Review of Christian Apologetics: A Comprehensive Case for Biblical Faith by Douglas Groothuis

In chapter fourteen, Evidence for Intelligent Design, Groothuis, explains that advocates of  Darwinism believes it is invincible because there is no replacement for it. The Intelligent Design, however, is an alternative to Darwinism.

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Review of Christian Apologetics: A Comprehensive Case for Biblical Faith by Douglas Groothuis

In chapter thirteen, Origins, Design, and Darwinism, Groothuis makes two arguments: (1) Belief in Darwinism as a comprehensive explanation for the biosphere has become a deterrent to Christian faith; thus, a cogent refutation is in order (2) Darwinism suffers from fatal flaws both logically and evidentially.

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Review of Christians Apologetics: A Comprehensive Case for Biblical Faith by Douglas Groothius

In chapter eight, Faith, Risk, and Rationality: The Prudential Incentives to Christian Faith, Groothius defines Prudence as that which concerns personal benefit and detriment in matters of belief concerning Christianity. Therefore, Groothius argues, Christian apologetics should commend Christianity on a prudential basis. Groothius uses some of the insights from Blaise Pascal’s famous and much debated wager argument.

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Review of Christians Apologetics: A Comprehensive Case for Biblical Faith by Douglas Groothius

In chapter Seven, Why Truth Matters Most: Searching for Truth in Postmodern Times, Groothius states that this chapter develops a general apologetic for the significance and value of both objective truth and truth seeking.

Truth, Self-Deception and Virtue

The pursuit of truth requires that we must shun sloth---one of the classical vices. Moreover, studiousness should be cultivated instead of mere curiosity. In the pursuit of truth, we must avoid self-deception. “The first principle is that you must not fool yourself---and you are the easiest person to fool. So you have to be very careful about that. After you’ve not fooled yourself, it’s easy not fool other scientists” (Richard Feynman).

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Review of Christians Apologetics: A Comprehensive Case for Biblical Faith by Douglas Groothius

In chapter six, Truth Defined and Defended, Groothius states that evangelicals are abandoning objective truth because as they claim this concept limits Christian witness.

The first evangelical that Groothius critiques is Brian McLaren. McLaren rejects objective truth in favor of postmodernism. Truth must be deconstructed. There is no one “metanarrative” or worldview. Next, Robert Webber rejects the objectivity of Carl F. H. Henry. Stanley Grenz and John Franke also reject objective truth. They claim that there is no “objectivity” understood as “a static reality existing outside of, and cotemporally with, our socially and linguistically constructed reality.”

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Review of Christian Apologetics: A Comprehensive Case for Biblical Faith by Douglas Groothuis

In chapter one, Introduction: Hope, Despair, and Knowing Reality, Groothuis states that “the very concept of objective truth is under fire today.” Yet without a belief in objective truth men die in despair. The late psychiatrist Victor Frankl who was a prisoner in Hitler’s death camps wrote “The gas chambers of Auschwitz, Treblinda, and Maidanek were ultimately prepared….at the desks and in the lecture halls of nihilistic scientists and philosopher.” Frankl noted that those captives with a sense of meaning that reached beyond their immediate experiences maintained hope and dignity, even in the Nazi hell. Those without the benefit of this conviction tended to atrophy and die in the pressure cooker of evil, even if they were spared the gas chambers.

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