The New Apologetics 1st Matthew Nelson by Matthew Nelson 9781685780043, 1685780040, B0B6KV585R instant download after payment.

“Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the
hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and reverence” (1 Pet. 3:15–16). This is the charter
of Christian apologetics: we must be ready, and can be ready, to offer a rational accounting for
our Christian life and faith, and for the hope that impels us. Our life in Christ is reasonable and
not the result of mere subjective emotional enthusiasm, which comes and goes like the clouds in
the sky.
Rational explanation, of course, has never been sufficient. The even more ancient classical
wisdom of the art of persuasion reminds us that if we are effectively to give an account for the
hope that is in us, we must first establish the bond of trust and touch the heart, thus disposing the
hearer to be attentive to the reasons we offer. In an age in which scandals have shattered trust and
people’s hearts are lured away by the emotionally potent distractions of our secular world, they
will not pay attention to words and reasons alone.
The New Apologetics is a fountain of life-giving clarity in a sterile secular desert, offeringpriceless assistance to us so that we can give a reason for the hope we have. Truth is simple, but
error is complex, and the many short chapters address the complex challenges to Christian faith
in these days, which require fresh thinking from the Christian apologist.
God placed our heads in such a prominent place on our bodies that surely he wants us to usethem. A dumbed-down and mindlessly subjective faith is useless; we can rejoice in the fruitful
insights offered by each of the many authors in this book, each examining one of the many facets
of the modern apologetical enterprise. And each offering is blessedly brief, a lesson for us all in
how to communicate, especially in a modern society of restricted attention spans. Each brief butinsightful chapter invites the reader to go beyond what is offered to the feast of faith and reason
to which it leads.