Chamberlain / Price Everyday Apologetics

Answering Common Objections to the Christian Faith
1. Auflage 2020
ISBN: 978-1-68359-373-7
Verlag: Lexham Press
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 328 Seiten

Objections to the Christian faith are not new. The ability to boldly proclaim the old faith to a post-Christian culture is. In an era where access to objections and arguments is easier than ever, everyday Christians need to be prepared with strong, clear responses. In Everyday Apologetics, readers will be equipped with answers to some of Christianity's most difficult objections: Why is the God of the Old Testament so violent? Are science and faith in fundamental conflict with one another? The contributors take up these questions, and more, helping Christians be strengthened in their faith, while also providing powerful answers to opponents of the Christian faith. With a clear, inviting, winsome style, Everyday Apologetics is for everyone: Christians, skeptics, seekers, and everyone in between.

Paul Chamberlain is professor of apologetics, ethics, and philosophy of religion at Trinity Western University, as well as the director of the Institute of Christian Apologetics. He has written five books on apologetics and ethical issues, including Why People Don't Believe (Baker Books) and Can We Be Good without God? (InterVarsity Press). He previously worked as Canadian director of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries and has appeared on many media outlets throughout North America. Chris Price is lead pastor at Calvary Baptist Church in Coquitlam, British Columbia (calvarybaptist.ca). He is the author of Suffering with God and Radical Hope, both published by Apologetics Canada. He has been a scriptwriter for the Alpha Youth Film Series and is the author of the Alpha Youth Bible Reading plan on the YouVersion Bible app. He co-hosts the Hidden City Podcast and is a regular contributor to various blogs and websites. Chris has a Master's Degree in Christian Studies from ACTS Seminaries of Trinity Western University.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Chamberlain, Paul

