Apologetics 1: Introducing Christian Apologetics
Summary
TLDRIn this lecture series for Regent College Vancouver, Aleister McGrath introduces and explores the field of Christian apologetics. McGrath shares his personal journey from atheism to Christianity and emphasizes the importance of apologetics in explaining and defending the Christian faith. He distinguishes between apologetics and evangelism, discussing their roles in clearing the ground for faith and inviting others to embrace Christianity. McGrath encourages developing a personal approach to apologetics while learning from influential figures like C.S. Lewis and G.K. Chesterton. The series aims to deepen understanding and appreciation of the Christian faith, addressing contemporary cultural contexts and challenges.
Takeaways
- 🎓 Aleister McGrath has been associated with Regent College Vancouver since 1992 and is delivering 15 lectures on Christian apologetics.
- 📜 The aim of the course is to introduce ideas, individuals, and approaches to apologetics to help students develop their own methods.
- ❌ McGrath does not intend to prescribe a single right or best way to practice apologetics.
- 🧠 Apologetics has become increasingly important in the 21st century, and McGrath emphasizes its relevance and necessity.
- 🔬 McGrath's personal journey from atheism to Christianity highlighted the importance of apologetics in understanding and defending faith.
- 🛤️ Effective apologetics involves explaining Christianity's vulnerabilities and clarifying misconceptions.
- 🔍 Understanding one's audience is crucial in apologetics to connect different themes of Christianity with people's unique needs and perspectives.
- 🛠️ Apologetics and evangelism are intertwined but distinct; apologetics prepares the ground for evangelism by removing obstacles to faith.
- 📚 Apologetics should involve cultural empathy, deep understanding of the gospel, and effective translation of Christian ideas into accessible language.
- 📝 Apologetics has historical precedence, with early Christian apologists like Peter and Paul addressing specific cultural contexts and concerns.
Q & A
What is the main objective of Aleister McGrath's course on Christian apologetics?
-The main objective of the course is to introduce ideas, individuals, and approaches that help students develop their own distinct way of doing apologetics, rather than adopting a specific method.
Why does McGrath emphasize the importance of developing a personal approach to apologetics?
-McGrath believes that each individual should develop an approach they feel confident with, rather than becoming clones of famous apologists like C.S. Lewis. This personalized approach helps in effectively communicating the Christian faith.
What are the two major apologetic themes highlighted by McGrath in his personal journey?
-The two major themes are inviting people to reflect on the vulnerabilities of alternative belief systems and explaining what Christianity is all about.
How does McGrath view the relationship between apologetics and evangelism?
-McGrath sees apologetics as preparing the ground for evangelism by removing roadblocks to faith and establishing the reasonableness of the gospel, while evangelism invites people to respond to the gospel.
What are the three main components of apologetics according to McGrath?
-The three main components are: responding to questions and concerns about the Christian faith, explaining and communicating the importance and attractiveness of the Christian faith, and translating these themes using language and images accessible to the audience.
Why does McGrath stress the importance of understanding the audience in apologetics?
-Understanding the audience helps in identifying which aspects of the Christian faith might resonate most with them, thereby making the communication more effective and meaningful.
What is McGrath's approach to using personal experience in apologetics?
-McGrath believes in using personal experience to illustrate points, but he cautions against assuming that one's own experience is normative. Instead, he suggests weaving personal insights into a broader approach that includes various perspectives.
How does McGrath differentiate between justification and its common misunderstandings?
-McGrath explains that justification in the Christian context is often misunderstood as either giving excuses or aligning text in a word processor. Instead, it should be translated and explained in terms that are faithful to its original meaning and intelligible to contemporary audiences.
What role does cultural empathy play in apologetics according to McGrath?
-Cultural empathy involves recognizing and addressing the specific objections, misunderstandings, and sensitivities of the cultural context in which the Christian faith is being presented.
How does McGrath use C.S. Lewis's methods to improve communication of Christian ideas?
-McGrath follows Lewis's advice to learn the language of the audience and translate theological concepts into everyday language, ensuring that the message is accessible and relatable to the audience.
Outlines
👋 Introduction and Objectives
Aleister McGrath introduces himself and the purpose of his lecture series for Regent College Vancouver. He emphasizes the aim of the course is to introduce ideas and approaches in Christian apologetics, not to prescribe a specific method. McGrath shares his extensive experience in the field and hopes to inspire participants to develop their own confident and personal approach to apologetics.
🤔 Importance of Apologetics
McGrath discusses why apologetics is crucial, both for personal ministry and the church. He shares his journey from atheism to Christianity, emphasizing how misunderstandings of both atheism and Christianity led him to appreciate the importance of apologetics. His personal story underscores the need to explain and defend the faith effectively.
