Creedal Apologetics: Learning to Use the Apostles’ Creed to Defend and Proclaim the Christian Faith

By Nancy A. Almodovar and Eric Rachut

The Apostles' Creed was used in two distinct ways by the early Christian church: first, as a tool to teach new disciples the essentials of the faith, and second, as a defense for the faith from unbelievers and skeptics alike. In the world today, many are engaged in apologetics but with their presuppositions and subjective reasoning, they offer the world nothing different than their own subjective beliefs. Using the Apostles' Creed as a guide enables the Christian to give a hope for the faith within using objective truths based on eyewitness testimony. This book teaches you how to use the Creed to stay on topic and bring out the essentials of the faith in a concise and graceful manner. Dr. Almodovar gives a rubber-hits-the-road approach to apologetics, offering various scenarios to show how Creedal apologetics is accomplished. This simple tool (the Apostles' Creed), once used for defense, is dusted off, polished up, and sharpened so that today's Christians can defend and proclaim the great gospel of Jesus Christ to a world in desperate need of the forgiveness of sins and new life in his name.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Resource Publications
• Release date: Mar 19, 2021
• ISBN: 9781725297586

Nancy A. Almodovar

Nancy A. Almodovar grew up in a Pentecostal home and eventually became a Reformed Christian. She has been a speaker and author for over a decade and converted to Lutheranism as a truer expression of the Scriptures. During this time, Nancy earned a doctorate in philosophy and apologetics (Trinity), a masters of theology (Trinity) and a masters of Christian studies (Luther Rice Seminary), and is currently working on a Fellow at the International Academy of Apologetics and Human Rights (Strasbourg). She is also a Fellow at the university where she teaches as a professor of world religions. She is the author of over twenty books, one on the problem of evil, Faith Seeking Consolation, and one on her journey out of charismatic theology, A Modern 95: Questions for Today's Evangelicals and Accidental Lutheran, her story of converting to Lutheranism 2242. The Apostolic Model for Defending the Faith - Dr. Nancy Almodovar, 8/12/21 YouTube: Lutheran Girl: Proclaiming and Defending the Faith Issues, Etc.: Paths to Lutheranism: From Calvinism - Dr. Nancy Almodovar Issues, Etc.: Nancy Almodovar, Should Lutherans De-Emphasize the Sacraments to Attract People?

Book preview

chapter 1

Why a Creedal Apologetic?

Dr. John Warwick Montgomery, at his International Academy of Apologetics, Evangelism & Human Rights,¹ in Strasbourg, France, has insisted that when answering for the faith we present a creedal apologetic. The reasoning is that the creeds in the New Testament and the Apostles’ Creed (along with the Nicene and Athanasian Creeds) offer the believer a way to remember the important teachings and doctrines of the Christian church. Those who have memorized the Apostles’ Creed since childhood may more easily recall these I believe . . . statements to mind when engaging with the unbeliever. However, it is offered to all Christians, for all times, to use both as a reminder of what the church confesses and a guide to help you stay on those essentials when engaged with unbelievers and skeptics of the faith.

Today’s Christians need to commit them to memory too so that they may more easily draw upon them in conversations regarding what we believe and why we believe it. This enables the believer to recall the key points of Christianity without getting bogged down in nonessentials. It equips the believer with what must be believed in order to be a Christian and helps to share those truths with the non-Christian and not get onto such subjective matters as testimony or opinion. The Creed helps the Christian to stay on the essentials of the