Book Review: "The Apologetics of Jesus" by Norman Geisler and Patrick Zukeran

This is a much needed book and  serves to answer two basic questions. First: Just what is Christian apologetics? Second: Why should we be interested or involved?

The stark reality is that Christian apologetics suffers from bad press. Even the word "apologetic" is confused with apologizing for something, or is misunderstood as a state of mind in which remorse is felt.

 Apologetics is the discipline of defending the faith, (just as hermeneutics is a discipline of theology).

Also it may well be tied up in the common perception that Christianity and faith is anti-intellectual and these writers are justifiably concerned to dispel that myth. Renowned Christian evangelist, author and apologist (and one time student of Norman Geisler)- Ravi Zacharias laments:

 "Here," (in the West)," we believe that religion is an amputation of the brain" 

Sadly this mistaken attitude is not only promulgated by atheists but is even preached from Christian pulpits, I have been a witness of this myself when we as congregants were instructed to "leave our brains at the door" because it "gets in the road"!

From "Think Why" a ministry of Dr. Steve Kumar: 

Christian sociologist Os Guiness observes, “Anti-intellectualism is truly the refusal to love the Lord our God with all our minds as required by the first of Jesus’ commandments. God does not bypass the mind on the way to the heart. Our hearts cannot rejoice in faith if our minds are full of doubts, for the heart cannot believe what the mind rejects as false.” The great thinker St. Augustine declares, “For who cannot see that thinking is prior to believing? For no one believes anything unless he has first thought that it is to be believed.”

Many imagine that such fideistic ideas as embodied in the catch-phrases "blind faith" and faith caricatured as "a leap in the dark" is an accurate portrayal of what Christianity is all about- and nothing could be further from the truth. And for Christians to acquiesce and perpetuate this false belief is to play right into the hands of strident atheists who love to portray Christianity as a blind faith in childish superstitions and myths. It is time that Christians stood up and realized the inheritance we have been given in Christ and that is what this book is about.

Even non-believers commonly accept Christ as probably the worlds greatest teacher. Christ is our supreme example of the master apologete and we are told in Philippians 2:5

"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:"

So that whatever we do, we should look to Jesus as our example for life. This book shows how Jesus in his relations with people from every background and station in life was able to use a sophisticated variety of ways in which he challenged people and their assumptions in a dialogue that was respectful and yet unrelentingly purposeful and pointed.

Many will be familiar with the verse much used and perhaps not fully appreciated found in Hebrews 11:1

"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." King James Version.

This is perhaps an unfortunate translation but we see the sense better when compared with another translation:

"Now faith is the substantiating of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen."

 In the Darby Bible Translation we see that the word has been translated "substantiating" which means "To support with proof or evidence; verify" (cf. Dictionary.com)
Clearly then- that 'faith' is not a "leap in the dark" but faith is that which substantiates, or makes real that which is hoped for, it is the evidence for unseen realities.

From the introduction to "The Apologetics of Jesus" :

"...it is strange indeed that no one has written a major work on the apologetic methods of Jesus. This book is an attempt to correct that serious omission.

Those who oppose apologetics in favour of a leap of faith without evidence will be disappointed in Jesus. Nowhere does he call on any one to make an unthoughtful and unreasoned decision about his or her eternal destiny. Everywhere Jesus demonstrates a willingness to provide evidence for what he taught to every sincere seeker. Indeed, the Law and the Prophets ... inform us of a God who says, "Come now let us reason together" (Isaiah 1:18)... And those who were taught by Jesus exhort us to "give the reason for our faith" (1 Peter 3:15) and not to make a leap of faith in the dark but rather to take a step of faith in the light- in the light of the evidence he has provided in nature (Rom. 1:19-20), in our hearts (Rom2:12-15), and in history (Acts 17:30-31).

It has become increasingly evident that the church of the "West"  is in rapid retreat. Even while some churches are growing, some by questionable methods, it has become marginalized from society and has dropped the ball as far as her sacred duty lies in keeping Christ as a credible and worthy voice alive in our multicultural climate. Retreating into a "holy huddle" is not a viable option, and she must linger no longer on the margins being unfaithful in many respects to maintain that sacred mandate to engage in society and make disciples from among all nations.

Sadly the reason is not only that militant atheists have, as a minority prevailed with great success in strategic use of media campaigns to convince the public at large that Christianity has nothing to offer but, Christianity has largely failed to take up the challenge. As I pen these words my wife informs me of an internet headline:

  "Famous atheist author Richard Dawkins has been named the world's top thinker in a global vote that counted 10,000 voices from over 100 countries."  

 Thankfully there are those who, by learning from their Lord and Master, have taken up the sword of the Spirit and consistently defended the faith against all odds 'casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ" midst a secular and antagonistic cultural backdrop.

I repeat a quote from Alister McGrath's book "Heresy" which deserves careful consideration, it is written by:Austin Farrer lin “The Christian Apologist”(1904-1968)

“For though argument does not create conviction, the lack of it destroys belief. What seems to be proved may not be embraced; but what no one shows the ability to defend is quickly abandoned. Rational argument does not create belief, but it maintains a climate in which belief may flourish.”