Third Column Ministries

www.slideshare.net/ThirdColumnMinistries
www.facebook.com/LearnApologetics | Twitter: @LApologetics
www.ThirdColumnMinistries.org

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License..
 Approaches
• Apologetics can be divided into two
competing camps
– evidentialism and presuppositionalism
• Or some may say it is more of a spectrum
between the two
• For some, this is more of an academic debate
• We cover apologetic approaches because you
will come across this the more you study
 Apologetic Approaches
• Evidential
– Classical
– Cumulative
– Historical
• Presuppositional
• Missional
• Integrative
• Combinational
 Evidential Apologetics
• Stresses the need for evidence in support of the
Christian truth claims
• The evidence can be
– Rational
– Historical
– Archaeological
– Experiential
– Prophetic
• It is so broad that it overlaps with other approaches to
apologetics
– Classical apologetics is considered a subset of evidential
 Classical Apologetics
• “Classical apologetics stresses rational arguments
for the existence of God and historical evidence
supporting the truth of Christianity.”
• “Stress is placed on miracles as a confirmation of
the claims of Christ and the biblical prophets and
apostles.”
• “Classical apologetics is characterized by two
basic steps: theistic and evidential arguments.”

• Baker encyclopedia of Christian apologetics (154)

Existence Christianity
of God is True
 Classical Apologists
• Augustine
• Anselm
• Thomas Aquinas
• CS Lewis
• William Paley
• John Locke
• BB Warfield
• RC Sproul
• William Lane Craig
• JP Moreland
• Norman L. Geisler
 Acts 14:8-18
“Now at Lystra there was a man sitting who could not use his feet. He was
crippled from birth and had never walked. He listened to Paul speaking. And
Paul, looking intently at him and seeing that he had faith to be made well, said in
a loud voice, “Stand upright on your feet.” And he sprang up and began walking.
And when the crowds saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying
in Lycaonian, “The gods have come down to us in the likeness of men!” Barnabas
they called Zeus, and Paul, Hermes, because he was the chief speaker. And the
priest of Zeus, whose temple was at the entrance to the city, brought oxen and
garlands to the gates and wanted to offer sacrifice with the crowds. But when
the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of it, they tore their garments and rushed
out into the crowd, crying out, “Men, why are you doing these things? We also
are men, of like nature with you, and we bring you good news, that you should
turn from these vain things to a living God, who made the heaven and the earth
and the sea and all that is in them. In past generations he allowed all the nations
to walk in their own ways. Yet he did not leave himself without witness, for he did
good by giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts
with food and gladness.” Even with these words they scarcely restrained the
people from offering sacrifice to them.” (ESV)
 Acts 14:8-18
• Notice in this account that Paul addresses
people who are not Jewish and don’t have the
Jewish scriptures.
• You will notice in verse 15 he starts with God
as the creator of the universe.
 Historical Apologetics
• Stresses historical evidence as the basis for
demonstrating the truth of Christianity
• Uses historical records including the Bible
– The writings of Apostles, i.e. Bible
– The writings of early Church Fathers
– The writings of non-Christians, i.e. Josephus
 Historical
This method makes a case for
Christianity based upon the
Gospels historical evidence available.
This include s the biblical
account, other extrabiblical
(non-Christian) sources and
Extrabiblical Church history.
This view is good for people

Sources who already believe in a god

Church
History
 Historical Proponents
• Tertullian
• Justin Martyr
• Clement of Alexandria
• Origen
• John Warwick Montgomery
• Gary Habermas
 Cumulative
This method seeks to create a
case based upon the
Biblical
preponderance of the
Resurrection
Evidence evidence. Much like a court
Evidence
case the point is to out weigh
any other opposing view.
Historical This view is good for people
Evidence
who already believe in a god
but not Christianity.

