Clearing a Path for the Gospel�1 - Introduction
A. Introduction to apologetics
1. Definition of apologetics (Greek apologia)
a. It is the defense of the Christian faith using Scripture and sound logic.
b. In the 16th and 17th centuries, European Lutherans published a great deal about apologetics, but somehow in the New World, the topic dropped off our radar screens.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�1 - Introduction
A. Introduction to apologetics
2. Why the book was written.
a. The apologetics discussion in America today has been dominated by Reformed voices.
b. Reformed thinking has had a dramatic impact on the way theologically conservative Lutherans, both laypeople and called workers, have addressed these challenges to Christian teachings.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�1 - Introduction
A. Introduction to apologetics
2. Why the book was written.
c. Lutherans need and want help explaining their faith to people who dismiss it or attack it. They need to get back to the basics because our reliance on non-Lutheran work will cause problems in the long run.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�1 - Introduction
A. Introduction to apologetics
2. Why the book was written.
d. Many Christian parents worry that their children will lose their faith while attending college or even in high school, and they want to prepare themselves to answer the tough questions and to guide their children in the way of God’s truth.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�1 - Introduction
B. What is Apologetics?
1. It is a defense.
a. We Lutherans have a confession called the Apology to the Augsburg Confession. It is not a document that says, “We’re sorry we wrote the Augsburg Confession.” It is a document that defends what that earlier confession says.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�1 - Introduction
B. What is Apologetics?
1. It is a defense.
b. The concept of apologetics come from a Greek courtroom, in which people listen to an argument to find out what the truth is. It is talking about speaking in a way that persuades people of the truth.
c. All true apologetics is about clearing a path for the gospel.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�1 - Introduction
B. What is Apologetics?
2. The key point is that we attempt to explain the reason for the hope that we have. {“Now faith is the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen.” Hebrews 11:1}
a. We cannot convince anyone with a clever argument that Jesus paid for all the sins of the whole world or logically explain the doctrine of the Trinity.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�1 - Introduction
B. What is Apologetics?
2. The key point is that….
b. Faith is trusting in what we cannot prove. Faith is clinging to what God promises even when all the evidence we can see seems to contradict Him and all the people we most love tell us that we are wasting our time.
c. Apologetics is not about winning arguments. It is not about convincing people that the Bible is true. It is about getting a hearing for the gospel.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�1 - Introduction
B. What is Apologetics?
1. The key point is that….
d. People bring up all kinds of objections that are really designed to avoid the law and the gospel. Apologetics is about dispensing with those objections so that we can get down to the real conversation, “What has Jesus done for you?”
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�1 - Introduction
A. Apologetics in a Postmodern World
1. What is postmodernism?
a. It is the tremendous cultural shift that has taken place since the 1950’s. One of the things that is meant by this statement is that people’s standards for judging what is true have changed.
b. Science and logic are being progressively discounted as the path to truth. Many people today believe that truth is relative. “What’s true for you might not be true for me.”
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�1 - Introduction
A. Apologetics in a Postmodern World
1. What is postmodernism?
c. They may even say that they respect our position and admire our sincerity, but they disagree with us and insist that this is their right.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�1 - Introduction
A. Apologetics in a Postmodern World
2. Where do they look for truth?
a. Most Americans today would echo Obi-wan Kenobi and say one needs to stretch out with one’s feelings. The only thing a person can count on as true is what is found in his or her heart.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�1 - Introduction
A. Apologetics in a Postmodern World
2. Where do they look for truth?
b. People consider a church to be a community, a place of belonging. It speaks its own language and perpetuates its own traditions and maintains its own truth. This view fails to recognize that the church’s commission is to spread the message of salvation through Jesus Christ.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�1 - Introduction
B. The Issue of Not Knowing
1. Information may be withheld for a purpose.
a. We study God’s Word, but although God always knows the answers, He does not always choose to tell them to us. Part of the genius of the Lutheran Reformation was the realization that there is some information that God just didn’t give us. God knows what we need to know and what we do not need to know.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�1 - Introduction
B. The Issue of Not Knowing
1. Information may be withheld for a purpose.
b. Young children ask all kinds of questions, but they often cannot understand a detailed answer. It could be confusing or possibly even unhealthy for a child to have too much information. In spiritual things, we are often like little children.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�1 - Introduction
B. The Issue of Not Knowing
2. There is more to faith than intellectual understanding.
a. When God doesn’t give us the information or the evidence we would like to have, we are tempted to look to archaeology, history or science to supply the evidence needed to prove our faith.
b. If we become obsessed with trying to find answers in these disciplines, we put our own faith at risk. The most obvious way is that we begin to doubt God’s Word, because we cannot prove it.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�1 - Introduction
B. The Issue of Not Knowing
2. There is more to faith than intellectual understanding.
c. Ignorance may cause us to engage in intellectual dishonesty. We may select facts from secular disciplines that seem to support what we believe and ignore those that don’t. We build a fragile house of cards that needs constant reinforcement.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�1 - Introduction
B. The Issue of Not Knowing
2. There is more to faith than intellectual understanding.
d. Christians can say, “I don’t know” when God chooses not to tell us something because we trust Him completely. He knows what is best to share with us. He will work to accomplish His purpose through His Word.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�1 - Introduction
B. The Issue of Not Knowing
3. What were the authors trying to do?
a. The purpose of this book is to give apologists the tools they need to remove manmade obstacles which prevent people from hearing the message of Christ, thereby leaving the stumbling block of the cross itself as the only intellectual obstacle to faith.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�1 - Introduction
B. The Issue of Not Knowing
3. What were the authors trying to do?
b. The tools in the book will aid the apologist in disarming bad arguments against God and his Word, in undermining bad presuppositions and worldviews that are at odds with the biblical message, and in stripping away all the peripheral attacks reason makes on the gospel, so that hearts may be confronted by the central claims of the gospel, both historical and theological, on its own terms.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�1 - Introduction
B. The Issue of Not Knowing
3. What were the authors trying to do?
c. Nothing in the book conflicts with the Old and New Testaments of the Holy Scriptures or the Confessions of the Lutheran church.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�1 - Introduction
B. The Issue of Not Knowing
3. What were the authors trying to do?
d. The highest standards of scholarship were used in writing the book. All materials were submitted to those with the expertise to judge the accuracy and quality of our work. All assumptions have been stated clearly and accurately to prevent false agreement or false conflict.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�1 - Introduction
B. The Issue of Not Knowing
3. What were the authors trying to do?
e. The authors avoided using ad hominem arguments, creating strawmen to avoid our opponents’ real positions, or engaging in lines of argumentation which they might reasonably recognize as containing fallacies.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�1 - Introduction
B. The Issue of Not Knowing
3. What were the authors trying to do?
f. The authors refrained from setting false targets. To edit what the adversaries have said, as TV shows often do, would make it easy to make unbelievers look foolish and all Christians look brilliant. That would be false security. When we came into actual contact with an unbeliever, we would not be prepared to address the questions and attitudes that were keeping him or her out of the kingdom of God.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�1 - Introduction
B. The Issue of Not Knowing
3. What were the authors trying to do?
g. Apologetics requires calmness and a cool head. It requires an ever-growing knowledge of what God actually says in his Word. It requires serious study of the world around us and a real world understanding of the times we live in. It also requires an unflinching willingness to examine what we do say and to abandon favorite approaches that don’t really help us in our efforts.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�1 - Introduction
Common Fallacies
Guilt by association: Because two things share or can be implied to share some property, they should be treated in the same manner. [People who like sauerkraut are like the Nazis because the Nazis liked sauerkraut.]
Psychogenetic Fallacy: If an idea arose from a biased mind, then the idea itself must also be faulty. [Compact cars are bad because Hitler started the use of them by promoting the Volkswagen.]
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�1 - Introduction
Common Fallacies
Appeal to Motive: An idea is dismissed based solely on the supposed motive of its proposer rather than on its merit. [Only someone who had something to hide would advance such an argument.]
Attacking a strawman: A caricature of an opponent’s argument rather than the argument itself is attacked. [If enacted, the real effect of my opponent’s proposal would be to starve the poor. No honest person could support such a proposal.]
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�1 - Introduction
Common Fallacies
Causal oversimplification: There is only one cause of an outcome when, in reality, there are numerous contributing causes. [Students go to Duke because it has a good basketball team.]
Chronological snobbery: The thinking, the art, or the science of an earlier time is inherently inferior (or better) to that of the present, simply by virtue of its temporal priority. [The Egyptians used hieroglyphic writing because they just hadn’t thought of alphabetic script yet.]
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�1 - Introduction
Common Fallacies
Complex question fallacy: A complex issue of multiple components is framed in such a way that only a single answer is allowed. This answer, however, cannot address all the component issues. [Unless we redistribute all the wealth in America, our poor people will never have a chance to share in America’s prosperity.]
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�1 - Introduction
Common Fallacies
Continuum fallacy: If doing something is possible, then doing a minute amount more of the something will also be possible. [If it is possible for a person to lift X pounds of sand, then it is possible for him to lift X pounds plus one grain of sand. This process can be continued until it would be claimed that he could lift a ton of sand.]
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�1 - Introduction
Common Fallacies
False analogy: An analogy is used that bears only a weak similarity to the case of interest. [Party balloons are full of helium. Hot air balloons are somewhat like party balloons. Therefore, hot air balloons are full of helium.]
False dichotomy: It is falsely asserted there are only two choices, either A or B, so that rejecting A is selecting B. [If you don’t fly between Minneapolis and Chicago, you’ll have to take a mule cart.]
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�1 - Introduction
Common Fallacies
Moving the goalposts: All evidence presented in response to a specific claim is dismissed and some other (often greater) evidence is demanded. [Your claim that Fred is a bad baseball player because he has a low batting average and makes a lot of errors doesn’t really address the issue of his contributions to the team. More evidence is needed.]
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�1 - Introduction
Common Fallacies
Slippery slope: A relatively small first step inevitably leads to a chain of related events culminating in some significantly undesirable impact and thus the first step should not be allowed to happen. (Also called the Camel’s nose) [This is not a fallacy if the step actually changes the underlying system, thereby causing it to be more susceptible to further change.]
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�1 - Introduction
Common Fallacies
Special pleadings: There is something special about a particular case so that it cannot be evaluated in the usual way. [You cannot see the dragon that lives in my basement because he is invisible, and he does not leave footprints because he floats.]
Appeal to Common Practice: The correctness of a practice is asserted because it is commonly accepted or used. [Binge drinking can’t be bad for your health because everybody’s doing it.]
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�1 - Introduction
Common Fallacies
Appeal to The Masses: A proposition is true or good solely because the majority of the people in some group believe it to be true or good. [Four out of five left-handed plumbers recommend….]
Appeal to Novelty: Something is superior to the current approach solely because it is new or modern. [Try our new toothpaste with improved cleaning power.]
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�1 - Introduction
Common Fallacies
Appeal to Tradition: Something is true solely because it has long been held to be true. [We all know that if rain starts before seven, it ends before eleven.]
Flattery: The members of the audience are flattered to gain their support. [Smart people like you can see the importance of this proposal.]
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�1 - Introduction
Common Fallacies
Composition fallacy: Something which is true of a part must also be true of the whole. [Since auto windshields are made of glass, therefore, the whole auto must be made of glass.]
Vacuous Truth: Something is asserted that is technically true but meaningless because nothing is affected. [If there were unicorns in nature, they would all have single horns on their foreheads. True, by definition, but meaningless because there are no unicorns in nature.]
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�1 - Introduction
Common Fallacies
Out-of-context: Words are selected out of their context in a document in a way that distorts the passage’s original meaning.
Ad Hominem: An advocate attacks his or her opponent personally rather than the arguments that the opponent is advancing.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�1 - Introduction
Common Fallacies
Personal Abuse: An advocate verbally abuses his or her opponent rather than refuting that opponent’s argument. [My opponent is a disgusting excuse for a human being.]
Poisoning the well: Adverse information about an opponent in the debate with the intention of discrediting everything that that person says. [My opponent is a notorious liar.]
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�End of Lesson 1
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�2 - The Nature of Truth I
A. Introduction
1. Theologians and reason
a. The ministerial use of reason is its use as a servant. It recognizes that a master, namely Christ, is speaking in his Word and that all reason’s efforts are under the authority of God’s Word. It enables the workers in the LORD’s kingdom to use the Word of God in sermons and classes and at the hospital bedside, at the graveside or in a counseling session.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�2 - The Nature of Truth I
A. Introduction
1. Theologians and reason
b. The magisterial use of reason is its use in a judgmental way. It places human intellect and thought above the Word of God and subjects it to human evaluation.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�2 - The Nature of Truth I
A. Introduction
2. Setting the Stage
a. It is necessary to establish the playing field by defining the terms and drafting the rules for discussion which we will use. Emotion can cloud our judgment.
b. How much and what kind of information do we need to have for a statement to be true? [People are asked to swear “to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth” in an effort to bracket what might be the actual truth in the matter at hand.]
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�2 - The Nature of Truth I
A. Introduction
2. Setting the Stage
c. Many people think that they can recognize truth when they encounter it, even if they cannot put a precise definition of truth into words. This is seldom the case.
d. There are four common systematic approaches to searching for truth: deductive reasoning, inductive reasoning, philosophy, and theology.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�2 - The Nature of Truth I
B. Definition of terms
1. Truth is something that conforms to a given standard.
a. Something isn’t true because we believe it is true or we want it to be true. It is true because we can compare it to a standard. [Any statement made about a triangle must be able to be validated against the definition of a triangle.]
b. Something can be true compared to one standard but not true compared to another. [A word spelled correctly according to American English usage might be spelled incorrectly according to British English usage.]
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�2 - The Nature of Truth I
B. Definition of terms
2. A standard is a set of rules and/or procedures which are based on specific assumptions. [The Internal Revenue Code is a standard by which all tax returns are judged to be correct (true) or incorrect (false).]
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�2 - The Nature of Truth I
B. Definition of terms
3. An assumption is something taken to be true based on its perceived reasonableness.
a. It cannot be proved because there is no standard by which to compare it. [We assume, without verifying, the measuring devices which all the subcontractors use while building a house are correctly calibrated.]
b. Every system of truth eventually reaches the point where faith is required.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�2 - The Nature of Truth I
B. Definition of terms
3. An assumption is something taken to be true based on its perceived reasonableness.
c. A more restrictive assumption is often called a premise or a proposition. These are usually stated after the general assumptions are made.
d. A correct assumption or premise is said to be well-grounded.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�2 - The Nature of Truth I
B. Definition of terms
4. A fact in argumentation is something that everyone agrees is true.
a. A “fact” may be true or not true. The participants merely must think it to be true, so that no further discussion of it is required.
b. The veracity of a fact may change with time. [Six hundred years ago everyone believed that the sun orbited the earth, so it was a fact.]
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�2 - The Nature of Truth I
B. Definition of terms
5. Evidence consists of specimens, artifacts, information and/or documents.
a. It is collected or created according to a pre-established set of rules.
b. The collector or creator must note the time, place, and circumstances of the collection or creation.
c. The type and nature of the evidence will vary greatly, depending on the nature of the argument for which it has been gathered.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�2 - The Nature of Truth I
B. Definition of terms
6. A conclusion is the outcome of a reasoning process.
a. Assumptions are made, evidence is presented, and reasoning is done in an effort to determine the truth according to some standard.
b. A conclusion is sometimes called a consequent.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�2 - The Nature of Truth I
B. Definition of terms
7. A line of argumentation is the reasoning that connects the assumptions with the conclusion.
a. It is valid if it is free of inconsistencies and fallacies.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�2 - The Nature of Truth I
B. Definition of terms
8. An argument consists of a set of assumptions (which may be supplemented with evidence), a line of argumentation, and a conclusion.
a. It is sound if the assumptions are well-grounded and if the line of argumentation is valid.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�2 - The Nature of Truth I
B. Definition of terms
9. A fallacy is a mistake in drawing a conclusion either unsupported by the evidence, based on false premises or derived from faulty reasoning.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�2 - The Nature of Truth I
A. Definition: In deductive reasoning one starts with known information, manipulates it by known rules and obtains a reliable and unique answer. One is therefore reasoning from general truth to specific truth. [If all positive numbers are greater than zero, five is greater than zero.]
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�2 - The Nature of Truth I
B. Truth in Mathematics
1. Definition of terms.
a. Greek word manthano (I know). Mathematics is based on universally accepted definitions. It is called numeric because it is based on numbers.
b. A domain is the field of inquiry. It is defined to indicate what is within and what is outside it. [A domain could be the positive integers or all right triangles.]
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�2 - The Nature of Truth I
B. Truth in Mathematics
1. Definition of terms.
c. An object is something within a domain. [An object could be a number or a set of numbers.]
d. An operator is something which transforms one object in a domain into another. [The multiplication sign and square root sign are operators.]
