Tag Archive for: Evangelism

Why Your Atheist Friend Will Never Change His Mind (Unless…)

Ever feel like talking to your atheist friend about faith is like hitting your head against a brick wall? You’ve tried explaining, debating, carefully exegeting Bible verses, but they just don’t get it after repeated corrections. You’re starting to wonder if they ever will. Sound familiar? You’re probably thinking, “Why do they keep twisting what faith really means?” It’s like they’re stuck in this loop, misrepresenting faith as some blind leap without evidence. You’ve been patient, clear, and respectful, but nothing seems to change. It’s enough to make anyone want to throw their hands up and walk away.

 

But hang tight. There’s a reason for their stubbornness, and it’s not just about being argumentative. The truth is, atheists often fall into hidden fallacies that keep them from truly understanding faith. To be fair, it’s not their fault entirely.

But here’s the good news: knowing what these fallacies are can help you break through and bring clarity to your conversations. Ready to know why your atheist friend just can’t see eye to eye on faith? Let’s get started.

The Origin of Misconception: Where Did This Definition Comes From?

“We may define ‘faith’ as a firm belief in something for which there is no evidence. Where there is evidence, no one speaks of ‘faith.’ We do not speak of faith that two and two are four or that the earth is round. We only speak of faith when we wish to substitute emotion for evidence. And the substitution of emotion for evidence is apt to lead to strife, since different groups substitute different emotions.”
Bertrand Russell. Human Society in Ethics and Politics (1954), Ch. VII: Can Religion Cure Our Troubles? p. 213

Here’s a fun fact: You know what your friend and Bertrand have in common? They both didn’t consult a theological or philosophical dictionary for this definition of faith. If your friend has a similar definition, “believing something without evidence or in spite of,” let’s challenge it with seven key points:

  1. The majority of people who define faith as believing something without evidence are popular atheists.
  2. Virtually no well-informed Christian holds this view.
  3. No ecumenical council has endorsed this definition.
  4. The vast majority of renowned theologians and philosophers, historically or currently, do not teach it.
  5. Atheists trained in philosophy don’t use this definition.
  6. No theological dictionary or encyclopedia defines the Christian faith this way.
  7. The etymological roots of the word “faith” don’t support this definition.

So, where does this definition come from? Certainly not from Christianity in general. Yet, many popular atheists assume that every religion shares this definition and paint all believers with the same broad brush.

Now, to be fair, there was (and still is with very few adherents) a school of thought called fideism. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy defines fideism as:

“[I]n some sense independent of, if not outright adversarial toward, reason. In contrast to the more rationalistic tradition of natural theology, with its arguments for the existence of God, fideism holds – or at any rate appears to hold . . . that reason is unnecessary and inappropriate for the exercise and justification of religious belief.”

One of the famous church fathers who is said to be a fideist was Tertullian. Per the article, there’s currently just a handful of Christian philosophers who are trying to (re)habilitate the position, like C. Stephen Evans, John Bishop, and Duncan Pritchard. I bet that your atheist friend doesn’t know them by name, much less their work. Even if they do know these philosophers and their work, to take this minority, minimally influential position and show it to others as the main position in Christianity is not honest.

No matter where these atheists took this definition, the best way to go is to research what is the most well-held and robust definition used by the religion and then critique it fairly. Now, here’s the twist: If faith is believing something is true without any evidence or in spite of evidence, then what is the evidence that faith is believing without evidence or in spite of it?

If your atheist friend doesn’t have evidence for this definition, then by his own logic, he’s taking it on faith. Many atheists are unaware of this self-defeating aspect of their definition. For some, showing this self-defeating outcome will be enough to change their minds. But others are more stubborn.

How Atheists Turns Faith into a Punching Bag

Atheists often trip over the strawman fallacy when discussing faith. They misrepresent it (knowingly or unknowingly), making it seem weaker than it actually is. They beat up faith like a punching bag with adjectives like irrational, illogical, unreasonable, and even immoral.

This is where the frustration kicks in for Christians. You’ve likely thought, “That’s not what faith is at all!”Christian faith is not about blind belief. The Bible defines faith as “confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see” (Hebrews 11:1). Key words here are “confidence” and “assurance”.

J. Warner Wallace gives a great insight into faith in his commentary about Hebrews 11.1.

“Is the author saying, ‘Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, when the evidence is unseen?’ No, he’s saying just the opposite. When considering chapter 10 prior to interpreting verse 11:1, it’s clear that the author is encouraging his readers to endure those times when God seems absent; those times when trials and tribulations cause us to question God’s existence. Where is God in these difficult situations? Why can’t we see Him? Why can’t we see His activity in our lives? In verse 11:1, the author of Hebrews says that we can trust that God’s salvation, protection and provision are still there for us, even though they may appear to be ‘things not seen.’ In spite of their apparent absence, we are told to trust that they exist. Why? On what basis? On the basis of what we can see.’”

It’s about trust, grounded in reason and experience, even when we can’t see everything clearly. Imagine trusting you father to catch you in a trust fall. You believe they’ll catch you not because you’ve closed your eyes to reality, but because you’ve seen them do it before. You’ve experienced his reliability. This is exactly what the Christian believes when they speak about faith.

Think about historical evidence, philosophical arguments, scientific evidence, personal experiences that underpin Christian faith.

  • Historical Evidence: Like the reliability of the Bible, or the historical accounts of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, gives us a foundation.
  • Philosophical Arguments: Such as the cosmological argument or the moral argument, provide rational support.
  • Scientific Arguments: Such as the teleological argument, providing scientific support from astrophysics and biology.
  • Personal Experiences: Like answered prayers or moments of peace and guidance in extreme persecution or dangerous situations, reinforce this trust.

So, when atheists dismiss faith as irrational or baseless, they’re attacking a strawman. They’re not engaging with the real, robust concept of faith that Christians hold. This misrepresentation feels like you’re speaking different languages. But this isn’t the only fallacy atheists fall into. There’s another subtle yet pervasive error that compounds the misunderstanding.

Demanding the Impossible: Why Atheists’ Requests for Material Proof Fall Flat

Here’s the other stumbling block: the category mistake. The word “evidence” in their definition is a very specific kind of evidence. Atheists often demand material evidence for a non-material entity like God. They want physical proof, something they can see, touch, or measure. But this demand is like asking for the weight of love. It just doesn’t fit.

We all accept many non-material realities without physical evidence. Think about love, justice, numbers, the reality of the past or consciousness. You can’t weigh these things or capture them in a test tube, yet they’re undeniably real and impactful. Similarly, God, as a non-material being, doesn’t conform to the constraints of the physical realm. Different types of evidence support different kinds of realities.

  • Empirical Evidence: Works great for physical phenomena. You can see gravity’s effects, measure it, and predict it.
  • Philosophical Arguments: Can demonstrate the necessity of a first cause, the existence of objective moral values, or the existence of abstract objects (like forms and numbers).
  • Historical Evidence: Like the resurrection of Jesus, can be scrutinized and debated but remains rooted in strongly reliable circumstantial case.
  • Experiential Evidence: Personal encounters and transformations provide a compelling, if subjective, form of proof.

Yet, atheists often miss this distinction. They insist on material evidence, not realizing they’re committing a category mistake. That’s like asking for proof of a sound’s color. The category doesn’t apply. This narrow view limits their understanding, keeping them stuck in a loop of disbelief.

Locked in Their Own World: How Atheists’ Limited View Blocks Real Understanding

Now, let’s talk about the personal incredulity fallacy. This one’s a biggie. If your friend’s worldview is materialism, naturalism, or even scientism, his worldview won’t leave room for anything beyond the physical, the material, the natural, or the scientific. It’s like trying to explain a smartphone to someone who’s only communicated through a keyer (the code morse machine). They just can’t wrap their heads around it.

This incredulity stems from a strict ontology of the world (what makes the world be like it is), like naturalism, or a strict epistemology of knowledge (how knowledge is acquired), like scientism. If something can’t be explained by the laws of nature, measured, or observed in a lab, it’s dismissed.

But think about the vastness of our universe, the complexity of human consciousness, the depth of love and morality. Not everything that’s real fits neatly into the scientific method or under a microscope.

Here’s where the frustration really ramps up. You’re explaining faith, using philosophical reasoning, historical proofs, scientific evidence, and personal experience. Yet, your atheist friend keeps shaking their head, saying, “I just can’t see it. If there’s evidence, there’s no need for faith. You can’t call that faith.”

It’s like they’ve put up a wall, and no amount of reasonable arguments will make a hole. This fallacy blocks openness to other ways of knowing. In science, we trust empirical evidence. In history, we rely on documented events and testimonies. In philosophy, we use logical reasoning. And in personal life, we trust experiences and relationships. Each of these ways of knowing offers a different lens. When atheists cling only to empirical evidence, they miss out on the fuller picture.

Think about it like this: You wouldn’t use a thermometer to measure happiness, right? Similarly, insisting on material evidence for everything limits understanding. Personal incredulity keeps the door shut to knowledge and experience that faith draws upon. When your arguments don’t seem to make a dent, it’s time to try a different approach.

Still Unconvinced? Here’s What to Do When Arguments Hit a Wall

So, what do you do when all this falls on deaf ears? When, despite your best efforts, your atheist friend still won’t budge? Here’s where patience come into play. It’s frustrating, sure. But it’s also an opportunity to reflect Christ’s love and patience.

  • Recognize the Limits: Not every conversation will lead to a grand epiphany. And that’s okay. Sometimes, it’s enough to plant a seed, to offer a perspective they hadn’t considered before. It’s about the long game, not quick wins.
  • Continue the Relationship: Keep the dialogue open. Respect their views, even if they don’t respect yours. Show that you value them as a person, not just as a potential convert. Your actions, your love, and your patience can speak volumes. Often, it’s these quiet, consistent demonstrations of faith that make the biggest impact over time.
  • Pray for Them: This isn’t about manipulation. It’s about genuinely seeking their good, asking for God’s guidance and wisdom in your interactions. Trust that the Holy Spirit works in ways we can’t always see or understand. Sometimes, the most powerful conversations happen when we step back and let God do His work.
  • Reflect on Your Own Journey: Recall how long it took you to recognize your error and your need for a Lord and Savior. Show some grace. Remember that faith isn’t just about convincing others through argumentation; it’s about living out your beliefs authentically and joyfully. Be the kind of person whose life reflects the love, hope, and peace of Christ. This witness, more than any argument, can draw others to consider faith in a new light.

In the end, it’s about more than just winning debates. It’s about building bridges, fostering understanding, and showing the love of Christ in every interaction. Your atheist friend might not change their mind overnight—or ever. But your faithful witness and loving presence can make a difference in ways you might never fully see. And that’s a God honoring mission worth pursuing.

Wrapping Up: Keeping the Faith in Every Conversation

It’s tough. I know. Especially when your friend is someone you sincerely and genuinely love. You’ve been there—spending hours, maybe even years, trying to explain faith to your atheist friend, only to be met with skepticism or outright dismissal. It feels like you’re running in circles, repeating the same arguments, and still hitting a wall. Discouraging, right?

You’re not alone. So many Christians are in the same boat, feeling that sting of misunderstanding. You’re pouring out your heart, trying to share something deeply personal and important, and it feels like it’s falling on deaf ears. You might be thinking, “Why even bother? Is it worth all this effort?”

Absolutely, it is. Every conversation, every patient explanation, is a seed planted. The insights from this article equip you with the understanding of those hidden fallacies that trip up your atheist friends. You now know why they misunderstand faith and how to steer the conversation towards clarity.

Think about it—understanding the strawman fallacy, the categorical error, and the personal incredulity trap puts you miles ahead. It gives you the tools to navigate these tricky waters with grace and wisdom. But here’s the kicker: It’s not just about winning debates or changing minds. It’s about embodying the love and patience of Christ. It’s about showing that even when the conversation hits a wall, your love and respect for your friend remain unshaken.

That’s powerful. That’s transformative. Remember, you’re not alone in this journey. Many have walked this path and found that persistence, patience, and prayer can work wonders. So, take heart! Each interaction, no matter how small, is a step forward. Your steadfastness and faithfulness are not in vain. So, go out there and keep those conversations going. Keep planting those seeds. Let your faith shine through your words and actions. And trust that, in time, even the hardest hearts can soften. Keep the faith, stay strong, and let God do His thing. You are making a difference, one conversation at a time.

Recommended Resources:

I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist (Paperback), and (Sermon) by Norman Geisler and Frank Turek 

Stealing From God by Dr. Frank Turek (Book, 10-Part DVD Set, STUDENT Study Guide, TEACHER Study Guide)

Macro Evolution? I Don’t Have Enough Faith to be a Darwinist (DVD Set), (MP3 Set) and (mp4 Download Set) by Dr. Frank Turek

Debate: Does God Exist? Turek vs. Hitchens (DVD), (mp4 Download) (MP3)

 

Miguel Rodriguez is the founder of Smart Faith, a platform dedicated to helping Christians defend their faith with clarity and confidence. After experiencing a miraculous healing at 14, he developed a passion for knowing God through study and teaching. He now serves as the Director of Christian Education and a Bible teacher at his local church while also working as a freelance email marketer. Living in Orlando, Florida, with his wife and two daughters, Miguel seeks to equip believers with practical and intellectual tools to strengthen their faith. Through Smart Faith, he provides apologetics and self-improvement content to help Christians live with wisdom and integrity.

Originally posted at: https://bit.ly/4krU0fD

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Religious Pluralism: What About Those That Have Never Heard the Gospel?

Several years back my eldest son who was in fifth grade at the time was brushing his teeth and getting ready for bed. He stepped into the hall and yanked the toothbrush out of his mouth, slinging toothpaste against the wall, and asked, “Dad, dad! What about those people who have never heard about Jesus? Do they go to hell?”

