Tactics: A Game Plan for Discussing Your Christian Convictions [Paperback]

Gregory Koukl (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 3, 2009

In a world increasingly indifferent to Christian truth, followers of Christ need to be equipped to communicate with those who do not speak their language or accept their source of authority. Gregory Koukl demonstrates how to get in the driver's seat, keeping any conversation moving with thoughtful, artful diplomacy. You'll learn how to maneuver comfortably and graciously through the minefields, stop challengers in their tracks, turn the tables and---most importantly---get people thinking about Jesus. Soon, your conversations will look more like diplomacy than D-Day. Drawing on extensive experience defending Christianity in the public square, Koukl shows you how to: - Initiate conversations effortlessly - Present the truth clearly, cleverly, and persuasively - Graciously and effectively expose faulty thinking - Skillfully manage the details of dialogue - Maintain an engaging, disarming style even under attack Tactics provides the game plan for communicating the compelling truth about Christianity with confidence and grace.

Editorial Reviews

Review

With the advantage of a lifetime of experience, Greg Koukl has written what must be considered THE authoritative treatment of how to employ various strategies in conversations with unbelievers about the Christian faith. Tactics is not just another apologetics book. It is a sensitive, well-written, widely illustrated treatment of actual situations that often come up when believers share their faith. Koukl not only reminds us it is not enough to know why you believe, it is also crucial to know how to communicate those beliefs by adapting to various situations. And Tactics shows precisely how to do that. -- J. P. Moreland, Distinguished Professor of Philosophy, Talbot School of Theology

About the Author

Gregory Koukll holds MA degrees in both apologetics and philosophy. He's spoken on over 50 university campuses and hosted his own radio talk show for 18 years defending 'Christianity Worth Thinking About.' Greg is founder and president of Stand to Reason (str.org) and serves as adjunct professor of Christian apologetics at Biola University.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Zondervan (February 3, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0310282926
• ISBN-13: 978-0310282921
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (57 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,311 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #21 in Books > Christian Books & Bibles > Evangelism

More About the Author

Greg Koukl is the founder and president of Stand to Reason (www.str.org). Greg started out thinking he was too smart to become a Christian and ended up giving his life for the defense of the Christian faith. A central theme of Greg's speaking and writing is that Christianity can compete in the marketplace of ideas when it's properly understood and properly articulated.

Greg's teaching has been featured on Focus on the Family radio, he's been interviewed for the BBC, and did a one-hour national television debate with Deepak Chopra on Lee Strobel's "Faith Under Fire." Greg has been quoted in U.S. News & World Report, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and the L.A. Times. An award-winning writer, Greg is author of Tactics: A Gameplan to Discuss Your Christian Convictions, Relativism: Feet Firmly Planted in Mid-Air with Francis J. Beckwith, and Precious Unborn Human Persons. Greg has spoken on more than 50 university and college campuses both in the U.S. and abroad.

Greg received his Masters in Philosophy of Religion and Ethics at Talbot School of Theology, graduating with high honors, and his Masters in Christian Apologetics from Simon Greenleaf University. He is an adjunct professor in Christian apologetics at Biola University.

He hosts Stand to Reason's radio talk show advocating clear-thinking Christianity and defending the Christian worldview. Find more of Greg Koukl's resources at www.str.org.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

92 of 100 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Extremely helpful and applicable., February 3, 2009

By 

B. Auten (Northern Ireland) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Tactics: A Game Plan for Discussing Your Christian Convictions (Paperback)

This week I received my copy of Tactics: A Game Plan for Discussing Your Christian Convictions by Greg Koukl. I was anxious to have a look at the book, as I have been following Greg Koukl's ministry of Stand to Reason for a number of years. On one hand, I was excited to see in book form what I have heard Koukl demonstrate so many times on his live radio program: an effective and gracious way to communicate one's faith in an articulate and winsome way. On the other hand, my familiarity with Koukl's Tactics audio program made me wonder if this was just a repackaging of the same material. I was thoroughly surprised. I'm a reader - but it's been a while since I have devoured a book.