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�2 - The Nature of Truth I
B. Truth in Mathematics
1. Definition of terms.
e. Every theorem can be compared to the definitions that established the domain to prove whether it is true or false or indeterminate (i.e., no answer can be found). Its validity cannot be challenged by new discoveries of science or by new social theories. Mathematical truth is reliable and unchanging.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�2 - The Nature of Truth I
B. Truth in Mathematics
2. It is possible to have false answers in mathematics.
a. If one starts with wrong data. [If we measure a door as 7 feet 10 inches tall instead of 6 feet 10 inches tall.] [False Premise Fallacy]
b. If one performs the operation wrong. [If we push the + instead of the x button on the calculator.] The reasoning (process) is not sound.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�2 - The Nature of Truth I
B. Truth in Mathematics
3. Probability and statistics are highly error-prone, sometimes even for the experts.
a. The total pool of entities involved in a discussion is called the population, and the portion considered for analysis or presentation is called the sample.
b. Jim says he has two children and that his oldest is named Frank. Sally says she has two children and that one of them is named John. The probability that Jim has a daughter is 50%, but the probability that Sally has a daughter is 67%.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�2 - The Nature of Truth I
B. Truth in Mathematics
3. Probability and statistics are highly error-prone, sometimes even for the experts.
c. If a sample is too small to represent the population, it is the fallacy of hasty generalization.
d. If a sample is biased by an unrepresentative selection, then the error is the fallacy of false attribution; the sample’s characteristics do not match the population’s.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�2 - The Nature of Truth I
B. Truth in Mathematics
3. Probability and statistics are highly error-prone, sometimes even for the experts.
e. If one selects only the few entities that support an argument while the rest do not, the fallacy is cherry picking.
f. To find the probability of something occurring, one must know all the pathways by which it could occur and then calculate the sum of the probabilities of it occurring by each of these pathways.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�2 - The Nature of Truth I
B. Truth in Mathematics
4. Large numbers can give false impressions.
a. If one subtracts two large numbers of almost the same value, one loses most of the significance and might only have the rounding error of the computer left.
b. While only 1 chance in 100 billion may seem small, if one starts with a mole of a substance, that is equivalent to 6,000 billion molecules.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�2 - The Nature of Truth I
B. Truth in Mathematics
4. Large numbers can give false impressions.
c. Even a medical test that is 99% accurate will produce a large number of false positives if the prevalence of the disease is only 10 in 100,000.
d. Even if the probability is that 99.9% of a population will behave in one way, 0.1 % will still behave differently. This is called an outlier. In discussing the things of God, the introduction of numbers is often the fallacy of a red herring.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�2 - The Nature of Truth I
C. Formalized logic
1. Non-numeric
a. A system is non-numeric if it involves establishing relationships without requiring numbers to do so. [A bulldozer is larger than a tricycle.]
b. In some systems certain statements can be proved to be true where no numbers are involved. [One can prove that the base angles of isosceles triangles are equal.]
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�2 - The Nature of Truth I
C. Formalized logic
2. Syllogistic logic
a. Syllogistic logic is a form of deductive reasoning involving a major premise, a minor premise, and a conclusion.
b. The major premise makes a general statement. [All men die and decay.] It has a predicate [die and decay] and a middle term [all men].
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�2 - The Nature of Truth I
C. Formalized logic
2. Syllogistic logic
c. The minor premise makes a statement about a specific subject. [Socrates was a man.] It has a subject [Socrates] and a middle term [was a man].
d. The conclusion states a relationship between the subject and the predicate by matching the middle terms. [Socrates died and decayed.]
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�2 - The Nature of Truth I
C. Formalized logic
2. Syllogistic logic
c. These three terms can be modified by the qualifiers “all,” “some,” “no(t),” or no qualifier. The use of qualifiers can make determining the soundness of the syllogism challenging.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�2 - The Nature of Truth I
C. Formalized logic
3. Errors in logic – the four-term fallacy
a. All men die and decay.
b. Jesus was a man.
c. Jesus died and decayed.
d. This conclusion is false because the middle terms do not match. Jesus was God as well as man, so He does not match the “all men” of the major premise.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�2 - The Nature of Truth I
C. Formalized logic
4. Errors in logic – the undistributed middle
a. Some Lutherans are tall.
b. Trees are tall.
c. Some Lutherans are trees.
d. This conclusion is false because the major premise does not have a predicate, so it is impossible to use the middle term to attach the subject to the predicate.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�2 - The Nature of Truth I
C. Formalized logic
5. Errors in logic – the false premise fallacy
a. All Lutherans speak Mongolian.
b. Ben and Nancy are Lutherans.
c. Ben and Nancy speak Mongolian.
d. The logic is valid, but the conclusion is not sound because the major premise is false, that is, it is not well-grounded.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�2 - The Nature of Truth I
C. Formalized logic
6. Errors in logic – the affirming the consequent fallacy
a. If Pastor Schmidt preaches a long sermon, Frank takes a nap afterward.
b. Frank is taking a nap this Sunday afternoon.
c. Pastor Schmidt preached a long sermon Sunday morning.
d. Simply because A causes B and B is true, it does not mean A is true. B may have other causes.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�2 - The Nature of Truth I
C. Formalized logic
7. Errors in logic – the post hoc ergo propter hoc fallacy
a. When Abby goes to church on Sunday, the mail is not delivered that afternoon.
b. Therefore, Abby’s church attendance is preventing the delivery of mail.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�2 - The Nature of Truth I
C. Formalized logic
8. Errors in logic – the correlation implies causation fallacy
a. When people wear swimsuits on the beach, ice cream sales go up in the city.
b. Therefore, ice cream venders should promote the wearing of swimsuits.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�2 - The Nature of Truth I
C. Formalized logic
9. Miscellaneous errors in logic
a. Assuming a premise is significant, not just a token amount (1% change).
b. Non-sequiturs break the logical chain between the premises and the conclusion by inserting something that sounds reasonable but does not follow from the previously advanced arguments.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�2 - The Nature of Truth I
C. Formalized logic
9. Miscellaneous errors in logic
c. The protagonist in an argument has the burden of proof. Trying to shift this to the opponent is the fallacy called onus probandi.
d. The protagonist “dumps” a bunch of unconnected arguments on his opponent for the purpose of preventing rebuttal. This is called kettle logic.
e. A false compromise is a seemingly middle position that, in reality, requires a debater to give up his or her key premise in the discussion.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�2 - The Nature of Truth I
C. Formalized logic
10. Other types of formal logic
a. Truth-functional logic considers all possible combinations of truth or falseness of all the inputs to draw a conclusion.
b. Predicate calculus is used to state the premises in an argument in algebraic form for the purpose of doing proofs as is done in geometry.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�End of Lesson 2
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�3 - The Nature of Truth II
A. History of Philosophy
1. The philosophical movement developed in Greece about four to five centuries before Christ.
a. The goal was to find what was absolutely true about the universe so that mankind would be able to live in harmony with nature.
b. People’s experiences were different, so their fundamen-tal definitions also differed. Without a common definition base, finding knowledge of the absolute truth that was universal, necessary, and certain was impossible.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�3 - The Nature of Truth II
A. History of Philosophy
1. The philosophical movement developed in Greece about four to five centuries before Christ.
c. Various schools of philosophy developed, such as Platonism, Aristotelianism, Stoicism and Epicureanism. These had very different views of nature and mankind’s relationship to it.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�3 - The Nature of Truth II
A. History of Philosophy
2. Modern philosophy guided men like Jefferson.
a. In the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson wrote, “We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are….” Self-evident truth is a sense of truth that comes from within a person.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�3 - The Nature of Truth II
A. History of Philosophy
2. Modern philosophy guided men like Jefferson.
b. Jefferson was not a Christian, and he believed that philosophical truth was formed directly in the human mind. {“Out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual sins, thefts, false testimonies, and blasphemies.” Matthew 15:19.}
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�3 - The Nature of Truth II
B. Classical philosophy
1. The underpinnings of philosophy.
a. The fundamental assumption of classical philosophy is that the human mind can grasp the standard of all truth because that standard is self-evident. The mind, by itself or with divine guidance, will know how to judge whether something is true and right or false and wrong.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�3 - The Nature of Truth II
B. Classical philosophy
1. The underpinnings of philosophy.
b. Philosophical truth is governed by the phrase “It seems reasonable to me that….” Based on the inherent reasonableness of an idea or a set of principles, the philosopher will use various forms of valid logic to extend his or her system of truth to cover more cases.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�3 - The Nature of Truth II
B. Classical philosophy
2. Lack of uniformity of definitions.
a. Because what is reasonable depends upon a person’s background, philosophers differ both in their approaches to and in their conclusions about issues. [Immanuel Kant, Karl Marx, Friedrich Schleiermacher]
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�3 - The Nature of Truth II
B. Classical philosophy
2. Lack of uniformity of definitions.
b. Approaches such as modernity, which appeals to science and reason, and postmodernism, which appeals to a sense of personal truth, each with numerous sub-schools of thought.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�3 - The Nature of Truth II
B. Classical philosophy
3. Philosophy is weaker than other methods of seeking truth.
a. It lacks the divine authority of revelation.
b. Philosophy does not have the precise and universally accepted definitions and operative rules of mathematics.
c. Philosophical rationalizations can fall before the evidence of science, such as when Galileo’s experimentation dethroned Aristotle’s reasoning.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�3 - The Nature of Truth II
B. Classical philosophy
4. Misuse of philosophy.
a. Politicians, editorialists, humanists, religious gurus, and media types often make statements that are inaccurate abstractions or overstatements. [The appeal to emotion fallacy.]
b. These speakers try to get acceptance of their philosophy, and therefore, the truthfulness of their arguments, without providing well-grounded evidence or valid analysis.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�3 - The Nature of Truth II
B. Classical philosophy
5. Analytical philosophy.
a. This approach emphasizes a more systematic use of logic and more rigorous definitions.
b. The ideas of what is true still differ greatly and are deeply rooted in Humanism. This is dangerous when applied to matters of faith and morals. {“See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit, which are in accord with human tradition, namely, the basic principles of the world, but not in accord with Christ.” Colossians 2:8}
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�3 - The Nature of Truth II
A. Nature of inductive reasoning
1. Definition of inductive reasoning
a. Inductive reasoning goes from specific cases to a more general conclusion. [Team X didn’t reach the World Series this year, last year or in any year that I remember. Therefore, Team X will not make it to the World Series next year.]
b. Generalized conclusions run the risk of not being true, even though all the premises are true.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�3 - The Nature of Truth II
A. Nature of inductive reasoning
2. Limits of inductive reasoning
a. Too little evidence may have been gathered to support the conclusion. [The hasty generalization fallacy.]
b. The assumptions used to evaluate the evidence may not be true. [The false premise fallacy.]
c. Even if the model fits all the evidence, it might still be incorrect. [The affirming the consequent fallacy.]
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�3 - The Nature of Truth II
B. Science
2. The fundamental assumption of science is that all observations can be explained in terms of the inherent properties of matter, energy, space, and time.
a. Corollary: There is no God who can interact with the physical universe.
b. Corollary: The universe had to have evolved; there are no other options.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�3 - The Nature of Truth II
B. Science
2. The fundamental assumption of science is that all observations can be explained in terms of the inherent properties of matter, energy, space, and time.
c. Suppose the fundamental assumption of science is false. Then scientists would never know if what was observed in nature was caused by the laws of nature that they can model or the actions of a supernatural being which they cannot model. Scientific literature would consist of articles with the phrase, “Maybe God did it.”
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�3 - The Nature of Truth II
B. Science
2. Scientific method
a. Scientists gather evidence based on well-established rules for documentation. These rules are established beforehand so that data is not “fudged.”
b. They developed a model to explain the evidence at hand. They test it on all available evidence, revising the model as necessary.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�3 - The Nature of Truth II
B. Science
2. Scientific method
c. They report their model and evidence to other scientists, so these experts can attempt to disprove the model or the evidence. This is called the falsification challenge; it is key to all true scientific work.
d. They refine the model to meet legitimate objections, or they discard it if it has been demonstrated to be faulty. (Steps a through d may be repeated, if necessary.)
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�3 - The Nature of Truth II
B. Science
2. Scientific method
e. Scientific truth is governed by the phrase, “Based on the available evidence, it can be said that….” Therefore, scientific truth is only, at best, provisional.
f. Without the falsification challenge, there is only pseudoscience. Those who refuse to present their work for others to examine are only “blowing smoke.”
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�3 - The Nature of Truth II
B. Science
3. Types of science
a. In a hard science [chemistry, physics] entities [oxygen atoms, electrons] can be completely isolated from the environment for study to eliminate interferences.
b. In a soft science [sociology, pharmacology] entities [age, drug metabolism] cannot be completely isolated from other factors [muscle tone, emotional stress].
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�3 - The Nature of Truth II
B. Science
3. Types of science
c. In an observational science [cosmology, economics], observations are the result of happenstance. New cases cannot be produced through experimentation.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�3 - The Nature of Truth II
A. Finding God’s truth
1. Sources
a. Theological truth must be revealed to us because we cannot rise up to God. {Romans 10:5-11}
b. Gurus who claim insight of the divine. [the pope, the oracle at Delphi]
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�3 - The Nature of Truth II
A. Finding God’s truth
1. Sources
c. Books of revelation which claim to be God’s Word. [the Bible or the Qur’an]
d. The only standard of theological truth is “Thus says the LORD.”
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�3 - The Nature of Truth II
A. Finding God’s truth
2. Nature of Biblical truth - Sola Scriptura
a. Only the Bible presents a God who freely delivers people from their sins and promises eternal salvation.
b. The Bible declares people are totally depraved and have no works acceptable before the Lord. {Jesus said, “I am the Vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me and I in him is the one who bears much fruit, because without me you can do nothing.” John 15:5}
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�3 - The Nature of Truth II
A. Finding God’s truth
2. Nature of Biblical truth - Sola Scriptura
c. People reject this because they want to take some of their own good deeds to the judgment throne of God when they are summoned to appear before him.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�3 - The Nature of Truth II
B. Reasons for rejecting God’s truth
1. Rationalization
a. Introducing components of philosophy as a companion to the biblical standard of truth muddies it. Some people seek a rationalized truth that is less clear-cut and leaves room for negotiation over issues of behavior and piety.
b. Biblical truth becomes distorted when people try to mix philosophy derived from some form of self-evident truth into it. {Solomon said, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding.” Proverbs 3:5}.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�3 - The Nature of Truth II
B. Reasons for rejecting God’s truth
2. Editing the Scriptures
a. Some teachers ignore portions of the Bible that they feel uncomfortable using. [Thomas Jefferson cut out those parts he did not like using a razor.]
b. Some overemphasize portions of the Scripture and twist the rest to match. [Jehovah’s Witnesses and the book of Daniel.]
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�3 - The Nature of Truth II
B. Reasons for rejecting God’s truth
2. Editing the Scriptures
c. Some put two teachings of Scripture in opposition to each other and synthesize a compromise. [Matthias Loy’s error in the Election Controversy]
d. We need to hold to the narrow Lutheran middle. {“Do not add to the word that I am commanding you, and do not subtract from it.” Deuteronomy 4:2}
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�3 - The Nature of Truth II
B. Reasons for rejecting God’s truth
3. Changing the Scriptures with time
a. Some claim that God gradually leads mankind to greater truth as man becomes better able to handle complex ideas.
b. They argue that due to the way God needed to reach out to mankind in the past, some of the things in the Bible should no longer be accepted as true.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�3 - The Nature of Truth II
B. Reasons for rejecting God’s truth
3. Changing the Scriptures with time
c. This idea ignores the biblical teaching that God is outside of time and as such, never changes. {A psalmist wrote, “Long ago you laid a foundation for the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you remain. All of them wear out like a garment. Like clothing you will change them, and they will be changed. But you are the same, and your years will never end.” Psalm 102:25-27}
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�3 - The Nature of Truth II
B. Reasons for rejecting God’s truth
3. Changing the Scriptures with time
d. Scientific truth cannot trump revelation because it is only a human explanation of the world, and it is limited by its fallacies. {“For the Lord of Armies has made plans, and who can stop him? His hand is stretched out, and who can turn it back The Lord is in control.” Isaiah 14:27}
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�3 - The Nature of Truth II
C. Giving Offense vs. Taking Offense
1. Taking Offense
a. Taking offense means choosing to be offended over something God says that does not please.
b. Political correctness is being used to censor our speech in the 21st century. The ever-present possibility that something we say or do might find its way onto the internet makes many people positively paranoid.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�3 - The Nature of Truth II
C. Giving Offense vs. Taking Offense
2. Giving Offense
a. Giving offense is saying or doing anything that hurts others so as to interfere with their ability to hear our witness.
b. We cannot worry about being humiliated in some forum by what people think of us. {Jesus warned us, “Woe to you when all people speak well of you, because that is how their fathers constantly treated the false prophets.” Luke 6:26}
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�3 - The Nature of Truth II
C. Giving Offense vs. Taking Offense
2. Giving Offense
c. The devil, the sinful world and the sinful flesh of every human being on this planet hate the gospel and much of what God says. If we are faithful to his message, at times people are going to take offense.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�3 - The Nature of Truth II
C. Giving Offense vs. Taking Offense
3. Proper behavior in apologetics
a. Avoid giving offense by being rude or thoughtless. [St. Peter said, “Live an honorable life among the Gentiles so that even though they slander you as evildoers, when they observe your noble deeds, they may glorify God on the day he visits us.” 1 Peter 2:12.}
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�3 - The Nature of Truth II
C. Giving Offense vs. Taking Offense
2. Giving Offense
b. Interrupting the person with whom one is speaking, showing disinterest in what the other person has to say, or insulting or shouting at those with opposing views do not help the gospel cause.
c. Racism, insulting people with special needs and devaluing women have no place in the church. These are sins which the devil can use very effectively to discredit our testimony.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�End of Lesson 3
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�4 - The Existence of God I
A. The three general types of gods
1. Generic gods
a. They are non-descript, and the extent of their power and influence is unknown even to those who make reference to them. Prayers to them are more wishes than serious efforts to influence the god involved.
b. They do not form direct personal contact with people. [Mother Nature, the Creator God, the Final Scorer, Lady Luck, the Man Upstairs]
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�4 - The Existence of God I
A. The three general types of gods
2. Private gods
a. These are things to which people devote a lot of time or on which they spend a large amount of wealth. [A prized classic car, the pursuit of an outstanding physical appearance, a lucky pair of socks, a gorgeous vacation home or professional fame]
b. This type of god is created by the individual who worships it. Lutheran theologians have called the service of these gods secret idolatry.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�4 - The Existence of God I
A. The three general types of gods
3. Moral gods
a. These are beings with whom people form a personal relationship through worship and prayer and from whom they expect to obtain blessings here and/or in the afterlife. They have specific powers and moral expectations of their adherents.
b. These divine beings are the basis for the various organized religions. [The Lord, Allah, Brahma]
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�4 - The Existence of God I
B. The God of the Bible
1. His essence
a. He exists and is a spirit. {“Now to the King eternal, to the immortal, invisible, only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.” 1 Timothy 1:17}
b. His name is Yahweh. {“I am the Lord; that is my name.” Isaiah 42:8a}
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�4 - The Existence of God I
B. The God of the Bible
1. His essence
c. He is supernatural, existing outside of the physical universe. {“Long ago you laid a foundation for the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. they will perish, but you remain. All of them wear out like a garment. Like clothing you will change them, and they will be changed. But you are the same, and your years will never end.” Psalm 102:25–27}
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�4 - The Existence of God I
B. The God of the Bible
1. His essence
d. He is the only God. {“I am the first, and I am the last. Except for me, there is no god.” Isaiah 44:6}
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�4 - The Existence of God I
B. The God of the Bible
2. Attributes of the Lord
a. All God’s attributes are essential attributes. Collectively, they are His being.
