★★★★★ 4
Great intro to for those who feel drawn to apologetics
Format: Kindle
James Sire has been a wonderful companion to many Christians who are called to use their intellect. I have been a fan of his ever since his book Scripture Twisting.
Sire provides a great service to the Christian community first by identifying the many ways in which we engage in defense of the faith. We tend to think of great speakers in front of skeptical audiences, but there are many other ways in which apologetics is useful and necessary, such as when we are speaking to friends. Any time we are responding to their objections to Christianity, we can do so in a winsome and knowledgeable manner, even if we aren't an intellectual giant like Sire.
Second, Sire identifies that types of personality characteristics and character traits necessary to pursue apologetics as a vocation. Of course, the primary characteristic is one of pursuing God. Included with this is some discussion about how we might recognize a calling in defense of the faith. Many pastors want to equip us in ministry, but Sire's discussion actually gets down to helping us recognize if this is our calling.
Sire provides some pointers to great books on the major issues we might have to deal with. It's always good to have a book of great sources
I also like the many examples he provides in his book about encounters with people, including mistakes he has made. I hope this will have a wide audience and encourage others to consider this calling.
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Reviewed in the United States on January 14, 2018