Tactics is an immediately practical book. The author's heart is that Christians be equipped to be good ambassadors. An ambassador has three skills: "knowledge, an accurately informed mind; wisdom, an artful method; and character, an attractive manner." Koukl describes the goal of a tactical approach - one that seeks to converse more persuasively by being thoughtful and reasonable, rather than emotional, about one's convictions.

In a very balanced way, Koukl carefully introduces this approach and neutralizes some of the negative connotations that come with sharing and defending the faith. Some people immediately object at the idea of argumentation or "methods." However, Koukl summarizes a more biblical approach:

"Here's the key principle: Without God's work, nothing else works; but with God's work, many things work. Under the influence of the Holy Spirit, love persuades. By the power of God, the gospel transforms. And with Jesus at work, arguments convince. God is happy to use each of these methods."

Now Koukl dives into the meat of the book. He presents about a half dozen "tactics," as he calls them - each with a memorable name, such as, "Columbo," "Suicide," and, "Taking the Roof Off," among others. As he teaches you these tactics, Koukl's experience and mastery in this area immediately become evident. He is not a theorist presenting untested ideas. Instead, he is a veteran, discussing situation after situation gleaned from countless personal encounters, public debates, radio interviews, and friendly conversations. The phenomenal part is that these approaches are simple and the applications are immediately accessible to the reader.

One particular insight Koukl shares should bring relief to those who feel fear come over them at even the thought of discussing their faith: you don't have to hit home runs. In fact, Koukl stresses that you don't even have to get on base. The goal is to leave them with something to think about. His advice: simply leave them with "a stone in their shoe."

Navigating through the book, you will find gem after gem of wisdom. So many of the common objections that the Christian encounters are found here - but with answers that are actually useful in conversation. Although much of the substance is philosophical in nature, Koukl drops the jargon and replaces it with practical expressions. This is a handbook suitable for the layman and professional apologist alike.

After passing the halfway point in the book, you will realize that you are not just learning how to steer safely through a conversation - you are learning how to think. Koukl will sharpen your thinking skills and your ability to spot fuzzy logic and faulty arguments. You will realize that this is a book about truth. By the time you reach the end (it's about 200 pages), you will be amazed at the amount of wisdom, insight, and courage you have gleaned. A second reading is definitely in order.

Koukl's Tactics is endorsed by a long list of notable apologists and Christian thinkers: Norman Geisler, William Lane Craig, Gary Habermas, J. P. Moreland, Hank Hanegraaff, Jay Wesley Richards, David Noebel, Justin Taylor, Paul Copan, Sean McDowell, Frank Turek, and Craig Hazen.

For those familiar with Koukl's Tactics audio program, many of the same personal encounters are cited. However, this is not a repackaging of old material. I found the book to be immensely helpful even after recently re-listening to Greg Koukl's Tactics in Defending the Faith audio program. In addition to the expanded and fresh material, I found the summaries at the end of each chapter to be particularly helpful.

Greg Koukl's Tactics: A Game Plan for Discussing Your Christian Convictions is not designed to give you pat answers or lists of facts to bring to your conversations. Far from being "another evangelism book," Tactics is a book that will challenge you to be a critical thinker, a logical communicator, and a gracious ambassador for Jesus Christ.

43 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Practical and Applicable, February 17, 2009

By 

Tim Challies (Oakville, Ontario) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Tactics: A Game Plan for Discussing Your Christian Convictions (Paperback)

I have a bit of an aversion to books on apologetics. I don't know exactly why this is, but it may be that many of them seem to teach methods of defending the faith that either manipulate or bludgeon. Somehow grace and apologetics do not seem to go together as they ought. So it was with perhaps just a bit of reluctance that I began reading Gregory Koukl's Tactics: A Game Plan for Discussing Your Christian Convictions. This is a book that promises to teach a new method, a respectful method, of defending the faith and of attempting to convince others of the truth of Christianity. This is not an apologetics 101 text, as in a book that will compare and contrast various apologetic methods; instead, it is a guide, a book that seeks to lead the reader into a new method of sharing his faith with others.

