Book Review: Defending the Faith: Apologetics in Women’s Ministry
Apologetics 315
When Stand to Reason’s Greg Koukl introduced apologist Mary Jo Sharp on his radio program, he called her a “strange bird” because she is one of only a few women actively engaged in the field of apologetics. However, if Sharp has anything to do with it, the numbers will increase drastically in the near future. To that end, she has written Defending the Faith: Apologetics in Women’s Ministry, a book aimed at getting women fired up about apologetics.
In chapter 1, Sharp focuses on why it is necessary for us to know the reasons behind our beliefs about God. She begins by sharing her personal story of how she came to Christ and why she embarked on the study of apologetics. Although she grew up in a “non-church, non-religious, non-culturally Christian” environment, she says many atheists mistakenly think she must have been raised to believe in God and encouraged her to “take a more honest look” at her Christian beliefs (20).
It was after she became a Christian that she did just that. It wasn’t enough for her to just believe. She had to know whether her beliefs had merit. This led her to dive “into a search for answers . . . reading not only the arguments for God’s existence, but also engaging the opposing arguments” (20). When she took what she had learned back to her church, she discovered that far too many people lacked answers to the difficult questions about God and failed to grasp the necessity of finding them.
Sharp concludes this chapter with an exploration of honesty – honesty with ourselves and with others, and the impact of honest investigation of belief on one’s ministry. She notes that the study of apologetics leads to “changed lives and transformed hearts”(34). This statement leads nicely into the second chapter in which the author explains how we only live what we truly believe. Therefore, it is important that we believe what is true.
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However, Sharp notes that “Christians are becoming less and less a people who desire to know Biblical truth” (37). Citing a study from The Barna Group, she states that fewer than one out of five persons claiming to be born-again has a Biblical worldview and half of the people calling themselves Christians aren’t sure if the Bible teaches accurate principles (50). Therefore, Sharp says, we need to return to the basics and get to know the Lord, acquiring both a heart and a head knowledge of him.
Chapter 3 is entitled Your Beliefs Affect Others. For those women who are mothers, the people who are most affected by their beliefs are their children. Sharp says studies show that “a mother’s beliefs, as demonstrated through her attitude and actions, will influence what her children ultimately believe is true about the world, especially with regard to God” (70). And beyond the home, we influence friends, neighbours, employers/employees and co-workers. Wherever we go, whatever we do, Sharp says that people will notice our commitment to the truth about God in the way we speak and conduct our lives.
So where does a woman begin? Sharp tackles that subject in the fourth chapter…
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Book Review: Defending the Faith: Apologetics in Women’s Ministry by Mary Jo Sharp – Apologetics 315
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Defending the Faith: Apologetics in Women’s Ministry
