The blog posts the last few months have been about defending the Christian faith, a topic called apologetics. This post will be the longest and final one. It tries to put everything together and show how it could potentially work. The most recent post was about our ultimate source of authority. There are only two choices: God or man. God’s Word doesn’t answer to anyone else because God doesn’t answer to anyone else.
Assuming that Scripture reveals the crucified and risen Savior as the only hope for mankind (see “When Soliders Come in the Night”), we must know what the Scriptures teach about people. The Bible teaches us that all men know God. Like a son who has an indivisible bond to his father, we are creatures who have an indivisible bond to our Creator. We cannot escape it. But since man is in rebellion against God, he uses every bit of his intellect to suppress this knowledge.
The following passage is one of the most critical ones on apologetic method:
“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.” (Romans 1:18-20).
In apologetics, we must start with the assumption that man knows God, though he tries to suppress this knowledge.
What does it mean that all men know God?
ALL HAVE PERSONAL KNOWLEDGE OF GOD
This is not just some vague concept that “a higher power must exist”. It is personal knowledge of the one true God. God makes His eternal power and divine nature clearly seen through everything He has created. God has pre-programmed each of us with clear and convincing knowledge of the following:
- God is our Creator – we know that we are creatures made to worship the Creator
- God is our Lawgiver – we know what is right and wrong
- God is our Judge – we know that there will be a day of judgment where good will triumph over evil.
This personal knowledge of God cannot save us from sin. It only makes us aware of our guilt.
ALL TRY TO SUPPRESS KNOWLEDGE OF GOD
After the fall of mankind (in Genesis 3), man runs away from God rather than towards God. Scripture teaches that, "None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God.” (Rom. 3:10-11). Instead of using his intellect and reason in submission to God, man uses them in rebellion against God.
ALL ARE WITHOUT EXCUSE
Because all men willfully suppress their knowledge of God, they will be held responsible. Therefore, Scripture teaches that all are “without excuse.” This only makes sense if we have a personal knowledge of God. It doesn’t make sense to be held responsible to some entity you don’t know. In those cases, you plead ignorance (e.g. “I didn’t know that the speed limit was 55 mph”). But no one will be able to plead ignorance on the day of judgment.
How does this apply to apologetics?
Man has an innate sense of who God is, yet he chooses to suppress it. But, it can never be suppressed completely. It’s like holding down 3 beach balls under water with only two hands. You can push one or two down, but you can’t get all of them. One task in apologetics is to find out where someone has suppressed that knowledge of God and where he has not been able to suppress knowledge. This means that everyone who rejects God will be living inconsistently at some level.
Inconsistencies in life are seen everywhere. For instance, an animal rights activist who wears leather shoes lives inconsistently. One task in apologetics is to help someone see how their suppression of God leads to inconsistency. Dr. Edgar at Westminster calls this “Disclosure”
DISCLOSURE
Our two hypothetical characters are back. Mr. Believer is now meeting again with Mr. Skeptic. Mr. Skeptic doesn’t believe in God and believes that everything is left up to chance. Rather than being created by God, humans are the product of random mutations that take place in evolution. But Mr. Skeptic also has a sense of justice, what is right and wrong. He believes that this sense of justice is found in every human being. He knows it’s wrong to lie, steal, and kill. He also knows that since he’s only human, he hasn’t followed this perfectly.
After reading how Van Til applied Scripture in apologetics, Mr. Believer uses a different approach. He doesn’t appeal to Mr. Skeptic’s reason because he knows that his intellect will do its best to suppress knowledge of God (see “If you Start with Man, you End with Man”). Mr. Believer tries to disclose Mr. Skeptic’s inconsistency in his beliefs and then appeals to Mr. Skeptic’s innate knowledge of God.
Mr. Believer says, “If everything is left up to chance, then who is to say what is right or wrong? If we are just a bunch of highly-evolved molecules, who can say it’s wrong for someone to kill you, Mr. Skeptic, and take all your money? Evolution teaches survival of the fittest, right?”
Mr. Skeptic says, “I know it’s wrong to steal and kill, but I’ve never thought about it that way before”.
After disclosing this inconsistency, Mr. Believer can ask Mr. Skeptic to consider the Christian faith, which is the only way someone can truly live consistently. Dr. Edgar calls this step “Homecoming”:
HOMECOMING
Mr. Believer continues, “Consider where you get your sense of justice. At its very core, chance can’t produce morals. You have a sense of justice because you are a creature made in God’s image. You have knowledge of who God is. Therefore, you know that God is the ultimate source of justice and a day of judgment is coming. You will be held accountable for you sins just like everyone else, even if you don’t believe that will happen. Ray Comfort uses the following illustration: ‘If you step out onto the freeway and say, ‘I don’t believe in trucks’, your belief will not change reality.’”
Mr. Believer then pleads with Mr. Skeptic to get right with God by sharing the gospel (see “Contending for the Faith”). In a nutshell, Mr. Believer lovingly tells Mr. Skeptic: “Give up your sin and give up living for yourself. Give up any hope of earning God’s favor because you have nothing good to offer God. Throw yourself before your Creator and Judge and plead for his mercy. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved”.
