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by Sarah R. Enterline (Author)
"There is nothing new under the sun", wrote King Solomon in the book of Ecclesiastes (1:9). Thousands of years later, this is still the case as new thinkers trot out theories and ideas that are, in fact, old ideas with simply a different light shed on them. Modern apologists (meaning those who have entered the field since its revival about 60 years ago) owe most of their work to those who came before them. Occasionally, those in the past get remembered in a footnote or two, but what happens if a person who contributed to the field in the past was never acknowledged for their work in the first place? They become lost to history. This happened to many women in the field, not because women of the past were never interested in the intelligent side of the faith, but because they were denied a seat at the table of theological ideas for hundreds and hundreds of years, simply for being women. There have been many accounts throughout history of deep-thinking women of faith, yet until about ten years ago, the idea of women being Christian apologists was mostly unheard of. This is due to the fact that many in the past published anonymously, or under pseudonyms, or their works were simply ignored and not given the attention they deserved, simply because they were women in a field dominated by men.
Meet Susanna Newcome, who in 1728 became the first woman in history to publish a book on, and publicly engage in, the discipline of Christian Apologetics. Susanna showed the world that when it came to the mind, women were not the weaker sex, and instead were equally brilliant, as well as capable defenders of the historic Christian faith. She lived her life refusing to apologize for defending the truth and challenging the status quo of the day. She constantly kept those around her on their toes theologically, and openly critiqued any unbiblical ideology that crossed her path. She had a passion for truth, and her deep faith compelled her to challenge those who would lead astray the consciences of sincere but unlearned Christians. Susanna truly was a force to be reckoned with for the Kingdom of God and we can learn much today from the spiritual courage of this formidable woman of the past.
Her book, An Enquiry into the Evidence of the Christian Religion is not only an answer to the "Christian Deism" of its day but is a valuable work of Christian Apologetics in its own right. In the small volume, Susanna manages to discuss - with clarity and understanding that is astonishing for that time period - the laws of causality, contingency, one of the earliest versions of the modern Cosmological Argument, the Teleological Argument, the laws of thermodynamics, the unreasonableness of the Atheistic position, the argument from desire, the pursuit of happiness, the problem of evil, immortality (the case for the eternality of the soul), substance dualism, the case for special revelation, the value of and need for Christianity's moral code, the disciples' integrity and ability to be trusted as eyewitnesses, the case for miracles, the case for Jesus as the promised Messiah of the Bible, and lastly, the case for the Resurrection. At the time it was published, one of many glowing reviews stated, "We have no performance on the same subject that is so short, and at the same time so strong, perspicuous, and convincing. It would be no dishonor to the greatest Divine to be thought its author."
