[The Battle Belongs to the Lord, The Power of Scripture for Defending Our Faith] [Author: K. Scott Oliphint] [November, 2003]

by K. Scott Oliphint

Apologetics is often considered the hobby of intellectuals, a philosophical "side dish" to Christian truth. But we all need to defend our faith and apply the truth to the concerns of our day.Often the Bible is left out of this task. We’re told that what we need are strong reasoning skills, not revelation. But "it is the Bible that we need, and must open, if we are going to think about and prepare to do apologetics," says Scott Oliphint. "To refuse to use the only weapon that is able to pierce to the heart, is to fight a losing battle." In clear, biblical terms he explains the issues involved in defending the faith and guides us in that effort. Readers will be encouraged to reason from Scripture, confident that the battle belongs to the Lord.

Genres: Theology, Christian, Philosophy

Paperback

First published November 14, 2003

About the author

Dr. K. Scott Oliphint Is professor of Apologetics and Systematic Theology at Westminster Theological Seminary. He is a graduate of West Texas State University (B.A., 1978) and Westminster (M.A.R., 1983; Th.M, 1984; Ph.D., 1994). An ordained minister in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, Dr. Oliphint served in pastoral ministry in Texas before coming to Westminster in 1991. He is the author of numerous books and articles, including The Battle Belongs to the Lord: The Power of Scripture for Defending Our Faith; Reasons For Faith; Revelation and Reason; "Epistemology and Christian Belief," (Westminster Theological Journal, Fall 2001); "Something Much Too Plain to Say," (Westminster Theological Journal, Fall 2006).

Reviews

[Andre Argolo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excelente guia introdutório ao estudo da Apologética. O livro é centralizado na análise de diversas passagens bíblicas que nos permitem compreender os fundamentos que devem moldar e orientar a defesa de nossa fé. Recomendo fortemente!

[Adam T. Calvert · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was really disappointing. Maybe toward the very end did the author begin to show the power of Scripture for defending the Christian faith. But even that was barely a scratch on the surface. The book was mostly some commentary on specific verses in the Bible; and it was good theology. But I failed to see how it was actually relevant to apologetics - especially presuppositional apologetics that the author is theoretically advocating.

If you’re really looking for a book that shows the power of Scripture for defending the faith and truly shows that the battle belongs to the Lord, I’d recommend any of the following over this one - in increasing difficulty in two sets: lay-level and seminary-level (the first book in the first list was written for high school students):

Every Thought Captive: A Study Manual for the Defense of Christian Truth, Richard Pratt
Always Ready: Directions for Defending the Faith, Greg Bahnsen*
Apologetics to the Glory of God, John Frame

The Defense of the Faith, Cornelius Van Til
Presuppositional Apologetics: Stated and Defended, Greg Bahnsen*
Christian Apologetics, Cornelius Van Til
Cornelius Van Til: An Analysis of His Thought, John Frame
Van Til’s Apologetic: Readings and Analysis, Greg Bahnsen

*Indicates what I think is probably the best work in each section for presuppositional apologetics.

[Jordan Harris · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent introduction to covenantal/presuppositional apologetics. Accessible, clear, written as an introduction to defending the faith for the layperson. I'm actually thinking about using this book as one of our primary textbooks for an upcoming class for teens. Oliphint demolishes the notion that we don't need the Bible in our defense of the faith. He introduces and explains some of the central insights of Van Til without using Van Til's technical and sometimes idiosyncratic language. He looks at a number of important passages of Scripture (1 Peter 3:15-16, Jude, Romans 1) in order to lay a theological foundation for defending the faith against all forms of unbelief. The message of the book, in a nutshell, is that "apologetics is, in its most basic form, simply the application of biblical truth to the concerns of the day. As an application of biblical truth, all Christians have what they need to do apologetics. If the Lord commands us to defend the faith once for all given to the saints, then he has given us what we need to fulfill that command" (Kindle ed., loc. 93). The beauty of covenantal apologetics is the way in which it enables every believer to defend the faith by pointing to what God has revealed of Himself in His infallible Word.

The believer must not think he needs to be an expert philosopher or scientist in order to defend the faith once for all delivered to the saints. We are called to utilize the holy Scriptures in our defense of the Christian faith in order to show that the Christian faith and the Christian faith alone can make sense of the world which God has created. To stand upon any other authority that we deem higher than or equal to the holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments is to erect an idol of our own making, refusing to acknowledge that the Triune God, revealed in Scripture, demands the allegiance of every creature. In every apologetic encounter, the unbeliever must be confronted by the self-attesting authority of God's Word.

