FAITH HAS ITS REASONS
By Kenneth D. Boa & Robert M. Bowman, Jr.
Paternoster. 658 pages. £19.99
ISBN 978-1-93280-534-5
Faith has its reasons describes itself as an ‘apologetics handbook’ which seeks to develop ‘an integrative approach to defending Christianity’. The authors, Ken Boa and Rob Bowman, both lead organisations who promote a form of conservative evangelical apologetics among Christians and non-Christians alike.
The book begins by defining the subject and outlining the historical story of the major movements of apologetic thought. Once the historical background is established, the writers examine the strengths and weaknesses of the four main schools of apologetic thought: Classical (to establish faith through reasoned thought), Evidentialist (to examine facts and so reach a faithful conclusion), Reformed (to accept the Bible as the revealed fact and so reach a faithful conclusion) and Fideist (trust placed in faith rather than in reason). After this, they analyse the various ways different Christian thinkers have sought to integrate the four different disciplines in the light of the particular challenges of postmodernism. This leads to a systematic argument for an integrative methodology, involving the four schools of apologetics, which is contrasted with a wide spectrum of contemporary subjects from experience-based philosophy, humanistic psychology, and the latest developments in scientific fact/theory.
