We've come to the point in our nation's history where the battle lines have been drawn. As always, it comes down to two operating propositions: God's Law or Chaos. The time is long past time for Christians to understand how to approach the worldview war and put on the full armor of God for the battle.
It begins by
identifying the "touchstone proposition" of competing worldviews, a
proposition that is held to be the fundamental truth about reality that serves
as the basis for the starting point for all other thinking and actions.
“Apologetics” does not mean saying you’re sorry for
being a Christian. Christians are not called on to apologize for believing in God,
the trustworthiness of the Bible, the reality of miracles, and the redemptive
work of Jesus Christ that saves sinners from final judgment. The Bible calls on
Christians to begin where the Bible begins and defend its truths with an
intensity and proficiency similar to the way a lawyer would defend a client who
is on trial for his life.
The Greek
word apologia (from which we derive the English word >apologetics=)
denotes a speech made in defense, a reply (especially in the legal context of a
courtroom) made to an accusation. The word originated in the judicial
operations of ancient Athens, but the word occurs several times in the New
Testament as well. [1]
Some claim that Christians should not be involved in
arguments about the Christian faith or anything life. Support for this opinion cannot
be made by appealing to the Bible. There are numerous accounts in the
New Testament where such defenses—arguments—are made, even though there was a
high price to pay for the confrontation. The apostles defended the faith and
were beaten and imprisoned for their efforts (Acts 4). Stephen defended the
faith, and his own countrymen stoned him to death (Acts 7). Paul offered his
defense of Christianity before Greek philosophers (Acts 17:22–34), the Jews (Acts 22–23), and
Roman civil officials (Acts 24–26). He was ready and eager to defend the faith
before Caesar himself (Acts 25:11, 32).
Paul on
Mars Hill in Athens Among the Greek Philosophers by Raphael (1515).
Christian
apologists give reasons as to why they believe what they know to be true. The
audiences may vary—genuine seekers, skeptics, or hostile unbelievers—but the
message and starting point are the same. The apologist’s job, like a lawyer
before a judge and jury, is to present sound arguments that testify to the
truth.
Taking a
Stand
But on what
does the apologist stand to make his case? He cannot use himself as the
standard or even the expert opinion of others. Furthermore, the Christian apologist must
recognize that his opponent is not the final arbiter of truth. We should never
entertain the thought that our philosophical foes are the judge and jury in
determining whether God is just and His Word is true. Our task is not to
present the Christian faith as a debatable hypothesis, a study in probability,
or just one religious option among many. We should never say, “You be the
judge.”
Among All Opposition
One of the first places to start if you want to learn how to
defend the faith positively beginning with God and His Word. Greg L. Bahnsen
was probably one of the most gifted Christian apologists of the 20th century.
In a biblical
defense of the Christian faith, God is not the one on trial. How can a finite, fallible, and fallen being ever be a
competent judge of eternal things? How is it possible that the creature can
legitimately question the Creator? God asks Job: “Will the faultfinder
contend with the Almighty? Let him who reproves God answer it” (Job 40:1). Job responded, knowing the
limitations of his own nature, the only way he could: “Behold, I am
insignificant; what can I reply to Thee? I lay my hand on my mouth” (40:4). God
asks Job a series of questions that demonstrate how limited he is in knowledge
and experience. “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth!,” God
inquires. “Tell Me, if you have understanding” (38:4). Job was trying to figure
out the world and the way it works based on his own limited frame of reference.
This is an impossible task.
There is No
Neutrality
The Christian apologist is not given the option to
adopt a neutral position when defending the faith. Neutrality assumes that man
and God are on an equal footing. Christians are commanded not to
“answer a fool according to his folly.” Why? We’ll be “like him” in his
misguided assumptions and be classified a fool (Prov. 26:4). The Bible assumes that worldviews
based on premises that are contrary to the Bible are foolishness. This is why
Scripture states emphatically, without apology, that the professed atheist is a
“fool” (Psalm 14:1; 53:1).
How can an
insignificant creature who is smaller than an atom when compared to the
vastness of the universe be so dogmatic? There’s not much maneuvering room
here. If we abandon the governing assumptions of the Christian worldview from
the start and argue from a supposed neutral starting point, we place
ourselves in the same category as the atheist, all in the name of “defending
the Christian faith”! This means that the starting point in the Christian
worldview is not subjective; it’s not just one legitimate opinion among many.
Thinking Straight in a
Crooked World
The application of a presuppositional approach to apologetics to
dozens of modern-day assaults on the Chrsitian faith. The perfect book to
accompany your child when he or she goes off to college. It's a great companion
book with Greg Bahnsen's Against All Opposition.
Of course, the unbeliever doesn’t like to hear this.
It means that he is not in control.
It’s no wonder that Paul explains the reality of unbelieving thought in stark
and uncompromising terms:
For the word
of the cross is to those who are perishing foolishness, but to us who are being
saved it is the power of God. For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of
the wise, and the cleverness of the clever I will set aside.” Where is the wise
man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made
foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through
its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the
foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. For indeed Jews
ask for signs, and Greeks search for wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to
Jews a stumbling block, and to Greeks foolishness, but to those who are the
called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is
stronger than men (1 Cor. 1:18–25).
An apologetic
methodology that claims a Christian should be “open,” “objective,” and
“tolerant” of all opinions when he defends the faith is like a person who hopes
to stop a man from committing suicide by taking the hundred-story plunge with
him, hoping to convince the lost soul on the way down. No one in his right mind
would make such a concession to foolishness. But Christians do it all the time
when they adopt the operating presuppositions of unbelieving thought as if they
were neutral assumptions about reality.
While the Bible maintains that the Christian
apologist is prohibited from adopting the starting point of unbelieving
thought, he is encouraged to show the unbeliever the end result of his foolish
philosophical principles if they are consistently followed. As defenders of the
only true faith, we are to “answer a fool as his folly deserves, lest he be
wise in his own eyes” (Prov. 26:5). That is, we
are to put the unbeliever’s worldview to the test, showing how absurd it is
when followed consistently. A world without God and moral absolutes leads to
despair, moral anarchy, and insanity: "This is an evil in all that is done
under the sun, that there is one fate for all men. Furthermore, the hearts of
the sons of men are full of evil and insanity is in their hearts throughout
their lives. Afterwards they go to the dead" (Ecclesiastes 9:3).
- Greg
L. Bahnsen, “The Reformation of Christian Apologetics,” Foundations
of Christian Scholarship, Gary North, ed. (Vallecito, CA: Ross House
Books, 1976), 194–195.[↩]