6 Enemies of Apologetic Engagement by Doug Groothuis

Philosopher and apologist Douglas Groothuis presents a great article on Six Enemies Of Apologetic Engagement from the Bethinking.org website. His purpose is briefly to lay out six factors that illegitimately inhibit apologetic engagement today. If these barriers are removed, our apologetic witness may grow into what it should be in Christ:
1. Indifference
2. Irrationalism
3. Ignorance
4. Cowardice
5. Arrogance and intellectual vanity
6. Superficial techniques or schlock apologetics

Be sure to read the article in its fullness.
PDF also available.

Enjoy.

Doug Groothuis on Biblical Truth

"Without a thorough and deeply rooted understanding of the biblical view of truth as revealed, objective, absolute, universal, eternally engaging, antithetical and exclusive, unified and systematic, and as an end in itself, the Christian response to postmodernism will be muted by the surrounding culture or will make illicit compromises with the truth-impoverished spirit of the age. The good news is that truth is still truth, that it provides a backbone for witness and ministry in postmodern times, and that God's truth will never fail."

—Douglas Groothuis

Truth Decay, p. 81-82.

Douglas Groothuis Defense of Natural Theology MP3

Christian Philosopher and apologist Douglas Groothuis presents a lecture on A Defense of Natural Theology.
Full MP3 audio here.
Original media source here.
Enjoy.

Douglas Groothuis on Apologetics

"Apologetics needs to be applied to the whole of life under the lordship of Jesus Christ. We should hear apologetics ringing out from the pulpit and being discussed in every level of Christian education. Apologetics should be part of the core curriculum at Christian seminaries, colleges and high schools. Campus ministries should train their workers to defend Christianity and understand the weaknesses of other worldviews. Every level of publishing-Christian and secular-should feel the force of Christian persuasion, both at the academic and more popular levels. Christian academics, whether at Christian or secular institutions, should strive to develop a Christian perspective on their disciplines, being unashamed of the gospel, yet wise as serpents and innocent as doves (Matthew 10:16)."

- Douglas Groothuis (Christian Apologetics, p. 649)

Questions Christians Hope No One Will Ask Simulcast

Are we on the cusp of a golden era in the field of Christian apologetics? Two of the leading apologists of our day think so. (See Lee Strobel's article here.) In this audio interview provided by BreakPoint, John Stonestreet speaks with Lee Strobel and Mark Mittelberg about the centrality of Christian apologetics and how Christians can confidently answer the "tough questions." They also talk about their upcoming "Questions Christians Hope No One Will Ask" Simulcast, which is a great way to introduce apologetics into your church. More info on the March 10, 2012 simulcast can be found here at the event page.

Full Interview MP3 Audio here. (25 min)
Enjoy.

5 Great Apologetics Talks: The Ahmanson Lecture Series

For the past couple of years, Saddleback Church has been presenting an apologetics weekend called The Ahmanson Lectures. (For last year's audio and video, click here. In addition, a podcast feed for the first year's audio can be found here.) But this year's 2011 lineup is also excellent, with five talks relevant to the reliability and historicity of the Bible. These are available in audio or video via the following links or via iTunes. Check them out.

• Why Historians Take the Gospel Seriously - Dr. John Dickson
• The Reliability of the New Testament - Dr. Sean McDowell
• Ten Reasons We Know the New Testament is True - Dr. Frank Turek
• Following Jesus on the Reliability of Scripture - Dr. Paige Patterson
• A Biblical Philosophy of Truth - Dr. Doug Groothuis

Enjoy.
[HT: Michael]

Douglas Groothuis on the Biblical Worldview

"Here is the sum of the matter.  We must earnestly endeavor to know the truth of the biblical worldview and to make it known with integrity to as many people as possible with the best arguments available.  To know God in Christ means that we desire to make Christian truth available to others in the most compelling form possible.  To be created in God’s rational, moral and relational image means that our entire being should be aimed at the glorification of God in Christian witness.  A significant part of that witness is Christian apologetics."

- Douglas Groothuis (Christian Apologetics, p.44)

Douglas Groothuis on Christianity's Claims

"Many have misinterpreted the meaning of certain aspects of Christianity and so have attributed to it claims of wrongdoing for which it is not guilty. By failing to discern the meaning of Christianity's claims, some have thus rejected it unfairly. In fact, any worldview that is caricatured and then criticized on that basis has not been fairly interrogated."

- Douglas Groothuis (Christian Apologetics, p.123)

Author Interview: Douglas Groothuis

Today's interview is with Dr. Doug Groothuis, professor of philosophy at Denver Seminary, and author of the newly-released apologetics textbook: Christian Apologetics: A Comprehensive Case for Biblical Faith. He talks about the scope and purpose of this book, the overall structure, the uniqueness of this book as an apologetics textbook with a cumulative case, the spiritual discipline of study and the life of the mind, the benefits of study and intentional reading, and strategies for working through large books/material. This interview is the introduction to the Read Along with Apologetics315 project, which begins Friday, September 9th. Christian Apologetics: A Comprehensive Case for Biblical Faith is released on Kindle today. Find out more about the Read Along project here. Visit Doug's blog.

Full Interview MP3 Audio here (25 min)

Enjoy.

Book Review: On Jesus by Douglas Groothuis

On Jesus by Doug Groothuis is part of the Wadsworth Philosophers Series - a series of short books, each providing brief and accessible insight into the ideas of major philosophers throughout history. In On Jesus, Doug Groothuis explores the life of Jesus philosophically. Looking at the life and teachings of Jesus through this lens, the author explores the key philosophical categories and paints a powerful picture of Jesus, the philosopher.