First, what fifth grader thinks about such things when they are brushing their teeth (apparently mine). Second, this has been one of the formidable issues that I believe any reflective Christian can contemplate.
The issue at hand is that it seems unfair to us for God to not provide salvation to someone just because they did not get a chance (because of historical or geographical reasons) to hear the gospel when surely some of them would have accepted it if they had heard it.

In helping reflect on this issue properly consider the graph below. The challenge is “it is unjust (i.e. – unfair) for God to condemn those who never had an opportunity to hear the Gospel.”

 

According to the graph there are four types of people in relation the gospel being heard or not heard crossed with people freely accepting or rejecting the gospel.

The top left quadrant are people who hear the gospel and freely accept it, the bottom left is people who hear the gospel and freely reject it, and the bottom right are people who don’t hear the gospel but if they did they would freely reject it. I contend that these three categories of people are created. When I say created, I don’t mean they are made to accept or reject, I mean they are brought into existence with free will and it is their own free choice in accepting and rejecting the gospel.

The bottom right category deserves come explanation. These people, who don’t hear the gospel, would have freely rejected the gospel but will never hear it. God is under no obligation to get the gospel to these people because they, under their own free will, would reject the gospel. Besides that, the charge of injustice is about the fourth category, the top right.

The top right category of people is where the issue resides. These people never hear the gospel, because of either historical or geographical accident. For example, the 2nd century inhabitants of North America had no opportunity to hear the gospel because of their location and time of existence. There is no way the gospel could have been delivered to them by evangelists or missionaries coming down from the disciples. These people seem to get a raw deal.

But possibly, given Gods infinite wisdom, knowledge, and power he doesn’t allow such people to be created. Now, if that is the case, which it surely seems possible (that is, there is no logical reason to think it is impossible), then there are no people who would have freely accepted the gospel, but never had a chance to hear it. This would ensure that anyone who would freely accept the gospel, God, being all-knowing and all-powerful, creates them in the time and place to ensure that they hear the gospel and freely accept it. This absolves God of any wrong because there are no people who would have freely accepted the gospel but did not get a chance to hear it.

It is just a model, it might be the way reality works it might not, but the point is, if a working model can be developed to absolve God then God, in his infinite wisdom and knowledge and power, should be capable of taking care of reality. And there seems to be some scriptural support for this model in Act 17:24-27,

“The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.  And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us.”

 

So, when my son asked several year ago “What about those people who have never heard about Jesus?  Do they go to hell?” I was able to honestly and confidentially answer, “Son, if they would freely accept the gospel, God knows that and he ensures that the gospel is delivered to them.”  He was satisfied with that answer and went to bed. Hopefully, you find this answer satisfying as well.

Here are a couple of useful resources on this topic:

Recommended Resources: 

Can All Religions Be True? mp3 by Frank Turek

Counter Culture Christian: Is the Bible True? by Frank Turek (Mp3), (Mp4), and (DVD)        

Jesus, You and the Essentials of Christianity by Frank Turek (INSTRUCTOR Study Guide), (STUDENT Study Guide), and (DVD)      

Was Jesus Intolerant? by Frank Turek (DVD and Mp4)

 

J. Steve Lee has taught Apologetics for over two and a half decades at Prestonwood Christian Academy.  He also has taught World Religions and Philosophy at Mountain View College in Dallas and Collin College in Plano.  With a degree in history and education from the University of North Texas, Steve continued his formal studies at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary with a M.A. in philosophy of religion and has pursued doctoral studies at the University of Texas at Dallas and is finishing his dissertation at South African Theological Seminary.  He has published several articles for the Apologetics Study Bible for Students as well as articles and book reviews in various periodicals including Philosophia Christi, Hope’s Reason: A Journal of Apologetics, and the Areopagus Journal.  Having an abiding love for fantasy fiction, Steve has contributed chapters to two books on literary criticism of Harry Potter: Harry Potter for Nerds and Teaching with Harry Potter.  He even appeared as a guest on the podcast MuggleNet Academia (“Lesson 23: There and Back Again-Chiasmus, Alchemy, and Ring Composition in Harry Potter”).  He is married to his lovely wife, Angela, and has two grown boys, Ethan and Josh.

Originally posted at: https://bit.ly/44oDZCD

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How to Talk to the Jehovah’s Witness at Your Door

It’s Saturday morning, and as you’re getting some cleaning done (and by “cleaning,” I mean binge-watching The Great British Baking Show on Netflix in your pajamas), you hear the dreaded knock on your door and peer out. Judging from their conservative clothes and the Watchtower magazines in hand, you quickly conclude you’re about to engage with some Jehovah’s Witnesses (JWs). You now have two choices: you can either ignore the knocking and pretend you aren’t home (but really, what kind of message does that send to your kids?), or you can answer the door. My hope is that after you’ve read our [Mama Bear Apoloetics] articles on the Jehovah’s Witnesses (here and here), you will feel confident enough to engage in a conversation with them, but we also want to give you a bit more help in case you aren’t quite there yet. I know it can be daunting!

Why are we preparing for this conversation?

Did you know that Jehovah’s Witnesses prepare to talk to you? It’s true! They have classes at their weekly meetings to help develop their communication skills, and there is also written and online information available to them about how to engage with people about their faith. They also read a book called Reasoning from the Scriptures, which gives them answers to potential challenges like, “We are already Christians here,” “I’m not interested,” or even, “I’m a Muslim.”[1]

Isn’t that wonderful? Don’t you wish you had practical lessons like that available at your own church? (Awesome if you do! If you don’t, Mama Bear has got you covered!) Just think of this as the opportunity to be a missionary without having to leave your house! Moms are probably the busiest people on the planet, so we may not have time to quit everything and minister to a remote jungle tribe in Africa, but we can all be missionaries right where we are. As Hillary Short said in her Playground Apologetics series, “Wherever you are, that’s where God needs you!”

So, back to the JW classes…what do they learn at these classes? They are taught 1 Timothy 2:3-4, Acts 20:20, and 1 Peter 2:21 to encourage their members towards meaningful conversations with others about their beliefs. We should, too! Knowing that they are prepared before they knock on our doors tells us that we need to be prepared before we answer the door. It’s no fun getting steamrolled, overwhelmed, or tongue-tied.

One of the tips I found on the JW Website was that “Once the conversation has started, look for an opportunity to introduce the good news, but do not be in a hurry. Allow the conversation to develop naturally.”[2] The first section of the JW book, Reasoning from the Scriptures, gives all sorts of recommendations for topics to talk about first, from the crime in your neighborhood to how we all want our children to be happy.[3] (Sounds like a great opportunity to get to know your JW neighbors!)

Getting Started

Jehovah’s Witnesses will ease themselves into the conversation by getting to know you. You should do the same thing! Just like Paul did in Acts 17, aim for common ground. Ask them how long they’ve been outside, and if it’s hot, offer them a glass of water. Take an interest in who they are. This will likely catch them off-guard since many times either no one answers the door or, if the door is answered, it’s quickly closed in their faces. Rude! Don’t be that person.

So, what should you say when they start presenting their “Good News?” Nothing . . . at first. The first thing you should do is listen closely to what they have to say. Take note of any Scripture they cite. If it seems like the conversation is going somewhere, offer them a chair and sit with them. This is your opportunity to show them that not all Christians are hostile toward JWs. They may have never met someone like that. This is your chance to be the light. If they give you a copy of The Watchtower Magazine or Awake!, it would be gracious to accept it (but you don’t have to keep it forever).

The number one thing NOT to do

Once you’ve heard what they have to say, you may want to take a moment to think about how you will respond. One thing you should NOT do is tell them that they belong to a cult or that their worldview is built on heresies. They will leave faster than you can say “Charles Taze Russell.”

Whatever you do, don’t just blurt out that they belong to a cult or that their worldview is built on heresies. They’ll leave faster than you can say ‘Charles Taze Russell.’ Click To Tweet

Not only will they leave, but your particular house will be basically “blacklisted” for the next several months or even years. While that might sound appealing to you, remember, we should not treat ministry like some people treat jury duty. This is not something we are trying to weasel out of (though I’m still not sure why some people don’t want to be on a jury!). Being a missionary to the people whom God has put in our lives is part of being a Christian! Your goal is for them to want to come back and talk further. Search your heart. If your goal is to “trigger” them so that they never want to come back, maybe talk to the Lord about that…

What SHOULD we do?

What I want to do here is give you some ideas about how to respond to a few of the key things they are likely to bring up. This way, you can practice a little beforehand, and you’ll be prepared when the conversation happens. (And, we’ll give you hints on things that will stop the conversation and get your house blacklisted, which again, is not the goal.)

This article really covers two different phases: the relationship-building stage and the established relationship stage.

Phase 1: JWs at your Front Door

During the first stage, you should be extra careful not to come on too strong or try to “evangelize” them too quickly. They won’t come back. Don’t start talking about the Trinity in your first conversation. My friend and former JW, Cynthia, said that the word “Trinity” actually signals something called “thought-stopping” for JWs, and they’ll just stop listening to everything you say. It triggers them to go silent. It also might cause your house to be effectively “blacklisted,” which means they won’t be coming back to your house any time soon. (That’s not to say they will never come back, but it will most certainly be months or even years before they do.) That’s not what you want if you’re going to try to reach them. Instead, save topics like the Trinity and deity of Christ for later conversations, when you have an established relationship.

Why is saying ‘Trinity’ not a good idea at the first meeting with a Jehovah’s Witness? Click To Tweet

Cynthia said that one thing they are taught is that they are the teachers, so if the person they are talking with seems to be trying to teach them, they are likely to walk away from the conversation and not come back. In other words, tread lightly, go slowly, be patient, and be a student.

So, what should you talk about at your doorstep? Cynthia suggested that front-door topics be something that gets the JW thinking. Here’s why. Have you ever had a pebble in your shoe? It’s subtle, and it might not even bother you enough to take your shoe off to get it out at first, but eventually, you’ve had enough, and you need to get it out. Be the pebble in their shoe. For example:

  • Ask them how they know that the Watch Tower Society teaches the truth.Ask them what steps they took to determine if the Watch Tower Society was telling the truth. Listen to what they say. They likely have not done any independent research into their own religion. This isn’t a question designed to trap them, but a question to get them thinking about why they believe what they believe, which I think all believers of anything should do.
  • You could also ask them what it means to call their organization “the truth.”You could then ask them to read John 14:6 where Jesus says that He is the way, the truth, and the life. Ask them what they think this verse means. If Jesus is truth, how could an organization created by a man (Charles Taze Russell) be truth?
  • Ask them when their church was founded. Ask them if God was without a witness before the start of their church because they claim that they are the only true witnesses of Jehovah. If He was without a witness for thousands of years, did God truly care for His people?

Front door conversations are likely going to be pretty short, so quick questions like the ones I mentioned above would be appropriate. Often, it is good to schedule a follow-up meeting, which will give you time to research anything that they said that made you go “hmmm…” But, what about when you have known the JW for a long time?

Phase 2: The Established Relationship

Once you have an established relationship with a Jehovah’s Witness (I’m not talking about just a few conversations, but several), you can start to venture into deeper territory. (Remember, if you start addressing the deity of Jesus and the Trinity too soon, you will lose them, and they won’t come back, and our goal as missionaries isn’t to scare them off!)

Think of it this way: you normally don’t talk about religion and politics on the first (or even second or third) time meeting someone, do you? Why do you think those topics come up so regularly at Thanksgiving dinner, when the family all gets together? It’s because relationship and (ideally) mutual love and respect are common prerequisites for those types of conversations. Those kinds of conversations are like the “deep end” of a pool. You wouldn’t throw a child into the deep end if they have never learned how to swim, right? No, first, you give them floaties and let them wade in the shallow end. Then, you guide them into the deeper end of the pool, slowly and cautiously. As they begin to understand how swimming works and have a healthy respect for water, they gain more confidence and trust. Then, and only then, will they begin to swim on their own.

So, when you have a JW at your door, it’s like your opportunity to give them floaties. Take it slow. Once you trust each other and have a solid relationship, then you can begin to talk about the topics below. If you’re there, and you’re ready, well, shoot… let’s dive in and talk about Jesus!

Jesus

Remember, not all concepts of “Jesus” are created equal. Do not assume that when you say “Jesus” and when they say “Jesus,” you are referring to the same person.

Remember, not all concepts of ‘Jesus’ are created equal. Do not assume that when you say ‘Jesus’ and when they say ‘Jesus,’ you are referring to the same person.Click To Tweet

The JW version of Jesus is very different from that of mainstream Christianity. This is where clarifying terms can be helpful. Make sure you know who they are talking about. Ask questions. You may remember this from my previous articles, but keep in mind that they do not believe in the Trinity, and they do not believe that Jesus is God. When you ask questions, be prepared for answers like these:

  • Jesus is just another created being (Michael the Archangel, to be more specific).Jehovah’s Witnesses might tell you that Jesus is not God. They may not directly come out and say that Jesus was Michael, so be prepared if they don’t. They will likely use Scripture to support their views (such as, Colossians 1:16 and John 14:28). Remember, JWs use their own version of the Bible, called the New World Translation. Be on the lookout for language that demotes Jesus from the Godhead. In my last article, we tackled Colossians 1:16, so I won’t address it here, but let’s talk about John 14:28. John 14:28 says, “the Father is greater than I,” something that makes JWs believe that Jesus is less than the Father. Don’t fall for this!

o Response: Ask them what they think the context is for Jesus making this statement. Ask them if you can read Philippians 2:2-6 together. In this passage, Jesus talks about how he took on the form of a servant but was also in the form of God. See if they understand the implications (i.e., He was God, but He was serving). Ask them if you could also read Hebrews 2:9 together. This passage describes how Christ was made lower than the angels but now crowned with glory so that He could usher in God’s grace through His death and resurrection. Discuss the implications of Hebrews 2:9 (i.e., Jesus is God who became flesh so that He could serve us by dying on the cross and rising again). Both of these passages should help explain that Jesus, God the Son, is not lower than God but is God.

