Deep Dive into Apologetics and Evangelism by Dr. Michael Vlach & Prof. Jesse Johnson - A Defense of Christian ApologeticsApologetics, from the Greek "apologia," means making a defense of something, specifically the Christian faith. It aims to bolster believers' faith and aid evangelism by offering rational reasons and refuting objections. This discipline includes both negative (defensive) apologetics, addressing challenges like the problem of evil, and positive (offensive) apologetics, which presents arguments for God's existence and even attacks the foolishness of non-Christian thinking.A prominent approach is presuppositional apologetics, pioneered by Cornelius Van Til and advanced by Greg Bahnsen and John Frame. This method argues that Christianity is the only true worldview and is internally consistent, while other worldviews fail to align with reality. It emphasizes worldview analysis and foundational philosophical issues like epistemology (how we know anything), understanding the unbeliever's core problem as moral and spiritual rebellion rather than purely intellectual. Presuppositionalists reject intellectual neutrality, asserting that faith precedes understanding and that all aspects of created reality are revelational of God, thus all facts are evidence for God.Throughout history, apologetics has evolved. In the Early Church, figures like Justin Martyr and Augustine defended against Jewish, Roman, and Greek philosophical opposition. The Medieval period saw Anselm develop the ontological argument and Thomas Aquinas offer his five proofs, primarily cosmological (first cause) and teleological (design implies a designer). The Reformation brought John Calvin's emphasis on the innate sensus divinitatis and the comprehensive nature of God's revelation. Later, Blaise Pascal proposed his Wager as a pragmatic reason to believe, while William Paley famously articulated the teleological argument through his watch analogy. These historical methods underscore varying views on the role of human reason and evidence in the defense of faith.Reformed Theologian GPT: https://chat.openai.com/g/g-XXwzX1gnv-reformed-theologianhttps://buymeacoffee.com/edi2730

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