Learning Apologetics–Part 3: The Blogs

One resource that many overlook, but which provides some truly excellent content, is the various blogs written by Christian apologists.  With the ability to subscribe to the information being posted within the blogging community, this category of resources is almost like receiving free apologetics-related emails every day.

In this post, I’m going to I’ll introduce you to the tool I use to keep track of these blogs, and then I’ll list a number of the blogs I personally follow (which is certainly not all of them).

Blogging Tools

There are many different readers that are available for you to use for free to help you keep track of the blogs you want to follow.  These include such tools as the following:

• Google Reader
• NewsGator
• FeedDemon 

Depending on your preference, you can select one of these tools and use it to set up news feeds of the blogs that interest you.  As new blog posts are released, your chosen reader will update automatically so that you can keep track of the latest from your chosen sites.

FeedDemon

The tool I use is FeedDemon (the latest version allows synchronization with Google Reader).  It’s free, quick to download, and easy to use. 

The download site for FeedDemon is:

http://www.feeddemon.com/

The Blogs

First, let me recommend a new group that’s recently been started called the Christian Apologetics Alliance.  It’s a collection of blogs by Christian apologists, and it’s growing all the time.  As a single source to locate blogs devoted to Christian apologetics and theology, this is a great place to start.

Beyond this group, of which my blog is a part, there are some excellent blogs that everyone should be following on a regular basis.  As always, it’s impossible to list every blog out there and there are undoubtedly excellent ones I’m not even aware of.  The ones below are sort of a top-10 list of the blogs that I consider essentials for anyone beginning to study apologetics:

1. Apologetics 315 – This is probably the most complete source of apologetics material on the internet.  The owner of this site puts out daily updates, including podcasts, articles, quotes, and valuable links of all sorts.  If you only go to one blog site, this is the one for you.  I can’t say enough good things about it.
2. Parchment & Pen – This blog is by the folks over at Credo House that bring you the Theology Program, and as such it’s focused more on theology than apologetics.  But given that doing apologetics requires a deep understanding of theology, I consider this blog to be essential reading.
3. J.P. Moreland’s Blog – While this site doesn’t (yet) contain as much content as some others will, J.P. Moreland is one of the leading Christian Apologists in the field today.  As such, when he speaks it’s always beneficial to listen.
4. William Lane Craig’s Weekly Q&A – For those of you who are unfamiliar with William Lane Craig, he is perhaps the leading Christian apologist working today.  His site Reasonable Faith is a virtual warehouse of information, all related to his ministry.  Though Dr. Craig doesn’t write a standard blog, he does allow his members to send in questions, and each week he chooses a particular question to answer.  He archives them so you can read every questions to which he’s responded, and in many (most?) cases you can find the questions you’re grappling with already dealt with.
5. Stand to Reason – This blog is part of Greg Koukl’s “Stand to Reason” ministry.  This ministry is one of the most influential groups working in Christian apologetics today.  As a published author and lecturer, Greg also hosts a weekly radio call-in show that is available either online or via podcast.  He is very influential in training new apologists in not only what to say, but how to say it.
6. Edward Feser’s Blog – This blog may surprise some, since Feser is not regularly listed among the top apologetics websites.  I admit that I found Feser by accident when I picked up his book “Introduction to the Philosophy of Mind”.  I wasn’t aware he was a Christian, but as I read the book it became obvious that this was his orientation.  After finishing that book, I checked up on him and found that he’s written a number of other books (including an excellent apologetics book called “The Last Superstition”) and also manages a very informative blog.  Especially if you’re interested in a philosopher’s view of things, this is a great blog to check out.
7. Stephen C. Meyer’s Blog – I include this blog because Meyer is one of the leaders in the Intelligent Design movement, and his thoughts in this area should be something that any Christian interested in ID should be aware of.  If you’re not interested in Intelligent Design, or you don’t understand it, I’d encourage you to check out Meyer’s book “Signature in the Cell” before you make your final decision.
8. Reasons to Believe Blogs – this is a family of blogs made available by Hugh Ross’ Reasons to Believe organization.  Focusing on how science and Christianity are partners rather than enemies, these blogs do a good job of addressing various science-related topics from the perspective of the Christian Worldview.
9. Alpha and Omega – James White runs an excellent ministry over at Alpha and Omega ministries.  He is an excellent writer and speaker, and also regularly engages in debates with atheists and others who would challenge Orthodox Christianity.  His blog is often directly related to his radio program, with many video clips so you can watch rather than read.
10. The Poached Egg Apologetics – If you want a blog site that has lots of content, this is another great one.  Because this site is composed of multiple authors, it is able to turn out a large quantity of excellent material on a regular basis.  Not only that, but it’s one of the best looking sites I’ve seen.

At this point, we’ve covered most of the basic resources that will help you as you begin to study Christian apologetics.  In the 4th and final part of this series, I’ll recommend a few podcasts that will be useful in helping you round out your self-study.

Until then…