Every so often a book comes along that makes you sit up and take notice because it breathes a fresh new air into the world of Christian literature. There will be many Christians out there who feel that the world of apologetics is not one in which they are comfortable but Chris Sinkinson's new book demonstrates very helpfully not only why all Christians should care about the defence of their faith in the early years of the 21st century but shows how all Christians can be truly confident in making that defence.
Sinkinson recognises that there are two opposite views of apologetics which both make crucial mistakes. One view suggests that human reason is so affected by sin that using reasoned arguments in evangelism is pointless. This view says that we should concentrate on preaching the gospel and forget about dealing with people's objections to faith. The other view seems to suggest that we can help people reason their way towards faith in Christ. The first view is deficient because it refuses to engage with the world into which we are sent as ambassadors for Christ. The second is deficient because it fails to see the need for a supernatural and supra- rational experience of new birth which can never be brought about by the exercise of pure reason. Both have their place but must not be given too much authority over our style of evangelism.
Because Sinkinson believes apologetics to be an important tool in evangelism, he gives a robust defence of its use and a clear and helpful critique of its misuse. He helps the reader to understand how the use of logical, reasoned argument can be a helpful resource in evangelism and goes on to show how these tools have been used in the history of Christian philosophy. He also helpfully deals with the roots of logic in pre-Christian Greek thought, while avoiding the mistake of completely Christianising Plato and Aristotle. At the same time he gives the reader an excellent overview of the essential logical mistakes we should try to avoid in making the case for Christianity and should be able to point out when we spot them in the arguments of our opponents.
He also points out that (unlike some)two of the best Christian apologists of the last century, Francis Schaeffer and CS Lewis, happily used different types of apologetic argument according to the situation they were facing and were not wedded to any one particular method. Using the example of the apostle Paul, he suggests that this flexible approach to apologetics is the best one to use in a context in which those with whom we find ourselves debating often shift the grounds of the argument even in the course of one debate.
In the first of two brilliantly illuminating chapters in the middle of the book give a superb overview of the history of apologetics from the influence of Greek thought on the early Church fathers (which produced both positive and negative results) through Thomas Aquinas, the Reformers to the age of Enlightenment and the increasing scepticism represented by Descartes,Kant and Hume. The second of these chapters shows us how the massive changes in worldview brought about by Darwin helped Enlightenment materialism to develop and have an impact on the liberal theology of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. A comment on the impact of Friedrich Nietzsche's thought leads to a very helpful discussion of post-modernism.
A further chapter on Sinkinson's specialist subject of archaeology gives a balanced and helpful view of the role archaeology can play in supporting the historical claims of Scripture before he deals coherently, helpfully and clearly with some of the classic apologetic questions of science, pluralism and suffering.
Books on apologetics are often helpful reference works but are not so often highly readable. Confident Christianity proves to be both. It is an extremely helpful, clear and well thought out work which will engage your mind and fire your heart. It deserves it's place on every thinking Christian's bookshelf alongside Lewis's Mere Christianity and Keller's The Reason for God.
