Apologetics Resources for Parents

These are some apologetics resources that we have used with our family and that I recommend.

• Cold Case Christianity and God’s Crime Scene by J. Warner Wallace (and the kids’ versions of both for younger children)
• Evidence for the Bible video series by Mike Winger – FREE on YouTube 
• Expedition Bible videos from Joel Kramer on archaeological evidence for the Bible – FREE on YouTube 
• Where God Came Down by Joel Kramer
• Drive Thru History video series – The Gospels, Acts to Revelation, and To the Ends of the Earth are the relevant seasons covering Biblical topics – FREE on Tubi TV
• How We Got the Bible by Neil Lightfoot
• Know What You Believe by Paul Little for a great overview of basic Bible doctrines
• On Guard and Reasonable Faith by William Lane Craig
• Creation.com for abundant free articles on many topics, especially creation science
• By Design by Jonathan Sarfati on evidence for God as Designer and against evolution
• Evolution’s Achilles Heels edited by Robert Carter for evidence against evolution
• Keeping Your Kids on God’s Side by Natasha Crain
• Tactics: A Game Plan for Discussing Your Christian Convictions by Greg Koukl

How to use these resources can vary, depending on your child’s age, the type of resource, and the questions they are asking.

Video resources work well to watch and discuss as a family. Even younger children can learn a lot this way. We watch apologetics videos on Sunday evenings while eating dinner and then discuss them with our children. You can assign video content to kids, but it works better when parents are engaging with their children. Parents can explain concepts that might be a bit over their children's heads so that they understand the information better.

For some older children or teens, you could hand them a book and let them read it. If they’re self-motivated and want to learn, this can work. It’s still important for parents to engage with the material and be ready to discuss it more or to look for more resources on specific topics.

Regardless of whether your child can read or watch resources on their own, it is VITAL that parents read and watch relevant resources and then prepare to have conversations about these topics with their children. There is no substitute for informed, active parenting on this matter. Your child will naturally look to you for answers about the big questions of life. If you can’t provide objective evidence for your beliefs, they may decide that your faith has no evidential basis and reject it. Parents have a sacred duty to know the reasons for their faith and to share them actively and regularly with their children.

1 Peter 3:15 – But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:

Ephesians 6:4 – And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

Deuteronomy 6:5-7 – And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.

For Women Whose Husbands Are Withdrawing From Church

Many Christian wives with Christian husbands are concerned because their husbands are withdrawing from church and refusing to attend or to be involved. The number one reason that men are becoming disillusioned with church is that the church has become highly feminized. Worship services often focus on emotional things like singing praise songs and sermons are often more of a pep talk or Christian psychology instead of deep doctrine. And, above all, faith is very commonly spoken of in terms of how you feel rather than reasons and evidence.

Most men instinctively withdraw from Christianity that is focused on feelings. They don't want Jesus to be their boyfriend. They don't want to sing mushy love songs to Jesus or talk about their feelings about God. So a worship service that seems like just feeling happy thoughts about Jesus is going to grate and, over time, push them away.

The answer to getting men involved and passionate about church is apologetics. Apologetics is the study of the reasons and evidence for the Christian faith. It's based on facts, not feelings. And men will engage with a Christianity focused on believing something they have evidence for and then going on a mission to change the world (or at least their corner of it).

For more information on men withdrawing from emotional church activities and engaging with apologetics, take a look at this article.

My suggestions for wives whose husbands who are withdrawing from church or other Christian activities are these.

1) Buy some good apologetics books and read them and offer them to your husband. I would start with Cold Case Christianity by J. Warner Wallace. Not only does it provide good evidence that makes a compelling case for the resurrection, but it's written by a man who is a cold case homicide detective and who doesn't talk about feelings and emotions, just facts.

Other good apologetics books include How We Got the Bible by Neil Lightfoot, The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus by Gary Habermas and Michael Licona, Reasonable Faith and On Guard by William Lane Craig, Is God A Moral Monster by Paul Copan, Tactics by Greg Koukl, Christian Apologetics by Doug Groothuis, and Love God With All Your Mind by J. P. Moreland.

2) See if you can find another church that places less emphasis on feelings and that has some sort of apologetics ministry. It is difficult to change churches, but if another church would be a better fit for your family by engaging your husband, it will be well-worth moving to another church.

3) Learn some apologetics yourself and share what you're learning with your husband. Even if your husband isn't interested, at first, in going to church, talking about evidence for Christianity and asking him what he thinks about it can help tremendously. If you can build his faith (and your own) with the evidence for the Christian faith, that's an important step.

