A super 20-minute podcast from Apologetics 315.

The MP3 file is here. (20 minutes)

PDF Transcript here.

Topics:

• what is the definition of apologetics?
• what do you mean by defense? a testimony?
• what is the goal of apologetics?
• does apologetics create belief? should it?
• what are offensive and defensive apologetics?
• should Christians fear intellectual opposition to Christianity?
• is apologetics good for believers?
• does apologetics help you to be more confident when witnessing?
• what was the role of apologetics in the Bible?
• what was the role of apologetics in the early church?
• was apologetics central or peripheral to Paul’s ministry?
• does the Bible present Christianity as personal preference or public truth?
• did Jesus appeal to objective evidence to get people to believe him?
• is there a requirement for all Christians to make a defense of their faith?
• should Christians care if non-believers have false beliefs about God?
• does the Bible need to be defended? What does the Bible say about it?
• Is an intellectual approach to evangelism antithetical to faith?

My posts on apologetics advocacy are here:

• does the Bible teach that faith is opposed to logic and evidence?
• the six enemies of apologetic engagement
• why men flee the feminized church
• why won’t Christians defend their faith in public?

These were all quite popular when they were originally posted, so it’s good to re-post them.

Actual arguments and counter-arguments are here, if you want to know the basics. Debates and lectures are here to see how this gets used. Most Christians never even dream that their faith can be debated at Harvard or Columbia or Oxford!

Christianity is a knowledge tradition. It’s not a feelings tradition.

UPDATE: If you’re really good at apologetics, you can debate the top atheists in public, and say things like this:

(The full debate is here)