An Apologetic Guide for Christians‏

By Dave Palcsak

davepalcsak@gmail.com

1. Nobody knows everything. Many times we can be intimidated by titles, age or a number of other factors. As we touch on a few different aspects of witnessing you will see why these factors are not only surmountable but often can be used positively. For example, the field of academics is loaded with atheists. Since the late 1800’s Darwinism has dominated science and influenced every other field in academics. They have created a factory of clones, unable to deny or even rationally discuss other possibilities. Darwin thought his theory would be validated as science progressed. The exact opposite is true. Darwin (as did everyone else at that time), thought cells were blobs of protoplasm. We now know that cells in living things are the most complex machinery known to man. There is enough info in a single human cell to fill a 500 volume encyclopedia…..we each have billions of cells. Richard Lewington is a famous biologist from Harvard. He’s also a very outspoken atheists and Darwin supporter, he said, in part: “We must never allow a divine foot in our door.” The reason naturalists are so vituperative is because their argument loses validity all the time. We continue to learn more and the new information constantly supports design. It takes way more faith to believe that nothing plus chance plus time equals everything than it does to believe in creation.

2. Meet folks where they are. As an agnostic, I knew Darwinism was true. Everyone knows it. To doubt it you would have to be a moron. That was me a few short years ago. I had no reason to believe otherwise. In fact, I had 30 years of never losing a faith argument behind me (there were more than a few of these). I was raised Catholic and it never made sense to me. I couldn’t comprehend that it made sense to anyone. Conversations I had constantly bolstered my view. Folks believed what their parents believed. Nobody examined faith because they were afraid of what they would find. Plenty of people had witness opportunities with me. Why did it take 30 plus years before I encountered an effective witness? Many Christians  lack faith in what they believe. Many dislike confrontation because they think science is against them. My brother was the effective witness I heard after so many had failed. He was a long time agnostic and I was shocked when he told me he was a Christian. He also understood that the Bible was the wrong place to start with me.  He began by asking me to read a science paper on Intelligent Design (ID from here). He knew I had to be convinced of creation before I sought who or what it was. Many Christians dislike ID. I find it’s because they have a misconception of what it really is and what it can be as a witnessing tool. Naturalists like to say ID is nothing but a marketing ploy for Christianity. If that is true, then Darwinism is a marketing tool for naturalism. World view cuts both ways. ID demonstrates by scientific method why design is the most plausible explanation for what (biological) and where (cosmological) we are. As a science, it makes no claims as to who the designer is. Does it beg the next question? Absolutely! So What. If you examine all naturalist arguments, they boil down to this. Creation is not possible because creation is not possible. It is literally (according to the scientific standard Borel’s theorem) impossible that where we are and what we are happened randomly. It’s a statistical 0 chance. Most folks don’t understand why they believe in naturalism. It can be a door opener.

3. Don’t expect 1 conversation conversions. People have ways of letting you know how much they are willing to take at a time. It’s kinda like a buffet, when they get filled up, it’s time to stop.

4. It isn’t about winning. Beating someone up and making them feel stupid doesn’t get us what we seek. Folks will witness with different styles. One tool I find to be very effective is agreement. By that I don’t mean abdicating truth. Never, ever do that. But you can agree with an individuals reason for their doubt. You should doubt the validity of the Bible if you haven’t studied it. Men have and continue to misuse His name by working contrary to His will. Having said that, it’s also true that blaming God for acts of men is not at all fair.

