1. Apologetics as Proof
2. Apologetics as Defense
3. Apologetics as Offense

Classical apologists seek to find commonground between the believer and the nonbeliever and work from there to convince the skeptic of the plausibility of existence of the God of the Bible; therefore, the classical apologist argues, the Bible is not the appropriate place to start in apologetic encounters. The presuppositionalist argues on the other hand, that the unbeliever is acting in rebellion to God as manifested by his desire to think autonomously and place himself as the ultimate criterion of truth. The apologist should not encourage this thinking; neither should the apologist adopt it. The skeptics basic heart commitment is that Jesus is not Lord; the apologists basic heart commitment is that Jesus is Lord. "Our argument must be an exhibit of that knowledge, that wisdom, which is based on the 'fear of the Lord,' not an exhibition of unbelieving foolishness. Therefore apologetic argument is no more neutral than any other human activity. In apologetic argument, as in everything else we do, we must presuppose the truth of God's Word....Even if neutrality were possible, that route would be forbidden to us" (p. 9).

There is no common ground apart from mutual knowledge of God of which Romans 1:19ff way. The thing that the apologist is most sure is true is that which God has told him in the Bible. Therefore, the apologists argument will be based on Scripture. Frame writes, "The preacher-apologist is to present the word...to expound it, to apply it to his hearers, to display its beauty, its truth, its rationality. [He] seeks to combat the unbeliever's false impressions and present to him the word as it really is. It is to this testimony that the Spirit also bears witness" (p. 17). This does not mean, however, that natural evidences or rational argumentation are out of line, just that they must be submitted to Scripture, "The obedient Christian apologist will show the unbeliever the various ways in which nature reveals God, without claiming neutrality and without allowing the use of non-Christian criteria of truth" (p. 25). The main attack against this line of reasoning is that it is circular; the teachings of the Bible are true because the Bible is true. We must recognize the truth of this statement but recognize that every system of thought is circular when it seeks to defend its ultimate presupposition: the Bible, reason/logic, sense-experience, relativism, or otherwise.

Frame spends the rest of the book working his presuppositional line of reasoning out as it relates to proving Christianity to be true, defending Christianity's truth, and attacking the irrationality of all other belief systems. Frame includes very little actual argumentation, with the exception of the problem of evil in the world. He admits this. His goal in this book is to provide the framework into which all other arguments or lines of reasoning will fit, and he does so masterfully. It is for this reason that I recommend that you read Frame before any other apologists, because fit into this framework the apologist can use any true line of reasoning or evidences (whether it comes from a presuppositionalist or not) and use it in a way that recognizes Jesus and not man as Lord.

Finally, the book ends with an exceptional transcript from a faux dialogue between Frame and a man on an airplane where Frame demonstrates how each item he has discussed throughout the book might work itself out in actual apologetic discussion with a real life person.

I do not recommend that Apologetics to the Glory of God is the only apologetics book you read, but I do recommend that it is the first. When you are finished, I recommend you move on to Busenitz's Reasons We Believe and/or Pratt's Every Thought Captive.

He ties this into the type of reading that we are encouraged to do as we surf the web, quickly skimming for the content and moving on. It isn't necessarily a worse way to read, just a different way; it is strengthening different muscles than are strengthened when you sit down and thoughtfully digest and interact with long chunks of reading.  But those muscles need to be strengthened as well; I think that's why we have such a difficult time reading older writers, especially the Puritans, who would take a long time to make their point, but put more thought, support, and explanation into it than any modern editor would ever allow. 

Anyway, the article looked really interesting, but how would I know, I got bored and surfed away after a few minutes....then I decided that my brain needed a workout, and I pushed through and finished it, skimming only once or twice. A recommended read to make you think about the way that you read and think.

Financial Shock

He begins the book with a very simply yet insightful summary of the recent history that led to the perfect storm. The remaining chapters go into detail on each one of the players. The book is full of helpful charts that convey simply pertinent information without confusion. Zandi is a master at making the complex understandable, at defining terms, and writing for the layperson (but I have no doubt that this would be helpful for the well-versed as well). Finally, although he misjudged the state of the market writing, "the worst of the crisis appears to be over," (published in July '08), he does give 10 "policy steps" based on all that he's written to help us fix this problem and to avoid or mitigate the damamges of bubble bursts in the future. This list will help you get a flavor for what he writes about in the previous chapters (don't worry if you don't understand the terminology - I didn't either - but if you read the book you will):

1. Adopt a voluntary mortgage write-down policy
2. Establish clear mortgage lending rules
3. 3. License mortgage brokers
4. 4. Expand data collection
5. 5. Reform the fractured foreclosure process
6. 6. Invest in financial literacy
7. 7. Modify mark-to-market accounting
8. 8. Raise financial transparency and accountability
9. 9. Overhaul financial regulation
10. 10. Pay attention to asset bubbles.