"If you're like a lot of people who pick up a book like this, you would like to make a difference for the kingdom, but you are not sure how to begin. I want to give you a game plan, a strategy to get involved in a way you never thought you could, yet with a tremendous margin of safety." Here is what Koukl promises--he sets no small goal. "I am going to teach you how to navigate in conversations so that you stay in control--in a good way--even though your knowledge is limited. You may know nothing about answering challenges people raise against what you believe. You may even be a brand new Christian. It doesn't matter. I am going to introduce you to a handful of effective maneuvers--I call them tactics--that will help you stay in control."

This tactical approach is a useful one, for it allows you to stay "in the driver's seat in conversations, so you can productively direct the discussion, exposing faulty thinking and suggesting more fruitful alternatives along the way." It is important to note that "tactics are not manipulative tricks or slice ruses. They are not clever ploys to embarrass other people and force them to submit to your point of view. They are not meant to belittle or humiliate those who disagree so you can gain notches in your spiritual belt." Instead, they are ways of guiding a conversation to expose poor reasoning and then use that as a bridge to the truth.

Koukl begins by looking at three basics skills the Christian will need if he wishes to be an effective apologist. First, he must have knowledge, having a familiarity with the central message of the Bible; second, he must have knowledge that is tempered by wisdom that makes his message clear and persuasive; third, he must have the character of a Christian, embodying the virtues of the kingdom he serves.

Then, over the course of four chapters, Koukl unveils his tactic. He calls it "The Columbo." The key to this tactic is to "go on the offensive in an inoffensive way by using carefully selected questions to productively advance the conversation." Never make a statement when a question will do the job. When you ask questions and listen carefully, you gather information that can be used to show a person where his thinking is faulty. Questions can be used to gather information, to reverse the burden of proof or to lead the conversation. Either way, the person asking the question is the person who leads the discussion.

He sets a modest and realistic goal for his interactions with unbelievers. "My goal," he says, "is to find clever ways to exploit someone's bad thinking for the purpose of guiding her to truth, yet remaining gracious and charitable at the same time. My aim is to manage, not manipulate; to control, not coerce; to finesse, not fight. I want the same for you." The goal of this kind of apologetics, then, is not necessarily to win someone to Christ. That may be an ultimate goal or an ultimate hope, but the goal of an individual encounter is nothing more than, in Koukl's words, "putting a stone in someone's shoe." "I want to give him something worth thinking about, something he can't ignore because it continues to poke at him in a good way."

In Part 2 of the book, Koukl offers guidance in finding flaws in the way people reason. He offers specific tactics to unveil poor reasoning and to turn it back against a person. He calls these things like Suicide, Sibling Rivalry, Taking the Roof Off. He offers advice on countering the human steamroller (you've tried to discuss issues with people like this) and the Rhodes scholar, the supposed expert.

When I think of Christian apologetics, I tend to think of Evidence that Demands a Verdict or some of the classics of days gone by. But in this book Koukl offers a new approach and one that is well-suited to the times. He teaches the Christian to think well, to exemplify grace and to humbly lead a conversation to the truth. "We may spend hours helping someone carefully work through an issue without ever mentioning God, Jesus or the Bible. This does not mean we aren't advancing the kingdom. It is always a step in the right direction when he help others think more carefully. If nothing else, it gives them tools to assess the bigger questions that eventually come up."

Apologetics is not always a discipline that is done with grace. But in this book Koukl shares tactics that will prove beneficial to any Christian. They may just revolutionize the way you interact with unbelievers. I highly recommend it.

