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Why Good Arguments Often Fail: Making a More Persuasive Case for Christ

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James Sire has been involved in Christian apologetics for quite some time now. His classic work, The Universe Next Door, first penned in 1976, is now in its fourth edition and has sold over a quarter-million copies. His many years of speaking and writing about apologetics in many different countries makes him an authority on the subject.

Yet he asks, like many of us may have, why do my arguments seem to fail? Why am I not more effective? Why do so many seem to reject the message?

This book seeks to answer those questions. While there are of course spiritual dynamics at work, often our arguments are simply not very good. Or perhaps we are offensive and unloving in our presentations. Or perhaps we have not done our homework. Or maybe we lack sufficient knowledge of who our audience is.

Sire focuses here on how we can better make our case, and how we can avoid common pitfalls. Thus he first examines flawed arguments and common fallacies we often make when seeking to defend the faith. He looks at faulty arguments which both believers and non-believers can make. There is plenty of fuzzy thinking and poor reasoning ability to go around, it seems. Yet Sire reminds believers that we need to do the best we can as we make our case for faith. The involves the effort needed to think clearly and analyse worldviews and arguments carefully.

Secondly he examines what makes for a good argument, and why it may be rejected. How can we learn from our mistakes and more successfully engage our unbelieving friends? What is that keeps good reasoning from being accepted? Sometimes they way we present our case is the problem. We may be abrasive or arrogant or condescending. The way we deliver the message can often be as important as the message itself.

And sometimes we misread the audience. Perhaps we underestimate their intelligence. Or we may overestimate it. Or we may not even be speaking the same conceptual language with them. Or there may be psychological obstacles to overcome, such as unhappy experiences in childhood or at church. Thus knowing who we are talking to and where they are coming from is an important part of making our case effectively.

Finally, he gives several examples of effective apologetics. Here he shows how a successful argument can work. And he uses the apostle Paul at Athens as his major example. Paul certainly knew his audience well and was quite capable at building bridges to them. In addition, using the thought-world and language of his audience, he was able to lay out the basics of the Christian faith.

All in all this is a helpful introductory text to logical thinking, and the need for believers to more finely tune their arguments and more carefully make their case. It encourages us to keep on in the apologetic task. A helpful volume indeed.

Some how many Christians have adopted the notion that if they put forward the right arguments for Christian truth claims (such as God's existence or Christ's resurrection), then they can persuade any person to become a Christian. These Christians are often disappointed and dismayed when they're best efforts seems to go no where. Dr. James W. Sire explores why this is the case in Why Good Arguments Often Fail.

The book is divided in three parts consisting of 12 chapters. Part 1 examines the most common logical fallacies by reflecting on a "Love is a Fallacy" by Max Shulman. Part 2 looks beyond logical fallacies to issues of character, perception, worldviews (naturalism and postmodernism), and sin. In Part 3, Dr. Sire offers two persuasive approaches, one from the Apostle Paul in Acts 17 and one from his own experience. The last chapter is a thorough annotated bibliography divided into ten categories.

I think there are primarily two reasons people should buy this book. The first is that Part 1 of the book is an excellent introduction to basic critical thinking. Dr. Sire takes seemingly abstract rules of logic and makes them tangible through clear explanations and applications to arguments against Christianity and even a few bad arguments Christians sometimes put forward. The second reason this book is worthwhile is for the bibliography at the end. It is a handy guide that covers most apologetic issues in great detail.

While apologetics deals primarily with intellectual issues for rejecting Christianity, almost every non-Christian (if not all) have other issues that must be dealt with. This book acknowledges this by addressing the character of the Christian evangelist and the "moral blindness" of the non-Christian. However, it's general approach is of an intellectual nature and I think it'd be stronger if it dealt with sin and psychological issues to a further extent.

Why Good Arguments Often Fail is a much needed book to help Christians think more critically about the arguments they put forward for Christianity. Dr. James W. Sire's experience and wisdom provides ample illustrations and insights that can make our overall case for Christ more persuasive to non-Christian ears.

James Sire begins with a story that helps outline logical failures in arguments, but then moves to the perhaps more critical areas of reading one's audience and understanding the effect of one's argument. He offers an array of answers for his title question, without ever forgetting to focus on the necessity of going out and witnessing and of remembering that the Holy Spirit ultimately convinces unbelievers. All in all, a rapidly read and very digestible book that will speak to and encourage all Christians, from those who love to talk about Jesus to those unsure about sharing their faith.

Sire is well-known for his world views books. In this new one, he shares some personal stories about how to share one's faith even when argue back. He uses a lot of logic and straight thinking, and I think most readers will be appreciate his style. If you generally enjoy apologetics and doing your best to "give an answer to everyone who asks you," then I think this is a worthwhile purchase and read.

Why Good Arguments Often Fail is a work in which the author tries to lay out the case for why good sound logic can and will often fail amongst family, friends, co-worker, acquaintances, and anyone you may not know. In our current culture, why is it that making a sound, reasoned argument for believing in Christ can seem to go nowhere? It may not be for the reasons you think.

Sires has split his book into three major categories: Common Logical Fallacies, Good Arguments That Often Fail, Good Arguments That Work.

Fallacies, which are deceptive, misleading, and false notions or beliefs, are spoken about in the first section.

One common fallacy, called an Unqualified Generalization is all about making statements that are so broadly defined that on the surface they seem true but with more careful consideration they really are not.

The examples used to describe these fallacies are true to life stories that anyone could have experienced in life. In my own dealings with friends and acquaintances I have seen first hand the various scenarios played out before my own eyes.

