No One Says: 'Look At Their Rationales!'

"Webber points out that this ‘new’ apologetic is, in fact, ancient: ‘Tertullian, a church father of the late second century, declared that the pagans were astonished by how Christians related to each other and those outside of their community. In a pagan world where every person ‘lives for himself,’ the pagans don’t cry, ‘Look at the power of their rational arguments’ but “See how they love one another!’’

James K.A. Smith, Introducing Radical Orthodoxy, p. 181 n. 115

The Church As Its Own Apologetic

"This narrative persuasion, as a ‘new apologetic,’ begins by pointing to the mythical status of competing ontologies and narratives and offers a counter-narrative from the Christian story that is embodied in practice (TST, 388, 398). The church does not have an apologetic; it is an apologetic."

James K.A. Smith, Introducing Radical Orthodoxy, P.181

Fallenness of Reason; Apologetics Can't Provide Proof

"Thus, Paul advocates a mode of public engagement that rests not on demonstration but on proclamation, not on neutral universal logos but on a particular, scandalous kerygma (1 Cor. 2:1-5). The neutral, autonomous reason that would have to underwrite a project of demonstration has been forfeited by the fall. An important consequence follows: The project of apologetics - especially 'classical apologetics' - must be seen as an illegitimate project, illegitimate not because of its goal of witness or proclamation but because of its mode. Even if one suggests that only the 'preambles of faith' (such as the existence of God, the necessity of objective moral standards, etc.) can be demonstrated by appeal to a universal, autonomous reason, one has failed to grasp the scope and ubiquity of the fall. One is unwittingly guarding a sphere of creation that is untouched by sin."

James K.A. Smith, Introducing Radical Orthodoxy, p. 180

Courage to Proclaim, Openness to Critique

"[One] requirement I would suggest for a missionary encounter with our culture is simply the courage to hold and to proclaim a belief that cannot be proved to be true in terms of the axioms of our society. This may sound simplistic, but it is not. Our modern scientific culture has pursued the ideal of a completely impersonal knowledge of a world of so-called facts that are simply there, that cannot be doubted by rational minds, and that constitute the real world as contrasted with the opinions, desires, hopes, and fears of human beings, a world in which the words purpose and value have no meaning. This whole way of trying to understand the totality of human experience rests on beliefs that are simply not questioned. For every attempt to understand and cope with experience must rest on some such belief. Every such belief is, of course, open to critical question, but no criticism is possible except by relying on other beliefs that are - in the act of criticizing - exempt from criticism."


Lesslie Newbigin, Foolishness to the Greeks, p. 148 (emphasis mine)

The Witness of Like-Minded Individuals

"[Denominations] cannot confront our culture with the witness of the truth since even for themselves they do not claim to be more than associations of individuals who share the same private opinions."


Lesslie Newbigin, Foolishness to the Greeks, p. 146 (emphasis mine)

Between Relevance and Syncretism

"In the attempt to be 'relevant' one may fall into syncretism, and in the effort to avoid syncretism one may become irrelevant."

Lesslie Newbigin, Foolishness to the Greeks, p. 7