  • Jesus only had “divine qualities” but was not himself divine.This is where it’s helpful to know what their Bible says (New World Translation or NWT) versus other Bible versions. Colossians 2:9 in the NWT says, “It is in him that all the fullness of the divine quality dwells bodily.” My Bible, which is the New American Standard, says, “For in Him all the fullness of the Deity dwells in bodily form.” See how those two verses say something different? In the NWT, “divine quality” replaces the word “Deity.” The text has been changed in the NWT because Jehovah’s Witnesses do not want it to appear like Jesus is God, but that he simply had “godlike qualities.”[4]
  • Jesus is only partially sufficient for salvation.According to JWs, salvation is only available through works and faith in Christ is not enough for salvation. They will agree that the Bible says eternal life is a gift from God through Jesus Christ (which is consistent with Ephesians 2:8-9). So how can it be both a free gift and based on works? It seems like they are speaking through two sides of their mouth. For JWs, salvation is a gift, but works are required, as well. Ron Rhodes explains, “Bordering on playing semantics games, Jehovah’s Witnesses affirm that while good works do not earn salvation, they are nevertheless prerequisites for salvation.”[5] One might think of it like applying for a scholarship. Applying for a scholarship doesn’t earn you a scholarship, but it is a prerequisite for the scholarship. The scholarship is a free gift, but to receive it, one must do certain things to become eligible.

o Response: First, ask them what they believe. Tell them that almost 200 times in the New Testament, salvation is given through faith alone.[6] You could share Acts 16:31, John 11:25, Titus 3:5, and Galatians 2:16. After reading these verses with them, ask them if this sounds like what they know about salvation.

o Response #2: Ask them if they know the difference between salvation and sanctification? Let them know that you believe that good works are a part of who we are as Christians, but that those works are not required for salvation. Rather, these works are part of sanctification, where we are made increasingly into God’s likeness. Yes, we should do good works because we are followers of Christ, but faith alone is what saves us. Our good works are an outpouring of who we are in Christ.

The Trinity

We talked extensively about what Christians believe about the Trinity here, and we briefly covered what JWs believe here. For this topic, it’s particularly important that you study up because Jehovah’s Witnesses are thoroughly trained on how to respond to this issue. Be warned, though—this topic can be exceptionally tough because it is difficult to explain, even for Christians. When we covered the Trinity in our article about Christianity, I wrote about all of the dangers of our attempts to illustrate the Trinity with analogies (which typically lead to heresies like modalism, which is what Jehovah’s Witnesses tend to think all Christians succumb to when teaching about the Trinity). In other words, you’ll want to be careful when tackling this tricky issue. And again, do not bring this up until you have sufficiently established a trusting relationship!

  • The word “Trinity” is not in the Bible.This one is a pretty common argument against the Trinity by Jehovah’s Witnesses. While this is technically true (the word is never mentioned), the concept of the trinity is well established, as we’ll explain below. The JW might bolster their argument by also noting that the word “Trinity” was developed gradually over centuries and first fully revealed in the 4th Century, and they’ll use the New Encyclopedia Britannica and other sources to support their claims.[7]

o Response: If we are ignoring things that aren’t explicitly stated in the Bible, you can respond by mentioning that the word “Jehovah” is not in the original text, either. In fact, it doesn’t appear till the 16th century. It’s a made-up word because scribes were careful to never speak the name of the Lord. To prevent the accidental saying of God’s name (Yahweh – which looked like YHWH) out loud, they added the vowels from Adonai (the Hebrew word for “Lord”) in between the consonants of Yahweh, and . . . well, just watch this short little video. It’s probably easier to watch it rather than to have me try to explain it here.

Ask your JW friend if they know that the Encyclopedia also states that Jehovah is a made-up word. Citing the Oxford Dictionary of World Religions, the Encyclopedia says, “[The word Jehovah] is erroneous, since it took the vowels of adonai (‘my lord’) which were inserted into printed or written texts to prevent any attempt to pronounce the name of God.”

  • The Trinity is pagan.Jehovah’s Witnesses might also tell you that the Trinity is a pagan concept.

o  Response: It’s important to point out to them that the pagans were polytheists not monotheists, which means that they believed in several distinct gods.[8] Clarify that Christians believe in one God with three persons.

o  Counter-Objection: They will probably tell you, “That’s confusing, and God would not want to confuse anyone.”

o Counter-Response #1: It is always preferred to use the JW’s own material to answer their objections. So, in this case, cite the Watch Tower Society’s material. According to Reasoning from the Scriptures, the incomprehensibility of God’s eternal nature is defended by saying, “Our minds cannot fully comprehend it. But that is not [a] sound reason for rejecting it” (emphasis added).[9] Ask them why the same logic shouldn’t be applied to the incomprehensibility of the Trinity? (You can further cite Romans 11:33, Isaiah 55:8-9, and 1 Corinthians 13:12, which allude to the fact that we won’t understand everything all the time.)

o Counter-Response #2: Ask them if we can reasonably expect to understand everything about God? If they say anything remotely close to a “yes,” again cite from Reasoning from the Scriptures: “Should we really expect to understand everything about a Person who is so great that He could bring into existence the universe, with all its intricate design and stupendous size?”[10] According to their own material, we should not expect to understand all the ways of God, and not understanding something is not grounds for rejecting it.

Eschatology [End Times]

JWs believe that only 144,000 people get to Heaven (the “anointed class” or “little flock”), and that those people were already determined by 1935.[11] Any other true believer (a JW) is part of the “great multitude” or “other flock,” and will live in earthly paradise for all of eternity.

  • The “anointed class” is limited to 144,000.When you talk about the anointed class, ask the Jehovah’s Witness if there is anywhere in the Bible where Heaven is explicitly limited to just 144,000. They will likely respond with Revelation 7 and 14 (which both talk about 144,000 people), but they won’t be able to show you a verse that specifically limits those who go to heaven to just 144,000.

o Response #1: You could also read 1 John 5:1 to them, which says, “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God.” The word “everyone” would seem to include not just 144,000. Other verses that talk about all who believe (not just the 144,000) include Ephesians 2:19, Galatians 3:29, James 2:5, and John 12:26.

o Response #2: Another interesting question you could ask is whether the anointed class (the 144,000) includes women. They will likely say yes, but then point out that Revelation 14:4 clearly states that the 144,000 are “men who have not been defiled by women.” That seems to indicate that women are not included in the 144,000 mentioned in Scripture.

o Response #3: Ask them to read John 10:16. Jesus says, “I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also.” (Here, Jesus is referring to the Gentiles that he is going to bring into the fold.) He continues, “They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.” If we are one flock with one shepherd, why would we be divided in eternity?

New Light

New light is how Jehovah’s Witnesses explain changes in the Watch Tower Society’s views . . . claiming that the “light gets brighter” in order to justify the changes. There’s a pretty good explanation of it in this 16-minute video from Witness for Jesus, an organization created to help JWs and former-JWs think more deeply about the Bible.

o Response: Ask the JWs at your door about John 8:12, which says, “When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.’” Ask them how an organization can claim to have new light when Jesus is the light of the world. Truth doesn’t change.

So, what’s the bottom line?

If you choose to open the door when Jehovah’s Witnesses knock, here’s your list of priorities:

  1. Be kind. JWs are taught that Christians are hostile towards them and they interpret rudeness or hostility as proof that they are being persecuted for God. Find common ground, and don’t degrade or belittle them. Instead, find a way to share the truth with them with gentleness and respect (1 Peter 3:15).
  2. Be prepared. Keep any Watchtower or Reasoning from the Scriptures material available and highlighted for easy finding. In fact, why not have a copy of this article on a shelf next to the door, just in case? Understand a bit of their church’s history, as well as the basics of their beliefs. Even if you are using this knowledge to ask questions, it’s wise to know where they are coming from.
  3. Be patient. Don’t aim for a full exposé on JW heresy on the first visit. The goal is a second visit! Do not expect that every conversation you have will result in a conversion, either. My friend, Chris, once told me that we’re aiming to plant seeds, not weeds. What you say may have an impact, but you may not see it come to fruition during your time with them. That’s why it’s essential that you’re prepared to engage in a fruitful dialogue instead of a judgmental diatribe. You may only get one shot to plant a seed, and you really don’t want to miss out on that opportunity.

For further reading, I definitely recommend Reasoning from the Scriptures with the Jehovah’s Witnesses by Ron Rhodes (there’s a revised 2009 edition available). It’s a thorough book that walks through the key theological issues that may come up in your conversations with Jehovah’s Witnesses. It’s also accessible in the sense that you don’t have to have a theology degree to understand it.

You may also want to read the Watch Tower Society’s book, Reasoning from the Scriptures, to get a better idea of how Jehovah’s Witnesses prepare to engage in conversations and what they are taught. There is also detailed information about their beliefs on their Website at www.JW.org.

Thank you to former Jehovah’s Witness, Cynthia Velasco Hampton, for reading my JW articles to ensure that what they contained was accurate. Your insight has been invaluable.

References:

[1] Reasoning from the Scriptures (Brooklyn, NY: Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc., 1985), 16-23.

[2] “Improving Our Skills in the Ministry—Initiating a Conversation in Order to Witness Informally,” https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/202014241 (last accessed August 29, 2018).

[3] Reasoning from the Scriptures (1985), 10-11.

[4] For an excellent and thorough discussion on this point, see Ron Rhodes, Reasoning from the Scriptures with the Jehovah’s Witnesses (Eugene, OR: Harvest House, 2009), 283. (Eugene, OR: Harvest House, 2009), 79-81.

[5] Rhodes 2009, 283.

[6] Ibid., 293.

[7] Watch Tower 1985, 405.

[8] Rhodes 2009, 222.

[9] Watch Tower 1985, 148

[10] Ibid., 149.

[11] “Have No Fear, Little Flock,” https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1995124#h=1:0-12:1082 (last accessed Sept. 30, 2018). This is also a bit more complex than it seems. In 2007, the Watch Tower Society issued a response to a reader, noting, “As time has gone by, some Christians baptized after 1935 have had witness borne to them that they have the heavenly hope. (Romans 8:16, 17) Thus, it appears that we cannot set a specific date for when the calling of Christians to the heavenly hope ends.” [https://www.jw.org/en/publications/magazines/w20070501/Questions-From-Readers/] In other words, even though many in the church still hold to the 1935 cutoff date, there is an opening for others to be added to the “little flock.”

Recommended Resources: 

Counter Culture Christian: Is the Bible True? by Frank Turek (Mp3), (Mp4), and (DVD)        

Jesus, You and the Essentials of Christianity by Frank Turek (INSTRUCTOR Study Guide), (STUDENT Study Guide), and (DVD)      

How to Interpret Your Bible by Dr. Frank Turek DVD Complete Series, INSTRUCTOR Study Guide, and STUDENT Study Guide

Can All Religions Be True? mp3 by Frank Turek

 

Lindsey Medenwaldt is the Director of Ministry Operations at Mama Bear Apologetics, and she’s our resident worldview and world religion specialist. She has a master’s degree in apologetics and ethics from Denver Seminary, as well as a master’s in public administration and a law degree. She’s the author of Bridge-Building Apologetics (Harvest House, 2024). She’s an editor and author for the Christian Research Journal, an editor for Women in Apologetics, and a member of the Pelican Project. She has also contributed to various writing projects, including a chapter about the Jehovah’s Witnesses to the Popular Handbook of World Religions (Harvest House, 2021). Lindsey and her husband, Jay (who is also an apologist), have been married for 17 years. They live with their daughters in Iowa. In her spare time, Lindsey loves watching British reality television, especially The Great British Baking Show, and she’s an avid reader (Jay and Lindsey have an at-home library of more than 2,500 books!).

Originally posted at: https://bit.ly/3SougFu

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How to Talk with Kids about Jesus

I used to think I knew how to talk with kids about Jesus to help them establish a lasting faith. It seemed simple enough. Read the Bible. And absolutely, the Bible is where we should begin. Reading the Bible together regularly is the best way to open a dialogue with your kids about Jesus. Everything about Jesus must begin with the Bible because that is how God chose to reveal His truths to us about Himself, the world, and Jesus.

But, that isn’t as simple as it used to be. My parents taught me that the Bible was truth, and that was that, until college, where I first faced atheism as the predominant worldview. (And my faith was shaken – but more on that later). But we didn’t have the internet. I know, I’m ancient.

Kids Today. . .

Today, children are confronted with atheist perspectives at younger and younger ages. In an information age, we must contend for the faith of our children in new ways. Holding fast to the accuracy and inerrancy of the Bible isn’t as simple as because I said so anymore. Starting to talk with kids about Jesus has to begin with why we believe the Bible is the word of God. We have to start to talk with kids about Jesus by establishing the Bible as a credible source.

Establishing the Bible as a credible source proves our faith is based on truth. Without that foundation, religion is simply a preference, as of little importance as a favorite flavor of ice cream. By teaching our children the Bible is a reliable historical document inspired by God, we prepare them to live a life built on the solid rock of Christ. And they will be able to answer many common atheist objections for themselves and others.

Quick Responses on the Reliability of the Bible

The Old Testament is reliable because it was copied carefully and contains accurate predictions. The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls verifies that the Bible we have today matches the ancient documents from thousands of years ago.

We also know that Jesus believed the Old Testament was reliable. He quoted from it often in His teaching. So, if the New Testament accounts about Jesus are reliable, the OT is as well.

But is the New Testament really reliable?

Yes! And you don’t have to spend years studying apologetics to be able to demonstrate the reliability of the New Testament to your children.

Many Christian scholars have already done the heavy lifting for you! Just a few of the MANY worth following (click names for NT related content) are Gary Habermas, Natasha Crain, J. Warner Wallace of Cold Case Christianity, Sean McDowell, Greg Koukl and Stand to Reason, and MamaBear Apologetics.

