The End of Apologetics: Christian Witness in a Postmodern Context

The modern apologetic enterprise, according to Myron Penner, is no longer valid. It tends toward an unbiblical and unchristian form of Christian witness and does not have the ability to attest truthfully to Christ in our postmodern context. In fact, Christians need an entirely new way of conceiving the apologetic task.
This provocative text critiques modern apologetic efforts and offers a concept of faithful Christian witness that is characterized by love and grounded in God's revelation. Penner seeks to reorient the discussion of Christian belief, change a well-entrenched vocabulary that no longer works, and contextualize the enterprise of apologetics for a postmodern generation.
Contents
Introduction: Against Apologetics
Another Disquieting Suggestion
Changing Paradigms
1. Apologetic Amnesia
A Tale of Modern Apologetics
Secular Apologetics
Apologies to Postmodernism
Apologetic Amnesia
2. Apologetics, Suspicion, and Faith
Of Geniuses and Apostles
Apologetic Nihilism
Fallibilism and Hermeneutics
Conclusion
3. Irony, Witness, and the Ethics of Belief
Apostles and Apologetics
The Ethics of Belief
Irony and In/Direct Witness
Irony, Edification, and Witness
Witness as Confession
Conclusion
4. Witness and Truth
Truth after Metaphysics
Christian Truth-Telling
Conclusion
5. The Politics of Witness
The Ethics of Witness
Apologetic Violence
Conclusion
Epilogue
Index