Journal: Journal for Baptist Theology & Ministry
Volume: JBTM 19:2 (Fall 2022)
Article: Action Apologetics: Charity And Social Justice As Ways Of Doing Apologetics
Author: Timothy S. Yoder

Action Apologetics: Charity And Social Justice As Ways Of Doing Apologetics

Timothy S. Yoder

Timothy S. Yoder serves as associate professor of theological studies at Dallas Theological Seminary in Dallas, Texas.

When people speak of Christian apologetics, what they typically have in mind, I believe, is what can be termed intellectual apologetics. We conceptualize apologetics as the task of defending the faith by marshaling true and rigorous arguments to establish the existence of God, the inspiration of the Bible, the saving ministry of Jesus, and the truths of the gospel. The models we have in mind are Paul in Athens, interacting with the Stoic and Epicurean philosophers, and reasoning with the Jews in the synagogue in Thessalonica. We may think of Justin’s debates with Trypho or Matteo Ricci’s1 use of Confucian categories to defend Christianity to Chinese scholars. We may recall Pandita Ramabai,2 a Hindu scholar whose study of the Christian Scriptures revealed to her the superiority of the Christian religion, or Nabeel Qureshi,3 a Muslim who came to faith in Christ after a rigorous comparison of the Quran and the Bible (Muhammad and Jesus). Books like Aquinas’s Summa contra Gentiles, Lewis’s Mere Christianity, McDowell’s Evidence that Demands a Verdict, and Keller’s The Reason for God characterize this approach.

In addition, the debates and discussions about various types of apologetics typically entail discussions between methods like evidentialism, classical apologetics, presuppositionalism, Reformed

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epistemology, and the like.4 All of these methods of apologetics gather under the umbrella of intellectual apologetics. As important and necessary as intellectual apologetics is, it is important to recognize that other apologetic approaches are valid, useful, and necessary for the task of defending the faith. In this paper, I will begin by outlining five different approaches to apologetics. Then, I will focus on one of them, an approach that I call action apologetics.5

This reorientation of attention to apologetic approaches (as opposed to methods) is driven by a desire to pay attention to the way that people actually come to the faith. While there are many people who, like Nabeel Qureshi and Pandita Ramabai, come to saving faith because of rational considerations, there are also numerous individuals whose journey to Christ seems to hinge on elements that are not intellectual in nature.You must have a subscription and be logged in to read the entire article.
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