|
Apologetics – Don’t look lightly on it by Glen S. Harnish |
||
|
TOPICS within article: Personal thoughts/facts of Christianity Growth of the cults and the problem we have Read your Bible, that’s all you need Sports The Cross is all we need Christianity, just another religion Personal Experiences What’s the point? They won’t listen Reason Why Some Won’t Listen? Ya, But the question is does the Bible support Apologetics? What if I’m not an apologetic? Does it make me less? So what’s the problem? Conclusion Apologetics*: a branch of theology devoted to the defence of the divine origin and authority of Christianity Theology*: The study of God and of God’s relation to the world Source from Britannica Encyclopedia PERSONAL THOUGHTS/FACTS OF CHRISTIANITY I am writing this article for the sole purpose of hoping to make people realize what is meant when someone claims to study apologetics. And to show that proof, science and evidence does in fact correspond with the faith that we have in Christ. As you can see Apologetics is simply the defence of what one believes. Some people will claim proof and facts do not correspond with our Faith. Even Christians will claim that trying to prove something or show the facts in our faith is ridiculous and needed not be done. A man by the name of D.E. Jenkins on the other hand could remark: “Christianity is based on indisputable facts” People will say to ones that study apologetics and defence against other religions or study of certain topics as something that is secondary. The first and foremost thing is the preaching of the cross 1Co 1:18 For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. The Christian that claims, that all we need is the simple plain presentation of the gospel. The proclamation that “Jesus is the Messiah!, the blood of Christ cleanseth us from all sin!” is very correct. There is no better message, no better study then the study of the Saviour, -- of my Saviour. But I believe what is happening is that many people do not understand what apologetics truly is. Any man or woman that has a desire to study and defend the Bible from the opening verse to the closing one is not one that takes the cross of Christ lightly. In fact I do believe and can testify that the defence of Christianity and the study of many different topics has helped me greatly in having a much greater appreciation of the one who has died for me. GROWTH OF THE CULTS AND THE PROBLEM WE HAVE As you can see if you look at results published by the Watchtower and other cults around the world, they are on the increase. There seems to be a mass wholesale abandonment of the fundamental core of Christian beliefs, at the understanding that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah. The understanding that the Holy Bible is from God, but why is this? There are many reasons that can be given to perhaps why, but may I zero in on one in particular? Apologist Josh McDowell I feel sums up part of our solution very well: “Some people say the best offence is a good defence, but I say unto you that the best defence is a good offence.” An expert on Cults by the name of Dr. Walter Martin one time could say about the “Jehovah’s Witnesses”: “the average Jehovah’s Witness could make a ‘doctrinal pretzel’ out of the average Christian in about 30 seconds” I guess the next question that pops up is. Should this concern us? Should it concern me? Should it be our concern that the Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons and other groups have false claims? We could always say “well God will speak to them; the cross will do the work.” Using that line of logic would work well except it can be applied to the gospel as well. “Why preach? Why speak to others, God will reach them, He’ll speak to them.” You may say well preaching is scriptural. I believe so is defence and reasoning of the faith. That will be touched on later. READ YOUR BIBLE, THAT’S ALL YOU NEED Many people would tell you, to not get involved with certain thoughts of cults and other organizations because it could be very dangerous. I whole heartedly agree with that. If one is not secure in what they believe. I highly suggest they search out what they believe first. In fact Paul claims this: 1 Thessalonians 5: 21 Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. So by no means am I saying, “ok everyone get out there and start hammering away at other’s faults.” Of course not, that is incorrect and not at all supported by God’s word. Let’s go back to McDowell’s quote for a moment. Is it true that the best offence is a good defence? Well may I add that your offense will not be very good if you have no defence? Reading your Bible is indeed all you need, but are we reading it correctly? There is of course the enjoyment of reading it, but when one says, the best offense is a great defence is that all? I remember listening to Jehovah’s Witnesses as they spoke to Christians that truly love their Saviour and read their Bible, but a problem arises. The person that reads their Bible is suddenly attacked from an angle they have never even heard of before. A verse is pulled up that they weren’t fully aware of, now what? I have seen this happen and the conversation suddenly falls away and the Jehovah’s Witness walks away thinking, he’s won a victory. I believe what Mr. McDowell is saying is something that should be addressed to many Christians. Our defence is weak and we have no offense SPORTS Let us look at the game of Hockey for a moment. Each team has the offense, defence and also the goalie. Let us look at the goalie first. If you have the greatest goalie in the world, playing his greatest game ever and the team still loses, is it his fault? It is very likely not his fault but the defence and offense of the team. Let us use for illustration the goalie as the Word of God. The Word of God can never fail. It is the greatest of all writings we have today. It is God’s living word. It never loses. But onlookers may think “man