Graham, Elaine2014-02-282014-02-282014-02-25Unpublished presentation given at Chester Theological Society meeting, 25 February 2014.http://hdl.handle.net/10034/313501Far from becoming marginal to society, religion is returning to public prominence as a significant factor in global politics and civil society. Yet this is not a religious revival by any means, due to the enduring influence of a completely different social and cultural trajectory: of secularism and religious scepticism. We find ourselves between a ‘rock’ of religious resurgence – or at least its renewed visibility – and the ‘hard place’ of secularism. How do we negotiate the unprecedented co-existence of these two discourses? And in particular, how do people of faith give an account of their motivations and values in a world that is more sensitive than ever to religious belief and practice, yet often struggles to accommodate it into secular discourse? I intend to answer this by calling for a renewal of the practice of Christian apologetics: the task of offering a reasoned defence or rationale for one’s faith.entheologypublic lifepublic theologyPresentation