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by John G. Stackhouse, Jr. Oxford Univ. Press, 2002 262 pp.; $26 |
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by Richard Swinburne Oxford Univ. Press, 2003 224 pp.; $24.95, paper |
Not long ago, Christian apologists faced an uphill battle against well-entrenched philosophies of unbelief. Natural theology was deemed long dead, having been slain by the swords of Hume and Kant. Arguments for God's existence were at best philosophical museum pieces revealing the errors of unenlightened intellectuals. Higher critics had reduced the gospels to ragtag collections of scattered facts, idiosyncratic theologizing, and existentially gripping myths. Philosophers and apologists did well to argue for the intelligibility of religious language (considered non-sense by logical positivists), let alone its rationality or truth. Evangelical apologetics—when pursued at all—was typically practiced outside the academy and often lacked intellectual power (although this could not be said of stalwarts such as Gordon Clark, E. J. Carnell, or Carl Henry).
But seismic shocks have realigned the intellectual world of unbelief in the past three decades, opening up fissures and toppling edifices. Atheist philosopher Quentin Smith recently wrote in the skeptical philosophical journal Philo that the philosophy departments of the academy have been "desecularized" since the late 1960s, largely due to the path-breaking work of Alvin Plantinga's writings. Given the renaissance in Christian philosophy during the past few decades, atheistic philosophers can no longer assume that their naturalism is justified. Smith even allows that "The justification of most contemporary naturalist views is defeated by contemporary theist arguments." Philosophia Christi, the journal of the Evangelical Philosophical Society, has the largest subscription base of any philosophy of religion journal and a roster of stellar contributors.
Into this heady atmosphere come two very different apologetics books. Although the final section of Humble Apologetics addresses apologetics proper, it—unlike The Resurrection of God Incarnate—is not really an apologetic for Christianity. One finds no theistic arguments, defenses of the reliability of the Bible, or evaluations of non-Christian worldviews. It is more a primer for the literate reader on how to conduct oneself as an apologist in the contemporary world. While the book is well-documented, its style is sometimes informal and autobiographical.
Stackhouse, a Professor of Theology and Culture at Regent College, is a prolific writer on theological, philosophical, and cultural topics. In this wide-ranging work, he discusses contemporary apologetic challenges such as pluralism, postmodernity and postmodernism, and consumerism. He then elaborates insightfully on the meaning of Christian conversion, which is the goal of apologetic activity of all kinds, but which is easily counterfeited when "Christianity lite" is the norm. Lastly, Stackhouse develops strategies of communication that stress humility, virtue, and wisdom, as opposed to the apologetic strategy of mustering sheer intellectual firepower aimed at the "enemy." Apologetics, he argues, is about commending the faith as much as it is about defending the faith. This involves a total way of life, which includes art, architecture, literature, and Christian community.
Stackhouse warns that Christianity has lost its "plausibility." Instead of being rejected as irrational, Christianity is dismissed because of its supposed support of racism, sexism, environmental degradation, and imperialism. "For many of our neighbors," he writes, "the Christian past is simply a chamber of cultural horrors." Classical apologetic arguments are not designed to answer such charges.
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