that guy’s Bible isn’t very reliable.” Is it the Bible’s fault? Of course not; it’s the defence and offense. Look at the defence for a moment. You may have a superb defense, it never fails. You have the ability to firmly stand in what you believe, but when it comes to being challenged you say what you need to say and quickly back off. You slam your door in the lost person’s face and feel you have done justice. And perhaps you have for this reason…. Your offense is seriously lacking. The offense of a team is the one that the majority of the time scores goals. They are the ones with the responsibility of charging the oppositions net, getting past their goalie and scoring a goal. So let me ask you a question, could it possibly be that one reason the cults are growing is because your offense is out of shape? Are you showing the falsehoods of cults, or are you one that would become a pretzel from the sputtering of another? Is your defence good enough to stand the attack and your offence good enough to plant a seed of doubt in their mind? THE CROSS IS ALL WE NEED Many people will say, “preach Calvary, that is all you need, do not mess with the study of other things, it is not those things that get people saved, but only the cross.” This is very true. And apologetics in fact is not the act of taking away from the cross. Not at all! In fact it is the uplifting of the cross. For creation, Old Testament studies can not be done effectively at all if Christ is not the centre point of it. Benjamin Warfield of Princeton University could sum up apologetics very well. “We are not absurdly arguing that Apologetics has in itself the power to make a man a Christian or to conquer the world to Christ. Only the Spirit of Life can communicate life to a dead soul…But we are arguing that faith is, in all it’s exercises alike, a form of conviction, and is therefore, necessarily grounded in evidence.” Christ did not ask people to blindly believe Him; no He could proclaim that one could know the truth and the truth would make them free, John 8:32 CHRISTIANITY JUST ANOTHER RELIGION Many people feel that Christianity is just another religion. Just believe it, it’s as good as any other. I believe one reason this impression is given is because we have not gotten a grasp on something, that a man named Paul Little could say: “Faith in Christianity is based on evidence. It is reasonable faith. Faith in the Christian sense goes beyond reason but not against it.” Christianity for people should be a look into light, not darkness. There should be an awww come from someone who realizes that his or her answers can be answered and that Christianity is understandable, it is based on accuracy and facts and the core of Christianity is Christ. So the faith that is not blind is the faith that is based in the creator of the World. – The Lord Jesus Christ. PERSONAL EXPERIENCES People will say, “Just preach the gospel, people will listen.” Can I perhaps suggest that there’s two points of the gospel, one being nature as you can see in Romans 1, and then also the Cross. God uses two things to reach people. As you read the true experiences of people think upon them. Notice that all came to Christ but it was after a seed of doubt had been removed. Perhaps look at it with this analogy. You may have a lighthouse but it’s not doing it’s job unless it’s turned on and shinning through the fog.” So to understand that; we have the word of God. We can point to it and say, “this is God’s lighthouse” it will direct people to the Saviour. How true that statement is, but God has put the lighthouse in our hands. He has asked us in a way to turn it on. To use it, to defend it, to remove obstacles and in doing so, the fog will lift and what will one see? The wonderful Saviour. Good Experiences Experience 1: “I couldn't accept the gospel because I seen flaws in the Trinity, I figured if they [Christians] couldn't answer JW's then they must be wrong and hence wrong about the gospel as well.” –Name withheld Let us be thankful that this experience turned out well. Why? Because that person found the answer that was bothering him, he found what he was looking for, and what happened? In doing so he found Christ. Experience 2: “Yes, I had to take a step of faith, as we do in every decision we make in life. But here’s the crucial distinction: I was no longer trying to swim upstream against the strong current of evidence; instead I was choosing to go in the same direction that the torrent of facts was flowing. That was reasonable, that was rational, that was logical. What’s more, in an inner and inexplicable way, it was also what I sensed God’s Spirit was nudging me to do….on November 8th, 1981 ….I…receiving the gift of forgiveness and eternal life through Jesus.” – Lee Strobel “The Case For Christ” As ones will know that have read Lee Strobel’s books. He at one time was an Atheist that rejected Christ and believed it all to be a superstition. But when the evidence was weighed up, he realized that this one named Jesus Christ was real. He did die for his sins, and He trusted Christ as His Saviour. Bad Experiences: Experience 3: “I was taking a course in the theory of evolution and, as an assignment, was reading George Gaylord Simpson’s book “The Meaning of Evolution.” I couldn’t put it down. I was hooked. I decided to be a palaeontologist so I could learn more about evolution.” – John H. Ostrom (quote taken from “The Riddle of the Dinosaurs” pg. 7, by John Noble Wilford.) In now way am I saying there is something wrong with palaeontology. But let me ask you this question. Is there a possibility that this man would have sought Christ instead of evolution, if there had of been someone there perhaps with a book explaining the wonders of God’s creation? Or telling Him how the one that created the wonderful dinosaurs was the same one that died for his sins? WHAT’S THE POINT? THEY WON’T LISTEN Some people feel no point in apologetics for the sole purpose of. “ya but how many