Worldview of Jesus

Tag: Apologetics

Book Review – “Stealing from God: Why Atheists Need God to Make Their Case” by Frank Turek

I had the genuine pleasure of meeting Frank Turek at his three day Cross Examined Instructor Academy (CIA) class at Southern Evangelical Seminary in 2013. In the months that led up to CIA, I carefully read I Don’t Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist by Frank Turek and Norman Giesler, which I absolutely loved. Frank (along with Norm obviously) has a way of distilling complicated topics to a lay level for easier comprehension and readability. His delivery is witty and entertaining and allows for his audience to grasp the message in a practical way that promotes a competent understanding of the material. Needless to say, I consider Frank to be a mentor from afar in my apologetic studies. He has guided me via his books and his Cross Examined organization.

While his other books, Legislating Morality, Correct, Not Politically Correct, and I Don’t Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist, are tremendously valuable for every Christian apologist, I found Stealing from God: Why Atheists Need God to Make Their Case to be the most potent and direct refutation of the atheistic worldview he’s written thus far. If anyone has listened to Turek or read any of his books, you’ll find that he has a creative way of looking at things. He gives a great illustration in the book (page xxix of introduction) about how we do not necessarily need to be an expert in every field of study in order to acknowledge when there is a problem with a particular worldview. He creatively makes an effective comparison between a Christian apologist and a house inspector,

“When we built an addition to our house, I was amazed how many specialists were needed. After the foundation guy, a series of specialty contractors came in. I can’t remember the exact order, but we had the framing guy, the roof guy, the brick guy, the siding guy, the window guy, the electrical guy, the plumbing guy, the insulation guy, the heating/AC guy, the drywall guy, the trim guy, the floor guy, the tile guy, the light guy, the fireplace guy, the paint guy, and an inspector.

The inspector didn’t need to understand the detailed workmanship of each of those specialists in order to spot a fatal flaw in the foundation. In fact, if there were a fatal flaw in the foundation, it wouldn’t matter how good the workmanship was above it – the entire structure would soon collapse”

Frank is a tremendous inspector and this book outlines his inspection of the atheistic worldview. There are categories of reality that Frank inspected which led him to the conclusion that atheism falls embarrassingly short of accurately accounting for reality. He used the acronym, C.R.I.M.E.S., to present his inspection of atheism. I’ve provided the breakdown of the acronym below along with Frank’s chapter description for each letter,

C – Causality – “To doubt the law of causality is to doubt virtually everything we know about reality, including our ability to reason and do science. All arguments, all thinking, all science, and all aspects of life depend on the law of causality”

R – Reason – “The main point of this chapter is to not show that all arguments for atheism fail. The main point of this chapter is to show that all arguments for anything fail if atheism is true”

I – Information & Intentionality – “God’s signature is not just in the cell, it’s in all of creation. God is as necessary to the universe as a band is to music. Once the band stops playing, the music is over”

M – Morality – “You can know what a book says while denying there’s an author. But there would be no book to know unless there was an author. Likewise, atheists can know objective morality while denying God exists, but there would be no objective morality unless God exists”

E – Evil – “Good reason provides all the information we need to see that the very existence of evil is a contradiction for atheism. If evil is real, then atheism is false”

S – Science – “To say that a scientist can disprove the existence of God is like saying a mechanic can disprove the existence of Henry Ford. While there is certainly evidence from science to support theism, the most important point for this chapter is not that science supports theism but that theism supports science. In other words, theism makes doing science possible. We wouldn’t be able to do science reliably if atheism were true”

Frank dives deep into each of these topics that atheists futilely use against God’s existence. Ultimately, if objections to theism necessarily require that theism be true for those objections to make sense, atheism might want to forego its critique on theism. Frank supports the claim that atheists are ‘stealing from God’ when they make assumptions about the world that can only make sense in a world where God exists.

Conclusion

I would highly recommend everyone (believer and unbeliever alike) read this book. Frank is able to keep complicated topics simple and provides helpful examples throughout the book to illustrate his points. He doesn’t allow his intellect to obstruct his ability to prioritize the importance of clearly delivering the message of the book. Being widely read in the area of Christian apologetics myself, I’ve never read a book solely dedicated to this topic. While I’ve read many books that refer to the harsh realities of atheism, I’ve never heard of (before now) an entire book dedicated to this topic. It’s a brilliant idea! Being familiar with Frank’s work for years, I’m not surprised that he wrote a book on the topic because he’s always referring to C.R.I.M.E.S. in the way he addresses these topics when he speaks and writes. For me, this is the most practical Christian apologetics book since J Warner Wallace’s Cold Case Christianity.