4) Stop talking about church and Christianity in terms of feelings. Talk about what God's word says. Talk about what's right and wrong. Talk about how we know the Bible is true and about the evidence for the resurrection. Talk about the history of the church and the persecution that people have withstood in order to hold on to what they knew to be true. But stop talking about how church makes you feel good or how much you "love" Jesus. No doubt church does make you feel good and no doubt you do love Jesus, but talking about Christianity in those terms will not help with your husband.

5) If you do devotions as a family, make them more evidence-based and read the tougher, less fluffy portions regularly. Don't just read the happy, emotional parts of the Bible. Don't read devotions like you would a fairy tale. Read about David slaying Goliath because of his faith in God. Read Hebrews 11 about all the heroes of the faith who stood firm in the face of danger and would not give up. Read Paul's exhortation to fight the fight and run the race to the finish. Read about the armor of God.

If you're really brave, read the grittier, less comfortable passages. For example, read Numbers 25 in which Phinehas saw that a man of Israel was having sex with a heathen and leading the children of Israel to sin and that God was punishing them with a plague, and so he ran the man and the woman through with a javelin and saved the lives of his people. Yep, that's right. The hero saved the day by impaling a man and woman in the act of having immoral sex.

You don't usually hear that kind of stuff on Sunday mornings at church, but the Bible and the Christian faith are not all about happy feelings. Make sure your family devotions give a balanced and accurate view of what the Bible teaches and what the Christian faith is all about. Ask the hard questions about God's character, even in the Old Testament.

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If you want to encourage your man to engage with Christianity, don't have a surface-level faith. Have a rigorous one that dives deep into the hard topics and that won't shrink from uncomfortable subjects. Be on a mission to discover God and serve Him as your commanding officer and share that vision with those around you - especially your husband. That is exciting to men. And really, it's exciting to everyone.

We women may often find the more emotional parts of modern churches more comfortable and inviting, but Christianity is about more than just being comfortable and having happy feelings about God while we're on our way to heaven. This earth is a battle ground for the souls of mankind. Sitting comfortably in our pews and singing praise songs, while certainly useful in some ways, does not equip us to fight the spiritual battles around us. Apologetics does. And for the warriors among us - our men - it is vital that they understand the mission and get on board with it. We women need to do our part to encourage them to fight for right and stand for truth, not just to sit happily in the pews every week.

My New Blog

My husband and I recently started a new blog to discuss abortion from a logical and scientific viewpoint. We call it The Rational Abolitionist. You can read our About page for more about the name and our vision for the blog.

We have several posts already up and we still have so many ideas. Our limitation is only on time to write them up. So stay tuned for lots more in the coming weeks and months. We hope to eventually make this a comprehensive collection of pro-life arguments. We also give commentary on current events related to abortion.

Here's our first few posts:

The Right to Life Argument Based on Science and Logic
The Need for a Secular Argument Against Abortion
15,000 Aborted Babies Incinerated to Heat Hospitals in the UK
Should Abortion be Illegal Simply because the Bible says it is Wrong?
Texas Abortion Regulations Upheld in Federal Appeals Court
Mississippi to Ban Abortions After 20 Weeks

That should give you an idea of what we're writing about. There's going to be a lot more. We plan to talk in-depth about personhood, the science of pregnancy and birth, embryonic development, why fetuses are not parasites, consent to pregnancy, inalienable rights, bodily autonomy, and many other issues related to abortion. So bookmark the blog or follow us to keep up with our pro-life arguments.

E-Sword – A Handy Bible Software

One resource which I recommend for Bible study is E-Sword. It has an easy-to-use format I’ve found helpful in making Bible study easier. It makes it much quicker and easier to find verses and passages for personal Bible study or for preparing sunday school or homeschool Bible lessons.

And best of all, it’s FREE!

The E-Sword download comes with the King James Version and King James with Strong’s numbers. However, you can download multiple other Bible versions for it (many for free and some for a cost). You can download commentaries and dictionaries as well.

Of course, you can simply read the text on screen, but there are a number of other features that make Bible study easier:

·         Its handy search feature allows you to search for words or phrases, which is very helpful in doing a topical study or when you can’t remember where a particular verse is.

·         There a couple of options for comparing different translations. The compare tab allows you to compare a verse between multiple Bible versions. The parallel tab, on the other hand, places chapters from different versions in parallel so that you can compare larger amounts of scripture at once. 

·         You can also make notes on various verses or passages right in the program and save them. This is similar to writing in the margins in your Bible, but without having to worry about making anything hard to read. 

·         In addition, you can have various windows open on the same screen so that in one you view the Scripture, in another view commentary on that passage, in another view Strong’s numbers and their meanings, and in another make your own notes. Each window can also be moved around the screen and the size can be modified.

To download E-Sword for free, click here.

Note: I am not affiliated with E-Sword or its creator in any way and do not receive any money for my recommendations. I simply like to share things that have been helpful to me.