Difference between revisions of "Christian apologetics"

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'''Christian apologetics''' is the defense of the [[Christianity|Christian]] faith through logical arguments. The term comes from the [[Greek]] word ''apologia'', which means "defense". The expression "Christian apologist" therefore does not mean that someone is apologising for or on behalf of [[Christianity]] as is sometimes thought, but that he or she is defending and justifying it. There are a
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'''Christian apologetics''' is the defense of the [[Christianity|Christian]] faith through logical arguments. It doesn't exist.
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number of subfields within apologetics. Some apologists specialize in internal biblical consistency (such as [[JP Holding]], owner of 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]]). Christian apologist JP Holding has recommended that prospective apologists choose one area of focus rather than trying to be a "jack of all trades". <ref>http://www.tektonics.org/qt/sowant.html</ref> Some feel that faith alone should need no justification, however, 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 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 [[Origen]], Athanasius, [[Irenaeus]], [[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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===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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* [[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 related to the [[anthropic principle]], which is sometimes misused by [[atheist]]s such as [[Richard Dawkins]].  The fact that so many details had to be just so, including physical constants, to allow us to be here, argues for an intelligent designer.
 
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* [[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.
 
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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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* [[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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* 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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== 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|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>
 
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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://www.michaelhorner.com/articles/resurrection/index.html</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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== Question evolution campaign ==
 
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''See also:'' [[Question evolution! campaign]]
 
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Since [[World War II]] a majority of the most prominent and vocal defenders of the [[evolution|theory of evolution]] which employs [[methodological naturalism]] have been atheists.<ref>
 
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* Dr. Don Batten,[http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/737/ A ''Who’s Who'' of evolutionists] ''Creation'' 20(1):32, December 1997.
 
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* [[Jonathan Sarfati]], Ph.D.,F.M., [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/3830 ''Refuting Evolution'', Chapter 1, Facts and Bias]
 
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</ref> In 2011, a campaign called the [[Question evolution! campaign]] was launched by the [[Bible|biblical]] [[creation]] organization [[Creation Ministries International]] which is a worldwide "[[grassroots|grass-roots]] movement to challenge the anti-[[Christianity|Christian]] [[dogma]] of [[evolution]]".<ref>[http://creation.com/question-evolution Question evolution! campaign]</ref> The focus of the Question evolution! campaign is on 15 questions that evolutionists cannot answer.<ref>[http://creation.com/question-evolution Question evolution! campaign]</ref> The campaign will be primarily conducted in the [[United States]], the [[United Kingdom]], [[Canada]], [[Europe]], [[Australia]], [[New Zealand]], [[Singapore]] and [[South Africa]].<ref>http://creation.com/question-evolution</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 a 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, and A Christian Thinktank.
 
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== Christian websites with a large focus on the topic of atheism  ==
 
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[[File:TFT.JPG|right|300px]]
 
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Four of the more notable Christian apologetics which have a large focus on the topic of atheism are: [[True Free Thinker]], the [[Creation Ministries International and atheism|Creation Ministries International resources on atheism]], the [[Fixed Point Foundation]] website, and [[Atheism Analyzed]].
 
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==See Also==
 
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*[[Resources on becoming a Christian]]
 
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*[[Atheism]]
 
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*[[Evolution]]
 
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*[[Christian apologetics website resources]]
 
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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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== External Links ==
 
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=== General Christian apologetics websites ===
 
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* [http://www.allaboutgod.com All About GOD] &mdash; Answers to many questions regarding Christianity
 
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* [http://www.apologeticsinfo.org/resource.html Apologetics Information Ministry]
 
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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.tektonics.org/classics/classics.html Classic Works of Apologetics] (Tektonics)
 
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* [http://www.carm.org/apologetics.htm Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry]
 
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* [http://hisdefense.org/Links/Authors/tabid/297/Default.aspx Academy of Christian Apologetics]
 
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* [http://www.lifeway.com/apologetics LifeWay Apologetics]
 
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* [http://www.windmillministries.org Windmill Ministries]
 
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* [http://www.probe.org/ Probe Ministries -Christian Apologetics]
 
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* [http://www.ses.edu/Resources/ApologeticsJournal/tabid/104/Default.aspx Christian Apologetics Journal]
 
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* [http://www.arcapologetics.org/ Apologetics Resource Center]
 
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* [http://www.ApologeticsWiki.com/ Christian Apologetics Wiki] &mdash; [[Wiki]]-based Christian apologetics
 
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* [http://www.actministry.org Academy for Christian Thought]
 
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* [http://www.rbc.org/rtb/ 10 Reasons to Believe]
 
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=== Historical and legal apologetics ===
 
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'''Historical apologetics:'''
 
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*[http://www.michaelhorner.com/articles/resurrection/index.html Did Jesus Really Rise from the Dead?] by Michael Horner
 
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*[http://www.theapologiaproject.org/WHYIBE~1.pdf Why I Believe the New Testament is historically Reliable] by Dr. [[Gary Habermas]]
 
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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.gnmagazine.org/issues/gn30/archaeologychurch.htm The Bible & Archaeology: The Book of Acts: The Church Begins]
 
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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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*[http://abr.christiananswers.net/articles/contents.html Bible and Spade articles]
 
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* [http://www.probe.org/content/view/31/77/ Archaeology and the Old Testament] by Patrick Zukeran
 
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* [http://www.probe.org/site/c.fdKEIMNsEoG/b.4219999/k.A54E/The_Archaeological_Evidence_for_the_Bible_is_NonExistent.htm 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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=== Creation science ministries and other resources===
 
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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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'''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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* [http://www.apologeticspress.org/allegeddiscrepancies/sort-2-1-100-title Alleged Bible discrepancies] by Apologetics Press
 
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== Resources for becoming a Christian ==
 
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[[File:Hoffman Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane.jpg|thumbnail|170px|[[Jesus Christ|Christ]] in the Garden of Gethsemane by Heinrich Hofmann.]]
 
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''see also:'' [[Resources on becoming a Christian]] and [[Resources for leaving atheism and becoming a Christian]]
 
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'''Below are some resources on becoming a [[Christian]]:'''
 
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*[http://www.allaboutgod.com/ AllAboutGod.com]
 
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*[http://www.jesusfilm.org/film-and-media/watch-the-film  Jesus film - free access]
 
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*[http://www.thewordfortoday.org/?page=C2000 Free audio Bible and Bible audio streaming]
 
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*[[Video testimonies of Christians]]
 
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*[http://www.gotquestions.org/repentance.html Repentance]
 
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'''Tips on choosing a Christian church:'''
 
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*[http://www.allaboutreligion.org/choosing-a-christian-church-faq.htm Choosing a Christian Church]
 
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'''Spiritual growth as a Christian:'''
 
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*[http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/529785.The_Complete_Book_of_Discipleship The Complete Book of Discipleship: On Being and Making Followers of Christ]
 
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{{Liberalism}}
 
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==References==
 
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{{reflist|2}}
 
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[[Category: Christian Apologetics]]
 

Revision as of 05:59, June 29, 2011

Christian apologetics is the defense of the Christian faith through logical arguments. It doesn't exist.

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