Christian apologetics

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Christian apologetics is the rational defense of the Christian faith. The term comes from the Greek word apologia, which means "defense". There are a 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". [1]

History of Christian Apologetics

Christian apologetics has existed as long as Christianity itself. As Christianity was founded as a minority religion, and was under immediate persecution, believers, especially educated believers, jumped to the intellectual defense of their Faith.

Types of Christian Apologetics

Evidentialist

Christian Apologetics and the Resurrection of Jesus Christ

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. [2]

In recent history Dr. Gary Habermas is considered the foremost Christian apologist for defending the resurrection of Jesus. [3][4][5][6][7][8] 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." [9]

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. [10][11][12][13][14]

Legal scholars such as Simon Greenleaf, John Warwick Montgomery and many others have asserted that western legal standards argue for the resurrection of Christ. [15][16][17][18] Defenders of the resurrection of Christ also cite many distinguished legal authorities regarding the historicity of the resurrection of Christ. [19]


References

  1. ↑ http://www.tektonics.org/qt/sowant.html
  2. ↑ http://www.iclnet.org/pub/resources/text/cri/cri-jrnl/crj0056a.txt
  3. ↑ http://www.garyhabermas.com/articles/dialog_rexperience/dialog_rexperiences.htm
  4. ↑ http://www.tektonics.org/books/lichabrvw.html
  5. ↑ http://faculty.gordon.edu/hu/bi/Ted_Hildebrandt/NTeSources/NTArticles/CTR-NT/Habermas-Resurrection1-CTR.pdf
  6. ↑ http://faculty.gordon.edu/hu/bi/Ted_Hildebrandt/NTeSources/NTArticles/CTR-NT/Habermas-Resurrection2-CTR.pdf
  7. ↑ http://www.garyhabermas.com/articles/crj_explainingaway/crj_explainingaway.htm
  8. ↑ http://www.apologetics.com/default.jsp?bodycontent=/articles/historical_apologetics/habermas-nt.html
  9. ↑ http://www.bible.org/page.asp?page_id=639
  10. ↑ http://www.leaderu.com/offices/billcraig/menus/historical.html
  11. ↑ http://www.leaderu.com/everystudent/easter/articles/josh2.html
  12. ↑ http://www.leaderu.com/everystudent/easter/articles/yama.html
  13. ↑ http://www.ntwrightpage.com/Wright_Early_Traditions.htm
  14. ↑ http://www.michaelhorner.com/articles/resurrection/index.html
  15. ↑ http://www.bibleteacher.org/sgtestimony.htm
  16. ↑ http://www.mtio.com/articles/bissart1.htm
  17. ↑ http://lawreligionculturereview.blogspot.com/2005_01_01_lawreligionculturereview_archive.html
  18. ↑ http://www.trinitysem.edu/journal/philjohnsonpap.html
  19. ↑ http://www.ankerberg.com/Articles/apologetics/AP0302W3.htm

External Links

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