You Are Invited! Join fellow HBU Professor Nancy Pearcey and me along with Gary Habermas, Doug Groothuis, Sean McDowell, Greg Koukl, Bob Stewart, James Walker, David Calhoun, Rob Bowman, Rhyne Putman, Steve Lemke, Steve Cowan, Mike Edens, Mark Rathel, Jeffrey Riley, Tawa Anderson, Ray Stewart, Page Brooks, Ben Arbour, and Mike Miller.
Defend the Faith
A five-day, five-night conference in Christian Apologetics training
that includes outstanding worship. This event, held on the campus of New
Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary on January 5-10, 2014, will
feature many top speakers in the area
of Christian Apologetics.
Conference Costs
Starting at $120 /
Registration: $120 – Includes Complete Conference MP3 Access
Full Conference + Lodging and Meals: $310 – Includes 5 nights lodging, 4 full days meals, Full program w/ Complete MP3 Access
To make a good argument, it is vital to have true premises and valid logic. However, a good argument is not all there is to the Gospel message. There is also the evidence of love. Day-to-day the people around us (or in our social media circles) are watching us to see if we demonstrate an attitude of love and concern forothers. Francis Schaeffer coined a phrase concerning the powerful testimony of our love for one another: “the final apologetic.” It is an approach that will always be relevant.
The latest Outreach Magazine volume focuses on evangelism and apologetics. In my article, “Why ‘The Final Apologetic’ Still Matters,” I discuss the power of a two-fold approach to apologetics: strong arguments paired with demonstrative love. I also include why we cannot treat people as a “Jesus project,” as well as a caution to Christians who publicly criticize other Christians in a way that violates the teaching of the Scriptures they are attempting to defend.
From Outreach Magazine’s site, “In this issue, Ravi Zacharias echoes the words of the apostle Peter, urging us to offer answers in the power of gentleness and respect. Ed Stetzer
notes that Christians seem to really love evangelism—as long as someone
else is doing it. He states it plainly: ‘Stop talking yourself out of
evangelism.’ InterVarsity’s James Choung reminds us that the gospel implies words. ‘Actions aren’t enough. Actions don’t interpret themselves.’ Apologist Mary Jo Sharp
calls to mind what Francis Schaeffer called ‘The Final
Apologetic’—ultimately how we live and how we love underscores our
message or erases its impact. There’s a lot here to provoke thought and, by God’s grace, action.”
Q: I have a foster daughter, whom has “left” her faith. She
now claims to be Wiccan/Pagan. She is very hostile and any tiny mention of
faith provokes wrath.
Up until now I’ve been trying to let the consistency of our
faith, the solid love we show her and patience reflect our faith. But my heart
grieves for her. Any specific ideas for [her]?
A: Thank you for your question. First, keep in mind that a
person who has straight up intellectual
objections has no need of hostility. The intellectual objector is one who
has a truth claim question; they should not exhibit an adverse emotional reaction
to the issue at hand. A strong hostility towards belief in God would greatly
hinder a person from having an open mind that is willing to consider the
possibility of God’s existence.
However, in my experience, it is difficult to find anyone
who is a straight up intellectual objector to the existence of God. You may
find instead that she has a strong emotional commitment to her beliefs. If so, it
may be much harder for her to investigate what she believes.
My suggestion would be to ask her about her newfound beliefs as a Wiccan.
– Find
out what it is that she believes.
– Ask her why she thinks her beliefs are true.
This
is going to be a bit trickier than it sounds. She may question your motives for
asking. If that is the case, first, make sure your motives are as good as you
can get them. By this I mean that you are not out to embarrass her or show her
up. You must have a genuine interest in understanding her point of view in
order to effectively engage her in this conversation. If your motives are not
good, then neither will your conversation be good.
Ask her to name the source of her beliefs so you can read up
on her beliefs, this is specifically for the purpose of aiding the avoidance of
strawman building. Tell her that you wish to read the source for yourself so you
can learn about the belief and not misrepresent her view. Form some questions
based on this reading.
