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Tough-Minded Christianity: Legacy of John Warwick Montgomery
Tough Minded Christianity is a collection of essays about the great work of John Warwick Montgomery (1931), a living legend in the field of Christian apologetics who has earned eleven degrees in philosophy, theology, law, and librarianship, debated historic atheists including Madalyn Murray O’Hair, and influenced the work of bestselling authors such as Josh McDowell.
Contributors to this volume include J. I. Packer, Ravi Zacharias, John Ankerberg, Erwin Lutzer, Vernon Grounds, Gary Habermas, and among others Paige Patterson who writes in the foreword that John Warwick Montgomery did the “intellectual heavy lifting” that undergirded the conservative renewal of the Southern Baptist Convention.
Contributors to this volume include J. I. Packer, Ravi Zacharias, John Ankerberg, Erwin Lutzer, Vernon Grounds, Gary Habermas, and among others Paige Patterson who writes in the foreword that John Warwick Montgomery did the “intellectual heavy lifting” that undergirded the conservative renewal of the Southern Baptist Convention.
- GenresTheology
800 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2009
9 people are currently reading
68 people want to read
About the author
William A. Dembski
56 books120 followersA mathematician and philosopher, Dr. William Dembski has taught at Northwestern University, the University of Notre Dame, and the University of Dallas. He has done postdoctoral work in mathematics at MIT, in physics at the University of Chicago, and in computer science at Princeton University. A graduate of the University of Illinois at Chicago where he earned a B.A. in psychology, an M.S. in statistics, and a Ph.D. in philosophy, he also received a doctorate in mathematics from the University of Chicago in 1988 and a master of divinity degree from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1996. He has held National Science Foundation graduate and postdoctoral fellowships. He is the recipient of a $100,000 Templeton research grant. In 2005 he received Texas A&M’s Trotter Prize.
Dr. Dembski has published articles in mathematics, engineering, philosophy, and theology journals and is the author/editor of over twenty books.
His most comprehensive treatment of intelligent design to date, co-authored with Jonathan Wells, is titled The Design of Life: Discovering Signs of Intelligence in Biological Systems.
As interest in intelligent design has grown in the wider culture, Dr. Dembski has assumed the role of public intellectual. In addition to lecturing around the world at colleges and universities, he is frequently interviewed on the radio and television. His work has been cited in numerous newspaper and magazine articles, including three front page stories in the New York Times as well as the August 15, 2005 Time magazine cover story on intelligent design. He has appeared on the BBC, NPR (Diane Rehm, etc.), PBS (Inside the Law with Jack Ford; Uncommon Knowledge with Peter Robinson), CSPAN2, CNN, Fox News, ABC Nightline, and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.
Dr. Dembski has published articles in mathematics, engineering, philosophy, and theology journals and is the author/editor of over twenty books.
His most comprehensive treatment of intelligent design to date, co-authored with Jonathan Wells, is titled The Design of Life: Discovering Signs of Intelligence in Biological Systems.
As interest in intelligent design has grown in the wider culture, Dr. Dembski has assumed the role of public intellectual. In addition to lecturing around the world at colleges and universities, he is frequently interviewed on the radio and television. His work has been cited in numerous newspaper and magazine articles, including three front page stories in the New York Times as well as the August 15, 2005 Time magazine cover story on intelligent design. He has appeared on the BBC, NPR (Diane Rehm, etc.), PBS (Inside the Law with Jack Ford; Uncommon Knowledge with Peter Robinson), CSPAN2, CNN, Fox News, ABC Nightline, and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.