🔍 Major Apologetic Themes
Two key themes in apologetics are highlighted: exposing the vulnerabilities of alternative belief systems and explaining the core of Christianity. McGrath stresses the effectiveness of clear explanations of faith and the importance of understanding one's audience. He also touches on the potential of different aspects of the Christian faith to resonate with various individuals.
🚧 Apologetics and Evangelism
The relationship between apologetics and evangelism is explored. McGrath explains that while distinct, apologetics prepares the ground for evangelism by addressing intellectual objections and making faith plausible. He draws on examples from scripture and personal anecdotes to illustrate the interconnected roles of apologetics and evangelism in the mission of the church.
🛤 Personalizing Apologetics
McGrath encourages developing a personal approach to apologetics while cautioning against assuming one's own experience is universal. He shares insights from his experiment of gathering diverse personal journeys to faith, highlighting the need to address the variety of ways people connect with Christianity. He advocates for a broad, inclusive approach that goes beyond personal experience.
🔍 The Christian Faith and Human Needs
The gospel's ability to address deep human needs is discussed, using Augustine and C.S. Lewis as examples. McGrath emphasizes that Christianity offers both diagnosis and healing for human brokenness. He introduces Anselm's prayer to illustrate the theological interpretation of human longing and how it draws people to God.
📚 Big Picture Apologetics
The concept of a 'big picture' approach to apologetics is introduced, with references to C.S. Lewis and G.K. Chesterton. McGrath explains how Christianity provides a coherent and transformative view of the world and human existence. He underscores the importance of presenting the Christian faith as an interconnected whole that illuminates life and reality.
🔄 Translating Theology
McGrath discusses the necessity of translating theological concepts into everyday language. Using C.S. Lewis as a model, he explains the importance of understanding the audience's language and experiences. McGrath provides practical advice on simplifying complex theological terms to ensure they are accessible and meaningful to contemporary audiences.
💬 Effective Communication
The need for effective communication of Christian ideas is reiterated. McGrath emphasizes the role of translation in making theological concepts understandable. He suggests practicing by writing short explanations of key terms and using relatable narratives and images. The importance of aligning explanations with the audience's cultural context is highlighted.
📖 Concluding Remarks
McGrath wraps up the lecture by stressing the importance of addressing common apologetic questions. He previews the next lecture's focus on making sense of the world from a Christian perspective, building on the idea of Christianity as a comprehensive worldview. He expresses his anticipation for the upcoming discussions and thanks the audience for their attention.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Christian apologetics
💡Intellectual journey
💡Vulnerabilities of alternative belief systems
💡Explaining Christianity
💡Cultural empathy
💡Evangelism
💡Translation of Christian ideas
💡Big picture
💡Gentleness and respect
💡Historical misrepresentations
Highlights
Aleister McGrath introduces the field of Christian apologetics through a series of 15 lectures at Regent College Vancouver.
The course aims to help individuals develop their own approach to apologetics rather than adopting a single prescribed method.
McGrath emphasizes the importance of understanding Christianity's intellectual vision and transformative potential.
Apologetics is presented as a way to engage with and address vulnerabilities in alternative belief systems.
McGrath shares his personal journey from atheism to Christianity, highlighting the role of apologetics in this transition.
Effective explanation of the Christian faith is emphasized as a key component of good apologetics.
Apologetics is described as both a means of deepening one's own faith and making it accessible to others.
McGrath underscores the importance of understanding the audience when presenting apologetic arguments.
The relationship between apologetics and evangelism is explored, with apologetics seen as preparing the ground for evangelism.
Christian apologetics aims to provide meaningful answers to ultimate questions about life, God, and suffering.
McGrath highlights the significance of explaining the Christian faith using accessible language and imagery.
He emphasizes the role of personal experience in shaping one's approach to apologetics, while cautioning against assuming it is normative.
McGrath encourages the development of a personalized apologetic approach that integrates one's own history and insights.
The concept of a 'big picture' in Christian apologetics is introduced, showing how Christianity offers a coherent view of the world.
McGrath highlights the need to translate theological concepts into everyday language to effectively communicate with a contemporary audience.
