APOLOGETICS SERIES

Want to learn how to approach apologetics as a dialogue rather than a debate? In this series of Table Briefing articles, Dr. Darrell L. Bock and Mikel Del Rosario discuss the concept of dialogical apologetics and how to engage in difficult spiritual conversations on a practical level.

THE TABLE BRIEFING

Dialogical Apologetics and Difficult Spiritual Conversations - Part 1

BY DARRELL L. BOCK AND MIKEL DEL ROSARIO
FORMAT: PDF SOURCE: BIBLIOTHECA SACRA, 176 (July-September 2019): 360-67
THIS PEER-REVIEWED ARTICLE IS PART OF THE TABLE BRIEFING SERIES.
©2019 BY DALLAS THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY. USED BY PERMISSION.

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Dialogical Apologetics and Difficult Spiritual Conversations - Part 1

INTRODUCTION

An old Indian Proverbs says, “You don’t cut off a man’s nose and give him a rose to smell.” In a Table episode called “Cross-cultural Evangelism and Apologetics,” Ramesh Richard, professor of global theological engagement and pastoral ministries at Dallas Theological Seminary, applied this saying to a defense of the faith, observing that in the midst of discussing God, Jesus, or the Bible with skeptical neighbors, some believers seem to “destroy them in the process of contest and debate.”

Apologists often cite 1 Peter 3:15, focusing on the command to be “prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you,” but many seem to neglect the rest of the command, “yet do it with gentleness and respect” (ESV). As a result, apologetics training usually focuses on philosophical, theological, and historical issues, while less attention is given to the personal aspects of practical engagement.

How can we approach difficult spiritual conversations? A number of Table podcast episodes have explored the concept of dialogical apologetics—a practical approach that sees apologetic engagement not as debate but as genuine dialogue.

In this briefing, we share four key lessons: (1) See apologetics as ministry; (2) engage in dialogue, not debate; (3) consider a different kind of persuasion; and (4) always reflect God’s character.