Table Of ContentAdvance Praise
HOW TO DEFEND THE CHRISTIAN FAITH
“I don’t know anyone who can match the high definition clarity of John Loftus
when it comes to navigating the labyrinthine world of Christian evangelical
apologetics for the general public. This is a relentless and incisive critique of the
pseudo-scholarship that passes for genuine intellectual inquiry under the name
of Christian apologetics.”
—Dr. Hector Avalos, Professor of Religious Studies at Iowa State University and
author of The End of Biblical Studies (2007), Slavery, Abolitionism, and the Ethics
of Biblical Scholarship (2011), and The Bad Jesus: The Ethics of New Testament
Ethics (2015)
“Loftus is one of the few atheists who actually understands religion. This book
displays the knowledge of a Christian theologian as well as rationality of an
atheist. Both sides can learn a lot from it.”
—Dr. David Eller, author of Natural Atheism (2004), Atheism Advanced: Further
Thoughts of a Freethinker (2008), and Introducing Anthropology of Religion:
Culture to the Ultimate (2014)
“Once again, Loftus raises the bar in the enduring conversation between atheists
and Christian apologists with How to Defend the Christian Faith. This book will
sharpen and hone the argument for either side, and woe to the unread debater
going against someone who has absorbed this book’s relentless reasoning. I
highly recommend this book for anyone who debates religion—on either side.”
—David Silverman, President of American Atheists, Inc.
“For years I have despaired about the sorry state of Christian apologetics, and
even sorrier state of Christian apologists. If there be Christian truth, it lies
beyond the reach of rational inquiry, and perhaps that is OK. In How to Defend
the Christian Faith, John Loftus lays waste to a colosseum full of bad arguments,
including my own tentative efforts at the problem of evil. (Loftus says I am
“ignorant” but less ignorant than Ken Ham, which was a relief.) Believers should
read Loftus’ engaging assault on their intellectual champions. They will be
dismayed at how often they agree. I know I was.”
—Karl Giberson, Scholar-in-Residence in Science & Religion at Stonehill
College, and author of Saving the Original Sinner: How Christians Have Used the
Bible’s First Man to Oppress, Inspire, and Make Sense of the World (2015)
“The world has just become a richer place. Who can calculate the added value to
our planet when bright, young aspiring apologists decide to redirect their talents
and energies to evidence-based careers? Many of them—the ones who sincerely
care about truth—will certainly do that after reading the wise counsel in John
Loftus’ caring and sobering book. How to Defend the Christian Faith is a
welcome mutual aid for Apologists Anonymous.”
—Dan Barker, author of Life Driven Purpose: How an Atheist Finds Meaning
(2015), and Co-President of the Freedom From Religion Foundation
“I will watch any movie with Denzel Washington in it and I will buy any book
written by John Loftus. The former—well, he’s just one hell of an actor, and the
latter, because he is one hell of a thinker and writer. His mastery of the material
shows a depth that most writers simply could never accomplish. This book adds
to the body of work being done so eloquently and convincingly by this ‘second
wave’ generation of New Atheists. But even better, it raises the bar on how good
scholarship should be done. Kudos to Loftus for another amazing text that will
stand the test of time. My advice to readers? Buy it! Read it! Tell others about it,
especially those who need it the most—evangelicals and believers who need a
dose of objective reality and science-based reasoning.”
—Sharon Nichols, retired Associate Professor of Geography, College of DuPage,
Glen Ellyn, IL, and former President of the Illinois Geographical Society
“Loftus once again exposes the intellectual and moral bankruptcy of Christian
apologetics. As the title promises, Loftus offers practical advice to the believer in
his or her quest to defend the indefensible. The book’s greatest strength is its
accurate exposition of the apologist’s challenges. Loftus documents the moral
weaknesses of God’s biblical commandments, the absurdity of a God who cannot
do a better job revealing Himself, and the intellectual dishonesty that religious
adherence requires. With wit and insight, Loftus offers the believer the tricks
necessary to remain in the faith and to persuade others to do likewise. Self-
delusion and deception are necessary attributes and Loftus humorously explains
how it is done from someone who has been there. This is a great book for the
believer who is ready to take an honest look at the moral and intellectual cost of
his or her faith.”
—Carolyn Hyppolite, MA, author of Still Small Voices: The Testimony of a Born
Again Atheist (2014)
Pitchstone Publishing Durham, North Carolina www.pitchstonepublishing.com
Copyright © 2015 John W. Loftus All rights reserved.