A word to unbelievers, this is a book you must read. It will rightfully challenge your worldview and hopefully push you to reconsider your atheistic presuppositions. This is a challenge that must be faced with honesty and a genuine desire to embrace the truth. Frank outlines the logical consequences one must accept in order to be a loyal subscriber to atheism. These philosophical conclusions should prompt to you reexamine your belief that a God does not exist. I would encourage you to read the book with an attitude that allows you to freely follow the evidence wherever it leads rather than reading the book with a presupposition that the existence of God isn’t possible. Judge the book on its merits and you’ll gather a ton of valuable insights from it, and possibly a new worldview.

A word to Christians, this book is a tremendous resource for you. It reveals the deficiencies of the atheistic worldview and presents a solid case for the Christian worldview (for the complete Christian apologetic, read I Don’t Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist). I strongly encourage you to become fluent in C.R.I.M.E.S. because it will help you become a better Christian apologist who is capable of having an informed discussion with unbelievers.

This is a book that will generate discussion among believers and unbelievers alike. Frank is definitely capable of supporting his claims presented in this book in a public forum and I definitely look forward to potential debates in the future. It is people like Frank that do the intellectual hard-work for the church, and help One Dollar Apologists like myself deepen their understanding. Christian apologetics is vitally important for the expansion of the church in today’s secular society. These types of books are tools that help defuse the potency of atheistic claims against Christian theism. Equipped with the knowledge of this book, we’re better prepared to explain why atheism is false and easily point out the false assumptions atheism makes to articulate its case. This book is a wonderful apologetics book that is uniquely capable of delivering a message about the inadequacy of atheism.

February 1, 2015
Christian Dropouts

The future of the church is necessarily dependant on the existence of tomorrow’s Christians. While the statistics may somewhat vary from source to source, anywhere from 59% – 70% of the youth who regularly attended church dropout after they graduate and it is estimated that the return rate on these dropouts could possibly be as high as two thirds (best case scenario) at some later time in their lives. The reality of the matter is that the percentage of dropouts returning to the church is not complete; meaning, some dropouts are leaving for good. The logical conclusion for this decline can only mean a long-term secularization of the United States. While it may not fully affect present-day Christians, Christians of future generations will live in a world where this will become a major problem in how they view the world and how the world views them.

Barna highlights six reasons for this drastic drop in church attendance among the youth after their graduation. The reasons that are cited are that 1) the church seems overprotective (i.e. demonizing the outside world, ignoring real world problems, etc…), 2) their experience of Christianity is shallow (i.e. church is boring, faith is irrelevant to their interests, Bible is taught unclearly, God is missing from their experience, etc…), 3) the church is antagonistic towards science (i.e. Christians think they have all the answers, out of touch with the scientific world, Christianity is anti-scientific, turned off by the evolution versus creation debate, etc…), 4) church is perceived as simplistic and judgmental concerning matters of sexuality (i.e. feel they are being judged for mistakes, teachings on sexuality are archaic, etc…), 5) exclusivity of Christianity (church is afraid of other beliefs, forced to choose between friends and church, church is only for insiders, etc…), and 6) church is unfriendly to doubters and skeptics (i.e. not feeling comfortable to express intellectual doubts about faith to the church).

As a high school youth leader at a local church, I sense these feelings from their behavior. These are good kids and my church is a good church but sometimes it feels like there is a huge disconnect between the kids and the church. There are many other influences in their lives other than the church. As youth leaders, we are in competition with parental, academic, peer, and media influences. Sometimes it feels like an insurmountable uphill battle. Of the 168 hours of the week, they are probably awake 112 of those hours. Of those 112 hours that they’re awake and susceptible to influence, we have around two hours (less than 2%) to make a meaningful and lasting impact on their lives. Given the facts that I provided you, do our chances as youth leaders and pastors look promising? Not necessarily, especially if many of them are leaving at a rate of 59% – 70% after they graduate.

Apologetics can be an excellent tool for building a solid and confident Christian worldview for all Christians of all ages. The practice of apologetics emphasizes the importance of clear, concise, and open communication along with enhancing the effectiveness of the methodology we use to gain a better understanding of God’s Word and creation. These characteristics of apologetics would significantly resolve many of the objections posed by the modern day young Christian dropping out of the church. Let’s take a look at how the practice of apologetics can address each of the six reasons listed above.

