Your Brother Daniel
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Apologetics
in a Postmodern Age
While theology
attempts to answer the question, “What
to believe,” apologetics attempts to answer, “Why believe.” Admittedly, doing apologetics in the postmodern West
has not been very fruitful. This has led many Christians to claim that the old
methods no longer work, and that we have to find new methods, namely those that
bypass rationality – “modernistic reasoning,” as these critics put it.
While I have nothing
against finding new methods, as long as they are biblically supportable, I
don’t think we should discard the old. In fact, a rationalistic defense of the
faith is part of the entirety of Scripture.
Apologetics is not
just a matter of a few isolated verses like Jude 3, 1 Peter 3:15, and 2
Corinthians 10:4-5. Scripture rests squarely on a foundation of reasons-to-believe. Luke prefaces his
Gospel with several of these reasons. He claims that he has thoroughly
investigated various eyewitness
accounts (apologetics), and from them, has drawn up an “orderly account” so
that his readers “might know the
certainty of the things” (apologetics; Luke 1:1-4).
John, as eyewitness to
the events, assured the readers of his Gospel in a similar way:
· Jesus performed many other signs in the
presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are
written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and
that by believing you may have life in his name. (John 20:30-31)
John’s ultimate goal
was for his readers to believe and to “have life in his name.” But the process
wasn’t entirely magical. John understood that his readers needed mind food –
reasons-to-believe. Therefore, John provided evidence (apologetics) consisting
of the miracles of Jesus.
We still need the
testimony of John and Luke to provide us with a rational basis for our faith.
Therefore, while it is important to explore new ways to reach our generation, we
mustn’t forget the old, which continues to sustain us.
Peter also insisted on
the importance of evidences - reasons-to-believe. He wanted his readers to
remember certain truths, so he didn’t merely state the truths but instead
prefaced them for the reasons that
they should believe what he would tell them:
· For we did not follow cleverly devised stories
when we told you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power, but we
were eyewitnesses of his majesty. He received honor and glory from God the
Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my
Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” We ourselves heard this voice
that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain. We also
have the prophetic message as something completely reliable. (2 Peter 1:16-19)
Peter cited the fact
that they, the Apostles, were eyewitnesses to the things they were claiming,
but that wasn’t all. He also cited the evidence of the “prophetic Message” –
Scripture. None of the Apostles ever asked believers to just take a blind leap
of faith. As they understood it, faith had a powerful and necessary evidential
basis (apologetics).
However, I want to
make an even more radical point. Sometimes apologetics is inseparably built
into the substance of theology. Just take Peter’s first evangelistic sermon,
where theology was intertwined with Peter’s first concern –
apologetics/reason-to-believe.
The disciples had been
accused of being drunk at 9 AM as they spoke in tongues on the morning of
Pentecost. Understandably, Peter sought to prove that it wasn’t drunkenness
that was producing this great outpouring but the Holy Spirit. Instead,
Pentecost was divine evidence of the
validity of the Christian faith. Firstly, he quoted Joel 2:28-32 to prove that
what they were hearing was in fulfillment of God’s plan. The he quoted Psalm
16:8-11 to prove that the resurrection of Jesus was also in fulfillment of the
prophecy that God’s “Holy One” would not remain in the grave. Lastly, Peter provided
the evidence of Psalm 110:1 to prove that what Jesus had spoken about His
ascension had also been prophesied.
Why should his
listeners believe? Not because Peter was asking them to take a blind leap of
faith but rather because Jesus’ resurrection and ascension represented fulfilled prophecy! Meanwhile, Peter was
also making theological points – not only why
to believe but also what to believe!
The two were actually knit together.
John also demonstrated
the inseparable connection between theology and apologetics. After starting his
1 John Epistle with evidential assurances that they were eyewitness, he then
progressed to the evidential assurances that they were saved:
· We know that we have come to know him
if we keep his commands. (1 John 2:3; also 1:5-7; 3:19; 5:2)
This is not just a
statement about why we should believe
that we’re saved but also a theological statement. We find these theologically
loaded statements throughout Scripture. From this, we see that to abandon the
head-knowledge kind of apologetics is also to abandon the Scripture that
contains it.
In fact, Jesus’
miracles and His fulfilled prophecy all demonstrate the fact that the why and the what of the faith are often inseparable:
· “You heard me say, ‘I am going away and I am
coming back to you.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the
Father, for the Father is greater than I.
I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you
will believe.” (John 14:28-29)
We can even take this
radical principle of the inseparability of apologetics and theology a step
further. Living the Christian life is also apologetics and an assurance of its
truth:
· Jesus answered, “My teaching is not my own. It
comes from the one who sent me. Anyone
who chooses to do the will of God will find out whether my teaching
comes from God or whether I speak on my own. (John 7-16-17)
Obedience contains its
own evidence for the validity of the claims of Christ. If we follow His
commands, we will know! In other
words, we are surrounded with the evidence of the truth of the Christian faith,
whether testimonial, miraculous, fulfilled prophecy, or just life itself. It all communicates theological and
evidential truth - apologetics. Therefore, to reject this head-knowledge
apologetics is also to reject Scripture’s teachings about the Christian life.
However, if our lives themselves convey evidences in support of the Christian
faith, this leaves room for the idea that apologetics is also something that can be experienced.
Let’s just pray that
we might grow in awareness of God’s truths around us.
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