We have to establish that the New Testament is reliable because it is through the text we come to know the real, historical Jesus.

And that brings us back to the Bible. We have to teach our children sound doctrine and theology. It’s not helpful to ask WWJD (What would Jesus do?) if we don’t know what He would do! As Christians and parents, we have to know what Jesus did and said and how that relates to what we believe.

So, as you read the Bible together, talk to kids about Jesus by using some critical reading skills.

  • What did Jesus do here?
  • Is there any religious or historical context we need to understand for this passage?
  • What did Jesus say?
  • Who was His audience?
  • What did Jesus mean by what he said? How can we know that?
  • What did the disciples think or ask about the situation?
  • Are there other Bible passages that relate to this topic?
  • Does Jesus appear in the Old Testament? If so, where? (Spoiler alert – He totally does!)

What if you don’t feel prepared to talk to kids about Jesus? It’s okay to learn alongside your kids! You don’t have to be an expert to get them thinking. You just have to be one step ahead to help someone follow along. And there are so many great resources available to you!

Books can be great resources to open conversations or to explain complicated concepts.

Any parent can be prepared to answer most of the primary questions about Jesus or the main atheist objections to Jesus with one easy to use resource, Talking with Your Kids about Jesus by Natasha Crain.

I was on the launch team for this book and it is AMAZING! I’ve already seen my daughter’s faith grow through the conversations we’ve had while reading this book.

Talking With Your Kids About Jesus

First, Talking with Your Kids About Jesus is like an apologetics 101. If you’ve never even dipped a toe into the waters of apologetics, this is where to start. While all about Jesus, the way Natasha explains each subject, she addresses many basic defenses for Christianity as a whole as well. It really is a great entry into learning how to defend our faith from the world’s skepticism.

The book is broken into 30 brief chapters. I can easily read one or two sitting in the doctor’s waiting room.

Some of the topics Natasha covers are:

  • Is Jesus real?
  • Was Jesus the Jewish Messiah?
  • Is Jesus God? Did he claim to be?
  • Is Jesus the only way to salvation?
  • Is Hell real?
  • Why did Jesus have to die and what was the purpose of His death?
  • What evidence do we have for the empty tomb and Resurrection?

Each chapter begins with a relatable situation that identifies the main question she will answer. Then she gives a basic survey of the evidence and information we have on that topic. The information is well-organized so it is easy for busy parents to digest. I love how each chapter ends with real examples showing ways to talk with your kids.

Natasha’s writing style is totally relatable as a woman and mom. Her funny and poignant anecdotes make the lessons very accessible.

I only wish I had this book years ago for my own faith! TWYKAJ truly covers almost every objection to Jesus I’ve ever heard and clarifies the primary beliefs of the Christian faith.

I would recommend TWYKAJ for anyone, but the conversations are going to be the most impactful if your children are old enough to understand the concepts, ages 7 and up would be my best estimate. My daughter is 9 and grasps the basics of each chapter. Make sure to tailor your resources to the age of your kiddos.

Your Kids Can Handle More Than You Realize

But don’t underestimate them. They spend all week at school being taught complicated history lessons and challenging math or science concepts, but are coloring pictures in Sunday School, singing songs about the Arky Arky.

Our kids can handle much more than we expect. Plus, there are amazing resources available for any age level.

A couple years ago, I started my daughter’s apologetic’s journey with a set of picture books. They use fictional stories to explain the creation of the universe, objective morality, and the resurrection of Christ.

And she loves the Cold Case Christianity for Kids books. God’s Crime Scene for Kids is all about the creation and fine-tuning of the universe, while Cold Case Christianity for Kids focuses on examining Jesus like a detective.

How important is it to talk with kids about Jesus? Crucial. Remember how I first encountered real atheism in college? I heard objections to Christianity that I’d never heard before. And because I had never heard them, they sounded very damning of Christianity.

When I learned there are more discrepancies between copies of the New Testament than there are words, I didn’t know how to keep believing it was true. So I walked away from living like it was true for most of the next two decades. But God never let me go. He kept coming after me until I turned my heart back to Him.

Thankfully, it was then I found apologetics and discovered answers for all my questions. I learned those text discrepancies can be accounted for through copy errors. We can easily reconstruct the original text from the thousands of copies we have. Not a single error affects any important Christian belief or doctrine. Apologetics totally rebuilt the foundation of my faith.

But, I don’t want my daughter to spend time lost in the wilderness of rebellion like I did. I want her to have the answers to all the questions now. And know that we have answers for almost every question.

She doesn’t need to doubt God’s love or Jesus’s existence like I did. She can know Jesus clearly and deeply from the beginning. She’ll still have to choose to follow Him for herself, but she will have a solid foundation.

If you want your children to have a real faith that will withstand the challenges of life and atheist objections, you need to have these kinds of conversations with your kids about Jesus. And you might be surprised at how much they will inform and bolster your faith as well.

Recommended Resources: 

Counter Culture Christian: Is the Bible True? by Frank Turek (Mp3), (Mp4), and (DVD)        

How Can Jesus be the Only Way? Mp4, Mp3, and DVD by Frank Turek

Defending Absolutes in a Relativistic World (Mp3) by Frank Turek

Another Gospel? by Alisa Childers (book)

 

Jennifer DeFrates is a former English and Social Studies teacher turned homeschool mom and Christian blogger at Heavennotharvard.com and theMamapologist.com. Jennifer is a 2x CIA graduate (the Cross-Examined Instructors Academy) and volunteers with Mama Bear Apologetics. She has a passion for discipleship through apologetics. Her action figure would come with coffee and a stack of books. She is also the reluctant ringleader of a small menagerie in rural Alabama.

Originally posted at: https://bit.ly/49PVw7w

 

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5 Important Reasons Christians Should Study Apologetics

All Christians should study apologetics. Christians should study apologetics may sound like a bold claim if you’ve barely even heard of apologetics, but I promise you apologetics has been the most important thing I’ve done for my faith besides reading my Bible regularly.

What is Apologetics?

Apologetics is a rational, organized defense of the Christian faith. It is the why behind the what we believe.

Apologetics has many different aspects. Some people study the timelines of events in the Bible. Astrophysicists study the universe and God’s hand in creation. Some apologists are philosophers who consider the rational reasoning behind having faith. Some are archaeologists who examine artifacts and geographical evidence that supports the Bible.

Apologetics has many different branches, but they all stem from the same tree of demonstrating the reasonableness of the Christian faith.

Reason 1 why all Christians should study apologetics – Because the Bible tells us to.

Most Christians know what we believe, but if someone were to ask why do you believe it, would you have an answer? Did you know the Bible tells us we should have an answer? “But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect.” (1 Peter 3:15, ESV)

Christians have a hope within us that the rest of the world does not. We should be prepared to explain why we have this hope to anyone who asks. Studying apologetics helps us prepare this answer before we need to answer it.

Why should ALL Christians study apologetics? Because the world has never needed Jesus more than today. We need to be prepared to give an answer for the hope we have within us. #Apologetics CLICK TO TWEET

Reason 2 why all Christians should study apologetics is to shore up our own faith.

If we’re honest, most Christians have doubts occasionally. From time to time, we wonder is any of this real? Am I just hoping in something fictional? Like the father in Mark 9, I have cried out in the night for God to help my unbelief. “Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24)

Most recently, when I was just feeling broken and despondent from the current cultural darkness, I begged God for help. I instantly felt I should call a friend I hadn’t talked to in almost a year. I kept pushing back that feeling, but that day she called me! She said she felt God telling her to call me.

Ok, God, I hear you! You see even those moments that I just need encouragement to keep fighting the darkness! But aren’t Christians supposed to have blind faith? Some Christians believe that our faith should be absolute and require no proof or it isn’t faith. Have you heard this argument before? I certainly had.

But “just believe!” rang horribly false when I heard atheist objections to the Bible’s accuracy or challenges to creation. I needed better answers than just blind faith!

I was so grateful to know that this isn’t the kind of faith God ever expected us to have. Faith was trusting in what we have reason to believe is true. If we look through the entirety of scriptures, we can see that God and Jesus used miracles at specific times to demonstrate their power and authority.

[below is a “click-to-tweet” link. If you can get it to work on the CE website then great – folks will be able to click it and directly tweet that quote from their own twitter account. If you can’t get it to work, then just convert it back into a blockquote]

Are Christians really supposed to have a Blind Faith? Read here to see what Jesus expected of those who followed Him. #Apologetics #ChristianApologetics #WomeninApologetics CLICK TO TWEET

In Luke 7, while John the Baptist is in jail awaiting his fate, he sends two of his followers to ask Jesus if He is the Messiah. John the Baptist was the first to recognize Jesus as the Messiah, and yet, he doubted. Does Jesus rebuke John? Tell him to just have faith? No. “In that hour he healed many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and on many who were blind he bestowed sight.” (Luke 7:21)

He spends the next hour performing the exact types of miracles that the Old Testament prophets predicted the Messiah would do. And then commends John in front of the crowd, “I tell you, among those born of women none is greater than John.”

In John 10, some of the Jews listening to Jesus teach grow restless wanting to know if He is the Messiah. Jesus’s answer gives us hope today. Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name bear witness about me” (John 10:25).

Jesus didn’t expect people to blindly hope in Him without cause. He expected His followers then and now to trust the signs and teachings that demonstrated His divine nature.

Reason 3 why all Christians should study Apologetics is to gain critical thinking skills.

We live in an internet age in which anyone can say anything. People make emotionally powerful statements or videos and the mobs cheer assent, often without thinking deeply about what they are cheering.

From studying apologetics, I have learned to think deeply about the meaning of words.

Challenging conversations have to start with some ground rules, like clear definitions of terms. If we are using the same words, but mean different things, conversations can go south quickly. For example, love is love sounds pithy and noble, but what is the definition of love here?

“Love is not affectionate feeling, but a steady wish for the loved person’s ultimate good as far as it can be obtained” ― C.S. Lewis

I doubt this is the kind of love meant by Love is Love. Studying apologetics made me more aware of linguistic theft (changing definitions of words to mean something new and often contradictory). Apologetics also taught me to think logically about the statements people make.

Listening to thousands of hours of apologetics podcasts, I’ve learned to see through logical fallacies and be able to make sound arguments for why I believe God exists and the Bible is truth.

Reason 4 why all Christians should study Apologetics is to learn sound doctrine.

While some aspects of apologetics strive to harmonize science with our faith or study the accuracy of the Bible, some apologists spend most of their time studying the doctrine of what we believe by studying the Bible.

I’ve learned to never read A Bible verse, but instead to study the context of a verse, look at the intended audience, consider the historical context, etc.

I’ve learned how to formulate answers for tough questions, like why do we believe Jesus had to die on the cross for our sins? Is it cosmic child abuse?

Through apologetics (and reading my Bible), I’ve learned to see how the thread of God’s redemptive promise flows through the entire Bible from the fall and the covenants with Abraham and Moses all the way to the End Times and Revelation. The requirements of the first passover in Egypt foreshadow Christ’s blood redeeming us from death. Christ’s death occurring on Passover during the ritual slaughter of lambs for the Jewish Passover meal was not an accident. It was God’s divine plan in His divine timing. I’ve learned to read my Bible better.

How do we know the will of God on an issue? We can study God’s response in similar situations, look for what He values, look at God’s definitions of love, justice, righteousness, etc.

If we find a verse that isn’t totally clear, how do we determine what it means? We look at other verses on the same topic that are clear. Always use the clearest verses to shore up our theology.

Learning to study the Bible for all it’s worth is one of the biggest joys I’ve gained from apologetics. One theologian/apologist/pastor, Mike Winger, has really taught me how to take an issue like marriage and research it through the entirety of scripture, not just the designated marriage passages.

I love feeling like I better understand the will and character of God. Living out my faith has become so much easier with sound theology.

[below is a “click-to-tweet” link. If you can get it to work on the CE website then great – folks will be able to click it and directly tweet that quote from their own twitter account. If you can’t get it to work, then just convert it back into a blockquote]

If you could share ideas or facts that help remove people’s objections to God and open their minds to belief, wouldn’t you want to??? Learn why and how here. #Evangelism #Apologetics #Christianity CLICK TO TWEET

Reason 5 why all Christians should study Apologetics is to share our faith.

Learning how to talk to people about God is the most important reason of all. If Jesus is the only way to salvation from sin and those who die in their sin will spend eternity separated from every grace of God, we need to be sharing our faith regularly.

Too many people in our lives are not living as saved children of God. We need to do our best to invite as many people as possible into a real saving relationship with God.

Some people will respond to the Gospel message alone, but most people will have questions. Apologetics will help you answer tough questions from friends and family.

  • Is there any evidence for God?
  • Why should I believe the Bible is accurate?
  • Was Jesus even real?
  • Why should I believe in the Resurrection?
  • How can you believe there is only one way to God?
  • Are other faiths true? What about Mormonism? Islam?

Having answers helps remove objections that prevent people from seeking Jesus. It can open their hearts and minds to faith in God.  All of which goes back to the first reason, Christians should study apologetics to be prepared to give an answer for the hope we have in Christ.

Recommended Resources:

Jesus, You and the Essentials of Christianity by Frank Turek (INSTRUCTOR Study Guide), (STUDENT Study Guide), and (DVD)    

I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist’ [FOUR unique curriculum levels for 2nd grade through to adult] by Frank Turek 

Can All Religions Be True? mp3 by Frank Turek

How Philosophy Can Help Your Theology by Richard Howe (DVD Set, Mp3, and Mp4)   

 

Jennifer DeFrates is a former English and Social Studies teacher turned homeschool mom and Christian blogger at Heavennotharvard.com and theMamapologist.com. Jennifer is a 2x CIA graduate (the Cross-Examined Instructors Academy) and volunteers with Mama Bear Apologetics. She has a passion for discipleship through apologetics. Her action figure would come with coffee and a stack of books. She is also the reluctant ringleader of a small menagerie in rural Alabama.