"With the proper biblical preparation, we can be confident, not only that we, by God's grace, have answers to give to those who ask, but that “the whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27) is the only true and helpful response to those questions." (Loc. 120)

[Paul · Rating 2 out of 5]

This isn't an apologetics book in the sense of giving you answers to specific challenges to the Christian faith. Neither is it in the sense of explicating and defending a viable system of Christian thought capable of defeating unbelieving systems of thought. Neither is it a "how to" book in the sense that is doesn't give you a program for how to debate or deal with various challenges to the faith via logical or philosophical tools.

It is a "how to" book in the sense that it speaks to the character and mindset of the apologist. That is, "how to" be an apologist. As I said, it just "speaks" to this. It isn't a "how to" manuel in the sense that it teaches you how to develop the virtues of an apologist. It merely sets forth the Scriptural imperative.

Both the character and mindset are to be a certain way given the concept of Lordship. The Lordship of Jesus. The apologist should be humble since he serves a humble Lord. The apologist should not be fearful because he serves a victorious Lord. The apologist should be committed because he has a Lord. He is not neutral or Lordless in the apologetic arena.

The apologetic arena isn't simply when you are engaged with unbelievers. Apologetic battles can also be fought inside the camp, inside the Church. Oliphint makes this clear based on texts in Jude and 2 Peter. The aologist is to be always ready then. The guard shouldn't be let down. Attacks can come from the hand of an enemy or fried. "Et tu, Brutas?"

Since we have a Lord we have a covenant document - the scriptures. We don't defend an abstract "lord," but The Lord. Since knowledge of God is always mediated, it is mediated by Scripture in our case (nature in everyone's case). To defnd our knowledge of our Lord, then, is to defend what we know of him through Scripture. So to defend him is to necessarily defned Scripture, and to defend Scripture is to be familar with it. This is especially important when facing down foes from inside the camp. When dealing with those who pretend to be teaching God's truth. But with the atheist too knowledge of Scripture helps you know what kind of God it is we serve and whether the attack has been against a straw God or the true and living God.

That's all fine and good, but there are plenty of attacks out there that the answers to are not found directly in the Bible. So though I would commend Oliphint's general point, I would want to make sure that Christians who read this book don't make the mistake of thinking that being "ready" or being a good apologist entails a nonchalant attitude toward serious extra-biblical study; whether it be logical, philosphical, historical, linguistic, scientific, and the like.

I know Oliphint would agree, but at times it's hard to see what his view would be and he certainly doesn't make it explicit in the book (he does in other books, though) that you need to familiarize yourself with a lot out there. Indeed, even to know your own Bible better you need a lot of extra-biblical knowledge. Knowledge of the ANE and of second-temple Judaism have been very important for matters of exegesis and even apologetics. The Bible also isn't clear about various ethical positions. Is natural law or divine command or Agape theories the most biblical? Or is more than one true? Are all ethical obligations absolute? How about lying? Is hiding a Jew from a Nazi "immoral?" How about a soldier wearing camouflage? Isn't he "deceiving?" What about the similarities between some of the Old Testament and the surrounding pagan cultures? Is Kline right that God patterned his covenants after ANE treaties? Some say these are signs of the Bible's anthropocentrism. That is was invented by men as a political response to the surrounding governments.

Sure, you can just respond by saying, "But I presuppose it wasn't." Okay, but that isn't going to be very persuasive to the unbeliever. So why even do apologetics? Not only that, some of these questions are questions of biblical interpretation. What, do you just "presuppose" that, say, a Kline is wrong? Do you just "presuppose" that a Kitchen is right? If a Kline or a Kitchen or a Waltke have different interpretations, which one is right? All three are conservative Christians. All three have pulled from extra-biblical sources to develop their positions. And all three have thoughts that are important or helpful for the apologist or the theologian.

So, my point I want to drive home is that the Christian apologist is going to need to do his homework. I'm not sure I agree with Oliphint when he says that Scripture is sufficient to give all the answers. Now I could agree with certain expressions of this statement, but as it is, a Gordon Clark could agree with it. I'm definitely no Clarkian Scripturalist. So I'm not even sure I know what Oliphint means. Last time I checked the Bible didn't tell me whether Moses' birth was just copied from the "Sargon Legend" roughly 1,000 years earlier (there's debate whether the legend was really written back then, but the point is that the Bible doesn't answer any of that).

Now I know some presuppositionalists might respond this way: "Well I presuppose that there are no problems with the text and if you don't presuppose it then you can't account for anything, like logic." Okay, even if this is true, which logic - modern or classical? And, are you saying that you have to have a trinitarian God to account for it? Why? Anyway, these issues go beyond the scope of the book (and I don't pretend that I've given an exhaustive analysis of anything), my only point, again, is to make sure the reader of this book doesn't take Oliphint in a way he could be taken, a way that I think is destructive for apologetics and has actually caused some problems within the reformed community of apologists. But this trend, thankfully, has started to turn. And make no mistake, Oliphint is one of the leaders of this turn (see his other two apologetic books).