If I could summarize Financial Shock, it would be: Simply Helpful. Simple, but not Simplistic. And although it is writing about a scandal, it is not scandalous. History is used more to help us learn lessons than to point fingers. I have learned much from this book. It has given me the basis to digest most of what I'm reading in the paper and hearing on the news.

On a similar note, I found this roller coaster animation plotting housing prices exceptionally enlightening in regards to the financial state we find ourselves in (HT JT):

This dominion of sin is that which we have here security given us [true believers] against. Though it will abide in us, though it will contend for rule by deceit and force, yet it shall not prevail, it shall not have the dominion.And this is a case of the highest importance unto us. Our souls are, and must be, under the rule of some principle or law; and from this rule our state is determined and denominated. We are either “servants of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness,” Rom. 6:16.

John Owen
Works of John Owen vol 7
A Treatise On the Dominion of Sin & Grace
p. 507

Pros

• Super easy to read screen in all lighted conditions
• Always connected to internet wherever Sprint has service; (makes up for high cost of device)
• Perfect for reading text-based webpages
• Long battery life (days when wireless is disabled)
• Easy to turn on/off; easy to enable/disable wireless (switch at back)
• Amazon or Mobipocket converter will convert HTML & Microsoft Word documents to be readable.
• PDF texts are able to be converterted but often lose formatting
• Mp3 player and Audible Audiobook player (either through speaker on back or through headphones)
• Easy to navigate with huge Next page, Previous Page, Back buttons. Very simple navigation; grandparents in their 70's have used it without problem and minimal introduction.
• QWERTY keyboard easily allows typing/notetaking easily exported to computer
• Comes with nice leather carrying case
• Easy to "clip" sections of text for export to computer

Cons

• No native pdf document support (conversion often destroys formatting)
• Easy to accidentally push the navigation buttons
• No backlight (can purchase clip on light which works well)
• Battery life only about 12 hours with internet enabled
• Web browser very limited in formatting capabilities/unable to work with complex pages

Kindle for Christians

The above comments are not unlike most of the other thousands of reviews of the Kindle. My primary concern is for Christians, especially for Christian leaders. Is it easy to read the Bible on the Kindle? Are new Christian releases available on Kindle? What about the books published in the last decades? What about older works, public domain? The following is a brief summary, I will be blogging much more extensively on this topic in the upcoming weeks and months and going into more detail.

Bibles

I have downloaded and used a few translations of the Bible. They are all plagued by the same problem. The Kindle doesn't show you what chapter of a book you are on, so it is easy to get lost and difficult to check what book or chapter you are in. They all have common navigation scheme: Navigate to the books via the table of contents. Then the superiorly formatted ones (ESV, NASB, & NIV) let you click on links to navigate to the appropriate chapters (I can usually find a verse in these versions in under 15 seconds). (NET & KJV) make you click next page until you get where you are trying to go (this can take a very long on the order of minutes if the verse is later in a book) In summary, the Kindle is not very effective as a look-up-stuff Bible, but excellent in any translation to read straight through a book of the Bible or to read a long section.

Modern Christian Books

Crossway and some other publishers are releasing their books in Kindle format, downloadable in under a minute by navigating on the Kindle to the Kindle Store or by ordering online at the Kindle Store. It seems like most new books are being released digitally. However, books published in years past are only slowly making their way onto the Kindle, and most (but not all) of these are the doctrinally deprived best-seller types. I will be releasing recommended Kindle reading in the coming weeks and months. Additionally many authors release their books digitally for free and these are easily converted to Kindle format and read. Some of these authors that do this are John Piper, Frame & Poythress, and some from Sovereign Grace. Similarly Crossway often will email you a pdf of the physical books that you buy direct from their site.

The best part of reading digitally is that many of the best books available are public domain. Christian CLassics Ethereal Library, Gracegems, Spurgeon.org, Google books, and others are great to get digital texts which you can then paste into a Word document or pdf and send it to your Kindle, or you can browse some of the texts directly on the web-browser on the Kindle.

I have a very extensive digital text collection in Libronix and as I am studying, if I find something that I want to read later when I'm not at the computer screen, I have found myself pasting it into a Word Doc and emailing it to my Kindle to read later. It has made my Libronix Digital Library much more useful to me.

Commentaries

I have not found many commentaries for sale for use in Kindle, however, I have found myself during my study times on Libronix pasting the commentary sections that I want to read in more detail into Word and sending it to my Kindle. There are many public domain commentaries that are available online that the Kindle user can take advantage of. Overall, however, the Kindle is not a good standalone reference tool as it is very slow to navigate section to section (as discussed in the Bible section above). My opinion is that the Kindle is best used to read large sections and not flip around within a resource as is done in a reference book.

Blogs

Most blogs have pretty complicated formats; Kindle does not do well with this. As far as I know, Kindle has no way to read RSS feeds; so I have not found any easy way to read blogs effectively on the Kindle. Amazon does have an option to serve blogs to your Kindle at a cost if the blog chooses to participate. This may be the future of blog reading on Kindle, but I hope that soon there will be an easy way to read simple RSS feeds on the Kindle.

