| ReadBibleAlive.com | |
| Series Theme: Apologetics | |
| Abbreviated
Contents:
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Title: 1. Questions about 'Thinking in the 21st Century' (Introductory Thoughts)
A series that helps consider the foundations for faith Contents for overview:
Introductory Comments • the nature and purpose of this page 1. What are Apologetics? • making a defence for your faith. 2. Why do some people prefer Experience over Reason? • the 'post-modern effect' 3. What has been the Outworking of this? • beliefs and biases from thoughtlessness 4. How has Thoughtlessness been a further fruit? • people who don't think it through 5. How is Atheistic Bad Thinking Seen? • bad ways of thinking 6. What does it take to be a Genuine Thinker? • people who don't think it through 7. What Credibility has the author of these pages? • the author's experience 8. What Books are there to help us? • two 'must-have' books 9. Questions
Introductory Comments
On these pages we will use note-form and bullet points to make for easier reading and note taking. We will also write in 'blocks' for visual ease. Ensure you understand all that is being said in each block before you move down the page.
These pages are for Christians who wish to under-gird their faith by knowledge, or non-Christian seekers who may wish to know if the Christian faith has foundations that are credible.
This particular page is purely introductory, seeking to nudge us to become those who will think about their Faith or the possibility of faith.
1. What are Apologetics?
Answer
Apologetics doesn't mean 'to apologise'. It means to give a defence of what one believes to be true.
The apostle Peter wrote: “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.” (1 Pet 3:15). Apologetics is all about giving answers – and we have plenty to give!
The apostle Paul spoke about, “defending and confirming the gospel,” (Phil 1:7). We defend what we believe against all accusations and assertions that come from unbelievers, and in so doing we confirm the validity or integrity of what we believe.
2. Why do some people prefer Experience over Reason?
Answer - Post Modernism
We live in an age that philosophers and others call ‘post-modern'.
Post-modernism is cynical about the ‘modern age' that thought it had all the answers.
Subsequent wars, famines etc. of the 20th century showed that mankind hasn't all the answers it thought it had.
Part of this cynicism rejects past ways of thinking that relied upon facts, logic etc.
Post-modernism tends to rely more upon experience than objective facts, on emotions rather than reason. Quote Example (from Blue like Jazz by Donald Miller) "We were sitting around in my friend's living room and talking about it and she was in a huff and at one point raised her fist and said, 'Down with Bush!' After that I didn't have a crush on her anymore. It wasn't because she didn't like George W. Bush, it was because she had no idea why she didn't like George W. Bush. She only went to a rally and heard a good band and saw a lot of cool people with cool clothes and hippie haircuts. She decided what to believe based on whether other people who believed it were of a particular fashion that appealed to her."
Post-modernism is weak on 'knowing'!
Post-modernism also denies meta-narratives - stories purporting to give big overall answers, such a that supplied by the Christian Faith.
3. What has been the Outworking of This?
Answer 1 - Mysticism
The first result of this has been that post-modern non-believers have taken on board lots of weird and wonderful ideas, some of which are harmless and some of which are harmful in the realm of mysticism.
It was G.K.Chesterton who is credited with having written,
“A man who won't believe in God will believe in anything", or
"When a Man stops believing in God he doesn't then believe in nothing, he believes anything."
Answer 2 - Uncertainty from Atheism
The second result of this has been that post-modern believers have been poor at putting content to their faith and have become vulnerable to the poorly founded assertions of atheists.
The early years of the twenty-first century have seen a number of agnostic or atheistic writers who have shaken some in the Christian world.
Dan Brown's “The Da Vinci Code” was a classic example of this. Many Christians found themselves worried about whether their faith was credible in the light of the assertions made in that book (which we'll consider in later pages).
What that revealed was that many Christians had little or no understanding of the origins of the Christian faith. If they had, they would know that the assertions within the book were simply old heresies trotted out in a modern context, heresies long ago shown to be foolish.
The works of atheistic scientist, Richard Dawkins, have similarly been causing waves. While Dawkins may be a great scientist in some realms, he is not even a good armchair theologian, as writers such as Alister McGrath have shown, (see book recommendations at the end of this page.) yet many Christians have been disturbed by what he says.
Again this simply reveals that there are a lot of Christians who need to be reading these pages!