1) If the church was actively engaging the culture with an apologetic approach, naturally the church would be more considerate of how we can winsomely and Biblically communicate our concerns about the world in a matter that would not be perceived as ‘demonizing’ or ‘ignoring real world problems’. Clearly the tone of the message the church is delivering isn’t being perceived in a positive light. Regardless of whether or not the church is correct on the matter at hand, if they do not express their message with love then they will immediately lose the trust of those who they are attempting to communicate with (1 Corinthians 13:4-8). Apologetics can certainly help with gently and respectfully communicating these messages that will help mitigate feelings of being ‘demonized’ or ‘ignored’ among those who may disagree in an intelligible way.

2) The accusation of Christianity being shallow is not new. In fact, I can personally sympathize with this complaint to a certain degree. The youth surveyed complained about how the church was boring and irrelevant in addition to the complaint that church leaders are unclear in their preaching which has inevitably led them feeling disconnected from God. Our passion and knowledge should be contagious enough to prompt the youth to wonder how we became this way! We should zealously describe how Christ has transformed our lives and how it has inspired us to communicate our faith to people of all backgrounds. As long as Christians took an active interest in worshiping God with all of their minds, apologetics would help us better communicate our knowledge of the Word and our passion for Christ. If the youth doesn’t feel motivated from hearing us speak about the Word and if they sense that we don’t have an intimate knowledge of the Word, they’ll discard our preaching as disingenuous. An apologist’s heart is always inquisitive and strives to know as much about God as possible and to communicate that knowledge with others.

3) Now onto my favorite — the church is antagonistic towards science. This is probably the biggest lie that has ever been propagated over the last two centuries. The reality is that the Creator of all things and science cannot be contradictory. The Word of God found in the Bible and the signature of God found in nature is in complete and perfect alignment by necessity. The two cannot be in contradiction as nature is the product of the same Creator who inspired the Bible. It would be like someone accusing me of being incompatible with my child – the accusation is invalid because my child’s DNA is a product of a creative act between me and my wife. In the same way, the universe is the product of God’s creative act and the accusation of incompatibility is illogical. With all of that being said, what can be antagonistic towards science is our interpretation of how science and the Bible coincide with each other. There are many debates about the age of the universe within the Christian community and not all views on creation are complimentary to the scientific community; and I suspect that is the motivator that led some people to believe that Christianity is anti-scientific. However, that is why apologetics is a vital tool for intellectual inquiry. The secular academic community may try to convince everyone that the creationists (old or young earth) have no substantive opinion in any discussion involving serious science. Through apologetics, more specifically natural theology, we can communicate a worldview that is more scientifically and philosophically aligned with reality than any materialist or naturalistic worldview.

4) How does the church overcome the accusation of being ‘simplistic’ and ‘judgmental’ concerning sexuality? When a culture is absorbed with perversion and lust, is it even possible to dispel the notion that the church is out of touch with the culture on this matter to the point that we’re not being accused of being judgmental? Ironically, do you notice that the accusation of the church being ‘judgmental’ is a judgment against the church? Maybe it’s a matter of how we express our disagreement rather than the mere fact of our disagreement in many instances? Learning how to disagree and discuss ideas without attacking the person’s character would be a step in the right direction. Apologetics can assist in the way we communicate our faith with people of all backgrounds. Most times, Christians take the pro-life and pro-traditional marriage positions that are often controversial in today’s culture which is increasingly celebrating the existence of abortion-on-demand and same-sex marriage. We must be prepared to have an educated dialogue without being prosecutorial with those who disagree. Without any preparation, we cannot be ready to change the culture towards Christ.

5) The “Coexist” bumper sticker attempts to communicate an inclusive message to those traveling behind them on the highway. I understand why the complaint of exclusivity would arise. Most people aren’t turned on by ideologies creating a cultural divide rather than unity. It is absolutely true that the church needs to become more inviting to all people! Skeptics, prostitutes, druggies, homeless, drunks, homosexuals, you name it! We’re called through the Great Commission to bring them to a place where they can ultimately find the Word of Christ and receive healing! The caveat to this inclusive approach to Christianity is that salvation is exclusive to the followers of Christ. That is why we must persuasively communicate to unbelievers the eternal consequences of rejecting a saving relationship with Christ. The parody of the ‘Coexist’ bumper sticker is a bumper sticker with the word ‘Contradict’ on it. Not all roads lead to heaven folks. Apologetics can assist in making a strong cumulative case for Christ and we should do so as loving ambassadors for Christ.

