Everyday Apologetics: Answering Common Objections to the Christian Faith
Everyday Answers to Difficult Questions
Objections to the Christian faith are not new. The ability to boldly proclaim the ancient faith to a post-Christian culture is.
In an era where access to objections and arguments is easier than ever, everyday Christians need to be prepared with strong, clear responses. In Everyday Apologetics, readers will be equipped with answers to some of Christianity’s most difficult objections: Why is the God of the Old Testament so violent? Are science and faith in fundamental conflict with one another? The contributors take up these questions, and more, helping Christians be strengthened in their faith, while also providing powerful answers to opponents of the Christian faith.
With a clear, inviting, winsome style, Everyday Apologetics is for everyone: Christians, skeptics, seekers, and everyone in between.
Praise for Everyday Apologetics
This book is engaging—it is timely, witty, even funny. More importantly, it deals with today’s thorniest problems without being academic or boring. Check it out. Highly recommended.
–Gary R. Habermas, Distinguished Research Professor and Chair of the Department of Philosophy, Liberty University
Everyday Apologetics will help you investigate and respond to common objections to Christianity so that you can grow in your personal confidence and share the gospel with your friends and neighbors.
–J. Warner Wallace, Dateline-featured Cold-Case Detective; Speaker and Senior Fellow at the Colson Center for Christian Worldview; author of Cold-Case Christianity
Everyday Apologetics offers many practical insights on a host of topics, providing clear guidance for defending one’s faith. This concise handbook on key faith questions can help embolden believers in their witness for Christ.
–Paul Copan, Pledger Family Chair of Philosophy and Ethics, Palm Beach Atlantic University; author of Is God a Moral Monster?
Everyday Apologetics is a great contribution to defending the Christian faith in today's culture. It has quite an array of contributors and addresses many of the critical issues in apologetics today while still being accessible to the non-scholar. It is a very helpful addition to the tools available to those interested in answering objections to Christian faith.
–Scott B. Rae, Dean of Faculty and Professor of Christian Ethics, Talbot School of Theology
Top Highlights
“faith is confident trust in what you have good reason to believe. Faith is trust that changes you.” (Page 13)
“Volitional doubts, unlike emotional doubts, engage the will first. You begin by not wanting something to be true, and so you intentionally begin to doubt, hoping that what you find in your research will confirm your initial desire to reject the belief in question.” (Page 25)
“God is good, God is powerful, and God will eliminate evil. God is patient, not wanting anyone to perish. God intends to get rid of evil without getting rid of us, so he invites us to lay down our arms and join his side freely. But this, of course, requires us to humbly admit our own contributions to the problem of evil.” (Page 131)
“‘Free will is what has made evil possible. Why, then, did God give [us] free will? Because free will, though it makes evil possible, is also the only thing that makes possible any love or goodness or joy worth having. A world … of creatures that worked like machines would hardly be worth creating.’” (Page 112)
“In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure’ (Genesis 15:16b, emphasis added). With this pronouncement we discover that the conquest of Canaan is to be understood within the patience and justice of God. How so?” (Page 85)
- Foreword by Sean McDowell
- Introduction: Why Everyday Apologetics? by Chris Price and Paul Chamberlain
- Part 1: Defending the Faith Today
- The Nagging Doubts that Strengthened My Faith by Jon Morrison
- Responding to a New Kind of Skeptic by Paul Chamberlain
- Part 2: Answering Objections
- Why Is the Old Testament God So Violent? by Barton Priebe
- Why Does God Allow Suffering? by Chris Price
- Are Faith and Science in Conflict? by Kirk Durston
- How Can We Reconcile the Exclusive Claims of Christ with a Pluralistic Culture? by Jason Ballard
- Part 3: Building a Positive Case
- The Reasonableness of Belief in God by Andy Steiger
- How Fine-Tuning Points Powerfully to God by Michael Horner
- The Hope of the Resurrection by Mark Clark
- The Search for the Meaning of Life by Andy Steiger
- Title: Everyday Apologetics: Answering Common Objections to the Christian Faith
- Editors: Paul Chamberlain & Chris Price
- Publisher: Lexham Press
- Publication Date: 2020
- Pages: 240
- Format: Logos Digital, Paperback
- Trim Size: 5x7
- ISBN: 9781683593720
Paul Chamberlain is professor of apologetics, ethics, and philosophy of religion at Trinity Western University, as well as the director of the Institute of Christian Apologetics. He has written five books on apologetics and ethical issues, including Why People Don’t Believe (Baker Books) and Can We Be Good without God? (InterVarsity Press). He previously worked as Canadian director of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries and has appeared on many media outlets throughout North America.
Chris Price is lead pastor at Calvary Baptist Church in Coquitlam, British Columbia (calvarybaptist.ca). He is the author of Suffering with God and Radical Hope , both published by Apologetics Canada. He has been a scriptwriter for the Alpha Youth Film Series and is the author of the Alpha Youth Bible Reading plan on the YouVersion Bible app. He co-hosts the Hidden City Podcast and is a regular contributor to various blogs and websites. Chris has a Master’s Degree in Christian Studies from ACTS Seminaries of Trinity Western University.
Sample Pages from Everyday Apologetics
Reviews
2 ratings
Erik McFarland
12/9/2020
Having dove headfirst into apologetics years back, I was a bit skeptical whether or not the book would teach me much of anything new, but was happy at least to read through a new apologetic resource for emerging generations. I got the Logos version. Overall a wonderfully done book for its size and purpose, providing many fresh answers from the latest research and arguments. Naturally the book cannot address every big issue, nor every issue within each one, but offers great jumping off points for those who wish to do some more digging. As with any collection of essays from various authors, some are better than others, but each chapter ultimately is done well and address their respective issues in a satisfactory way. The Logos version worked perfectly well for me and was easy to navigate. It was organized well, divided into three major sections (defending the faith, answering questions, and building a positive case) and tackles several of the big issues. There is a natural progression to the ordering of the chapters that eases the reading experience, providing the book itself with a general giving a flow of thought, despite each chapter addressing distinct issues. Some chapters are more technical and complex (Chapter 7: The Reasonableness of Belief in God, for example) than others, but overall it is fairly accessible to the very people searching for answers that the book addresses. My favorite chapter would either have to be Chapter 8: Fine-Tuning Points Powerfully to God by Michael Horner (he handles what could be a technical and complex issue with the simplicity and grace of one who is knowledgable and experienced) or Chapter 9: The Hope of Resurrection by Mark Clark (he writes with refreshing frankness and humor that by no means takes away from the subject matter). I was a bit disappointed with the final chapter, Chapter 10: The Search for the Meaning of Life by Andy Steiger. There is only so much you can stuff into a single chapter, so naturally there are things you have to leave out. Nevertheless, in a chapter that addresses meaning and where to find it, there is no mention of the postmodernist viewpoint, which takes away from the chapter's relevancy in our day and age. In fact, it offers little in terms of counter perspectives. It naturally sets up Jesus' answer to the meaning of life as the best one, but does not do much in explaining why it is better than any of the others. I received a complimentary review copy from the publisher, Lexham Press, on Logos Bible software for an honest review. I was in no way required or asked to give a positive review in exchange for the copy, but only to give my own honest thoughts and feelings about the book.