Apologetics for a New Generation

by Sean McDowell

Book Overview

Many teenagers leave home for college but don't take their faith with them. Popular writer and speaker Sean McDowell offers a solution for this problem: a new way of approaching faith that addresses the questions the emerging generation is asking and that incorporates a radically humble and relational approach.

An impressive list of contributors including Dan Kimball (They Like Jesus but Not the Church), Brian Godawa (Hollywood...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0736925201
• ISBN13: 9780736925204
• Release Date: March 2009
• Publisher: Harvest House Publishers
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.6" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Connecting the Dots

Each generation is different. When I saw the title of this book I was reminded of when God told Moses to have 12 leaders of Israel, one from each tribe, to take a stone from the bottom of the Red Sea, while the waters were still rolled back, carry them to the other side and place them in a pile. Then when later generations would ask "What are those stones there for?" You are to tell them how their God delivered you from Pharaoh, King of Egypt, and from slavery this day. We have an obligation to share with each generation what God has done for us. Sean McDowell and J Warner Wallace give us great insights in how to do this. Their world is different than ours and we haven't always connected the dots. This is a must. It's a way of making sure we have a strong chain of custody.

GREAT must read

Sean McDowell represented on this book! It was GREAT a must read for every believer it will motivate your move towards evangelism and educate you in the area of apologetics. I was blessed by Sean and John's collaboration and the viewpoint on Relativism and Lee Strobel's interview and pretty much everything in the book was phenomenal!

Effective Apologetics for A New Generation

Sean McDowell is one of a new generation of Christian apologists. He is the son of the wise and well-traveled writer Josh McDowell. It is not surprising that he produces a book that trains college and high school Christians in defending Christian truth in a winsome manner. He aims to help young people think about the big issues in life as he provides a simple and empathetic friendship-style approach for this age group. Apologetic advice and instruction come from Dan Kimball, Brett Kunkle, Josh McDowell, Brian Godawa, and other famous Christian scholars. The diverse authors work together to assist the reader in becoming an understanding, emotionally attractive, and intelligent witness for Christ. Difficult issues, doubt, and truth are carefully examined. Yes numerous winning answers are given, but the reader is smoothly taught how to think and how to engage the world in an effective and Christi-like approach by cultivating concern and love for the lost. Jude 3 "Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints." The Christian distinction of the Resurrection of Christ is unmistakably declared, analyzed, and defended with a clear and plain emphasis. This is a book that will not only educate young people, but it will move them, as it instills a confidence in the exclusive claims of Jesus Christ. If you desire to be a more capable and understanding witness of biblical truth, I suggest you buy this book. The Necessary Existence of God: The Proof of Christianity Through Presuppositional Apologetics

A Fresh Outlook

Great book! Perfect for those working or teaching in a Youth/College Ministry, this book gives a fresh outlook on how apologetics can be effectively integrated into our culture today. With the recent cultural shift often referred to as postmodernism, there is now an increasing presence of relativistic and pluralistic thinking in the minds of our young adults; and due to a lack of apologetical training, they are ill-equipped to defend themselves against the intellectual harassment they are likely to encounter from intelligent students and professors at the university. Our youth groups have focused on entertainment and religious experience over sound thinking for far too long, and the effects are not pretty. That is why, according to a survey done by USA Today and the Barna Group, over 70% of our nation's youth are leaving the church after graduating high school. Why? Because they aren't being taught good reasons to believe why Christianity is true. Their faith has been stripped of it's intellectual riches, and is nothing more than a subjective and existential "philosophy of life" to many. A philosophy that has no more of an impact in one's life than what color T-shirt they choose to wear on a given day. The desire to fit in and become "open minded" has backfired and left many of our youth "empty minded" instead. The unceasing thirst for solid evidence and sound reasoning that they long for has failed to be quenched, and has left them with a "brain-dead" faith that is likely to be easily abandoned in the face of intellectual and emotional pressure from their more "intelligent" peers. In short, for years parents have sent their kids to church, week after week; thinking that, one day, they will leave the home equipped to stand strong in the faith and change the world for Christ, but in fact the exact opposite has occured - the world has changed them. With that, apologetics has come roaring back to the front lines, as it is needed now more than ever. Indeed, if we can't effectively communicate to our youth why Christianity is true and teach them how to defend common objections raised against it, then we are at risk of losing our next generation for Christ. But in order to effectively combat this problem, a plan is needed. A new method to communicate timeless truth to a truthless world. This book, I think, succeeds in doing just that.

Great for Older Teens, Youth Leaders, 20-30 year olds

Great read. Broken up into sections by different authors/apologists. Answers the simple question: Do teens care about apologetics--defending their faith? Yes, they want the answers, to debate, and defend just as much as any age group. Must read for teens and college age students. Must read for Youth Leaders and Mentors, too.

Help for Sharing Christ with the Logical Mind

Sean McDowell's "Apologetics for a New Generation" is a thoroughly intellectual and completely surprising read. This book is a compilation of the writing of several apologeticists (is that a word?) who have experienced the power of the intellectual witness. What really took my breath away in the first few pages was that the main respondents to this type of witness ranges in age from the mid-teens to the late twenties! (I didn't give this age group enough credit!) Peppered between the chapters are short interviews with various other intellectuals who have experienced the logic of coming to Christ. I was thrilled to see contributions by Mark Matlock, a youth pastor who gets my daughters' attention at his conference every year, and Lee Stroebel, the author of "The Case For Christ". The appeal of the book is that many of us Christians are unprepared to witness intellectually to anyone. We can recall our testimonies and share our faith, but that doesn't mean a hill of beans to those who are looking for facts on which to base their decision for Christ. This book introduces thoughts and resources to help us prepare to be more factual witnesses. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to be more prepared to answer why they have the faith they do.