b. They include, but are not limited to, being omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, immutable, purposed, holy, just, wise, truthful, good, loving and merciful.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�4 - The Existence of God I
B. The God of the Bible
2. Attributes of the Lord
c. He is in full control of the universe. {Jesus said, “Are not two sparrows sold for a small coin? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground without the knowledge and consent of your Father.” Matthew 10:29}
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�4 - The Existence of God I
B. The God of the Bible
2. Attributes of the Lord
d. The Lord is jealous for the honor of his godliness. {“You shall have no other gods beside me. You shall not make any carved image for yourself or a likeness of anything in heaven above, or on the earth below, or in the waters under the earth. Do not bow down to them or be subservient to them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God.” Exodus 20:3-5a}
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�4 - The Existence of God I
A. The use of worldly proofs
1. Philosophy versus Revelation
a. Greek scholars had debated the existence of gods long before the time of Christ.
b. In the Middle Ages, Catholic theologians mixed philosophy with religion and reintroduced philosophical arguments to prove the existence of God.
c. Lutheran theologians scaled back the reliance on philosophical arguments.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�4 - The Existence of God I
A. The use of worldly proofs
2. The natural knowledge of God
a. The existence of the universe supports the existence of an almighty God. {David wrote, “The heavens tell about the glory of God. The expanse of the sky proclaims the work of his hands. Day after day they pour out speech. Night after night they display knowledge.” Psalm 19:1-2}
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�4 - The Existence of God I
A. The use of worldly proofs
2. The natural knowledge of God
b. The presence of conscience indicates the existence of a just God. {“Whenever Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature what the law requires—even though they do not have the law—they are a law for themselves. They demonstrate the work of the law that is written in their hearts, since their conscience also bears witness as their thoughts go back and forth, at times accusing or at times even defending them.” Romans 2:14-15}
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�4 - The Existence of God I
A. The use of worldly proofs
2. The natural knowledge of God
c. These “witnesses” to the existence of God were written into man’s heart at the creation, but they have since been blurred by sin. These witnesses are theological proofs of the existence of God, but not philosophical proofs. {David wrote, “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’ ” Psalm 14:1a}
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�4 - The Existence of God I
B. Why worldly proofs fail
1. Man’s sinful heart
a. People sense God’s truth but suppress it [sin of rebellion]. {“God’s wrath is being revealed from heaven against all the ungodliness and unrighteousness of people who try to suppress the truth by unrighteousness.” Romans 1:18}
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�4 - The Existence of God I
B. Why worldly proofs fail
1. Man’s sinful heart
b. People are oblivious to God’s truth [sin of spiritual blindness]. {Paul said, “In past generations he allowed all the nations to go their own ways. Yet he did not leave himself without testimony of the good he does.” Acts 14:16–17a}
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�4 - The Existence of God I
B. Why worldly proofs fail
2. Man’s weakened senses
a. Man is psychologically blind to what happens in front of him. [An “invisible gorilla” walked through the middle of a basketball practice, and half the observers did not see it.]
b. People minds are “scripted” to filter out what they do not think that they need to see or hear. [A person can filter out the sound of a cuckoo clock behind her.]
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�4 - The Existence of God I
B. Why worldly proofs fail
3. Cosmological argument
a. The size and complexity of the universe speaks for itself. [The heavens at night on the Western prairies are incredible in scope.]
b. Primitive people practiced idolatry, hoping to gain the attention of some divine helper. [Baal worship]
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�4 - The Existence of God I
B. Why worldly proofs fail
3. Cosmological argument
c. Humans accomplishments in the last century undermine the argument that a divine builder of the universe was necessary. [Scientists develop new species of plants and animals, and engineers build things capable of flying in the air and traveling through space.]
d. The size and complexity of the universe are so great that no god could possibly be able to hold it “in the palm of His hand” and control it. [Flipping the warrant]
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�4 - The Existence of God I
B. Why worldly proofs fail
3. Cosmological argument
e. The grandeur of what we see in the natural world will always soar beyond what we can construct using the known laws of physics. The skeptic will point out this is an example of the affirming the consequent fallacy. “Being consistent with” is not the same as “proving.”
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�4 - The Existence of God I
B. Why worldly proofs fail
4. Moral argument
a. People feel guilty when they sin. {“They [Adam and Eve] heard the voice of the Lord God, who was walking around in the garden during the cooler part of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.” Genesis 3:8}
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�4 - The Existence of God I
B. Why worldly proofs fail
4. Moral argument
b. People recognize that they have an obligation to their children. {Jesus said, “Who among you, if his son asks him for bread, would give him a stone? Or who, if his son asks for a fish, would give him a snake? Then if you know how to give good gifts to your children, even though you are evil, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” Matthew 7:9-11}
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�4 - The Existence of God I
B. Why worldly proofs fail
4. Moral argument
c. People acknowledge the justness of punishment. {“The other criminal rebuked him. ‘Don’t you fear God, since you are under the same condemnation? We are punished justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for what we have done, but this man has done nothing wrong.’ ” Luke 23:40-41}
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�4 - The Existence of God I
B. Why worldly proofs fail
4. Moral argument
d. Some argue that animals do have a limited understanding of evil. [A dog recognizes that its actions were wrong and senses estrangement from its master or as when the gorilla Koko mourned the death of its pet kitten.]
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�4 - The Existence of God I
B. Why worldly proofs fail
4. Moral argument
e. There is a difference between emotion and conscience. Animals labor to survive the current day, the current cycle of life or the current season; they do not plan for a lifetime or an afterlife. If they have a vague sense of guilt, it is transitory and does not have long-term repercussions.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�4 - The Existence of God I
B. Why worldly proofs fail
4. Moral argument
f. Certainly, the existence of conscience is consistent with the existence of God. The problem again is one of affirming the consequent.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�4 - The Existence of God I
B. Why worldly proofs fail
5. The frustration in trying to prove the existence of God
a. Natural man is incapable of accepting the truth of revelation from the Lord in any form because of his depravity. Biblical arguments do not help us much when it comes to dealing with skeptics in this world, especially skeptics who are anchored in Humanism and steeped in scientific theories.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�4 - The Existence of God I
B. Why worldly proofs fail
5. The frustration in trying to prove the existence of God
b. Skeptics believe they have found the origin of the universe in cosmological models.
c. Skeptics question outright whether all people really have a conscience and whether there is a universal moral code written into the hearts of men.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�4 - The Existence of God I
A. Narrowing the Focus
1. What are the objects of the proofs
a. Not private gods, which are the creation of the people who worship them.
b. Supernatural beings who are not defined or constrained by the laws of the physical universe.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�4 - The Existence of God I
A. Narrowing the Focus
2. Can mathematics or science be used to prove the existence of God?
a. No. When using deductive reasoning, one can never prove the existence of something outside the domain in which one is working. [Within the domain of rational numbers, one cannot create an irrational number such as π.].
b. No. Within the domain of the physical universe, there are no operators that can reach out from that domain into a supernatural domain in which God exists.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�4 - The Existence of God I
A. Narrowing the Focus
2. Can mathematics or science be used to prove the existence of God?
c. No. If a supernatural being reached into the physical world, its action could not be recognized by science as anything but natural and of unknown cause.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�4 - The Existence of God I
B. Philosophical proofs of the existence of God
1. Why all such proofs must fail
a. They are based on human reason instead of divine revelation.
b. They have weaknesses, such as false premises, hidden assumptions, invalid reasoning or lack of physical evidence, which make the conclusions unsound.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�4 - The Existence of God I
B. Philosophical proofs of the existence of God
1. Why all such proofs must fail
c. In arguing for the existence of God, the burden of proof lies on those who are proposing such existence. Opponents merely need to show fallacies exist.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�4 - The Existence of God I
B. Philosophical proofs of the existence of God
2. Ontological Argument (St. Anselm)
a. It is possible to imagine a perfect being who has all the highest levels of the best characteristics of every good thing. To be perfect such a being must exist.
b. Anselm illegitimately moved from the existence of an idea to the existence of a thing that corresponds to the idea. [Mind projection fallacy]
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�4 - The Existence of God I
B. Philosophical proofs of the existence of God
3. Cosmological Argument (Aristotle/Aquinas)
a. Everything that moves must have a mover. If one chains back through all the movers to the first mover, one finds a mover nothing else moves. That mover can only be put into motion by God.
b. There is a hidden assumption that there exists a supernatural realm that contains God. But this is what one is trying to prove. [Begging the question fallacy]
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�4 - The Existence of God I
B. Philosophical proofs of the existence of God
3. Cosmological Argument (Aristotle/Aquinas)
c. Newton’s third law of motion states all objects in the universe apply forces to each other; ⸫ the first statement is false. [False premise fallacy]
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�4 - The Existence of God I
B. Philosophical proofs of the existence of God
4. Cosmological Argument (Leibniz)
a. The non-existence of the universe would require no explanation, but the existence of the universe requires an explanation, and that explanation is a god.
b. We have seen “existence” but never seen “non-existence.” There is no inherent reason that perpetual existence is impossible. [Wishful thinking fallacy]
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�4 - The Existence of God I
B. Philosophical proofs of the existence of God
5. Cosmological Argument (Kalam/Craig)
a. Syllogism: 1) Whatever begins to exist has a cause; 2) the universe began to exist; 3) therefore, the universe has a cause, which must be a god.
b. “Began to exist” in 2) is ex nihilo. If “begins to exist” is ex nihilo in 1), then 1) is not well-grounded. If it isn’t, there is a four-term fallacy.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�4 - The Existence of God I
B. Philosophical proofs of the existence of God
6. Teleological Argument (William Paley)
a. The cosmos is well ordered, well-balanced and extremely complex. Even minor changes in its natural constants would prevent life from existing and cause physical chaos. One can recognize the existence of a god from the precisely organized universe.
b. No matter how improbable any universe is, the one we live in exists. Perhaps it is the only stable configuration that can exist. [Argument from ignorance fallacy]
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�End of Lesson 4
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�5 - The Existence of God II
B. Philosophical proofs of the existence of God
7. Thermodynamic Argument
a. The second law of thermodynamics states that entropy must always increase. ⸫ complex molecules like DNA could not have come into existence from simpler ones by natural processes. ⸫ there must be a god.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�5 - The Existence of God II
B. Philosophical proofs of the existence of God
7. Thermodynamic Argument
b. Entropy is a measure of the number of microstates in a particular system, not the degree of organization of any specific microstate in that system. ⸫ some components of a system can become more organized while others become less organized during a reaction process, as long as the entropy of the overall system remains constant or increases. [False premise fallacy]
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�5 - The Existence of God II
B. Philosophical proofs of the existence of God
8. Experiential Argument
a. Many people claim to have had personal religious experiences with a god or other-worldly being, particularly in near-death situations. ⸫ a god must exist.
b. Not everything which a human mind is convinced it has experienced is based on reality. Dreams and hallucinations can seem very real. The mind has pre-stored scripts to handle stressful situations, such as dying, which overwhelm the senses when activated. [Argument from ignorance fallacy]
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�5 - The Existence of God II
B. Philosophical proofs of the existence of God
9. Pragmatic (Moralistic) Argument
a. Human society requires an ethical basis to survive. Ethics are more effectively enforced if people fear a God and eternal punishment and have a hope for eternal life. ⸫ God must exist because humans need to have such an ethical framework.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�5 - The Existence of God II
B. Philosophical proofs of the existence of God
9. Pragmatic (Moralistic) Argument
b. The expediency of a belief does not prove its truthfulness. Moreover, even the promise of heaven and the threat of hell do not prevent crime or build just societies. The fear of immediate consequences and the promise of immediate reward are much stronger motivators. [False premise fallacy]
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�5 - The Existence of God II
B. Philosophical proofs of the existence of God
10. Subjective Awareness Argument
a. Subjective awareness, i.e., the weirdness of consciousness and our inability to understand, has given rise to the notion of substance dualism between the mental and the material. Subjective awareness had to be given to man by a supernatural being.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�5 - The Existence of God II
B. Philosophical proofs of the existence of God
10. Subjective Awareness Argument
b. The existence of something currently unexplained in the physical universe does not mean that it does not have a natural explanation. Most things known today were at one time mysteries to people. Subjective awareness could simply be an attribute caused by some gene in human DNA. [Argument from ignorance fallacy]
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�5 - The Existence of God II
B. Philosophical proofs of the existence of God
11. From the Christian viewpoint, the real limitations in these arguments are that they leave us no closer to proclaiming the message of Christ and that they may even ensnare us in other issues in the process of making such arguments. As such, they are of no value to us.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�5 - The Existence of God II
A. Nature of the refutation
1. What can be used?
a. These arguments must be refuted philosophically, pointing out the fallacies of the proponents.
b. The burden of proof is on those who deny the existence of a god because they are trying to establish their thesis.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�5 - The Existence of God II
A. Nature of the refutation
1. What can be used?
c. Scripture can be used in fashioning counterexamples. Because proponents are using deductive reasoning to establish their case, it must hold against all counterexamples, regardless of source.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�5 - The Existence of God II
A. Nature of the refutation
2. What is the goal?
a. The proponents must be required to disprove the existence of all gods, including the God of the Bible.
b. We must beware not to mix theology with philosophy in our response and corrupt our standard of truth. We must keep these arguments separate even if they both apply.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�5 - The Existence of God II
B. Common challenges to God’s existence
1. The Omnipotence Paradox
a. If God were omnipotent, He could do anything. He could make a rock so heavy that He could not lift it. He would not be omnipotent if He could not make such a rock or if He could not lift it. Since God cannot be omnipotent in both of the only two possible cases, an omnipotent god cannot exist.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�5 - The Existence of God II
B. Common challenges to God’s existence
1. The Omnipotence Paradox
b. The correct definition of omnipotence is that God can do anything consistent with his will. Since it is inconsistent with God’s will to perform “parlor stunts” devised by sinful human beings, this argument can be rejected. [False premise fallacy]
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�5 - The Existence of God II
B. Common challenges to God’s existence
2. Existence of Evil Argument
a. Because evil exists, God cannot be simultaneously omnipotent, omniscient, loving and good. Therefore, there is no god.
b. Moral evil (i.e., sin) is whatever is against the will of God. It exists because the Lord initially gave humans the freedom to choose between good and evil, and they chose to sin. The “why and how” of God allowing this to happen is a theological issue on which we have limited revelation.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�5 - The Existence of God II
B. Common challenges to God’s existence
2. Existence of Evil Argument
c. Philosophical evil is defined relative to some human standard, for example, something regarded as being to the disadvantage of some or all people. There is no reason why what is evil by human standards cannot serve the will of a loving and good God. What if God regards some other species as His favorite and mankind as merely an invasive pest? The existence-of-evil argument is based on the fallacy of wishful thinking.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�5 - The Existence of God II
B. Common challenges to God’s existence
3. Injustice Argument
a. People are treated unfairly. The good and bad things of life are distributed either arbitrarily or with an advantage to those who already have good things. People suffer evil and pain independent of whether they deserve it or not. ⸫ God cannot be omnipotent, omniscient, and just, and he does not really exist.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�5 - The Existence of God II
B. Common challenges to God’s existence
3. Injustice Argument
b. The psalmist Asaph wrote, “For I envied the arrogant; I saw the prosperity of the wicked.” {Psalm 73:3} Who gave frail human beings the right to impose their standards on the behavior of an omnipotent God? One can only grasp this in terms of how abhorrent sin is to God. In the eyes of a perfect God, all people, including their children, would be repugnant rebels….
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�5 - The Existence of God II
B. Common challenges to God’s existence
3. Injustice Argument
b. …Bad things do not happen to good people; bad things happen to bad people because there are no good people by the standards of a perfect God. [False premise fallacy]
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�5 - The Existence of God II
B. Common challenges to God’s existence
4. Inconsistent Revelation Argument
a. Since the various religions have Gods that differ widely in their attributes based on different sources of revelation, only one of these religions, at most, can be right about God.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�5 - The Existence of God II
B. Common challenges to God’s existence
4. Inconsistent Revelation Argument
b. This argument is a red herring in the question of the existence of a God. The real God will resolve claims about who is right in His court of justice. If He has told the people the truth, then it is the people’s fault if they do not recognize this truth and instead believe in false and worthless deities.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�5 - The Existence of God II
B. Common challenges to God’s existence
5. Simplicity Argument
a. Because god is undetectable by human observation or by laboratory instruments, and because the universe is no different if he exists or doesn’t exist, ⸫, by Occam’s Razor, the simplest explanation must be correct, and that explanation is that no god exists.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�5 - The Existence of God II
B. Common challenges to God’s existence
5. Simplicity Argument
b. Occam’s Razor is not a law or rule of nature or logic, but a practical guideline that doesn’t always work, as every doctor, scientist, etc. knows. God’s existence cannot be legislated away. There is no way to test whether the universe would be different with or without the existence of God. [False premise fallacy]
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�5 - The Existence of God II
B. Common challenges to God’s existence
6. Philosophical arguments against the existence of a god invariably run into the fallacy of conflicting premises.
a. One of their underlying assumptions is that only evidence that exists or has credence within the physical world can be considered.
b. The other underlying assumption is that there can be no supernatural influence in the physical world.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�5 - The Existence of God II
B. Common challenges to God’s existence
6. Philosophical arguments against the existence of a god invariably run into the fallacy of conflicting premises.
c. How can a supernatural god make itself known in the physical world if every action that it performs is regarded as an act of nature?
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�5 - The Existence of God II
B. Common challenges to God’s existence
7. We have examined the question of the existence of God and have seen that that existence is unprovable through philosophical arguments. It is a matter of faith, and that is good. If our faith in a supernatural being depended on making the right assumptions, then it would always rest on a human action. We could never be certain that what we believe today would not be shown to be false tomorrow.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�5 - The Existence of God II
A. Agnosticism
1. What is agnosticism?
a. The belief that the existence and the identity of God cannot be determined.
b. Agnostics believe that they can never find the truth about God with certainty.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�5 - The Existence of God II
A. Agnosticism
1. What is agnosticism?
c. Agnosticism is becoming the default position of Americans today.
d. Many hold “all roads lead to heaven” and “all gods are really the same.”