Overall, I highly recommend the Kindle for all who love to read. I have loved mine and find myself using it for hours and hours almost each day.

• Inpatient yelling wears the costume of a zeal for truth.
• Lust can masquerade as a love for beauty
• Gossip does its evil work by living in the costume of concern and prayer
• Craving for power and control wears the mask of biblical leadership
• Fear of man gets dressed up as a servant heart
• The pride of always being right masquerades as a love for biblical wisdom

In the face of many modern heresies, such as New Perspective on Paul, postmodernism, and Open Theism, that attack the very significance of the cross and are being embraced by many in evangelical circles, Sproul's book is well-timed and well written. We would do well to read it, recognize the truth of the cross, and guard ourselves from believing these gospel-attacking wolf-doctrines dressed in academic sheep's clothing. We would do well to sit at the foot of the cross everyday and recognize the importance of the doctrines that first brought us life and are meant to sustain us through our Christian life. For these ends, you will be served well by Sproul's The Truth of the Cross.

Purchase at Westminster Books
Purchase at Amazon.com

In the final minutes of the movie, after Miller's passionate imperative, "Earn this," the camera cuts an elderly James Ryan standing over Miller's grave. Tears in his eyes, Ryan speaks to the departed Miller at his grave saying, "Everyday I think about what you said to me that day on the bridge; I've tried to live my life the best that I could. I hope that that was enough. I hope, that at least in your eyes, I earned what [you] have done for me."

Miller and his group of men sacrificed much for Private Ryan. They died so that Ryan could live. Their deaths for Private Ryan were not based on anything good in Private Ryan; it was a mission of mercy. Picking up on these themes, I heard a sermon shortly after the movie's release in which the preacher showed the clip and said that this gives us a glimpse of what Jesus did for us. Then with dramatic pause he asked each of us in the crowd, "Have you earned it? Do you live life the best that you can so that in God's eyes He will say you have earned what He did for you?" Then he dismissed everyone. I wanted to stand up and scream, "No! No! You've missed the point!"

This is precisely NOT the message of the cross. Jesus' death is completely different. Jesus died precisely so that we didn't have to earn it.

Just like private Ryan remembered his saviors' deaths every day, we must daily remember our Savior's death. But Jesus said something far different hanging on the cross than Captain Miller said on the bridge. Miller said, "Earn this." Jesus said, "It is finished." In essence, "I just earned what you never could and must not now try." When you remember the cross do you remember Christ's words? We must remember the cross and if you remember the cross rightly you will never try to earn anything. If Christ died for you, he died to earn you that which you never could earn. If you could have earned, Jesus wouldn't have had to die (c.f. Gal 2:21).

Just like Ryan's memory of those who died for him affected his day to day life, so your memory of the One who died for you must affect your day-to-day life. But the motive for it affecting you must be completely different. To try to earn Christ's death through your good works or righteous life is to ignore the true meaning of all the Jesus did there as he died. On the cross, Jesus bore the wrath of God that you and I deserve and Christ's righteousness was applied to us (2 Cor 5:21). We have earned and can earn nothing but Hell. Precisely because we can't earn heaven by our own righteousness, Christ died to give us His.

If you look at the cross and try to earn it, Christ didn't die for you. That's not faith; that's works. Repent.

Rather, recognize Christ's finished work, and trust that it is sufficient to reconcile yourself to God. Christ's death purchased us out of the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His Beloved Son in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins (Col 1:13-14). There is nothing left that you have to do. So now live like the new creature that God has made you, not to earn the cross but because of what the cross has earned for you.

Let's change Ryan's words spoken at the gravestone and say, from the foot of the cross, "Everyday, I think about what you said that day on the cross, 'It is finished.' I now live my life as one forgiven and freed from sins. I could never do enough, and I praise you that Christ has made me righteous in your eyes."

The depth of our personal relationship with God determines the degree of fellowship possible with each other. Thus, in order to know true fellowship, one must maintain a passionate relationship with and experience of God. Perhaps that is why biblical fellowship is so rare.

Fellowship is not just another word for social activities. I really enjoy watching the Washington Redskins or Baltimore Orioles with my friends. This can be a healthy part of small-group life…but it isn’t fellowship. And you don’t have fellowship talking about the latest opinion from Rush Limbaugh or Jesse Jackson, either. Social activities can’t be equated or confused with fellowship. They are distinctly different. Nothing compares to the fellowship we enjoy when we worship together, study and apply Scripture together, encourage and correct each other, and communicate to one another our current experience of God. Nothing. Social activities can create a context for fellowship, but they are a place to begin—not a place to remain.

When I spend an extended time with another Christian, my main desire is that we know fellowship. I want to hear of his relationship with God, and how God is revealing himself to him. I want to communicate my current experience of God as well, and impart a fresh passion for God.