Transcripts
hello I'm Aleister McGrath and it's a
great pleasure to be able to speak for
Regent College Vancouver and my
association with Regent College goes
back to 1992 and it's a real privilege
to be able to continue this relationship
through the series of 15 lectures which
we'll introduce and explore the field of
Christian apologetics I'm sorry I can't
be with you in person I'm also sorry I
can't film this in an Oxford lecture
theater because of covert we just can't
do that
the my object in this course is not to
tell you what is the right or the best
way of doing apologetics and in fact I'm
not even going to suggest you use my own
approaches to apologetics my aim is
quite simple to introduce you to ideas
to individuals and to approaches that I
think will help you develop your own
distinct way of doing apologetics that's
a very important point I don't want to
turn you into a clone of C.S Lewis or
somebody else I want to stimulate your
thinking so that you can work out an
approach that you feel confident with
and confident about and you know you can
do this and I'm going to help you do it
I've been thinking about apologetic
issues for well not more than 40 years
and I hope that the series of 15
lectures will convey some of the lessons
that I have learned over that period
some of them I have to say were learned
with great difficulty but they were
important I hope you'll enjoy some of
the ideas and the approaches that I've
discovered and also I hope it will
persuade you that apologetics is really
interesting and that certainly has been
my experience
begin to think about why apologetics
matters
so here's the question why is
apologetics so interesting and so
important and some of you are watching
these presentations you know you already
have discovered this you'll realize that
apologetics actually is very important
to your own Ministry or indeed to the
life of the church but some people
watching these lectures may be doing so
because they want to know more about
this aspect of the Christian Life of the
mind I'm going to tell you it's become
increasingly important in the 21st
century and during this course of
lectures I'll be explaining exactly why
that is
now in my own case I came to appreciate
the importance of apologetics as a
result of my own personal Journey of
Faith and you probably know this already
but I was quite an aggressive atheist as
a teenager and I believed that
Christianity was both irrelevant and
irrational and it wasn't really
something I felt I could take seriously
as a thinking person and it also seemed
to me it had no obvious connection with
the realities of human life so as far as
I was concerned Christianity was just a
rather well frankly a rather
uninteresting moral code with some
rather curious theological beliefs
attached to it and I have to be honest
with you and say I couldn't really see
any point in it and I assumed frankly
that there was no future for it
now at that time I was studying the
Natural Sciences as a teenager in the
Methodist College Belfast and I hope to
win a scholarship to Oxford University
and eventually go on to become a
research scientist and back in those
days when I was a teenager it just
seemed really obvious that science and
Atheism were well they were the two
sides of the same coin they were
interconnected and it was natural as
someone who loved science that I
therefore should embrace atheism but
things turned out to be not quite as
simple as I had expected there were two
things really that happened to me I
think both of them really were quite
unexpected first of all I began to
experience dots about the intellectual
Integrity of my well frankly rather
dogmatic atheism I think I began to
realize I've never really understood
what Christianity was all about and in
effect I'd reject the caricature of
Christianity having failed to grasp its
intellectual vision and its
transformative potential
and so in the final months of 1971 which
I know is a very long time ago I I made
the decision to leave my atheism behind
and to embrace Christianity instead and
you know like C.S Lewis before me my own
intellectual Journey from atheism to
Christianity persuaded me of the
importance of apologetics you know I had
been an Atheist I became a Christian I
didn't really understand how
Christianity was so apologetics really
became important to me now my own
personal discovery of Christianity
highlighted the importance of two major
apologetic themes first of all
inviting people to reflect on the
vulnerabilities of alternative belief
systems and secondly explaining what
Christianity is all about let's talk
about the first of those when I was an
atheist I thought it was intellectually
watertight that I discovered it wasn't
and I also had misunderstood
Christianity and it wasn't until some
friends at Oxford explained to me what
it was really all about I actually could
move on and discover its depth and his
richness now I've often been astonished
at how careful explanation of the
Christian faith can actually be very
effective apologetically and you know
I'm sure that there are many who are
like me who rejected Christianity
without really understanding it in the
first place so here's one of the points
I want to stress now and you'll see the
steam recur throughout this course of
lectures effective explanation of our
faith is good apologetics
and of course there are other reasons
for discovering apologetics for a start
it's an invitation to go deeper into our
own faith a preaching both its
individual elements Each of which I have
to say is Rich and apologetic potential
as well as the bigger picture of which
they are part
and I'll be exploring these themes with
you during these lectures and actually
you'll find them to be really
interesting I I'll touch on one of those
points now if I may
um which is that you know the big
picture of Christianity is really
exciting that's what drew me to Faith
and we'll talk about that more in the
next lecture
now it's important I think to realize
that each aspect of the Christian faith
has apologetic potential and that
identifying and savoring this really
helps us to appreciate our faith all the
more so let me give you an example
as I'm sure you know a central theme of
the Christian Gospel is that Christ
brings healing and restoration and we
see this in Christ's Ministry but we
also of course see it in the rich Reigns
of visual images that new testament uses
to unpack and to unfold his significance
and for many Christian writers Christ is
one who brings healing Augustine saw him
as the Medicus The Physician who brings
healing to Human Nature
I think we need to understand that how
this aspect of the Christian
understanding of Salvation speaks
powerfully very powerfully to a world of
broken wounded and damaged people and
you know they're wondering where they
can find acceptance healing and
restoration that's a very important
point
and the point I'm going to underscore
now is this um why believe every aspect
of the Christian faith is important each
point engages with different people in
