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John G. Stackhouse Jr. is the Sangwoo Youtong Chee Professor of Theology and Culture at Regent College in Vancouver, British Columbia. A Christianity Today contributing editor, the father of three has written more than 400 articles and reviews and edited four books on Christian theology. He is also the author of five volumes, including Humble Apologetics: Defending the Faith Today (Oxford University Press), which was recently excerpted in Christianity Today.

More recently, he is the author of Evangelical Landscapes: Facing Critical Issues of the Day and Church: An Insider's Look at How We Do It (both published this year by Baker). Dick Staub recently interviewed Stackhouse on Humble Apologetics.

How did you get interested in apologetics?

I grew up in a pretty conservative, faithful, Christian home. In high school, I met an English teacher named Mr. Eikenberg. And he was very cool, really "where it was at," as we said back then. Mr. Eikenberg was an ex-Roman Catholic, and I think part of his mission was to help other people become ex-Christians as well. He thought he'd maybe scuff up my faith a little bit, not to put me down but to help me grow up. And I was sufficiently challenged by him. My long years in the church did not prepare me to speak his language and to answer his questions. So I went to my parents and asked, What should I do? If they had been fundamentalist parents, they would have gone down to the school and complained. But being Anglo-Canadian parents, they said, "Now, this is what your teacher tells you to do, so we better prepare you for that." Dad brought me to his library, and I began to read and engage in this adult conversation about matters of faith. That really turned me on to the whole idea of defending your faith with your mind and your mouth and apologetics.

So why "humble" apologetics?

By the time I reached university, I'm thinking this apologetics thing is pretty cool, and I enjoyed engaging in the bull sessions that go on in the dormitories. But my friend Bob, when he was an embattled graduate student at a prestigious American university, he was really afraid that the faith couldn't stand up in that kind of hostile environment. One day he found out that his campus Christian group was going to bring a professional apologist to campus and take on all comers. My friend was nervous about this, because he felt his faith couldn't stand up, and he wondered if even a professional apologist could handle it.

But the night came for this public meeting and hundreds of students showed up to hear this guy. And he was very smooth, very polished, very together. And my friend was very pleased at this knight of the Christian faith doing such successful battle. As the questions came from the floor, [the apologist] was able to handle them with ease until the very last questioner asked what my friend Bob thought was just an impossible question. But [the apologist] was unruffled. He boxed the questioner into a corner, and then collapsed the box around this grad student, who then slumped into his chair. The audience applauded, and the session was over.

So my friend Bob talks about walking out thinking, "This is just great! The Lord has given us great victory." This, for him, was just a wonderful example of Christian apologetics. And in front of him were two other students from the university whom he didn't know. One said to the other, "I don't care if that son of a gun is right, I still hate his guts." It's 25 years now since I heard that story, and every time I tell it I get a chill. Because there, but for the grace of God, go I—and most Christian apologists.

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May (Web-only) 2003, Vol. 47