A Balanced Apologetic

“For at least the past fifty years, the evangelical world has been torn between two apologetic approaches: evidentialism and presuppositionalism. This book is an attempt to bring both methodologies under one roof, as uncomfortable as this may be to the purest of either school. The defense of the truth of Christianity cannot be adequately accomplished by half-a-loaf. Both creation and historic revelation demand an a priori presuppositionalism due to the priority of God and His initiatives of creation and special revelation in the midst of history, but they also demand an a posteriori evidentialism to properly acknowledge the existence of man, made in God’s image, as well as the objective factuality of God’s activity in history. This attempt to emphasize both approaches results in a dialectical third option: Both/And, A Balanced Apologetic.”

(Ronald B. Mayers, Balanced Apologetics: Using Evidences and Presuppositions in Defense of the Faith, Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 1984, from Preface).

Apologetics

The first misunderstanding people make is to assume that apologetics is a subdivision of philosophy or argumentation. They think that by rhetoric and careful or clever arguments, people can be won to Jesus Christ. When that happens, we make the method—that is, apologetics—more important than the content, or the gospel. The opposite is true. We use apologetics so we may help people understand the truth of the gospel. Evangelism must never be based on method or presentation alone; it must always be based on truth (John 14:6). People must believe the gospel because it is true, not because of our presentation or clever arguments.

(General Editors, Ed Hindson, Ergun Caner, The Popular Encyclopedia of Apologetics: Surveying the Evidence for the Truth of Christianity, Eugene, Oregon: Harvest House Publishers, 2008, 207; Point 1 of Misunderstandings About Apologetics and Evangelism)