by Brian AutenThis week I received my copy of
Tactics: A Game Plan for Discussing Your Christian Convictions by Greg Koukl. I was anxious to have a look at the book, as I have been following Greg Koukl’s ministry of
Stand to Reason for a number of years. On one hand, I was excited to see in book form what I have heard Koukl demonstrate so many times on his live radio program: an effective and gracious way to communicate one’s faith in an articulate and winsome way. On the other hand, my familiarity with Koukl’s Tactics audio program made me wonder if this was just a repackaging of the same material. I was thoroughly surprised. I’m a reader – but it’s been a while since I have
devoured a book.
Tactics is an immediately practical book. The author’s heart is that Christians be equipped to be good ambassadors. An ambassador has three skills: “knowledge, an accurately informed mind; wisdom, an artful method; and character, an attractive manner.”
1 Koukl describes the goal of a tactical approach – one that seeks to converse more persuasively by being thoughtful and reasonable, rather than emotional, about one’s convictions.
In a very balanced way, Koukl carefully introduces this approach and neutralizes some of the negative connotations that come with sharing and defending the faith. Some people immediately object at the idea of argumentation or “methods.” However, Koukl summarizes a more biblical approach:
Here’s the key principle: Without God’s work, nothing else works; but with God’s work, many things work. Under the influence of the Holy Spirit, love persuades. By the power of God, the gospel transforms. And with Jesus at work, arguments convince. God is happy to use each of these methods.2
Now Koukl dives into the meat of the book. He presents about a half dozen “tactics,” as he calls them – each with a memorable name, such as, “Columbo,” “Suicide,” and, “Taking the Roof Off,” among others. As he teaches you these tactics, Koukl’s experience and mastery in this area immediately become evident. He is not a theorist presenting untested ideas. Instead, he is a veteran, discussing situation after situation gleaned from countless personal encounters, public debates, radio interviews, and friendly conversations. The phenomenal part is that these approaches are simple and the applications are immediately accessible to the reader.
One particular insight Koukl shares should bring relief to those who feel fear come over them at even the thought of discussing their faith: you don’t have to hit home runs. In fact, Koukl stresses that you don’t even have to get on base. The goal is to leave them with something to think about. His advice: simply leave them with “a stone in their shoe.”
Navigating through the book, you will find gem after gem of wisdom. So many of the common objections that the Christian encounters are found here – but with answers that are actually useful in conversation. Although much of the substance is philosophical in nature, Koukl drops the jargon and replaces it with practical expressions. This is a handbook suitable for the layman and professional apologist alike.
After passing the halfway point in the book, you will realize that you are not just learning how to steer safely through a conversation – you are learning how to think. Koukl will sharpen your thinking skills and your ability to spot fuzzy logic and faulty arguments. You will realize that this is a book about truth. By the time you reach the end (it’s about 200 pages), you will be amazed at the amount of wisdom, insight, and courage you have gleaned. A second reading is definitely in order.
Koukl’s Tactics is endorsed by a long list of notable apologists and Christian thinkers: Norman Geisler, William Lane Craig, Gary Habermas, J. P. Moreland, Hank Hanegraaff, Jay Wesley Richards, David Noebel, Justin Taylor, Paul Copan, Sean McDowell, Frank Turek, and Craig Hazen.
For those familiar with Koukl’s
Tactics audio program (
found here), many of the same personal encounters are cited. However, this is not a repackaging of old material. I found the book to be immensely helpful even after recently re-listening to Greg Koukl’s
Tactics in Defending the Faith audio program. In addition to the expanded and fresh material, I found the summaries at the end of each chapter to be particularly helpful.
Greg Koukl's
Tactics: A Game Plan for Discussing Your Christian Convictions is
not designed to give you pat answers or lists of facts to bring to your conversations. Far from being “another evangelism book,”
Tactics is a book that will challenge you to be a critical thinker, a logical communicator, and a gracious ambassador for Jesus Christ.
1 Gregory Koukl, Tactics: A Game Plan for Discussing Your Christian Convictions (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2008), p. 29.
2 Ibid., p. 40.
Arguing that we must learn to make the fine distinction between reasons to believe and causes of belief, Dr. Sire examines the social, psychological, genetic, and religious theories of belief by employing this distinction to each category. Dr. Sire argues that what one believes must cohere to reality, and offers several arguments that the Christian faith is a system of belief that does just this.
If you only listen to one review of The Shack, this is the one to listen to. Pastors Jeff Miller and Brian Gross, and professor Michael Burer host a panel discussion about the good, the bad, and the controversial about the popular novel The Shack.
Psychologist Paul Vitz presents a lecture on the psychology of atheism. Vitz lost his faith and became an atheist. Later he returned to Christianity. He explores the psychological reasons for belief and unbelief. A good lecture for the theist and the atheist.
"The one concern of the devil is to keep Christians from praying. He fears nothing from prayerless studies, prayerless work, and prayerless religion. He laughs at our toil, mocks at our wisdom, but trembles when we pray."
In a previous post we presented Norman Geisler's review of The Shack by William P. Young. Now here is an audio review by Todd Wilkin on the Issues, Etc. podcast.
Here are a number of good debates that Michael Licona has had with prominent atheists, agnostics, and Muslim scholars.
The other day Challies mentioned William H. Willimon's review of Bart Ehrman's book God's Problem that is worth the read.
Dr. James White appears on the Apologetics.com Podcast with a full 2-hour critique of Bart Ehrman's Misquoting Jesus. An even more thorough discussion than yesterday's post. Excellent episode.
This is James White on his Dividing Line podcast as he critiques Bart Ehrman's interview on the Infidel Guy program.
"Out of 100 men, one will read the Bible, the other 99 will read the Christian."
The European Leadership Forum serves as a bridge between local leaders' needs and God's global resources. This year the forum will be May 23-28 in Eger, Hungary. I hope to attend again this year, as 2008's forum was excellent. Lots of resources here.
A good talk on how to bring apologetics into your pastoral ministry by William Lane Craig. Original here.
Coming soon from Stand to Reason, apologist Greg Koukl's new book: Tactics - A Game Plan for Discussing Your Christian Convictions. It is available at amazon or you can receive it from STR directly.
From the Unbelievable? program on Premier.org.uk: Bart Ehrman is the author of the bestselling book "Misquoting Jesus." He calls into question the authority of the New Testament as scribal changes over time have changed the documents.
Professor John Lennox is interviewed regarding the New Atheism. Video is also available, as well as a PDF download. His site is a great resource. There are many other talks regarding Dawkins, the New Atheism, and apologetics.
The website Know What You Believe has a very useful outline with evidence for the Christian faith which covers the historical evidence for Christ, the reliability of the New Testament, and a case for the resurrection. Not only will you find an outline of the evidence in a flow-chart format, you may also download it in a group study format. Very useful!
"There is enough light for those who want to believe and enough shadows to blind those who don't."
Clement of Alexandria (c. 150-220) was one of the church fathers who, in contrast to Tertullian, took a positive attitude toward philosophy and Greek learning. Clement held that the Greek writers were able to discern important truths because the divine wisdom, or Logos, is present in all humans. Though philosophy is inferior to and cannot substitute for revelation, Clement thought its study can deepen one's understanding of revelation.1
On April 4, 2009 William Lane Craig will debate Christopher Hitchens on the topic Does God Exist? Mark your calendars for this one.
After looking around for a good Bible reading plan for 2009, here is one that seems to offer the best options. It is the ESV reading plan. They offer multiple reading plans and methods of subscribing.