Read Along with Apologetics315

Next week we'll be launching a new weekly feature: Read Along with Apologetics315. The goal: group book study and discussion, one chapter at a time. This will be a Friday feature, starting on September 9, 2011. So you have one week to order your copy of the book. (The Kindle version is released on Sept 5)

Here's the book we'll be working through: Christian Apologetics: A Comprehensive Case for Biblical Faith by Douglas Groothuis. This is a comprehensive apologetics book, suitable for use as a textbook in the field. Reading through it one chapter a week will expose the reader to a broad scope of apologetics content and will be quite rewarding.

Each week an audio intro for each chapter by Douglas Groothuis will be provided, along with a brief synopsis and study questions. Are you ready to take the Read Along challenge? Grab the book and get ready to start Chapter One next week!

Assessing Mysticism by Doug Groothuis MP3 Audio

In this lecture, philosopher Doug Groothuis explores the area of mystical experiences and critiques non-dualism, Buddhism, and other non-Christian mysticism. He also examines the biblical view of religious experience in general, making the case that biblical mysticism is rooted in history, is personal, rational, moral, transcendent, transformative, and redemptive. He also includes a few helpful insights on the practice of yoga. This lecture is part of this series of talks.

Full MP3 Audio here.

Enjoy.

See also Unmasking the New Age by Douglas Groothuis.

Apologetics Toolkit: Advice on Writing Letters to the Editor from Dr. Douglas Groothuis

Christian philosopher and apologist Douglas Groothuis once published an Apologetics Manifesto (PDF here). It includes 16 theses, all of which are worth considering. Today's post is an unpacking of point 12, which reads:

Because apologetics is meant to be the public presentation and defense of Christianity as true, reasonable, pertinent, and knowable, apologists should attempt to offer their arguments in as many public venues as possible. Therefore, qualified Christian apologists should learn to become public intellectuals: thinkers who have mastered their material and are willing and able to enter public discourse and debate in a way that challenges and engages the non-Christian mind as well as galvanizes other Christians to hone their apologetic skills.

Dr. Groothuis then goes on to list 8 areas of engagement. The first he mentions is "letters to the editors  of newspapers and magazines." Dr. Groothuis was gracious enough to elaborate on these points for today's blog post...

What Would Jesus Say to a Relativist? MP3 Audio by Douglas Groothuis

In this lecture, philosopher Douglas Groothuis tackles the problem of relativism, answering it by pointing out its flaws and ultimate failure. Another good resource on relativism to add to the bunch. See also Groothuis' blog here, and recent interview here. Originally found here.

Full MP3 Audio here (45 min)

Enjoy.

What was last year's post? See here.

Apologist Interview: Douglas Groothuis

Today's interview is with philosopher and apologist Douglas Groothuis (Denver Seminary). He talks about how he got started in philosophy, his top 3 influential books (The God Who is There, Pensées, Purity of Heart is to Will One Thing), the cumulative case approach, natural theology, advice to apologists, spiritual and practical disciplines, his view on technology, and more.

Douglas Groothuis' books include: Unmasking the New Age, Confronting the New Age, Revealing the New Age Jesus, Christianity That Counts, Deceived by the Light, Jesus in an Age of Controversy, The Soul in Cyberspace, Truth Decay, On Pascal, On Jesus, and In Defense of Natural Theology.

Full Interview MP3 Audio here. (42 min)

Enjoy.

Doug's blog is here, and other resources can be found here.

Douglas Groothuis Apologetics Course Audio Feed

Christian philosopher and apologist Dr. Douglas Groothuis has an apologetics course consisting of 44 audio files. Although this can be downloaded one by one on the Ultimate Apologetics MP3 Audio page, now you can download them as a complete batch via RSS Feed here or add them directly into iTunes with one click here.

• RSS Feed / iTunes 1-click podcast

You may also be interested to check out the table of contents of Groothuis' upcoming apologetics book What Matter Most. His blog is here. More Doug Groothuis resources here.

Enjoy.

Three Apologetics Lectures by Doug Groothuis

Philosopher and apologist Douglas Groothuis has provided links to three lectures that he presented at a recent conference "UniverSanity." Here are the MP3s for download (smaller files and better sound than the originals):

1. The Crisis of Truth in the Postmodern World - MP3
2. A Short Course in Defending Christianity - MP3
3. The Lordship of Christ in Culture - MP3

Enjoy.

Sunday Quote: Douglas Groothuis on the Christian Worldview

"The Christian worldview is not proven in proven in one or two strokes but is rather verified by appealing to a wide and compelling variety of converging arguments. Christianity is shown to be the best explanation for the origin and nature of the universe as well as the human condition and the facts of history."

- Douglas Groothuis (The Denver Journal, vol. 2, 1999)

What was last year's post? See here.

A Brief History of Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism MP3 Audio by Douglas Groothuis

Christian Philosopher Douglas Groothuis presents these two lectures:
• A Brief History of Islam - MP3
• A Brief History of Buddhism and Hinduism - MP3
Original audios are here.

More resources by Douglas Groothuis here. His books are here.

Enjoy.

Book Review: On Pascal by Douglas Groothuis

On Pascal by Douglas Groothuis is a short but enlightening look at the life of seventeenth-century mathematician, scientist, and philosopher Blaise Pascal. The goal of Groothuis' book is to both shed light on the life and genius of Pascal and to reflect and examine the thoughts developed in his famous Pensées.

Groothuis' book is divided into ten short chapters -- the first four are devoted to the life and scientific career of Pascal, and the rest devoted to philosophical analysis of Pensées. The reader will find the historical background of Pascal's eduction, scientific discoveries, and theological background very helpful, providing a context for understanding his Pensées further.