Asking Big Questions

What do educated urban people think about God, and why? What factors–logical, emotional, experiential, or intuitive–incline them towards belief or towards unbelief? How do they balance these factors? Why do many seem to be ""swing voters,"" comfortable sitting on the fence, unmotivated to move far either way? What common ground do they share with Christianity? What are their objections to Christian belief and practice, and their misunderstandings? Why do many people describe intuitive and emotional attraction to believing in God, but resist it intellectually? What apologetic approaches would make most sense, specifically to educated urban Australians? What media products do they enjoy and trust? And how should these insights influence apologetics? Grenville Kent asks these questions in one Australian demographic to help target Big Questions, a documentary film series for Christian apologetics. Anyone interested in apologetics, evangelical media, and the application of marketing research to evangelism will be interested in this study. ""This book is an excellent study in applied apologetics, where appropriate biblical models and relevant market research provides the foundation for a groundbreaking apologetic media production. The author applies his interdisciplinary competence as a biblical theologian, apologist, and video producer to the innovative task. This creative ministry project models a balance between the art of listening and the art of persuasion."" –Lars Dahle, Vice-Rector, Systematic Theology and Apologetics, Gimlekollen School of Journalism and Communication, NLA University College, Norway ""This project aims to develop a targeted form of Christian apologetics using film media, with market research to judge its effectiveness. It addresses this issue in a novel and useful way."" –Neil Ormerod, Director, Institute of Theology, Philosophy and Religious Education, Australian Catholic University, Australia ""As culture is in constant flux, so too must the ways of presenting the Christian faith constantly change. The first step to developing a Christian apologetic is to listen carefully to the potential audience: not only to what they say, but to the very frameworks out of which their thinking comes. This book demonstrates creatively and with great insight how such listening can be conducted, and how apologetics may be developed that are truly appropriate for the audience."" –Philip Hughes, Senior Research Officer, Christian Research Association, MCD University of Divinity and Edith Cowan University, Australia Grenville J. R. Kent has lectured in Old Testament and Arts at Wesley Institute, Sydney, for a decade and is producer of the Big Questions film series (www.bigquestions.com). He wrote Say It Again, Sam: A Literary and Filmic Study of Narrative Repetition in 1 Samuel 28 (2011) and co-edited Reclaiming the Old Testament for Christian Preaching (2010).