Tekton Apologetics Ministries]
 
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* [http://www.carm.org Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry]
 
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* [http://www.probe.org/ Probe Ministries -Christian Apologetics]
 
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* [http://www.ApologeticsWiki.com/ Christian Apologetics Wiki] &mdash; [[Wiki]]-based Christian apologetics
 
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* [http://www.rbc.org/rtb/ 10 Reasons to Believe]
 
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* [http://www.equip.org Christian Research Institute]
 
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* [http://www.typologetics.com Typologetics - Apologetics through literary analysis of the sacred texts]
 
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=== Historical and legal apologetics ===
 
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'''Historical apologetics:'''
 
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*[http://powertochange.com/discover/faith/jesusrose1/ Did Jesus Really Rise from the Dead?] by Michael Horner
 
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*[http://www.garyhabermas.com/articles/articles.htm Journal articles of Dr. Gary Habermas]
 
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*[http://www.leaderu.com/orgs/probe/docs/bib-docu.html Are the Biblical Documents Reliable?]
 
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*[http://www.tektonics.org/lp/nowayjose.html The Impossible faith] by [[JP Holding]]
 
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'''Christian legal apologetics:'''
 
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*[[Christian legal apologetics]]
 
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=== Bible archaeology ===
 
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*[http://www.christiananswers.net/archaeology/ Bible archaeology]
 
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*[http://www.allaboutthejourney.org/saint-luke.htm St. Luke, archaeology, Book of Acts]
 
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*[http://www.inplainsite.org/html/acts_and_archaeology.html Archaeology and the Book of Acts]
 
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*[http://faculty.gordon.edu/hu/bi/Ted_Hildebrandt/NTeSources/NTArticles/CTR-NT/McRay-ArchaeologyActs-CTR.pdf Archaeology and the Book of Acts] - Gordon College
 
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*[http://www.ucg.ca/booklets/BA2/paultravels.asp Book of Acts - Paul's travels]
 
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* [https://www.probe.org/archaeology-and-the-old-testament/ Archaeology and the Old Testament] by Patrick Zukeran
 
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* [https://www.probe.org/the-archaeological-evidence-for-the-bible-is-non-existent/ The Archaeological Evidence for the Bible is Non-Existent!] A reply from James F. Williams
 
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'''Bible archaeology and dating:'''
 
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* [http://www.apologeticspress.org/articles/2020 Dating in Archaeology: Challenges to Biblical Credibility] by Garry K. Brantley, M.A., M.Div.
 
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=== Christian worldview/Christian philosophy ===
 
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* [http://www.rzim.org/ Ravi Zacharias, modern apologist]
 
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* [http://www.str.org/ Stand to Reason]
 
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* [http://www.leaderu.com/menus/theology.html Leadership U]
 
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* [http://www.worldview.org Worldview Academy]
 
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'''Videos on atheism:'''
 
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*[[Atheism videos|Videos on atheism]]
 
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'''Websites, articles and videos focusing on atheism:'''
 
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*[[Atheism website resources]]
 
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*[[True Free Thinker]].
 
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*[http://www.fixed-point.org Fixed Point Foundation] &mdash; Committed to publicly defending Christianity by empowering Christians and challenging skeptics.
 
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*[[Atheism Analyzed]]
 
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*[[Rebuttals to atheist arguments|Rebuttals to common atheist arguments]]
 
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=== Creation science ministries and other resources===
 
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*[http://associationforcreation.org/ The International Association For Creation]
 
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*[http://creationnetwork.org/ The Creation Network]
 
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*[http://visitcreation.org/ The Big Map of Creation]
 
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* [http://creation.com/ Creation Ministries International]
 
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* [http://www.answersingenesis.org Answers in Genesis]
 
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* [http://www.icr.org Institute for Creation Science]
 
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[[Conservapedia]] articles on evolution and creation science:
 
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*[[Evolution]]
 
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*[[Creation science]]
 
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=== Bible prophecy articles and websites ===
 
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'''Analysis of Bible prophecy from Christian scholars/apologists'''
 
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*[http://sciencespeaks.dstoner.net/Prophetic_Accuracy.html#c8 Science speaks - Prophetic accuracy] by Dr. Peter Stoner
 
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*[http://www.drjbloom.com/public%20files/PubTheoData.pdf Public Theology and Prophecy Data - Factual Evidence that Counts for a Worldview] by Dr. John Bloom, Robert C. Newman, and Hugh G. Gouch, Jr.
 
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*[http://www.ankerberg.com/Articles/ATRJ/proof/ATRJ1103PDF/ATRJ1103-16.pdf The Case for Jesus the Messiah — Incredible Prophecies that Prove God Exist] by Dr. John Ankerberg, Dr. John Weldon and Dr. Walter Kaiser Jr.
 
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*[http://www.johnankerberg.com/Articles/_PDFArchives/apologetics/AP1W1299.pdf The Case for Jesus the Messiah — Incredible Prophecies that Prove God Exist - Part Two] by Dr. John Ankerberg, Dr. John Weldon and Dr. Walter Kaiser Jr.
 
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*[http://www.aboutbibleprophecy.com/ AboutBibleprophecy]
 
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*[http://www.allaboutthejourney.org/prophecy-about-jesus.htm Prophecy about Jesus]
 
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*[http://www.biblearchaeology.org/post/2009/12/07/ezekiel-261-14-a-proof-text-for-inerrancy-or-fallibility-of-the-old-testament.aspx#Article Defense of city of Tyre prophecy]
 
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'''Rebuttal to atheist Steven Carr concerning Bible prophecy:'''
 
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*[http://www.tektonics.org/af/carrs01.html Steven Carr's The Jury Is In Chapter 11: Rebuttal] by [[JP Holding]]
 
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=== Biblical inerrancy resources ===
 
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* [http://www.tektonics.org Tekton Apologetics Ministries]
 
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* [http://www.christian-thinktank.com Christian Thinktank]
 
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* [http://www.inerrancy.org/ Inerrancy.org]
 
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* [http://www.christianthinktank.com/ A Christian Thinktank]
 
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==References==
 
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{{reflist|2}}
 
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[[Category:Apologetics]]
 
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[[Category:Christian Apologetics]]
 
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[[Category:Christian Authors]]
 
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[[Category:Christianity]]
 

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