Truth of Christianity
 Presuppositional
• Presuppositionalists begin with the assumption
that God exists and Christianity is true.
• “Usually, a presuppositionalist presupposes the
basic truth of Christianity and then proceeds to
show (in any of several ways) that Christianity
alone is true.”
• They believe there is no meaning to “facts” apart
from the Christian worldview.
– Baker encyclopedia of Christian apologetics
 Presuppositional Verities
• Revelational
– You have to presuppose the Triune God has
revealed himself in Holy Scriptures before it is
possible to make any sense out of the universe,
life, language, or history
• Rational
– Christianity alone is internally consistent
– All other systems break the law of
Noncontradiction because they are not true
 Presuppositional Verities
• Systematic Consistency
– Like rational
– With the added point that it must also be
existentially relevant in that it meets life’s basic
needs
• Practical (Francis Schaeffer)
– False systems are unlivable
– Only Christian truth is livable
 Proponents
• Revelational
– Cornelius Van Til, Greg Bahnsen, and John Frame
• Rational
– Gordon Clark and Carl F. H. Henry
• Systematic Consistency
– Edward John Carnell and Gordon Lewis
• Practical
– Francis Schaeffer
 Missional Apologetics
• Missions based • Honest with limitations
• Cross-cultural • Safe environment
• Contextualization • Non-judgmental
• Relationship • Sociologically informed
• Reason and emotion • Encourages dialogue
• Listening • Humble
• Living example • Dynamic, not static
• Patient

http://missionalapologetics.com/
 Combinationalism
• Combinationalism
– Balanced approach to apologetics
– Using Presuppositional and Evidential approaches
together
– A synthesis approach
– None of these approaches is sufficient enough to
stand alone as the only way
 Integrative
• Integrative
– An approach that combines or integrates
elements of more than one approach
– Situation and person specific
– Know the strengths and weaknesses of each and
apply as needed
– Adaptation and flexibility
– Using all of “these approaches to commend
Christian faith to others” (Boa)
 Experiential Apologetics
• Experience is a way we can ‘know’ something
• Appeal primarily, if not exclusively, to
experience as evidence for Christian faith
• Some focus on mystical experiences
• Fideism
– Matters of faith and religious belief are not
supported by reason
• Mormon’s will often use this approach
– “Burning in the bosom”
 Experiential Apologetics
• Some people reject purely experiential
arguments because they are:
– Unverifiable
– Subjective
• How can you know how to interpret someone
experience?
– What if you have a similar experience?
– Who’s experience is better?
– How do you know?
 Dialogical Apologetics
• “The contexts provided by the conceptual,
attitudinal, cultural, and psychological aspects
of real people in discussion are generally
ignored.
• Apologetics has traditionally centered on the
philosophical to the exclusion of the
personal.” (Clark viii)
• “…dialogical apologetics is audience-sensitive
or personal-centered apologetics.” (Clark ix)
Clark, David K. Dialogical Apologetics: A Person-Centered Approach to Christian Defense
 Imaginative Apologetics
• Things can be known by our
imaginations
• The idea is to bring the truths of
Christianity to the world through the
arts
– Poetry
– Music
– Painting
– Graphic Arts
• Malcolm Guite’s Faith, Hope and Poetry
– Literature • Nancy Pearcey’s Saving Leonardo
– Multi-media • Imaginative Apologetics, Theology, Philosophy,
and the Catholic Tradition by John Hughes and
Andrew Davison
 Literary Apologetics
• Literary apologetics is a subset of
imaginative apologetics that
specifically focuses on literature.
• Great examples
– G. K. Chesterton, C. S. Lewis and J. R. R.
Tolkien, Holly Ordway, Sean McDowell,
Paul L. Maier
• Teaches the truth of Christianity
through fiction literature

http://www.hieropraxis.com/2011/05/what-is-literary-apologetics/
 Homework
• Exercise: Practice Active Listening
– Discover and listening exercise, talk with someone
about their beliefs without opinion.
– Just ask questions and listen.
– Try to find out what they believe and why.
– Remember, this is not a witnessing exercise; this is
a discovery and listening exercise.