6) Being unfriendly to doubters and skeptics is grossly juvenile. In fact, the church should welcome inquiry from these young minds! Every young believer has their fair share of questions. If they can’t explore their doubts within the safeguards of the church, they will naturally look outside of the church. If their doubts and skepticisms are not adequately addressed by trusted and informed Christians, it will likely result in a slowly deteriorating Christian faith that will eventually collapse once they enter higher level academic institutions where it is put to the test. We cannot allow this to happen because of our intellectual laziness. We must take the needed effort to address theological objections and doubts head on. This will allow our Christian youth to observe how objections can be addressed with intellectual integrity. Apologetics can present the youth with a methodology of addressing an intellectual roadblock that will result with them personally feeling like they’ve overcome a doubt. This process has led many to skeptics to faith. Sometimes all it takes is a little hard work of your own to see the light.

Conclusion

I’ve examined six reasons that the modern day youth cites as contributing factors to the drastic drop in church attendance and how apologetics can be a vehicle that the church uses for stimulating a higher retention rate among the youth demographic. These are the concerns that are plaguing their worlds and we must address them with intellectual integrity or we will eventually lose them to a secular worldview. Try to imagine yourself as a young doubter without much of a theological foundation to reply upon in today’s culture. The attacks are immense and they are surrounded by the constant temptation to sin and abandon their faith because the relativist worldview of the nonbeliever seems much more alluring at first glance.

The youth are the most vulnerable to conversion because they are generally the least mature in Christianity. When I was in my early twenties, I found apologetics to give me perspective on my relationship with God and the world’s relationship with Christianity. Without purposefully pursuing apologetics as a young man, I wouldn’t have come to know Christ as I presently do. I personally experienced the intellectual objections from atheists and I remember the feeling of hopelessness when I couldn’t answer an objection to my faith. It made me feel like I had committed myself to a false worldview.

If I never turned to apologetics for help with these matters, I can’t say for certain that I’d be a Christian. God worked through apologetics to reach me and eventually use me as a guide to others suffering with these types of issues as well. Sometimes someone does have to suffer a short-term hardship to strengthen them and perhaps my intellectual hardship exposed me to apologetics which led to a lifelong passion of intellectually worshiping the Lord. My prayer is that our young Christians will discover the benefits of using apologetics and use it to turn a culture towards Christ.

Sources

• https://www.barna.org/teens-next-gen-articles/528-six-reasons-young-christians-leave-church
• http://www.christianitytoday.com/edstetzer/2014/may/dropouts-and-disciples-how-many-students-are-really-leaving.html?paging=off
• http://www.churchleaders.com/children/childrens-ministry-articles/166129-marc-solas-10-surprising-reasons-our-kids-leave-church.html

October 17, 2014
Death by a Thousand Paper Cuts

I recently had the genuine privilege of attending a lecture at Ohio State University hosted by Ratio Christi where J Warner Wallace gave a lecture titled “The Bible on Trial”. Personally, I have been blessed enough to become personally acquainted with J Warner Wallace by attending Cross Examined Instructors Academy (CIA) in August 2013 where he was one of the instructors. Coincidentally, Jim and I stayed at the same hotel along with multiple other CIA students while attending CIA in North Carolina at Southern Evangelical Seminary. Since we were all staying at the same hotel, it seemed to make sense that we all meet for breakfast. We were all tremendously excited to partake in a meal with Jim and talk about apologetics. With all of us having read Cold Case Christianity, we knew of Jim’s cold-case investigative background and were fascinated by his unique outlook and evidential approach to the Christian faith. We, as novice apologists by comparison, were eating up every moment we had with Jim in the morning. From my perspective, what serves as the most powerful tool in Jim’s bag is his natural ability to develop and persuasively communicate a cumulative case for the historicity of the Bible. This is what he calls, “death by a thousand paper cuts”. Meaning that after so many pieces of circumstantial evidences are gathered, one cannot escape reaching the conclusion that Jesus is a historical person and that he was who he said he was.

The phrase “death by a thousand paper cuts” is one that has stuck with me since I heard it. This approach is not solely unique to J Warner Wallace even though Jim is among the best implementers of it. You can see this approach illustrated among the best Christian thinkers of our time. For those that make a solid case for Christianity, they use multiple arguments to make their cumulative case as to provide a more impactful effect on those they intend to persuade. For example, if an atheist wants to convert me from my Christianity to atheism, he will need a very strong cumulative case that refutes all of my presently held beliefs that persuade me that Christianity is true. Obviously, one argument is not going to dissuade me from believing in evidence for Christianity such as objective morality, fine-tuning of the universe, and the resurrection of Christ. An atheist would need multiple arguments to build a compelling cumulative case as to why I should consider atheism as a more reasonable explanation of reality than Christian theism. The same is true for the Christians who want to convince unbelievers of the truth claims of Christianity.

