Can You Argue Someone Into The Kingdom?

Review of the book: "Tactics" by Gregory Koukl

Gregory Koukl’s objective in the book “Tactics” is different than most books that would be classified as “Christian Apologetics”.  The objective of “Tactics” is to equip the reader with conversational approaches and techniques in order to engage in fruitful, helpful discussions about the Christian faith—particularly with those who may be skeptical or even hostile to the faith.

So, rather than a lot of content related to specific arguments for the existence of God, or the resurrection of Jesus, or the reliability of the Bible—there are many other books where one can find this information—“Tactics” attempts to help with the issue of “how” do we effectively communicate “what we know” in defending the faith.  Think of it like this:  typically, a book on apologetics provides knowledge about the subject matter of apologetics.  This book, on the other hand, tries to help with the issue of “using” knowledge—using apologetic subject matter—graciously and effectively, or, we might even say “tactically”…ah, that’s how we get the name of the book.  See how easy that was?

Several times in the course of “Tactics”, Koukl it makes it clear that although he is trying to help Christians be sharp and effective in their encounters with others, he believes that we should always be respectful and loving and gracious in our dealings, as well.  For example, he writes, “Tactics are not manipulative tricks or slick ruses.  They are not clever ploys to embarrass other people and force them to submit to your point of view.  They are not meant to belittle or humiliate those who disagree so you can gain notches in your spiritual belt.”  I’m glad he said that.  In a book of this kind, that needs to be the true intent of the author and it is an important point to communicate to the readers.

I always enjoy books that challenge my thinking with unique ideas or counter-intuitive thoughts.  There are a few of these in “Tactics”.  For example, Koukl writes, “you CAN argue someone into the kingdom.  It happens all the time.”  I read that and thought, “What?”  This is an interesting statement because I suspect most Christians would rather emphatically state that we CANNOT argue someone into the kingdom!  Koukl makes a case for his statement that we CAN argue someone into the kingdom and I’ll let you read it and decide if you think he’s right, or not.  My point here is just that I like reading a defense of interesting ideas like that one.

You will probably think about your conversations—actually ALL your conversations—in new and different ways if you read “Tactics”.