My last post has generated quite a bit of discussion, although to my disappointment it is over email and not on this blog. Those discussions raised another topic in my mind that we must answer as Christians. How do we defend the Christian faith? How do we effectively answer those who object to Christianity? Will our answers bring them to to point of trusting in Christ for salvation?
J. Gresham Machen was a professor at Princeton in the early 1900's, eventially leaving Princeton to start Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, PA as Princeton began to drift towards Liberalism. In order to properly defend the faith, he believed that Christians must present the credentials of one's beliefs, showing that Christianity meets the requirements of sound thinking. He asserted that there was enough evidence in Scripture to show that the Bible is true and historically accurate. While using simple "common sense" and utilizing the grammatical and historical methods of interpreting the Bible, one would be forced to admit the truthfulness of the Scriptures. While a non-believer would never come to a saving faith apart from the Holy Spirit's regenerating work, this approach to defending the faith would ultimately give validation to God's Word. Machen was obviously a proponent of what is know as Evidentialist Apologetics...using evidence to convince inquirers of the Bible's assertions.
While Machen's call for giving a sound intellectual basis for Christianity is a much-needed alarm clock for contemporary Christianity's sleeping followers, I wonder if his approach is effective, both humanly speaking and according to what the Lord has called us to do in evangelism and apologetics. As one who has had the priviledge of working in the most pluralistic culture imaginable (Starbucks-you have to love the Lattes and cringe at the company policies), I was given many opportunities to share the gospel with my co-workers. For about a year, I tried to give an intellectual account to two of my "partners" who loved to discuss religion, absolute truth, etc. with me during our shifts. Although I believe that the Lord was using me to speak the truth into their lives, it hit me one day that I would never be able to argue them into the Kingdom. For example, I had answered all of Kate's objections to the faith with sound intellectual and logical answers time after time, only to see her respond in unbelief at each call for her to repent and believe in Christ for salvation.
While I am a strong proponent of possessing a valid belief system, I do not believe this is the way that we will make an impact with the gospel as Christians. We must not rely on our intellectual arguments (even the good ones) to convert men and women to the faith. The Lord works through Presuppositional Apologetics, which is simply laying one's beliefs out of the table for discussion and utilizing Evidential Apologetics to undergird one's presuppositions. What shall be our material in PA? Well, the Bible of course. It is through the Scriptures that the Lord quickens the soul to believe in Christ and come to salvation. He blesses the hearing of the Word as it is preached or read. The problem with Evidentialist Apologetics is that no matter how much evidence we show to unbelievers or how good our arguments prove to be, their presuppositions are still those of unbelief. I assert that we must focus on the tenets of the gospel and address a person's unblieving soul, undergirding our work with strong intellectual evidence.
JRW
J. Gresham Machen was a professor at Princeton in the early 1900's, eventially leaving Princeton to start Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, PA as Princeton began to drift towards Liberalism. In order to properly defend the faith, he believed that Christians must present the credentials of one's beliefs, showing that Christianity meets the requirements of sound thinking. He asserted that there was enough evidence in Scripture to show that the Bible is true and historically accurate. While using simple "common sense" and utilizing the grammatical and historical methods of interpreting the Bible, one would be forced to admit the truthfulness of the Scriptures. While a non-believer would never come to a saving faith apart from the Holy Spirit's regenerating work, this approach to defending the faith would ultimately give validation to God's Word. Machen was obviously a proponent of what is know as Evidentialist Apologetics...using evidence to convince inquirers of the Bible's assertions.
While Machen's call for giving a sound intellectual basis for Christianity is a much-needed alarm clock for contemporary Christianity's sleeping followers, I wonder if his approach is effective, both humanly speaking and according to what the Lord has called us to do in evangelism and apologetics. As one who has had the priviledge of working in the most pluralistic culture imaginable (Starbucks-you have to love the Lattes and cringe at the company policies), I was given many opportunities to share the gospel with my co-workers. For about a year, I tried to give an intellectual account to two of my "partners" who loved to discuss religion, absolute truth, etc. with me during our shifts. Although I believe that the Lord was using me to speak the truth into their lives, it hit me one day that I would never be able to argue them into the Kingdom. For example, I had answered all of Kate's objections to the faith with sound intellectual and logical answers time after time, only to see her respond in unbelief at each call for her to repent and believe in Christ for salvation.
While I am a strong proponent of possessing a valid belief system, I do not believe this is the way that we will make an impact with the gospel as Christians. We must not rely on our intellectual arguments (even the good ones) to convert men and women to the faith. The Lord works through Presuppositional Apologetics, which is simply laying one's beliefs out of the table for discussion and utilizing Evidential Apologetics to undergird one's presuppositions. What shall be our material in PA? Well, the Bible of course. It is through the Scriptures that the Lord quickens the soul to believe in Christ and come to salvation. He blesses the hearing of the Word as it is preached or read. The problem with Evidentialist Apologetics is that no matter how much evidence we show to unbelievers or how good our arguments prove to be, their presuppositions are still those of unbelief. I assert that we must focus on the tenets of the gospel and address a person's unblieving soul, undergirding our work with strong intellectual evidence.
JRW
Post a Comment