4. How has Thoughtlessness been a Further Fruit?
Answer 1 - Thoughtless Trite Questions
Thoughtlessness, we describe here as the absence of careful thinking, investigation and research.
Thoughtlessness is seen in the person who trots out what they think as a reasonable argument: “Well, I saw this dog that had been partly run over by a car. If there is a loving God, how can he possibly allow that sort of thing to happen?”
That is a classic of thoughtlessness. It is a person who has heard someone else make a trite excuse for not believing and so says the same thing without giving it any thought. The answer to that superficial comment is easy – and you'll find it in later pages.
Answer 2 - A Refusal to Think
Sadly, the assertions and comments of the writers mentioned above, come into this category for the reasons we have already given. I was once browsing a book by the highly accredited philosopher, Bertrand Russell, and in the middle of it came across an assertion made about something in the Bible and the thought that ran through my head as a young Christian was, “My goodness! How can he possibly make this assertion? It shows he has either never read the texts or has never thought about them?" Even the great are prone to thoughtlessness when they have narrowed their thinking.
Back in 1969 when some of these battles were raging, a Catholic by the name of Sir Arthur Lunn wrote the following in a book called Christian Counter-Attack with co-author, Garth Lean: The main difficulty with most secularists is to persuade them to examine the case for the supernatural. Cannon J.B.Phillips recalls in the Ring of Truth 'hundreds of conversations with people, many of them of higher intellectual calibre than myself, who quite obviously had no idea what Christianity is about.' He concluded that 'they knew virtually nothing' about the New Testament. The Resurrection 'the most important even event in human history is politely and quietly by-passed. For it is not as though the evidence had been examined and found unconvincing; it had simply never been examined.'
Answer 3 - Thoughtless Preaching
Under the heading of ‘Thoughtless Thought' I would also include preaching that uses Biblical language and fails to translate it and what it means into the language of the ordinary, unchurched, non-spiritual person living in the twenty-first century. Many Christians just use the language but have little understanding of what it really means and are incapable of communicating it to ordinary people around them.
Answer 4 - A Move in the Right Direction
The advent of Nicky Gumbel's ‘Alpha Course' has done much to restore content for faith, a basis for belief for many Christians.
However the material of that course is simply an introduction and we would hope that new or young Christians, or Christians who have been around for a long time with a somewhat content-less faith, would be spurred on to read for themselves and go deeper in exploring the origins of the Christian faith, as well as finding answers to the questions that their non-Christian friends and neighbours regularly come up with.
5. How is Atheistic Bad Thinking seen?
Answer 1 - Attacking what is not
Bad thinking is not quite the same as ‘Thoughtless Thought'. I once had a book called Straight and Crooked Thinking which revealed a variety of bad ways that people argue.
An example of one of these has recently been observed in the works of Richard Dawkins who loves to portray a form of Christianity which is full of holes. Unfortunately what he portrays is not what the rest of us believe and experience. Arguing against a supposed faith full of holes is easy; to argue against what actually is Christian truth, is not so easy!
The well-know Bible Teacher, David Pawson , used to tell of when he was a Padre in the forces. He basically had the ‘leftovers', those with no faith or only nominal faith. His starting point with them was, “Tell me what sort of God you don't believe in.” When they told him, he agreed with them and then started talking about the real God!
• Conclusion: Don't get stressed over arguments about something that doesn't exist!
Answer 2 - Attacking Extremes, Ignoring Truth
Dawkins also uses arguing against extremes. His notorious TV programme, “The Root of all Evil?” used extremes to condemn the mainstream faith. I have never known a programme before that invoked even the ire of non-Christians who denounced it for its staggering bias and attempts at distortion, by use of extremes that most of us would reject anyway.
• Conclusion: Don't get stressed over arguments using extremes! Analyse the middle ground!
Answer 3 - Maintaining a Closed Mind
Dawkins, and other atheistic scientists like him, also interpret their observations from their closed mind perspective. You'll find more detail on this on Page 5 about science.
• Conclusion: Don't get stressed over an atheist's interpretation – it is only their view!
The ‘closed-mind' syndrome is particularly important and we'll cover it in more detail in the page on science. It is particularly strange to find it in the realm of science where one would suppose that a scientist would be open to whatever possibilities the observed facts show.
