One major obstacle in apologetics is that accurately representing a religion is not the same as accurately representing those who claim to follow it. People are individuals, and their religions are therefore individual. This often manifests in the denial of that which they claim to believe with all their heart, mind, soul, and strength.
With some worldviews, particularly non-codified religions, this is understandable. It makes sense for Evolutionists to throw Charles Darwin or Richard Dawkins under the bus, for example. Because it's not a codified religion, individual Evolutionists are free to make it their own. Still, it seems strange that Christians who criticise Evolution are endlessly accused of the straw man fallacy if there isn't a single Evolutionist on the planet worth listening to.
Other religions, however, are codified. They have scriptures, and various documents of similar authority, handed down by authoritative figures. Islam is a classic example. Theoretically, though it results in a rickety version of Islam, a Muslim can get away with sticking exclusively to the Qur'an, and many of them do. Yet, even then, the Qur'an is filled with many problematic things. Popular Islamic apologist Muhammad Hijab, for example, is on record showing where the Qur'an shows it is permissible to marry, and sleep with, a 5 year old. Islam, according to its own sources, is a messy religion at best, and so Islamic apologists are notorious for hiding, and otherwise denying these sources, even if that involves ostracising Islamic scholars.
While less serious than codified paedophilia, even some nominally Christian religions have some very major issues. Roman Catholicism, for example, has many strange teachings about Mary. These are quite often denied by Catholics, yet are taught plain as day in Catholic sources, such as the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Furthermore, the Catholic Church officially teaches that the Bible is the word of God, yet strangely, this very concept is denied by many Catholics. Others will acknowledge it, yet deny what is written inside.
Now again, people are individuals, and so their religions are individual, too. There are followers of every religion who follow them, well, religiously. Nevertheless, Christian apologists need never do the same.
Unlike in Islam, it is entirely possible, and indeed necessary, for Christians to rely entirely on the Bible. Sadly, many apologists, such as Frank Turek, Lee Strobel, and William Lane Craig, do deny the Bible when they become embarrassed about it. But the general approach to the Bible is either "yes it says that, and here's why it's true", or "yes, it says those words, but here's some more context to show why your interpretation is faulty". It's very rare to find a Christian apologist who will deny that the Bible says what it says, or is faulty in and of itself. We don't say "well that's just Moses, we've learned so much since his time". We don't say "that's a weak Haddith". We don't say "Jesus is only infallible when He speaks ex Cathedra". No, we say "this is the word of God, it is true, it is infallible, and there are legitimate answers to your objections."
The intention of this article is not to give an argument for Christianity, nor to dismiss any other worldview. Rather, I want to wrestle with your heart. I want to ask, how much faith do you really have in your claimed religion? If I can cite a source higher than yourself, be it an expert worthy of respect, or a prophet in your faith, and you deny them, then where do your loyalties really lie? And if I can stick to my Bible so firmly, does that not testify to my faith?
I, of course, am the weakest of God's people. The "unique selling point", for lack of better term, of Bible Brain, is that I'm just an idiot with a keyboard. Thousands of pastors, apologists, even just regular yet studious Christians sitting in the pews, have a stronger faith, and a stronger basis for it, than I do. And yet, the entire basis for apologetics in other religions seems to be the reinvention of those religions, with the inconvenient parts left out. Like an all you can eat buffet, the bits these apologists like, they'll cling to, and defend like a dog with a bone. The bits they don't like? Snip snip.
I strongly urge everyone who reads this article to examine both your religion and your heart. By examining your religion, you will discover what it truly teaches, and how strong those teachings really are. By examining your heart, you will discover how much you really believe it, and hopefully, unless you already know the Lord, you will discover why Christians have such a hope. Hope that is found in no other religion, for even if such religions make promises, they can never deliver. God did not give you a brain because He takes some strange pleasure in pink squishy things, but with the intention that you use it to come to know Him.