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�5 - The Existence of God II
A. Agnosticism
2. Dealing with agnostics
a. Their beliefs can be challenged by death, disease, economic trouble, or relation-ship issues. Lack of certainty or continuity can make them better mission prospects.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�5 - The Existence of God II
A. Agnosticism
2. Dealing with agnostics
b. If the agnostic is able to see our confident Christian life, the time may come when he or she starts giving subtle signals about being open to an “I’m a sinner; you’re a sinner” approach that will work to get them to open up about their hurts and fears.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�5 - The Existence of God II
B. Atheism
1. What is atheism?
a. Atheism is the belief that there is no god with whom one can communicate.
b. Some atheists are very hostile to God and attempt to spread their unbelief.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�5 - The Existence of God II
B. Atheism
2. Dealing with hostile atheists
a. Attempting to reason with hostile atheists is like casting pearls before swine.
b. Our goal must be to prevent them from leading others astray through phony reasoning or bullying. We must not let them give the impression that they are the people with the enlightened arguments, while we are superstitious morons.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�5 - The Existence of God II
B. Atheism
3. Dealing with other atheists
a. For those who have never thought much about God, we can explore the consistency of their atheism. What is the basis of their moral sense of right and wrong? If we can reach a point with them where they acknowledge a sense of knowing that they ought to be held accountable on these matters, the door may be open to evangelism.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�5 - The Existence of God II
B. Atheism
3. Dealing with other atheists
b. Some atheists have suffered misfortune and feel that if a merciful God exists, the misfortune would not have happened. We can assure them the Lord does care about what happens in the world, but because He has given people the ability to make their own worldly decisions, He has to let things play themselves out. He is in control. He will judge everyone and reward His faithful ones. {“We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God.” Romans 8:28a}
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�5 - The Existence of God II
B. Atheism
3. Dealing with other atheists
c. Some atheists have had bad experiences with organized religion or with a cult of some sort. We should assure such people that we are not a cult. We are people with a message of good news for everyone, and spreading that message is our whole purpose. We should be ready to share with them any part of that message that they appear ready and willing to hear.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�5 - The Existence of God II
C. Private gods
1. What are private gods?
a. A private god is anything that takes our attention away from the LORD and His Word, such as a hobby, a possession, a TV program, the internet, children’s sports activities, or a job.
b. Private gods often have socially acceptable names. [Zealous sports fan]
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�5 - The Existence of God II
C. Private gods
1. What are private gods?
c. Things that make people think that being culturally part of a church and having a head knowledge of what the church professes are sufficient, even while their time and attention are directed elsewhere.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�5 - The Existence of God II
C. Private gods
2. Dealing with worshippers of private gods
a. We need to point out to unbelievers that they really do have gods which gobble up their time and resources and which will be of no help to them when death arrives.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�5 - The Existence of God II
C. Private gods
2. Dealing with worshippers of private gods
b. Christian friends must be warned of the danger in devoting too much time and treasure to things that take them away from their Lord. We must make the case that one cannot love God and the things of this world. {[Jesus said,] “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and mammon.” Matthew 6:24}
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�End of Lesson 5
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�6 – The Bible
A. Setting the stage
1. Introduction
a. Theological truth comes through revelation. Revelation is the standard by which all ideas about the nature of God and His will must be judged.
b. Revelation must originate with God who works through a human or other agency to provide the divine message.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�6 – The Bible
A. Setting the stage
1. Introduction
c. To defend the teachings of the Bible, one must know the teachings of the Bible. Most people who claim that they believe what the Bible teaches do not know what the Bible teaches, often even in critical matters of faith.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�6 – The Bible
A. Setting the stage
2. Getting the message right
a. It is easy to overstate or understate what the Bible really says.
b. How many wives did Adam have? a) one, b) unknown, c) at least one.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�6 – The Bible
A. Setting the stage
3. Deciding what we are defending and to whom
a. Defending the Bible as our source of revelation to an unbeliever. [Wonderer]
b. Defending the integrity of biblical teachings to a nominal Christian who wants to keep a spiritual foot outside of the Holy Scriptures. [Wanderer]
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�6 – The Bible
B. Bible and its defense
1. How we show it is the Word of God.
a. Is Christianity based on the fallacy of circular reasoning? Christians claim to believe that the Bible is true because it is the Word of God, but they also believe in God because the Bible teaches about him.
b. The Bible is self-authenticating. When we study it, the Holy Spirit works through what we read to convince us that it actually is the revelation of God.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�6 – The Bible
B. Bible and its defense
1. How we show it is the Word of God.
c. We cannot prove the Bible is the Word of God based on external sources. If we could, then these external sources would be our real standard of belief and not the Bible itself.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�6 – The Bible
B. Bible and its defense
2. Defensive strategy
a. A cordon defense is used. The defensive perimeter is set so that everything of value is within the perimeter, and nothing outside the perimeter will be defended. We defend all the Scripture says and only what the Scripture says.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�6 – The Bible
B. Bible and its defense
2. Defensive strategy
b. A defense-in-depth approach attempts to strengthen one’s position by increasing the territory being defended. If the defenses in some areas are breached, one falls back to more essential positions, abandoning what can no longer be maintained.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�6 – The Bible
C. Biblicism (the “Paper Pope”)
1. Defending the whole Bible
a. Some “Christians” argue that we should soften doctrinal positions in the light of social changes. They insist that the Lord never intended that his Word should be bound but that it should have free course to reach people in every age.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�6 – The Bible
C. Biblicism (the “Paper Pope”)
1. Defending the whole Bible
b. We reject this idea because it replaces the Bible as our standard of truth with the notion that consensus can be used as a standard of revelation (historically called the Vincentian Canon). This is a logical fallacy called appeal to the masses.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�6 – The Bible
C. Biblicism (the “Paper Pope”)
2. Rejecting changes to the Bible
a. Our defense of the Bible is based on two unchangeables. First, God’s will never changes. {Samuel said, “The Splendor of Israel will not lie or change his mind, because he is not a man, who changes his mind.” 1 Samuel 15:29}
b. Man’s nature also does not change, but it remains totally corrupt. {The LORD said, “I will never again curse the soil anymore because of man, for the thoughts he forms in his heart are evil from his youth.” Genesis 8:21b}
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�6 – The Bible
A. Canon
1. Organization
a. The Bible centers on Jesus of Nazareth who is the Christ (Greek) or the promised Messiah (Hebrew).
b. The Old Testament was intended to prepare one chosen group of people, so that they would understand the need for a Savior from sin and would be ready to accept Him and proclaim Him when he arrived.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�6 – The Bible
A. Canon
1. Organization
c. The New Testament is the record of the teachings and works of Jesus and of His personally chosen messengers, i.e., the apostles.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�6 – The Bible
A. Canon
2. Authorship
a. While the Bible was written by numerous penmen, it had but one author, the LORD Himself. {“No prophecy ever came by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were being carried along by the Holy Spirit.” 2 Peter 1:21}
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�6 – The Bible
A. Canon
2. Authorship
b. The Holy Spirit guided those assembling the Bible to choose all and only those books that the Lord wanted us to have. The Lord’s plan of salvation would be worthless to mankind if mankind did not have a clear and trustworthy revelation of it.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�6 – The Bible
A. Canon
3. Apocryphal books contain inconsistencies with the theology of the Bible and/or with the history they present
a. The apocrypha are non-canonical books included in the Septuagint.
b. The pseudepigrapha are spurious Old and New Testament writings.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�6 – The Bible
B. The Authenticity of the Bible
1. Quality of the biblical texts
a. While we do not have the original texts of the Bible, we have thousands of early copies of all or parts of the New Testament, and we can determine the copying chains through which the texts were produced.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�6 – The Bible
B. The Authenticity of the Bible
1. Quality of the Biblical texts
b. Although there are variants among the copies, where the errors were introduced can generally be determined, and no variant has changed a single doctrine of the Bible. The overwhelming majority of the variants are spelling and word omission errors.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�6 – The Bible
B. The Authenticity of the Bible
1. Quality of the biblical texts
c. We have strong confidence in the current Old Testament because 1) the Levitical scribes who copied the Hebrew text were obsessed with accuracy, 2) the Hebrew Bible text had to be verified to translate it into the Septuagint, and 3) the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls and other early Hebrew manuscripts.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�6 – The Bible
B. The Authenticity of the Bible
2. Higher criticism
a. It questions whether God ever communicated directly with humans at all. It deems as absurd the idea that God gave every word of the Scriptures and rejects prophecy.
b. It claims the Scriptures should be treated like any other ancient document. It uses extra-biblical references and accuses the Scriptures of error.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�6 – The Bible
B. The Authenticity of the Bible
2. Higher criticism
c. It views most of the Old Testament and significant parts of the New Testament as being the products of a long process of editing, merging and reediting documents. We must beware of onus probandi because there is no evidence.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�6 – The Bible
C. Internal Conflicts
1. Apparent contradictions
a. There is a practice of assuming a contradiction must exist and then interpreting two sections of the Bible in such a way as to make them seem to conflict with each other. [Consider the creation accounts in Genesis 1 and Genesis 2.]
b. Alleged contradictions are common any time two portions of the Bible discuss the same historical event. We must consider the actors, the recorders, the audiences and the purposes of the accounts.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�6 – The Bible
C. Internal Conflicts
1. Apparent contradictions
c. We must always ask, “What might have occurred that led to these apparently differing accounts?” rather than “How can I show that these accounts are in conflict?” The goal is to show a possible reconciliation. There is no way for anyone to know what actually happened.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�6 – The Bible
C. Internal Conflicts
2. Cultural differences
a. Often apparent discrepancies in the Bible are the result of a lack of our knowledge of the culture of the people who recorded the events. For example, Matthew wrote that Jesus was on the cross at the sixth hour of the day, while John wrote that he was still before Pilate at the sixth hour. How could this be?
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�6 – The Bible
C. Internal Conflicts
2. Cultural differences
b. The Bible was not written in the 21st century. There is only so much that the translators can do. The biblical writers penned their words assuming their readers possessed a particular set of knowledge. Today’s readers often lack that knowledge. We can frequently find the information we need, but not always. We must not let our challengers use the fallacious appeal to ignorance because we currently do not know the answer.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�6 – The Bible
C. Internal Conflicts
3. Some Christians want to read things into the Bible that are not there.
a. The “How many wives did Adam have?” question.
b. When Jesus said to Peter, “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven,” {Matthew 16:19} Roman Catholics want the word “only” to exist before “you,” and they mentally put it there. Yet, Jesus’ statement does not mean that he did not say similar things to his other disciples at other times.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�6 – The Bible
C. Internal Conflicts
3. Some Christians want to read things into the Bible that are not there.
c. The apologist must be a minimalist. While apologists must have due concern over subtracting from the Scrip-tures, they must have an even greater concern over ad-ding to the Scriptures. Whatever is added to the Scrip-tures must be defended, and such defenses can set up apparent conflicts with things which really are mentioned in the Scriptures or which can be undeniably observed in the world.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�6 – The Bible
A. Judaism
1. View of the Bible
a. The Jews regard the Hebrew Bible, i.e., the Old Testament, as the Word of God.
b. While religious Jews like to parade with the Torah, i.e., the five books of Moses, they do not accept what it says. Jews came to see the Law of Moses as no longer applicable to their lives after the destruction of the temple.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�6 – The Bible
A. Judaism
2. The Babylonian Talmud
a. It was developed in the 3rd through the 6th century AD. It is a 22-volume set of the opinions of the rabbis on the meaning of the Hebrew Bible. It often bears little resemblance to the literal meaning of the text in its historical setting.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�6 – The Bible
A. Judaism
2. The Babylonian Talmud
b. The Talmud is a set of rules which are diametrically opposed to the grace of God as presented in the New Testament. Isaiah condemned such reliance on human teachings as false worship. {[The Lord said,] “These people approach me with their words, and they honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is nothing but commandments taught by men.” Isaiah 29:13}.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�6 – The Bible
B. Islam
1. The Qur’an of Islam
a. The Arab prophet Mohammed spoke the suras (i.e., sayings, chapters) which were eventually written down and became the holy book.
b. Mohammed claims that Abraham’s son Ishmael was the real son of promise. The Arabs are descended from him. Mohammed accepted many of the Old Testament and some New Testament biblical accounts, in somewhat altered form, and that Jesus was a great prophet, the second greatest in Islam, who lived a sinless life.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�6 – The Bible
B. Islam
2. Mohammed did not understand grace.
a. Muslims must work hard and faithfully for their salvation, but there is no guarantee even then that they will receive it, unless they die in a holy war.
b. Most sects of Islam have no formal clerical organization. Muslims revere the Hadith (accounts of Mohammed written by others) and other sources, depending on their sect. They have a high regard for Abraham and Jesus’s holiness.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�6 – The Bible
C. Other Revelations
1. Mormonism
a. Joseph Smith claimed to have translated the Book of Mormon using a special pair of glasses. The book is the tale of a band of Jews who escaped Judah before the Babylonian Captivity and made their way to America, where they built a new temple and tried to establish a new Israel.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�6 – The Bible
C. Other Revelations
1. Mormonism
b. The Book of Mormon establishes the principle of continuing revelation through future prophets. Smith used this office to write many of the current teachings of Mormonism into a book called Doctrine and Covenants.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�6 – The Bible
C. Other Revelations
2. Miscellaneous
a. The sacred writings of other major religions can easily be found on the internet. All these books share the goal of showing people how to improve their behavior so as to build a better world and/or to gain eternal happiness. From the view of the apologist, therefore, they differ little.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�6 – The Bible
C. Other Revelations
2. Miscellaneous
b. There is a movement among the world’s intellectuals to push for the unity of all religions (e.g., COEXIST bumper stickers). It is a modern version of the effort to build the tower at Babel.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�End of Lesson 6
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�7 - The Nature of the Lord God
A. The LORD as the Supreme Being
1. The LORD is scary.
a. We hide with Adam in the bushes.
b. We struggle with an overmatched Noah in an unbelievably strong storm.
c. Our hearts pound as we accompany Abraham and Isaac to Moriah.
d. We feel the shaking ground and see the raging smoke and fire from Mount Sinai.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�7 - The Nature of the Lord God
A. The LORD as the Supreme Being
2. The LORD is merciful.
a. He is willing to give the human race and its members undeserved grace.
b. It is He who decides when and how and to whom His mercy will be extended.
c. We must ride the clouds with Him and watch as He works His wonders.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�7 - The Nature of the Lord God
B. The gods of society
1. Deism
a. Intellectuals tried to “allow God to be God” without bothering men. They permitted Him to be the great Creator of the universe and the Giver of moral directives but then relegated Him to watching the universe run under the laws of nature, except for occasional tweaks to keep things from spinning out of control.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�7 - The Nature of the Lord God
B. The gods of society
1. Deism
b. Deism continued to guide the thinking in both Great Britain and the United States during the nineteenth century. In Britain, it showed itself in the drive for obtaining “an empire on which the sun never sets”. In America, the same philosophy was carried out under the slogan of “manifest destiny.”
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�7 - The Nature of the Lord God
B. The gods of society
2. Supernatural forces
a. Astrology is based on the idea that the celestial bodies control the lives and events of all the people on Earth.
b. Pantheism means seeing “god” in all things or seeing the universe itself as god.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�7 - The Nature of the Lord God
B. The gods of society
2. Supernatural forces
c. “The force” is a power that moves through the whole universe and holds it all together.
d. “The universe” can be a god wanting something or making something happen.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�7 - The Nature of the Lord God
B. The gods of society
3. The nebulous god
a. The “I’m praying for you” crowd assumes that whatever god or god-like entity is out there will listen if we bother to pray to him, her, or it.
b. “We’re sending good thoughts out” to the victims of some tragedy.
c. “In God we trust” is applied to any old god people care to mention.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�7 - The Nature of the Lord God
A. The LORD’s power
1. The “weak god” model
a. People generally regard their god as capable of doing what they ask it to do, provided that they are not too greedy.
b. Most try to keep their requests reasonable (at least in their own minds).