different ways certain aspects of
particular significance for some people
now perhaps there's only one element of
the Christian faith which may
particularly connect or listen to
somebody and lead them to want to
explore the gospel in full but what we
need to do is be aware that Christianity
is enormously rich with many aspects
which Each of which can speak deeply to
people that's one of the reasons why I
will emphasize particularly in a later
lecture the importance of understanding
your audience because one of the
questions you should be asking yourself
is this which of the many Rich themes of
the Christian Gospel might speak
particularly powerfully to this audience
or this person are I am speaking to I
need to figure out what the particular
appeal of each aspect of the Gospel
actually might be
let's now turn to look at a very
important preliminary question which is
the relation of apologetics and
evangelism
now apologizing evangelism can certainly
be distinguished in theory but actually
it's very hard to separate them and
practice
many people find it helpful think of
apologetics as really if you like
clearing the ground for evangelism just
like John the Baptist prepared the way
for the coming of Christ and if you like
I apologize is about removing roadblocks
to Faith that we might say it
apologetics aims to establish the the
plausibility the reasonableness of the
gospel of Christ for example by
developing an intellectual case based on
reason or cultural history for the
fallenness is influence of humanity or
by appealing to the experience of
spiritual longing which so many people
feel as a sign of alienation from God
and our true destiny in other words we
are we're lost we're alienated from God
but something can be done about it and
so the apology task is thus that of
preparing the way for the coming of
Christ just like someone might clear
rocks and other roadblocks from a
pathway
and so Christian apologetics and can be
understood as a serious and sustained
engagement with what the philosopher
Carl popper once called ultimate
questions and these questions might be
raised by an individual person or by a
wider audience and what you need to do
is to show how the Christian faith is
able to provide meaningful answers to
these ultimate questions
for example is there meaning in life
whereas God and the suffering of the
world is faith in God reasonable so
that's apologetics
but evangelism is different evangelism
invites people to respond to the gospel
where apologetics aims to secure consent
evangelism aims to secure commitment
now I'm sure many of this in this
lecture will know Deva Bosch is very
influential and widely accepted
definitions of evangelism which I think
actually is quite helpful here in
clarifying this distinction between
apologetics and evangelism so let me
read you this distinction see what you
make of this he writes
evangelism is the proclamation of
Salvation in Christ to those who do not
believe in him calling them to
repentance and conversion announcing
forgiveness of sins and inviting them to
becoming living members of Christ
Earthly community and to begin a life of
service to others in the power of the
Holy Spirit
now here's my point
there's a dividing line between
apologetics and evangelism but you know
it's fuzzy I think it's still helpful to
try and make some kind of distinction
between them apologetics for example is
conversational whereas evangelism is
Invitational
and while an apology conversation about
the Christian faith can easily lead to
an invitation to Faith it's much more
concerned with removing understanding or
perhaps explaining ideas and ex
exploring a personal relevance of faith
so here's a rough working definition of
evangelism
we might say evangelism is inviting
someone to become a Christian now
obviously there's more to it than that
but for the moment let's work with that
definition if that's right then
apologize could be seen as clearing the
ground for that invitation so it's more
likely to receive a positive response
so if you like evangelism is about
offering somebody bread and apologetics
therefore is about persuading people
that there is bread on offer in the
first place and that is good to eat that
bread in the second
now I think an example here might be
helpful just to make this point clearer
as I'm sure you know many of the
um gospels contain uh things that Christ
said which compare the kingdom of God to
a feast
for example think of Luke 14 15 to 24.
apologize can be thought of explaining
people there really is going to be a
feast it invites them to reflect on what
they might find there the the food the
drink the company wouldn't it be really
nice to be invited if only this were
true
that's a very important point because as
the great French apologist Pascal once
pointed out we must and I quote make
good people wish that the Christian
faith were true and then show them that
it is
I hope you can see the importance of
what Pascal is saying Pascal is saying
we ought to help people to long for what
the Christian faith promises and then
show them that the Christian faith is
indeed true and reliable the desire for
something provides the motivation to
check it out
but evangelism is different let's think
about evangelism evangelism but issuing
a personal invitation
you are invited to the feast please come
so again apologize lays the groundwork
that invitation but evangelism actually
offers it
both these are essential for the mission
of the church
apologetic establishes and proclaims the
plausibility and desirability of the
Gospel
but evangelism summons people to enter
into it and share in its benefits
so again apologetics isn't evangelism in
fact it's inadequate without evangelism
but apologetics has its own distinct and
important role to play in the Christian
community's engagement with the world
and also it's helpful in encouraging and
deepening the faith of Believers because
it encourages us not to accept a
superficial Faith but to go deeper into
what we believe again apologizes like
John the Baptist
preparing the way for the coming of
Christ it's about reassuring people that
Faith makes sense that makes a
difference to life but evangelism is
about inviting someone to enter a feast
now some of you may feel that you're
called to be an evangelist and others
apologists and some actually both
one of my best friends over many years
was Michael Green who served as
professor of evangelism of Regent
College in the late 1980s and early
1990s some of you may know him I'm sure
many of you will have read his books or
watched videos of him
and although Michael was a very
effective Evangelistic preacher I have
to say he was actually also very good at
apologetics and he managed to weave
these both together seamlessly seemed to
me in his ministry and Michael's
personal integration of evangelism
apologetics led him to publish several
apologies he works during his time at
Regent perhaps most notably was Jesus
who he said he was which came out in
1989 and who is this Jesus 1990.