5. The validity of the Bible. This is where the gloves come off for a moment. Not for our doubting friends we witness to. Nope, for our brothers and sisters who do witnessing a disservice by being afraid to boldly and proudly proclaim the fact that we have the word of God at our disposal. I have heard, time and time again people of supposed faith say: “you have to take the Bible for what it is. It can’t be proven, you just have to take some of the teachings on faith.” Are there fables? Is there symbolism? Absolutely. There is also truth. Historical, scientific, philosophical and ultimate truth. There may be some gray areas but for the most part it easy to tell the type of literature in the Bible is as it is being used. The fables of Jesus, for example. There is never a doubt when he is employing this tactic. The parts of the Bible to be taken literally include: God created the heavens and the earth. He created different animals and birds each in their own way. Man was formed separately……..  Hold on, what about those theistic evolutionists who say that Darwin and the Bible can both be true? Theistic evolutionists have 0 scriptural backing. Most of them work in fields where claiming you’re a Christian is suicidal……….unless you’re one of the smart ones who can separate faith from science. But Christianity isn’t some sort of coat we can take off and put back on at our convenience. How can we really expect converts when we’re ashamed of what we are? I promise you this. The Bible is not always the best place to start when you witness but it’s the only place to end. We can prove the Bible was divinely authored. There is no way all the prophecies of the Old Testament which have been fulfilled in the New Testament could have been coincidence. The Dead Sea Scrolls proved the OT far preceded the NT. Scholars are unanimous on this. The Scrolls are one of many proofs that demonstrate the unquestionable veracity of Biblical text. All the works from that literary period combined pale in comparison to the Bible as far as proof of integrity of original text. Where it is possible to verify, the Bible is accurate both historically and archaeologically. There is no doubt that the Bible was written outside the ability of man. The first historic notation that the world was suspended on nothing was in Job. Crazy stuff back then. Everyone knew the world was flat (most thought it was on two giant turtles backs). The heavens are stretched and expand. Ridiculous. Science knew that wasn’t true………until fairly late in the 20th century. We now know the universe is expanding. The Bible isn’t a science book, or a history or archeology book…….then again it is. The words in the Bible live today, yet they have never changed. The flat earth, the universe expanding, these are two examples of the Bible being perceived as incorrect because of the beliefs of the time. God knows more than we do. Why would we doubt His word rather than doubt our perceptions? Arrogance, it’s that simple. Jesus was the greatest moral teacher ever. Even non believers (mostly) agree on this. C.S. Lewis said, in part: “A man who said what He said was either a lunatic, on the level of one who calls himself a poached egg, or He was a liar or something far worse. Or He was exactly who He said He was. So you can curse Him as a demon, or fall on your knees and worship Him as God but don’t call Him a great moral teacher. He did not leave that open to us. He did not intend to.”

6. What about all those other religions? How can you be so sure you’re right? Isn’t that the height of arrogance? That was my favorite thread as an agnostic. So many disagree with you and believe other things you can’t be certain of anything. It comes down to this. You either believe Jesus is the Son of the one true God or you don’t. If you believe in another deity, what are your reasons for that belief? Can they be reasonably supported. I have looked in to this less than some but more than most. Jesus stands up to scrutiny. Jesus and the Father and Paul, Peter, James etc. etc. demand that you question and test your faith. Do you know what the punishment is (according to their sharia law) for questioning Allah or Mohammed? Death….. Why would 11 of the original 12 disciples willingly die gruesome deaths instead of simply keeping quiet (the 12th, John was imprisoned). It’s true that folks die for wrong causes, but who dies for something they know to be false? The only thing that makes sense is that they encountered the risen Jesus. Was this martyrdom isolated to those few back then who actually knew Christ? Not at all. Conservative estimates have the number of martyrs averaging about 200,000 per year over the last decade. While we in the US worry about sneers and a bit of ridicule, folks in other parts of our world are being beheaded or otherwise dispatched for  refusing to denounce Jesus Christ.

7. We have a rule book. They don’t. Be calm. Consider it a requirement. Don’t yell. Return ad hominim hateful venom with thoughtful reason. This does not mean be a cowering wimp. Explain what you can and understand how to explain why you or anyone else lacks all the answers. You are not God nor is whoever you may be speaking with. Folks like to put qualifiers on God. “If there were a God there wouldn’t be so much evil”, for example. A couple points here because this is perhaps the most popular claim non believers make. First, if there is evil there must be good. By what means do you differentiate? Also, our ultimate goal in this life is to prepare as best we can, ourselves and others for eternity. God operates well above all of us. There is nothing wrong with admitting His ways are not completely clear. If they were, you would be him.

8. & 1a. What you do trumps what you say. Imagine you’re an investment banker witnessing to another of the same occupation. You are thoughtful intelligent and persuasive. Then you figure out how to screw a couple of clients. Words down the drain. If you talk the talk you have to try to walk the walk. We all stumble but we have to try….always. In fact, if you had to pick between only words or only actions, you’re better off with actions. …………..This was a lot of rambling about subjects that can be expounded on quite a bit. No two witnessing styles will be alike and you may have far better ideals that I do.The single most important mistake I’ve seen, and I’ve seen it it time and time again, is lack of confidence. We have the TRUTH. Careful about arrogance but don’t be ashamed to be right.

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