The author details the reasons why making certain arguments fail and the reasons or causes why things are this way. A principle stated in the book notes, "Valid, well substantiated arguments presented with arrogance, aggression or an overly clever attitude are often not heard clearly enough to attract the attention they deserve", (p 74)

The old adage may apply here: its not so much what you say but HOW you say it that matters. After reading the book I sum it up this way: if what you say matters, the way you say it REALLY matters.

This book resonated with me because it lays out its case for how to analyze the arguments of one's self and others. What was especially eye opening is that as I read each type of argument, I realized that I knew what the writer was talking about and could actually search my own memory for occasions of each situation occurring in my life.

The last chapter is called Framing Effective Arguments. The author gives a great section on literature that will be useful in learning more about, The Character of Jesus Christ, The Resurrection of Jesus, The Reliability of the Gospels, Defense of the Faith in General, and Classic and Creative Works. In each of these the author then splits his selections into Highly Recommended and Recommended lists of books.

I loved this book as it really got me thinking about the way that I interact with people. To really take note of the way I speak to people, what I say, and how I say it. My aim is to share Christ with others, any book that helps me do that better I highly recommend.

-- Jeffrey R. E. Morgan
http://www.jeffreyremorgan.com

Wow this book is a real entertaining read, I was very impressed with Sire's open thought to certain Christian views that normally go with out question as being true. Not that I agreed with him on it, but I was glad to see that he was open to different thought.

The book itself is a great showcase of how postmodern and naturalistic world views have corrupted common thought so much that its hard to discern what truth is anymore for some. It has some great exampls of how both athiest and Christians are easy to just give arguments that have no logical ground. However, the arguments for Christians can be easily corrected, but for the athiestic worldview it is so flawed in every aspect that moral blindness is the only thing that keeps it afloat.

Now that is how I interpreted the book... I believe it can be much more in depth than that for someone it hits home on. For me though it seemed only to skim the surface. It skimmed it well enough to make me see the logical fallacies of many arguments against Christianity, but I would of liked it to be a little more in depth.

This book is not about the specific arguments of Christian apologetics, but about the weaknesses in human nature that prevent the apologist from making his case. This happens both on the side of the apologist and the his or her audience. Most of the book is pretty basic, in terms of stating and giving examples of both informal and formal logical fallacies. Sprinkled throughout are good quotes and bits of wisdom about the philosophy of apologetics. By far, the best section of the book are his reading recommendations, which I always appreciate given my love of books. Overall, this was a very basic book, one which I'd only recommend to Christian apologetic beginners.

If you are pursuing a Master's degree, this book is a must. Give it to your young adults, give it to your friends. Great coffee table discussion book. Women, read this now! Men, read it too. Academically, professionally, and every day living calls for good arguments.

Ever wonder why your argument falls on deaf ears? This text is a great place to start to understand why this occurs from a biblical and rational point of view.

Dr. James Sire is a prolific author, university professor and former editor for InterVarsity Press. His most popular works focus on the ideas of worldviews and how they affect thinking.

This text is divided into three parts:
Part 1- Common Logical Fallacies - Dr. Sire uses a fictional and humorous example to introduce ten logical fallacies. Then, he systematically discusses each fallacy and provides common (and often heard) examples of these fallacies in action from recent discussions. He shows how to recognize and refute each fallacy to bring the discussion back to the truth. Moreover, he shows how to avoid the fallacies in creating your own case for your beliefs. Discussion of these fallacies focuses on their presence in Christian apologetic discussions.

Part 2- Good Arguments That Often Fail - Here, Dr. Sire looks at roadblocks that can stand between a properly logical argument and others' acceptance of that argument. Some roadblocks come from the presentation, such as arrogance, aggression and overly clever statements. Others come from the audience, such as the audience misunderstanding your case. Each of these can be avoided. The first can be avoided by practicing humble speech and presenting the case in a humble-approachable-credible manner. The second requires the speaker to understand the audience and present the argument in a way that deals with preconceived notions. Next, Dr. Sire moves on to how worldviews play a role in the audience rejecting your ideas. He specifically deals with evolution and relativism in the next two chapters. Finally, the issue of moral blindness is discussed and Sire provides an example of how to dig to help the person recognize their motives at the same time you understand them and begin to pose the argument to meet those motives.

Part 3- Good Arguments That Work - The majority of this section deals with Acts 17:16-34 and Paul's discussion with the people in Athens. Here, there were three reactions: scoffers, people who wanted to hear more, and believers. The key to Paul's example is how he adapted his message's conveyance (but not its content) to be more easily accepted by the Athenians. Sire provides 8 key lessons to be learned from the 19 verse passage. Sire then discusses an example from his experience where someone in the audience prepared a 2-page response to his lecture and read it to the audience. He discusses the tactics that went into his response. Sire ends the book by providing the reader with 10 areas to focus on in building a knowledge base for apologetics. He also provides a detailed bibliography and synopsis of the books he chose.

Often in a review, I will post the pros and cons of the text. The only problem here is that I found little to disagree with or critique. This text is ultimately useful for those interested in following Christ's commission to make disciples. I did find myself wanting to dig deeper into the ideas of logical fallacies. D A Carson's Exegetical Fallacies has a chapter on logical fallacies in hermeneutics, but this does not cover the issue of general case-building. This book does a great job of wetting the appetite for more apologetic reading, for sure!

This is not a book full of evidence and arguments for Christ. This is a text that explains how to pose an argument once you have all the data. This is an important note.