Question the Question
Often in apologetics the best response is, “That’s not the right question.” For example, instead of, “Why can’t the Gospel writers get their stories straight?”, it is much more fruitful to ask, “What does the presence of discrepancies that are not contradictions tell us about the reliability of the witnesses?” In a court of law or in historical research, that is exactly what you are looking for: it is one sign of reliable testimony. If witnesses in court say exactly the same thing, you suspect them of colluding to fix their testimony. If historical documents do it, you suspect that you really have only one source, not many.
Too often we let the Enemy dictate the terrain of the battle and the rules of engagement when there is no reason for us to do so. Sometimes we have to meet people where they are, but often rephrasing the question can be the first step toward getting better answers.
Donald T. Williams is Professor Emeritus of Toccoa Falls College. He stays permanently camped out on the borders between serious scholarship and pastoral ministry, between theology and literature, and between Narnia and Middle-Earth. He is the author of fourteen books, including Answers from Aslan: The Enduring Apologetics of C. S. Lewis (DeWard, 2023). He is a contributing editor of Touchstone.
Get six issues (one year) of Touchstone PLUS full online access including pdf downloads for only $39.95. That's only $3.34 per month!
Get a one-year full-access subscription to the Touchstone online archives for only $19.95. That's only $1.66 per month!
bulk subscriptions
Order Touchstone subscriptions in bulk and save $10 per sub! Each subscription includes 6 issues of Touchstone plus full online access to touchstonemag.com—including archives, videos, and pdf downloads of recent issues for only $29.95 each! Great for churches or study groups.
Transactions will be processed on a secure server.
more on apologetics from the online archives
31.2—March/April 2018
How Best to Face the Total War of the Anti-Culture by R. J. Snell
33.3—May/June 2020
On Flight & Fight in the Present Tribulation by Douglas Farrow
31.4—July/August 2018
The Difficulty of Apologetics for Dead Souls in the Real World by R. J. Snell
more from the online archives
31.6—November/December 2018
on Futility & the Open Door to Deliverance by Patrick Henry Reardon
17.4—May 2004
The Unhappy & Abusive Marriage of Liberalism & Modernism by James Hitchcock
30.5—Sept/Oct 2017
The Christian Cure for What Ails Modern Politics by David Bradshaw
calling all readers
Please Donate
"There are magazines worth reading but few worth saving . . . Touchstone is just such a magazine."
—Alice von Hildebrand
"Here we do not concede one square millimeter of territory to falsehood, folly, contemporary sentimentality, or fashion. We speak the truth, and let God be our judge. . . . Touchstone is the one committedly Christian conservative journal."
—Anthony Esolen, Touchstone senior editor
