Moved

I've moved this blog to ApoloJedi.com

Cold Contacts or Friendship Evangelism

The title of this blog post caught my eye, so I read it. I've been under the impression that within pre-suppositional apologetics circles that street preaching or cold contact is the way to go. We must rely solely on the Calvinist idea of unconditional election and forego relationship evangelism.

So, even though I was an atheist, I would often attend church just to make these two elderly people (and my mother) happy.  These two godly people didn’t know apologetics but if they had I would have listened to them because I knew they cared about me as a person.

Relationships matter.

I have to think that while still relying on the Holy Spirit to bring conviction of sin and the individual's need for the saving relationship with Christ, that we should also be caring and loving to those around us who have not yet repented.

When our friends know that we care not just about winning theological arguments but about their eternal life (both here on earth and beyond), they will be more receptive to our apologetic.

Is Apologetics Important?

My brother and I had a great talk this past weekend about whether apologetics with Christians and non-believers was even important. We walked down the path of unconditional election and whether it is necessary for believers to have a reason for the their faith.

For those, who are unfamiliar with the term, unconditional election, it comes from the Calvinist understanding that people can only come to know the Creator because of His revelation. We are not able to know Him apart from His revelation to us.

This conversation has been prompted by a persuasive paper that I have written for the purpose of defending biblical creation to believers. He has been kind enough to read and critique the paper.

So, can good apologetics strengthen the faith of Christians and/or turn the heart of non-Christians to faith in the Savior?

This article was a strong encouragement for Christians to have depth in their faith and to be ready to give a logically consistent answer to those who will listen.

It was a brisk November when I met John Joseph Porter...Never before had I met a Christian who could respond to my most basic philosophical questions...By Valentine’s Day, I began to believe in God.

As Christians we should go forth with the gospel of Jesus, but be ready to answer the tough questions that will surely follow!

Humbly Give an Answer

I've had a recent interest in learning about presuppositional apologetics, which is the idea that since everyone interprets data/evidence according to their presuppositions you have to analyze someone's presuppositions to determine which best accounts for the truth in reality. This is of particular interest when hearing attacks against God's Word through the media, in the news, and in the latest scientific publishing. Often evolution is used as a blunt object with which to bludgeon Christians. But there is not a special cache of evolutionary evidence that disproves God's Word. Everyone has the same evidence...it's how one interprets the evidence that speaks volumes. Therefore, to get past the "he said/she said" arguments of evidential apologetics, it is necessary to analyze the ideas that make up someone's presuppositions.

There are a number of awesome links to do research on presuppositional apologetics, and these are two of the best that I have found so far:

http://proofthatgodexists.org
http://trueforms.wordpress.com/2013/05/14/ultimate-collection-of-free-presuppositional-apologetics-lectures/

When the attacks of the world come against God's Word (to steal away the good seed), we must be ready to give a reason for the hope that we have (I Peter 3:15) I am tempted to engage in full-on Defcon 5 argumentation at the expense of the gospel in order to win the debate. But in winning, can we not also lose?

The rest of that verse is often forgotten by myself and others. Lest we forget it completely:

"But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander."

Let's bring the gospel without timidity, without fallacies, and without forgetting the mission.