Do you know how to defend your biblical faith? Are you considering enrolling in a debate class, going to seminary, or becoming a lawyer so you have the credentials to present and defend a case? Have you considered reading books or video resources by John Lennox?
You do not have to spend thousands of dollars returning to school to learn how to study, research, and debate. Instead, you can learn from men and women who are apologists. They offer books, videos, and podcasts to help you learn how to defend your faith. It is still your responsibility to be a wise student of the Scriptures and know the truth of the Scriptures. However, guides like John Lennox can help along the way.
What Does It Mean that John Lennox Is an Apologist?
The more we know the Word, hide it in our hearts, and obey its principles, we become equipped to defend our faith. Jude’s third verse states, “Contend earnestly for the faith.” How do we contend for the faith? We begin by learning how to be an apologist.
The word apologetics means “speaking in defense” from the Greek noun apologia or its verb form apologeomai. It is used 17 times in the New Testament.
Christ-followers should be able to make their defense for the Scriptures. The first generation did this very well. Study the example of the Apostle Paul (Acts 22:1; 26:2, 24). Later in Philippians 1:16, he tells the readers, “I am put here for the defense of the gospel.” Peter’s first epistle tells us always to have an answer to someone who asks about the reason for our faith (1 Peter 3:15).
In the second century, things began to change. The scope of the individuals who should contend for the faith was narrowed to a specific “group of writers” known as apologists. Years later, around 1794, it was designated as a theological discipline. You can learn more about this discipline in Bethany Verrett’s article “What is Apologetics in Christianity?”
The twenty-first century has many prominent Christian apologists. Some of the best-known apologists include Lee Strobel, J. Warner Wallace, Josh McDowell, Andrew Wilson, and Alex McFarland. However, many Christians consider John Carson Lennox one of the topmost influential apologists.
What Has John Lennox Done in His Career?
John Carson Lennox was born in Armagh, Northern Ireland, on November 7, 1943.
His education began at one of the oldest schools, The Royal School Armagh, founded in the seventeenth century. He later attended the Exhibitioner and Senior Scholar at Emmanuel College, Cambridge. At the University of Cambridge, he earned Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy degrees.
Lennox spent his post-education years building a sterling reputation as a mathematician and bioethicist. Among other honors, he is the Emeritus Professor of Mathematics at the University of Oxford and an Emeritus Fellow in Mathematics and Philosophy of Science at Green Templeton College. His research can be located in many places, including the Oxford Mathematical Monographs series.
As Lennox’s website states, he is “an internationally renowned speaker on the interface of science, philosophy and religion.” However, he doesn’t just speak about these topics. He writes extensively about the relationship between science and Christianity.
Important Apologetic Events in the Life of John Lennox
The best way to know how Lennox approaches and defends biblical faith is to listen to his debates.
Here is a sample of his debates over the years:
He has debated Richard Dawkins, famous atheist and author of The God Delusion, on two occasions:
“The God Delusion Debate” in 2007 at the University of Alabama
“Has Science Buried God?” in 2008 at the Oxford Museum of Natural History
Dawkins belonged to a group of atheists dubbed “the Four Horsemen of the New Atheism.” Lennox debated another one of the “Horsemen,” writer Christopher Hitchens, on two occasions.
“New Atheism” in 2008 at the Edinburgh Festival
“Is God Great?” in 2010 at Samford University
Lennox also debated philosopher Peter Singer on “Is There A God?” in 2017, at the Town Hall of Melbourne.
How Is John Lennox Involved in the Sing! Conferences?
One surprising side of John Lennox’s life you may not know is his connection to musicians Keith and Kristyn Getty. He introduced Keith Getty to Kristyn. Kristen is his niece through his brother—pastor and Bible teacher Gilbert Lennox.
The Gettys produce the annual Sing! Conferences and Lennox has been a frequent speaker at the event. At the 2019 conference, he spoke on “Why Do I Exist?”
In 2020, he gave a virtual presentation on “the wondrous story of Scripture.”
In 2023, his contributions to the conference included an interview with the Gettys on “How to Deal with Hard Questions.”
