September 2005

"APOLOGETICS" -The Rational Defense of the Faith (Christian Philosophy of Religion) Barry L. Whitney, B.A., Ph.D. DrBarryWhitney.com OR www.uwindsor.ca/whitney Professor of Christian Philosophy of Religion University of Windsor, Windsor. Ontario N9B3P4 Canada (Note to current students enrolled in 07-221 (Justiying Religious Beliefs), Fall 2005: The "Class Notes" for 07-221 is found Here:) 'God and Evil' Major Resource Book (1998): $40   APOLOGETICS: The Justification of Christian Beliefs: Reasonable Faith (a) Apologetics instructs and teaches the basic Christian doctrines and history to those within the Church--pastors, priests and laypeople; it must answer questions about these doctrines and beliefs, and teach the fundamentals of defending the rationality and trustworthiness of these doctrines and beliefs, to correct the biblical and theological illiteracy and the all-too-common "faithism" and anti-intellectualism within the Church. Those who are unaware of "basic Christianity" are liable to fqll for every whif of false doctrine. Apologetics is an essential aspect of the cultivation of a mature faith which loves God with the mind as well as the heart and is ready to give a defense for what we believe (1 Pet 3:15): see my University Course Outline for 07-221: "Philosophy of Religion" (Reasonable Faith) (b) Apologetics defends Christian beliefs against arguments from those hostile to these beliefs. Among those hostile to Christianity are not only atheists, skeptics, secular humanists,and naturalistic scientists and social scientists, but religious pluralists who assume, wrongly, that all religions are the same. Despite the "political correctness" and supposed "tolerance" that revages contemporary western societies, it must be understood that while many religions may contain aspects of truth, there are real and distinct differences among the various religions. Apologetics acknowledges Christianity's uniqueness and must refute anti-Christian New Age alternative spiritualities (eg: the outtrageous opinions of Fritjof Capra, Deepak Chopra, Marianne Williamson, and many, many others): see my University Course Outline for 07-100: "Religion and Culture" (c) Apologetics must defend Christian orthodoxy from false teachings by those within the Church--for example, the past 150 years of liberalism which presumes a naturalistic worldview that disregards the historicity of the Bible, miracles, and the basic teachings of Christianity: a literal resurrection of Jesus, his virgin birth, his miracles, etc. Examples abound among liberals who reduce these truths to metaphor (eg: Bishop Spong, The Jesus Seminar's Marcus Borg and Dominic Crossan, etc.). Most academic departments of religion in North America exhibit this unfortunate tendency to this kind of liberalism. Another threat from within the Church is the from the opposite end of the theological spectrum: the extremist heresies introduced by evangelical pastors who feel free to publish and teach the most outraeous nonsense and heresy: Word-Faith teachers (Ken Copeland, Ken Haggin, Benny Hinn, Peter Wagner, and most of TBN TV's "teachers") are good examples, many of whom preach prosperity and positive affirmation (Robert Schuler and other prosperity, word-faith and "felt needs" church marketing advocates, etc.) which are laregely indistinguishable from New Age cultism and humanistic psychology's focus on human needs and self-esteem. New Age teachings have entered the Church through these and other theologically untrained and misguided pastors who focus on "human needs" and church-growth movements, mega-churches and personality cults, presenting watered-down gospel and pop-psychology (Rick Warren, Bill Hybels,etc.) rather than the Gospel message of sin and repentance, the holiness and justice of God, and the desperate need for Christ as redeemer. See the following page for links to essays which critique the "seeker-sensitive," "man-centered," "purpose-driven" churhcs Here. Among other good resources, see the website, Deception in the Church, for apologetic commentary on such deceptions. APOLOGETIC TASKS (a) Affirmative apologetics answers questions Christian may