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Title: Defending Your Faith, an Introduction to Apologetics

Author: Sproul, R.C.

Format: Hardcover: 206 pages

Publisher: Crossway Books; 2003

ISBN: 1581345194

Review Date: January 19th, 2007

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Book Description: There is a widespread belief that reason and faith are incompatible and opposed to each other. Faith is viewed as subjective, emotional, a crutch for those who find the real world too hard. Though many of the world’s finest minds hold this view, the Bible teaches that it is the fool who says there is no God. Dr. R. C. Sproul clearly and simply argues that at its core Christianity is rational. He focuses on defending the basic truth claims for two of the most crucial issues of apologetics: God’s existence and the Bible’s authority. In this primer of apologetic thought, Dr. Sproul affirms four logical principles that are necessary for all real discussion and teaches you how to defend your faith in a faithless world. Using the writings of church fathers and philosophers throughout the ages, he uncovers the common ideologies that work against faith. The defense of the faith is not a luxury or an intellectual vanity. It is a task appointed by God that you should be able to give a reason for the hope that is in you as you bear witness before the world.

Review:

This books starts out with a nice heavy hitting line right on the front cover flap, Sproul states that "[t]he defense of the faith is not a luxury or an intellectual vanity. It is a task appointed by God[.]"  I found this to be refreshing and immediately decided to purchase the book.  If you are like me and are a "thinking" or "intellectual" Christian, you will probably find Sproul's arguments for the reasons of apologetics something that your "other" Christian friends will need to read.

In the first section, he asks what the purpose of apologetics is.  One argument that I have heard against giving a reasoned defense for your faith is that arguments have never brought anyone to the faith, and many times you can win an argument and loose the person.  Sproul right off the bat agrees.  He clearly states that nobody but God can convert a person to Christianity, and as Christians God has charged us with doing apologetics.  He has an interesting take on "winning an argument but loosing the person."  A view that has a long pedigree of Christian thinkers behind it.  Sproul states that there are people who will never accept God, they will always reject Him because of their sinfulness.  Part of apologetics to answer these "barking dogs" in such a way that they will no longer bark their worthless objections to Christianity.

I was happy to see that Spoul has an impressive command in his understanding of philosophy.  In laying the ground work that apologetics must operate in, he calls in almost every big name in the history of western philosophy.  He quickly points out what the cultural and intellectual climate that the thinkers were working in, and explains why they argued the way that they did.  I was happy to see that he was defending Aquinas's view of natural theology.  This is often misunderstood in Christian circles today.  Sproul cuts right to the point and offers some extracts to show that Aquinas's clearly believed (and the clearly Bible teaches), that the human mind is a gift from God.  The mind is sustained by God, and part of our image bearing nature.  Sproul even goes on to point out that the Bible assumes the basic reliability of human reason and the perception of the senses.

If you are more seasoned in apologetics, this book will probably cover a lot of familiar ground.  I found the last few chapters, where the basic reliability of the Bible and the historical existence of Jesus to be somewhat tedious.  The only reason being that I have read several weighty books and articles on this subject.  For someone who is looking to get into apologetics, this book in a good introduction that interacts with a large body of western thought, and shows someone how to use these sources as a frame work to build up a good reasoned defense of the faith.