In a recent post, moderate blogger Carson T. Clark characterizes a lot of Christian apologetics as follows:
"Generally
speaking I can’t stand the self-assuredness, snooty condescension,
intellectual pride, defensive posturing, offensive aggression,
judgmental tenor, graceless attitude, petty one-upmanship, scriptural
proof-texting, oversimplistic assertions, binary categorizations,
rhetorical strategies, academic format, absence an any true personal
transparency (about doubt, frustration, confusion, etc.), unwillingness
to acknowledge sound points made by the 'opponent,' refusal to admit
ignorance (or a sheer lack of expertise) in certain areas, and just
plain stupid arguments that I’ve typically heard espoused in this field.
All of which is why I’ve tended to avoid christian apologetics like the
plague."
Carson goes on to say that a recent talk by Tim Keller
(which Carson posts) has given him hope about Christian apologetics.
Whether you have the same positive impression, you can judge for
yourself. I watched the video earlier today, and there were things that
I liked and disliked. But I loved Carson's characterization of much of
Christian apologetics.