and both these works are Evangelistic
but they are clearly informed by
apologetic questions the kind of
questions Michael encountered on
missions during his time at Regent
College I have to say he was able to
engage those questions in a very Winsome
and accessible manner I think we can
learn not just from the content of what
he said but the way in which he said it
now you're going to need to think about
how you understand the relationship
between financials and apologetics
because there's no definitive answer and
you'll also I think need to think about
how you might go about developing your
own way of understanding and doing
apologetics
so let me say a little more about this
now one of my objectives in this course
of lectures is to encourage you to
develop your own distinct approach to
apologetics now of course we can learn
lots from other people from well C.S
Lewis from Dorothea says from lots of
people Tim Keller
but one of the things I want to say is
you need to develop your own approach
you can make use of writers like these
and develop your own way of explaining
and defending the Christian faith and
this will reflect your own history and
your own identity
but if I may I want to introduce a note
of caution right now at this very early
stage in this lecture course
you mustn't assume that your own
experience is normative now what do I
mean by that well what I mean basically
is that you know you're important but
you are not the same as everyone else
let me tell you about a little
experiment I've done at several points
in the past what I do is gather a group
of people together and ask them to talk
about their own Journey of Faith and
after a while I'd ask each of these who
discovered Christianity after example a
period of unbelief or alternative belief
to reflect on what it was that Drew them
to Christianity what wasn't about the
Christian Gospel that seemed to speak to
them and made them want to make more
about Christianity
now I don't know whether this will
surprise you or not but actually on each
occasion I received a wide range of
answers to that question different
things Drew different people to Faith
for some it was the joy of forgiveness
of sins Brothers it was discovering
there was meaning in life and you know
you might like to reflect on what Drew
you to Faith
if that's how your personal Journey
developed of course in my own case it
was the realization
that Christianity made sense of the
world and myself far more sense than my
teenage atheism now here's the point I
want you to note there's a danger that
we make our own experience and history
the point of reference for our
apologetics what I mean by that is we
assume everyone's just like us for
example I might take the view that's
incense making was such an important
aspect of my own conversion well it must
be true for everyone
but you see it's not and if I were to
think that I would unwisely make that
theme of making sense of things the
central focus of my apologetic writing
and speaking now they make yeah I have
no doubt this would indeed connect up
with some people
but you see there are many more who just
couldn't relate to that apologetic
approach I hope you can see the point
I'm trying to make
your approach reflects who you are but
you need to go wider than that
but let me reassure you this is a
problem that's very easily dealt with
you can weave your own history your own
insights your own experience into your
apologetic Ministry without imposing
your own agenda or your own history on
your audience
now my own case I'll often speak about
the difference that Faith makes to
people and the Deep human needs that the
gospel first of all identifies and then
goes on to meet and you know I would
give myself as an example of someone who
longed to make sense of things and found
in the Christian faith a lens that
brought things into Focus that enabled
me to make sense
of what often seemed to be a puzzling
and meaningless world so I've woven
myself into my talk but you see I don't
stop there I don't limit the talk to my
own experience because I would go on to
list other ways in which the gospel
connects up with people and transform
them going Way Beyond my own experience
and my own history
so you know I've mentioned things like
the hope that Christianity brings the
good news of being forgiven the
astonishing Insight that we are loved by
God
I tell my oldest people like C.S Lewis
and what he found Drew him to Faith and
you know you can add to that list and
you can tell of individuals who are
examples of people who are drawn to
Christianity for some specific reason
and how they found that satisfies their
hearts desire
I hope that that's a helpful point for
me to make because what I want to say is
you can use your own experience and
history and you can weave this into a
broader approach which includes you but
is not limited to you and I will be
looking at multiple people in these 15
lectures and I hope that some of the
people I mentioned will be useful to you
as you develop your own approach because
one of my tasks here is to introduce you
to people and ideas who can expand and
extend your own appreciation of the
Christian faith
so who we're looking at was that there
are lots of people in these lectures
we'll be looking at people like C.S
Lewis
GK Chesterton Marilyn Robinson
dorothel Sayers and J.R.R talking and
these are all fascinating in their own
right as writers and yet you know they
enable us to see how we might be able to
use their ideas as we develop our own
approaches to apologetics and you know
you'll come across other interesting
writers ones I won't have time to
mention in these lectures and you can
add them to that list and weave their
themes their ideas into your own
distinct apologetic approach
but some of you may want to raise a
question about some of the points I've
just been exploring you'll say well look
surely Christianity is about telling the
truth not just some kind of therapy
now that's a good question so let's look
at that point
one of the most significant truths of
the New Testament is that Christianity
meets our deepest needs it calms our
