notes - apologetics

APOLOGETICS IS ALSO NECESSARY TO TAKE CAPTIVE TRUTH AND CULTURE.

• NEED FOR WATCHFULNESS: Col. 2:8 See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.

• 2 Cor. 10:4-5 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,

·          IT ONLY TAKES A BIT OF YEAST: Galatians 5:9 "A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough."

THE IMPACT OF IDEAS: THE INFLUENCE OF DARWINISM

(Karl Giberson, Saving Darwin: How to be a Christian and Believe in Evolution)

“[Evolutionist] Ernst Haeckel nudged the racism of the Third Reich along its malignant road by suggesting that …”You must draw [a line] between the most highly developed civilized people on the one hand and the crudest primitive people on the other and unite the latter with animals.”( 76)

“How shocking it is today to acknowledge that virtually every educated person in the Western culture at the time …shared Haeckel’s ideas. Countless atrocities around the globe were rationalized by the belief that superior races were improving the planet by exterminating defective elements…there can be little doubt that such viewpoints muted voices that would otherwise have been raised in protest.”

 “The Holocaust would have happened with or without Charles Darwin. There can be no doubt however, that the Nazi campaign against the Jews was assisted via rhetoric and rationalization with arguments from social Darwinism. (79)”

HOW DARWIN IMPACTS CHRISTIANITY:

“Acid is an appropriate metaphor for the erosion of my fundamentalism, as I slowly lost confidence in the Genesis story of creation and the scientific creationism that placed this ancient story within the framework of modern science….[Darwin’s] acid dissolved Adam and Eve; it ate through the Garden of Eden; it destroyed the historicity of the events of creation week. It etched holes in those parts of Christianity connected to the stories—the fall, “Christ as the second Adam,” the origins of sin, and nearly everything else that I counted sacred.” (9-10)

OTHER EXAMPLES OF HOW IDEAS IMPACT CHRISTIANITY:

1. CONTEMPLATIVE PRAYER: “The quiet repetition of a single word can help us to descend with the mind into the heart…This way of simple prayer…opens us to Gods active presence.” Henry Nouwen

Matthew 6:7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.

1. God’s omnipotence questioned.

2. Adds to Scripture: 2 Tim. 3:16-17 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, 17that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

2. “Yoga…by bring a…focus between mind and body…we become more authentic people, able to hear God and experience Him in previously impossible ways.” Brooke Boon, quoted by CRJ Vol.3, #4, 2008.

“Ultimately…the pain and discomfort you may feel in your skin can be the cause of division between you and God.” Susan Bordenkircher

1 Tim. 4:8 For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.

Col. 2:9-10 For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, 10and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority.

3.     OTHER VIRUSES:

·   Self-Trust (T)

·   The History of the Bible isn’t Important (T) (Adam and Eve)

Proofs

1.     DEFENSIVE (Critiquing the Opposition – “There’s no unchanging truth!”)

2.     OFFENSIVE (Positive Evidences for Believer or Seeker)

Proofs of the Bible

1.     WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT (Subjective vs. Objective)

·   Psalm 34:8 Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.

2.     CHANGED LIVES

·         1 Tim. 4:13-16 …devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching. ..15Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. 16Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.

·       STUDIES: “His research led him to conclude that men who regularly attend Christian services are engaged in happier and stronger marriages and are more involved in the lives of their children than men who do not.” Bradford Wilcox, Univ of Va. Analyzed three studies.

·         HISTORICAL TESTIMONY TO THE INFLUENCE OF THE BIBLE: “Hospitals and asylums and refuges for the sick, the miserable and the afflicted grow like heaven-bedewed blossoms in its path. Woman, whose equality with man Plato considered a sure mark of social disorganization, has been elevated; slavery has been driven from civilized ground; literacy has been given by Christian missionaries, under the influence of the Bible.” B.B. Warfield

• Professor of sociology Robert Woodberry’s research on missions: “Woodberry already had historical proof that missionaries had educated women and the poor, promoted widespread printing, let nationalistic movements that empowered ordinary citizens, and fueled other key elements of democracy. (Christianity Today, Jan/Feb 2014, 38)

• WOODBERRY: “Areas where Protestant missionaries had a significant presence in the past are on average more economically developed today, with comparatively better health, lower infant mortality, lower corruption, greater literacy, higher educational attainment (especially for women), and more robust membership in non-governmental associations.” (39)

3.     MIRACLES

·          John 10:37 Do not believe me unless I do what my Father does.

·          Deut. 4:33-36 Has any other people heard the voice of God speaking out of fire, as you have, and lived? 34Has any god ever tried to take for himself one nation out of another nation, by testings, by miraculous signs and wonders, by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, or by great and awesome deeds, like all the things the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your very eyes? 35You were shown these things so that you might know that the Lord is God; besides him there is no other. 36From heaven he made you hear his voice to discipline you. On earth he showed you his great fire, and you heard his words from out of the fire.

·          TALMUD: Jesus’ miracles and Passover Crucifixion