have about beliefs and doctrines; apologetics also proposes arguments for the validity of Christian belief. Ultimately, Christians rely on faith, but it not "blind faith" but a tested and mature faith, informed by reasonable arguments and sound doctrine. Christians must always be ready to give reasons for the faith we hold within (1 Peter 3:15). (b) Defensive apologetics refutes attacks on Christian belief. Christian apologetics engages not only the atheism of Scientific Naturalism and Secular Humanism of the past centuries, but also the Postmodern sceptical, "relativistic," anti-realistic view of the world. An aspect of the latter is New Age Spirituality which is largely monistic (all is one, all is god). Unfortunately, apologetics involves also refutations of false techings within the Church -- from all sorts of strange teachings (word-faith preachers like Kenneth Haggin and Ken Copeland,Peter Wagner's third wave apostolic revivalism and pragmatic church growth ideology), to liberal theologians whose naturalistic presuppostions continue their misguided attempts to discredit the authenticity of the biblical texts and orthodox doctrines in a vain quest for "relevance" THE NEED FOR APOLOGETICS Apologetics Manifesto 2003 (Groothuis) The need for apologetics (Rick Wade) Enemies of apologetics (Doug Groothuis) The need for apologetics (Norm Geisler) SOME RECOMMENDED BOOKS Peter Kreeft's Handbook of Christian Apologetics Willian Lane Craig's Reasonable Faith R.C. Sproul's Defending Your Faith Norm Geisler's When Sceptics Ask Norm Geilser's Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics Other recommended books will be listed here ... RECOMMENDED APOLOGETIC RESOURCES Leadership University Let us Reason (Mike Oppenheimer) Christian Apologetics Research Ministry Apologetics: (Dave Armstrong) Apologetic Links (Cephas) Deception in the Church Probe Ministries (Kerby Anderson) Stand to Reason (Greg Koukl) Catholic Educator's Resource Center Theology Links John Ankerberg Peter Kreeft CRI: Christian Research Center (Hank Hanegraaff) William Lane Craig ....More to come .... COURSE NOTES for Dr Barry Whitney's "Christian Philosophy of Religion" courses): These may be restricted to students enrolled in the classes each semester; but public, accessible versions of the courses are being prepared 07-323: God and Evil 07-322: God and Atheism 07-221: Justifying Religious Belliefs 07-232: Religion and Science 07-100: Religion and Culture 07-101: Issues in Religion and Culture 07-228: Belief in God in Contemporary Culture 07-233: Religion & Literature VARIOUS APOLOGETIC TOPICS (from Dr. Whitney's class pages) RESPONSE TO ATHEISTIC HUMANISM AND NATURALISM RESPONSE TO NEW AGE SPIRITUALITY AND THE OCCULT RESPONSE TO POSTMODERN RELATIVISM AND ITS INFILTRATION INTO THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH EXPLANATION OF BASIC CHRISTIAN BELIEFS DISTORTIONS OF BASIC CHRISTIAN BELIEFS AND WORSHIP WITHIN THE CHURCH RESPONSE TO RELIGIOUS PLURALISM (Christiantiy and Other Religions) RESPONSE TO DISPUTES WITHIN CHRISTIANITY RESPONSE TO THE PROBLEM OF EVIL AND SUFFERING: see also the GOD AND EVIL page UNDERSTANDING CHRISTIAN HEALING UNDERSTANDING SATAN, SPIRITUAL WARFARE, THE OCCULT, FORBIDDEN KNOWLEDGE ARGUMENTS FOR GOD'S EXISTENCE RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE AND MYSTICISM RELIGION AND LITERATURE: CULTURAL MYTHS: SATAN, THE OCCULT, GOD AND SUFFERING BIBLICAL AUTHENTICITY AND HISTORICITY, JESUS' DIVINITY, JESUS' RESURRECTION ... More Links and information to come, including publically accessible class notes manuals, audio and video tapes, papers, chapters, reviews, and commentaries PROFESSOR WHITNEY is often available for consultations, conferences and other speaking engagements, offering academically and biblically sound teaching on Christian Apologetics (the defense of Christianity against various common criticisms), with special expertise on God and Suffering, Arguments for God's Existence, the Defense of the Authenticity of the Bible, Jesus' Claims to Divinity and His Resurrection, New Age Spirituality, Secular Humanism, etc (see list above) Dr. Whitney has taught for 30 years at the University