For years, Josh McDowell has been ranked as a first-class Christian apologist: one who can persuasively defend the Christian faith. Sean McDowell grew up in this environment, being well mentored by his apologist father, and has become a world-renown apologist himself. So when Sean speaks of the need for a new kind of apologist, Christians should take notice.
A New Kind Of Apologist is a collection of essays edited by Sean McDowell. The book also contains short interviews which Sean has conducted with both those defending and opposing Christianity. This book covers everything from how apologists can be the most effective in a new generation of skeptics and seekers, as well as some thoughtful ways to address the issues at the forefront of the minds of this new generation.
The essays in this book are written by seasoned veterans of Christian apologetics, and some who are newer to the scene. But all of them write with a voice that is relevant to this current generation.
Not only will this book inform your brain, but it will challenge your heart as well. The overriding theme through all of these excellent essays is this—Christians must seek to love people more than win an intellectual argument. The new apologist knows his “stuff” but also knows how to develop genuine, caring relationships with those skeptics and seekers that need to hear the good news that Christianity offers.
I loved this book! It is clearly one that I am going to be referring to again and again and again as I seek to hone my apologetic and relationship-building skills.
I am a Harvest House reviewer.
April 26, 2017 at 6:01 am
[…] apologists to be effective in this current generation. You can read my full book review by clicking here. These quotes mainly deal with the attitude that a Christian apologist should […]
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October 12, 2017 at 1:03 pm
[…] “For people burdened to say and defend the goodness and truthfulness of Christianity, it is tempting to hurriedly skip past the questions in our rush to demonstrate our answers. Such an impulse makes sense. Christianity, after all, has the most profound answers to offer the world’s most difficult questions. But if the work of apologetics involves more than building up the faithful, its primary orientation should be toward helping those who are already traveling to arrive. It is persuasion that apologetics hopes for, not only defenses or justifications of the Christian position as true or reasonable. We should point the way home rather than shout from the balcony of our bedrooms about how good looking it is. We have to care about the means of travel, not just the intellectual destination. We have to attend to the questions if we are going to help people find answers.” —Matthew Anderson, in A New Kind Of Apologist […]
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