Apologetics Beyond Reason ventures into nontraditional territory when it comes to classic apologetics. Although I’m familiar with Sire’s other work and have valued greatly from his other writings, the title grabbed my attention. Coming from the analytic tradition, I was intrigued how one might get “beyond reason” when defending the Christian faith without also utilizing reason. What I found was a robust apologetic method and one that will likely resonate more with a [post] post-modern/existential culture than more traditional approaches. While apologetic models typically fall within rational or evidential spaces, Sire’s presuppositional touch (see the post Apologetic Taxonomy) coupled with his push toward the “intuitive” will add valuable insights in  the toolbox of Christian apologists. This book deserves a wide and careful read.

The following transcript is from an Apologetics 315 interview with Robert Bowman. Original audio here. Transcript index here. If you enjoy transcripts, please consider supporting, which makes this possible.

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BA: Hello, this is Brian Auten of Apologetics315. Today’s interview is with Robert M. Bowman Jr., the Director of Research at the Institute for Religious Research. He is the author of nearly sixty articles, and of a dozen books, and these include, Faith Has Its Reasons: Integrated Approaches to Defending the Christian Faith, Twenty Compelling Evidences That God Exists  and also, Putting Jesus in His Place: The Case for the Deity of Christ. The purpose of this interview is to learn a bit more about Rob and his work, take a look at apologetic methodologies, and get his advice for those defending the faith. Well, thanks for joining me today Rob.

RB: My pleasure.

BA: Well, first off, I want to thank you for your work. Two of your books that I’ve read have been a couple of my favorites -- Faith Has Its Reasons, and Twenty Compelling Evidences That God Exists. And I think both are excellent, so I look forward to getting to some of your other titles in the future.

Thinking About Christian Apologetics: What It Is and Why We Do It is a cogent and compelling book because it argues that apologetics is not an academic exercise. To be sure, an apologist can learn much from academia, and from having her ideas tested in the scholarly community. However, James K. Beilby realises that apologetics is, at the root, simply “commending and defending” the faith and he reminds us that this is an unavoidable part of Christian living. While Beilby takes us through the familiar territory of presuppositionalism and evidentialism, his argument remains fresh and persuasive.

Just as theology flows naturally from worship and confession, apologetics is the natural outcome of evangelism. At some point the Christian moves from proclaiming the Gospel to persuading the unbeliever; once this move takes place, the Christian has moved from evangelism to apologetics. In any case, the unbeliever will soon ask “why should I take anything you say seriously?” The Christian will have to state some reason for the hope that is within him; so his answer had better be good. Once we realise that apologetics is a natural part of the Christian life, the objections of the anti-apologist melt away.

Today’s interview is with pastor and apologist Phil Fernandes. He talks about apologetics methodologies and his latest book: 7 Great Apologists. He unpacks the various approaches to apologetics, including classical apologetics, historical apologetics, two types of presuppositionalism, verificationalism, comparative religious apologetics, and psychological apologetics. Lots of great insights into the ways of doing apologetics. More from Phil Fernandes at PhilFernandes.org.

Apologetics 315 is giving away a pile of copies of 7 Great Apologists. To enter the drawing, just fill in the quick form here. The drawing will take place in one week.

Full Interview MP3 Audio here (46 min)

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This audio makes the case that the content and conduct of Christian apologetics must be person-sensitive in two ways. First, it must be sensitive to the audience one is interacting with. Second, it must be sensitive to the person of Jesus Christ. Being person-sensitive entails adapting one’s content to the audience, being consistent in one’s conduct as a Christian, being mindful of the response of the individual, being informed by scripture and influenced by the Holy Spirit. Download the PDF Transcript. Feel free to adapt for your own use.
Full MP3 Audio here (20 min)

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"I do not believe there is any one system of apologetics that meets the need of all the people, any more than I think there is any one form of evangelism that meets the need of all the people. It is to be shaped on the basis of love for the person as a person."

- Francis Schaeffer

A Christian View of Philosophy and Culture (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 1982), p. 177

Today's interview is with Robert M. Bowman, Jr. - the Director of Research at the Institute for Religious Research. He talks about his background, his work with IRR, the reasons for examining apologetic methodology, four basic categories or approaches to apologetics (classical, evidential, reformed, fideistic), apologetic questions and meta-apologetic questions, the sorts of methodological questions one should consider, understanding presuppositionalism, finding an integrated approach to defending the faith, historical examples of apologists with a well-rounded approach to apologetics, advice to apologists, and more.

Full Interview MP3 Audio here (47 min)

Books by Robert M. Bowman include:
• Faith Has Its Reasons: Integrative Approaches to Defending the Christian Faith
• 20 Compelling Evidences That God Exists
• Putting Jesus in His Place: The Case for the Deity of Christ
• Jehovah's Witnesses
• Sense and Nonsense about Heaven and Hell
• Sense and Nonsense about Angels and Demons

Enjoy.
Subscribe to the Apologetics 315 Interviews podcast here or in iTunes.

The Apologetics of Jesus: A Caring Approach to Dealing with Doubters by Norman Geisler and Patrick Zukeran is a guidebook for apologetic methodology based on the way Jesus communicated. As the authors put it, “Despite the fact that Jesus was an apologist and that by common consent he was probably the greatest teacher ever, it is strange indeed that no one has written a major work on the apologetic methods of Jesus.”(11) Geisler and Zukeran therefore go on to build a case for apologetic methodology by looking at Jesus’s use of testimony, miracles, the resurrection, reason, parables, discourse, prophecy, and the like. This review will explore some of the elements the authors use to make their case.

Five Views on Apologetics edited by Steven B. Cowan is one of Zondervan’s Counterpoint series of books. This book is designed to compare and contrast the views of the various contributors, allowing each one of the authors to present their view, critique other views, and respond to the critiques. This volume edited by Cowan brings together five views on apologetic methodology. The purpose of this review is to briefly outline the contents for the potential reader while assessing the usefulness of the book as a resource for the Christian apologist.

Faith Has Its Reasons: An Integrative Approach to Defending Christianity by Kenneth Boa & Robert Bowman is an apologetics handbook weighing in at over 600 pages. The book contains twenty-three chapters. The authors systematically define apologetics, outline a brief history of apologetics, and then do an in-depth survey of five categories of apologetic methodology. A full inspection of all the contents of this book is beyond the scope of this review, which will aim simply to outline the Boa and Bowman’s content and judge the book’s overall usefulness.