This is a simplistic example, but hopefully it shows how it can be applied. Each person is different. Yet, before the gospel can make sense, each person must be gently and humbly reminded that God is Creator and Judge (something they already know).
In my last post, a hypothetical person (Mr. Believer) tries to reason with another hypothetical person (Mr. Skeptic). He tried to use human logic to prove God's existence, but human logic was turned against him.
Mr. Believer starts reading Van Til and is encouraged that even though he is not as smart as Richard Dawkins, He has something more powerful than human reason. God Himself has revealed His truth. Van Til teaches him that there are only two options: we start with man or we start with God.
STARTING WITH MAN
If you start with human logic, the best you can get is some “god” made up by the human mind. This is idolatry and not the God of the Bible. In the skeptical mind, god is rejected.
The Trinity is an example. Christians believe that God is 3 persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. All three 3 persons are fully God. What does the unbeliever logically conclude? The answer is that Christians believe in 3 Gods. But, Scripture teaches that there is only One God. If human logic is in the final judge of what is true, then the Trinity must be rejected. Thomas Jefferson said, “Ridicule is the only weapon which can be used against unintelligible propositions. Ideas must be distinct before reason can act upon them; and no man ever had a distinct idea of the trinity. It is the mere Abracadabra…” (Dawkins, 34)
STARTING WITH GOD
If human logic cannot lead us to God, the right starting point must be the Bible. If God is infinite and beyond our complete understanding, then we only know Him if He reveals Himself to us. Going on human logic is like 5 blind men feeling an elephant and coming up with 5 different conclusions on what it is. One thinks that the elephant is a tail, or a trunk, etc…
In Scripture, God speaks to us with complete truthfulness and authority. We can trust His revelation, even if our finite minds can’t completely understand certain things (e.g. the Trinity, the creation of the universe out of nothing, etc…)
GOD DOES NOT ANSWER TO MAN
Mr. Believer sees that human beings choose to follow one authority over another. The two options are God or man. For the Christian, the Scriptures are the final authority. God’s Word doesn’t answer to human logic, reason, or opinion.
Why must this be the case? Why does Scripture have to be accepted on its own authority?
The other option is to prove the Bible with our limited knowledge. For example, let’s say that I have 5 things that prove that the Bible is true:
- The Virgin Birth of Christ.
- The Raising of Lazarus from the dead.
- The Resurrection of Jesus Christ.
- The Testimony of the Disciples (11 out of the 12 died as martyrs for their beliefs).
- My own spiritual experience (Jesus has changed my life).
We assume that modern archeologists and historians prove the first 3. The last 2 are personal testimonies.
These seem to work well. But what happens if archeologists find some counter evidence that destroys two of these? Now, we’re down to 3…does that mean that the Bible is now 60% as reliable as before? Archeology could find some other evidence to bring our total back up to 5, but, the next day, some of it could be rejected. I think you get the point. Human understanding is limited, error-prone, and is corrupted by sin. History and science are constantly being updated.
The best case is that the skeptic accepts all of these pieces of evidence. That doesn’t necessarily lead to believing in the Bible.
Van Til says that even if you prove the existence of the virgin birth, the raising of Lazarus, or the resurrection of Jesus Christ, that cannot convince skeptics that God exists. The skeptic’s reply is, “So what? You’ve shown us that strange and awesome things can happen in this world. Just because we don’t have an explanation for it doesn’t mean you can say a miracle has happened. That cannot be proven until you have exhausted all other possible explanations” (this is the argument presented by Dr. William Adams in God at Work, New York, 1933).
Van Til also says that even if you prove that God has made you into a different person, that cannot convince skeptics that God exists. Your religious experience could be from God, from drugs, or even something else. The skeptic’s reply is, “I can’t argue with your experience, just like I can’t argue with you if you feel hot or cold. If you are cold, the reason could be that you left your window open. If you say that Jesus has changed your life, you have given me a reason that your life is different. The reason could be right or it could be wrong” (argument presented by James Leuba in God or Man, New York, 1933).
So even in the best case, human understanding cannot be our final authority. God expects us to accept His authority and not our own. He is the Creator and we are the creation.
As we look through the Bible, we see countless reminders of this. "Thus says the Lord" is used 400 times in the Bible. Jesus says, "Scripture cannot be broken" (John 10:35).
Peter says that God's Word is more reliable and certain than what can be seen with the eyes and heard with the ears. Peter, James, and John had the opportunity to see the glory of Jesus Christ at the Transfiguration. Peter claims that God's Word is more reliable than what he saw and heard. The reason is that Scripture comes from God, not man.
"And we have something more sure [than what we can see and hear], the prophetic word, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit." (2 Pet 1:19-21)
In future posts, I’ll go into detail on what the Bible actually says about unbelief and how to reason with skeptics.
