Reimagining Apologetics: The Beauty of Faith in a Secular Age

by Justin Ariel Bailey

How should one proclaim of the gospel of Jesus Christ in a secular age?
For many Christians, the traditional approach of apologetics has grown stale. In light of the current secular climate, as described by Charles Taylor and others, rhetorical strategies that previously served the church and apologists well are no longer effective.
Justin Bailey seeks to address this dilemma by infusing apologetics with an appeal to the imagination, the aesthetic, and the affective. Demonstrating that this is possible, he engages with two examples of those who have done apologetics through the imagination: George MacDonald and Marilynne Robinson. By beginning with the imaginative and the aesthetic dimensions of faith before expounding proofs, Bailey argues, hearers of the good news will find both their hearts and their minds engaged.