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June 7, 2024
AN EXCELLENT COLLECTION OF ESSAYS ON THE FAMOUS APOLOGIST
Southern Baptist Theological Seminary President Paige Patterson wrote in the Foreword to this 2008 book, “Like Montgomery’s own work, the volume that follows does not have the narrow scope of a single issue but rather encompasses not only an assessment of Montgomery’s own views of such things as the occult and the contemporary movement of intelligent design but also addresses a host of other subjects, such as environmental education, the Gospel of Judas, the proper function of natural reason, and analysis of Montgomery’s debate with unbelievers, and numerous other subjects… The chapters are written by many of the finest evangelical scholars of our churches today… All have been influenced by the life and work of this substantive thinker, John Warwick Montgomery.” (Pg. xiv)
Angus J.L. Menuge wrote in his essay, “The author of humankind is going to be the one best placed to write its instruction manual… Montgomery’s solution to the [ethical] dilemma is that a perspicuous objective morality is delivered to us from above... Not only do the Bible and Jesus’ exposition of its meaning in His life and teachings sharpen, clarify, and give an internal understanding of the moral law, they also provide a sufficient basis to justify genuine human rights… Montgomery shows that there is clear scriptural precedent for such fundamental human rights as Procedural Due Process… freedom from torture and slavery, freedom of thought… as well as many others… Montgomery resolutely rejects the idea that biblical truth cannot be applied in the public square because… the truth is available to public reason and not merely the private conscience of the faithful.” (Pg. 108)
David Cullen notes that “Montgomery’s imaginative apologetic is an aspect of his work often overlooked … Bear in mind that this ‘imaginative apologetic’ has nothing to do with fabricating or falsifying justifications for Christian belief, nor does it allow room for any departure from orthodox Christian doctrine… Rather, it is a term that describes the apologetic use of literary forms such as myth and the modern novel, and of means other than the strictly objective.” (Pg. 163-164)
Philip Johnson points out, “Montgomery has taught a generation of students on various campuses about understanding and sensitively responding to seekers who tread the labyrinthine ways of esoteric knowledge and occult phenomena. His campus wisdom has been further disseminated in permanent form through his writings thereby reaching a wider audience… Prominent countercult apologists … have relied on various parts of Montgomery’s work… this corpus of literature attests to the broad influence that he has had in evangelical networks worldwide.” (Pg. 182)
Michael Horton says, “the strength of the evidentialist transition as enunciated by Warfield, Hodge, and Montgomery is its acknowledgment of the benefits even of frail probabilities in the defense of the faith. Unlike modern foundationalist claims to absolute certainty through the correct epistemological procedure, these apologists have recognized the modest and limited yet nevertheless crucial task performed by apologetics. Despite criticism of this apologetic school, Cornelius Van Til also insisted upon the need for presenting arguments and evidences for the Christian claims.” (Pg. 384)
Gary Habermas states in his comparison of the apologetics of Greg Bahnsen and Montgomery, “Montgomery is fully aware that the human subject of experience has proclivities, presuppositions, hopes, fears, and a long list of dreams and apprehensions that can, in some measure, affect even one’s perceptions to a significant, and sometimes even telling, extent. The ‘empirical fit’ virtue of theories, however, is then translated---and this is … perhaps his key insight---into the ‘empirical fit’ of the various interpretations …about Jesus of Nazareth, which is tested against the data concerning his person, work, sinlessness, miracles, and resurrection. Only a divine Christ properly fits the historical data concerning Him. I think Bahnsen missed this vital distinction about Montgomery’s use of abduction, but with reason: Montgomery could have done a better job integrating his presentation of the craft of theological theorizing into his views of Scripture… and in related areas. All too often, Montgomery provides excellent pointers but avoids giving a detailed defense, as with the resurrection of Jesus.” (Pg. 429)