Given the ‘death by a thousand paper cuts’ approach, what are the most effective arguments for the existence of Christian theism that will help build up a solid case for the Christian worldview in the face of skeptics in a way that shows the perfect alignment that Christianity has with reality? While there are dozens of arguments for the existence of Christian theism, there are some that pack more punch than others. The prominent Christian philosopher William Lane Craig uses many of the same arguments in most of his debates on the existence of God for a good reason. That reason is because they are effective and that skeptics have never replied in a manner that served as a reasonable refutation of these arguments.

The arguments that are put forward by Christian apologists encompass theology, philosophy, science, and history. A proficiency in all of these areas will assist in one’s capabilities as an effective apologist. As J Warner Wallace likes to put it, we need to strive towards being a competent ‘One Dollar Apologist’. This phrase was not meant to imply that we should sell ourselves short and not make an attempt to be the best case-makers we can be. Being a ‘One Dollar Apologist’ essentially implies that everyone is not destined to be the next William Lane Craig, Ravi Zacharias, John Lennox, Frank Turek, Josh McDowell, and the like. It is not realistic to think that all of us will get our doctorate in philosophy or theology and publish mainstream literature and influence an entire culture. However, a One Dollar apologist can make a significant difference within his or her own scope. A One Dollar apologist can be just as effective within our own sphere of influence if we are prepared to do so. It is true that we can occasionally reach unbelievers in a way that the bigger names in apologetics cannot because of our specific placement in an unbeliever’s life. We have the ability to develop personal relationships and show direct love to people in a way that is not possible for the ‘Million Dollar’ apologist! Basically, be proud to be a One Dollar Apologist!

All apologists from all backgrounds need to know which arguments to be fluent in if they are ever in a position to make the case for their Christian faith to a skeptic. I will list what arguments I feel are absolutely necessary to be familiar with for a strong cumulative case. Think of it as your ‘Essentials Kit’ for Christian apologetics and these arguments will serve as the foundation for making a sound cumulative apologetic for Christianity. I will provide a brief summary of the argument and follow it up with a informative video of the argument that will describe it in more detail.

Kalam Cosmological Argument

This is one of my favorite scientific and philosophic arguments for the existence of a personal theistic God. Obviously, this argument was not designed to prove the Christian religion true specifically. However, it does show that the cause of the universe must have properties that are consistent with a personal, all knowing, and all powerful God. Below is the structure of this argument:

1) Anything that begins to exist has a cause
2) The universe began to exist
3) Therefore, the universe had a cause

The Fine-Tuning Argument

Many nonbelievers consider this argument for the existence of God to be the most scientifically persuasive. I would have to largely agree with them. Trying to account for all of the laws, constants, and quantities that can be objectively measured and observed within our universe from a naturalistic framework requires much more faith than the design hypothesis because the odds against these various conditions being the way they are by chance is so incomprehensibly small as to be make the naturalistic hypothesis nearly impossible. Below is the structure of this argument:

1) The fine-tuning of the universe is due to either physical necessity, chance, or design
2) It is not due to physical necessity or chance
3) Therefore, it is due to design

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpIiIaC4kRA

The Moral Argument

This is the type of argument that convinced C.S. Lewis to turn from his atheism to Christianity. The idea that objective values and duties exist seems like a commonly accepted fact among most (if not all) of humanity. The reality is that without the existence of all-powerful moral law giver (aka God), there cannot be an objective moral standard by which we can measure moral good versus bad. All moral actions would be subjective to each individual if God does not exist. If there is no objective standard that transcends ourselves, we are utterly incapable of making any objective moral judgments of any kind. Below is the structure of this argument:

1) If God does not exist, objective moral values and duties do not exist
2) Objective moral values and duties exist
3) Therefore, God exists

The Minimal Facts Argument for the Resurrection of Christ

This has become one of the most effective arguments for the resurrection of Christ and it has been made popular by New Testament scholars Gary Habermas and Mike Licona. The reason why it is so effective is because it uses five simple and easy to remember facts that a large majority of New Testament scholarship agree on (believers and non-believers alike), which allow reasonable and objective truth-seekers to come to a reliable historical conclusion about the resurrection. Below are the minimal facts:

1) Jesus died by crucifixion
2) The disciples of Jesus were sincerely convinced that he rose from the dead and appeared to them
3) Paul (aka Saul of Tarsus), who was a persecutor of the Christians, suddenly changed his beliefs towards Christianity
4) James (brother of Jesus), who was a skeptic of the Christian faith, suddenly changed his beliefs towards Christianity
5) The Tomb of Jesus was found empty three days after the crucifixion of Jesus

The Argument from Personal Experience

This argument is probably the easiest argument of them all. You can know God wholly apart from evidence through personal experience. Obviously, one’s experience of God is subjective for each individual. Not everyone’s experience of God is going to be identical but we are nonetheless rational to believe that God would have a saving personal relationship with us and that we should personally experience this relationship if this type of personal God existed. Below is a video of William Lane Craig explaining the argument from personal experience:

Conclusion
In conclusion, these five arguments will get the ball rolling towards making a strong cumulative case for the Christian faith. However that isn’t to say that you won’t need to pick up a book and do some studying to master these arguments in more detail to become proficient in them. Another important tool is to study the objections that unbelievers pose against these arguments as to more thoroughly understand the strengths and weaknesses of each argument. Even when one argument seems reasonably convincing, one argument is not likely going to change the mind of a devout unbeliever. In fact, it is unreasonable for any Christian to believe that an unbeliever would convert to Christianity in a single discussion. We need to trust that the Holy Spirit will convict the unbeliever to freely accept Jesus Christ as their Savior in his or her own time. We are merely the vehicle through which the Holy Spirit works through. We must prepare ourselves in a way that will allow us to identify an opportunity to speak with our unbelieving friends about these matters and open up new dialogues on these matters that will hopefully nudge them towards salvation. Let us strive towards comprehending these arguments and learning how to communicate them in a way that is persuasive and appealing to unbelievers and that they will feel the love of Christ in the process.

October 12, 2014
Apologetics Manifesto

Why should Christians desire to become proficient case-makers for their Christian faith? This is the implicit question that is continually posed throughout the modern day American church; which raises other theologically relevant questions. Should Christians be content with living their comfortable Christian lives in a little church bubble while avoiding substantive dialogue with individuals that differ (aka heathens!) because they feel unprepared to winsomely respond with persuasive reasons for their Christianity? Anyone who has grown up in the church or has been around their fair share of Christians will realize that many (if not most) have neglected their Biblical studies and have not been deliberate in seeking out the answers to Christianity’s tough questions.

By way of analogy, many Christians are the possums of western society. When found in a confrontational situation, they play dead till the threat passes. Once the threat has past, they will resurrect from their faked death and continue their comfy lifestyles alongside other like-minded possums. As a result of this passivity, the threats multiply without secession because they have never been challenged, resulting in an exponential growth of the threat itself. The occasional brave possum cannot halt the rise of the threat to any meaningful degree. It will take the entire pack of possums to bravely stand against the threat in order to truly change the lives of all possums for the better. In the same way, a very small fraction of well spoken articulate Christians cannot shoulder the burden of influencing a secular culture into a culture that seriously acknowledges the merits of Christianity. It will take the whole pack of Christians to be dedicated to their Biblical cause in order to overcome the seemingly terrifying challenges that face us so we can make a real difference for Christ.

Am I being too critical by making a parallel between the intellectually lazy and passive Christians and cowardly possums who fake their deaths when threatened? I do not think so. Both groups are reacting in a similar way to advance their earthly existence without too much adverse confrontation with those who threaten their cause and existence. As far as I can tell (all possums aside), there is no Biblical support for the intellectual backwardness of avoiding or even condemning Christian apologetics. Christ made it perfectly clear that His followers will face afflictions and He called us to take up our cross and bear these afflictions with open arms (Matthew 10:38). However, we must honestly ask ourselves, is studying the Word of God and tackling the challenges that serve as intellectual or emotional roadblocks for our unbelieving and skeptical friends a burdensome cross? Or is it our privilege of being ambassadors for Christ? For me, I attest to the latter.

Does everyone love studying after a busy day? Do most people like the idea of worshiping the Lord through study? While this may not sound appealing on the surface to everyone, the notion that a studious lifestyle can result in knowing the God of Creation in a more intimate fashion is enough to motivate me to spend an extra hour or two in study with the Lord. The thought that I can know my Creator through study overwhelms my soul! If God is real, as I contend that He is, why would anyone not want to take every opportunity to learn about Him on an intellectual level so that they may deepen their own relationship with Christ along with preparing themselves to communicate the Word more knowledgeably and persuasively to unbelievers? For all Christians, this should be a no-brainer!

