A plausibility structure is a conviction, belief, or understanding that is "hardwired" into a persons worldview. These fall into the category of preunderstanding or presuppositions and serve as internal mechanisms for deciphering claims as either true or false, plausible or implausible. In his two books on evangelism, Sam Chan uses the concept of **plausibility structures** to explain why individuals accept or reject the gospel.[^1] He focuses primarily on a skeptical, post-Christian context, but the premise of plausibility structures is sound across cultures and worldviews. He clarifies that this deals with the _believability status_ (epistemology) of a claim, not its intrinsic _truth status_ (ontology). Chan claims the basis for these structures for a person originates from three main sources: 1. **Community** - The collection of people an individual knows and trusts. 2. **Experiences** - The various experiences and encounters a person has over the course of their life. 3. **Facts, evidence, and data** - Evidence does inform plausibility structures, but it must be noted that it is not the sole force (or maybe even the primary force) in determining plausibility. Because the gospel message—such as the virgin birth or the resurrection—often sounds unbelievable to those outside the faith, Chan argues that effective evangelism involves helping nonbelievers adopt Christian plausibility structures, often through relational strategies like merging social universes, so they can see the Christian life as "livable" and find belonging before they believe the message is true. --- [^1]: Sam Chan, [_Evangelism in a Skeptical World: How to Make the Unbelievable News about Jesus More Believable_](https://amzn.to/4iNJe4p) (Zondervan Academic, 2018); Sam Chan, [_How to Talk about Jesus (Without Being That Guy): Personal Evangelism in a Skeptical World_](https://amzn.to/4a6yJqz) (Zondervan, 2020).