So, given all of that, I would recommend this book for those who want to obtain a proper mindset and character as apologists (at an introductory level). For those who need to see that Scripture gives us the content of what we defend, and provides the worldview from within which we defend it. But as for its usefulness as a book for practical apologetics (actually doing some faith-defending), as one of my friends says, it's [ractically useless.

[Ben Sibley · Rating 3 out of 5]

AP 101. Fine, intended as a basic primer.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think my expectations for this book, based on my other experiences with Oliphint, were too high. After reading through the book, its a little confusing as what Oliphint was trying to accomplish. After reading the title and the introduction of the book, one thinks that Oliphint is presenting a method of apologetics that uses arguments from Scripture to explain and defend the faith. That's not exactly what Oliphint does. He spends the first four of six chapters premising much of what he will say in the last two. The first four chapters are spent arguing for the importance of apologetics and what the mindset of the apologists should be. The content is good, but could have been cut down to one or two chapters. It wasn't until chapters 5-6 that he really begins to be helpful. He works through Romans 1, giving a presuppositional argument for the knowledge of God in unbelievers as image bearers. Its very helpful for an apologist to keep in mind that the unbeliever has a knowledge of God - though suppressed. Chapter 6 develops a kind of method by looking at Paul's talk in Acts 17. Oliphint brings out some very important points, but leaves himself very little space to develop it.

For the a good majority of the book, I wanted badly for Oliphint to get to his point. And when he finally got there, I wanted badly for him to stay there. At the end of the day, Oliphint doesn't end up saying much, which is very disappointing since I've gained so much from his other writings.

[Ben Duncan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unimpressed. This book was very basic. Too basic for anyone who is already convinced that 1) apologetics is a task for every Christian and 2) the Scriptures should be our reference point in doing apologetics. Very light. I read it in a couple hours.

[Leandro Dutra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well-written apology to the place of Scripture as the fulcrum of Apologetics.

[Krista Lyons · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book. Chapters 1,2,5,6 and the Appendix 1 are fantastic! The middle chapters are quite challenging just because they are pretty informative. However, if you have ever questioned what power you have in sharing your faith, this is a must read! If you think the Word is not important, this is a must read! There are so many nuggets of wisdom in this book. So push through and read it, you won't regret it. Also, great discussion questions in each chapter if you wanted to do this as a book club or bible study.

[Mark Loughridge · Rating 2 out of 5]

Certainly not the book I thought it was from the title and subtitle. I ended up skimming it.

I was expecting something about the use of scripture in apologetics (the subtitle being "The power of Scripture for defending our Faith" - you can see where I might have got the idea from!). Much less about apologetics and more an exegesis of key apologetic passages.

Useful for something I'm sure, but not what I wanted it for.

[Jonathan Roberts · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a good refresher for some of the basics for apologetics. I see a lot of presuppositional (covenantal) apologetics in this book, but it is not a presup book. Instead, it is a solid apologetics book useable with many different types but all focused on God’s Word! Recommended

[Rafael Pizzolato · Rating 5 out of 5]

Um livro essencial para todo cristão.

[Morgana Santos · Rating 5 out of 5]

Um dos melhores livros que já li em toda a minha vida, recomendo-o com muito entusiasmo.

[Will Turner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review to follow...

[Cole Brandon · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book could have been a small pamphlet.

[Matthew Rawlings · Rating 3 out of 5]

Re-read for the class I teach for aspiring elders. Even if one is well-verses in presuppositional apologetics, a few gems are here to be mined. Recommended.

[Jeanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The battle in defending our faith is how we deal with the truth of who God is. Does it take an excellent speaker, no the bible shows that God will use those that are dependant on him. Before we can defend our faith, we need to be sure what our faith is based upon. What truth are believing and living out. Oliphint makes a wonderful point, that even athiest believe in something or base their life and purpose on that. It is not because of ignorance but a suppression of the truth. That supression frames our wickeness it is the defining element of it. He goes on to give a great example of that. What relationship does a person in prision have to his goverment? The prisioner has a relationship with the government, as he lives in the environment that it provides. In fact he is where he is and his life is the way it is because of his response to his governemnt's laws. The same is true for all who respond to God.

It sharing the gospel, we need to determine what truth is being supressed. So that we may be persuade with the help of the holy spirit to unravel any untruth that is rooted. The book went into great detail about the supression of truth which I found very helpful and mindful of how easy that can cause worship of false teaching.

We can not prepare for our defense if we are not focused on the Lordship of Christ.

This book just emphasis the need to know the truth according to scripture and the attibutes of God. There is a danger if we do not heed. We ourselves can fall from the faith, follow false teaching and miss out in the Glory of God

[Elise · Rating 2 out of 5]

It seems to happen with great frequency that a scholarly professor will, because of external pressure or an internal drive, feel compelled to write what they consider a 'lay-level' book. This is Scott Oliphint's contribution to the field.

