Apologetics Summary

Which resource has the best, brief summary of apologetic arguments?

I am looking for a paragraph to 1-2 pages on each major argument -- e.g., ontological, teleological, etc. I'd like those concise summaries for a course I am teaching.

Thank you!!

Joel J.

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David P. Moore

I would recommend:

Powell, Edgar C. On Giants’ Shoulders: Studies in Christian Apologetics. Epsom, UK: Day One Publications, 1999.

Kreeft, Peter, and Ronald K. Tacelli. Handbook of Christian Apologetics: Hundreds of Answers to Crucial Questions. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1994.

This one has one paragraph summaries:

Enns, Paul P. The Moody Handbook of Theology. Chicago, IL: Moody Press, 1989.

Paul Chatfield

One of the best resources I know of for apologetic material in Logos is Geisler, Norman L. Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics. Baker Reference Library. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1999.

If you know which arguments you're interested in, you should also find concise summaries there, for example under Ontological argument, he states it was first developed by Anselm and then quotes the Anselm version:

"In logical form it is:

1. God is, by definition, a Being, greater than which nothing can be conceived.
2. It is greater to exist in reality than to exist only in the mind.
3. Therefore God must exist in reality. If he didn’t he wouldn’t be the greatest being possible."

You can easily stop here. Should you wish to follow it through further he considers its development and restatement - which could be skipped - to jump to his conclusion to see how valid he considers it.

Similarly for teleological, he states briefly the distinction between this and other forms of argument, "The moral argument is the argument from a moral law to a Moral Law Giver. The cosmological argument reasons from the existence of the cosmos to a Creator. The teleological argument moves from design to a Designer," before then defining the teleological argument concisely. So if you're happy just to take the initial couple of paragraphs - or consider in the future you may wish other materials linked with apologetics I would recommend it as a useful source.