4/13/19 Jésus
"Apologetics" is just a fancy term for reasoned arguments or writings in justification of something, and Christian apologetics can be found in books that offer a defense or summary of the evidence in favor of our historical Christian faith, in contrast to all the skepticism out there.
That’s what was on my mind after a conversation with a man named Jesús right after I gave him a copy of “More Than a Carpenter” and encouraged him to read it.
More often than not, I suspect, the people who read books and examine the evidence in favor of Christianity are already Christians, and resources like this can really help bolster our faith and give us the confidence we need to reach out with the Gospel.
I know it has really helped me, but the reason I am willing to look at all the evidence for Christianity is because as a Christian I want it to be true, and my confirmation bias gives me the interest and the patience to do so.
I am also willing to examine the counterarguments and evidence against Christianity, because as I reach out with the Gospel I know I will be challenged “to give a reason for the hope that is within me” (1 Peter 3) and I will need to “…demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God” (2 Cor. 10)
But what can convince non-Christians to take the time to examine the evidence or read such a book? For his part, Jesús didn’t identify as an unbeliever but commented that he believes “it is a lot harder for people to end up in hell than people think”. In other words, He believes most people will go to heaven because, unless they are consistently very evil, most people are generally good.
This would be in contrast to what Jesus said, that “…the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.” (Matt. 7)
It is very possible that Jesús won’t make reading the apologetics book I gave him a priority, and that it may wind up gathering dust on a bookshelf, because he doesn’t have that same sense of urgency about his relationship with God. As long as he remains comfortable about salvation, believing he is “good enough” for heaven, he won’t feel the need to examine the historical evidence for a savior of sinners.
Jesús mentioned a conversation he had in college with some Muslims which began his skepticism toward the historical claims of Christianity. Of course, Islam itself began 600 years after Jesus Christ, when as an Arab trader Muhammad came in contact with some nominally Christian and Jewish traders, and gained the rudimentary and distorted knowledge of Christianity that is reflected in the Quran and taught throughout Islam today.
Muhammed himself could have used some Christian apologetics books (not to mention the Bible itself), but then again, I don’t believe he would have read it because he was interested in a religion whereby one can earn salvation through religious acts. Like so many people, he wanted a religion of self-righteousness, so his confirmation bias wouldn’t have given him the patience to examine the evidence for a religion in which righteousness comes as a gift of God, won and confirmed through Jesus’ death and resurrection on a cross.
I believe only a solid understanding of our position before God, lost and condemned without Jesus, can give most people the motivation to want to read the Bible and consider the evidence for the Bible available in apologetics books for themselves. They have to want to believe it is true, before wanting to consider the evidence on their own.
From the start, Jesús told me he wants heaven to be true. But really, who doesn’t? Wanting to go to heaven isn’t the same as understanding that, without a Savior, we won’t go there.
Our conversation was cut short because Jesús was in the middle of preparing for his daughter's birthday party, but I wish I’d had time to tell him more about why we need the Gospel to be true – that Jesus did die to save us as it says in Romans – “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
Who reads Christian apologetics books? Mostly Christians. My hope and prayer for Jesús is that he will trust in Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior, and that he will discover all the evidence there is available that makes ours a truly historical and reasonable faith.
Thanks for allowing me to record our conversation, Jesús! It can be seen at https://youtu.be/29-GpZpyzA4 on my YouTube channel.
No comments:
Post a Comment