Apologetics 101 Day 2:
According to a 2008 study on religion, religiosity is
highest at 14 years old and then declines between 14 and 18 years of age. Then,
there is a spike in church attendance and belief at age 20. This being said
college is the place to bring many to true faith in Christ.
Believers or Not:
The group of the lost includes the Luke warm, Agnostic, and
Atheist. So I would like to take a quick look at some of these groups.
Luke Warm:
·
Rev. 3:16 – “So, because you are lukewarm--neither hot nor cold--I am
about to spit you out of my mouth.”
·
2 Chron. 15:12-13 – “And they entered into a covenant to seek the Lord, the
God of their fathers, with all their heart and with all their soul, but that
whoever would not seek the Lord, the God of Israel, should be put to death,
whether young or old, man or woman."
Atheism is, in a broad sense, the rejection of belief in the existence
of deities. In
a narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities.
Most inclusively, atheism is simply the absence of belief that any deities
exist.
Agnosticism is the view that the truth
values of certain claims—especially claims about the existence or
non-existence of any deity, but also other religious and metaphysical claims—are unknown or unknowable.
- Encourage them to examine
their presuppositions.
What
is a presupposition? An unproven starting point for all following
arguments. Like in math there are various laws/axioms that everything else is
based on. Everyone starts with certain presuppositions. These may be reasonable
or irrational.
- Encourage them to examine the
arguments for the existence of God.
We
acknowledge that the best approach to apologetics is one that recognizes that
all people know God exists, and that they have suppressed that knowledge (Rom
1:17f).
People need to hear the Gospel, because within the Gospel message is the power
of God unto salvation (Rom 1:16). One should not
attempt to argue an unbeliever into submission. The best method is to present
the good news about Jesus Christ as clearly and as often as possible, and to
urge people to repent and believe.
1.
Verses:
a. Rom 1:17 For in the gospel the righteousness of God is
revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is
written: “The righteous will live by faith.”
b. Rom 1:16 – “16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel,
because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes:
first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.”
Here are 4
steps of argument to encourage a non believer think:
The
Teleological or Design Argument
Argue
that the presence of order in the universe requires the existence
of a Designer.
A
typical formulation of the argument:
1. The
universe manifests evidence of design.
2. All
design demands a designer.
3.
Therefore, the universe must have a designer.
4.
This designer is the God of the Bible.
4 organized
arguments against atheists:
·
The
Argument from Causality: Look
around for something that does not have a cause (and therefore a beginning).
This sequence can work backwards indefinitely. But does it go infinitely, or
does it ultimately stop? To say that it goes on infinitely leads to a logical
dilemma. Without some initial cause, there can be no caused things, and no
explanation for causality itself. The only rational answer is that there is at
the beginning of all things an uncaused Cause, capable of causing all things.
·
-The
Argument from Design: Nature
manifests a certain irreducible complexity. The design in nature requires a
Designer. God is the creator and designer of all things.
·
-The
Ontological Argument: The
idea of God exists in the mind, even in the mind of an atheist. The event of
one's mind understanding this idea must have a sufficient cause. The idea is
one that contains infinite perfection, but one's mind is limited by finite
perfection, as is everything else in the natural world. A mentally imperfect
being cannot produce a mentally perfect effect. Therefore, there is a perfect
Mind transcendent to the universe, from which the idea of perfection can
originate.
·
-The
Moral Argument: Morality
exists. Whether we are considering a stone-age Amazonian cannibal or an
intellectual savant at a prestigious Ivy League school, every human being has
some sense of morality. Everyone has some level of mental obligation to do good
and avoid evil. Why else do we have laws, government, military, prisons, and
self-improvement books? The atheistic view is incompatible with real moral
obligation. Therefore, the theistic view, which is compatible with real moral
obligation, must be correct. Moral obligation cannot originate in the mind of
man, and therefore must originate in the mind of a greater being, which is God.
Historical Support of Biblical accuracy:
The New Testament has over 24,000 copies or pieces
of well known verses to accredit its accuracy. It is claimed to be 95-99% the
same from beginning until what we read. The errors in the text are spelling and
grammar changes. For example John may be respelled as Jon. There have been
teams who have done studies and reported that the text is 62% accurate; however
as time goes on the differences are being found as not dramatic changes, rather
changes like we have with NIV or KJV. The oldest text’s in possession are
recorded as being only 50 years after the originals.
Many claims are that Jesus is not a real person, but
in fact a story created by several men to gain fame and followers. Not only are
their records made by the original apostles, but eye witness accounts have been
found from others. This raises the question, how can a man gain so much fame
without being real? Why would a group of followers proclaim their rabbi was the
messiah until martyrdom if they knew he was not a real person?
Another theory that has been created is that Christ
never rose from the grave, but his disciples lied for popularity. The counter
to this is that if Christ really never had risen, why didn’t the Romans bring
proof of a full grave, or why not parade around with the messiah’s body? Romans
were known to do many cruel and immoral things to establish dominance and
diminish uprisings. What greater uprising to destroy than Christianity? A
defense a non believer may bring against this is that bodies usually moved
graves at least once. Even if this is true, the Romans would have documented
this change (as they were guarding the grave upon the Jew’s request). The
Romans could have easily paraded the body around then too. Christ’s
resurrection has plenty of support; all you have to do is know how to present
it.
The Old Testament was written in Arabic and Hebrew
while the New Testament was written in Greek. Therefore it’s highly recommended
by many theologians we should look at the Greek or Hebrew behind our confusions
to find greater accuracy.
Take
Home:
The Bible teaches that
atheists are fools (Ps 14:1; Rom
1:28). Scripture denies that anyone can be a true
atheist or agnostic. God has clearly revealed Himself to all, so that all know
Him, although some suppress and deny that knowledge (Ps 19:1-3; Rom
1:16-23). Believers must confront atheists and
agnostics, insist that they re-examine their presuppositions, and challenge
them to respond appropriately to the Gospel. Such unbelievers will not be
brought to faith by weighty arguments and logical discussions. They need to
understand their sinfulness and their alienation from God, and they must be
challenged to forsake their rebellion and to seek forgiveness from Christ. It
may seem foolish to preach the gospel to those who reject the Bible, but the
gospel message contains the power to convert the most earnest atheist.
“While walking through
a field, one finds a watch on the ground. He naturally and rightly concludes
that someone must have made it. Likewise, if one studies the more complex
design in the natural world, he must conclude that there is a world Designer
behind it.”
Go out there and preach
truth and understanding with your new tools! PRAY ALWAYS!
A.R.H.
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