Price, Chris

Leseproben

Introduction: Why Everyday Apologetics? CHRIS PRICE AND PAUL CHAMBERLAIN Not too long ago, an eleven-year-old boy I (Chris) know emailed his Christian mother these pointed questions: “How do Christians get off saying their religion is the only true one?” “Don’t all religions lead to the same God?” “How do you know there is a God?” “How can there be a God when there is so much evil and suffering in the world?” “How can you reconcile belief in God with science and especially evolution?” “How can you trust the Bible?” “Why is God so morbidly violent in the Old Testament?” Pause for a moment and reflect on these objections. How would you answer each one? It feels a little overwhelming, doesn’t it? Almost like you need to become an expert in philosophy, biology, history, and theology in order to respond to each concern. Admittedly, these are not easy issues to tackle and, don’t forget, the boy raising these objections was only eleven! For the most part these questions are not new, but as long as new people keep turning up on the planet, fresh answers to age-old questions will be required. And what is new is the easy access provided by the Internet. As Sean McDowell writes, “With the ubiquity of the internet, difficult questions seem to be arising now more than ever.”1 The Internet allows one to readily discover passionate diatribes about the poisonous nature of religion, the absurdity of Christian belief, and the anti-scientific bias of most believers—all with a few simple clicks. This type of continual exposure, much of it sent our way or stumbled upon by accident, can precipitate a crisis of belief for individuals young and old. Are we prepared? Now more than ever, believers must be. WHAT IS APOLOGETICS? Recently I visited the Natural History Museum in London. While we were enjoying the impressive dinosaur exhibit, my host, who didn’t identify as a follower of Jesus, asked me whether I believed in dinosaurs. At the time we were both staring at a large, nearly complete dinosaur skeleton, so, needless to say, I was taken aback by her inquiry. “Sorry, did you ask, ‘Do I believe in dinosaurs?’ ” (Read with British accent.) “Yeah, quite right. Do you?” “You mean … like the one whose remains are standing right in front of me?” (Host nods head, looks very British.) “Umm, yes, yes I do.” My host was under the impression that belief in dinosaurs was incompatible with the Christian worldview. I assured her that such was not the case, and even pointed out where the misconception may have arisen. This interaction forcibly reminded me of the many misleading ideas or cultural objections that people have when it comes to the Christian faith. Every believer has likely encountered similar misunderstandings when watching the news, scrolling through social media feeds, searching the web, or chatting with friends and family about Christianity. Apologetics helps clear up these misunderstandings. But what does the word apologetics actually mean? Many people have heard the term but wonder if it entails learning to apologize for being Christians or, perhaps, attempting to make other people sorry they got into a discussion with us about religion. But the word does not mean “to apologize,” at least not in the way we normally experience an apology. “Apologetics” comes from the Greek word apologia, which means “defense.” Doing apologetics is speaking in defense of the faith, or providing reasons for belief. It involves untangling the many misconceptions that people lug around due to their upbringing or the various cultural sound bites they’ve consciously or unconsciously absorbed into their religious point of view. Apologetics serves to clear away the intellectual rubble strewn about by our cultural moment and the entrenched assumptions of our day, providing the message of Jesus with a fairer hearing in the marketplace of ideas. As important as this all sounds, there may be a sliver of suspicion that this whole undertaking is better left to ivory-tower academics or the rare learned person—bookish types, not everyday Christians. We think that is a mistake. Though we value the contribution of Christian scholars, every Christian is responsible to learn apologetics. Recommending and defending the Christian faith is the duty and (hopefully) delight of believers, who get their marching orders from Jesus in the Great Commission (Matthew 28:16–20). In fact, every Christian will be an apologist for the Christian faith at some point or other. The question is, when that moment comes, will you be well-prepared or poorly equipped? We wrote Everyday Apologetics to help you become a humble and effective advocate for the gospel. We gathered unique voices that are each well versed in navigating the thorny issues and objections people raise to the Christian faith in our cultural context. Everyday Apologetics is written for non-experts who are unfamiliar with scholarly language and academic terminology, which is why you’ll hear lively stories, anecdotes, and illustrations throughout. There will be clear arguments and easy-to-follow logic, but also some practical tips and applications for everyday Christian living from writers who have a front-row seat to the amazing ways in which God is reaching this post-Christian culture. In part one, we provide practical advice for how to navigate conversations with skeptics, as well as how to handle personal doubt. In part two, we address common questions and objections to Christianity. In part three, we make a positive case for the truth of the Christian worldview. In a world of constant change, in a global village where stringent attacks on Christianity are a dime a dozen and a click away, Everyday Apologetics strives to be a book in season, useful for churches and individual Christians for such a time as this. THE NEED FOR EVIDENCE I (Chris) became a Christian at age twenty, and the only person more surprised by my conversion than my friends was me. In my teen years, I was not a model citizen. I gladly threw myself into a lifestyle of heavy drinking, smoking weed, and, on the odd occasion, snorting cocaine off of my parents’ dresser where they kept the family Bible. Growing up, I had frequented a Southern Baptist congregation with my family. But the distinct odor of irrelevance seemed to cling to the institutional church, making it an unlikely refuge for an insecure, coming-of-age punk. Plus, I heard the church was filled with hypocrites and, frankly, I was proud of the fact that I could forgive myself without the rituals and rigors of conventional religion. And yet, for a multitude of reasons, unbelief didn’t stick with me as I entered my twenties. I know this is not everyone’s story and it may even sound a tad cliché, but I felt as though there was a yawning emptiness inside that I couldn’t fill with sex, drugs, or alcohol. The bottom dropped out of the fun in my late teens and I was left yearning for something more: meaning, hope, and a deeper purpose for my life. To paraphrase seventeenth-century mathematician and philosopher Blaise Pascal, it is like there was a God-shaped void in my soul that couldn’t be filled by any created thing, but only by the Creator. This existential crisis caused me to reexamine my Christian upbringing with a degree of intensity that I didn’t experience growing up. Through a series of events I was reintroduced to the God of my youth, whom I hadn’t really known. I trusted in Jesus to save me from my sins and my stubborn, self-centered bent. Looking back, I am still struck by how I came to embrace the seemingly hard-to-stomach beliefs of the Christian faith. For example, that there is one God in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—which requires an odd, mysterious type of divine arithmetic. That the second member of the Trinity, God the Son, took on humanity in Jesus Christ, making him the God/man (a clever name for a superhero that Marvel has yet to tap). That Jesus lived the life we should live, without sin, and then died the death we should die for our sins, making him our divine benefactor, paying the debts that we alone owe. That three days later Jesus rose bodily from the dead in a transformed, physical body, never to die again. That his resurrection is the linchpin of the Christian faith, apart from which Christianity is a foolish waste of time. This is a partial snapshot of the gospel, the most important news in human history. I believe that what you believe about this story determines your destiny and, as such, its truth or falsity is of very real immediate and infinite importance to us all. C. S. Lewis was on point when he admonished his own generation that “Christianity is a statement which, if false, is of no importance, and, if true, of infinite importance. The one thing it cannot be is moderately important.”2 Christianity is of infinite importance, and I believe that is true for me and true for you. The primary audience for this book is people who subscribe to the Christian faith, people who, upon reading the above paragraphs, are muttering “Amen, Amen.” But if you pick up this book unsure about the truth of Christianity, here are a few disclaimers. Though you may presently find the Christian story implausible, and might even harbor a secret suspicion that our Christian faith originates from some sort of gullibility, intellectual...