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== Christian Apologetic Ministries ==
 
== 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: Reasonable Faith, [[Ravi Zacharias]] Ministries, 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, , Answers for Hope, and Catholic Answers.<ref>http://www.catholic.com</ref>
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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: Reasonable Faith, [[Ravi Zacharias]] Ministries, 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, Answers for Hope, Brace E. Barber and Catholic Answers.<ref>http://www.catholic.com</ref>
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Brace E. Barber leads a [https://www.bracebarber.com Christian Apologetics Ministry]. Brace brings a message of hope along with step-by-step instructions to churches, parents and organizations in order retain youth raised in Christian homes in the Christian faith. Brace challenges commonly held assumptions about the shallow nature of Christian youth education. Brace is a West Point graduate and Army Veteran. He brings a military-strategist mindset to the problem of the loss of youth from the Christian Church. He provides insights, analysis and solutions to solve the problem.
  
 
== Christian websites with a large focus on the topic of atheism  ==
 
== Christian websites with a large focus on the topic of atheism  ==
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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>}}
 
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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Newman Centers, also called Newman Houses, Newman Clubs, or Newman Communities, are Roman Catholic ministry centers at non-Catholic universities found throughout the world. The establishment of this movement was inspired by the writings of Cardinal [[John Henry Newman]] encouraging societies for Catholic students attending secular universities, confronted by an anti-Christian, anti-Catholic, and anti-religious secular intellectual atmosphere. The centers provide pastoral services and ministries to their Catholic communities, in particular to the Roman Catholic student population within the universities. However, since these centers are located on university campuses, Christians of other denominations often come and participate as well. They provide ready access to a multitude of informational resources defending the literal physical resurrection of Jesus Christ, and the reasonableness of Christian faith and critical research establishing the reliability of the Bible.<ref>[http://www.uscatholic.org/life/2012/01/newman-centers-brief-history Newman Centers: A Brief History, by J.D. Long-Garcia (uscatholic.org)]</ref><ref>[http://www.newmanconnection.com/locations/ What are newman centers? - The Newman Connection (newmanconnection.com)]</ref><ref>[https://www.bestcollegereviews.org/features/college-newman-centers/ The 50 Best College Newman Centers (bestcollegereviews.org)]</ref><ref>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newman_Centers Newman Centers - Wikipedia]</ref>
 
  
 
== Christianity apologetics and the developing world ==
 
== Christianity apologetics and the developing world ==
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*[[Lee Strobel]], ''Case for Christ: A Journalist's Personal Investigation of the Evidence for Jesus '', Zondervan, 1998, ISBN 0310209307
 
*[[Lee Strobel]], ''Case for Christ: A Journalist's Personal Investigation of the Evidence for Jesus '', Zondervan, 1998, ISBN 0310209307
 
*[[Gary Habermas]] and Michael Licona, ''The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus'', Kregel Publications, 2004, ISBN 0825427886
 
*[[Gary Habermas]] and Michael Licona, ''The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus'', Kregel Publications, 2004, ISBN 0825427886
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*[[Brace E. Barber]], ''TESTED: A New Strategy for Keeping Kids in the Faith'' 2018, ISBN 978-0967829241
  
 
'''Old Testament apologetics:'''  
 
'''Old Testament apologetics:'''  
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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
 
*[[Essay: How to "get" a church]] For the experience of the supernatural as aid to the acceptance of the miraculous of the Biblical story
 
*[[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.  
 
*[[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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*[["Catholic Heresies and Traditions Adopted and Perpetuated by the Roman Catholic Church in the Course of 1600 Years"]]
 
*[[Adiabene]] for the support of history for the Biblical Son and rule of David
 
*[[Adiabene]] for the support of history for the Biblical Son and rule of David
 
*[[House of David]] for the support of archaeology and epigraphy for the Biblical witness to David and David's kingdom
 
*[[House of David]] for the support of archaeology and epigraphy for the Biblical witness to David and David's kingdom
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See also: [[Christian apologetics websites|Christian apologetics websites and articles]]
 
See also: [[Christian apologetics websites|Christian apologetics websites and articles]]
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=== Introduction to Christian apologetics video series ===
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*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5c-irygQqHk&list=PLc2eSR_oncVjRl5DnjKemiRdeVcf1jWWw Introduction to Christian apologetics video series]
  
 
=== General Christian apologetics websites ===
 
=== General Christian apologetics websites ===

Revision as of 01:32, April 11, 2020

Christian apologetics is the defense of the Christian faith through logic/evidence based arguments. The word apologetics comes from the Greek word apologia (from Greek ἀπολογία), which means "speaking in defense". Christian witness to Jesus Christ in an informal spontaneous setting, most often in conversation, is an oral form of Christian apologetics. 1 Peter 3:15.

