This is a book I've been meaning to read for quite a while. I first heard about it on the White Horse Inn podcast and was intrigued. Unfortunately, I was deployed when the rest of the Harbor went through it during Apologia. I finally got around to it again and am thrilled that I did.
Greg Koukl is the founder of a site called Stand to Reason (www.str.org) whose mission statement is to train Christians to think more clearly about their faith and to make an even-handed, incisive, yet gracious defense for classical Christianity and classical Christian values in the public square. This book follows this mission closely and effectively.
In Tactics, Koukl walks us through a few approaches he takes in conversations with non-believers. The first part of his book is focused on the Columbo tactic. The premise is that Christians all too often are forced to defend their beliefs, but never hold others to that same standard. The Columbo tactic involves asking clarifying and directing questions in a way that forces the other side to explain their reasons for their beliefs. In so doing, Greg has found that many people simply don't know why they believe what they believe or have never been challenged in their own beliefs.
I thought this book was incredibly thought provoking. And I can see how powerful using these strategies would be. I really liked that Koukl emphasized the necessity to use all these strategies with character and tact. I think this is a downfall of way too many Christians. This book also challenges me to preach the gospel more frequently and use those interactions to develop my own tactics.
The bottom line is, we have a very very strong leg to stand on as Christians. We simply need to know how to use the information we have to influence others and guide them to the cross. This book certainly helps do that and I enjoyed it immensely.