Is that your desire? If someone spent an afternoon with you, would he or she leave with a fresh understanding of and passion for God? If not, you need to change. With this definition of fellowship in mind, consider your small group. Are you experiencing fellowship? How much time do you spend in the meetings talking about your current relationship with God? When you meet together outside the meetings, how often do your conversations revolve around God’s work in your life? If you are relaxing together more than you're relating together spiritually, you're not enjoying true biblical fellowship - and you have something to look forward to.

C.J. Mahaney
Why Smallgroups (Free PDF Download)
pp. 11-12

Most of the books recommended can be found linked here,

Also, while thinking on the topic, you must surf over to T4G blog and read some of the great posts there on reading that are designed to be read in order:

• Al Mohler: Some Thoughts on the Reading of Books
• Mark Dever: An Apostolic Agenda
• Ligon Duncan: Checking In
• CJ Mahaney: A Passion for Reading & Learning
• Al Mohler: Responding to Readers on Reading
• Ligon Duncan: Pastors Studying & Reading 1 (7 total)
• CJ Mahaney: A Plan for Reading & Study

First add the book to your cart, then add the coupon code to the field on the lower left, then click proceed, enter credit card info (you will not be charged; don't be thrown off by the total on the right, it'll go away on the next screen.), click proceed, verify that the total is $0.00, click submit order, and finally download your resource. You have to have Libronix installed first. Check the product page to tell you how to install the free software (the software is free but resources are not. I recommend you purchase one of the libraries).

God does not do you good out of some constraint or coercion. He is free! And in his freedom he overflows in joy to do you good. He exults over you with loud singing.

Can you imagine what it would be like if you could hear God singing? Remember that it was merely a spoken word that brought the universe into existence. What would happen if God lifted up his voice and not only spoke but sang! Perhaps a new heaven and a new earth would be created. God says something almost just to that effect in Isaiah 65:17-18,
Behold, I create a new heavens and a new earth ... I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy.

When God spoke at the beginning, the heavens and the earth were created; perhaps at the end, the new heavens and the new earth will be created when God exults over his people with loud singing.

When I think of the voice of God singing, I hear the booming of Niagara Falls mingled with the trickle of a mossy mountain stream. I hear the blast of Mt. St. Helens mingled with a kitten's purr. I hear the power of an East Coast hurricane and the barely audible puff of a night snow in the woods. And I hear the unimaginable roar of the sun 865,000 miles thick, one million three hundred thousand times bigger than the earth, and nothing but fire, 1, 000, 000 degrees centigrade, on the cooler surface of the corona. But I hear this unimaginable roar mingled with the tender, warm crackling of the living room logs on a cozy winter's night.

And when I hear this singing I stand dumbfounded, staggered, speechless that he is singing over me. He is rejoicing over my good with all his heart and with all his soul (cf. Jeremiah 32:41)!

Amen! Sad, huh? This just reinforces how grateful I am for the expository preaching I am blessed with each week.

HT: Thabiti

Other Purchasing Options:
Libronix Downloadable
Kindle Reader Downloadable
Paper-&-Ink from WTS
Paper-&-Ink from Amazon
Spanish version from Amazon 

Grudem also gave a series of sermons/lectures on this topic at Covenant Life Church. They are downloadable for free.

1. Chapter 1- "Is This Verse In Your Bible": C.J. Mahaney introduces the topic of worldliness, explains why this book is important, and sets the gospel-tone that saturates every chapter.
   

1. Chapter 2 - "God, My Heart, & Media": Cabaniss, noting the unavoidable and ubiquitous presence of media in Americans life, warns us, "As followers of Christ, we cannot afford to take lightly the media's pervasive presence in our lives." The message of almost all of this media is the message of love for the world of which John warned us in 1 John 2:16, "The desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions." It is not a legalistic calling of media sin, but instead a pastoral urging to sharpen our biblical discernment and evaluation of our media intake for the glory of God. The danger for legalism regarding media is real and it is really dangerous. We must therefore be selective, and the "why" of our selectively it crucial. Guarding us from legalism, Cabaniss roots the what and the why or selectivity in media in the guarding of our hearts and the glory of God.
   

1. Chapter 3 - "God, My Heart, & Music": Bob Kauflin, a great lover and maker of music, warns of the many danger of the love of music and commends proper use of music to us. Music is not inherently good or bad, but because music immediately engages our emotions, its effect on us can be far more profound than we realize. "Listening to music is never neutral, because our sinful hearts are involved." Kauflin comments, "A wise Christian understands that listening to music without discernment and godly intent reveals a heart willing to flirt with the world." Yet "it's not uncommon for Christians on Sunday...to worship Jesus for his substitionary death on the cross, then sing songs during the week that exalt the sins he died for" (see James 3:10). So we must ask, does the music we listen to "dull our conscience" or direct us to "glory in the cross." He is clear that this does not mean that "non-Christian" music is off-limits, nor does it mean that all that passes for "Christian" should be listened to without discernment. The chapter was very helpful to me to encourage me to be thoughtful with my listening or not-listening. Refusing to give a list of examples of acceptable and unacceptable music or bands, he instead encourages us to ask the following two questions and then gives us tools to guide us in finding and listening to music that won't encourage worldliness:
   1. First, does the music you listen to lead you to love the
      Savior more or cause your affections for Christ to diminish?
   2. Second, does your music lead you to value an eternal
      perspective or influence you to adopt the mindset of this
      “present evil age”?
      