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�7 - The Nature of the Lord God
A. The LORD’s power
1. The “weak god” model
c. People limit the power of their god, so as not to appear too helpless or too desperate in its presence.
d. The smaller they have made their god, the less they are willing to bow to its perceived desires.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�7 - The Nature of the Lord God
A. The LORD’s power
2. The Bible presents an almighty God.
a. The LORD truly can do anything He pleases. {“The Lord does whatever he pleases in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all the depths.” Psalm 135:6}
b. The LORD confused the languages at the tower at Babel, sent plagues on the Egyptians, parted the Red Sea, made an iron axe head float, and struck an entire army with blindness.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�7 - The Nature of the Lord God
A. The LORD’s power
3. Nothing has any power except the LORD (omnipotence).
a. He demands that people call on Him by His Name, not by some pseudonym, because He will not recognize and respond to any other name.
b. People think of God as only a terribly powerful dude, more powerful than anyone else, and this may cause them to approach Him with some respect. They do not comprehend that God really has all the power. Nothing else has any power at all.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�7 - The Nature of the Lord God
A. The LORD’s power
4. Why doesn’t God do more for us if He is almighty.
a. Due to sin, death and destruction exist throughout the natural world. The LORD abhors sin, and people are blockheads when it comes to listening.
b. Consider the death and destruction God permits in the animal kingdom in which animals are just struggling to survive.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�7 - The Nature of the Lord God
A. The LORD’s power
4. Why doesn’t God do more for us if He is almighty.
c. How much of the evil that befalls people is their own fault because they do foolish or sinful things? People break laws. They engage in dangerous sports. They build houses on floodplains and hillsides. They spend more money than they make. They drink too much and take illegal drugs. They engage in things harmful to their health.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�7 - The Nature of the Lord God
A. The LORD’s power
4. Why doesn’t God do more for us if He is almighty.
d. Should the ruler of the universe be enslaved by human desires and then accept criticism for not meeting their every wish? {The Lord said, “You have turned things around, as if the potter were the same as the clay. How can what is made say about its maker, ‘He didn’t make me’? How can what is formed say about the one who formed it, ‘He doesn’t understand what he’s doing.’ ” Isaiah 29:16}
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�7 - The Nature of the Lord God
A. The LORD’s power
4. Why doesn’t God do more for us if He is almighty.
e. Our suffering in this life is a warning of the far greater suffering that all will endure in hell if they do not repent of their sins and repudiate their shameful selves.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�7 - The Nature of the Lord God
B. The LORD’s knowledge
1. Human tracking of our activities
a. Security cameras, archiving websites, automobiles, and cellphones are all used to track our movements.
b. Scammers are continually trying to learn people’s personal information.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�7 - The Nature of the Lord God
B. The LORD’s knowledge
2. The LORD’s knowledge puts human actions to shame.
a. The LORD literally knows everything about the universe. {“No creature is hidden from him, but all things are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give an account.” Hebrews 4:13}
b. The LORD told Job that He had a thorough knowledge of the forces of nature.
c. Jesus said that not a sparrow dies without the LORD knowing it. {Matthew 10:29}
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�7 - The Nature of the Lord God
B. The LORD’s knowledge
3. The omniscience of the LORD
a. Because the LORD knows everything, He cannot be caught by surprise.
b. He knows where every component of the universe is now and has been throughout its whole history.
c. Since He already knows all things, there is never anything new for Him to learn.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�7 - The Nature of the Lord God
B. The LORD’s knowledge
3. The omniscience of the LORD
d. He knows exactly how people would react to a situation, even if they never experience that situation.
e. The omniscience of the LORD frightens many people. Some would like to hide from Him. Others would like to “educate” Him to their way of thinking.
f. The LORD’s perfect knowledge of the future makes people helpless to finesse Him.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�7 - The Nature of the Lord God
B. The LORD’s knowledge
3. The omniscience of the LORD
g. It is the fallacy of wishful thinking for people to try to reengineer the LORD into a god who has much less ability to thwart their plans. One cannot reduce the height of Niagara Falls to 5 feet by wishing.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�7 - The Nature of the Lord God
B. The LORD’s knowledge
4. Does the LORD use His omniscience for human good?
a. If He knows about all the terrible things that are going to happen before they happen, why doesn’t He stop them?
b. Who knows how many more disasters would have happened if God had not intervened—perhaps more than one a day. Perhaps He has blocked greater than 99% of the evil things that would have happened if He had not intervened.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�7 - The Nature of the Lord God
B. The LORD’s knowledge
4. Does the LORD use His omniscience for human good?
c. People are always willing blame God for the bad. {The LORD condemned the Israelites for blaming Him by saying, “The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.” Jeremiah 31:29}
d. That the LORD is omniscient means that He can manage things for our ultimate good even when our path goes “through the darkest valley.”
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�7 - The Nature of the Lord God
B. The LORD’s knowledge
4. Does the LORD use His omniscience for human good?
e. The important point is this: the LORD knows everything, and we know next to nothing. Let us rejoice in His knowledge and not berate Him for it.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�7 - The Nature of the Lord God
C. The presence of the LORD
1. How the LORD is present
a. The Bible tells us the LORD is present in numerous ways, such as His presence in the Sacrament of the Altar, His presence within our hearts, His presence in the work of the church and His presence in the burning bush that confronted Moses.
b. It is His sustaining presence, which underlies His omnipotence and omniscience, that most interests people and is what we call His omnipresence.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�7 - The Nature of the Lord God
C. The presence of the LORD
2. Where does God dwell?
a. Eternity is where the LORD dwells in His full godliness. He is the only eternal being, so there is none other who can be in His presence in the eternal sense.
b. The LORD is not contained within physical space and time because He is not of the same substance as the matter and energy He created.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�7 - The Nature of the Lord God
C. The presence of the LORD
2. Where does God dwell?
c. He can act within time and space, as is often described in the Bible. While He allows the universe to change, the LORD is always the same (immutable).
d. God has been able to foresee all of human history at once from His dwelling place, even before He had created the world. He chose people to carry out His plans, and He set them apart before they existed.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�7 - The Nature of the Lord God
C. The presence of the LORD
3. How is the LORD related to time and space?
a. He is omnichromic. He is completely present at each instance of time.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�7 - The Nature of the Lord God
C. The presence of the LORD
3. How is the LORD related to time and space?
b. God’s relationship to space is not the same as ours. We, and everything we can see or detect, occupy a defined amount of space at a fixed position. Two physical things cannot occupy the same space at the same time, and one object cannot be at multiple places at the same time. God, however, is completely present everywhere. The LORD not only fills all space, He saturates it with His presence.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�7 - The Nature of the Lord God
C. The presence of the LORD
4. Explaining God’s omnipresence
a. How can anything be completely present everywhere at the same time?
b. God cannot be defined in terms of “here” or “there,” “was” or “will be.”
c. We must realize that we play out our whole lives on a stage where God is sitting front row center, watching our every action.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�7 - The Nature of the Lord God
C. The presence of the LORD
5. Human reaction to God’s omnipresence
a. Most ignore it, even if they nominally claim to believe it.
b. They hope to avoid His parental gaze when they want to do something of which He does not approve.
c. They only want God to be watching when they encounter a situation requiring His help.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�7 - The Nature of the Lord God
C. The presence of the LORD
5. Human reaction to God’s omnipresence
d. The God of the Bible is not someone who is absent except when summoned by a prayer. He is not off engaging in some more godly matters until we need Him. The LORD is always present with us, even though we cannot see Him. He is not invisible like air, however, because He is a spirit.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�7 - The Nature of the Lord God
C. The presence of the LORD
6. Doesn’t the Bible talk about God having human qualities?
a. Although the LORD has no physical body, He is all-powerful, so He is capable of assuming a physical form if He has a reason to do so. Such a physical form, however, is not His essential attribute.
b. The Bible describes the LORD in human terms by talking about His eyes, His ears and His arms. It uses picture language to help us relate to God’s activities.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�7 - The Nature of the Lord God
A. The jealousy of man
1. People are often jealous of those who have more.
a. When we hear the word “jealousy,” our immediate response is predictably negative. Jealousy is something we project to others but rarely see in ourselves.
b. We think of the “green-eyed monster” who wants everything for itself.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�7 - The Nature of the Lord God
A. The jealousy of man
2. Jealousy can refer to wanting what has been earned.
a. Suppose a man does a good deed, but it is credited to another.
b. Is this a righteous form of jealousy for him under the circumstances?
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�7 - The Nature of the Lord God
B. The LORD’s jealousy
1. The LORD is jealous for His godliness.
a. He is the only God, and the Creator of all things.
b. The LORD is not interested in sharing the credit for our blessings when it is only He who gives those blessings.
c. Protestants – only 23% answering a survey were willing to give God first place.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�7 - The Nature of the Lord God
B. The LORD’s jealousy
2. The LORD is jealous about His law.
a. He enacted a perfect law to preserve perfect harmony among His creatures. God wanted His law perfectly obeyed, and He gave His creation the ability to keep this law. The law is the image of the perfection of God Himself.
b. The LORD is jealous of the fact that He gave man the way to happiness and life but that man chose another way which leads to misery and death.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�7 - The Nature of the Lord God
B. The LORD’s jealousy
3. The LORD is jealous about His gospel.
a. When man sinned, God immediately acted by promising a plan of complete and free salvation.
b. God carried it out Himself because man was helpless to accomplish anything.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�7 - The Nature of the Lord God
B. The LORD’s jealousy
3. The LORD is jealous about His gospel.
c. To allow everyone to learn about and accept this plan of salvation, the LORD commissioned believers to spread the news.
d. He justly demands all the glory for providing a way for our salvation and for our accepting that salvation on His terms.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�End of Lesson 7
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�8 - Creation and Science I
A. Framing the Discussion
1. What is science?
a. Science is an approach or a methodology for exploring the physical universe. Science follows a zig-zag course. In the long run, scientific models get better, but in the short run, things are frequently messy and contentious.
b. Humanism falsely asserts that science can produce absolute truth.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�8 - Creation and Science I
A. Framing the Discussion
2. History of science
a. The sciences began as part of philosophy in ancient Greece. Philosophers like Plato and Aristotle crossed freely from one area of study to another.
b. Experimental science using a more refined scientific approach was introduced in about 1600 by Galileo Galilei, Johannes Kepler and other inquisitive people.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�8 - Creation and Science I
A. Framing the Discussion
2. History of science
c. Isaac Newton developed calculus and formulated laws of nature that were easy for people to test, use, and teach. This began a revolution in scientific research, which became defined by the scientific method.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�8 - Creation and Science I
A. Framing the Discussion
2. History of science
d. Albert Einstein’s four key papers in 1905 led to what is called “modern physics.” Research advances during World War II and the launching of Sputnik in 1957 caused the American government to train hundreds of thousands of scientists.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�8 - Creation and Science I
A. Framing the Discussion
2. History of science
e. Few people have enough knowledge and understanding to speak to the theories and ideas that dominate scientific thought today. Scientific models are in a constant state of development, so continuing education is essential.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�8 - Creation and Science I
B. The Status of Science
1. A brief tour of the sciences today
a. Physics is the study of matter, energy, space, and time at their most basic level. Modern physics has more the feeling of being Alice in Wonderland: wave functions that collapse into matter only when they are observed, the “particle zoo,” time does not flow at a constant rate, matter tells space how to bend and space tells matter how to move.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�8 - Creation and Science I
B. The Status of Science
1. A brief tour of the sciences today
b. Informatics includes artificial intelligence, computer learning, simulation, modeling, information flow management, data concurrency, multiprocessing, numerical analysis, and systems design.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�8 - Creation and Science I
B. The Status of Science
1. A brief tour of the sciences today
c. Analytical Chemistry develops and refines the measurement methodology and instrumentation to weigh, count, measure and identify substances for many of the physical and biological sciences, as well as their sampling strategies and their information validating criteria.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�8 - Creation and Science I
B. The Status of Science
1. A brief tour of the sciences today
d. Geology is the study of the earth, its functioning, and its physical history. The development of the plate tectonics model is supported by overwhelming evidence. Geology has become an experimental, evidence-based science.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�8 - Creation and Science I
B. The Status of Science
1. A brief tour of the sciences today
e. Astronomy is the study of what exists in the universe beyond the earth. Except for physical probes sent into near space, astronomers only have the radiation they can detect coming from the sky to analyze for their evidence.
f. Cosmology tries to explain the nature of the universe and its history. It faces severe challenges in data-gathering. Best known for the Big Bang theory, cosmic microwave background, dark matter, and dark energy.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�8 - Creation and Science I
B. The Status of Science
1. A brief tour of the sciences today
g. Genetics is the study of how traits are passed between generations. Genetic material is held in DNA molecules on genes that are part of chromosomes.
h. Molecular Biology allows the molecules of life, particularly DNA, to be manipulated like other molecules. DNA material can now be cut and pasted to move genes from one species to another, thereby creating new forms of life.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�8 - Creation and Science I
B. The Status of Science
1. A brief tour of the sciences today
i. Evolutionary Biology tries to develop complete models of how life apparently developed through genetic mutations. It is a daunting project, but computing resources might facilitate rapid advances in this field.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�8 - Creation and Science I
B. The Status of Science
2. Understanding how scientists seek truth
a. The fundamental assumption of science is that all observations of nature can be explained in terms of the inherent properties of matter, energy, space, and time.
b. The interference by a supernatural being renders even the best scientific model only as reliable as that being wants it to be.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�8 - Creation and Science I
B. The Status of Science
2. Understanding how scientists seek truth
c. The scientific method requires scientists to gather relevant evidence under strict guidelines and produce models to explain the data.
d. To prevent confirmation bias, scientists are required to submit their theories and data for review by the rest of the relevant scientific community (a falsification challenge).
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�8 - Creation and Science I
B. The Status of Science
2. Understanding how scientists seek truth
e. If the fundamental assumption of science is true, then there is no god and the universe must have evolved because there is no other alternative. This is why scientific theories favor the universe having evolved.
f. Simply because evidence is consistent with a model does not prove that model. Arguing otherwise is to commit the fallacy of affirming the consequent. Therefore, all scientific models can only be accepted provisionally.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�8 - Creation and Science I
A. Defining the meaning of “age”
1. Actual age and apparent age
a. The actual age is the amount of time that has elapsed from when an entity came into existence until today.
b. The apparent age is how old an entity seems to be based on a standard of measurement, either manual or instrumental.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�8 - Creation and Science I
A. Defining the meaning of “age”
2. What was the earth’s apparent age on day 7 of creation?
a. Adam – probably in his twenties.
b. The birds and mammals – a few days to numerous years.
c. The plants – a few days to numerous years.
d. The soil – at least 3000 years, perhaps much more.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�8 - Creation and Science I
A. Defining the meaning of “age”
2. The implications of apparent age
a. The atmosphere – about 500,000,000 years.
fb The stars – millions to billions of years.
g. The sun – 5 billion years.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�8 - Creation and Science I
A. Defining the meaning of “age”
3. What was the earth’s apparent age on day 7 of creation?
a. Positive, because on a completely new planet, nothing would grow, one could not breathe the air and the radiation levels would kill every living thing.
b. Negative, because we are not given the actual age of the earth, so we have no counter age estimate to give. The LORD does not owe us an explanation of what He does or why He does it in a particular way.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�8 - Creation and Science I
B. How scientists measure the earth’s age
1. Isotopic age of earth’s surface
a. Some atomic isotopes are stable, while others have decay half-lives ranging from less than 10-20 second to more than 1020 years.
b. After 15 half-lives, a radioisotope is reduced to the level of effective undetectability.
c. Radioisotopes that do not exist naturally can be made in nuclear reactors.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�8 - Creation and Science I
B. How scientists measure the earth’s age
1. Isotopic age of earth’s surface
d. All radioactive isotopes (30 of them) consistent with the earth being between 1.2 and 11 billion years old are found to exist.
e. None of the radioactive isotopes (46 of them) consistent with the earth being less than 1.2 billion years old are found to exist.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�8 - Creation and Science I
B. How scientists measure the earth’s age
2. Radioactive age of rocks
a. Rocks are gathered, and selective elements are chemically extracted that are in a radioactive decay series. [For example, uranium 238 and lead 206]
b. The relative isotopic abundance of parent and daughter isotopes in the series is determined by mass spectroscopy. The older the rock, the higher the lead to uranium ratio.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�8 - Creation and Science I
B. How scientists measure the earth’s age
2. Radioactive age of rocks
c. This analysis works because before rocks solidify, the decay products of radioactivity can escape, but once the minerals of the rocks solidify, the decay products are trapped in the rock’s crystal structure until the rock erodes away or is analyzed.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�8 - Creation and Science I
B. How scientists measure the earth’s age
3. Dating by geological processes
a. Objects can be dated based on their rate of mass wasting (e.g., rock splitting by the freeze-thaw cycle), erosion, and sedimentary buildup.
b. These methods are less reliable because the rates at which these processes work can change.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�8 - Creation and Science I
B. How scientists measure the earth’s age
3. Dating by geological processes
c. They are useful if markers such as fossils of plants and animals are found in rock and soil layers and if the age of the fossil has been established because it is also found in rock formations datable by radiological methods.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�8 - Creation and Science I
B. How scientists measure the earth’s age
4. The apologist must not get hung up on the apparent age of the earth.
a. The LORD gave the earth its apparent age.
b. We need to accept estimates of its value that are the result of repeatable measurements made by a large number of highly trained people.
c. We must remember that it is not inconsistent with the Bible because already in Genesis 1, an older apparent age of the earth is indicated.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�8 - Creation and Science I
A. Science and Revelation
1. Reviewing the meaning of truth
a. The scientific standard of truth is established in terms of what can be weighed, counted, measured and identified by reproducible measurements. Scientists cannot detect the hand of the LORD working in nature when that hand is supernatural and hidden.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�8 - Creation and Science I
A. Science and Revelation
1. Reviewing the meaning of truth
b. In contrast, the Christian standard of truth is the Bible, which is the Word of God. Therefore, it can, if God so chooses, give us information about the supernatural actions of God which scientists cannot see. (There is no “true science.”)