actually feel that way.” Or they may feel that there’s no real point. The people with wrong views are caught up in their ways and there’s no turning them. . In some cases that is true. Let me give you two quotes of people and then tell yourself if we have the authority to decide which topic should not be addressed. Ask yourself if you can truly tell yourself that there is no one confused on something. Ask yourself if it’s worth the gamble to ignore a subject and perhaps not help a soul find salvation: “My wife and I have probably called on thousands of homes between the two of us. Not once did we encounter anyone who shared their testimony or their faith in Christ with us. Lot’s of people would say something like, “oh, you’re that group that doesn’t believe in hell” or “you don’t believe in the Trinity.” Most people spoke to us in negative terms, telling us our beliefs were wrong, but never bothered to tell us what was right. Nobody ever said anything about the love of Jesus Christ. No one ever tried to witness to us at the door.” -- Chuck Love (ex-Jehovah’s Witness, now Christian.) Another encounter of the opposite was made by Josh McDowell as he could recall in his book “The New Evidence that Demands a Verdict” He could tell of a student he met in a New England university that claimed he had an intellectual problem with the New Testament. Claiming it was unreliable. Josh McDowell could offer him help in that if he could show the young man that the New Testament is one of the most reliable pieces of literature of antiquity would he believe. The student quickly snapped back that no, he would not believe. Josh McDowell could end the conversation saying: “You don’t have a problem with your mind, but with your will.” (intro. Xii) With that said, it should be clear to us that there are some people out there that simply won’t listen, but then there are other people out there longing for something more. As you can see for Mr. Love, it was as if he longed for someone to tell him about the truth. To show him he was wrong and direct him in the way of truth. REASONS WHY SOME WON’T LISTEN It is one thing to know a lot on a certain topic. It’s one thing to study in hopes of helping others, to learn the false ways of someone and fix them. In a sense a Christian assisting someone should think of what they’re doing as a heart surgeon. If a heart surgeon is too rough or does something wrong, they’ll do more harm. There is an Indian Proverb that goes “Once you cut off a person’s nose, there’s no pointing giving him a rose to smell”. A lot of times we approach someone the wrong way. Think of this well known example: GODISNOWHERE What does it say? You may instantly say “it says God is now here!”. Yet a person you are talking to may say “no it says God is no where.” Now what are you going to do? Are you going to say, “no you’re absolutely wrong! It is so obvious you’re wrong!” That is exactly why some won’t listen. Even though we may be right we are not explaining it to them so they go away thinking “ha they did nothing my view is the right one.” The goal of defending the truth is to not throw opinions back and forth. The other person sees the same thing you do and to him or her it is just as plain. The evidence is correct their conclusion is wrong. Your goal is to intelligently take the time to show that other person that it is only reasonable to believe that God is now here. The other option simply does not stand up to the evidence. When you do that, then it’s up to the person to listen or reject. YA BUT THE QUESTION IS, DOES THE BIBLE SUPPORT APOLOGETICS? I firmly believe that the Bible does support apologetics, or the defence of your belief and the influence of others to understand the truth, but as you can see from the examples in the Bible, it was always done in a very kind, friendly way. To show the person one did not think they were better then the other, but to show that they longed for all to know the truth about God. Lord Jesus Christ Lu 2:46 And it came to pass, that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions. Mt 10:16 Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. We see here that Christ Himself could be found reasoning with the people of His day. He could approach the ones that were learned and answer their questions. I am quite sure the ones that He would ask them back would make them confused and make them think. But look at Matthew as well. God instructs His disciples and us as well in how to approach the world. If we are speaking to someone about something we are to be very gentle like doves. Unlike what we tend to do, to go into a discussion with both arms flying and only seeing red. Yet Christ also tells us to be as serpents, to be cunning and wise in our actions. We are to be calm yet at the same time insure that our point gets across to the validity of God’s message. Paul 1 Thessalonians 5: 21 Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. Acts 17: 2 And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures, We see two things here that are very important to take note of. Paul tells us to prove all things even our own doctrines. Study them, ensure their accuracy. For how can we properly go on the offensive if our own truths are not firmly planted within ourselves? Then Paul tells us to hold fast, to stand our ground on the truths of our Lord. But look at Acts chapter 17. I recommend you to read the entire chapter. It gives you a look into the way that Paul thought as well a great tool to tell us how to act towards others when having discussions with them. As you can see in verse 2 Paul would always go to where the people were and reason with them from the scriptures. He would discuss things in an attempt to make people realize the truth, and many times it worked. Yet notice something special about later in the chapter. Earlier in verse 2 he could be in Thessalonica teaching. Then as he moved to Athens and roamed the streets, it would grieve him over the idols