Presently, there are people in some dark parts of the world that cannot legally have a Bible in their possession without the threat of execution. In more recent times, we have observed Christian men, women, and children being executed for nothing more than professing their faith in Jesus Christ. These amazing Christians gave their lives because Jesus is Lord and they could not reject this fact on the delusional whim of a madman. If you can, imagine how you would respond if you were put in the same life-or-death scenario when a knife is at your throat or a gun is at your head? Is your faith strong enough to withstand the threat of execution in the name of Jesus? These courageous Christians who loved Christ enough to die for Him would cringe at the notion that Christians in America do not freely and openly practice their Christian faith in the way that the Word instructs, including the practice of intellectual worship. Many of these Christians who were executed did not have access to Bibles or other Christian literature and resources; but imagine if they did. If they were passionate enough to stand in the face of death for their Christian faith, do you think they would let the prospect of intellectual challenges obstruct them from loving the Lord with all of their mind? I seriously doubt it. Let’s appreciate about how lucky we are to practice our Christianity without the threat of death, at least by comparison to how brutally persecuted our Christian brothers and sisters are in some parts of the world. Let’s not take Christian apologetics for granted as these martyred Christians would have done anything to worship the Lord in the same way that we have the liberty to in the United States.

As far as scripture is concerned, are we called by the Word to become good case-makers for the Christian faith? Are their examples of it in the scriptures? If so, what are the examples of it in the text? Let’s take a look….

1 Peter 3:15 – sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence

2 Corinthians 10:5 – We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ,

Philippians 1:7 – It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart and, whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me.

Acts 22:1 – Brothers and fathers, listen now to my defense.

Acts 25:16 – I [Paul] told them that it is not the Roman custom to hand over anyone before they have faced their accusers and have had an opportunity to defend themselves against the charges

Matthew 22:15-33 (example of apologetics with Jesus ) – Paying the Imperial Tax to Caesar – ¹⁵Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words. 16 They sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians. “Teacher,” they said, “we know that you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are. 17 Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not?”

¹⁸But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, “You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me? ¹⁹Show me the coin used for paying the tax.” They brought him a denarius, ²⁰and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?”

²¹“Caesar’s,” they replied.

Then he said to them, “So give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”

²²When they heard this, they were amazed. So they left him and went away.

Marriage at the Resurrection

²³That same day the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him with a question. ²⁴“Teacher,” they said, “Moses told us that if a man dies without having children, his brother must marry the widow and raise up offspring for him. ²⁵Now there were seven brothers among us. The first one married and died, and since he had no children, he left his wife to his brother. ²⁶The same thing happened to the second and third brother, right on down to the seventh. ²⁷Finally, the woman died. ²⁸Now then, at the resurrection, whose wife will she be of the seven, since all of them were married to her?”

²⁹Jesus replied, “You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God. ³⁰At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven. ³¹But about the resurrection of the dead—have you not read what God said to you, ³²‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead but of the living.”

³³When the crowds heard this, they were astonished at his teaching.

Matthew 22:37-29 – Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’

Colossians 2:8-9 – See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ. For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form.

Jude 3 – Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people.

Acts 17:24-31 (example of apologetics with Paul) – ²⁴“The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. ²⁵And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. ²⁶From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. ²⁷God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. ²⁸‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’

²⁹“Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by human design and skill. ³⁰In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. ³¹For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.”

While there are many more scriptures within the Bible that support the practice of apologetics within our Christian worldview, this is a good introductory Biblical apologetic for apologetics. With this in Biblical perspective, do you feel we have a legitimate reason to care about apologetics? The fact is that the scriptures directly support the practice of apologetics. Jesus and Paul are two excellent examples of the effectiveness of apologetics! If Jesus used apologetic methods in his discourse during his ministry, do you feel it might be wise to follow in the path of the One who our faith is based on? Christians who easily dismiss apologetics might not necessarily realize how apologetics was practiced in Jesus’ own ministry and how there are documented historical accounts were apologetics was successfully practiced by the apostles. Along with the scriptures that directly call for our intellectual preparedness in this way, they also illustrate the brilliant example that Christ and others have set for us.