29 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great book on Apologetics, February 6, 2009

By 

Brian Fulthorp - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Tactics: A Game Plan for Discussing Your Christian Convictions (Paperback)

Apologetics is a subject that can create a variety of reactions from those who hear the word. Some like apologetics and work to do well at it. Others really dislike what is perceived as aggressive behavior and just get turned off by the whole idea. They argue it's better to build relationships and such. Well, it's been my experience that apologetics is a way of defending the Christian faith that is flexible enough that it can work well with complete strangers and with long time friends in need of the Lord. Still there are others who think of apologetics and just plain get scared if not overwhelmed. Those who get worried about sharing their faith often think of those aggressive scenes we all saw at the campus square or they think apologetics has to be confrontational and aggressive - well, sometimes yes, but most of the time, not at all. What Koukl presents can be done over a cup of coffee or while hanging out watching the ball game.

If you like apologetics, Gregory Koukl's book Tactics will just give you more tools to work with. If you are one who gets scared there is hope out there for you! Koukl's book is designed for the novicewho doesn't know much about how apologetics works or even for the one who thinks they need to have the Bible down pat and have all this information and knowledge. The truth is, all you need is a willing heart and desire to see friends, family, or co-workers come to know the Lord. Nothing in this book will get you to convert people right out of the box - but it will help you get people to think through the reasons for why they believe what they believe.

A key principle in the book is:

Without God's work, nothing else works; but with God's work, many things work. Under the influence of the Holy Spirit, love persuades. By the power of God, the gospel transforms. And with Jesus at work, arguments convince. God is happy to use each of these methods (ch 2, pg 40 in my gallery copy).

More than knowing all the right information what we need is the Holy Spirit to come alongside us and empower us to act with wisdom in helping people break down every thing that sets itself up against the knowledge of God. Here is the thing, with God's help you can do it!

So what are some of the things Koukl presents that can help a person be effective in sharing their faith with others or in helping others see the flaws in their thinking that keep them from knowing God?

His primary tactic comes from the old detective TV show, Columbo. In this show, Columbo would investigate a crime scene and in his mind figure out the perpetrator was standing right next to him! To get things rolling he would say "Do you mind of I ask you a question?" This is the basis for what Koukl calls the Columbo tactic: Asking questions. Like Columbo who would ask lots of questions - Koukl says this is the same thing we want to get in to the habit of doing, asking questions. Don't make statements, ask questions. For example, of a person says flatly "Jesus Christ is the Son of God!" Another could easily reply, "No he is not!" Then what? You're stumped. The other person becomes in control of the conversation and you are done. What Koukl wants to teach us novice apologists to do is turn the situation around so that you are in control at all times forcing the other person to explain things while you lead the way.

How do we maintain control of the conversation? Ask questions and avoid outright statements. This is the heart of the Columbo tactic and this is what drives the rest of the tactics Koukl introduces throughout the rest of the book. Through use of the Columbo tactic you will learn to "get in the driver's seat" and control the conversation, you will reverse the burden of proof to the other person (make them explain why they believe they way they do) and in the process lead the way.

If you want to know more about this, you'll have to read the book!

Other tactics Koukl discusses are things like what he calls "suicide," detecting views that self destruct such as "it's wrong to accuse others of being wrong." This view self destructs because the person becomes wrong for telling you you are wrong to believe in God. Another tactic is called taking the roof off. This has to do with reducing a false argument to the point of absurdity so the other person is forced to see the flaw of his or her own logic. For example, the argument of relativism- it's absurd for a person to go to a debate arguing for points of relativism against someone arguing for absolute truths since they are in turn arguing an absolute: relativism. If he really believed things were relative, then he would not have even showed up to the debate. Koukl will even teach you how to deal with "Steamrollers," people who just intend to roll everyone over and think give an inkling to why they may be wrong.

So this is just a brief synopsis of Gregory Koukl's book Tatics: A Game Plan for Discussion your Christian Convictions. I personally really enjoyed reading this book and think it would make a really great addition to ones repertoire of apologetics.