One Christian author in history owns the distinction of having been read by popes, rock stars, and leading atheists. He lived almost 1,600 years ago and was from North Africa. He is the single most prolific author of the ancient world and has influenced countless Protestants and Catholics. Named after two Roman emperors, he is known to us as St. Augustine of…
French-born theologian John Calvin (1509–1564) was one of the great voices of the Protestant Reformation. He is often called the greatest systematic theologian of the Reformation and is the most influential figure in the entire Reformed theological tradition. His monumental book Institutes of the Christian Religion has been called one of the ten books that shook the world. Yet Calvin is also considered one of the…
One of the things I like about the writings of the Christian church father St. Augustine of Hippo (354–430) is his rich use of analogies1 in talking about critical theological topics. An analogy, of course, is a comparison between two things (how they are like and unlike), usually for the purpose of providing explanation. In his most popular work, Confessions,2 Augustine compares the human soul to a house…
Anybody who has heard my podcast, listened to my theological lectures, reviewed my Reflections blog, or read my books will know that I have a special appreciation for St. Augustine of Hippo (AD 354–430). He is my favorite Christian thinker outside of the Bible, though just a little ahead of other great Christian thinkers like St. Athanasius, Blaise Pascal, and…
Let me introduce you to the latest influential thinker in my ongoing social media segment, #FridayPhilosophy. Contemporary philosopher Peter Kreeft inspired me as a young college student. After reading Kreeft’s book Between Heaven and Hell: A Dialogue Somewhere beyond Death with John F. Kennedy, C. S. Lewis & Aldous Huxley, I wanted to study philosophy and Christian apologetics. What follows is a brief biography…
The great Yale church historian Jaroslav Pelikan once called the Roman Catholic Church ʺthe most formidable religious institution in the history of America and of the world.ʺ1 One distinguishing doctrinal feature of Catholicism is the claim that the pope is the official leader of Christendom. Of the three branches of Christendom (Orthodoxy, Catholicism, Protestantism), Catholics uniquely view the pope as sitting…
Frenchman Blaise Pascal (1623–1662) was one of the founding fathers of the scientific revolution in the seventeenth century. A true Renaissance man, Pascal was an eminent mathematician, physicist, and logician, and an intuitive Christian thinker. As a Christian philosopher, theologian, and apologist, Pascal provided a penetrating analysis of Christianity’s broader world-and-life view. He accomplished all of this before dying at the…
If you have followed me on social media for a while, you know that I have a weekly segment called Thursday Theology, where I provide quotes from important theological thinkers past and present. A theologian I quote often is Michael Green. One of his apologetics books, Runaway World, had a big influence on me as a young Christian and whet my appetite for further apologetics study. I went on to…
Christians correctly assume that apologetics impacts conversion. That’s why many Christian ministries, organizations, and individuals who are motivated by evangelism take the apologetics enterprise seriously. But just how does apologetics impact conversion? And which apologetics factors contribute to a person’s movement toward salvation in Christ? As we have stated in this series, in historic Christianity the apologetics enterprise functions as a tool…
How does the defense of the faith (apologetics) influence a person’s embracing the Christian faith (conversion)? In historic Christianity the apologetics enterprise is considered a branch of theology. Defenders of the faith have used apologetics as a vehicle to eliminate intellectual obstacles, thereby encouraging serious reflection on the truth of the Christian faith. In this four-part series we’re looking at the historical case of Augustine…