Most of these sorts of books are just shy of awful (exceptions exist, settle down there) and this one doesn't break the mold. You kind of get the impression that the author isn't really 100% sure who his audience is. I mean, there's the real audience which is generally his students, former students, future students, acolytes, minions, fellow professors, and denominational churchmen. Then there's the professed audience, generic lay people. So in the same book you find the tired explanation that apologetics as a discipline isn't about being sorry for something and also a exegesis of the greek in a passage only vaguely related to the apologetic method he's advocating. They just don't hit the same target.

The book itself was an adequate exposition of presuppositional apologetics and toward the end, actually gets into the use of scripture in apologetics. I liked the last chapter in which he goes through the Paul in Athens section of Acts 17. That was probably the highlight of the book and, if you're short on time but a student of Dr. Oliphint's and feel obligated to read it, it stands alone.

Even if you didn't care for this particular offering, though, don't give up on the author. Consider reading "God With Us" which is not what I'd consider lay-level but is absolutely outstanding.

[Bendick Ong · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sometimes how good a book is depends on when I read it; and I happened to read this on a leisurely Lord's Day afternoon with not much stress, over a coffee and in a cool weather - and as such, I thoroughly enjoyed the book.

Though I must say I might give it a much lower rating (instead of lighting up all the stars) if I am in a serious task-oriented business mood.

This book provides less of the how-to in apologetics than its what-is. It tells us basically the nature of apologetics. In line with its sub-title "the power of scripture for defending the truth", the chapters are actually exposition of 6 bible paragraphs (1 Peter 3:15, Jude 1:3, 2 Cor 10:3-5; Romans 1:16-18; Romans 1:19-32 and Acts 17:15-34).

Must say the discussion questions are excellent - thought-provoking open questions. If one is looking at a 6-sessions bible study + elementary training on what is and why we need apologetics, think this is one of the top choice as a guidebook.

[Pavel · Rating 3 out of 5]

For Christians, defending the Christian faith is not optional. It is essential, it is required. As we do it, we can never put aside the Bible because Apologetics is not a hobby for intellectuals, it is a battle, the Lord's battle. We must use the Weapon provided by Him, for His glory.

With a solid commitment to orthodox Reformed theology and vast experience as seminary professor, Dr. Oliphint gives a clear and non technical addition to the covenantal Apologetics field.

If we think that our responsibility is simply to show that some deity exists somewhere, we will be sending theists to hell. We must speak the truth of Christianity.

This book will be an invaluable resource for setting the mindset that we should have while we "make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you".

I'm glad this was the first book I read on the topic a while ago.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dr. Oliphint addresses relevant biblical passages to provide a biblical approach to apologetics such as Romans chapter 1 and Acts 17, this book discusses the biblical basis and briefly touches on methodology, but doesn’t go into specific arguments from a presuppositional approach. It is useful in that it addresses the biblical basis of apologetics which can be often overlooked in order to quickly get to arguments to defend the faith. This book is an easy read on apologetics avoiding technical terminology. Dr. Oliphint's view on divine impassibility doesn't come out strongly in this book as compared to his book, Covenantal Apologetics.

[Jeff Boettcher · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great introductory book to the theology and practice of presuppositional apologetics. Oliphant will build your confidence to simply pick up your bible and do apologetics the way Paul did by reasoning from scriptures. My only two critiques are that I think Oliphant fails to make the necessary distinction between evangelism and apologetics and also spends more time talking about contending for the faith against false teachers in the church, rather than the world outside the church. Great book though and easy read.

[Joel · Rating 3 out of 5]

A practical book connecting presuppositional apologetics with Paul's evangelism in Acts 17, giving the reader an idea of how this approach works out. Oliphant shows how truth is God's, wherever it is found, and Paul connected the Scriptures with the bit of truth he found in the Areopagus and used it as a segue into God's word.

[Matthew Davis]

As an introductory volume, this book presents a clear argument for defending the Christian faith. Academic reader maybe disappointed in the simplicity of the work, as Oliphint often provides much deeper arguments. I would recommend this to new Christians, and those interested in broadening their understanding of the concept of apologetic.

[Miranda]

Don't know anything about this book, but it sounds interesting--found it on Nan's to-read list!

[Eric Molicki · Rating 3 out of 5]

Helpful intro to pre-suppositional apologetics, but a bit unfocused.

[Kyle Oliphint · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent! Best thing he has written.

[Lu Tsun · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good textbook of presuppositional apologetics for laymen.

[Alex Houston · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good introduction to presuppositional apologetics.

[Evan]

Ludicrously monotonous for graduate-level reading. Apologies to those who insist I shouldn't mark as "read" books that I merely skimmed.