deepest fears it in effect deals with
our deepest hungers
to pick up some themes from John's
gospel for example Christ is the Living
Water who quenches our thirst and the
bread of life who satisfies our hunger
and you see the key Point here is the
gospel offers us both a diagnosis and
then healing it tells us what is wrong
with us it tells us what we really need
no matter how difficult and painful that
this may be for us to accept and then it
meets that need and you might find
helpful think of Christ as a physician
who holds up a mirror to our souls so we
can see that we are broken and wounded
and then Christ heals those wounds
as we invite him in
now let me give you an example which I
think you might find helpful here I want
to introduce you to a Prayer by a writer
of the 11th century you may have come
across before if not he really is worth
exploring this is Anselm of Canterbury
here's his prayer Lord give me what you
have made me want I praise and thank you
for the desire you have inspired perfect
what you have become and Grant me what
you have made me long for
now I want you to notice that Anselm
begins this Prayer by identifying a need
a desire something that we want but
notice he immediately offers
theological interpretation of this need
because God has created that need in
order to draw us to him sure we often
attach ourselves to lesser Goods rather
than to the Supreme good for which we
were created
and for Anson the point is that this
sense of longing is not something that
you be suppressed or ignored it is a
homing Instinct implanted within us
power Creator it's a clue to who we are
and what we are meant to be which we
achieve by coming home to God
now we can find the theme in the
writings of lots of um theologians and
apologists you might think for example
of Augustine of Hippo you might think of
Pascal and of course you might think of
C.S Lewis
and all of them argue that God creates
this sense of emptiness within us in
order to help us grasp that only God can
satisfy our deepest longings for example
Lewis
speaks about this deep longing in terms
of joy and she's God as both its source
and its goal do you know this lines from
Lewis's surprised by joy as he describes
his conversion I think a really
interesting and let me read them to you
now
I was now approaching the source from
which those arrows of Joy had been shot
at me ever since childhood I had hoped
at the heart of reality might be of such
a kind that we can best symbolize it as
a place instead I found it to be a
person
so here's my point the Christian faith
gives us a truthful framework through
which we can see ourselves it helps us
to realize that we have been created by
God in order to relate to God and this
truth has deep experiential implications
we'll never be satisfied until we relate
to God and you know maybe you know this
very famous prayer of Augustine of Hippo
which I think makes this point very
nicely listen to this
you have created us for yourself
and our heart is restless until it Finds
Its rest in you
now for me Christianity offers a big
picture which allows us to make sense of
our world and ourselves and this means
that politics can engage experience it
can also engage with the world of the
imagination as J.R.R tolki in particular
points out and actually apologies can
also make connections with beauty as I
will explore with you in a later lecture
now I've introduced the idea of a big
picture and I think I need to explore
this more thoroughly as I personally
find this to be very helpful
apologetically
now the two writers I associate most
with the idea of a big picture approach
to apologetics our GK test them and C.S
Lewis
and these are both remarkable writers
they have a deep sense of how the
Christian faith connects with human
existence at the deepest levels
and significantly both ReDiscover their
Christian faith and in that process of
rediscovery they came to appreciate its
imaginative and its rational power and
its appeal and for both of these writers
apologetics is about helping people to
see how the Christian faith as a whole
illuminates a situation and enables its
transformation by grace
I want you to notice my emphasis on the
Christian faith as a whole and you know
that is important while our faith
unfolds many remarkable themes like
creation and the transformation
redirection and renewal of human
existence that we call Salvation it's
also important to appreciate these are
not isolated theological compartments as
if they were some kind of collection of
boxes or files they're more like threads
each of them is valuable and distinct in
itself but listen to this
but they can be woven together into a
greater whole a bigger picture
and that's the point because for many
people it's the big picture that emerges
from the Christian faith which is of
special importance here's my point
Christianity offers us a coherent view
of ourselves and our world as we come to
realize how all things are held together
in Christ which is a very important
theme of the letter to the Colossians as
you probably already know
now C.S Lewis in particular highlights
how once this Christian big picture is
grasp things which otherwise seem to
make a little sense become intelligible
and meaningful
for example to pick up on the theme we
touched on a few moments ago the
seemingly pointless Human Experience of
yearning for something that would really
satisfy us makes perfect sense within
the Christian framework and it points to
the Fulfillment of that desire in Christ
I'll talk more about that approach in a
later lecture
so let me now turn to the question of
how we understand apologetics in more
detail what are its tasks what do we
think we are doing in practicing
apologetics
not only can see them immediately that
for some people the word apologetics
seems very strange perhaps too easily
leading us to think in terms of saying
sorry
now I'm sure we need to try and figure
out a better way of talking about
apologetics but actually the broader
meaning of a term as you will know comes
from the Greek word apologia which means
a defense actually that's really what it
