The Faithful Apologist: Rethinking the Role of Persuasion in Apologetics

For many Christians who've tried their hands at evangelism or have had to defend their faith, it can feel like doing PR work for God—limiting ourselves to a series of strategies and tactics. In The Faithful Apologist, Scott Oliphint provides a cross-centered foundation for Christians to explain their faith in a welcoming and persuasive manner that avoids any burden to "sell" Christianity to non-Christians. Drawing as much from the rich tradition of Western apologetics as from the wisdom of effective communication, this book bridges the gap between sharing the truth of our faith and the art of persuasion by:
• Laying out the biblical and theological foundations of apologetics.
• Studying the art of persuasion as it’s demonstrated in Scripture.
• Linking the discipline of apologetics to the classical art of persuasion.

As devoted to people as he is to the intellect, Reformed theologian Dr. Scott Oliphint has written this faithful book to explain the importance of both devotions in apologetics and in Christian correspondence with the world. He shows that, when our faith is grounded in the Triune God and his sovereignty, our attempts to defend it will grow more confident and convincing. Accessible and thoroughly rooted in Scripture, The Faithful Apologist takes the anxiety out of apologetics by revealing that success is not measured in the number of minds we change, but in our faithfulness to God, the Divine Persuader.

Publisher: Zondervan
Type: Paperback
ISBN: 9780310590101

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K. Scott Oliphint is professor of apologetics and systematic theology at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia and is the author of numerous articles and books, including Reasons for Faith: Philosophy in the Service of Theology and Covenantal Apologetics. He is also coeditor of the two-volume Christian Apologetics Past and Present: A Primary Source Reader and a contributor to Four Views on Christianity and Philosophy.

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‘Want to read a biblical book on persuasion in the context of evangelism and apologetics? This book is worth considering. It is written by a professor of apologetics, K. Scott Oliphint. Oliphint teaches at Westminster Theological Seminary and is also a Presuppositional Apologist. I know some people have told me they think Presuppositionalists have no interests with persuading people but only to refute unbelievers; this book suggests otherwise. I’m glad that a book on persuasion was written by someone who is a Presuppositionalist!... Overall this book is biblically driven. One can think of this book as a biblical theology of persuasion. I do appreciate multiple times the book mentioned we must not compromise with Biblical truth and also to consider the person when one is trying to convince someone of something. Yet this book is also informed with a biblical worldview in which Reformed theology also acknowledge that people do suppress the truth and depravity means unbelievers would not want the truth. So with this biblical truth I thought this book was balanced with the truth that we are instruments use by God to persuade and God is the one who is the master of what happens. I appreciate the author’s look at Acts 17 and also the confrontations Jesus had with religious leaders and seeing its implications for apologetics and persuasion with the elements of logos, ethos and pathos. I also enjoyed the times the author mentioned his own personal experiences. Those were helpful examples and I wished there were more of them. Overall a good book.’ SLIMJIM