Defending Christianity

Teaching Others to Defend Christianity deepens your faith, equipping you to be an effective witness. These six lessons are for those desiring an intellectual study to have confidence in God's existence and strengthen one's faith in Jesus Christ.

Garvie offers the reader an overview of arguments for Christianity on subjects varying from the existence of God to eschatology. Alfred Ernest Garvie shows us the magnificence of the faith instead of becoming weighed down by tiresome arguments. He systematically covers every significant Christian teaching, making this handbook a valuable reference for believers and unbelievers alike, looking for appealing summaries of specific doctrines.

If God exists, why doesn't he eliminate suffering and evil? Does evolution disprove Christianity? Can religion be explained by cognitive science? People have grappled for ages with these kinds of questions. And many in today's academic world find Christian belief untenable. But renowned philosopher Stephen Davis argues that belief in God is indeed a rational and intellectually sound endeavor. Drawing on a lifetime of rigorous reflection and critical thinking, he explores perennial and contemporary challenges to Christian faith. Davis appraises objections fairly and openly, offering thoughtful approaches to common intellectual problems. Real questions warrant reasonable responses. Examine for yourself the rationality of the Christian faith.

In Early Christian Apologetics, D.H. Williams offers a comprehensive presentation of Christian apologetic literature from the second to the fifth century, considering each writer within the intellectual context of the day. Williams argues that most apologies were not directed at a pagan readership. In most cases, he says, ancient apologetics had a double object: to instruct the Christian and to persuade weak Christians or non-Christians who were sympathetic to Christian claims. Traditionally, scholars of apologetics have focused on the context of persecution in the pre-Constantinian period. By following the links in the intellectual trajectory up though the early fifth century, Williams prompts deeper reflection on the process of Christian self-definition in late antiquity. Taken cumulatively, he finds, apologetic literature was in fact integral to the formation of the Christian identity in the Roman world.

Have you ever felt a bit like the troubled man who professed to Jesus: Lord, I believe. Help me overcome my unbelief!? Do you want to dig deeper into your faith so as to become more sure of what you hope for, and certain of what you cannot see? Havent you questioned whether there is any scientific support for the Genesis creation accountor historical evidence to confirm the ministry, crucifixion and, yes, post-resurrection of a man named Jesus? Will you not be challenged in the future by either a skeptical critic or genuine seeker to defend Christianity with facts and not simply faith? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then this handbook written in succinct outline form is just what youve been looking for!

This short book of apologetics originated in the two Gifford lectures which I contributed to a joint series in Glasgow in September 2001 and the four Hensley Hanson lectures which I delivered in Oxford in May 2002. Much rewriting and reordering has taken place"--Pref

The book by Abjar Bakhou presents Medieval Christian author Gerasimus and his discussion with Islam. His aim was to show that Christian teachings are not irrational, but rather subtle and complex. As a Christian philosopher and theologian, Gerasimus used the experiences of those of the past to facilitate his own response to critics. However, two important differences separated him from earlier apologists, which demand his own insight and innovation. First, the new language of intellectual discourse was Arabic, which was not accommodating for expressing traditional Christian doctrine, and required the development of a vocabulary out of terms already heavily influenced by the Qur'anic worldview. Second, the new religion challenging Christianity was one of absolute monotheism, which shared neither a common scriptural nor cultural heritage, and rejected the very possibility of a Trinity and Incarnation. Although a common theme in early Christian apologetics was the refutation of Judaism, the debate generally centered on the interpretation of the Old Testament, showing that Jesus was indeed the Messiah. The Qur'an, while acknowledging Jesus as the Messiah, explicitly rejects the Christian doctrines of the Incarnation and the Trinity, and presents itself as the revelation, which supersedes all previous revelation. Thus, although Christians and Muslims share certain themes and figures (such as Creation and the Last Judgement, Abraham, Moses, Mary and Jesus), Muslims refuse evidence contrary to the Qur'an, leaving Christians without recourse to traditional scripture-based arguments. Gerasimus, as a Christian apologist and mutakallim, accepted these challenges and began the process of explaining and translating his faith in the new milieu to make it coherent and rational. In his treatise, Gerasimus reveals himself to be a full participant in this important period of intellectual history; he sets down the basic points of controversy and outlines a response to them in a form that would be an excellent introduction to Christian theology written for the Muslim environment. Gerasimus was also a mutakallim in his own right, the Christian counterpart to those Islamic scholars who sought to defend their faith through rational arguments. In an effort to argue the legitimacy of Christianity, Gerasimus attempts to create a common language that influences the meaning of terminology and concepts of intellectual development in Muslim - Christian debates. Such language would set the stage for centuries to come. This is certainly his greatest contribution.

A most accessible but thoroughly practical primer on apologetics.