Biblical and Theological Studies Faculty Works

Document Type

Book Chapter

Abstract

The History of Apologetics follows the great apologists in the history of the church to understand how they approached the task of apologetics in their own cultural and theological context. Each chapter looks at the life of a well-known apologist from history, unpacks their methodology, and details how they approached the task of defending the faith. By better understanding how apologetics has been done, readers will be better able to grasp the contextualized nature of apologetics and apply those insights to today's context. The History of Apologetics covers forty-four apologists including: Patristic apologists. Justin Martyr : prophetic revelation as the true philosophy / Gerald Bray -- Irenaeus of Lyons : anti-Gnostic polemicist / Stephen O. Presley -- Athenagoras of Athens : Greek philosophy as arbiter of Christian beliefs / W. Brian Shelton -- Tertullian of Carthage : African apologetics enters the fray / Bryan M. Litfin -- Origen : an innovator in apologetic sophistication / A. Chadwick Thornhill -- Athanasius of Alexandria : the logos as reason to believe / Jonathan Morgan -- Augustine of Hippo : apologist of faith and reason seeking understanding / Chad Meister -- Medieval apologists. John of Damascus : preparing Christians for the coming age of Islam / Daniel J. Janosik -- Theodore Abu Qurrah : defending Christian doctrines during the rise of Islam / Byard Bennett -- Timothy I of Baghdad : a model for peaceful dialogue / Edward L. Smither and Trevor Castor -- Anselm of Canterbury : apologetics and the ratio fidei / Edward N. Martin and Steven B. Cowan -- Saint Thomas Aquinas : defending reason and faith / Francis J. Beckwith and Shawn Floyd -- Ramon Lull : apologetics as the art of arts / Greg Peters -- Gregory Palamas : defending the authority and evidential value of religious experience in eastern orthodoxy / Byard Bennett -- Early modern apologists. Hugo Grotius : reason, evidence, and unity as the means of apologetics / Bryan Baise -- Blaise Pascal : wagering the truthfulness of Christianity / Tyler Dalton McNabb and Michael R. DeVito -- Jonathan Edwards : dogmatics as apologetics / Michael J. McClymond -- William Paley : apologetics of design and for culture / Charles Taliaferro -- Joseph Butler : defending the probability of Christianity against Deism / David McNaughton -- Nineteenth-century apologists. Simon Greenleaf : a defense that never rested / Craig A. Parton -- John Henry Newman : apologetics for the clear-headed and holy-hearted / Cornelius C. Simut -- Soren Kierkegaard : apologetic of Christianity for Christendom / Sean A. Turchin and Christian Kettering -- James Orr : defender of the Christian worldview / Ronnie P. Campbell -- B.B. Warfield : The lion of Princeton / Kim Riddlebarger -- Twentieth-century American apologists. J. Gresham Machen : saving Christianity from Christians / D.G. Hart -- Cornelius Van Til : presuppositional apologist / K. Scott Oliphint -- Gordon Haddon Clark : logic and scripture in a presuppositional apologetic / Robert A. Weathers -- Francis A. Schaeffer : cultural apologist / William Edgar -- Edward John Carnell : finding common ground for apologetics / Steven A. Hein -- Twentieth-century European apologists. A.E. Taylor : defending the relationship between morality and religion / Michael O. Obanla and David Baggett -- G.K. Chesterton : apologist of the literary imagination / Ralph C. Wood -- Dorothy L. Sayers : pursuing truth through stories and patterns / Amy Orr-Ewing -- C.S. Lewis : imaginative apologetics of a reluctant convert / Alister E. McGrath -- Dietrich Bonhoeffer : in defense of Christian witness / Matthew D. Kirkpatrick -- Leslie Newbigin : missionary apologist / Krish Kandiah -- Contemporary apologists. John Warwick Montgomery : evangelical, evidential, and confessional Lutheran apologist / Craig A. Parton -- Charles Taylor : apologetics in a secular age / Bruce Riley Ashford and Matthew Ng -- Alvin Plantinga : Christian philosophy as apologetics / James Beilby -- Richard Swinburne : pioneering analytic apologetics / Greg Welty -- Ravi Zacharias : evangelist as apologist / Jo Vitale and Vince Vitale -- William Lane Craig : philosopher as apologist / R. Keith Loftin -- Gary R. Habermas : a minimal facts ministry for disciples and doubters / W. David Beck and Benjamin C.F. Shaw -- Alister E. McGrath : scientist and theologian as apologist / James K. Dew and Jordan L. Steffaniak -- Timothy Keller : the pastor as apologist / Joshua D. Chatraw

Department(s)

Biblical and Theological Studies

Publication Title

The History of Apologetics : A Biographical and Methodological Introduction

First Page

698

Last Page

713

Publication Date

2020

ISBN

9780310559412

Comments

Chapter originally published in Forrest, B. K., Chatraw, J., & McGrath, A. E. (2020). The history of apologetics : a biographical and methodological introduction (B. K. Forrest, J. Chatraw, & A. E. McGrath, Eds.). Zondervan Academic.

COinS