I have been quite excited to read Scott Klusendorf's The Case For Life: Equipping Christians to Engage the Culture (paperback, Kindle, Video Trailer, Interview, Life Training Institute). From my elementary school days, I have been exposed to pro-life Christians who have faced ridicule, fines, physical harm, and even jail time for their commitment to the unborn's right to life. It was not until my exposure to Christian apologetics that I became aware that the fight was more than each side just emoting at one another. In this book, Klusendorf provides the scientific case for the humanity of the unborn and the objective moral wrongness of killing them. He addresses many common and powerful challenges to the prolife position. The book is divided into four parts and is 243 pages in length. This review will provide a chapter-by-chapter summary then conclude with my comments.

Part 1- Pro-Life Christians Clarify The Debate
Chapter 1- What Is The Issue?
Klusendorf begins by clarifying that there is one issue that is up for debate- the one issue that will make or break the case for the pro-life position. He explains that every other issue in the discussion is a red herring if this one issue is not resolved first. The key question that anyone must ask before they decide to act on something is "What is it?" In the context of the pro-life/abortion debate the action is killing and "it" is the unborn. We must determine if the unborn are human or not before we decide if it is justifiable to kill it. Klusendorf points out that if the unborn are not human, then there is no more justification needed to remove it than is necessary to remove a tooth (and any efforts to lower the number of abortions is really worthless); however, if the unborn is human, then no justification is sufficient to deliberately kill it.

In this audio, bio-ethicist Scott Klusendorf presents a talk at a Gordon College convocation, receiving a standing ovation for his pro-life case. For more pro-life resources, go here.

Full MP3 Audio here.

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Successful pro-life apologists pursue four essential tasks. First, they clarify the debate by focusing public attention on one key question: What is the unborn? Second, they establish a foundation for the debate, demonstrating to critics that metaphysical neutrality is impossible. Third, they answer objections persuasively. Fourth, they teach and equip. Below are a number of great resources (and extensive notes here). This content from Life Training Institute.

Videos:
Session #1: What is the Issue—The Nature of Moral Reasoning (52 Min.)
Session #2: What is the Unborn? (1:08)
Session #3: What Makes Humans Valuable? Part 1: The Substance View of Human Persons (52 min.)
Session #4: What Makes Humans Valuable? Part 2: The Religion Objection (15 Min.)
Session #5: Who Makes the Rules? Abortion: Law, Metaphysics, and Alleged Moral Neutrality (38 Min.)
Session #6: What is my Duty? The Bodily Autonomy Arguments of Thomson, Boonin, and McDonaugh (54 Min.)
Session #7: Catholic Social Justice Teaching and Other Objections (46 Min.)
Session #8: Equipping Yourself to Engage at Your Church (46 Min.)

Texts:
1. Gilbert Meilaender, Bioethics: A Primmer for Christians (Eerdmans, 2005)
2. Agnetta Sutton, Christian Bioethics: A Guide for the Perplexed (T&T Clark, 2008)
3. Scott Rae, Moral Choices: An Introduction to Ethics (Zondervan, 2009)
4. Scott Klusendorf, The Case for Life: Equipping Christians to Engage the Culture (Crossway, 2009)

Suggested Reading:
1. Francis J. Beckwith, Dignity Never Been Photographed: Scientific Materialism, Enlightenment Liberalism, and Steven Pinker (Ethics in Medicine, Vol. 26:2, Summer 2010)
2. Francis J. Beckwith, The Human Being, a Person of Substance: A Response to Dean Stretton
3. Christopher Kaczor, The Ethics of Abortion: Women's Rights, Human Life, and the Question of Justice (Routledge, 2010)

This year Athanatos Christian Ministries is hosting its fourth annual Online Apologetics Conference. The conference will be held on April 21st,  22nd, and 23rd, 2013. This year's theme is: A Defense of the Faith is a Defense of Life. Christian apologetics training with an emphasis on defending life.

On the 21st of April, a number of apologists will present guest lectures free of charge on a variety of apologetics topics. Use this link to find out more about the conference and the sessions.

Find the Online Apologetics Conference on Facebook and Twitter.
Apologetics 315 is happy to sponsor this event. (For those who are interested, Brian Auten will be speaking on the 21st on the topic, "Apologetics Training as a Lifestyle.")

Check it out.

If you are looking for the best place to find pro-life resources, start with Scott Klusendorf's Life Training Institute. With audio for defending the unborn, pro-life articles (check out "The Five-Minute Pro-Lifer"), podcasts, video, and more.

Looking for books to educate you on the pro-life position? On a recent Stand to Reason program, Scott Klusendorf recommended his top five suggested books:

1. The Unaborted Socrates (Peter Kreeft)
2. Precious Unborn Human Persons (Greg Koukl)
3. The Case for Life (Scott Klusendorf)
4. Defending Life (Francis Beckwith)
5. Natural Rights and the Right to Choose (Hadley Arkes)

For other pro-life resources on Apologetics315, click here.

Get equipped.

This compelling talk by Scott Klusendorf makes a case for the pro-life position without appeal to a particular religious position. Everything in the abortion debate comes down to one issue: what is the unborn? For more resources, see prolifetraining.

Full MP3 Audio here.

Listen.