Read Along: Christian Apologetics Ch06

Today we continue with chapter six of Read Along with Apologetics315, a weekly chapter-by-chapter study through Christian Apologetics: A Comprehensive Case for Biblical Christianity by Douglas Groothuis. Please leave a comment on your reading below. This is where you can interact with others reading the book, ask questions, or add your own thoughts. Click below for the audio intro, chapter 6 study questions PDF, and summary:

[Audio Intro] – Dr. Groothuis introduces this chapter.
[Chapter 6 Study Questions] (with kindle locations) – PDF study guide.
[Podcast Feed RSS | Podcast in iTunes] – Click to subscribe to the audio.

Summary
Chapter Six: Truth Defined and Defended
(pages 117-138)
Groothuis points to the culture and notes the erosion of truth. This poses a significant threat to our communication of the Gospel, as Christianity makes particular truth claims about reality. The author notes that the Apostle Paul stakes everything on the objective truth of the resurrection of Jesus. So in order to argue for the truth of Christianity, one may first have to argue for truth itself.

The author investigates and answers a number of false theories of truth. These include a description and critique of postmodernism, coherentism, and pragmatism. Groothuis makes the case for the correspondence theory of truth, and argues that the view implicitly and consistently advocated in scripture is the correspondence theory of truth.

Notable quotes:

To say of what is that it is not, or of what is not that it is, is false, while to say of what is that it is, and of what is not that it is not, is true; so that he who says of anything that it is, or that it is not, will say either what is true or what is false. (Aristotle Metaphysics 4.7; Christian Apologetics, pp. 123-124) 

Many have misinterpreted the meaning of certain aspects of Christianity and so have attributed to it claims of wrongdoing for which it is not guilty. By failing to discern the meaning of Christianity’s claims, some have thus rejected it unfairly. In fact, any worldview that is caricatured and then criticized on that basis has not been fairly interrogated.  (Christian Apologetics, p. 123)

Christians, of all people, must strongly affirm the notion that truth is what corresponds to reality-and must do so unswervingly, whatever the postmodern (or other) winds of doctrine may be blowing in our faces. (Christian Apologetics, p. 138)  

Discuss

  1. Give the most concise definition of truth you can.
  2. Are there any benefits of the coherence theory of truth?
  3. How big of a threat is postmodernism?
Next week
Chapter Seven: Why Truth Matters Most
Written by

Brian Auten is the founder emeritus of Apologetics315. He is also director of Reasonable Faith Belfast. Brian holds a Masters degree in Christian Apologetics and has interviewed over 150 Christian apologists. His background is in missions, media direction, graphic design, and administration. Brian started Apologetics315 in 2007 to be an apologetics hub to equip Christians to defend the faith.

Type at least 1 character to search
Catch the AP315 Team Online:

The mission of Apologetics 315 is to provide educational resources for the defense of the Christian faith, with the goal of strengthening the faith of believers and engaging the questions and challenges of other worldviews.

Defenders Media provides media solutions to an alliance of evangelistic ministries that defend the Christian worldview. We do this by elevating the quality of our members’ branding to match the excellence of the content being delivered.