Humble Apologetics: Defending the Faith Today

Stackhouse, John G.

ISBN 10: 0195138074 / ISBN 13: 9780195138078

Published by Oxford University Press, New York, 2002

About this Item

280pp hardback, in wrapper, very good in a very good wrapper, ownership signature.

Seller Inventory # 059775

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Humble Apologetics: Defending the Faith Today
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, New York
• Publication Date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0195138074
• ISBN 13: 9780195138078
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: Very Good
• Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good

About this title

Synopsis

Is it still possible, in an age of religious and cultural pluralism, to engage in Christian apologetics? How can one urge one's faith on others when such a gesture is typically regarded with suspicion, if not outright resentment?
In Humble Apologetics John G. Stackhouse brings his wide experience as a historian, philosopher, journalist, and theologian to these important questions and offers surprising--and reassuring--answers. Stackhouse begins by acknowledging the real impediments to Christian testimony in North America today and to other faiths in modern societies around the world. He shows how pluralism, postmodernism, skepticism about our ability to know the truth, and a host of other factors create a cultural milieu resistant to the Christian message. And he shows how the arrogance or dogmatism of apologists themselves can alienate rather than attract potential converts. Indeed, Stackhouse argues that the crucial experience of conversion cannot be compelled; all the apologist can do is lead another to the point where an actual encounter with Jesus can take place. "Our objective," Stackhouse writes, "is to offer whatever assistance we can to our neighbors toward their full maturity: toward full health in themselves and in their relationships, and especially toward God." In the last part of the book, he shows how an attitude of humility, instead of merely trying to win religious arguments, will help believers offer their neighbors the gift of Christ's love.
Drawing on the author's personal experience and written with an engaging directness and humility, Humble Apologetics provides sound guidance on how to share Christian faith in a postmodern world.

About the Author

John G. Stackhouse, Jr. is Sangwoo Youtong Chee Professor of Theology and Culture at Regent College, Vancouver, Canada. His previous book, Can God Be Trusted?: Faith and the Challenge of Evil (OUP, 1998) was named one of Christianity Today's books of the year.