2. Chapter 4 - "God, My Heart, & Stuff": Dave Harvey warns us against trusting in possessions and hoping in things by reminding us of eternity and the joy of laying up treasures in heaven. This puts stuff in its proper perspective and lets us enjoy it more fully and more rightly recognizing its insufficiency to bring happiness and recognizing things as gifts from God. He warns that "stuff stokes our desire but doesn't satisfy." Getting stuff is never enough for a heart in love with the world. We must guard ourselves against finding our identity in possessions, taking pride in possessions, placing our security in stuff, and measuring worth with money. He teaches us to fight covetousness with hope of inheriting the kingdom of God, a treasure of immeasurable worth that will never pass away. This is more difficult to implement than to talk about, so Harvey ends the chapter with some examples of how to guard your heart from love of stuff in light of grace. This chapter ending may well be the most helpful portion of the entire book, as it applies to most of the other chapters, and shows the reader how to fight worldliness with the gospel. Excellent chapter.
   
3. Chapter 5 - "God, My Heart, & Clothes": C.J. Mahaney has graciously provided this chapter as a publicly available excerpt from the book. C.J. with the gracious heart of a pastor, shepherds the reader's heart to see that God really does care about what we wear, particularly about the heart behind what we wear. He begins with modesty (the appendix contains two documents regarding modesty: Modesty Heart Check & Considering Modesty on Your Wedding Day). Going straight to the heart and addressing love-of-the-world motivations, he comments, "Your wardrobe is a public statement of your personal and private motivation...Modesty is humility expressed in dress." In order to serve men whose war with lust is more profound than many recognize, C.J. gently and effectively lays out the issue, making regular reference to Scripture (particularly 1 Tim 2:9-10), and even charging parents to get involved in the process with their children from a young age. Replete with personal anecdotes from a family of women who have learned this lesson well, this chapter will serve many churches well in their fight for increased holiness expressed in clothing choices. Dealing with a difficult topic to address, C.J. does a masterful job of avoiding (and helping the readers to avoid) the pitfalls of legalism while encouraging grace-empowered heart obedience that has the gospel as its aim (1 Tim 2:5-6).
   
4. Chapter 6 - "How To Love the World": To end the book, Jeff Purswell ends the book recognizing that the reader may feel like everything around him is off limits. He reminds the reader of the intent of the book: "To impart biblical discernment in areas that increasingly escape the scrutiny of the evangelical world so intent on 'relating to the culture.'" The prohibition to not love the world nor the things in the world must not be the only word we heed on what to love. In order to help us think rightly about the world and worldliness, he tells the story of the world: Creation, fall, redemption, consummation. This section is a an excellent summary of redemptive history that I will likely return to often. Drawing from the story of redemptive history, Purswell gives the reader 3 tasks to fulfill as we live in this world: 1. Enjoy the world (as we enjoy God, not the fallenness of the world, 2.Engage the world (through work, home, education, leisure, and sleep), and 3. Evangelize the world. In a book telling us how not to live in the world, this is a very compact and appropriate reminder of how we are to live. I would like to see this chapter expanded into a book someday...I was constantly left begging for more.

I certainly do not run the blog for the money. If I did, it would be a losing proposition as I'm sure the money made through ads compared with the time spent writing and working on it would make my take-home pay pennies per hour. I barely make enough to pay for hosting the site.

Nevertheless, I do have ads on the site and when you click on them (or follow some of the links to products I review), I get a very small amount of monetary remuneration. Also, many people I know and love read the blog; some of these people even buy me birthday presents. Now i get to the point of the post:

Amazon is offering a very good commission this month on sales of gift certificates. These gift certificates can be used whenever and make great birthday gifts for your favorite friend, family member, or blogger (in fact they would be the preferred gift of many friends, family members, and bloggers). You don't have to worry about losing Amazon gift certificates as you can add it to your Amazon account and automatically withdraw funds with each purchase, an excellent way to budget and keep track of Amazon spending. They probably even make good stocking stuffers. All of this and you support me and my blog for free...sort of. Just click the banner below to stock up.

Most of the discussions relating to the methods of apologetics are centered around how to do apologetics. However, the most important issues surrounding the methods of apologetics are the character of the apologist and the presuppositions of the apologetic. Christian apologetics must do more than convince one of the plausibility or probability of theism; apologetics must point apologist and skeptic alike to a true knowledge of the God of the Bible and the worldview that flows from that knowledge.

