I realized, after a couple questions from a friend of mine – that I may be guilty of over-structuring a brand new idea.

In fact – upon further reflection… I probably am. However – while I don’t want to be guilty of one extreme – I also do not want to be guilty of the other.

So, while we may develop a firmer structure over time – I don’t want to begin devoid of it.

So… let me outline the priorities of this project, as I envision it – and how I’d like to apply it.

Dissemination of Information:

While information is readily available – it is limited to the scope, or breadth, of the individual searching for it. An advantage of a group is that you have multiple individuals, who look in varied places for varying information. My hope is that the individuals who want to help with this blog can do 2 things.

1. Search for, link to, and comment on, apologetics being done, apologetics needed, and apologetics as a theory, and a philosophy.

2. Spotlight the good, the bad, and the ugly – and direct people to examine it; in order to defend it, oppose it, or repudiate it.

Which brings us to the second point.

Create a Community:

While apologetics is often a lonely activity – it is lonely precisely because it is so disorganized. We have a myriad of apologetics organizations and resources – but they just do not work together in concert. The blogosphere is incredibly good at linking things together. this, friends, is what is normally called a “community”. Let me challenge you with something. How many of you, on the aggregator, even knew the others existed, prior to being added to it? How many new friends, or new blogs did you find as a result? Is that not building a community?

Now – what we realize is that not everyone on the aggregator is what we’d commonly consider an apologist. Many are theologians, or reformers, or astute observers and commentators. Several who are apologists are not in it. However- regardless – we’ve created a community. What I want to do is create a communal center. Not in the way Communism wants community – but in the way that a community, once established sufficiently, organizes itself as such. It builds roads, erects a city hall, and establishes an order peculiar to its surroundings and circumstances.

We are a martial – if not militant – group. I want to build a fortress, and man the walls. Once a community has a sufficent defense – they can think about going on the offense. This often brings another set of problems with it – that of an over-reliance on safety. However, due to the nature of our calling – I’m going to trust that it won’t happen – and that we will not let it happen. regardless – once this defense has been established – the defenders can man the walls, and do it ably. The offensive can then take place, with the knowledge that the defense is ably attended to.

Do you see my hypothesis? If we set up as a central bastion something to be attacked, and defended from – we can also have a secure area to go on the offensive from – instead of going forth into single combat. Pick it apart if you like – but keep the general principle in mind, will you? We have the full armor of God – but we also have the virtual Kingdom. Let us build a citadel within that Kingdom – shall we?

An “Industrial” Base:

Every army has behind it, the resources of the Kingdom it fights for. Are we any different? We have the Word as our weapon, and our doctrines as our armor – but our resources should be collected, stored, and used to further our efforts. We all have written a great deal of material on various issues – but how do we find it, amidst the wash of all of our disparate blogs? Answer: We start creating a library.

Vox Apologia was a small beginning. It won’t be the end. We all have at least 2-3 things we could contribute. Why don’t we collect the links and tie together the subject matter into a library of treatments of various topics? The Argument from Evil is a common argument used.

How many of us have responded to it? I have. I know several others who have as well. A quick read through our various treatments would give a significantly fuller treatment to the subject – don’t you agree?

The same goes for a lot of things. So, out of the various things I want to do – those stand out as the primary functions. The rest are just outgrowths of those ideals.

So, I’ll use the second half of my name – KISS. Keep it simple, stupid!

Comments, Questions, Suggestions?

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