of Windsor, and has published more than 30 Books, Book Chapters, and Edited Journals, over 110 Academic Articles and Reviews, and over 350 other articles and abstracts for academic journals, as well as published interviews and several dozen academic and public presentations (papers, seminars, lectures, consultations), radio and TV interviews and debates (most recently, Vision TV debates against Deepak Chopra and liberal Bishop J. Sprague, etc.), newspaper and magazine interviews (Time magazine, The New York Times, The Washington Times, Newsday, Long Island, The Chicago Tribune, The Ottawa Citizen, CBC TV, Vision TV, etc. (1979-2004) ON-LINE CHAPTERS, ESSAYS, REVIEWS, NOTES (Many will be on-line soon; note also that some of the following items are not yet on line) Barry Whitney, GOD AND EVIL ch 1: Introduction Barry Whitney, GOD AND EVIL ch 2: Faith Solution Barry Whitney, GOD AND EVIL ch 3: Biblical Theodicy Barry Whitney, GOD AND EVIL ch 9: Jewish Responses to the Holocaust Barry Whitney, GOD AND EVIL (chs 4-5-6); Philosophical Theodicies Barry Whitney, GOD AND EVIL (ch 7-8): Conservative Theodicies Barry Whitney, Anti-Theodicy: Is Theodicy Itself Evil? Barry Whitney, "Religious Belief and Science" Barry Whitney, "Response to the Humanist Manifestos" Barry Whitney, "Response to Atheism" Barry Whitney, "The Much-Neglected Answer in The Book of Job" Barry Whitney, "The Reasonablenss of Religious Belief" Barry Whitney, "An Aesthetic Solution to the Problem of Evil" Barry Whitney, "God and Natural Disasters" Barry Whitney, Course Notes for "God and Evil" Class: the problem of evil Barry Whitney, Course Notes for "Apologetics" Class: defense of Christianity Barry Whitney, Course Notes for "God and Atheism" Class: Christianity vs Secular Humanism Barry Whitney, Course Notes for "Religion and Culture" Class: Christianity vs New Age Postmodernism Barry Whitney, Course Notes for "Religion and Literature" Class: Satan and the Occult Gregory Boyd Spiritual Warfare Theodicy Resource Daniel Howard-Synder Theodicy essays William Hasker-David Griffin Theodicy Debate: part 1 (Hasker), Process Studies 29 (2000) Hasker-Griffin Theodicy Debate: part 2 (Griffin), Process Studies 29 (2000) Hasker-Griffin Theodicy Debate: part 3 (Hasker and Griffin), Process Studies 29 (2000) John Culp: Overview of the Dialogue between Process and Evangelical Theologies. Process Studies 30 (2001) More papers to come, by Barry Whitney and other apologists, theodicists, theologians and philosophers of religion. Not all of these are on line yet, but these and many more essays, reviews, and other resources, including audio and video aids, will be posted here. MAJOR RESOURCE BOOK ON THEODICY: Barry Whitney, THEODICY: An ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY on the PROBLEM OF EVIL, (1998) Amazon Bookstore SELECTED LIST: DR. WHITNEY'S PUBLICATIONS ON GOD, SUFFERING, EVIL, AND OTHER APOLOGETIC ISSUES: "Has Science Disproved God?" IS THERE REALLY A GOD? Edited by John Ashton. Sydney, Australia: Strand, 2005 "Evil," THE NEW CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA, Volume 5: 487-91. Washing ton, D.C.: Catholic University of America Press, 2002. "Theodicy," THE NEW CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA, Volume 13: 867-69. Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America Press, 2002. "Paul Tillich," THE NEW CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA, Volume 14:76-77. Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America Press, 2002. "Promethean Atheism," GOD, LITERATURE, AND PROCESS THOUGHT, edited by Darren Middleton. London, England: Ashgate Publishers, 2001. THEODICY: AN ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY ON THE PROBLEM OF EVIL, 1960-1991, 498 pages, available from The Philosophy Documentation Center, 1998. "Divine Persuasion and the Anthropic Argument," THE PERSONALIST FORUM, 1998. "Hartshorne on Natural Evil," SOPHIA, INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION, METAPHYSICAL THEOLOGY AND ETHICS (Australia) 1996. "An Aesthetic Solution to the Problem of Evil," INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION, 1994. THEODICY: AN ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY ON THE PROBLEM OF EVIL, 1960-1990 (first edition). New York, London: Garland Publishing Inc, 1993), 658 pages. This is the only definitive research resource for publications on the problem of evil from 1960-to the early 1990s. Available now in an undated edition and new preface (1998), published by The Philosophy Documentation Center, December, 1998. "Critical Study of Mystical Theodicy," METHOD AND THEORY IN THE STUDY OF RELIGION (Canada) 1993. WHAT ARE THEY SAYING ABOUT GOD AND EVIL? New York: Paulist Press, 1989, 135 pages. This edition sold out and is Out of Print. However. it will be available here on this internet site soon and an updated edition is being prepared for a new press. "Theodicy in Hartshorne," HARTSHORNE, PROCESS THEOLOGY AND PHILOSOPHY, edited by R. Kane and S. Phillips. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989. "Rahner and Hartshorne on Death and Eternal Life," INTERNATIONAL PHILOSOPHICAL QUARTERLY, 1988. EVIL AND THE PROCESS GOD. New York, London, and Toronto: Edwin Mellen Press, 1985, 234 pages. "Charles Hartshorne (on Non-Violence)," NON-VIOLENCE: CENTRAL TO CHRISTIAN SPIRITUALITY, edited by J.T. Culliton. New York, Lond, and Toronto: Mellen Press, 1982. THE REALITY OF GOD IN THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD, co-authored book, edited by Temple Kington, "Religion, Science, and Process: A Contemporary Understanding of God" (ch 4, B. Whitntey), University of Windsor, Canterbury College Monograph, 1982 "Rahner and Hartshorne on Divine Immutability," HORIZONS, JOURNAL OF THE COLLEGE THEOLOGY SOCIETY, 1982. "Critical Study of Kliever's Shattered Spectrum," PROCESS STUDIES, 1982 "Does God Influence the World's Creativity?" JOURNAL OF PHILOSOPHICAL RESEARCH, 1981. "Divine Immutability in Process Philosophy and Contemporary Thomism," HORIZONS, JOURNAL OF THE COLLEGE THEOLOGY SOCIETY, 1980. "Process Theism: Does a Persuasive God Coerce?" THE SOUTHERN JOURNAL OF PHILOSOPHY, 1979. "Hartshorne's New Look at Theodicy," STUDIES IN RELIGION (Canada), 1979. HARTSHORNE'S THEODICY, Ph.D. Dissertation, McMaster University (Canada), 1977. TILLICH'S DOCTRINE OF RELIGIOUS SYMBOLISM, B.A. Honours Thesis, Carleton Unniversity, 1971. 23 Edited issues of PROCESS STUDIES academic journal, volumes 23 (1996) to volume 35 (2006). 105 Book Reviews published in various academic journals, 1977-2006. 160 Abstracts of Articles published in PROCESS STUDIES academic journal, 1979-2001. 130 Abstracts of Ph.D. Dissertations published in PROCESS STUDIES, 1978-1999. Dozens of Public Lectures, Consultations, Workshops, and published Interviews and Television Panel Debates and Interviews.including several for "Religious Scope," CBC TV, "Test of Faith," VISION TV, TIME magazine, THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE, THE NEW YORK TIMES, NEWSDAY, LONG ISLAND, THE WASHINGTON TIMES. THE OTTAWA CITIZEN, etc. Dozens of Essays and Reviews in refereed and non-referred journals. Dr. Barry Whitney: Home Page . Reykjavik, Iceland 2002 Coming soon, 2005: IS THERE REALLY A GOD? Ed. John Ashton (Australia: Strand); Whitney chapter, "Does Science Disprove God?" 1989: WHAT ARE THEY SAYING ABOUT GOD AND EVIL?; revised, updated version is in progress 1998: THEODICY; current (2nd edition) of this definitive reference: 4,200 entries (1960-1991) 1993: THEODICY; first edition of this first and only complete reference on writings on God and Evil (1960-1990) 1982: THE REALITY OF GOD, co-authored; Whitney chapter on "Religion, Science and God" 1985: EVIL AND THE PROCESS GOD; definitive and critical study of Hartshorne's process theodicy 2002: NEW CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA, 15-volume 2nd Edition: Whitney articles on "Evil" and "Theodicy" 1989: HARTSHORNE, PROCESS PHILOSOPHY AND THEOLOGY; Whitney chapter on "ProcessTheodicy" 1982: NON-VIOLENCE: CENTRAL TO CHRISTIAN SPIRITUALITY; Whitney chapter on "Pacifism in Hartshorne" 2002: GOD, LITERATURE, AND PROCESS THOUGHT; Whitney chapter on "Promethean Atheism" 1996-2005: PROCESS STUDIES Academic journal, 21 issues edited by B. Whitney A Christian Apologetics webpage: on line since 1996