In 1 Peter 3:15, the standard proof-text passage validating the existence of apologetics, the apostle commands the believers facing persecution to "in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense (ἀπολογίαν, apologion) to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you" (ESV). Christian apologetics is generally defined as the theological discipline devoted to the apologia-making a defense or giving an answer-of the Christian worldview. Before considering how this apologetic is made, we must consider the apologist himself.

The Apologist
Whenever a non-Christian and a Christian interact, there are two totally distinct sets of basic heart-commitments coming into contact . The heart of the Christian-the center of his affections-honors Christ as holy and is committed to living an obedient life to the glory of God (1 Peter 3:10-12; Romans 6:16). The heart of the non-Christian, by contrast, does not honor Christ as Lord or as holy (1 Corinthians 12:3; Ephesians 2:1-3; Romans 1:21, 29-31) but is committed to only evil (Romans 3:10-18). In 1 Peter 3, the apostle's concern when these worldviews collide in an apologetic encounter is the way in which the Christian behaves in that interaction. Likewise, Paul's concern for the Lord's servant is his demeanor while making an argument for the faith.

Not only does the apologist proclaim truths about God with his mouth, but he also makes a loud and clear statement about the nature of the God he is representing through his conduct. Just as the Christian and non-Christian worldviews are in opposition to each other, so too the character of the Christian and non-Christian will be divergent. It is expected that the non-Christian will behaviorally manifest his opposition to God. In contrast, demonstrating his submission to the Lord and love for his opponent, the apologist must be gentle and respectful (1 Peter 3:15), not quarrelsome, kind to everybody, able to teach, and patient in endurance of evil (2 Timothy 2:23-24). Whitcomb writes (1977, 292), "It is clear from [the 1 Peter 3] passage, then, that no spiritually effective answers can be given to unregenerate people by Christians concerning the hope that is in them until they have learned to ‘sanctify Christ as Lord' in their own hearts."

Apologetic Method
God must be glorified in the manner in which the truth is presented, and God must be glorified by the truth that is presented in the apologetic encounter. As has already been said, the apologetic encounter is a clash of worldviews: The Christian submits everything including his rational mind to God; the non-Christian, while in a sense knowing God (Romans 1:21), refuses to even acknowledge God (Romans 1:18, 28) and rather views his own wisdom and not God as the standard (Romans 1:22; 1 Corinthians 1:18-22). These effects of sin-effects on the unregenerate's entirety, including intellect (noetic effects)-must be acknowledged. As Frame writes (Cowan, 2000, 211), "Those who deny God do so, not because they lack evidence, but because their hearts are rebellious." Ultimately the job of the apologist is to do that which the apologist cannot do, change the fundamental way that a person relates to God. The apologist is to argue in a way that the Spirit would use to change one who has a knowledge of God that refuses to honor him as God (Romans 1:21; 2 Timothy 2:25-26) into one who honors God as holy (1 Peter 3:15; Romans 6:16).

Apologetics as Evangelism
We see then that the task of the apologist is simply a subset of the task of the evangelist. In response to demands in Corinth for evidence and engagement with Greek philosophical wisdom (1 Corinthians 1:22), Paul instead gives them the wisdom of God, the word of God, namely the gospel of Christ crucified (1 Corinthians 1:23, 2:1-7), a wisdom which the world will not understand apart from the Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:14). It is a wisdom that those who God is saving will recognize for what it is, the wisdom and power of God (1 Corinthians 1:18, 30). This does not mean that the apologist abandons wisdom or argument, but rather preaches a wisdom not dictated by the standards of man, but rather by God. For His glory, God will not be found by the wisdom of the world (1 Corinthians 1:21-31). So while the apologist may receive demands for evidence according to the standards of human wisdom, he must be certain that every word of his apologetic response is presented in submission to God's Word toward the end of his hearers' salvation.
Every apologetic encounter and presentation of evidence must be seen as an opportunity to preach that which God will use to change the hearers' hearts: Christ crucified-the message of God's substitionary, reconciling death on the sinner's behalf (1 Corinthians 2:2; 2 Corinthians 5:18-21) . The sinner who thinks that he is sitting in judgment over God must be brought into proper relationship to God; he must realize that knowledge obtained apart from submission to God is distorted knowledge. The problem is epistemological, and the non-believer must begin thinking apart from his own autonomy. All true thought is subject to God's Word as the final normative standard (Frame, 1994, 51). Therefore, Frame defines apologetics as "the application of Scripture to unbelief" (1987, 87). A presuppositional apologetic-an apologetic that recognizes that conformity to Scripture is the very criterion of truth-is the necessary conclusion of a biblical understanding of the noetic effects of sin and regeneration.