Originally Posted at: https://bit.ly/4cmcoTi

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Church Matters

Gospel-centered churches are as important as ever, with powerful worldly forces at work actively competing with Christ for the souls of men.[1]

The world buys our attention and convinces us that purpose exists in tangibles, accolades, relationships, drugs, fame, and money. In the Bible, the book of Romans tells us that all of mankind has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Rom 3:23). There is no one exempt from this reality.

At the root, we have a soul problem. The world and all that is within it will never fill the deep void that every human being is born with. Romans goes on to say that the wages for sin is death, but the free gift is eternal life in Christ (Rom 6:23). The only way ultimately to escape the snare of death and darkness is to believe in Jesus as Lord.

May God Increase Our Numbers

If we just focused on Increasing mere church attendance, that doesn’t amount to true revival or changed-lives. An isolated altar call at the end of every worship service is not enough. The Gospel still must be preached. And it’s important for pastors to create space for reflection and response to that message. But the church-body must be devoted to discipleship and spiritual counsel for those who do accept Jesus.

The church has both the opportunity and responsibility to proclaim the Gospel to those around us. As stated, Jesus alone offers abundant life, and he wishes that none should perish. Helping a person see their depravity before Christ is not done by shaming or condemning. Rather, we love someone in word and deed. As trust builds, the floor for gospel conversations greatly expands.

Rather than growing in comfortability, may we grow in boldness. There is nothing more energizing than seeing a person come to saving faith in Christ. Save a seat for your neighbor at church. Seek out your co-worker struggling with loss and pain. Get to know the waiter at your favorite restaurant. Pray that the Lord would give you opportunities to share his Gospel with the people near and far from you.

May God Send More Laborers

Scripture says that the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Laboring for the gospel means that we will meet persecution. In Matthew chapter ten, Jesus told his disciples that they are sent out as sheep among wolves (Matt 10:16). Satan loves to use the fear of man as a tactic to hold us back from proclaiming Jesus.

The Holy Spirit is our wonderful Helper and Advocate. He gives us wisdom and words to say in moments of sharing with others. Though we will be met with obstacles and even judgment along the way, our confidence rises as our dependence on the Lord deepens.

The Great Commission to share the Gospel is not assigned to a certain group of religious leaders, pastors, or apologists. All believers share in the responsibility to speak truth over a lost and broken world (Matt 28:18-20).

Many Christians say that they feel unprepared to share with someone. Oftentimes, the fear of rejection or unknown outcomes holds us back from simply beginning a conversation. Though it is rarely easy or comfortable, God is incredibly faithful to use our obedience for his glory.

Rather than feeling pressed to have all the answers, a beautiful starting point may be to share your story. Sharing what the Lord has done for you makes it personal and real. Scripture says that there is power in our testimony. The woman at the well is a wonderful example of this (John 4:1-42). She believed that Jesus was the true Messiah because he knew her story and loved her anyway. Shame could no longer hold her back, and her brokenness was being graciously turned to beauty. She immediately left to tell everyone the news!

We will be mocked and made fun of for our belief. Being a Christian is to be in the minority in today’s age. Second Timothy chapter one reminds us to be unashamed for Christ (2 Tim 1:8). The Lord knew we would be afraid at times, and he gave us many passages of scripture to hold onto. He promises to be with us and will never leave nor forsake his children.

May God Make Us One Flock

Romans chapter twelve reminds us that we are many in Christ but one body. The passage goes on to say that we all have different gifts to use because of the grace we have received from God (Rom 12:3-8).

Lasting unity builds and thrives in Christ alone. God uses all different types of people with diverse backgrounds to reach the lost. The church on earth should resemble heaven. We must be unified in our goal to make the name of Jesus known.

Socioeconomic status, gender, occupation, titles, race, and prestige do not have an impact on how the Lord moves. Yet, these issues can lead to great areas of division if we are not careful. Too often, God’s sheep make more noise about their differences than the most important thing they have in common: Jesus.

We often hear stories about people leaving their faith behind because of a horrible incident that took place at church or involving Christian leaders. Though devastating, humans hurt humans, and church can become very messy at times. The moment our worship gatherings and ministry become about anything other than the Gospel of Jesus Christ, pride and sin grows exponentially.

As a body of believers, we see tremendous unity when we focus on Jesus alone. In service projects, ministry events, and worship gatherings, the family of God is enjoyed because of God himself. The moment our eyes and hearts drift, we become chaotic people with misaligned priorities. Being one flock means we focus on the Good Shepherd for wisdom, provision, clarity, and guidance.

There is no one holier than thou. May we serve the Lord in mutual humility and gratitude. Our differences pale in comparison to the tremendous joy of collective reverence to King Jesus. The essential matters of our faith can be the unifying factor for denominations and believers. Even in disagreements on these things, the message of Christ will always be love. Though we may not accept or condone certain belief systems, we must extend love.

Spiritual gifts are a beautiful marker of God’s grace in our lives. Though he does not need us, he chooses to use us in accomplishing his purposes. Unity among the church is experienced as members walk in their individual giftedness.

Acknowledging that where you are weak someone else is strong provides further opportunity for impact. Teamwork in the family of God is a remarkable sight. Prayerfully consider your spiritual gifts according to 1 Corinthians chapter twelve.

Ask the Lord to show you where he would like to use you within the church and within your community. Link arms with those who have similar passions and have gone before you. Seek wisdom from the leaders in your life and grow in amazement as you see God work. He is faithful to do immeasurably more than we could think or imagine as we seek to walk in humble submission to do his will (Eph 3:20). Stay lowly, passionate, and united, Christ followers.

References:

[1] Editor’s note.

Recommended resources related to the topic:

Jesus vs. The Culture by Dr. Frank Turek DVD, Mp4 Download, and Mp3

Reflecting Jesus into a Dark World by Dr. Frank Turek – DVD Complete Series, Video mp4 DOWNLOAD Complete Series, and mp3 audio DOWNLOAD Complete Series

Jesus, You and the Essentials of Christianity by Frank Turek (INSTRUCTOR Study Guide), (STUDENT Study Guide), and (DVD)      

Woman to Woman: Preparing Yourself to Mentor (Book) by Edna Ellison & Tricia Scribner

 

Annie Brown has joined us as Content Coordinator working with the Truth That Matters team. In this role, Annie will be creating written content meant to edify and equip lay learners and scheduling content channels as needed. In addition to being a student at SES, Annie has a B.S. in Family & Child Development from Liberty University. “I am grateful for the opportunity to serve on the Truth That Matters Team at SES. Using my passion of writing to prayerfully bless others excites me, and I look forward to what the Lord has in store.”

Original posted at: https://bit.ly/3KdACU9 

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Here Comes the He Gets Us Campaign Again: Why Its Portrayal of Jesus is Still a Problem

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Last year, I wrote an article called “7 Problems with the He Gets Us Campaign,” in which I critically responded to the $100 million advertising campaign featuring a website, billboards in major cities, a book, and ads that have been viewed more than 300 million times. Perhaps most visibly, the campaign’s ads were featured in last year’s Super Bowl. When thousands of people went searching for more information on it, my article came up, and it went viral—actually pulling down my site at one point! Clearly, a lot of people are interested in knowing more about the nature of these ads.

Fast forward to 2024. Super Bowl Sunday was on February 11. And He Gets Us once again ran ads generating widespread curiosity. Given the reach of the campaign and high interest level, I wanted to do an updated evaluation of what He Gets Us is doing today. To that end, I’m going to answer four questions:

  1. Does the He Gets Us Campaign get skeptics interested in Jesus?
  2. Does the He Gets Us Campaign get skeptics interested in the rightJesus?
  3. Do the He Gets Us campaign reading plans take people to the next level of understanding Jesus (beyond the slick website and TV ads)?
  4. Does the He Gets Us campaign direct people to theologically solid churches for continuing their search for truth?

There are three things that will inform my answers. First is my professional background in marketing (I have an MBA in marketing and am a former adjunct marketing professor). Since this is a campaign aimed at “marketing” Jesus, that background is particularly relevant. Second is my evaluation of the publicly available He Gets Us content (the website and YouVersion reading plans). I have not read the He Gets Us book, so that isn’t part of what I’m responding to. Third is a recent interview campaign consultant Ed Stetzer did with Biola professors Scott Rae and Sean McDowell on Biola’s “Think Biblically” podcast (Stetzer is the Dean of Biola’s Talbot School of Theology). While Stetzer says he is not a spokesman for the campaign, he has been closely involved, so his comments are helpful for an insider view of the goals and strategies.

1. Does the He Gets Us Campaign get skeptics interested in Jesus?

Stetzer says that the people who eventually started the campaign had become concerned “that the perception of Christianity had suffered and people weren’t necessarily considering who Jesus was. And they would like for people to consider who he was, who he is.” They then brought in market researchers who found that skeptics were open to considering who Jesus was (I’d love to know more about that, but no further information was noted). Stetzer emphasized repeatedly in the interview that the very narrow goal of the campaign is to reach those skeptics. Ultimately, He Gets Us wants to build a bridge from people seeing the ads to learning more by going to the website and ultimately signing up for a Bible reading plan and/or asking to be connected to a church.

So, in short, the goal is very specifically to get skeptics interested in Jesus. That’s a very worthy goal, especially if you have millions of dollars to do it with. My first question is, does the campaign successfully meet that objective?

While I don’t know the statistics on how many people have visited the He Gets Us website as a result of the ads, Stetzer says over 600,000 people have signed up for the reading plans and “hundreds of thousands” have been referred to churches. So, as a surface-level answer to the question, it certainly seems reasonable to say that yes, the campaign has generated interest. If the goal was to get people to one of those two action points—signing up for the Bible reading plan and/or asking for a church referral—then marketers have achieved at least some success. (Whether the numbers justify the money spent is a different question that I’m not evaluating here.)

2. Does the He Gets Us Campaign get skeptics interested in the right Jesus?

From a marketing perspective, there is a predictable funnel that people go through before taking action (e.g., making a purchase). It starts with becoming awareof something, which then sometimes converts to interest, which then sometimes converts to desire for action, which then sometimes converts to action. Marketers know that if you want people to take action—to get to the bottom of the funnel—you have to first take them through those stages, and those stages have to be tailored toward the action you want.

In this case, if you are marketing in order to generate interest in Jesus, you want to be sure you’re generating interest in the right Jesus (a correct portrayal) if you want that to lead to the action you desire. This is where I believe the campaign fails in a serious way.

As I said in last year’s article, the Jesus of this campaign is nothing more than an inspiring human who relates to our problems and cares a whole lot about a culturally palatable version of social justice (the exception to this is in parts of the reading plan, which I’ll address in the next point). This has not changed since I last wrote. My points then remain true now: The fact that Jesus “gets us,” stripped from the context of His identity, is meaningless; Jesus is presented as an example, not a Savior; The campaign reinforces the problematic idea that Jesus’s followers have Jesus all wrong; And the campaign reinforces what culture wants to believe about Jesus while leaving out what culture doesn’t want to believe. I won’t expand on these points here since you can read my prior article for that analysis.

But I do want to say more this time about who the campaign is clearly targeting. Stetzer mentioned that it’s “skeptics,” but a close evaluation (or even not so close evaluation) of the campaign makes it clear it’s not all skeptics they have in mind. This is crucial to understand. It’s a very specific segment of skeptics—it’s progressives who primarily view the world through a lens of social justice (and specifically the critical theory model of social justice, which places everyone in oppressor/oppressed buckets).

5 Signs Your Church Might Be Heading Toward Progressive Christianity

If you’ve never immersed yourself in the world of this viewpoint, you might not recognize how laden the content is with language and framing designed to appeal very specifically to this group. If they were targeting just any skeptic, you wouldn’t see such a specific framing of Jesus in progressive terminology; there are plenty of skeptics who aren’t beholden to progressive social justice thinking.

For example, they use hashtags with words that have a specific connotation to a progressive audience, even if the campaign isn’t necessarily using them in the same way (on the home page, you see #inclusive #activist #struggle #refugee #justice #outrage #bias #judgment). They also frame their content in terms that are commonly used in progressive social critiques. For example, the words “religious leaders” or “religious people” are often used with a negative connotation, which serves to reinforce the notion that it’s bad to be “religious.” That was never Jesus’s claim (see my podcast with Alisa Childers). There are recurring references to concepts like lived experience, power dynamics, oppression, racial conflict, toxic systems, corruption, and political conflict—all progressive focal points. That’s not to say that none of these things are actually problems, but rather that it’s clear they’re focusing on progressives given their obvious focus on progressive concerns.

So why is this a concern? I have no concern at all with choosing progressives as your target audience. But I have a lot of concern with the nature of the campaign given this target and what they are likely to take from it. Here are three key reasons why.

First, the campaign will likely lead many progressives to conclude that they (still) like Jesus and (still) hate Christians. To be honest, I’m not very convinced that we even have a problem with Jesus’s reputation in culture. People tend to like Jesus because they don’t understand all that He taught. As far as the average person is concerned, Jesus was a loving guy who hated “the system” and can serve as a good moral example—and that’s exactly how the He Gets Us website portrays Him. People, however, tend to have disdain for Christians when we present the fullness of what the Bible teaches, particularly on moral subjects. So, if a progressive sees this content and never gets to a Bible reading plan or church connection, they’ve taken away that Jesus was the great guy they thought He was and that all those Christians today who talk about things they don’t like are still the problem.

Second, the campaign will solidify the idea in progressives’s minds that their social justice lens of the world is the lens through which Jesus sees it, too. It would be one thing if marketers used progressive language to present a full picture of Jesus. But when you just use progressive language without presenting the full picture, it leaves the impression that their language—representing a whole underlying worldview structure built on critical theory—is correct. Those who don’t get to the desired Bible or church action points will simply come away thinking that Jesus was a social justice warrior just like they are (with all that implies to them).