Three major schools of Christian apologetics are: classical apologetics, evidential apologetics and presuppositional apologetics. A lessor known school of Christian apologetics is integrated apologetics which is a system of Christian apologetics introduced by Johnson C. Philip. Philip is a Christian apologist from India and he argues that while each school of Christian apologetics contains a part of the truth, they tend to be too narrow to do justice to the broad field of Christian apologetics. He proposes that all these schools of apologetics should be integrated into a harmonious whole.[1]

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.

Jesus5.jpg
Christianity

Foundations
Jesus Christ
The Gospel

Bible
Old Testament
New Testament
Ten Commandments

Christian Theology
Trinity: Father,
Jesus Christ, Holy Spirit
Atonement
Nicene Creed
Creation
Defense of Christianity
Salvation

History and Traditions
Messianic Judaism
Roman Catholic Church
Arianism
Orthodox Church
Crusades
Protestant Reformation
Counter Reformation
Protestantism
Missions
Great Awakening
Social Gospel
Mainline
Liberal Christians
Evangelical Christians
Fundamentalism

Important Figures
Saint Paul
Saint Athanasius
Saint Augustine
Thomas Aquinas
Martin Luther
John Calvin
Jonathan Edwards
John Wesley
Pope

History of Christian Apologetics

Christian apologetics has existed as long as Christianity itself. Jesus himself spent time in the temple and the synagogues, debating and explaining the meaning of the scriptures. The Apostle Peter exhorted early Christians to practice apologetics, writing,

"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.

The Apostle Paul also spent time in Athens, debating Stoic and Epicurian philosophers. Acts 17:16.

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.[2]

Purposes

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.

Types of Christian Apologetics

Evidentialist apologetics

Evidential apologetics seeks to defend Christian belief through evidence. This can take the form of:

Philosophical apologetics

Philosophical apologetics seeks to defend Christian belief through philosophical argument: primarily arguments for the existence of God. This can take the form of:

  • 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.
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.

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.[6] This verifies the very first three words of the Bible: "In the beginning."

  • 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.
  • The Argument from morality: All humans are born with a natural, moral code. A moral code implies a moral code giver, aka God.

Presuppositional apologetics

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.

Growth of Christian apologetics in the world today while atheist apologetics is stagnating

Today, there is a growth of Christian apologetics in the world, while the atheist apologetic community is in a state of stagnation. See: Growth of Christian apologetics

Christian Apologetics and the Resurrection of Jesus Christ

See also: 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.[7] The Christian apologist Michael Horner of CRU has an excellent resource which offers a defense of the resurrection of Jesus Christ entitled Did Jesus really rise from the dead?. In addition, Dr. Gary Habermas offers an online audio library which defends the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

In recent history, Dr. Gary Habermas is considered the foremost Christian apologist for defending the resurrection of Jesus.[8][9][10][11][12] 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." [13]

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.[14][15][16][17][18]

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.[19][20][21][22][23]

Christian Apologetic Ministries

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: Reasonable Faith, Ravi Zacharias Ministries, Fixed Point Foundation,[24] Tekton Apologetics Ministries, LeadershipU, Probe Ministries, Christian Answers Network, Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry, A Christian Thinktank, Answers for Hope, Brace E. Barber and Catholic Answers.[25]

Brace E. Barber leads a Christian Apologetics Ministry. Brace brings a message of hope along with step-by-step instructions to churches, parents and organizations in order retain youth raised in Christian homes in the Christian faith. Brace challenges commonly held assumptions about the shallow nature of Christian youth education. Brace is a West Point graduate and Army Veteran. He brings a military-strategist mindset to the problem of the loss of youth from the Christian Church. He provides insights, analysis and solutions to solve the problem.

Christian websites with a large focus on the topic of atheism

True Freethinker is a Christian apologetics website run by Ken Ammi which offers many refutations of atheism.
See also: Atheism vs. Christianity

Four of the more notable Christian apologetics which have a large focus on the topic of atheism are: True Freethinker, the Creation Ministries International resources on atheism and the Fixed Point Foundation website.