Apologetics and Circularity
If the Christian apologist is to argue for the truth of God by presupposing the truth of God's Word, is this not circular reasoning, as the conclusion is assumed by the argument itself? Some apologists like William Lane Craig say that the futility of circular arguing for God by using Christian presuppositions precludes its use in apologetics. Rather, as Craig argues, we must start from common ground and build a case for Christianity. He claims that this common ground is the "laws of logic and the facts of our experience" (2008, 51-57).
How is one to argue that laws of logic (rationalism) and sense experience (empiricism) are valid standards by which to measure truth? In its final analysis an argument for rationality reduces to rational autonomy being accepted as the ultimate standard; the same goes for the argument for empiricism. The Christian recognizes the truth that God is the quintessential reference point, or standard, for truth. The non-Christian maintains that God is not the measure of truth, usually substituting the autonomous self in His place. Therefore, again we see that there is no true common ground but rather two mutually exclusive systems that must argue circularly for their ultimate criterion .

Even the Christian's circularity relating to the ultimate standard can be used as an apologetic tool. As we have seen, unbelief in God does not find its root in lack of evidence, but in sinfully refusing to submit to God. If the goal of apologetics is faith in the gospel, then recognition (through revealing a presupposition) that the non-believer has been entirely in rebellion to God may be a step the Spirit will use to convict of sin. The apologist is not simply trying to add some Christian values or data to the skeptic's worldview; worldview must change, and that happens by repentance and faith in the gospel.

Furthermore, with the universal existence of ultimate presuppositions in view, the apologist can demonstrate the inability for anything other than the God of the Bible to function as this norm. The rationalism of Descartes, Spinoza, and Leibniz is irrationalism, as it bases itself on the autonomous thinker and is disconnected from reality. The Humean, empirical understanding of reality that modern science espouses also reduces to irrationalism as it is incapable of describing any necessary or universal truths. The rationalist must be shown the insufficiency of accepting himself as ultimate and instead be directed to the one that makes all logical thinking and argument possible (Frame, 2000, 220), a logical, creator God. The empiricist must be shown that, based on empiricism alone, no universal truths or values can be discerned. "Not a single fact can be known unless it be God that gives that fact meaning" (Van Til, 1997, chapter 11).

The apologist does not then leave the skeptic in irrational despair, nor does he allow him with Kant to say that we must limit our use of reason (rationalism) to the world of experience (phenomenal) and not the noumenal world of things as they really are in themselves. Rather, the apologist should expose this rational-irrational dialectic that is present in all unbelieving thought. He should use that dialectic to point the unbeliever to what is obvious to him but suppressed (Romans 1:18-21) and is necessary for all thinking and knowing-something outside of himself-namely the creator God of the Bible (Frame, 1987, 59-61, 360-361; Frame, 1994, 69-71). When any ultimate standard (morality, laws of logic, validity of sense-experience, etc.) appealed to by the skeptic is valid leads to knowledge of truth, the apologist can expose that the unbeliever is thinking inconsistently with that inadequate standard and actually thinking as if God were the standard. The unbeliever's problem should be demonstrated not merely to be that he has adopted the wrong ultimate standard, but that his embrace of an inadequate and inconsistent normative standard is caused by and evidences his rebellion toward God. The unbeliever is wrong because he does not know how he ought to know.

Apologetics and Evidence
Therefore, the apologist is able to make use of all types of evidence and argument provided that it is valid according to the criteria of Scripture and done in submission to God as Lord. For example, the Paley's classic teleological argument can certainly be used to show that the evidence of design reveals the personal Creator of Scripture. Similarly, so long as the cosmological and ontological arguments are used to argue for the God of the Bible, they are valid. As Van Til asserts (2003, 134), these traditional arguments even presuppose the truth of the Bible, although the skeptic ignores this. Arguments for the historicity of the Bible and Jesus's resurrection should be embraced as well. All true statements can be useful in one's apologetic since all was made by God and is held together in Christ and reveals God in so conclusive a way that all of humanity is without excuse in the face of this evidence (Colossians 1:15-17; Romans 1:18-20). All evidence, when rightly understood, will reveal the God of the Bible and the truth of a biblical Christian worldview.
There are some limitations to argumentations from evidence however. As we have repeatedly seen, the unbeliever's root problem is not a lack of knowledge, but an unwillingness to submit to that which is already known (In a Romans 1:18-21 sense). Therefore, no amount of argumentation, no matter how valid and lucid is sufficient to compel the non-Christian into the kingdom (Habermas, 2000, 96) if it is considered apart from submission to God. Satan knows plenty of propositions about God; he just does not know them obediently; he is therefore the embodiment of irrationality (Frame, 2006, 101). Similarly, the non-Christian knows God; he just does not know Him obediently (Frame, 1987, 44-45 and 58).