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�8 - Creation and Science I
A. Science and Revelation
2. There is no biblical mandate for science.
a. Intensive scientific investigation is not something commanded by the LORD. It thus has no promise attached to it.
b. The LORD did not promise that He will allow man to determine how He actually made the world and manages it. By poking around in nature, we cannot force Him to allow us to discover if He is working naturally or supernaturally.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�8 - Creation and Science I
A. Science and Revelation
3. Science may be totally wrong.
a. Scientists describe stars as orbs similar in many ways to the sun, but the Bible never gives a definition of a star. The only things scientists know about the spatial realm beyond our solar system are what they deduce from its radiation, neutrino bursts, and gravity waves that reaches the Earth.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�8 - Creation and Science I
A. Science and Revelation
3. Science may be totally wrong.
b. What if “the heavens” is merely an elaborate backdrop for the LORD’s stage set on planet Earth. How is that possible? Special effects are not necessarily limited to Hollywood film studios.
c. Unless we learn some radically new laws of physics which would allow us to send probes over the great distances of space, we will never verify what is truly out there.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�8 - Creation and Science I
A. Science and Revelation
3. Science may be totally wrong.
d. Consider that the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil does not make either scientific or philosophical sense, but it was nevertheless a purposeful creation of the LORD.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�8 - Creation and Science I
B. Carbon-14 Dating
1. How carbon-14 dating works
a. Carbon-14 is a replenishable radioactive isotope (radioisotope) produced by the collision of cosmic rays with nitrogen-14 in the earth’s atmosphere.
b. Although its half-life is only 5,730 years, it maintains a steady concentration on the earth’s surface based on its rates of production and decay.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�8 - Creation and Science I
B. Carbon-14 Dating
1. How carbon-14 dating works
c. Carbon-14 isotopes are chemically the same as stable carbon isotopes and are incorporated with them into the substance of living plants and animals based on what they draw from the soil or the air or otherwise consume.
d. When a plant or animal dies, no more C-14 is added to the remains of, nor any product made from, that plant or animal. The C-14 isotopes decay back to N-14.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�8 - Creation and Science I
B. Carbon-14 Dating
1. How carbon-14 dating works
e. Because N-14 is ubiquitous, one cannot measure the N-14 to C-14 ratio as is done in dating rocks.
f. A date is calculated based on the ratio of the assumed initial amount of carbon-14 that existed when the plant or animal was alive and the measured amount in its remains or product made from it.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�8 - Creation and Science I
B. Carbon-14 Dating
2. There are obvious limitations to the use of C-14 dating.
a. Because of its relatively short half-life, it cannot be used to date anything that appears to be more than 40 to 50 thousand years old.
b. The assumption that the original fraction of carbon atoms that were C-14 has been constant throughout history may not be true, particularly for older samples.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�8 - Creation and Science I
B. Carbon-14 Dating
2. There are obvious limitations to the use of C-14 dating.
c. When materials of known ages are available, scientists can use them to calibrate their measurements to eliminate this problem. This is only doable for the last few thousand years for which we have materials of known ages.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�8 - Creation and Science I
B. Carbon-14 Dating
2. There are obvious limitations to the use of C-14 dating.
d. Trying to date non-carbon materials on the basis of carbon-containing materials found in their vicinity is questionable unless everything is found together in a sealed environment. This is because contamination can come from environmental carbon, particularly carbon ash from any fire.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�End of Lesson 8
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�9 - Creation and Science II
A. The Big Bang Theory
1. The theory
a. When the ten non-linear equations of Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity are solved for the universe as a whole, the solution indicates it must be either continually expanding or contracting. Evidence indicates it’s expanding.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�9 - Creation and Science II
A. The Big Bang Theory
1. The theory
b. Scientists have extrapolated the universe’s history backward to the point where all the matter and energy in it would have been concentrated in a tiny ball. This happened about 13.8 billion years ago and produced the Big Bang.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�9 - Creation and Science II
A. The Big Bang Theory
2. The apologist’s response
a. This theory is relatively young and highly likely to change. The theory requires that the laws of physics worked in the way that we now understand them under conditions which we have never seen. It has already been necessary to postulate dark matter and dark energy.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�9 - Creation and Science II
A. The Big Bang Theory
2. The apologist’s response
b. The universe may only be a backdrop to the earth, which is the real stage of the human drama. {Isaiah wrote, “All the stars in the sky will dissolve. The sky will roll up like a scroll, and its stars will all wither as leaves wither on the vine, and foliage on the fig tree.” Isaiah 34:4}
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�9 - Creation and Science II
B. Exoplanets
1. Finding planets with life on them is a holy grail of science.
a. Many stars may have one or more planets, but measurements are extremely difficult to make. Due to the brightness of any star in comparison with any planet that might be orbiting it, planets can only be detected by indirect means, such as dimming of the star’s radiation during planet traversal, wobble in the star’s position or the Doppler Effect, all of which are very small.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�9 - Creation and Science II
B. Exoplanets
1. Finding planets with life on them is a holy grail of science.
b. Learning much about the attributes of exoplanets is extremely challenging, and verifying the data is impossible because of the great distances involved.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�9 - Creation and Science II
B. Exoplanets
2. The apologist’s response
a. Earth has many special features that make finding a suitable twin planet exceedingly unlikely. [magnetic field, size, inclination of its axis, speed of rotation, surface temperature, abundance of water, distance from its star]
b. Until evidence shows up, the ability for life to exist elsewhere must be regarded as pure speculation.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�9 - Creation and Science II
C. Fossils and Geology
1. Fossils
a. Only an extremely low percentage of living things became fossilized. Conditions needed to be within a narrow range in regard to many factors to permit fossilization rather than decay to occur.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�9 - Creation and Science II
C. Fossils and Geology
1. Fossils
b. Evolutionists believe fossils are a record of the development of the plant and animal kingdoms since the beginning of life on Earth. Evolutionists use fossil data to develop a detailed history of the evolution of life. They date the fossils based on the time when the rocks holding them appear to have been formed.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�9 - Creation and Science II
C. Fossils and Geology
2. The apologist’s response
a. To the Christian, the source of these fossils is also clear; namely, the God of the Bible put them where we are finding them. We do not know how He did it.
b. Fossils can be useful in showing us the relationship among the components of plants and animals and how the various parts in one species are manifested differently than in another.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�9 - Creation and Science II
C. Fossils and Geology
2. The apologist’s response
c. The Bible does not tell us when God buried the fossils. He could have done it at creation, after the fall, in conjunction with the Flood, or He could have done it over a period of many years.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�9 - Creation and Science II
C. Fossils and Geology
2. The apologist’s response
d. Did the animals and plants whose fossils we now find live at one time or are they just props scattered by the LORD? We do not know. We cannot constrain the LORD to act in the way we would like Him to act, nor can we explain how He acts when He does not tell us. By faith, we must let God be God.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�9 - Creation and Science II
A. Life from Life
1. Science and the creation of life
a. Genesis 1 tells us that a specific kind of life can only come from that specific kind of life by natural means. {“God made the wildlife of the earth according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that crawl on the ground according to their kinds.” Genesis 1:25}
b. In the 1990s, chemists were able to synthesize enzymes from raw inorganic materials.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�9 - Creation and Science II
A. Life from Life
1. Science and the creation of life
c. Scientists can now cut apart DNA and paste it back together again. This allows genes to be reengineered and placed into chromosomes, changing the genetic characteristics of plants and animals.
d. Useful genes can be moved between species. Cells can be assembled that act as chemical factories for synthesizing substances biochemically.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�9 - Creation and Science II
A. Life from Life
1. Science and the creation of life
e. Cells can be taken from adults, converted into stem cells and used to grow new tissue and even new organs.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�9 - Creation and Science II
A. Life from Life
2. The apologist’s response
a. While the Bible is sometimes stating eternal truths, sometimes it is only giving an explanation of some principle in terms that were understandable to the people who first read or heard it. [It was true that Nicodemus did not know where the wind came from, but that is not true for meteorologists today.]
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�9 - Creation and Science II
A. Life from Life
2. The apologist’s response
b. At creation, life was a gift of God, extended to all plants and animals. This does not mean that every living creature has some kind of “divine spark.”
c. Man is unique in that he has a soul/spirit, but all living creatures have a life force that animates their bodies and that they pass on to their offspring.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�9 - Creation and Science II
A. Life from Life
2. The apologist’s response
d. God never specifically said that only He can make a living thing in the immediate (i.e., without an agent) sense. Nothing in the Bible rules out that scientists will at some point make a totally new living creature out of inorganic materials.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�9 - Creation and Science II
A. Life from Life
2. The apologist’s response
e. In Genesis 1:24, God stated that the animals would reproduce after their own kind, but the Bible does not define kind. When we breed two dogs, we will not get a pelican, but a donkey can mate with a horse to give a mule.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�9 - Creation and Science II
A. Life from Life
2. The apologist’s response
f. The LORD does not tell us how we must act, but He has given mankind the right to rule over all the other creatures. Nothing in this “rule” prevents people from reshaping the “kinds” as long as they do not try to change the nature of man.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�9 - Creation and Science II
B. Irreducible Complexity
1. Are some things too complex to have evolved?
a. The human body may be such an entity, with highly integrated anatomical components, biological mechanisms and chemical processes.
b. In a symbiotic relationship, two organisms are linked in a mutually supportive affiliation, and, therefore, neither of them can live independently of the other.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�9 - Creation and Science II
B. Irreducible Complexity
1. Are some things too complex to have evolved?
c. Would the evolution of such systems have been impossible because the components could not have evolved separately? [The teleological argument]
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�9 - Creation and Science II
B. Irreducible Complexity
2. Logician’s response
a. The argument is based on the logical fallacy of appeal to ignorance. The claim that something cannot be true because we do not yet have an explanation for it is an example of what is known in mathematics as the halting problem.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�9 - Creation and Science II
B. Irreducible Complexity
2. Logician’s response
b. Counterexample: By 1900, efforts to explain certain observations of nature by Newtonian physics required such a high level of complexity that they seemed to be impossible. The development of quantum mechanics and the theory of relativity resolved these difficulties.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�9 - Creation and Science II
C. Genetic Entropy
1. Genetic deterioration
a. In the reproduction of some chromosomes, the ends of their DNA tails are shortened, so a small part of the buffer regions in their tails is progressively lost with each reproduction.
b. The negative changes to genes on chromosomes from errors or damage far outnumber the positive changes that occur. Species should deteriorate rather than to evolve to be genetically better.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�9 - Creation and Science II
C. Genetic Entropy
2. Geneticist’s response
a. Genetic errors do occur, but living creatures have developed numerous processes to find and correct many of such errors.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�9 - Creation and Science II
C. Genetic Entropy
2. Geneticist’s response
b. Reproduction occurs through special organs that generate the female eggs and male sperm cells. Only errors produced in these organs can affect the genetic makeup of the offspring. The strong competition among the sperm cells to fertilize the available eggs favors those with the best characteristics.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�9 - Creation and Science II
C. Genetic Entropy
2. Geneticist’s response
c. Genetically stronger members of animal species are at an advantage in this brutal world where many offspring never reach adulthood, and thus the stronger are left to breed the next generation. [Natural selection]
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�9 - Creation and Science II
C. Genetic Entropy
2. Geneticist’s response
d. People with health issues caused by negative genetic mutations rush to their doctors for help. People with positive genetic mutations don’t. Positive mutations are therefore significantly underreported. (Fallacy of appealing to the masses).
e. The Bible does not say the universe and life could not have evolved through natural processes; it merely says they didn’t.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�9 - Creation and Science II
D. Research in Biological Evolution
1. Simple chemicals to primitive nucleic acid
a. This is a problem of chemical synthesis. Each individual step in the process is quite feasible at the molecular level, but the huge number of steps needed is mind-boggling.
b. The process would have to occur in a confined space with structural catalysts and sufficient energy to facilitate the reactions, such as at a tectonic plate juncture on a mid-ocean ridge.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�9 - Creation and Science II
D. Research in Biological Evolution
1. Simple chemicals to primitive nucleic acid
c. It is still unclear if there are insurmountable barriers to this occurring. Those who argue it is statistically impossible are engaging in the appeal to ignorance.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�9 - Creation and Science II
D. Research in Biological Evolution
2. Primitive nucleic or ribonucleic acid to cell reproduction
a. The genetic material would need to gain the ability to organize the chemical environment around it and produce a cell membrane.
b. It would need to develop an enzyme environment to begin the process of absorbing nutrients to produce energy.
c. It would need to start dividing into new cells.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�9 - Creation and Science II
D. Research in Biological Evolution
3. Diversification of the original cells into the plant and animal species that exist today
a. Small differences among members of a species would lead to those members with better characteristics surviving to breed at a higher rate and become dominant. This is called natural selection.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�9 - Creation and Science II
D. Research in Biological Evolution
3. Diversification of the original cells into the plant and animal species that exist today
b. Natural selection works due to observable characteristics (phenotype), but the actual changes occur through the genetic code (genotype). This complicates things. When a caterpillar metamorphoses into a butterfly, it keeps its genotype but changes its phenotype.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�9 - Creation and Science II
D. Research in Biological Evolution
3. Diversification of the original cells into the plant and animal species that exist today
c. Evolutionary changes can occur through natural selection, genetic drift (pure chance), mutations in the germinal cells, population mating structure, and culture.
d. Apologists should never draw a line in the sand and say, “It didn’t happen because scientists will never be able to do X or explain how Y could happened.”
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�9 - Creation and Science II
A. Dreamers, Pseudoscientists and Deniers
1. Dreamers
a. Dreamers are scientists, humanists and writers who start with legitimate science and then create visions that may have little to do with what is possible.
b. They talk of clean hydrogen fusion, efforts to colonize Mars, and finding intelligent life on planets. There is a big difference between predicting improvements in current technologies and fantasizing about inventing new technologies.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�9 - Creation and Science II
A. Dreamers, Pseudoscientists and Deniers
2. Pseudoscientists
a. Pseudoscientists are people who are not willing to have their claims tested in the laboratory by experts in the relevant fields.
b. If creation science claims could be demonstrated experimentally, their advocates would gain considerable fame in the scientific community.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�9 - Creation and Science II
A. Dreamers, Pseudoscientists and Deniers
3. Deniers
a. Deniers attack scientific methods by claiming that the scientists using them have made mistakes, so therefore the methods themselves are unreliable.
b. Deniers tell the Christian community what it wants to hear, often using kettle logic to put forth numerous, non-relevant arguments without showing that the measuring methods themselves are flawed even with proper use.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�9 - Creation and Science II
B. The three limitations of science
1. Scientists can never be completely sure of the validity of their models because they cannot examine all the possible cases which these models cover. This leaves them open to the fallacy of hasty generalization. [Provisional acceptance]
2. Even if a particular model perfectly explains all observations, one cannot claim it is the true explanation without committing the fallacy of affirming the consequent.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�9 - Creation and Science II
B. The three limitations of science
3. The Almighty God’s existence makes the fundamental assumption of science false. A false premise makes the meaning of all the carefully gathered evidence uncertain.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�End of Lesson 9
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�10 - Miracles
A. Introduction
1. Questions about miracles
a. How are they possible?
b. Are they a result of the ignorance of the observers?
c. Are they fables to illustrate a point?
d. Were they invented to bolster the reputation of Moses, Jesus, etc.?
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�10 - Miracles
A. Introduction
2. God and miracles
a. Natural things act only at God’s command and only with that power that He gives them. In fact, nothing even exists unless He gives it the power to exist.
b. The God of the Bible makes Himself known to us as a being of habit. We call His habitual ways of behavior within our world “the laws of nature.”
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�10 - Miracles
A. Introduction
2. God and miracles
c. Being almighty, God is able to do things in a different way if He chooses. This is no more difficult for Him to do so than for Him to do things in the “regular” way. When God does things differently, we call it a miracle.
d. If one believes in the LORD, the God of the Bible, believing in miracles follows naturally. How can one believe that God is able to do miracles and that He claims to have done miracles but deny that He did do them?
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�10 - Miracles
B. Dealing with the Questions and Objections
1. Why people question miracles
a. Most people don’t really know that much about the Bible. What they say about these miracles probably reflects what they have heard or read, not conclusions they have reached on their own.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�10 - Miracles
B. Dealing with the Questions and Objections
1. Why people question miracles
b. Skeptics often challenge biblical miracles as being scientifically impossible or lacking “real world” credibility. The biblical writers themselves were aware of how impossible these miracles were, but they recorded them, because they were part of God’s message to His people, not because they were stupid.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�10 - Miracles
B. Dealing with the Questions and Objections
2. Helping people understand miracles
a. “What do you think a miracle is?” A miracle is just the almighty God doing things in a different way, but most people do not realize this.
b. “What is your attitude toward God?” If people believe that a god or gods exist, then maybe one can discuss miracles. Otherwise, a different approach is needed.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�10 - Miracles
B. Dealing with the Questions and Objections
2. Helping people understand miracles
c. “Do you believe in a God you can interact with?” If not, then one must treat them as a deist and discuss that subject because miracles are not a key issue.
d. “Do you have questions or doubts about just specific miracles or about all miracles in general?” If their concern involves specific miracles, these are discussed later in this chapter.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�10 - Miracles
B. Dealing with the Questions and Objections
2. Helping people understand miracles
e. “Can your God do miracles?” What is the nature of their God? How did they learn about their God? One must categorize their God to proceed.
f. If they claim that they are Christians, but they don’t believe everything that the Bible says, one must discuss the nature of the Bible.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�10 - Miracles
B. Dealing with the Questions and Objections
1. Helping people understand miracles
g. If they claim that they believe in Jesus but don’t under-stand the how or why of miracles, the material from the beginning of this chapter will be very useful. If people trust God for their salvation, why not trust Him on miracles?
h. If people have a different standard of religious truth, that issue needs to be addressed.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�10 - Miracles
B. Dealing with the Questions and Objections
2. Helping people understand miracles
i. Those who have created idols out of their own thoughts do not believe in miracles because they do not want to believe in miracles. There is nothing to discuss.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�10 - Miracles
A. Early miracles
1. The Flood
a. The extensive geological evidence which has been found does not support the occurrence of an earth-wide flood happening 5000 to 6000 years ago. There is no legitimate reason to doubt the quality of the bulk of the scientific evidence, but there is good reason to doubt its relevance.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�10 - Miracles
A. Early miracles
1. The Flood
b. With modern tools for construction, computer modelling, and ripple tanks to test prototypes, a boat 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high with three decks could be built. Noah’s ark was not built to rest on land as a tourist attraction, but to float on an ocean under adverse conditions. He had to get it right the first time.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�10 - Miracles
A. Early miracles
1. The Flood
c. Not by the clever construction of the ark, but by the Word of the LORD, Noah’s family and the animals were spared.
d. For a crew of 8 to manage the bodily needs of thousands of animals in crowded conditions where there was little or no light while on a rolling sea is unimaginable. The LORD’s miraculous hand needed to be present to prevent disaster.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�10 - Miracles
A. Early miracles
1. The Flood
e. There are more than 5,000,000 land animal species. It required a series of miracles by the LORD after the Flood to give us the present diversity of species.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�10 - Miracles
A. Early miracles
2. The plagues on Egypt
a. The severity of the plagues and the swiftness of their beginnings and endings make them incompatible with a comet’s tail sweeping through the earth’s atmosphere or a volcanic eruption somewhere in the Mediterranean basin.
b. That the plague-masters Moses and Aaron were not seized and killed by the angry Egyptians undermines ascribing the plagues to natural causes.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�10 - Miracles
A. Early miracles
3. The crossing of the Red Sea
a. The LORD opened a passage through the Red Sea to permit the Israelites to escape, and then He allowed the sea to flow back to drown the Egyptians.
b. Any wind strong enough to part the waters is probably physically impossible and would have blown away the Israelites and their possessions too.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�10 - Miracles
A. Early miracles
3. The crossing of the Red Sea
c. As Lutherans, we know that when the Word of the LORD combines with a physical element, great things can be accomplished.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�10 - Miracles
A. Early miracles
4. The sun standing still
a. The sun and moon ceased to move across the sky for nearly a full day.
b. If the earth had stopped rotating, it would have caused catastrophic results.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�10 - Miracles
A. Early miracles
4. The sun standing still
c. If time would have stopped at some places while continuing to flow at others, the concurrency problems would have been innumerable.
d. The results of the battle that day could not have been completed in a normal day, so the LORD created an abnormal day. How? We do not know.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�10 - Miracles
B. Later miracles
1. Jonah
a. “The Lord provided a great sea creature to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in its belly three days and three nights.” The Hebrew word translated “provided” implies this sea creature was especially chosen or created for this purpose.
b. The LORD showed His complete control of nature by creating a severe storm to force the crew of a ship to jettison Jonah into the sea and then stopping the storm.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�10 - Miracles
B. Later miracles
1. Jonah
c. The repentance of the blood-thirsty people of Nineveh, who killed and enslaved all their neighbors, was also a far greater miracle than the sea creature account.
d. The miracle of the plant shows just how hard-hearted people can be even if they know the LORD and how He will intervene to bring them to back to Himself.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�10 - Miracles
B. Later miracles
2. Elijah and Elisha
a. Elijah: A three-and-a-half year drought destroyed virtually all the vegetation in Israel.
b. Elijah: The LORD sent fire to consume an offering, which permitted Elijah to destroy the prophets of the idol Baal.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�10 - Miracles
B. Later miracles
2. Elijah and Elisha
c. Elijah: When a king tried to have him arrested, he twice called down fire to destroy those seeking to take him into custody.
d. Elijah: God snatched him from the earth in a whirlwind.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�10 - Miracles
B. Later miracles
2. Elijah and Elisha
e. Elisha: An iron axe head was lost, but a stick made it float.
f. Elisha: God restored a young boy to life.
g. Elisha: The LORD struck a whole army with blindness.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�10 - Miracles
B. Later miracles
3. Daniel in the lion’s den
a. Daniel was thrown to the lions for his loyalty to the LORD.
b. The LORD had told His creatures they did not have His permission to eat Daniel.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�10 - Miracles
B. Later miracles
4. The three men in the fiery furnace
a. No one could survive the flames in a superheated furnace which killed the guards who only came close enough to shove the prisoners into it.
b. If God wanted to demonstrate to a king who thought that he had all authority on Earth that he didn’t really have such authority, what better way to do it than this?
