A Brief Book Notice from Books At a Glance
Table of Contents
Introduction: We Need Cultural Climatologists – Collin Hansen
Part 1: What is Cultural Apologetics?
1 A Tool for Evangelism – Trevin Wax
2 A Biblical Vision – Christopher Watkin
3 A Framework for Retrieval – Joshua Chatraw
Part 2: How is Cultural Apologetics Done?
4 The Posture: Neither Accommodating nor Condemning – Alan Noble
5 The Missiology: Subversively Fulfilling – Daniel Strange
6 The Goal: Healing Hard Hearts and Dark Minds – N. Gray Sutanto
7 The Approach: Exposing Unbelief as Unlivable – Gavin Ortlund
Part 3: What Questions Does Cultural Apologetics Answer?
8 Is Christianity Good? – Rebecca McLaughlin
9 Is Christianity Beautiful? – Rachel Gilson
10 Is Christianity True? – Derek Rishmawy
Part 4: Where Does Cultural Apologetics Happen?
11 The Church: A Witness to the World – Bob Thune
12 Front Porches: Why We Still Need Them – James Eglinton
13 Everyday Life: The Cultural Texts We Live By – Sam Chan
Conclusion: The Narrow Road to Eternal Life – Collin Hansen
Selected Quotes
- Cultural apologetics, then, helps non-Christians want the gospel to be true even before they may fully understand this good news. We offer the beauty of the lordship of Christ as opposed to the ugliness of the lordship of the principalities and powers (Eph. 6:12). (4)
- Paul Gould defines cultural apologetics as the “work of establishing the Christian voice, conscience, and imagination within a culture so that Christianity is seen as true and satisfying.” (5)
- The message resounding in 1 Corinthians is that Christian cultural apologetics is cruciform apologetics; we learn how to engage with, subvert, and fulfill the ambient cultural values of our age not by sidestepping the cross but by diving into the depths of its wisdom and power, and coming up with their treasure. The heart of cultural apologetics is the heart of the gospel. (39-40)
- To practice cultural apologetics faithfully, you must have a posture of grace, which means a desire to understand the person or culture in front of you, a desire for them to see their idols as lifeless, and a desire for them to repent and turn to Christ. (67)
- If our non-Christian friends and neighbors turn to Jesus, they will find he is the first and best foundation for their deep beliefs in universal human rights, equality, and justice. (126)
- Presenting Jesus as the whole Truth—the truth that is the way and the life—the concrete personal reality at the center of the universe, isn’t a gimmick, a technique, or a surefire trick to secure belief or conversion. No, it’s a way of ensuring that people are confronted with the fullness of what they are being asked to trust in—not Jesus as an idea but as a living Lord. (150)
- Cultural apologetics helps Christians share the truth, goodness, and beauty of the gospel as the only hope that fulfills our deepest longings. And our deepest longing is personal peace with God that results in collective peace with each other. (196)