Ask her to support any statements you find in the belief
system that are self-refuting or inconsistent with the world we know. I would ask this like Greg Koukl in his book Tactics, “Can you help me with
something….?” or “I’m not sure I understand this…..”
Basically, make the conversation about her views rather than
about yours. She may turn the conversation around to your views. If so, you
should provide some answers, but she must also provide answers. She is holding
to a view that also needs to be evidenced and reasoned.
I hope this helps you get started! I pray that your conversations will be
fruitful instead of hostile.
Thanks,
MJ
– Here’s an article on Wicca to get you started on understanding Wiccan beliefs, but don’t suppose this is necessarily what your foster daughter believes.
Sometimes, when I give a presentation, I’ll have the
audience write down their questions on 3”x5” cards. I do this for three main
reasons: 1) I can answer more questions when they are written down rather than
verbally asked; 2) The questions are usually more precise; and 3) More people
generally ask questions this way. However, due to the fact that more people ask
questions this way, I rarely get to answer all of the questions (I’m not sure
I’ve ever answered all these questions). So I am beginning a series called
“Index Card Questions” to answer some of the questions I missed at
conferences. As my current schedule does
not allow, I will not be interacting so much with the replies or comments to my
answer. However, please feel free to engage in a courteous fashion. Caveat: I will remove any comments that
include ad hominem, cursing, spamming, and trolling. The goal of the comments section
is productive conversation; if that is not the goal of your comments, then you
will most likely be blocked or removed.
Question #1: How does a person prepare for a degree in
Apologetics?
A person can prepare for a degree by beginning to read some
basic works in apologetics. I recommend:
But don’t feel overwhelmed! You can read as many or few as
you’d like. I posted a bunch to give you many options.
The other suggestion is to find out about university
programs. Make some contacts via their websites. Our program at Houston Baptist
University is brand new as of Spring 2013.
We are currently working on a fully online degree that we expect to get
up and as early as the fall of 2014. The program is rooted in a cultural
apologetics approach, designed to be an interdisciplinary apologetics program.
We want you to learn the arguments, and to help you practice apologetics in
whatever field interests you. For more
information on our program or to contact us visit: http://www.hbu.edu/maa
Next question, same card:
Question #2: Do you speak to youth on this topic?
Indeed! And how I love to do so. Do you have something in
mind? J
This summer I am speaking at the Summit Ministries Worldview Camps for youth and at the 5 Words Apologetics Conference for youth,
but I will also be available to work with other youth groups and retreats. My
topics vary for youth, but I do a lot of training in conversational
apologetics: how to engage in productive dialog with friends and family on the
topic of God.
Thanks for your questions!
Question #3: Are your books available at Amazon? If
not….where?
Today, Houston Baptist University officially announced Lee Strobel as the newest member of our faculty in the School of Christian Thought! I am very excited. It is hard for me to wrap my head around the the thought that I will be working with Lee Strobel. Only about a decade ago, I began to read Lee’s book, The Case for Christ, as part of my own investigation into the evidence for the existence of God. His work was instrumental in finding scholars who could answer my questions. I began listening to lectures and debates by the people Lee had interviewed in his books. Plus, I began to read the works by these authors: Reasonable Faith by William Lane Craig, Love God With All Your Mind by J.P. Moreland, True for You, But Not for Me by Paul Copan and many more. It will be such an honor to serve alongside a man whose work has already been so influential in my life!
HBU faculty Licona, Sharp, and Strobel with Mark Mittelberg at EPS 2012
I hope you will considering joining us at HBU for your degree. We have a lot of “awesome” going on here! Check out our master’s degree in apologetics. Through our program you have the opportunity to study with top notch scholars! Michael Ward is heading up the C.S. Lewis Center,
through which HBU apologetics students have the opportunity to study in
Oxford. Plus, Nancy Pearcey, the founder and director of the Francis Schaeffer Center for Worldview and Culture and The Pearcey Report, is additionally offering two-track apologetics courses with a graduate track alongside the undergraduate track! It’s very exciting here in Houston!