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�10 - Miracles
A. Miracles proclaimed the Messiah.
1. Miracles showed the fulfillment of the promise.
a. The advent of the Messiah in the New Testament again caused the LORD to produce a flurry of overt miracles. He wanted to demonstrate that Jesus Christ was the one promised to Eve, Abraham, Moses, and David.
b. Jesus did numerous miracles, a fact that annoyed His enemies because they could not deny them, although they tried desperately to do so.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�10 - Miracles
A. Miracles proclaimed the Messiah.
1. Miracles showed the fulfillment of the promise.
c. While His miracles benefited a relatively small number of people, their real purpose was to show the power of the One who was doing them to many more people both then and now.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�10 - Miracles
A. Miracles proclaimed the Messiah.
2. Jesus walking on water
a. Walking on water is impossible because the density of people is nearly the same as that of water. To stand on the surface of the water would require that a person had no weight. Jesus cancelled the law of gravity to walk on the watery surface.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�10 - Miracles
A. Miracles proclaimed the Messiah.
2. Jesus walking on water
b. Because the LORD controls the laws of nature and can abrogate any of them at will, this was a simple feat for Jesus and showed His deity.
c. A much greater miracle occurred once He reached the boat: namely, the storm immediately stopped.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�10 - Miracles
A. Miracles proclaimed the Messiah.
3. Curing diseases
a. Jesus cured paralysis, bleeding, leprosy, skin diseases and general maladies.
b. People in the first century knew that it took time for a person to recover from a disease, and Jesus’ cures were miraculous also in the sense that they happened instantaneously.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�10 - Miracles
A. Miracles proclaimed the Messiah.
4. Curing diseases
c. Where did an untrained country preacher get the knowledge to diagnose and treat so many people successfully through available natural remedies? If He were divine, of course, He would have had such knowledge.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�10 - Miracles
A. Miracles proclaimed the Messiah.
4. Restoring normal function to body parts
a. The inability to see, hear, speak or walk are not short-term, easily addressed problems. Many of the handicaps dated back to birth or early childhood.
b. Jesus’ enemies are the best witnesses to His healing power. The religious leaders would have destroyed His reputation if they could possibly have done so.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�10 - Miracles
A. Miracles proclaimed the Messiah.
5. Casting out demons
a. Even if these people really were only mentally ill and not demon-possessed, then Jesus’ curing them was still a significant miraculous feat.
b. Demon-possession is almost unknown in the Scriptures. The LORD may have allowed demons to take possession of people at this moment in history to demonstrate Jesus’ power over Satan’s angels.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�10 - Miracles
A. Miracles proclaimed the Messiah.
5. Casting out demons
c. The Bible indicates that sometimes physical illness and other types of suffering and loss were caused by the devil, whom the LORD had allowed to torment people. {Luke 13:10-17; 2 Corinthians 12:7} We do not know the extent to which the agents of Satan are allowed to torment the people of the world, but it is clear that in at least some cases the LORD did permit it.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�10 - Miracles
A. Miracles proclaimed the Messiah.
6. Feeding the hungry
a. Jesus twice fed large crowds (thousands of men, women and children were involved). Each time He took a small amount of food and multiplied it.
b. For the Creator of heaven and earth, adding a few thousand sandwiches to the material complement of the universe would have been child’s play.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�10 - Miracles
A. Miracles proclaimed the Messiah.
7. Raising the dead
a. Jesus’ raising people from the dead was the most troubling of His miracles to the Jewish religious leaders. Once people had died, their bodies were considered unclean. Anyone who came into contact with, or even into the close proximity to, a dead body would become ceremonially unclean.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�10 - Miracles
A. Miracles proclaimed the Messiah.
7. Raising the dead
b. Only a priest was able to remove the uncleanness of death through the ritual sanctioned by God. Jesus made the dead clean by raising them.
c. The terrible thing from the standpoint of the Aaronic priesthood was that the fears of the religious leaders were justified: Jesus had come to earth to give people a new way to become clean before God without their priesthood.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�10 - Miracles
A. Miracles proclaimed the Messiah.
7. Raising the dead
d. Modern skeptics claim Jesus could not have raised to life any person who was truly dead because the death process is irreversible. Yet, if there was anything that the Jews would have wanted to make certain of, it was the death of a person. The issue of uncleanness forced them to be very careful. Death was a major inconvenience for the living.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�10 - Miracles
A. Miracles proclaimed the Messiah.
7. Raising the dead
e. Jesus would not have gone near a dead body if He were not going to raise it, because doing so would have placed a seven-day crimp into His ministry while He purified Himself. He could not go shopping among the funeral processions, hoping to issue the call to life and find a respondent.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�End of Lesson 10
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�11 - God’s Plan of Salvation I
A. The Triune God
1. What God is
a. God is not aloof—far beyond any human experience or interaction.
b. He is “triune,” a word coined so we don’t have to constantly say “the God who is one and three” or “who reveals Himself as one God in three persons” or even “the God who is the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.” Like numerous other theological terms, it does not occur in the Bible.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�11 - God’s Plan of Salvation I
A. The Triune God
2. The doctrine of the Trinity is what the Bible teaches.
a. The Bible demonstrates the reality of the Trinity by balancing two truths: 1) there is one and only one God {“The Lord is our God. The Lord is one!” Deuteronomy 6:4}, and 2) the one God consists of three persons {“Go and gather disciples from all nations by baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Matthew 28:19}
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�11 - God’s Plan of Salvation I
A. The Triune God
2. The doctrine of the Trinity is what the Bible teaches.
b. God has one essence or substance that cannot be divided.
c. The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are separate persons who cannot be interchanged or confused for one another.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�11 - God’s Plan of Salvation I
A. The Triune God
3. The Trinity enters the creation
a. God created man in His own image, i.e., with an understanding of God’s eternal will and an ability to keep it. When man failed to keep God’s Law, he became subjected to God’s wrath.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�11 - God’s Plan of Salvation I
A. The Triune God
3. The Trinity enters the creation
b. God did not abandon rebellious man but promised to provide a Savior who would rescue mankind from the punishment it deserved. God chose a special people, Israel, to be the instrument that He used to bring that Savior into the world. He used laws—ceremonial, civil and moral—to help them realize that they could never please Him on their own.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�11 - God’s Plan of Salvation I
A. The Triune God
3. The Trinity enters the creation
c. The Son, the second person of the Trinity, became incarnate. He entered the womb of the Virgin Mary and assumed a real and complete human nature. At that moment, God gave Him a new name: Jesus.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�11 - God’s Plan of Salvation I
B. The incarnate Son
1. Christology
a. The union of the Son of God with a human nature is sometimes called the personal union. He had all the qualities of God and of man, without mixing them into something new or existing as two separate beings joined together. Once Jesus died and rose, He ascended into heaven, where He continues to be God and man, united in one person, for all eternity.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�11 - God’s Plan of Salvation I
B. The incarnate Son
1. Christology
b. This union is different from those times in the Old Testament when God assumed a human form to interact with people.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�11 - God’s Plan of Salvation I
B. The incarnate Son
1. Christology
c. The Bible teaches that Jesus is true God in four ways: 1) It calls Him God {Matthew 1:23}; 2) it repeatedly ascribes to Jesus God-like qualities {Hebrews 13:8}; 3) it repeatedly depicts Jesus doing things that only God can do {Hebrews 1:3}; 4) it commands us to honor Jesus just as we do the Father {John 5:22-23}.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�11 - God’s Plan of Salvation I
B. The incarnate Son
1. Christology
d. The Bible teaches that Jesus is true man in three ways: 1) It calls Him a man {1 Timothy 2:5}; 2) it states He had a human body and soul {Luke 24:39}; 3) it tells us He did all the things a normal human being does: grew, slept, ate, died and more. He differed from us only in that He had no sin {Hebrews 4:15}.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�11 - God’s Plan of Salvation I
B. The incarnate Son
1. Christology
e. God could die because Christ was man and Christ died. A man could do miracles because Christ was God and Christ did miracles.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�11 - God’s Plan of Salvation I
B. The incarnate Son
2. Jesus’s Active Obedience
a. The Savior had to be born of woman—he had to be a real human being. Why? So that He could fulfill the law of God in our place.
b. Gregory of Nanzianzus (AD 329-390) said, “That which was not assumed by Christ was not healed.” Fulfilling God’s Law was His active obedience.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�11 - God’s Plan of Salvation I
B. The incarnate Son
3. Jesus’s Passive Obedience
a. The Savior we needed had to be able to cover the actual cost of our sin. He had to do it for the entire world. Only the blood of God’s Son could pay that debt.
b. Only the Son of God could face the devil and be without sin. {Hebrews 4:15}. God gave us a Savior who is fully human and one who is fully divine so that He could accomplish our salvation.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�11 - God’s Plan of Salvation I
A. Setting the Stage
1. Distinguishing between law and gospel
a. Luther said, “Whoever knows well how to distinguish the Gospel from the Law should give thanks to God and know that he is a real theologian.” Ever since Christ preached both, people have wrestled to reconcile the two.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�11 - God’s Plan of Salvation I
A. Setting the Stage
1. Distinguishing between law and gospel
b. The Formula of Concord says, “The distinction between law and gospel is a particularly glorious light. It serves to divide God’s Word properly and to explain correctly and make understandable the writings of the holy prophets and apostles.”
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�11 - God’s Plan of Salvation I
A. Setting the Stage
2. The knotty problem
a. Each doctrine is true in its own right, but it stands in opposition to the other. Luther said, “These two things are diametrically opposed: that a Christian is righteous and beloved by God, and yet that he is a sinner at the same time. For God cannot deny His own nature.”
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�11 - God’s Plan of Salvation I
A. Setting the Stage
2. The knotty problem
b. The most important word in this regard is not the Latin word ergo (“therefore”), but the German word dennoch (“nevertheless”). We cannot rest our theology on the conclusions of human reason but on the pronounce-ments of God. The “nevertheless” relationship between the law and the gospel is counterintuitive.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�11 - God’s Plan of Salvation I
B. Distinguishing Between the Law and the Gospel
1. Where is each teaching written?
a. The natural Law: Every human being is born with some knowledge of the natural law. God has also built a conscience into each individual. The conscience compares a person’s words and deeds and even thoughts and feelings with a standard of behavior, i.e., the law as he knows it.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�11 - God’s Plan of Salvation I
B. Distinguishing Between the Law and the Gospel
1. Where is each teaching written?
b. The given Law: To supplement the failures caused by sin, God gave the law a second time in His Word. The Bible also makes clear that there is a great difference between having the law and keeping the law.
c. The Gospel: There is nothing natural about the gospel, which is why it should not surprise us that unbelievers don’t understand the gospel. God has to reveal it to us. He does that through His Word. The gospel is written only in the Bible.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�11 - God’s Plan of Salvation I
B. Distinguishing Between the Law and the Gospel
2. Who does what to reach heaven under each teaching?
a. The Law: Under the law, every person has to be perfect in his thoughts, desires, words and actions to reach heaven. There are no exceptions. There are no technicalities. There are no other options. God is perfect and He demands perfection.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�11 - God’s Plan of Salvation I
B. Distinguishing Between the Law and the Gospel
2. Who does what to reach heaven under each teaching?
b. The Gospel: The gospel proclaims that God gives us that perfection because Jesus was perfect in our place. Jesus died to pay for our sin. Jesus rose and conquered death. {“Just as through one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so also through the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.” Romans 5:19}
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�11 - God’s Plan of Salvation I
B. Distinguishing Between the Law and the Gospel
3. What verdict does each teaching render on us?
a. The Law: God uses the image of a courtroom because He is the eternal judge. Under the law, the verdict is simple: guilty. Nothing can hide our sinful words or deeds from God. He even knows our thoughts and feelings. {David wrote, “God, you know my foolishness, and my guilty acts are not hidden from you.” Psalm 69:5}
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�11 - God’s Plan of Salvation I
B. Distinguishing Between the Law and the Gospel
3. What verdict does each teaching render on us?
b. The Gospel: The gospel offers a different ruling in God’s court: not guilty. The Greek that lies behind the words “justify” and “justification” was used in court when the judge ruled a person not guilty. {“They are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” Romans 3:24}
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�11 - God’s Plan of Salvation I
B. Distinguishing Between the Law and the Gospel
4. What does each teaching promise us?
a. The Law: God’s law condemns every sin and every sinner to death and hell. {“For the wages of sin is death.” Romans 6:23a} Physical death is the separation of soul and body. Spiritual death is the sinner’s separation from God. Eternal death is to be locked out of God’s presence forever.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�11 - God’s Plan of Salvation I
B. Distinguishing Between the Law and the Gospel
4. What does each teaching promise us?
b. The Gospel: The gospel promises free salvation. {“The gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:23b} The gospel calls us holy and righteous in God’s sight and promises us eternal life. The law and the gospel meet at the cross of Christ. This is the key to all apologetic efforts to dealing with questions of how the law and gospel relate.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�11 - God’s Plan of Salvation I
B. Distinguishing Between the Law and the Gospel
5. How does each teaching motivate us to live a Christian life?
a. The Law: The law motivates us to obey out of fear. This is the opinio legis. We naturally think that if we do good, God will reward us, and that if we do bad, God will punish us. Fear of being smacked down by God or a desperate need to feel better becomes the driving motivation for living a better life.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�11 - God’s Plan of Salvation I
B. Distinguishing Between the Law and the Gospel
5. How does each teaching motivate us to live a Christian life?
b. The Gospel: The gospel motivates us to obey God out of a sense of joy and gratitude for what Jesus has done {Colossians 3:17}. More than that, the gospel changes us and drives us to be new and different people {2 Corinthians 5:14-15}. The law now serves as a guide to the Christian.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�11 - God’s Plan of Salvation I
A. Trying to resolve the two teachings
1. Changing one or the other teaching
a. Most people solve the problem of relating the law and the gospel by changing, weakening, or outright eliminating one or the other or both.
b. Often this is done by portraying the Old Testament God as a God of wrath and punishment while portraying the New Testament God as a God of love and forgiveness.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�11 - God’s Plan of Salvation I
A. Trying to resolve the two teachings
1. Changing one or the other teaching
c. The Old Testament law is represented as a new development in ethical thinking but still relying on threats and rules until Jesus came and introduced a religion of the heart.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�11 - God’s Plan of Salvation I
A. Trying to resolve the two teachings
2. The apologist’s response
a. The law is found throughout the whole Bible. St. Paul and Jesus called people to conform their lives to God’s Will as it is revealed in the Ten Commandments. {Jesus said, “Until heaven and earth pass away, not even the smallest letter, or even part of a letter, will in any way pass away from the Law until everything is fulfilled. So whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:18–19}
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�11 - God’s Plan of Salvation I
A. Trying to resolve the two teachings
1. The apologist’s response
b. The gospel is also found throughout the whole Bible. {“In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will dwell securely. This is his name by which he will be called: The Lord Our Righteousness.” Jeremiah 23:6}
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�11 - God’s Plan of Salvation I
B. Making the teaching appear to evolve
1. Progressive revelation
a. As God’s people developed in their understanding of His plan and His purpose, He revealed more to them. God’s religion did not change, in the sense that what He wanted from His people or His plan of salvation changed. What did change was the manner in which He taught His truths.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�11 - God’s Plan of Salvation I
B. Making the teaching appear to evolve
1. Progressive revelation
b. Isaiah (lived around 700 BC) understood more of God’s plan than King David did (lived around 1000 BC). King David understood more than Moses did (lived around 1500 BC). Moses understood more than Abraham did (lived around 2100 BC).