Printed in the USA
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Loftus, John W.
How to defend the Christian faith : advice from an atheist / John W. Loftus ; foreword by Peter
Boghossian.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-1-63431-056-7 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Christianity—Controversial literature. 2. Apologetics—
Methodology. I. Title.
BL2775.3.L63 2015
230—dc23
2015015166
Dedication
I dedicate this book to several scholarly friends who have greatly influenced my
thinking.
On the darker side I am most grateful to Christian apologists James D. Stauss
(1929–2014) and William Lane Craig.
On the brighter side I am most grateful to four atheist intellectual giants,
Hector Avalos, Peter Boghossian, Jerry Coyne, and David Eller.
David Eller’s luminous works contain important perspectives you won’t find
from anyone else in today’s world. We are all in his debt. You aren’t a fully
informed person if you’re not reading them.
Peter Boghossian’s brilliant book, A Manual for Creating Atheists, is a
significant game changer coming from a one-of-a-kind intellectual strategist.
He’s raising up a grassroots atheist movement to help believers realize they’re
pretending to know what they don’t know when they claim to know with 100
percent certainty their faith is true.
Jerry Coyne, in his published works and daily writing on his website
(https://whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com/), is doling out one beating after
another to religious and faith-based reasoning. No other scientist of his stature is
writing so much, so knowledgeably, and so passionately. His influence is being
felt around the world.
Hector Avalos is expertly leading a second wave of atheist biblical scholars
following the first wave of new atheists. His writings are multidisciplinary in
scope (covering biblical, scientific, ethical, and political issues), cross-cultural in
nature (in both English and Spanish), and utilize a variety of venues (scholarly
books, journals, blog posts, and newspapers). He is a one-man demolition
machine when it comes to debunking Christianity and its influence in today’s
world.
Contents
Foreword by Peter Boghossian
Introduction
1. The Most Important Question of All
Part 1: You Must Prepare for the Task
2. Realize in Advance the Monumental Challenges
3. Become an Honest Life-Long Seeker of the Truth
4. Get a Good Education in a Good Field of Study
5. Accept Nothing Less Than Sufficient Objective Evidence
6. How to Know Which Religion to Defend
Part 2: How to Defend the Christian Faith
7. You Must Specialize in Special Pleading
8. You Must Punt to Possibilities
9. You Must Gerrymander for God
10. You Must Master the Art of Mischaracterization
11. When All Else Fails Lie
Part 3: How to Defend God in a World of Pain
12. Skirt the Strength of Three Challenges
13. Honestly Admit There Are No Solutions
14. Blame Anything but the Creator
15. Make Illegitimate Excuses for God
16. Ignore This Empirical Refutation of Christianity
Notes
About the Author
Foreword
… be ready always to give an answer to every man
that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you …
—1 Peter 3:15
If you’re a Christian, and you read only one book about how to defend your
faith, this is that book. It is the one book on apologetics whose guidance, advice,
and recommendations will lead you to what is true.
In order to discern truth from falsity, you need a resisting opponent. In the
martial arts, for example, if you want to figure out which techniques work and
which do not, you will need to try them on someone who does not want them to
work—in other words, someone who wants to win the fight. Resisting opponents
act as correcting mechanisms, that is, as a way to keep your ideas about reality in
check. Getting to the truth requires checking your beliefs mercilessly against
reality.
How to Defend the Christian Faith is the ultimate resisting opponent for the
Christian apologist. It is the titleholder in the Ultimate Apologist Championship.
Take it down, and you will be the new belt holder. You will know that your ideas
about reality actually correspond to reality and you will have arrived at truth.
Like John Loftus, I am a professional atheist. And like many Christians, I
want to know what’s true. I do my best to have an open mind and sincerely
consider ideas that do not comport with my understanding of reality, even
entertaining those ideas that make me feel uncomfortable. If Christians have
some truth I don’t know, I want to know what that is so that I can know it too.
Every year I speak about faith, God, and religion to thousands of people
around the world. At every one of my events, Christian apologists attempt to
publically defend their Christian faith during the open question-and-answer
sessions. After only a few minutes of back-and-forth questions their arguments
always unravel—yet their conviction remains.
One lesson I’ve learned from these years of public engagements with