Evaluating evidence for God or the Bible creates a very real danger of communicating to the apologist and skeptic that they are neutral, autonomous judges presiding over God and His Word . Reason and empiricism, we have seen, are not valid ultimate criteria for truth; the apologist must avoid reinforcing the misconception that they are. Habermas claims (2000, 115-116) that the apologist is to "meet critics on their own (common) ground, using their presuppositions and their methodology." This is a losing proposition from the start as their presuppositions deny God; to act as if God is able to be known by these presuppositions is to reinforce in the skeptic that neutral reasoning is possible or that autonomous reasoning is acceptable. A proper apologetic must express the truth about God, that He is Creator, Lord of heaven and earth, Judge, and Savior (Frame, 2000, 220).

Apologetics and the Individual
Not all those who "ask a reason" are asking for the same reasons or with the same prejudices and presuppositions. The loving, gentle, patient, and humble apologist will take the time to listen to the skeptic, recognizing that the only difference between himself and the unbeliever is God's regenerating and sanctifying grace. Apologetics must be flexible enough in form and content to be person-variable (Mavrodes, 1970, 42; Frame, 2000, 222), recognizing some differences among unbelievers' objections, concerns, education level, experience, and hardness of heart. The loving apologist will apply Scripture appropriately to each individual's particular unbelief. Schaeffer writes (1983, Appendix A), "If we are to deal with people where they are...we have got to have enough genuine love for them...that we would take seriously what they are preoccupied with . We tend to give a person a prepackaged answer instead of having the compassion of Christ...If people do not have ‘modern' intellectual questions, there is no need of dealing with such questions."

The apologist might never speak of presuppositions; he might not present theistic proofs or historical evidences for the resurrection of Christ; he may simply preach the gospel; or he could do all of these. Of utmost importance is that in all of these things the apologist is submitting himself to God as Lord both in his demeanor and in his reasoning as he obediently pleads with the skeptic as an ambassador of Christ to be reconciled to God (2 Corinthians 5:18-21). The skeptic's biggest problem is not that he does not know enough facts or has not thoroughly considered the evidence. Rather, he has suppressed the knowledge of God he already has and is living at enmity with him. Whatever specifics are used in the discussion, the apologist must argue with gospel in mind and faith as the goal.

If you measure true wealth by material assets, you won't
come out looking prosperous. Like everyone, you have more
than some and not as much as many others. But if you measure
your riches through what Christ did at Cavalry-God's
wrath appeased, our sin atoned, our soul redeemed-you're
immediately transformed into the richest of the rich. Grace
moved Christ to become poor so we could become wealthy.
When the gospel gets big, covetousness becomes weak.
Are you feeling richer yet? Remember the words of John
Owen:

When someone sets his affections upon the cross and the
love of Christ, he crucifies the world as a dead and undesirable
thing. The baits of sin lose their attraction and disappear.
Fill your affections with the cross of Christ and you
will find no room for sin. (Sin & Temptation, 52)

Dave Harvey
Worldliness (ed. C.J. Mahaney)
Chapter 4

Ye can sit in theatres to hear plays at which modesty should blush, I say nought of piety. That the ruder sex should have listened to the obscenities of La Traviata is surely bad enough, but that ladies of the highest refinement, and the most approved taste, should dishonor themselves by such a patronage of vice is indeed intolerable.

But because the pill is gilded, ye suck down the poison: because the thing is popular, ye patronize it: it is lustful, it abominable, it is deceitful! Ye take your children to hear what yourselves never ought to listen to. Ye yourselves will sit in gay and grand company, to listen to things from when your modesty ought to revolt. And I would fain hope it does, although the tide may for a while deceive you.
Spurgeon, C. H.
Spurgeon's Sermons: Volume 3 (electronic ed.).
No. 137 "Mercy, Omnipotence, and Justice"

I praise God, therefore, that early on in my Christian faith I was taught (and had modeled for me by both of my early spiritual mentors, Daryl and Walter) the importance of understanding what the original authors were communicating to the original audience. Without this information I do not understand the text and can't even begin to apply it to my life and heart accurately. I was taught the importance of observation and interpretation (what it meant to them in their time) before application. I was taught to see the importance of sitting long and thinking deeply about a single sentence in Scripture, to read it in context, to analyze each word and how it functioned in sentences, to probe the historical setting for information that would be helpful to proper understanding...in short, I was taught the benefits of spending hours and hours in a single passage. The Scriptures opened up to me because I saw what was there and gave the Spirit time to drive it into my heart; the application flowed naturally from what I saw was there and was more profound and God glorifying than what I would have found in a five minute quickie Bible read and respond.

There was a problem here, however. I spent almost two years in daily study on the book of Galatians. I can say with confidence that I understand Galatians better than any other book of the Bible. Galatians has owned me. However, I will probably only have 40-50 years of life to study the Bible. Galatians is a relatively short book: 149 verses, 0.2 verses per day. The Bible has 31,102 verses in it. At that rate it would take me 426 years to study the whole Bible. So maybe in heaven, I can do that but not here. I am conflicted. How am I to use all that God has said in His Word and still use it responsibly?