Steven B. Cowan

Five Views on Apologetics is a book that seeks to give an overview of five differing approaches to the subject of Christian apologetics. Apologetics is an enormous subject; narrowing it even to five specific views in as many essays is a substantial task. As the introduction explains, “Apologetics is concerned with the defense of the Christian faith against charges of falsehood, inconsistency, or credulity.” (Cowan 2000, 8) Apologetics “is an intellectual discipline that is usually said show more to serve” both an offensive and defensive task. (Cowan 2000, 8) That is, apologetics has the task of both defending the faith for believers and attacking the unbelief of the lost in evangelism. The contributors did a good job condensing and summarizing their views while also making it clear to the reader that further reading and study are necessary to have a more comprehensive understanding of the topic. Some technical jargon muddies the waters, making the book a challenge for the uninitiated, but overall, the book helps in understanding the basic premises of the different positions and apprising the reader of the differences between approaches. Many of these differences are not apparent to the casual observer, and this book helps to reveal them. Most of the differences are based on basic disagreements over philosophy and theology. (Cowan 2000, 8) This ambiguous truth is made clear in the pages of this book and is one of its strengths. One sees, for example, how those who are Reformed in their theology approach the question of defending faith very differently than those of more orthodox or ecumenical theology. The distinction of the various approaches cannot be handled in an absolute way because many factors influence an individual approach. (Cowan 2000, 13) The book does a good job of introducing the complexity of apologetics as a discipline. show less

I really loved this philosophy book. It gives a good, solid background on different ways of thinking without deviating from a Christian point of view. Nice, solid information.

I recommend this book if you are new to Christian apologetics.

An excellent introduction to various polities. See here for a longer review.