Digital Logos Edition
Volume 2 of Christian Apologetics Past and Present takes a sweeping look at apologetics from the Reformation to the present. Readings from 26 apologists, including Martin Luther, John Calvin, Blaise Pascal, Jonathan Edwards, Søren Kierkegaard, Francis Schaeffer, Alvin Plantinga, and William Lane Craig are included. With editorial commentary and questions for reflection, this is a valuable text for both students and people interested in defending their faith.
In the Logos editions, this volume is enhanced by amazing functionality. Scripture citations link directly to English translations, and important terms link to dictionaries, encyclopedias, and a wealth of other resources in your digital library. With Logos Bible Software, the most efficient and comprehensive research tools are in one place, so you get the most out of your study.
In an age of historical amnesia such as ours, nothing could be more helpful than to know how the church, in its long march through time, has addressed the opponents of Christian faith. This collection is superbly done and will bring much needed wisdom to our own times.
—David F. Wells, distinguished senior research professor, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary
This series on the classical traditions of Christian apologetics is, to my knowledge, unmatched in basic compendia. It will equip and encourage thoughtful Christians to develop equally compelling defenses of the faith in our post-Enlightenment, post-Romantic, post-Postmodern era where global interdependencies plunge many into new varieties of suspicion, contempt, and hostility that demand reasonable and faith-filled encounter, dialogue, and debate.
—Max L. Stackhouse, Rimmer and Ruth de Vries Professor of Theology and Public Life Emeritus, Princeton Theological Seminary
Understanding apologetics as explicating, affirming, and vindicating Christianity in the face of uncertainty and skepticism, Edgar and Oliphint have skillfully selected the best primary sources to introduce us to this ongoing task. Their work fills a gap in scholarly resources and highlights the strength, wisdom, and solidity of the prominent defenders of our faith.
—J.I. Packer, board of governors’ professor of theology, Regent College
William Edgar (DTheol, University of Geneva) is professor of apologetics and coordinator of the apologetics department at Westminster Theological Seminary. His books include Reasons of the Heart, The Face of Truth, and Truth in All Its Glory.
K. Scott Oliphint. (PhD, Westminster Theological Seminary) is professor of apologetics and systematic theology at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia and has written numerous scholarly articles and books, including God With Us. He is also the co-editor of the two-volume Christian Apologetics Past and Present: A Primary Source Reader and Revelation and Reason: New Essays in Reformed Apologetics.
“A Christian man is the most free lord of all, and subject to none; a Christian man is the most dutiful servant of all, and subject to every one.” (Page 24)
“But your happiness? Let us weigh the gain and the loss in wagering that God is. Let us estimate these two chances. If you gain, you gain all; if you lose, you lose nothing. Wager, then, without hesitation that He is.” (Page 183)
“A centerpiece of Schleiermacher’s theology is the Gefühl, the feeling, or affect for God.” (Page 265)
“On this point, therefore, we condemn those who live without thought of the ultimate end of life, who let themselves be guided by their own inclinations and their own pleasures without reflection and without concern, and, as if they could annihilate eternity by turning away their thought from it, think only of making themselves happy for the moment.” (Page 178)
“Warranted Christian Belief, Plantinga first wants to show theism to be a rationally held belief and then from there to argue that Christian theism is also itself rationally held, even if one has no evidence for such.” (Page 588)