that were being used. (v.16) But we see Paul still discussing the scriptures with the Jews and others in verse 17. Then we see Paul encounter ones very similar to what Christians encounter today. Philosophers came to Paul and other religious leaders. He could have things said to him as we would hear today, that it is just a superstition; that Jesus Christ is not real. He could I am sure hear the Jews as they could tell him how he was wrong and they were right. Then others standing by that would laugh at the whole idea. But what did Paul do? He did not go around telling everyone that they were wrong and he was right. No because he realized the pointlessness in this method. Paul went with the religious leaders and attended the place where they sat and discussed religions and thoughts. (v.19) Then we see in verse 22 how Paul could begin. This is a very important lesson for us as well. Paul began to compliment them. He could tell them of how religious they were. Paul attempted to find common ground so that the people would listen. Then he could begin. He could reason with them and then what did he do? He would lead it up to the core of every message – Jesus Christ. Paul was very much an apologist. He was continually defending the word and speaking to others. He was not afraid to go on the offensive. He would go where the people were, and reason with them, in a very kind way, when the barriers were moved away and the people realized that Jesus Christ was the Messiah, many were saved. Peter 1 Peter 3: 15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear: Peter was a very apologetic person. His overzealous character could get him in a bind sometimes, but over time you see Peter learned something very important and is something we should learn as well. We should put God first in our life, and be in fellowship with him, and what else does he say? He tells us to be ready, to always be ready to give an answer for what we believe. As Peter can see there will be people that doubt the message that will ridicule Christians. But Peter instructs us to be ready. And to present the truth in two very important ways. In meekness, which in no way shows weakness but instead Peter is asking us to present the power of the truth in a very meek way, so to not turn one off. We have the truth, now we must present it in a proper manner. Then also fear. Fear for the person listening as the truth falls upon their ears, and also fear of God. For what we are doing is presenting His Holy Word, let us not use it lightly. WHAT IF I’M NOT AN APOLOGIST? DOES THAT MAKE ME LESS? Ac 5:42 And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ. 2Ti 2:2 And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also. We see here that there were certain ones that would teach. In no way does this mean that there should be one man in a church teaching the doctrines and lessons from the Bible. There may be one man that understands a certain topic better then another. It should be his privilege and also his duty to get up and teach the others on this topic. 1 Peter 2: 2 As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: 3 If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious. Also in no way should one feel small if they are not one to study in-depth the scripture. Are they missing something out by not having the ability to dig in deep? Of course not, everyone has a gift. Some have the ability to study and teach, while others may have something else. One verse that should help this out is the reference given in 1 Peter 2. Notice that it is just the reading of the word of God. What does it do? It helps Christians grow and in growth it leads to a better taste of the graciousness and wonder of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. SO WHAT’S THE PROBLEM? Many people today will speak badly against apologetics and theology. Perhaps for the simple reason they do not completely understand the meaning of the terms. Ones that truly loves their Saviour, reads His word and study parts that interest them and bring them closer to God, are theologians. Anyone who wishes to teach what they know and defend against falsehoods are apologists. In no way am I writing to say everyone should get up and start digging in their Bible and get out proclaiming to everyone the truth. Some people simply do not have that ability. What I am saying is that there are people out there that do have the ability to study and teach yet for some reason are not. Other things have taken over their life and the holiness and seriousness of God has been sat aside. Then there’s the people that do not understand the meaning of apologetics and theology and can discourage ones that are in it. All I wish to say to the ones that discourage another from studying and defending God’s word is that Paul too was a defender, as was Peter as were many throughout church history. CONCLUSION It is very important to realize that Christianity is not a faith built on fairy tales. No the Bible is backed up on fact, evidence and information. Which all lead to only one thing – Our Saviour. Why would we not want to defend our faith? Why would we not want to proclaim to the world the truth that we hold? Many cults are growing rapidly. It is time we stepped up and took the offensive position. Raised our banners, proclaimed the truth in the Trinity, in Eternal Security, in the Deity of Christ, in the Facts of Genesis and ultimately in the cleansing blood of the Saviour. Let’s pick ourselves up, realize there is a war to be won. We have the God that Paul had. We have the same Saviour. So let us defend it with joy. Let us approach others with the glad news. Be able to give an answer for problems people have. Apologetics is not something that takes away from the glory of God, or takes away from His word. Let us not shy away from studying all of God’s word. For in it we help the doubtful and find the glory of God throughout. |
||
|
Seek the truth – Listen to the truth – Teach the |
||