For the sake of clarity, I would like to make one thing clear in order to avoid a common accusation (among all apologists) that I am claiming that apologetics is the be-all and end-all for achieving a healthy Christian faith. Important theological questions arise from this accusation. Is the active practice of apologetics Biblically commanded? Yes. Is apologetics a necessary factor for salvation? No. However, can winsome apologetics help lead the lost to a saving relationship with Christ and deepen one’s own relationship with the Lord? YES! The Great Commission (Matthew 28:16-20) commands us to make disciples of all the nations. Since Christians are tasked with such a massive objective, it would be wise to prepare oneself to effectively plant the seed and pray that it comes to harvest through the Holy Spirit.

This article was not meant to be a tirade against those that do not find their spiritual strengths aligning with the practice of apologetic case-making. I have plenty of spiritual weaknesses! While I have accepted the fact that I am weak in some areas does not necessarily mean that I refuse to work on these weaknesses, especially if I am Biblically commanded to perform these tasks. For example, I have always struggled with my prayer life. Obviously, prayer is commanded in the Bible! Is it a Christian practice to pick-and-choose which parts of the Bible I want to abide by and which ones I want to ignore? As Christians, we do not have authority to pick and choose which verses we like out of the Bible. With all scripture considered as inerrant, we must nurture our spiritual gifts and ask God to give us strength where we need it the most. All things are possible through the Lord.

In closing, apologetics has enriched my relationship with the Lord more than I ever could have imagined. It has given me an understanding of the Lord that I otherwise would not have had if I was not actively pursuing my studies as an ambassador for Christ. Not only am I prepared to give a defense for the hope that I have in Christ, I am now in a position to train others to do the same. While I have grown in my passion for apologetics, I still see people rejecting this practice as irrelevant because they do not see the immediate applicability in their lives. I would encourage those that feel this way to take a closer look at what the Bible says on this matter and let that dictate how they live their lives rather than making excuses to avoid it. My prayer (and yes, in my weakness I still pray) is that God would convict you to love the Lord with your entire mind and realize that society needs an army of thinking Christians to combat the rise of secular society.

“I do not feel obliged to believe that same God who endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect had intended for us to forgo their use.” – Galileo

October 5, 2014
The Backfire of Apologetics

The Christians that study the topics of apologetics understand the massive benefit it has in our spiritual lives. We’re able to intellectually push ourselves deeper into the material. Oftentimes, we become addicted to learning about this stuff. For me, I never wanted to learn about anything else. I read everything I could get my hands on. I watched every debate I could find. I listened to as many podcasts as possible. This happened for years, and is still happening to a large degree. Christian theology, philosophy, science, and history have become a daily part of my studies. The Lord has led me greatly in this area. I consider my studies as a form of worship.

However, have we ever examined whether or not our apologetic studies could potentially backfire on us? Is it possible to become so consumed with apologetics that we overlook the reasons why we’re doing it in the first place? For example, I wanted to become fluent enough in my Christian faith to answer the ‘hard questions’ so that I could effectively communicate my faith with others and to protect me from squandering any evangelistic opportunities due to ignorance. Now that I’ve gotten to a place where I’m fluent enough in my faith to intelligibly speak on these issues with confidence and persuasion, I’m still seeking God through my studies. However, am I letting it negatively affect my relationship with Christ?

Dr. William Lane Craig often warns us of getting too ‘caught up’ in worrying about arguments that we fail to work on our relationship with God. As apologists for the Lord, we should never become so focused on looking for evidence that we look beyond our personal relationship with God. If this happens, we’re not moving forward in our relationship with the Lord. What benefit are we gaining by neglecting our relationship with God by focusing on topics that only tell us more about God? For example, I can study my wife from afar (not like a creepy stalker), talk to her friends about her qualities, speak with her family about her personality and past history, etc… but until I invest time in developing the relationship with her personally, I won’t reap the benefits of my relationship with her. The same applies with God. Until we dive into his Word, pray continually, and worship Him, we’re not going to advance our relationship with the God who we’re trying adamantly to learn about.

We can’t neglect our relationship with God. We must wisely prioritize our studies as to not ignore our relationship with the Lord. While God wants us to love him with our minds, he doesn’t want us to overlook loving Him with our heart, soul, and strength. These are just as important as loving Him with our mind. This could potentially be a backfire of apologetics that might creep up on us if we fail to prioritize properly. Sometimes it isn’t a bad idea to give yourself a reality check to ensure that you’re placing your priorities where they should be.

Below is a helpful video of apologist Mary Jo Sharp on this topic:

December 3, 2013