The Future of Christian Apologetics
Christian apologetics is not something that is going away any time soon. From time to time, you will hear that apologetics has had its day.
Despite the major transformation of society by technology and the influence of postmodernism, there will always be a need for apologetics.
Just as apologetics of the early church fathers was similar and different from that of today, so will today be similar and different from the apologetics of tomorrow.
What will it look like?
I believe that we are coming to an end of an era when it comes to Christian apologetics. There was a time when the apologetics world revolved around the big names, people like Norman Geisler, Ravi Zacharias and William Lane Craig.
I don’t believe we will have a new generation of those big names. There won’t be large ministries revolving around a single person.
I believe that there will still be influential apologists: professors, pastors and authors, who continue to inspire people.
But I see the future of Christian apologetics as being among laypeople in the local church. These include what J. Warner Wallace calls the “one dollar apologists.” Technology has levelled the playing field. You no longer need a PhD to have the knowledge or the platform to defend the faith.
Our postmodern-influenced world no longer respects people for their position. People will be more likely to listen to those they are in relation with than one who is world famous.
Some of the big names are still with us. And God bless them! They have an important role in building the kingdom of God.
But Christian apologetics is going to look a lot different in the coming decades.
