To Get You Thinking: 12 Great Quotes about Apologetics

Thank you Poached Egg for this compilation of inspiring quotes. See the original article at Pulling Back the Curtains: 12 Apologetics Quotes.

 

 

  1. Christian Apologetics QuotesBelief doesn’t create truth. Unbelief doesn’t destroy truth. Christian faith goes beyond reason but not against reason. —Paul E. Little (from, Know Why You Believe)
  2. Christian Apologetics QuotesAs humans, we are limited in our search for truth by our fallen nature, which can make truth difficult to accept and apply. Knowing truth is not just the product of the intellect but also of the will and the personality. Truth begins not with observation, but with a direction to look and a willingness to see.  —Mark Cosgrove  (from, Foundations of Christian Thought)
  3. Christian Apologetics QuotesThe Bible says we should “always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you” (1 Peter 3:15). Can you help someone work through the “Why does God allow suffering?” question? Can you help a university student see that science has not, will not and cannot disprove God? Do you know why it is logically impossible that all religions could lead to God? We need to be ready to answer these because the Bible commands us to do so. As Christians we have a tremendous heritage we have inherited from those who have taken 1 Peter 3:15 seriously.—Jon Morrison (from, 5 Reasons To Rethink Apologetics)
  4. Christian Apologetics QuotesIt is a hard thing to look at the truth when it runs contrary to what you’ve always believed. The experience is like pulling back the curtains in a dimly lit room and looking out the window to see what’s really outside. When your eyes are used to artificial light, the bright sunlight is almost blinding; your eyes may sting and even water at the brightness, and the temptation is to turn away to the more comfortable dimness. But consider: the electricity that powers artificial light is produced by fossil fuel, made from plants that long ago took in the light of the sun—or from windmills, powered by air currents moved by the sun’s heat—or from solar panels, absorbing the sun’s rays. We may think we are in control of the light when we can turn it on or off by a flick of a switch—but ultimately that tame, comfortable indoor light has its source in the wild heart of the sun. Just so with the truth. Whatever we know of what is right and good and true comes from God, the Author of all Truth—whether we know it or not. But His truth is so much greater than our little partial glimpses of the truth that it can be blinding. —Dr. Holly Ordway (from, Not God’s Type: A Rational Academic Finds a Radical Faith)
  5. Christian Apologetics QuotesAny and every other belief you hold, about anything whatsoever, if it is to be taken seriously, if it is to be of any value or worth anyone’s consideration, it must have in its favor more than your emotions, personal history or external circumstantial factors. It must have reasons—Clint Roberts (from the article, Believing for No Reason)
  6. Christian Apologetics QuotesI assert that nothing ever comes to pass without a cause. What is self-existent must be from eternity, and must unchangeable: but as to all things that begin to be, they are not self-existent, and therefore must have some foundation of their existence without themselves. – Jonathan Edwards
  7. Christian Apologetics QuotesAs parents, we are the folks who will have the most repeated contact with our children; we are the ones who can have the most impact (good or bad). This is the simple truth for all of us who are raising kids in the church. We have to become the best Christian Case Makers our kids know so we can respond quickly to their concerns and questions. As parents, we are still the first line of Christian defense. —J. Warner Wallace (from the article, Parents Are Still the First Line of Defense)
  8. Christian Apologetics QuotesI suggest you completely ban the phrase “leap of faith” from your vocabulary.  Biblical faith is based on knowledge, not wishing or blind leaps.  Knowledge builds confidence and confidence leads to trust.  The kind of faith God is interested in is not wishing.  It’s trust based on knowing, a sure confidence grounded in evidence. – Greg Koukl
  9. Christian Apologetics QuotesNaturalism requires one to believe humans are special for no reason at all, or else to deny that we are special at all. Either option is odd. Naturalism is a strange belief. It’s one thing to hold that it is possibly true (though that strains credulity beyond my personal reach). It’s another thing altogether — and one can only pause to contemplate what might be the reason for it — for anyone to think it’s definitely true, or almost certainly true.—Tom Gilson (from, Naturalism is a Strange Belief)
  10. Christian Apologetics QuotesSincerity does not trump truth. After all, one can be sincerely wrong. But sincerity is indispensable to any truth we wish others to believe. There is something winsome, even irresistible, about a life lived with conviction. I am reminded of the Scottish philosopher and skeptic, David Hume, who was recognized among a crowd of those listening to the preaching of George Whitefield, the famed evangelist of the First Great Awakening:  “I thought you didn’t believe in the Gospel,” someone asked.  “I do not,” Hume replied. Then, with a nod toward Whitefield, he added, “But he does.” —Larry Taunton (from, Listening to Young Atheists: Lessons for a Stronger Christianity)
  11. Christian Apologetics QuotesSkeptics must provide more than alternative theories to the Resurrection; they must provide first-century evidence for those theories. —Gary Habermas (quoted in, I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist)
  12. Christian Apologetics QuotesThere’s a fine line, though, between being someone who questions and being someone who refuses to believe any answers-a true skeptic. In fact, I don’t think many skeptics actually question anything. They may phrase their challenges as questions, but their heart is set on rejection and disproving, not asking. To truly question something is to query it and to ask about it for the sake of greater and deeper understanding. This may lead to evidence that disproves or to propositions worthy of rejecting, but the heart behind it is to learn, to know. And in this sense, we ought to question everything. And I do mean everything… — Barnabas Piper (from, The unskeptical questioner)