Yet, as we'll see, atheistic scientists start from a position of atheism and therefore see everything in that framework and refuse possibilities in any realm that might challenge their initial belief. (Understand that atheism is a belief system!).
In the area of evolutionary theory, many scientists have been honest enough to say that there have been large gaps that raise serious questions. As more and more detail is revealed in the mechanics of how things work, open scientists have been honest enough to say that the ‘mechanics' raise more and more questions, and question the likelihood of pure-chance evolution.
In science generally, new discoveries frequently raise new possibilities. Now this seems perfectly acceptable to atheistic scientists until it is in respect of something to do with the possibility of ‘design' then suddenly there appears a closed-ness to the possibilities!
• Conclusion: Don't get stressed by an atheist's closed mind. Materialistic atheism is their starting and finishing point and they will rarely concede any possible alternative.
6. What does it take to be a Genuine Thinker?
Answer
From what we have noted so far there are some obvious requirements if you are going to get any value from this part of this site:
None of these guarantee you will be a good thinker, but they may start you on the way.
7. What credibility has the author of these pages?
Answer
I have been a Christian for over 40 years. As other parts of the site will testify, I have studied the Bible avidly throughout that time.
I have also, throughout that time, been an avid investigator. I have read and read, both Christian and non-Christian books. I want to ‘know'. I have wanted to know so that I can help others know.
I have wanted to know: • how the Bible came into being. • can we believe what it records as history • can we believe what it teaches • how humanity works, how humanity thinks • what answers the Bible gives to what we observe of humanity • how religions work • what answers the Bible gives to those religions • how science works • what answers the Bible gives to science. These and many more such areas have challenged my mind for over forty years. At the end of that time, at the end of my reading, I am more convinced than ever, that those of us who hold a Biblical Christian Faith are on the right path, and we have nothing to fear from the challenges of humanistic, atheistic unbelievers. What you will find in these pages, is not just my bright ideas, but the wisdom and experience of many experts in the fields in question.
8. What books are there to help us?
Answer
It is possible to list dozens of books that might help you. Whatever I list will be unsatisfactory for someone, because they probably know books that helped them which I have not mentioned. I simply want to mention two specific books that I think are major resources in this sphere: • “ The New Evidence that Demands a Verdict ” – by Josh McDowell • In my view THE best book of easy-to-read resource material ever written for Christians.
• “ Does God believe in Atheists? ” – by John Blanchard • Again, in my view, THE Best book of detailed and argued resource material ever written for Christians, absolutely full of quotes and research; a serious read!
If you are really serious about apologetics you will get both these books.
Having said this, the writings of Michael Green are good in this area, as are the writings of Alister McGrath (especially countering the assertions of Richard Dawkins). I hope these will help you. In addition to these writers, I would be remiss if I didn't mention Norman L. Geisle and Ravi Zacharias who are also first rate and key writers of books on apologetics.
I will from time to time use a variety of quotes from other books - there are plenty out there if you are willing to look!
9. Questions
The purpose of these questions is to help you go back over the material and take it in. We suggest you highlight, copy and paste these questions and put them into your own word processing package and then alternate between them and the text and put your answers in your word processed page under each question. QUESTIONS: 1. What are Apologetics? 1.1 What is the double work of ‘apologetics'?
2. Experience Over Reason 2.1 Name at least two characteristics of ‘post-modernism' 2.2 Why are these contrary to the Christian Faith?
3. Outworking 3.1 What happens when modern man stops believing in God according to Chesterton? 3.2 Why, is it suggested, that many modern believers have been shaken by assertions from Dan Brown?
4. Thoughtlessness 4.1 Of what are trite questions or trite criticisms a sign? 4.2 What was J.B.Phillips' assertion from much of his experience? 4.3 How is this area to cover preaching?
5. Bad Thinking 5.1 What two ways of bad arguing used by Richard Dawkins are given as examples of what to watch out for? 5.2 How did David Pawson approach people negative about God?
6. Genuine Thinker 6.1 What are the three marks of a ‘Genuine Thinker' suggested?
7. The Author 7.1 If you want to work at becoming a ‘defender of the faith', what things can you see from the testimony of the author that would help you become that? |