It would be one thing if marketers used progressive language to present a full picture of Jesus. But when you just use progressive language without presenting the full picture, it leaves the impression that [Progressive Christianity] is correct.

Is that really a big problem? Yes, yes it is. It is this model of oppressed/oppressor thinking that leads progressives to claim the gender binary is oppressive, that white people are inherently racist, that abortion is a form of justice for women, that heterosexuality is an oppressive norm, and that we need to abolish the nuclear family. If this campaign even inadvertently suggests through a social justice veneer that this is the lens through which Jesus would have seen the world, that is a disastrous consequence.

It is this model of oppressed/oppressor thinking that leads progressives to claim the gender binary is oppressive, that white people are inherently racist, that abortion is a form of justice for women, that heterosexuality is an oppressive norm, and that we need to abolish the nuclear family

Third, the campaign can easily be construed to affirm theologically progressive Christianity. In my last two points, I was speaking specifically of progressives who don’t identify as Christians. There are, however, many who hold to the same social justice ideology and do identify as Christians. They are typically focused on a human Jesus who merely cares about a social gospel, and they reject the authority of the Bible. These Christians would heartily affirm everything on the He Gets Us site. Given that the site portrays a fully human Jesus and at the same time claims to be presented by “Christians,” there’s no reason to think someone wouldn’t come away thinking they can be a Christian and not believe all the “baggage” about things like the Bible being God’s Word.

It’s worth noting this statement on the site: “He Gets Us is a diverse group of Jesus followers with a wide variety of faith journeys and lived experiences. Our work represents the input from Christians who believe that Jesus is the son of God.” All of this looks good so far. But they continue saying, “as well as many others who, though not Christians, share a deep admiration for the man that Jesus was, and we are deeply inspired and curious to explore his story.” It’s pretty clear theologically progressive Christians, who deny the deity of Christ, have been part of the team.

So, my answer to the question, “Does the He Gets Us Campaign get skeptics interested in the right Jesus?” is a resounding no. It’s not just an incomplete picture of Jesus. It’s an inaccurate one. And because it will just confirm what the target audience already thinks, many if not most will jump out of the marketing funnel before they get to the desire to learn more. If you don’t challenge people’s thinking, what would they need to learn more about?

3. Do the He Gets Us campaign reading plans take people to the next level of understanding Jesus (beyond the slick website and TV ads)?

While I clearly have significant concerns about the people who imbibe ideas about Jesus and Christians from the He Gets Us web and TV content alone—never getting to the Bible or a church from this campaign—what about those who do actually get to the Bible reading plans? Are they designed well to take people to the next level of understanding—to an accurate one?

There are 7 plans on YouVersion, ranging from 4 to 9 days of content. I read all 43 days of the plans. If you’re interested in the details, I’ve documented below. If not, you can jump to the bottom line after I list the plans.

Plan 1: “He Gets Us” (7 days)
This plan continues the model of using progressive language and framing. The devotionals make comments like these:

  • “[Jesus’s enemies] feared him because he challenged the norm.” In progressive contexts, norms are typically seen as bad and need to be overturned.
  • “The way Jesus called out the toxic religious and political systems turned history upside down.” In progressive contexts, religion—especially Christianity—is toxic, as are political systems, so this makes Jesus appear to favor that view.
  • “[Jesus] made friends with people just as they are and let himself be known just as he was, too. Authentic. Trust-worthy. The kind of friend we all long for.” It’s true that Jesus made friends with people as they are, but most progressives are likely to read this as, “Jesus accepts you for whoever you want to be, so be your authentic self.” That’s not what it says, but if you have cultural awareness of the claims and debates today, it’s fairly obvious that’s something progressives would take from it without realizing the distinction between being friends with someone and approving of their identity/behavior.
  • “The Samaritan stopped and cared for the Jew, at his own expense just like he would a neighbor—unlike the racist, religious men who stepped over the beat-up guy on their way to worship, of all things.” Again, this plays into the progressive hatred for the “religious”; yes, the men were religious, but that wasn’t the problem. Jesus never scolded people for being too religious; He scolded them for being self-righteous and hypocritical.
  • “Yes, it’s true. The one who stood bravely against the strongest, most corrupt system of the day, was on his face in fear.” And yet again, this plays into the progressive view of systems being inherently corrupt.

In short, plan 1 is more of the same from the ad/web campaign and, far from redeeming the nature of that content, simply doubles down on the equivocation and misunderstandings.

Plan 2: “Diving Deeper” (7 days)
I thought that, given the title, this is where we would get deeper into a theologically accurate portrayal and reading of Jesus, but that’s not what I found. This one had fewer problematic statements than plan 1, but the content overall gets no closer to teaching people about the true Jesus (while continuing with occasional progressive framing along the way, such as casting Jesus’s infant trip to Egypt as a “refugee” situation).

On day 1, it says, “The best way to discover his actual purpose, regardless of the centuries between us, is to look at his life. Sure, plenty of books have been written about what he taught, but let’s look at his private side, the side you see when you walk with someone side by side down a new road.” The subsequent days go on to have subjects like “He grieves with us,” “He understands us,” “He’s vulnerable like us,” “He loves us,” “He faced hardship like us,” and “He is for us.” Do the actions leading to these statements really reveal Jesus’s “actual purpose” as indicated on day 1? Jesus’s purpose was to give His life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:45). But to understand that would require an understanding of the nature of God, the nature of man, the divine nature of Jesus, and the problem of sin—none of which He Gets Us had addressed by this point. Instead, they offer people yet again more confirmation that Jesus simply gets us.

Plan 3: “Questions Jesus Asked” (7 days)
This plan seems disconnected from the other plans, rather than being on some kind of trajectory like “digging even deeper.” It features a set of questions Jesus asked people, with answers showing His character (no, still not his divine nature). There’s again a dig at “religious leaders” saying, “The cancel campaign began in Jerusalem where the jealous, paranoid religious leaders set a plot in motion to kill Jesus and they wouldn’t quit until he hung dead on a cross.”

Notably, this is the first plan where the verses themselves start referring to Jesus as something more than a human (John 6:66-69). It’s also the first time the devotional content casually references Jesus doing something supernatural (day 5 talks about Him walking on water). There is, however, zero explanatory transition from human Jesus to Jesus as God here. Someone who didn’t know that the Bible teaches Jesus is God could be forgiven for scratching their heads at how this human was now walking on water!

Despite this strange jump, I thought they were going to bring home the good news when they said, “But Jesus offers love, not because we measure up, but because of who he is. On that day, She chose to believe Jesus was who he said he was.” And, somewhat inexplicably, they don’t go on to say who Jesus said He was. Not only that, but they don’t get to it until the plan after the next one.

Plan 4: “Who Did Jesus Love?” (9 days)
Plans 4 and 5 are so different from everything else in the He Gets Us campaign that it seems like they hired a committed Christian to insert this content to make the well-meaning funders (who want people to know about the true Jesus) happy. I realize that sounds cynical, but it’s a jarring difference.

In plan 4, we read verses where Jesus is proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease—a clearly supernatural Jesus. Day 2 says, “The person we despise, he loved. And not for anything they did to deserve it but because of who he was,” and that comes with verses about salvation and how the Son of Man came to seek and save the lost. We read that Mary knew Jesus’s birth was far from “natural.” We see a doubting Thomas who wanted to personally experience the fact that Jesus was raised from the dead. And we read the gospel in John 3:16.

So, if people see an ad, go to the site, sign up for a Bible reading plan and make it to plan 4, they will find a supernatural Savior. (Granted, you could theoretically start with plan 4, but I’m guessing most people start with plan 1.)

Plan 5: “Who Did Jesus Say He Was?” (9 days)
This is the plan that really brings home what they should have been bringing home all along. Day 1 says, “Not only does he get us. He wants us to get him.” Yes! At long last, they make this connection. They go on to teach the full Jesus in this plan. Again, it’s so different in nature and even in language, that it really feels like they brought in someone to insert the “theological” content after the progressive Christians on staff developed everything else. Day 7 in particular brings the whole message home, laying out the Gospel and exclusivity of Jesus, and encourages people to pray.

Plan 6: “Jesus & Joy” (4 days)
This is a short plan focused on the subject of joy. There’s little here of interest other than another passing criticism of religious leaders (“Religious guys seemed to love following Jesus around town. Could you imagine being the popular guy in a town that stirred up the kind of noise that very religious people hated? That was Jesus”).

Plan 7: “What Jesus Gave Up” (6 days)
This one focuses on how Jesus was “after a different way of living.” Unfortunately, the plan reverts to a primarily human Jesus. For example, it lists four ways Jesus spent His life on earth and changed history: Jesus taught another way, He served, He forgave (the description of this only includes his human forgiveness of others, not His divine forgiveness), and He loved. It leaves out the most important reason why He changed history—He was God incarnate. On the final day, titled, “He Gave Up Vengeance,” it says, “The reality of what was happening was not lost on him. And nothing about it surprised him. Jesus was determined to accomplish what he came to do. And he did.” That’s the end, with no explanation about what He accomplished. (To be clear, they explained that in plan 5, but the plans seem to be written independently of one another, so a reader wouldn’t necessarily have been through plan 5 to know what they’re talking about.)

So, the bottom line is that the plans range from problematic (more social justice framing) to some basic Bible content (e.g., on joy) to some actual theological meat on what was left out of everything else on who Jesus is (plans 4 and 5). If someone actually makes it to plans 4 and 5, they’ll hear the gospel.

4. Does the He Gets Us campaign direct people to theologically solid churches for continuing their search for truth?

When people become interested in learning more about Jesus, they’re directed to a “Connect” page. One of my most significant concerns with the campaign last year was that there was no clear theological vetting of churches to which people were being sent. I do not see any updates or information on the current site as to the criteria they’re using to select church prospects.

[Editor’s Note] On the “Connect Locally” page, people are invited to join a local Alpha Course Small Group where they can discuss their questions in a church-based small-group setting.

As I explain in Faithfully Different, 65% of Americans identify as Christian while only about 6% have a worldview consistent with what the Bible teaches, and a dismal percent of pastors have a biblical worldview. If you have no theological criteria for where you’re sending people, you’re actually more likely than not—based on statistics—to be sending them to a church whose teachings don’t line up with those of the Bible. In other words, you’re sending unsuspecting truth seekers to places where they won’t hear truth.

Perhaps they have tightened up their criteria but aren’t explicitly saying that on the site. I’ll be happy to update my comments here if someone from the campaign wants to reach out and contact me.

Closing Thoughts

In conclusion, I want to say I’m sure there is good that will come from the campaign. I hope there is much good that comes from it. And I know God can make good come from anything He chooses. But those aren’t reasons to not critique something and offer discernment. I find it highly discouraging that when there is so much money being poured into a campaign, it’s being used to further the perception that Jesus is the same Jesus people already believe in rather than the one they need to believe in. Promoting a social justice Jesus can actually make talking about the real Jesus more difficult, because He Gets Us has placed one more data point in people’s minds that it’s His followers who talk about all that “unpopular stuff” who don’t get it. They’ll come away knowing Jesus gets them, but they won’t get Him.

Let’s hope a lot of people get to Bible reading plans 4 and 5.

Recommended resources related to the topic:

Jesus, You and the Essentials of Christianity by Frank Turek (INSTRUCTOR Study Guide), (STUDENT Study Guide), and (DVD)     

Was Jesus Intolerant? by Frank Turek (DVD and Mp4)

Correct not Politically Correct: About Same-Sex Marriage and Transgenderism by Frank Turek (Book, MP4)

Jesus vs. The Culture by Dr. Frank Turek DVD, Mp4 Download, and Mp3

Another Gospel? by Alisa Childers (book)

 

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Natasha Crain is a blogger, author, and national speaker who is passionate about equipping Christian parents to raise their kids with an understanding of how to make a case for and defend their faith in an increasingly secular world. She is the author of two apologetics books for parents: Talking with Your Kids about God (2017) and Keeping Your Kids on God’s Side (2016). Natasha has an MBA in marketing and statistics from UCLA and a certificate in Christian apologetics from Biola University. A former marketing executive and adjunct professor, she lives in Southern California with her husband and three children.

Original Blog Source: https://natashacrain.com/here-comes-the-he-gets-us-campaign-again-why-its-portrayal-of-jesus-is-still-a-problem/

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Are Today’s Christians Confused About the Gospel?

A few weeks ago, I created a post that said, “I love apologetics but apologetics is not the gospel.” It wasn’t controversial at all. Just kidding. Come on! We’re talking about social media; the breeding ground of controversy.

As a teacher, I often look for the underlying cause of a misunderstanding. I ask myself, “What is the foundational aspect of this message and why didn’t the reader ‘get it’”? With the so-called controversial post about apologetics and the gospel, it became more and more clear that the reader didn’t understand the word “gospel.”

A Simple Question

So, I created a survey that asked, “What is the gospel?” I got a varying degree of answers that included:

  • Sharing the gospel is praying for someone.
  • Sharing the gospel is sharing my testimony.
  • Sharing the gospel is a kind gesture, a hug, or visiting a sick friend.

And just like a quiz tells the teacher what her students know and don’t know, I immediately understood why my post about apologetics not being the gospel became controversial. The reader doesn’t know what the gospel is. The reader is missing this foundational piece of knowledge in order to understand the entirety of the message. Unfortunately, many of the readers call themselves Christians and they cannot define the gospel.

“Preach the gospel at all times, use words if necessary” – Is that true?

There’s a popular quote attributed to St. Frances of Assisi that many Christians like to mic drop in the social media comment section. It is, “Preach the gospel at all times, use words if necessary.” This famous quote has woven its way into sermons from the Church of Christ all the way to the Baptist pulpit, and even the Instagram post of an unsuspecting Christian apologist.

