Apologetics Archives - Canon Fodder

The One Critical Thing Missing in Most Sermons

July 6, 2021

As I continue to do the rounds of podcasts and interviews for my new book, Surviving Religion 101, the same question keeps getting asked:

What can parents (and churches) do to help better prepare their kids for the intellectual challenges of college?

In a prior post, I mentioned this issue and offered one solution to that problem: “Parents and churches need to consider ways to introduce their children, at age-appropriate levels, to non-Christian philosophies, arguments, and criticisms, along with a proper Christian response.”

In other words, we need to break out of the theological bubble in which we typically operate, and be willing to critically and substantively engage views different than our own.

But that is not all that can be done. In this post, let me mention another way we can address this problem, and that is by fixing the one thing that is missing in most sermons today.

In my role as a seminary professor, I have heard a lot of sermons over the years. Some of these are from students preparing for ministry, but many are from seasoned pastors who’ve been in the pulpit for years.

And these sermons seem designed to do many positive things: inform, proclaim, teach, explain, illuminate, clarify, comfort, encourage, and motivate. And, sometimes, they do some less positive things: entertain, titillate, speculate, charm, beguile, and even amuse.

But there is one thing that very few sermons do, and that is [Read more…]

Here Are 5 Tips for Conversations in Our Tense Cultural Moment

September 17, 2019

OK, so conversations with non-Christians aren’t what they used to be. In years gone by, it seems you could just disagree with someone and everyone was fine with that. You could just shake hands and move on.

But now, in our tense cultural situation, disagreement is regarded as a personal attack. To disagree with someone is to be hateful and unloving toward them.

This is why it can sometime seems like conversations with non-Christians can quickly escalate to DEFCON 1. Before you know it, somehow it’s nuclear war.

As a result, I think Christians have struggled with how to talk with non-Christians in our current culture. Some have decided the conversations are just not worth it. Any hint at a disagreement causes some believers to tuck tail and run.

Other Christians take the opposite approach. They figure if a good fight is what someone wants, then by golly we’ll give them one. So, some Christians enter every conversation with both guns out of the holster, ready for a showdown.

Needless to say, neither extreme is healthy for the church. So, here are a few tips/reminders to consider in your conversations. There’s nothing particularly earth-shattering here, but hopefully keeping these things in mind can help: [Read more…]

Are Christians Intolerant Haters? Lessons from the Church of the Second Century

August 15, 2017

As you now know, my book on the second century has just been released in the UK: Christianity at the Crossroads: How the Second Century Shaped the Future of the Church (SPCK, 2017). It will be released in the US with IVP Academic in the Spring.

Since it has been released, folks have been asking how this book connects to the modern church. In other words, can we learn anything from the Christians of the second century that may help us in our current cultural moment? Absolutely. Here are a few lessons to consider. [Read more…]

Why Should I Believe Christianity? One of the Best Books on Apologetics This Year

October 3, 2016

When we think about what might help the church engage with an ever-more-hostile world, the issue isn’t that we don’t have enough apologetic books (we have tons of them). The issue is that we don’t have the right kind of apologetic books.

There is a trend in apologetics today towards what I might call a “minimalistic” approach to defending the faith. Basically this is where someone tries to prove the least amount possible about Christianity in order to get the non-Christian to take one step in our direction. And this is typically done with an evidentialist methodology using the so-called consensus of modern scholars as the main authority.

There are a number of challenges to this sort of approach which I cannot take up here. But, what is needed is an apologetic approach that is more full-orbed, holistic, and worldview-oriented. Such an approach doesn’t simply try to placate the non-Christian by meeting his requirements, but it challenges the non-Christian’s worldview from the inside out.

Such an approach is embodied in James Anderson’s new book, Why Should I Believe Christianity? (Christian Focus, 2016). Anderson, Associate Professor of Theology and Philosophy at RTS Charlotte, has written one of the most compelling cases for the truth of Christianity that I’ve ever read.

There are several features about Anderson’s new volume that are worth noting:

[Read more…]

Helping Your Freshman Survive His First Year in College: A Radio Interview

September 8, 2015

On the heels of the TGC video I did on surviving a university religion class, I have had an influx of inquiries into this topic. People have been asking all sorts of questions about how to prepare their high school student for what’s to come, or how to encourage their college student in the midst of struggles.

Last Thursday, I was invited to a radio interview with Chris Fabry Live on Moody radio in Chicago (which is nationally syndicated). We had a fascinating discussion on this topic, and had folks call in from all over the country with their questions. Here is what appeared on the moody radio website, along with a link to listen. Enjoy!

September 03, 2015

Surviving World Religions Class
Your freshman is off to college to study. Can your new college student hang onto his or her faith in Jesus? Michael Kruger went to the University of North Carolina a committed believer, ready for any challenge the academic world could present. His New Testament professor was Bart Ehrman. Hear his story.
To read Michael’s blogpost or see his video about “How to Survive a University Religion Class,” please visit his website.
Listen To Hour 1