Myron B. Penner

As we transitioned from a premodern to modern world, as the Enlightenment opened our eyes, and as more and more atheists came out of the closet, Christian apologetics thrived. In this new world, we Christians feel it is our inherent responsibility to prove the truth of our Christian worldview. We feel the need to justify our beliefs. But, when it comes to spreading the Gospel, has apologetics become more hostile than helpful? Does it edify, or does it tear down?

Penner wonders if apologetics is not the single biggest threat to genuine Christian faith. Who do we think we are, trying to bring the Truth (capital T) of God down to our human reasoning level, and strip it down to bite-size truths (little T) that we can nail into our opponents? There’s a difference between knowing something is true and showing it to be true.

Penner feels it’s time to take the next step to postmodernity in our approach to apologetics. The modern Enlightenment worldview is just one way of viewing the world, and may not be the most appropriate way for Christian witness. An apologetic approach that doesn’t respect the identity of our listeners, or that doesn’t highlight the role of Love (for, at it’s most basic level, the Truth of God is about Love), does an injustice to the Gospel. If the Gospel we present isn’t good news, it isn’t true. And truth, says Penner, is something you live, not something you own.

He compares experts to prophets in his discussion of proper, postmodern apologetics. The prophets are preferable; we cling to our experts and trust them to present the facts, but it’s the prophets who deliver a higher truth. Bible prophets cared little about proving the truth of their message. What utter silliness would that be, to question a message from God? Instead, they lived the message.

All of this sounds intuitive and wonderful, yet somehow, the book didn’t inspire a change in me. Too dry, perhaps, or too few real-world examples. I found it intellectual and mildly stimulating, yet ultimately unsatisfying. The philosophical presentation stayed on an intellectual level through the whole book, and never broke through to the heart where it could make a difference.… (mehr)

A thorough analysis of the state of Christian apologetic and witness through a postmodern lens informed by Kierkegaard.

The author provides a thoroughgoing challenge to the modernist/rational modus operandi of modern Christian apologetics. He does well at showing how one cannot just acquiesce to the fundamental assumptions and worldview of modernism and the Enlightenment consensus and be able to effectively demonstrate the essence of Christianity. The Kierkegaardian contrast between genius and apostle and how each communicates and views authority and how modern apologetics relies too much on the former when Christianity is all about the latter is also instructive. The emphasis on edification as the end goal provides great resonance with what is revealed in Scripture. The author's discussion of the premodern worldview and how we cannot attempt to just resuscitate that worldview after the modernist project is also helpful. His comments regarding truth and the recognition that God is truth and the possessor of truth, and how we can abide in truth, know truth, but are not said to be able to possess truth as if it is our own is also challenging and worthy of consideration.

Even though the author does often qualify his acceptance of postmodernism with the understanding that God is absolute truth and the possessor thereof (even if we see through a mirror darkly), his almost complete embrace of postmodern critique (and Kierkegaard's viewpoints) seems to be a bit too much. Christ is true philosophy; all other philosophical schemes may reflect His truth in some ways but will not in others, and we must accept the good and reject the evil in all of them.

Nevertheless, an excellent critique and worthy of consideration.

**--book received as part of early review program… (mehr)