My objective here is to answer “What is the gospel?”  and then contemplate whether it’s good advice to, “Preach the gospel at all times, and use words if necessary.” Let’s do that by answering:

  1. Who said it?
  2. What is the gospel?
  3. Is the quote valid?

Who said it?

St. Francis of Assisi never said, “Preach the gospel at all times, and use words if necessary.” It’s not clear who first said it either but we know St. Francis never did. We also know he was a prolific preacher, who used lots of words in his preaching. He did however emphasize the importance of our deeds matching our words. I agree with him there. I’d say that many who love this quote believe it is necessary to live what you preach. After all, don’t we often hear how people won’t go to church because it’s full of hypocrites? Trust me. People care that we practice what we preach.

But are we as the church really preaching the gospel with our lives rather than with our words?

Per George Barna’s American Worldview Inventory (2023), he warns that 64% of Americans claim to be Christians while only 4% have a biblical worldview. In other words, most self-identified Christians are living the popular quote in reverse – claiming the gospel but not living in light of it. Wait. So, what do most Christians think the gospel is? Because per Barna, they’re not living it.

Is the gospel a good deed or kind gesture?

Think about it. If the gospel is a prayer, then Judaism and Islam share the gospel. If the gospel is visiting the sick, then atheists and New Agers share the gospel. If the gospel is a virtue, then anytime someone from any religion displays that virtue, they are sharing the gospel. If that’s the case, we’re starting to sound like Oprah Winfrey when she said all religions and beliefs lead back to God.

But then you have to ask: Does every religion include the gospel? If they do, then the gospel is not exclusive to Christianity, and Christianity is not unique to any other religion. However, if Christianity is the only religion that shares the gospel, it cannot be a virtue because everyone is virtuous to some degree – Christian or not. Moreover, if the gospel is unique to Christianity, it cannot be prayer. It cannot be encouragement or kindness or love because you can find all of those things embedded in other people’s actions in all sorts of religions and belief systems.

No, the gospel cannot be merely a good deed. The gospel must be something more.

What is the gospel?

Do you want the good news or the bad news? How about both! The gospel literally means good news. And if there is good news that means there must be bad news. In Greek, the word gospel is euaggelion (yoo-ang-EL-eeon). This is how we get the English word evangel, evangelist, evangelism. That means the gospel is meant to be proclaimed.

The bad news is that man sinned, severing his relationship with God (see Genesis 2-3). The good news is the son of God took on flesh (becoming a human being) and paid the penalty for our sin. John 3:16 puts it simply: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”

There was nothing man could do to save himself. There was no virtue, no kind gesture, no “good” thing that could pay the penalty of death and atone for his sin. It is this gospel message alone, this good news, that tells the story. It is the gospel that sets Christianity apart from every other religion and makes Christ the only way to the Father.

The good news is the message that distinguishes Christianity from every other religion in the world because it tells of Christ and His sacrifice. That is why the gospel must be given a voice – because it is a message that requires a messenger.

Are Christians confused about the gospel?

George Barna from Arizona Christian University has done extensive research on worldview in the American church. He says many self-identified Christians believe they can earn their way to heaven by their good deeds (52%). That aligns with the answers I received in my small poll asking Christians what the gospel is. Since most believe good deeds get them to heaven, no wonder they believe the gospel is a hug or kind gesture.

In fact, per Barna’s American Worldview Inventory from just 2021 and 2022, many Christians don’t believe they are born into sin (91%). If you don’t sin, you’re not a sinner. And if you’re not a sinner, you don’t need a savior. So, who needs the gospel?

And one final point when it comes to why Christians are confused about the gospel – many don’t believe God is the basis of all truth (75%). It would seem Oprah Winfrey’s message, that all beliefs lead back to God, has made its way into the church and taken over the message of the gospel. Maybe one of the reasons is because we stopped speaking it and thought our good deeds would be enough.

Preach the gospel at all times and almost always use words.

When it comes down to it, the Christian should be chomping at the bit to open his or her mouth to share the gospel. There’s nothing wrong with good works, like feeding the hungry, housing the homeless, and lending a helping hand. But cults and world religions can do that too, without the Gospel. We still need words to clarify and distinguish the gospel message from it’s competitors. The same message that changed our hearts, transformed our lives, and inspires us to do good works, that same gospel should be the very message we want to share with a lost and dying world. But we must first remember that there is both good news and bad news – we are sinners in need of a savior. And although we couldn’t do anything about it, Christ did.

There are many verses in the Bible I could use to make these points, but I’ll leave you with 1 Peter 3:15. Peter writes, “But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect …” A transformed life is an open door to share the Gospel, but if the Gospel is not shared, the Gospel is not heard.

1 Peter 3:15 is a call to be ready to give an answer to anyone who asks for the hope that is within you. We are ready to give the answer because our transformed life of hope in a fallen world has opened the door of opportunity to share the gospel. It is only then that the blood of the Lamb is shared in the word of our testimony. The evidence is that we walk in newness of life.

So yes, share the gospel at all times and use words.

 

Recommended resources related to the topic:

Jesus, You and the Essentials of Christianity by Frank Turek (INSTRUCTOR Study Guide), (STUDENT Study Guide)

Another Gospel? by Alisa Childers (book)

How Can Jesus Be the Only Way? (mp4 Download) by Frank Turek

Hell? The Truth about Eternity (MP3 Set), (DVD Set), and (Mp4 Download Set) by Dr. Frank Turek

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Shanda Fulbright is a credentialed teacher and has a certificate in Christian Apologetics from Biola University, a certificate from the CrossExamined Instructor’s Academy as well as several certificates from Online Christian Courses. She hosts Her Faith Inspires podcast where she takes cultural issues and aligns them to biblical truth. You can read her blogs and find out more about her at shandafulbright.com.

 

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¿Deben los cristianos tener fe ciega?

¿Deben los cristianos tener fe ciega? 

Por Levi Dade

Hace unos meses, me senté con un íntimo amigo mío en una de las cabinas de la cafetería de nuestra universidad. Mi amigo, al que llamaré Tom, es ateo. Tom es un auténtico buscador de la verdad, y sería cristiano si considerara que el cristianismo es “completamente cierto”. Durante nuestra conversación, terminamos discutiendo el tema de la fe. Después de averiguar sus perspectivas del mundo y sus justificaciones para ellas, dijo algo que me sorprendió.

“Al final del día, supongo que todos estamos obligados a tener fe en algo”.

Quería que me aclarara lo que quería decir con esa afirmación, así que le respondí: “¿Quieres decir fe ciega?”.

“Sí, supongo que es fe ciega”.

La diferencia entre la fe y la fe ciega

Presta atención a éstas breves líneas: hay una diferencia entre la fe y la fe ciega. Para ser claros, la fe ciega es creer algo sin razón alguna para creerlo. También puede decirse que es una creencia incuestionable en algo, aún cuando  es irracional o está equivocada.

Tom hizo una división entre fe y fe ciega. Esta división implica que la fe no siempre es ciega. Si la fe fuera inherentemente ciega, no tendría sentido hacer la división . Sin embargo, mientras lees esto, y aunque no te hayas dado cuenta, ya sabes que la fe no es inherentemente ciega.

Por ejemplo, cuando tenías siete años, ¿dudabas de que tus padres o tutores te protegieran? Probablemente no.

¿Por qué?

No sólo porque son tus padres, sino porque durante toda tu infancia, tus padres te demostraron que te protegerían. A partir de las experiencias pasadas con ellos donde siempre te dieron esta protección, te diste cuenta de que siempre tendrías fe en que constantemente te protegerían. Fíjate cómo inició: primero vino la prueba (o la razón) de que tus padres te protegerían. Después de la prueba llegó  tu fe en ellos.

Supongamos que conocerás a tus padres por primera vez al cumplir siete años. ¿Tendrías la fe para creer que te protegerán? Probablemente no. ¡Son unos desconocidos! No tendrías esa fe en ellos porque no te han demostrado que van a protegerte.

Piénsalo así: Un hombre le propone matrimonio a su novia después de que ella le ha demostrado que será una esposa buena y fiel. Al evidenciar esto, él  tendrá la fe necesaria para pedirle que sea su esposa.[1]

Cuando las pruebas (o evidencias) llevan a la persona a tener fe en algo o en alguien, se llama fe evidenciable/tangible (con “evidenciable” hacemos uso de la palabra entre paréntesis al inicio del párrafo, pero fe tangible pudiera servir de contraparte “natural” a fe ciega) (o fe informada). La fe evidenciable/tangible es lo opuesto de la fe ciega.

Como se puede ver en los ejemplos anteriores, la fe no siempre es ciega.

Esto plantea una pregunta interesante: ¿Los cristianos deben abrazar la fe ciega o la fe evidenciable/tangible?

Una mejor manera de plantear esta interrogante es preguntar: “¿Con qué tipo de fe la Escritura enseña a los cristianos a vivir?”.

La fe informada lleva a vivir en Jesús

En Juan 20:30-31, Juan explica el propósito de su Evangelio:

Y muchas otras señales hizo también Jesús en presencia de sus discípulos, que no están escritas en este libro; pero estas se han escrito para que creáis que Jesús es el Cristo, el Hijo de Dios; y para que al creer, tengáis vida en su nombre.

Juan 20:30-31 LBLA (énfasis añadido)

Las declaraciones de Juan como testigo sobre los milagros de Jesús tenían como objetivo servir de prueba de que Jesús es “el Mesías, el Hijo de Dios”. Que Jesús sea el Mesías implica que podemos poner nuestra fe en él y ” tener vida en Su nombre”.

Si debemos tener fe ciega, ¿por qué Jesús nos daría evidencias que demuestran que Él es el Mesías? Después de todo, la fe ciega afirma que la evidencia no es necesaria.

En otras palabras, Jesús no quería que la gente tuviera una fe ciega, así que proporcionó pruebas (milagros) para mostrarles quién es Él. La fe viene después de que Jesús nos muestra quién es Él. Romanos 10:17 LBLA comunica la misma idea: “Así que la fe viene del oír, y el oír, por la palabra de Cristo”.

Así como los niños desarrollan confianza en los padres que en el pasado han sido responsables dando protección y cariño, también otros pueden tener fe en Jesús después de que Él les ha mostrado quién es y además que también es el Mesías.

La fe informada nos permite compartir el por qué tenemos esperanza en Jesús

… sino santificad a Cristo como Señor en vuestros corazones, estando siempre preparados para presentar defensa ante todo el que os demande razón de la esperanza que hay en vosotros, pero hacedlo con mansedumbre y reverencia; teniendo buena conciencia, para que en aquello en que sois calumniados, sean avergonzados los que difaman vuestra buena conducta en Cristo…

1 Pedro 3:15-16 LBLA (énfasis añadido)

Aunque la fe no se menciona explícitamente en este pasaje, está claro que Pedro habla de nuestra fe cuando se refiere a la “esperanza que hay en vosotros”. El contenido nos da una idea del tipo de fe que debemos tener. No sólo sugiere tener una fe informada; ¡este versículo lo ordena!

Tenemos como encargo saber por qué tenemos fe en Jesús y de esa manera podremos compartir no sólo nuestra fe sino también la razón de nuestra fe.

Es como si Pedro sabía que decirle a alguien que “sólo tenga fe” no iba a responder mágicamente a sus preguntas o dudas, así que bajo la inspiración del Espíritu Santo, escribió el mandato de compartir la razón que hay detrás de nuestra fe. Esto supone que tenemos una razón. Así que saber por qué tenemos fe en Jesús no solo es “algo bueno”, sino que es un mandamiento el saberlo (¡incluso para propósitos prácticos y evangelísticos!).

La fe informada nos permite amar a Dios profundamente

Y amarás al Señor tu Dios con todo tu corazón, y con toda tu alma, y con toda tu mente, y con toda tu fuerza.

Marcos 12:30 LBLA (énfasis añadido)

Una vez más, se nos ordena utilizar nuestra mente como una forma de amar a Dios. Amar a Dios no sólo se origina en nuestro corazón; sino que proviene de todas las facetas de nuestra vida, incluyendo nuestra forma de pensar y razonar. Conocer a Dios intelectualmente te permite conocerlo a un nivel más profundo. Y cuando conoces a alguien con mayor profundidad, también puedes amarlo profundamente. (La traducción “deeper level” es correcta, pero repetir “nivel más profundo” tres veces en dos líneas hace que se escuche o se vea mal, así que intenté darle un sentido de progresión de “nivel más profundo” a “mayor profundidad” a “profundamente”.)

Cuando  sabemos  poco sobre Dios, ¿cómo podríamos amarle mucho? (Sé que no es lo que el autor escribió, pero intuyo que el autor busca dar un contraste, y en español los contrastes de ideas se expresan mejor con antónimos que con la negación de las palabras. En la pregunta, la traducción es correcta, pero dado que hay un contraste de ideas la palabra “expect” implica la probabilidad o certeza de algo que por el contexto es difícil que ocurra, así que usé el condicional simple para enfatizar la situación hipotética e improbable.)

En un artículo anterior titulado “Amar a Dios con la mente: cómo Dios quiere también tu cerebro”, lo explico de la siguiente forma:

En resumen, amar a Dios con la mente es permitir que la mente y el corazón trabajen juntos de manera que produzcan un conocimiento más profundo de Dios. Este conocimiento, a su vez, conduce a una relación más íntima con Dios, en la que  amamos a Dios tanto intelectual como emocionalmente.[2]

Usemos nuestro cerebro para la gloria de Dios

Basándonos sólo en estos pasajes, vemos claramente que una fe informada es bíblica. En pocas palabras, la fe bíblica es creer en algo que tiene buenas razones para proclamar/aseverar que es verdad.

