{"id":10782,"date":"2024-02-21T10:17:31","date_gmt":"2024-02-21T04:47:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cccfornews.com\/index.php\/2024\/02\/21\/the-best-defense-of-the-christian-faith-is\/"},"modified":"2024-02-21T10:17:31","modified_gmt":"2024-02-21T04:47:31","slug":"the-best-defense-of-the-christian-faith-is","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cccfornews.com\/index.php\/2024\/02\/21\/the-best-defense-of-the-christian-faith-is\/","title":{"rendered":"the best defense of the Christian faith is . . ."},"content":{"rendered":"


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\"TBTMS\"<\/a>I\u2019m not a big fan<\/a>\"\"\u00a0of Christian apologetics. Nothing personal, and I know some smart people who engage in it.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s just not for me.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve never seen an argument for why Christianity is true that can\u2019t be met by some alternative argument.<\/p>\n

And I am not interested in whether Christianity is \u201creasonable\u201d\u2013a lot of things are reasonable and I don\u2019t center my life around them.<\/p>\n

Nor am I interested in whether Christianity is probable or possible\u2013a lot of things are probable\u00a0and\/or possible\u00a0but I don\u2019t dwell on them.<\/p>\n

The very notion of \u201cChristian apologetics\u201d presumes that the intellect is the primary place of engaging the truth of\u00a0Christianity.<\/p>\n

And that hasn\u2019t worked very well.<\/p>\n

A burden of (at least western) Christian apologetic isn\u2019t so much in failing to show the wider world that Christianity\u00a0works intellectually, but in presuming that the intellect is how Christianity\u00a0works.<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019m not against the engagement of intellect and faith. Not at all.<\/p>\n

But our arguments are constructed after the fact, after we believe, not in order to believe.<\/p>\n

Belief is first. Intellect follows.<\/p>\n

The problem I have with apologetics is that that order is reversed.<\/p>\n\n

The best apologetic isn\u2019t having a better intellectual system.<\/p>\n

Nor do we persuade others with\u00a0fear of\u00a0divine retribution if we don\u2019t agree and the promise of an afterlife if we do.<\/p>\n

The best apologetic is where there is payoff now.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

How Christians live\u00a0positively toward others<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What difference this \u201cbelief system\u201d\u00a0makes in our global community.<\/p>\n

Living out the notion that,\u00a0\u201cThe church must recapture its identity as the only organization in the world that exists for the sake of its non-members.\u201d<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

That is the apologetic that can work, and that is much harder than a string of arguments.<\/p>\n

We<\/em><\/span> are the apologetic.<\/p>\n

Proverbs describes a life before God as a\u00a0way<\/em>, and path<\/em>, a road\u2013<\/em>not a classroom or think tank.<\/p>\n

The best\u00a0apologetic is one where words give a narrative for our path, not where words are left alone to construct that narrative.<\/p>\n

. . . sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence. . . \u00a0<\/em>(1 Peter 3:15)<\/span><\/p>\n

Not, \u201cBe ready to out-debate those who disagree with you.\u201d<\/p>\n

But, \u201cGive an gentle account for what drives you, for why you do what you do.\u201d<\/p>\n

A faith that acts fearlessly well toward the other\u2013regardless of\u00a0who that other is\u2013is the best apologetic.<\/p>\n

Following daily the Christian path for all to see.<\/p>\n

Showing that this Jesus stuff works. That there\u2019s payoff. Now.<\/p>\n

All the rest we can talk about later . . . after we\u2019ve earned the right to.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n


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I\u2019m not a big fan\u00a0of Christian apologetics. Nothing personal, and I know some smart people who engage in it. It\u2019s just not for me. I\u2019ve never seen an argument for why Christianity is true that can\u2019t be met by some alternative argument. And I am not interested in whether Christianity is \u201creasonable\u201d\u2013a lot of things […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10783,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[]},"categories":[44],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cccfornews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10782"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cccfornews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cccfornews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cccfornews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cccfornews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10782"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cccfornews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10782\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cccfornews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10783"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cccfornews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10782"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cccfornews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10782"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cccfornews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10782"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}