Christian apologetics clubs on college campuses

Ratio Christi is a global movement that equips university students and faculty to give historical, philosophical, and scientific reasons for following Jesus Christ.

The Christian apologetics organization Stand to Reason wrote:

“ 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.

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.[26]

”

Christianity apologetics and the developing world

See also: Christian apologetics and education

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.[27][28] Trinity has over 40 international, highly qualified, and highly experienced faculty members and mentors.[29] The majority of degrees obtained through Trinity are done so through distance learning over the internet.

Students from developing countries receive a free education from Trinity and students from developed countries pay a nominal registration, but they pay no fees.[30]

Recommended books

General Christian apologetics:

Old Testament apologetics:

  • Walter C. Kaiser, Jr., The Old Testament Documents: Are They Reliable & Relevant?, IVP Academic, 2001, ISBN 0830819754
  • Kenneth Kitchen, On The Reliability of the Old Testament, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2006. ISBN 0802803962

Biblical creation apologetics:

Christian apologetics books on atheism

See also

External links

See also: Christian apologetics websites and articles

Introduction to Christian apologetics video series

General Christian apologetics websites

Historical and legal apologetics

Historical apologetics:

Christian legal apologetics:

Bible archaeology

Bible archaeology and dating:

Christian worldview/Christian philosophy

Videos on atheism:

Websites, articles and videos focusing on atheism:

Creation science ministries and other resources

Conservapedia articles on evolution and creation science:

Bible prophecy articles and websites

Analysis of Bible prophecy from Christian scholars/apologists

Rebuttal to atheist Steven Carr concerning Bible prophecy:

Biblical inerrancy resources

References

  1. ↑ Integrated Apologetics at CreationWiki.
  2. ↑ e.g. Acts 18:25-26; James 5:19-20.
  3. ↑ Evidences for God From Space—Laws of Science
  4. ↑ Thompson, Bert, So Long, Eternal Universe; Hello Beginning, Hello End!, 2001 (Apologetics Press)
  5. ↑ http://www.creationscience.com/onlinebook/AstroPhysicalSciences14.html
  6. ↑ http://www.harvardhouse.com/Science-Religion.htm
  7. ↑ http://www.iclnet.org/pub/resources/text/cri/cri-jrnl/crj0056a.txt
  8. ↑ http://www.garyhabermas.com/articles/dialog_rexperience/dialog_rexperiences.htm
  9. ↑ http://www.tektonics.org/books/lichabrvw.html
  10. ↑ http://faculty.gordon.edu/hu/bi/Ted_Hildebrandt/NTeSources/NTArticles/CTR-NT/Habermas-Resurrection2-CTR.pdf
  11. ↑ http://www.garyhabermas.com/articles/crj_explainingaway/crj_explainingaway.htm
  12. ↑ http://www.apologetics.com/default.jsp?bodycontent=/articles/historical_apologetics/habermas-nt.html
  13. ↑ http://www.bible.org/page.asp?page_id=639
  14. ↑ http://www.leaderu.com/offices/billcraig/menus/historical.html
  15. ↑ http://www.leaderu.com/everystudent/easter/articles/josh2.html
  16. ↑ http://www.leaderu.com/everystudent/easter/articles/yama.html
  17. ↑ http://www.ntwrightpage.com/Wright_Early_Traditions.htm
  18. ↑ http://powertochange.com/discover/faith/jesusrose1/
  19. ↑ http://www.bibleteacher.org/sgtestimony.htm
  20. ↑ http://www.mtio.com/articles/bissart1.htm
  21. ↑ http://www.ankerberg.com/Articles/apologetics/AP0302W3.htm
  22. ↑ http://lawreligionculturereview.blogspot.com/2005_01_01_lawreligionculturereview_archive.html
  23. ↑ http://www.trinitysem.edu/journal/philjohnsonpap.html
  24. ↑ http://www.fixed-point.org
  25. ↑ http://www.catholic.com
  26. ↑ Ratio Christi Apologetics Clubs
  27. ↑ Global survey documents theological education trends, Anglican Community News Service, September 19, 2013
  28. ↑ Why Free Graduate Theology Programs
  29. ↑ Trinity International Committee
  30. ↑ Why Free Graduate Theology Programs
  31. ↑ http://www.leaderu.com/orgs/probe/docs/darwin.html
  32. ↑ https://www.icr.org/store/index.php?main_page=pubs_product_book_info&products_id=2176
  33. ↑ http://www.ldolphin.org/chance.html
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