57 of 65 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Defending Your Faith: An Introduction to Apologetics, September 26, 2004
This review is from: Defending Your Faith: An Introduction to Apologetics (Hardcover)
Mention the word Apologetics to your average Christian and know what happens? At best, you get that deer-in-the-headlights gaze as a response. At worst, you're told that Apologetics has to do with being sorry. Granted, if Christian Apologetics were about being remorseful, Dr. R.C. Sproul (Sr.) would write a read-worthy book on the subject. Truth be told, Sproul couldn't be boring if he tried. Christian Apologetics, however, is about providing a rational defence of Christianity's truth claims.
If you are a Christian and feel yourself lacking when your friends or family or colleagues challenge what you believe, you could scarcely find a better primer on how to respond than what is offered in _Defending Your Faith: An Introduction to Apologetics_. The book consists of twenty-three chapters. But - and this is important - each chapter is little more than five pages in length. Combine the chapter length with Sproul's readable style and unique ability to communicate complex Christian truth claims clearly, and what you have is a palatable and helpful book. As a testimony from my own experience, I couldn't put this book down once I started reading it.
After dealing with some preliminaries (e.g. the biblical mandate for Christian Apologetics, the inability of Christian Apologetics to convert a non-Christian apart from the Holy Spirit, etc.), Sproul lays out the four pillars of knowledge, namely, the law of non-contradiction, the law of causality, the basic reliability of sense perception, and the analogical use of language. In so doing, Sproul points out that non-Christians have to undermine at least one of these pillars when denying Christian truth claims. Some very helpful examples from the history of philosophy are proffered. For example, Sproul provides a brief analysis of two of the greatest sceptics of modern thought, namely, David Hume and Immanuel Kant.
As an aside, it is refreshing to come across a theologian like Sproul, who can hold his own in the world of philosophy. Granted, some may argue that Sproul oversimplifies betimes. But remember you philosophy buffs out there: _Defending Your Faith: An Introduction to Apologetics_ is a primer just as the title suggests. Regardless of one's assessment of Sproul, however, it ought to be patently obvious that he has a broad knowledge and profound understanding in a wide range of areas. It should come as no surprise, then, that Sproul is the Christian thinker who communicated privately with Carl Sagan in scientific and philosophical matters prior to the latter's death.
Following the introduction of the four pillars of knowledge, Sproul addresses the two issues that, when established as true, account for ninety percent of the apologetic task, so we are told (p. 196): The existence of God and the authority of the Bible. I would like to speak more of how Sproul approaches the existence of God and the authority of the Bible, but I don't want to spoil all the fun! Sproul's take on the existence of God, for example, I found particularly stimulating.
As with any of Sproul's books, you will not be disappointed if you decide to purchase _Defending Your Faith: An Introduction to Apologetics_. This book would be a great gift for a young Christian entering college or university.
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8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
there are reasons for faith, faith does not have to be blind, September 10, 2006
This review is from: Defending Your Faith: An Introduction to Apologetics (Hardcover)
This is a pretty good treatment of the rationality of some core christian beliefs. Now there is certainly more to christian beliefs than rational explanation for those beliefs, there are the very important elements of emotion, character, love, faith and the like. However, just because the christian faith is a faith, this does not automatically make it completely opposed to reasons for that faith. Faith and reason are not necessarily foes, it is quite possible for reason to "serve" faith. This book seeks to show this being done in regards to several subjects of importance to christian belief such as the existence of God. Now, I have read many, many sophisticated philosophical treatments dealing with the subject of "proofs" and/or "non-proofs" for the existence of God. I have read from some of the top thinkers/philosophers/theologians from ancient times, and on up to modern times. The treatment given to the rational defense for the existence of God in this book is simply profound and profoundly simple. Don't miss this book if for any other reason than this. It takes several chapters to build up to it, but once the book gets to it, it is absolutely pivotal and pointed, with razor sharp logic. If you are into philosophy, check out the same author's concise treatment on philosophy over the ages, it is called Consequences of Ideas. For a great concise treatment of the nature of the biblical God, the same author has another fantastic work by the title of The Character of God. It may seem as though I'm raving a bit about R.C. Sproul, and perhaps I am a bit, but it's not that I blindly follow him and his thought, or any one else for that matter, but Sproul really does make very good sense on several theological/philosophical concepts. Thanks Dr. Sproul.
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10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A RESTORATION OF FAITH, February 2, 2006
This review is from: Defending Your Faith: An Introduction to Apologetics (Hardcover)
Outstanding! For any and all, christian and non-christian that hold to the notion that faith and reason are opposites of each other, I highly recommend this book. I have always been a christian however this book revealed truths to me that have stimulated a new and revitalized reason for believing. It also has revealed to me the half-truths that permeate the philisophical world and has helped me understand where many of the false notions and concepts dealing with the existence of God originated.
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