is trying to defend the Christian Faith
by explaining what is and dealing with
objections that people have
I think that this term apologetics does
make a lot more sense when we reflect on
the meaning of that Greek word apologia
because as I was saying this is used in
New Testament times to mean a defense if
you like a recent case proving the
innocence of an accused person in a
courtroom or a demonstration of the
correctness of an argument or a belief
in a philosopher's Academy
and we find this term apologia used in
First Peter 3 15 which many see as a
classic biblical statement of the nature
and importance of apologetics
so let me read this to you and see what
you make of it
in your hearts set us apart Christ as
lord always be prepared to give an
answer apologia to everyone who asks you
to give the reason for the hope you have
but do this with gentleness and respect
I think it's important to realize here
that Peter's letter is addressed to
Christians in the region of the Roman
Empire then known as Asia minors now of
course called turkey
and Peter's concerned here the Christian
ideas are being misunderstood or
misrepresented and he urges his readers
to set the record straight but to do
this graciously and considerately and he
encourages his readers to engage their
critics and their questioners explaining
the basis and the content of their faith
with gentleness and respect that's
important for Peter apologized is indeed
about defending truth but again you do
it gently and respectfully the object of
apologetics is not to antagonize or
humiliate those who are outside the
church but rather to help open their
eyes and their minds to the reliability
the reality and the relevance of the
Christian faith
now the New Testament itself I think
it's very important to appreciate
contains several important accounts of
early Christian apologetics
most notably of course in the Acts of
the Apostles for example Peter's famous
sermon on the day of Pentecost Acts 2
argues that Jesus is the culmination of
the hopes of Israel a very important
point if you're a Jew
but Paul's equally famous sermon to the
philosophers of Athens in Acts 17 argues
that Jesus is the culmination of the
Long human quest for wisdom which of
course appealed to Greeks
and I'll consider these two important
passages in much more detail in lecture
13 because in that lecture I want to
focus on both Peter and Paul engage
these specific audiences in ways that
are adapted to their beliefs and their
concerns
now one of the points I'm emphasizing
here is that apologetics should not be
seen as something as reactive and
defensive there's more to it than that
so let me if I may tease out what I
think are the three main components
of apologetics
here they are
The Three core apology tasks in my view
are first
to respond to questions and concerns
that people raise about the Christian
faith and we see these as an opportunity
for discussion rather than a threat
second
trying to explain and communicate what
is so fundamentally important attractive
about the Christian faith at the
rational relational and imaginative
levels
and third aiming to explain these and
other themes of Faith using language and
images that are accessible that connect
up with our audiences
now we'll be exploring and exemplifying
these themes throughout these lectures
but I think it's very important to
appreciate that the Christian churches
had to face these three apologetic tasks
through ART its history we haven't
suddenly discovered them they've always
been there and Christians have always
engaged them every period in Christian
history has witnessed the fear that the
church was entering unknown situations
people were worried it was confronted
with difficulties and challenges for
which there was no precedent in the past
and yet a close reading of Christian
history suggests that the apologists of
the past were able to rise to those
challenges
and they've passed on to us as their
successors resources that we will find
valuable in engaging the situation we
face today
so I very briefly outlined those three
main tasks of apologetics I think you
probably appreciate it if I went through
each of them in more detail so let me do
that right now
first of all apologetics is about
developing cultural empathy well I mean
by that is that apologetics recognizes
the sensitivities and difficulties that
the Christian faith Encounters in any
specific cultural context
and sometimes this may take the form of
addressing specific objections to
Christianity or potential
misunderstandings or historic
misrepresentations which may stand in
the way of your audience responding to
the gospel
and so I think the best apologists are
going to be people who know a cultural
situation very well and can understand
its sensitivities its concerns and its
anxieties and here's the point these
sensitivities and concerns are going to
vary one location and audience to
another we need to be sensitive to local
issues that's the first point here's the
second
apologetics is about developing
Evangelical depth in other words
apologetics rests on the deep
understanding and appreciation of the
Christian Gospel which both generates
the motivation to communicate the faith
in the first place and then informs the
way in which we do this in the second
the best apologist in my view is likely
to be someone who is deeply steeped in
the Christian faith and is able to
discern how which riches can be
Faithfully communicated within a
specific cultural context
that was the second point and here's the
Third
ly apologetics is about effective
translation of the Christian faith into
the cultural vernacular now what do I
mean by that
well the Christian faith is
traditionally expressed using a wide
range of abstract conceptual terms and
these I'm afraid of becoming
increasingly disconnected from
contemporary Western culture
think of theological terms like well
justification salvation sin
these I'm afraid are now likely to be
misunderstood and what often happens is
that people kind of way equate them with
the nearest cultural equivalent
and what we need to do is translate or