10 Great Quotes by John Lennox
1. “THE BOOK OF GENESIS is foundational for the rest of the Bible. Its opening chapter does something of incalculable importance: it lays down the basis of a biblical worldview. It gives us humans a metanarrative, a big story into which our lives can be fitted and from which they can derive meaning, purpose, and value. This chapter is devoted to that big story.” — Seven Days That Divide the World: The Beginning According to Genesis and Science
2. “Either human intelligence ultimately owes its origin to mindless matter, or there is a Creator. It is strange that some people claim that it is their intelligence that leads them to prefer the first to the second.” – John Lennox’s website
3. “Faith is a response to evidence, not a rejoicing in the absence of evidence.” — God’s Undertaker: Has Science Buried God?
4. “[Humans] alone are created as rational beings in the image of God, capable of a relationship with God and given by him the capacity to understand the universe in which they live.” — Gunning for God: Why the New Atheists Are Missing the Target
5. “A Christian is not so much a person who has solved the problem of pain, suffering and the coronavirus, but one who has come to love and trust a God who has himself suffered.” — Where is God in a Coronavirus World?
6. “Man thinks he can become God. But infinitely greater than that is the fact that God thought of becoming human.” — 2084: Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Humanity
7. “Of course, I reject atheism because I believe Christianity to be true. But I also reject it because I am a scientist. How could I be impressed with a worldview that undermines the very rationality we need to do science? Science and God mix very well. It is science and atheism that do not mix.” — Can Science Explain Everything?
8. “I have always tried to treat people with different worldviews from my own with respect, and to find out how they arrived at their position, and why they feel so passionately about it.” — Can Science Explain Everything?
9. “We should be humble enough to distinguish between what the Bible says and our interpretations of it.” — God’s Undertaker: Has Science Buried God?
10. “Men became scientific because they expected Law in Nature, and they expected Law in Nature because they believed in a Legislator.” — Can Science Explain Everything?
How Has C.S. Lewis Influenced John Lennox?
In 2016, John Lennox spoke at the C.S. Lewis Institute, relating his story of meeting Lewis and the famous apologist’s influence on his life. Lennox had the opportunity to meet Lewis while studying mathematics at Cambridge University in 1962. Lennox attended what turned out to be some of Lewis’ last lectures—Lewis passed away in November 1962, the same day that John F. Kennedy Jr. and Aldous Huxley died.
Lennox became exposed to Lewis and other Christian teachers at a young age. He “didn’t know what it was like to be an adult atheist because his parents taught him about God.” His father kept copies of Mere Christianity in his car for “intelligent hitchhikers.”
Lennox has also provided a testimonial about his experiences meeting Lewis and reading his work, which has some fascinating insights.
“For me, Lewis has been and is a destroyer of popular myths that lay behind many of the objections made against my faith in God and Christ.”
“These books helped me to perceive the deep harmony between science and theology, a harmony that the advance of science in my lifetime has done nothing but confirm.”
“C.S. Lewis helped me to become an intellectually fulfilled Christian. I owe him a great debt.”
Great Books by John Lennox
Lennox has contributed many books on apologetics. Some of his best books include the following:
God’s Undertaker: Has Science Buried God?
Gunning for God: Why the New Atheists Are Missing the Target
Against the Flow: The Inspiration of Daniel in an Age of Relativism
Determined to Believe?: The Sovereignty of God, Freedom, Faith, and Human Responsibility
Have No Fear: Being Salt and Light Even When It’s Costly
Can Science Explain Everything?
Joseph: A Story of Love, Hate, Slavery, Power, and Forgiveness
2084: Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Humanity
Seven Days that Divide the World, The Beginning According to Genesis and Science
Photo Credit: Christliches Medienmagazin via Flickr
Laura Lee Leathers is a writer and speaker. Imagine Lois Lane, over sixty-five, and living on a farm. Her metropolis is the area of freelance writing. Her primary love interest is the Word of God. She digs for information, interviews fascinating people, offers a cup of biblical hospitalit-tea, encourages, and helps others with the ‘how-to’s’ of life. To sign up for her newsletter, connect with her at http://lauraleeleathers.com - - - “Helping You Flourish in Faith & Finish Well by His Word”
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