Habermas adds, “If Van Tillians constantly need to ‘borrow’ the evidentialist research here without producing their own, they open themselves up to another, much more serious critique---it would appear that their apologetic method is incomplete, offering only part of the picture… some Van Tillian presuppositionalists … continually want to tell evidentialists … how they OUGHT NOT do historical evidences, countering that it should be done in a very specific manner. But they almost never produce the details themselves!” (Pg. 436) He continues, “Bahnsen almost gives the impression that he is more interested in winning a debate with Montgomery than winning hearts. Why would he EVER, under any circumstances, want to provide some ‘leads’ for unbelievers concerning how they might argue in order to preserve their unbelief?” (Pg. 438)
Dallas Miller says, “Montgomery’s debating style and content are reminiscent of the Apostle Paul’s when, in Ephesus, he spoke boldly and argued persuasively… the debates in which Dr. Montgomery participated are a worthy study for any young apologist who is looking to perfect his or her skills… With respect to preparation, Dr. Montgomery has always gone the extra mile in learning and understanding what the opponent is really saying.” (Pg. 472-473)
Craig Parton summarizes, “How does one ‘categorize’ someone who is a rare American member of both an elite gastronomical academy in Paris and culinary and wine society in the Alsace, founded the first Christian law school that integrated theology, law, and apologetics, is a member of the Sherlock Holmes Society of England, argues cases of international import involving religious liberty and human rights before the International Court of Human Rights in Strusbourg, debated the likes of the infamous atheist Madalyn Murray O’Hair, death-of-Ggod theologian Thomas J.J. Altizer, and liberal Bishop James Pike… had 10 earned degrees… published over 45 books and 100 articles in five languages, is the editor of an international journal of classical theology and apologetics, had done the definitive treatment on the history of the efforts to locate Noah’s ark as well as personally led two expeditions up Mt. Ararat in search of the ark… and only drinks water on pain of death and considers it a threat to cultured living?” (Pg. 478-479)
Parton adds, “American Evangelicalism has long had a love-hate relationship with John Montgomery. He is indeed actually best known in evangelical circles… But because he is so theologically solid in the Reformation tradition and because he is so enthusiastically and contagiously Lutheran, evangelicalism has never quite known what to do with him.” (Pg. 482)
This book will be “must reading” for anyone interested in Montgomery, or contemporary apologetics.
Southern Baptist Theological Seminary President Paige Patterson wrote in the Foreword to this 2008 book, “Like Montgomery’s own work, the volume that follows does not have the narrow scope of a single issue but rather encompasses not only an assessment of Montgomery’s own views of such things as the occult and the contemporary movement of intelligent design but also addresses a host of other subjects, such as environmental education, the Gospel of Judas, the proper function of natural reason, and analysis of Montgomery’s debate with unbelievers, and numerous other subjects… The chapters are written by many of the finest evangelical scholars of our churches today… All have been influenced by the life and work of this substantive thinker, John Warwick Montgomery.” (Pg. xiv)
Angus J.L. Menuge wrote in his essay, “The author of humankind is going to be the one best placed to write its instruction manual… Montgomery’s solution to the [ethical] dilemma is that a perspicuous objective morality is delivered to us from above... Not only do the Bible and Jesus’ exposition of its meaning in His life and teachings sharpen, clarify, and give an internal understanding of the moral law, they also provide a sufficient basis to justify genuine human rights… Montgomery shows that there is clear scriptural precedent for such fundamental human rights as Procedural Due Process… freedom from torture and slavery, freedom of thought… as well as many others… Montgomery resolutely rejects the idea that biblical truth cannot be applied in the public square because… the truth is available to public reason and not merely the private conscience of the faithful.” (Pg. 108)
David Cullen notes that “Montgomery’s imaginative apologetic is an aspect of his work often overlooked … Bear in mind that this ‘imaginative apologetic’ has nothing to do with fabricating or falsifying justifications for Christian belief, nor does it allow room for any departure from orthodox Christian doctrine… Rather, it is a term that describes the apologetic use of literary forms such as myth and the modern novel, and of means other than the strictly objective.” (Pg. 163-164)