transpose these ideas we need to reform
enact them in terms of narratives or
images that are able to connect up with
a wider audience
retaining their Evangelical Roots but
remaining sensitive to the situation of
any specific audience that you are
engaging
now as our discussion in later lectures
going to focus on the first two of these
three aspects apologetics it might be
good too helpful to talk about the third
right now that's the need to translate
Christian ideas into everyday language
it's important and we need to do this
so let's turn to consider this looking
at someone who has proved himself to be
a master of this art and of course I'm
thinking about C.S Lewis
nowadays we tend to think of Lewis uh
natural Communicator someone who was
able to express Christian ideas in very
accessible and engaging forms using
highly visual language but actually he
had to learn that skill
I don't know if you've ever read his
first book The Pilgrim's regress which
came out in 1933 no maybe I'm being
harsh here but actually I find it
difficult to read it's not easy and
today unfortunately one of his least
read books but you know he worked hard
on his style and his approach and Lewis
learned the hard way and it shows and
Lewis summarized some of the lessons he
learned in a lecture of 1945 on the
theme of Christian apologetics it's a
very important lecture
and in this lecture Lewis stresses the
importance of two points and here they
are
first finding out how ordinary people
speak the language they use and you do
this through observation and encounter
and second you reflect on how religious
ideas could be translated using terms
and images that lay within your
audience's experience and comfort zones
let me give you Lewis's own statement of
the these points here here's Lewis on
the first point he writes
we must learn the language of our
audience and let me say the outset it
has no use at all laying down a priori
in other words in advance what the plain
man does or doesn't understand
you have to find out by experience
now Lewis's point I think is very simple
listen before speaking again listen
before speaking listen to the language
that your audience uses and then you
adapt to it express things in ways that
are going to make sense to them that's
important and here's Lewis on the second
point
you must translate every bit of your
theology into the vernacular I've come
to conclude conviction if you cannot
translate your thoughts into uneducated
language then your thoughts were
confused
power to translate
it's a test to having really understood
one's own meaning
now I think that's a very good point
does that make sense to you Lewis is
telling us to translate our theological
language very often a specialist
language into the everyday language of
our audience he says this is essential
to effective communication but you want
you to notice he also sees this as a
good way of testing whether you really
understand Christianity yourself
no I think he's right let me tell you
what I've learned from Lewis's lecture
and see what you think about it
so this is me
my question is going to be how would you
do this
when I talk about Christianity I find
myself using lots of technical terms
like well Incarnation or Redemption sin
salvation and you know how to be able to
explain each of those in non-technical
terms
so how did I do that well here's what I
would do I would set myself a task I
would aim to explain each of thy these
ideas in a short paragraph no more
how would you do that you might find it
helpful to write down a short list of
words that you find you keep on using
when you're talking about your faith and
then ask how to explain these in simple
terms to your audience I think you can
do that and I assure you it will be
helpful
now here's an example of one of those
words
there's Romans 5 1 where Paul declares
that
through since we've been justified
through faith we have peace with God
through our Lord Jesus Christ and for
Paul it's very exciting it's clearly a
statement of a central theme of the
Christian Gospel here's my point it will
not be understood by contemporary
audiences in fact Paul's Central notion
of justification might well be
misunderstood in one of two ways I think
you know what they are first it might be
misunderstood like this
I provided a justification of my actions
to my employer in other words about
showing we're right it's about giving
excuses or secondly might be
misunderstood as the alignment of the
text against the right hand margin of a
word processor it's about straightening
up a ragged text
well you know those are both very common
understandings of justification but I
hope you'll agree with me that neither
of these really illuminates Paul's
meaning in Romans 5 1.
I think it could be argued that both
those misunderstandings will simply
mislead people
you've got to translate that word
justification and others like it into
accessible English and explain what they
really mean you need to take Paul's idea
of justification I need to explain in
terms of faithful to his original
attention and intelligible to
contemporary audiences and you know
that's our role it's a privilege and
it's important
we need to explain those ideas and
translate them into language that our
audience can handle
now it's time to wrap up and coming to
the end of my time I need to close for
example why it's called life suffering
how can I make sense of the Trinity or
here's another one will my pets go to
heaven when they die these are all
apology questions familiar to any pastor
and I think you'll agree they need to be
answered
well that's the end of this first
lecture which is sketch the background
two Christian apologetics and in the
next lecture I'll be talking about a
major theme in apologetics how we can
make sense of our world and human
situation from a Christian perspective
now I'll be developing the idea of
Christianity as a big picture I touched
on this idea in this lecture and I want
to show you how this has really helpful
apologetically and I look forward to
doing that very soon indeed thank so
much for listening
Weitere ähnliche Videos ansehen
5.0 / 5 (0 votes)