Servimos a un Dios lógico (Isaías 1:18), y Él quiere que utilicemos tanto nuestro cerebro como nuestro corazón. Después de todo, Él nos creó y también a nuestro cerebro, (Quizás sería más acertado poner: Él nos creó con cerebro) así que ¿por qué no usarlo para Su gloria? Una fe (bíblica) evidenciable/tangible te permite saber por qué el cristianismo es verdadero. Conocer la verdad de nuestras creencias es importante en un mundo en el que tantas cosas intentan atraparte para que pongas tu identidad en ellas y no en Cristo.

En el libro,(No podemos hablar de “su” cuando no se ha nombrado a la persona, y como lo que a continuación se menciona es el título del libro entonces cambié “su” por “el”. Lo otro que podemos hacer es mover el nombre al inicio: J. P. Moreland en su libro […]) Love Your God with all Your Mind (Ama a tu Dios con toda tu mente), J. P. Moreland propone que las conexiones esenciales de la fe están en la razón: ” A diferencia del malentendido bíblico moderno, la fe es un poder o habilidad que actúa de acuerdo con la naturaleza del reino de Dios, una confianza en la que tenemos razones para creer que es verdad. Entendida así, vemos que la fe se construye sobre la razón”.[3]

Que todos abracemos esta fe bíblica e informada, la cual nos ayudará a permanecer firmes intelectual y espiritualmente, preservando nuestra identidad en Cristo, y manteniendo nuestros ojos fijos en Él para siempre.

Amén.

Notas

[1]  Adaptado de Frank Turek, ilustración de “creer que” en contraste con “creer en”.

[2] Levi Dade, “Loving God With Your Mind: How God Wants Your Brain Too,” The Rebelution, https://www.therebelution.com/blog/2021/06/loving-god-with-your-mind-how-god-wants-your-brain-too/

[3]  J. P. Moreland, Love Your God With all Your Mind (NavPress: Colorado Springs) 2012, 19.

Recursos recomendados en Español: 

Robándole a Dios (tapa blanda), (Guía de estudio para el profesor) y (Guía de estudio del estudiante) por el Dr. Frank Turek

Por qué no tengo suficiente fe para ser un ateo (serie de DVD completa), (Manual de trabajo del profesor) y (Manual del estudiante) del Dr. Frank Turek

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Levi Dade es del norte de Mississippi y cursa el tercer año de la carrera de Estudios Bíblicos y Teológicos en la Universidad Bautista Ouachita (Ouachita Baptist University). Levi escribe artículos de apología para el blog The Rebelution y para CORE Leadership, un ministerio en línea que da clases a distancia para adultos y jóvenes con el propósito de que tengan un profundo conocimiento y amor por Dios. Levi también es fotógrafo en su universidad, y emprendió un negocio de fotografía mientras estudiaba el bachillerato en el 2017 llamado Dade Photography, Es habitual encontrar a Levi leyendo algún libro, pescando en kayak, haciendo senderismo, escribiendo, tomando fotos para el libro anual escolar, o en plena disputa para decidir ¡cuál de éstas actividades debe realizar!

Fuente del blog original: https://bit.ly/3xhvoQl

Traducido por Daniela Checa Delgado

Editado por Gustavo Camarillo 

 

 

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Does Jesus Devastate An Old Earth?

Does Jesus Devastate An Old Earth?

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By Luke Nix

Introduction

Science and faith issues are no doubt a hot topic of discussion when it comes to defending the truth of Christianity. Many Christians hold many different views about the timing and mechanism of God’s creative acts. Some views hold numerous details in common while others may hold only many details in common. It is the few differences here and there that cause much heat in this internal debate and cause unbelievers (and some Christians) to question the truth of the historic Christian faith as a whole. Today, I want to look at one of the more common distinctives between Christians who believe that the universe is young (6,000-10,000 years old) and those Christians who believe that the universe is ancient (~13.7 billion years old).

 

But before I get to the specific challenge, I need to set a foundation. First, I am an old earth creationist (OEC), so I will defend the latter of the two views above; however, I will not appeal to God’s actions (creation) today; rather I will limit my appeals to Scripture alone. Second, there are numerous areas of agreement among young and old earth creationists just within the doctrine of creation (not to mention the rest of the Christian worldview), and I feel that the differences, because of their ability to undermine the truth of the Christian worldview, tend to get more of the focus than the common ground. I have a list of more than forty areas of agreement in my article “What Do Young Earth and Old Earth Christians Agree Upon Regarding Origins?” to help Christians remember these area of unity and be more gracious in our discussions with each other. The primary two areas of agreement that are important for today’s topic are that both young- and old- earth creationists affirm biblical inerrancy and that Adam and Eve were historically the first humans. With those in place, here we go!

The Claim: Jesus Was A Young Earth Creationist

In Mark 10:6 Jesus teaches, “But from the beginning of creation God made them male and female.” Many young earth creationists (YEC) use this passage as a proof text that demonstrates that their interpretation of Genesis 1 is the interpretation that Jesus held (see this article from the YEC organization Answers In Genesis: Jesus Devastates An Old Earth). Young earth creationists believe that God created Adam and Eve between 144 hours and 168 hours after He created the universe. Old earth creationists believe that God created Adam and Eve between 100,000 and 200,000 years ago. So, the YEC argument goes like this:

  1. Jesus taught that Adam and Eve were created at the beginning of creation of the universe.
  2. The YEC creation of Adam and Eve is closer to its date of creation of the universe than is the OEC creation of Adam and Eve to its date of creation of the universe.
  3. Therefore, Jesus was teaching the YEC interpretation of Genesis 1.

The Fatal Flaw

On the surface, the argument does seem legitimate and is certainly persuasive. I’m sure many have seen and some have used this argument, sometimes with a slightly different second premise, but the first premise and the conclusion are always the same. However, there is one fatal flaw to all these versions. “144 hours later” is not the same as “the beginning of creation of the universe,” and, to be fair, neither is 100,000 to 200,000 years later either. The first premise (the one premise that appears in all the versions of this argument) is simply false. The falsehood of the first premise is what logically undermines the conclusion. But is the defeat of the first premise really that cut-and-dried? Perhaps not. The doctrine of biblical inerrancy may have an allowance that permits the first premise to be true.

Finding The Proper Interpretation

A statement can be true but not complete in its precision, just like 3.14 or 3.14159 both accurately represent pi even though they have different levels of precision. A lack of precision does not necessarily undermine the truth of a claim, nor does a lack of precision necessarily undermine the doctrine of biblical inerrancy. In the case of Mark 10:6, it is true; however, it is not explicitly precise. “The beginning of creation…’of what'” is where the debate on interpreting Mark 10:6 hinges. There are two ways to address this. First, let’s examine an argument for what the object of creation is, and second, let’s examine an argument for what the object of creation is not.

What Is Jesus Talking About?

When we read the passage, it is obvious that Jesus is describing the features of humans: “God created them male and female.” So, the specific portion of God’s creation that is in view is that of humans. Notice that there is the pronoun “them” in the passage as well. A pronoun must have an explicit or implicit antecedent. If we are to interpret Jesus’ words to mean “From the beginning of creation of humans God made them male and female,” we see that the antecedent (implied by Jesus’ words but explicit in the interpretation of Jesus’ words) matches that of the object of creation that Jesus is obviously referring to in the passage.

What Is Jesus NOT Talking About? 

But is there a way that the universe could be the object of creation yet Jesus be making a point about the creation of humans? The doctrine of biblical inerrancy certainly allows for truth without precision, so could the YEC simply say that Jesus was truthfully but imprecisely equating the time of the creation of man with the time of creation of the universe, making the object of the creation the universe? The answer is “no,” and here is why. It is generally recognized that there is a difference between “lack of precision” and “false.” This distinction is not always easy to identify, but in many cases, rules or methods can be used to identify the line. Back to my example of pi, the rules of rounding provides the boundary that logically judges that 3.15 is not a lack of precision but is a falsehood. In the case Mark 10:6, we can use the perspicuity of Scripture (allowing Scripture to interpret Scripture) to identify where the line of distinction precisely lies and can judge for us whether the proposed interpretation is a lack of precision or is a falsehood.

Genesis 1 clearly defines the location of the line of distinction for judgment. Genesis 1 places a hard line between “lack of precision” and “false” for any timing claim regarding the universe’s creation event at the beginning of the next “yom” (“day”). A lack of precision of another passage of scripture is permitted by Genesis 1 as long as the lack of precision is still within the boundary of the “yom” (“day”) of the creation of the universe. So, on the YEC view, “lack of precision” is biblically and doctrinally permitted if and only if the imprecise claim of Mark 10:6 falls within that first 24 hours. However, the claim is false if the lack of precision of timing is outside of the 24 hour window following the creation of the universe.

Genesis 1 states that Adam and Eve were created on Day 6. Since Day 6 falls outside that 24 hour window, claiming that the creation of Adam and Eve and the creation of the universe are imprecisely at the same time is outside the allowable limits of a lack of precision, thus it is outside the boundaries of an interpretation that is guided by biblical inerrancy and the perspicuity of Scripture. So, Genesis 1 judges that Mark 10:6 cannot be interpreted to mean “the beginning of creation of the universe” even with the doctrine of biblical inerrancy allowing for a lack of precision.

So, the interpretation of Mark 10:6 which includes the universe as the object of creation is false- not permitted as judged by the doctrine of biblical inerrancy via the perspicuity of Scripture. If anyone was to insist that the universe is the object of creation in Jesus’ statement, this would place them (YEC or OEC) in the position of denying not only the truth of biblical inerrancy but the use of biblical inerrancy in interpretation.

The Proper Interpretation Within the Bounds of Biblical Inerrancy and Genesis 1

We see that the object of creation cannot be the universe but rather is humans. When we understand “humans” as the antecedent of “them” and that it is the specific creation of which Jesus is describing both the beginning and features, the passage remains true, the doctrine of biblical inerrancy has properly guided to our interpretation of Mark 10:6, and Genesis 1 has rightfully judged our interpretation of the passage.

A Vital Decision

However, with this proper interpretation, the YEC loses claim to this passage as a proof-text of their view and as a defeater of other views. They also lose it as a supporting premise of their argument(s), and they lose the claim that Jesus was a YEC. The young-earth creationist has a choice: they can either give up the idea that Jesus held and taught their view, or they can surrender biblical inerrancy.

It is important to understand the ramifications of each of these options. If a YEC were to surrender Jesus as an infallible authority who holds their particular doctrinal interpretation, that is not a big deal. Why? Because Jesus did not speak to every doctrinal issue while on earth, and just because He did not speak to it while on earth does not mean that it is not true (its truth may be able to be established another way- including with the rest of Scripture, which Jesus, being God, did inspire). However, if the YEC surrenders the inerrancy of Scripture, then they lose the reliability of the accounts of Jesus teaching anything while on earth or inspiring human authors to teach while He was not on earth…so none of Scripture can be used to argue for the truth of any doctrine. With the first option, what is lost has the possibility of being regained, but with the second option everything is lost and nothing is regained.

It Gets Progressively Worse – Threats to the Church

Insisting upon the YEC interpretation of Mark 10:6, undermines biblical inerrancy (without even appealing to raw scientific data recorded from God’s creation). Such a position is essentially the same as the position of Progressive Christianity. Insisting upon an interpretation of any passage of the Bible that logically implies the denial of biblical inerrancy opens the door wide to this heretical movement within the Church. If a Christian recognizes the problem described in this post with the YEC interpretation and use of Mark 10:6, this could play a vital role in their “deconstruction” (see the book “Another Gospel: A Lifelong Christian Seeks Truth In Response to Progressive Christianity” by Alisa Childers about Progressive Christianity) should they not also be presented the viable alternative described above. And their rejection of the Bible as a whole as being “God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16) and their rejection of the historic Christian worldview will not be far behind.

Now, does this mean that Genesis is not history? No. Does it mean that the early chapters of Genesis are not to be interpreted literally? Not at all. Does this mean that we are taking man’s word over God’s word? Not a chance. These and several other common concerns are addressed in these posts:

Conclusion – The Implications for Evangelism

We’ve seen in this article that it is simply false that Jesus devastates the old-earth interpretation of the early chapters of Genesis. Jesus did affirm the historicity of a literal Adam and Eve in Mark 10:6, but He did not say or imply anything about the time of their creation. The proper interpretation of Mark 10:6 has great apologetic significance. For when the correct interpretation of Mark 10:6 is recognized (Jesus did not teach that the universe is young, here), when unbelievers and Christians in the process of deconstruction test Jesus’ claims about creation against the revelations of creation, they cannot use Mark 10:6 as an excuse to say that Jesus’ claims about reality (including His claim to be God and the only way to the Father [John 14:6]) are false. Romans 1 remains true in its claim that the unbeliever is without excuse, even (or especially) when they look at the creation. Ultimately, if this passage is brought up as a defeater for Christianity, then we can simply demonstrate the misinterpretation, then get back to the evidence that answers the one question that the truth of the historic Christian worldview depends upon: Did The Historical Jesus Rise From The Dead? 

Recommended resources related to the topic:

How Old is the Universe? (DVD), (Mp3), and (Mp4 Download) by Dr. Frank Turek 

God’s Crime Scene: Cold-Case…Evidence for a Divinely Created Universe (Paperback), (Mp4 Download), and (DVD Set) by J. Warner Wallace

God’s Crime Scene: The Case for God’s Existence from the Appearance of Design (mp4 Download Set) by J. Warner Wallace 

God’s Crime Scene: The Case for God’s Existence from the Appearance of Design in Biology DVD Set by J. Warner Wallace 

What is God Like? Look to the Heavens by Dr. Frank Turek (DVD and Mp4) 

I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist (Paperback), and (Sermon) by Norman Geisler and Frank Turek 

 

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Luke Nix holds a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and works as a Desktop Support Manager for a local precious metal exchange company in Oklahoma.

Original Blog Source: https://cutt.ly/pWhiQ0P

 

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