Philip Johnson points out, “Montgomery has taught a generation of students on various campuses about understanding and sensitively responding to seekers who tread the labyrinthine ways of esoteric knowledge and occult phenomena. His campus wisdom has been further disseminated in permanent form through his writings thereby reaching a wider audience… Prominent countercult apologists … have relied on various parts of Montgomery’s work… this corpus of literature attests to the broad influence that he has had in evangelical networks worldwide.” (Pg. 182)
Michael Horton says, “the strength of the evidentialist transition as enunciated by Warfield, Hodge, and Montgomery is its acknowledgment of the benefits even of frail probabilities in the defense of the faith. Unlike modern foundationalist claims to absolute certainty through the correct epistemological procedure, these apologists have recognized the modest and limited yet nevertheless crucial task performed by apologetics. Despite criticism of this apologetic school, Cornelius Van Til also insisted upon the need for presenting arguments and evidences for the Christian claims.” (Pg. 384)
Gary Habermas states in his comparison of the apologetics of Greg Bahnsen and Montgomery, “Montgomery is fully aware that the human subject of experience has proclivities, presuppositions, hopes, fears, and a long list of dreams and apprehensions that can, in some measure, affect even one’s perceptions to a significant, and sometimes even telling, extent. The ‘empirical fit’ virtue of theories, however, is then translated---and this is … perhaps his key insight---into the ‘empirical fit’ of the various interpretations …about Jesus of Nazareth, which is tested against the data concerning his person, work, sinlessness, miracles, and resurrection. Only a divine Christ properly fits the historical data concerning Him. I think Bahnsen missed this vital distinction about Montgomery’s use of abduction, but with reason: Montgomery could have done a better job integrating his presentation of the craft of theological theorizing into his views of Scripture… and in related areas. All too often, Montgomery provides excellent pointers but avoids giving a detailed defense, as with the resurrection of Jesus.” (Pg. 429)
Habermas adds, “If Van Tillians constantly need to ‘borrow’ the evidentialist research here without producing their own, they open themselves up to another, much more serious critique---it would appear that their apologetic method is incomplete, offering only part of the picture… some Van Tillian presuppositionalists … continually want to tell evidentialists … how they OUGHT NOT do historical evidences, countering that it should be done in a very specific manner. But they almost never produce the details themselves!” (Pg. 436) He continues, “Bahnsen almost gives the impression that he is more interested in winning a debate with Montgomery than winning hearts. Why would he EVER, under any circumstances, want to provide some ‘leads’ for unbelievers concerning how they might argue in order to preserve their unbelief?” (Pg. 438)
Dallas Miller says, “Montgomery’s debating style and content are reminiscent of the Apostle Paul’s when, in Ephesus, he spoke boldly and argued persuasively… the debates in which Dr. Montgomery participated are a worthy study for any young apologist who is looking to perfect his or her skills… With respect to preparation, Dr. Montgomery has always gone the extra mile in learning and understanding what the opponent is really saying.” (Pg. 472-473)
Craig Parton summarizes, “How does one ‘categorize’ someone who is a rare American member of both an elite gastronomical academy in Paris and culinary and wine society in the Alsace, founded the first Christian law school that integrated theology, law, and apologetics, is a member of the Sherlock Holmes Society of England, argues cases of international import involving religious liberty and human rights before the International Court of Human Rights in Strusbourg, debated the likes of the infamous atheist Madalyn Murray O’Hair, death-of-Ggod theologian Thomas J.J. Altizer, and liberal Bishop James Pike… had 10 earned degrees… published over 45 books and 100 articles in five languages, is the editor of an international journal of classical theology and apologetics, had done the definitive treatment on the history of the efforts to locate Noah’s ark as well as personally led two expeditions up Mt. Ararat in search of the ark… and only drinks water on pain of death and considers it a threat to cultured living?” (Pg. 478-479)
Parton adds, “American Evangelicalism has long had a love-hate relationship with John Montgomery. He is indeed actually best known in evangelical circles… But because he is so theologically solid in the Reformation tradition and because he is so enthusiastically and contagiously Lutheran, evangelicalism has never quite known what to do with him.” (Pg. 482)
This book will be “must reading” for anyone interested in Montgomery, or contemporary apologetics.
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