Second the term “apologetics” sounds like you are apologizing for instead of rationally defending your faith. That not the case either. Third, negative apologetics is easily confused with deconstructive apologetics (discussed elsewhere on this site in Section 4). That is, because deconstructive apologetics, either conceptual or existential, has a so-called “negative” element, that of critiquing other worldviews by showing their idiosyncratic inadequacies, some come to the conclusion that “negative apologetics”—as in a “downer” kind of apologetic—is deconstructive in nature. However intuitive that may feel, it’s not the way we are using the term “negative."

On the contrary, "negative apologetics," as we are using, it is a technical term with a contextually special meaning. The term as we are using it is about a discipline within apologetics that is defensive in nature, and means responding to questions and objections to Christianity that are raised by non-believers; and it is to be contrasted with positive apologetics, which is about initiating or setting forth a positive case (for the most part arguments) for the credibility of Christian theism. It is not about one’s mood, modus operandi or an argumentative deconstruction strategy.

Again, the second, part of that term, “apologetics” sounds like your apologizing for something--like apologizing for believing in God or Jesus Christ. Actually, as you may already know, the term “apologetics” is derived from the Greek word “απολογία,” which is best translated into English by the words “defend” or “defense”; and so apologetics has become to be understood (in English) as the discipline of giving a rational defense for one’s faith. (cf. 1 Peter 3:15)

The resources provided in this section are aimed to help you develop a first approximation of how you might better understand the issues being brought into question and how you might craft answers for them.

We begin with a defintion of the term “negative apologetics,” followed by a list of negative apologetics questions that are often raised in academe. Unfortunately, the term “negative apologetics” is an infelicitious name on a couple of counts.

First, the term negative might give the impression that in some sense the territory covered here is gloomy or it involves impugning your interlocutor’s character. That’s not the case.