Tactics, by Greg Koukl [A Quick Book Review]
I first read Tactics back in late 2010 or early 2011, read it again a few years later, and read the second edition from cover to cover when it was released in 2019. For over a decade, it was the single most important book in my apologetics library, and still ranks in my top five, at least.
When I first picked up Tactics, I was a budding apologist who was, quite honestly, very intimidated by atheists (who always seemed to pull the “science card”) and the Jehovah’s Witnesses (who always seemed to have an answer for everything). So, I did my best to avoid them. Upon completion of the book, I finally felt like I had the tools I needed to overcome my fears. The lessons I learned were simple, but powerful:
Avoid making statements; making statements puts you in the “hot seat” and you’ll have to defend your claims. Instead, ask questions.
He who asks the questions controls the direction of the conversation.
When you don’t know what to say, ask questions:
What do you mean by that?
How did you come to that conclusion?
When you don’t know the answer to a question, don’t be afraid to admit it; ask for permission to go look it up and rejoin the conversation at a later date.
In January 2011, God sat me next to a Jehovah’s Witness on the back of a packed Metro bus on our respective commutes home. I didn’t know he was a JW, though, until after I awoke from a brief cat nap and he asked me about the book (one of A.W. Tozer’s volumes). He then handed me a tract of some “lighter reading” (his words). When I turned it over and looked at the fine print on the back, I saw “Watchtower Bible & Tract Society.” My mind began to race as I tried to remember all the things I’d read about the JWs in Walter Martin’s book The Kingdom of the Cults, but it was no use. I was drawing a big blank. So, I decided to see if that Koukl guy knew what he was talking about:
“Is it true that Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that Jesus and the archangel Michael are one and the same being?” I asked.
“Yes, it is.”
“Interesting,” I replied. “Could you show me where that is in the Bible?”
He thought for a bit and admitted he didn’t know off the top of his head, and then asked if he could look it up and talk to me the next day. I agreed, and we had a very pleasant conversation for the next half hour or so. I asked questions, he answered, and the conversation was completely low-key and enjoyable for both of us.
The lessons I learned from Tactics are useful in all areas of life...I’ve used them at work, at home, with my students, and in social media--wherever I happen to encounter someone with whom I disagree. It’s for this reason that I firmly believe that no one serious about apologetics should be without this book.
One Caveat
Now, with that glowing review out of the way, I must say a word about what I view as a shortcoming, namely that Koukl’s goal in conversation is merely to “put a stone in someone’s shoe”—to give them something to chew on, to ponder, and to get them to really question their own worldview. While this is not in and of itself a bad thing, I am now of the opinion that it falls short of its potential because, as Scripture says, “the Word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword.” Our words—our reasoning and our philosophy—are not living and active, and they approximate a butter knife in terms of sharpness and the ability to “penetrate even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; ...judging the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” Koukl’s approach is conversational and philosophical, but it’s not scriptural (i.e. it does not hinge upon or leverage Scripture). Our goal as apologists is to remove objections to belief and to get the gospel to unbelievers so they have something to turn to, not just something to turn away from.
In my next review, I’ll review a book that has surpassed Tactics as the #1 apologetics book in my personal library.