Practical apologetics

While a pastor of a local church I was always interested in philosophy and apologetics – the various challenges to our faith.

But pastoral ministry is busy: church meetings, hospital visits, preparing sermons, local school assemblies and a crisis in the congregation could sometimes make matters of apologetics seem very abstract.

One danger of that attitude is that apologetics can be seen as the preserve of specialised ministries or academic study. As a pastor I could look with envy at itinerant ministries able to specialise in public debate and cultural engagement. Meanwhile, I was trying to mend the photocopier and get some colouring sheets ready for a kid’s club while waiting for a plumber to arrive and fix the chapel boiler.