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�11 - God’s Plan of Salvation I
B. Making the teaching appear to evolve
1. Progressive revelation
c. As time passed, the LORD had His penmen write down more of His plan of salvation. God gave more and more of His Word to the prophets and then to the apostles to bring the people along to His preplanned goal. The Old Testament believer had a more limited revelation, but he or she still had what God wanted them to know.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�11 - God’s Plan of Salvation I
B. Making the teaching appear to evolve
2. The difference in tone
a. Someone might still ask why the tone of the Old Testament is so much harsher than that of the New Testament. While this observation is true, it is often overstated.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�11 - God’s Plan of Salvation I
B. Making the teaching appear to evolve
2. The difference in tone
b. The Old Testament has many rich expressions of God’s love. {Psalm 23, Psalm 46, Lamentations 3:22-24 and Ezekiel 33:11} Nevertheless, much of the Old Testament was written to people who had turned away from God and were hardening their hearts. God needed to wake them up so that they would be spared eternal judgment.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�11 - God’s Plan of Salvation I
B. Making the teaching appear to evolve
2. The difference in tone
c. The New Testament has texts which threaten God’s wrath. {Matthew 25:46, Romans 2:1-3 and 2 Thessalonians 1:6} The whole New Testament is directed to the church, which is made up of repentant believers. The assumption is usually made that God is dealing with weak believers, rather than those who have turned away….
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�11 - God’s Plan of Salvation I
B. Making the teaching appear to evolve
2. The difference in tone
c. …When hardened unbelievers or fallen away Christians appear, the apostles and even Jesus do sound an equally harsh note—because sin brings death and hell. {Matthew 23:13-39, Galatians 5:7-12, 1 Timothy 1:18-20, 2 Timothy 4:14-15 and 2 John 7-11}
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�11 - God’s Plan of Salvation I
B. Making the teaching appear to evolve
2. The difference in tone
d. The apologist needs to remember that law and gospel fit together at the cross of Christ. The Old Testament was given before Jesus came, so God dealt with His people differently than He did after Jesus came. Nevertheless, His message is always that sinners deserve hell, but that the Savior rescues us.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�End of Lesson 11
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�12 - God’s Plan of Salvation II
The Effect of Evolution on Guilt
1. Our obligation to obey God
a. The law-gospel dynamic is the heart of the Christian faith; therefore, it is under attack today. The law and the gospel are often pitted against each other, and each teaching is denied at times. The more common attacks are against the law.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�12 - God’s Plan of Salvation II
The Effect of Evolution on Guilt
1. Our obligation to obey God
b. The Bible teaches the Lord God is the Creator of the universe, both deserving and demanding our praise {Psalm 113:3} He is the Lawgiver and the Judge of the whole world, who should and must be obeyed. As a Father, He has given man-kind His endless love and care. All sin really breaks the First Commandment.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�12 - God’s Plan of Salvation II
The Effect of Evolution on Guilt
2. Evolution removes this obligation.
a. Evolution undermines our responsibility to the LORD. It says that man was not created to love and serve God. Human morality evolved because it was advantageous to have allies and family members one could trust.
b. Sin is regarded as a church construct to explain plagues and natural disasters as the wrath of God. People do not have to answer to a holy God on Judgment Day.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�12 - God’s Plan of Salvation II
The Effect of Evolution on Guilt
3. It argues against guilt.
a. Many claim the concept of sin is detrimental to society today. They want to free people from feeling guilty, not proclaim a law that compounds their guilt.
b. Conscience, however, makes discarding sin difficult. Guilt is God’s warning system. Like physical pain, it tells us that there is a problem.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�12 - God’s Plan of Salvation II
Denying Original Sin
1. Definition.
a. Original sin means that we all inherit sinfulness from our parents. At his or her conception, every human being is a sinner, deserving eternal damnation.
b. The Lutheran Confessions admit: “This inherited sin has caused such a deep, evil corruption of nature that reason does not comprehend it; rather, it must be believed on the basis of the revelation in the Scriptures.”
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�12 - God’s Plan of Salvation II
Denying Original Sin
2. Original sin is like genetic characteristics.
a. Original sin is an entity that children inherit from their parents, just like eye color or musical ability. It is like a genetic defect. It is total corruption of the soul, although like other inherited traits, how it affects people may vary.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�12 - God’s Plan of Salvation II
Denying Original Sin
2. Original sin is like genetic characteristics.
b. Actual sin in thought, word and deed springs from the sin that we inherit. God holds us guilty for such sins. He also counts us as guilty already in the womb, before we have done anything good or bad.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�12 - God’s Plan of Salvation II
Denying Original Sin
3. It is a difficult doctrine.
a. The heart of sin is selfishness. Babies are the most selfish people on earth. They want to be attended to now! Children don’t have to be taught to be selfish. It is the result of original sin in every child’s heart.
b. “God doesn’t create junk!” is a misleading statement. God created Adam and Eve sinless. By sinning, people made all their children “junk” in God’s eyes.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�12 - God’s Plan of Salvation II
Denying Original Sin
4. Semi-Pelagianism
a. But could original sin mean that we are not completely sinful, merely damaged? No! St Paul wrote, “For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh.” {Romans 7:18a} We often call this total depravity.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�12 - God’s Plan of Salvation II
Denying Original Sin
4. Semi-Pelagianism
b. What about unbaptized babies? How could a just God punish these? Unbaptized babies of unbelievers are unbelievers. God does not speak to the situation of the unbaptized children of Christians in his Word, so we do not know.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�12 - God’s Plan of Salvation II
Denying Original Sin
4. Semi-Pelagianism
c. Isn’t it unfair for God to condemn sin? Forgiveness is really the unnatural thing. God overrides His justice by punishing his Son in our place.
d. These issues are red herrings. Who can truly stand before God and say, “I tried to be a good person”? Our consciences tell us that we are not good enough.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�12 - God’s Plan of Salvation II
Disregarding the Law written in the Bible
1. Blanket denials
a. Some people will seriously argue that the Bible doesn’t really condemn homosexuality. Moses wrote, “If a man lies down with a male as one lies down with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They must certainly be put to death.” {Leviticus 20:13} People change the clear message so that they can feel like they are “on God’s side” and in tune with our society at the same time.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�12 - God’s Plan of Salvation II
Disregarding the Law written in the Bible
1. Blanket denials
b. Other people begin with the idea that there is no such thing as objective truth, so there is no such thing as an objective standard of right and wrong. Whatever the Bible says is the product of a more primitive understanding of religion.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�12 - God’s Plan of Salvation II
Disregarding the Law written in the Bible
2. Defending absolute morality
a. The apologist must demonstrate moral absolutes by asking, “Was the Nazi extermination of the Jews wrong?” and then, “What made it wrong?” The answer given will have to appeal to a higher standard of right and wrong.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�12 - God’s Plan of Salvation II
Disregarding the Law written in the Bible
2. Defending absolute morality
b. God says many things that are offensive to modern sensibilities. The apologist needs to establish the law as a threat to the eternal life of the person with whom he or she is speaking, but we cannot win arguments on these points. We need to turn the conversation to Jesus and use the law the way God intended it to be used. It is the Holy Spirit working through the gospel that effects conversion.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�12 - God’s Plan of Salvation II
Denying Hell and Judgment
1. Misrepresenting hell
a. While many people believe in some kind of afterlife, they imagine that death merely leads to just another plane of existence.
b. They do not believe in a final judgment at which Christ will raise the dead and purify this world. They believe in a gathering of all loved ones, or an opportunity to spend eternity doing the things that a person most liked to do.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�12 - God’s Plan of Salvation II
Denying Hell and Judgment
1. Misrepresenting hell
c. Some people who don’t believe in a specifically Christian afterlife do fear what’s coming. “God is going to collect what is due.”
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�12 - God’s Plan of Salvation II
Denying Hell and Judgment
2. Telling God how to be God
a. God is going to just take everyone to heaven. It isn’t fair for God to condemn someone to eternal punishment for short-term sins. Yet momentary actions often have fatal consequences. All sin merits eternal punishment.
b. People are basically good. Their sins are more “mistakes” than outright rebellion against God. Therefore, eternal punishment is inappropriate.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�12 - God’s Plan of Salvation II
Misusing Old Testament Regulations
1. Dismissing them as no longer relevant
a. Some cite Old Testament dietary laws and purity laws and point out that they are out-of-date. Therefore, they argue that God will no longer use severe out-of-date punishment either.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�12 - God’s Plan of Salvation II
Misusing Old Testament Regulations
1. Dismissing them as no longer relevant
b. God has given different kinds of laws, just like civil authorities do. Some laws apply only in certain situations. Others are more general. Sometimes, one kind of law overrides another. Not every law God gave applies to every situation.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�12 - God’s Plan of Salvation II
Misusing Old Testament Regulations
2. Types of Old Testament laws
a. Civil laws applied only while Israel was a functioning country.
b. Ceremonial laws applied only to Old Testament worship {Colossians 2:16-17}.
c. Moral laws state God’s standard of right and wrong and also announce what constitutes God’s punishment for sin. Moral laws apply to all people everywhere at all times.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�12 - God’s Plan of Salvation II
The command to exterminate the Canaanites
1. Judgment versus genocide
a. Many people object that God commanded his people to exterminate the nations that were there when they conquered the Promised Land. They see this as the nat-ural result of fundamentalism, whether Jewish, Christian, or Islamic and blame the law given by God for such excesses.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�12 - God’s Plan of Salvation II
The command to exterminate the Canaanites
1. Judgment versus genocide
b. The destruction of the Canaanite peoples was actually part of God’s judgment on them for their unbelief and their religious practices. God simply will not tolerate idolatry. This idolatry presented a serious spiritual risk for the people of God.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�12 - God’s Plan of Salvation II
The command to exterminate the Canaanites
2. The New Testament church and violence
a. The New Testament church was not commissioned to spread the gospel by force. The extermination of unbelievers is not part of the moral law.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�12 - God’s Plan of Salvation II
The command to exterminate the Canaanites
2. The New Testament church and violence
b. Defending God’s law can lead to anger and condemnation from unbelievers. Jesus said: “Blessed are you whenever people hate you, and whenever they exclude and insult you and reject your name as evil because of the Son of Man.” {Luke 6:22}
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�12 - God’s Plan of Salvation II
Introduction
1. Stoking unbelief
a. People disbelieve the gospel because it is not written in our hearts. Our old man has a tremendous advantage. It requires a miracle of grace to make a believer and God’s continuous supernatural intervention to keep our faith alive.
b. One of Satan’s most effective strategies for attacking the gospel is to attack the law because the gospel means nothing if we aren’t sinners.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�12 - God’s Plan of Salvation II
Introduction
2. Direct attacks on the gospel
a. Satan tries to convert it into a new law, like the Roman Catholic Church does with its “counsels” and many Arminian churches do with “What would Jesus do?” The axis of the Christian’s faith is made to revolve around our actions.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�12 - God’s Plan of Salvation II
Introduction
2. Direct attacks on the gospel
b. People claim, “The gospel doesn’t make sense. How can one man’s death pay for the sins of the whole world? Why does Jesus’ death erase our sins? How could God be so cruel to His own Son?”
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�12 - God’s Plan of Salvation II
Jesus as a Force for Change
1. Jesus’ death redefined
a. People create an atonement theory to explain how Jesus’ death wins us eternal life. Examples are the ransom theory, Christus Victor, the satisfaction theory, the governmental theory, and the scapegoat theory. There is danger in allegory.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�12 - God’s Plan of Salvation II
Jesus as a Force for Change
2. Jesus’ death redefined
b. The moral influence theory holds that Jesus died to show us what real love is like and in the process, become a catalyst for societal change. There was no payment for sin. Executing someone for another’s crime isn’t regarded as justice.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�12 - God’s Plan of Salvation II
Jesus as a Force for Change
2. How redemption works
a. Sinners do not have free will. Still, most people believe that they can choose to be good and, in the process, earn eternal life. Maybe they cannot earn it all, but they can at least contribute to some degree. This concept (synergism) is false, however, because we can contribute nothing. St. Paul wrote, “For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh.” {Romans 7:18a}
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�12 - God’s Plan of Salvation II
Jesus as a Force for Change
2. How redemption works
b. We need forensic righteousness. In God’s courtroom, every one of us would be guilty. He has all the evidence. We cannot escape the verdict of guilty. Jesus took the punishment we deserve, allowing us to be declared “not guilty.”
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�12 - God’s Plan of Salvation II
Attacks on the Ministry of Christ
1. Textual criticism – Scholars dissect the gospel accounts, argue about where this or that expression might have come from, and then eliminate those things they believe are wrong or inventions. They then present what Jesus should have said.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�12 - God’s Plan of Salvation II
Attacks on the Ministry of Christ
2. Cultural flaws in Jesus’ actions
a. Jesus or His apostles are portrayed as being hopelessly male chauvinistic, or as viewing the world through a limited, first century Jewish viewpoint.
b. Jesus preached a great deal of law during his ministry. Those who don’t under-stand the gospel will argue that Jesus taught us a way to live, not about doctrine.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�12 - God’s Plan of Salvation II
Attacks on the Ministry of Christ
2. Cultural flaws in Jesus’ actions
c. Jesus accepts everyone who repents. Yet, Jesus does not excuse their sin. Jesus did not accept the religious leaders of his day because they did not think they were sinners; therefore, they were unwilling to repent.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�12 - God’s Plan of Salvation II
Attacks on the Ministry of Christ
2. Cultural flaws in Jesus’ actions
d. Jesus did not come to create social change or to subvert the institutionalized church. He came to lay down his life to win the world. Jesus accepts people solely on the basis of their justification. They believe and are counted righteous.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�12 - God’s Plan of Salvation II
The Challenge of Universalism
1. Everyone gets into heaven
a. Universalism says that all roads lead to God. The Christian conception of God is just a human way of thinking about God who is far beyond our understanding. Therefore, people don’t really need the gospel.
b. Christianity is exclusive. God often claimed, “I alone am God and there is no other.” Jesus said, “No one comes to the Father except through me.” {John 14:6}.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�12 - God’s Plan of Salvation II
The Challenge of Universalism
2. The church should demand righteousness!
a. Does the gospel undercut the Christian life? If religion doesn’t make demands and if the church just forgives and lets people off, is it not encouraging sinful behavior? Paul said in Romans, “And why not say (as some slanderously claim we say), “Let us do evil so that good may result.” Their condemnation is deserved.” {Romans 3:8}
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�12 - God’s Plan of Salvation II
The Challenge of Universalism
2. The church should demand righteousness!
b. Sinners do try to use forgiveness like a get-out-of-jail-free card. They do use it as a license to sin and to not think about how serious sin really is. This kind of misuse of the gospel is frequent among lapsed Christians. St. Paul dismissed the practice, and the charge that it is tolerated is blasphemy because true Christianity encourages a real Christian life. The gospel works not just to change behavior, but to change hearts.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�End of Lesson 12
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�13 - Challenges from Archeology I
History
1. Christianity and history
a. Christianity takes place in history. Events are dated throughout the Bible. Historical figures are referenced. Events take place in real geographical places.
b. Many religions (like Shinto, Hinduism) set their great events in a mythical or legendary past. Some religions (like Islam and Buddhism) are also historical.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�13 - Challenges from Archeology I
History
2. What is history?
a. History is the study of the past and is based on textual evidence. Historians put great emphasis on primary sources—records that come directly from what they’re studying. Eyewitness testimony is of greatest importance.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�13 - Challenges from Archeology I
History
2. What is history?
b. It was practiced in ancient times. Some ancient historians did do research. Most of them were not historians by training and did little research.
c. Historians often use an interdisciplinary approach to reach conclusions.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�13 - Challenges from Archeology I
History
3. What do historians do?
a. Historians ask: When and where was this document produced? By whom? What was its source? What was its original form? How credible is the author?
b. The further into antiquity one goes, the fewer the sources there are to work with, due to decay caused both by natural processes and ongoing human intervention. What is left of ancient Roman and Greek writings are often only mere fragments.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�13 - Challenges from Archeology I
History
4. The accidental quality of history
a. What has survived is haphazard. What does the absence of records or evidence really mean? Weather, war, fire, insects, and rodents determine what survives.
b. We say the Bible is inerrant even when it speaks of history and geography. Skeptics disagree. They consider the Bible to be one source among many and subject it to the kinds of analysis that they would apply to any other historical document.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�13 - Challenges from Archeology I
History
5. Church history is really historical theology. It is the attempt to trace the finger of God as He fulfills his promises across the centuries. Because we live in this sinful world, the identification will always be halting and tentative. We will want to use the tools of academic history when appropriate, to see sin and grace as clearly as possible.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�13 - Challenges from Archeology I
Archaeology
1. The role of archaeology
a. Archaeology cannot prove what God’s Word says is true. It is limited by what remains in the ground which has not been disturbed for us to find.
b. Archaeology is an observational science, where the primary source of in-formation is the study of phenomena that the scientists happen to encounter.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�13 - Challenges from Archeology I
Archaeology
2. Archaeology is the study of ancient things.
a. It is the discovery and study of the material remains of past cultures. It focuses primarily on physical objects often called artifacts.
b. Archaeologists use the “2% rule”: they excavate 2% of the area of 2% of the known sites and find 2% of what was once there.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�13 - Challenges from Archeology I
Archaeology
3. Obstacles to archaeology
a. Ancient peoples almost never left valuable things lying around for future generations to discover, except when calamity struck (e.g., volcanic eruption or destruction in war) and burial treasures (e.g., in King Tut’s tomb).
b. In cities like Rome and Jerusalem, every time a new foundation is dug, the possibility exists that the workers will discover something apparently ancient.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�13 - Challenges from Archeology I
Archaeology
3. Obstacles to archaeology
c. Archaeology is expensive and time-consuming. Some sites (e.g., the Temple Mount) have a political or cultural importance that makes excavation impossible.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�13 - Challenges from Archeology I
Archaeology
4. Results of archaeology
a. Pottery shards – pottery was the packaging of the ancient world. Some were used as notepads, called ostraca (singular ostracon), and they are especially valuable.
b. Dating of finds is an incredibly important and technical question, but it often can be done only to within a couple of centuries.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�13 - Challenges from Archeology I
Archaeology
4. Results of archaeology
c. “What archaeology yields is not facts, but artifacts, which then have to be interpreted.” That interpretation depends on when and how the artifacts are found. Archaeologists talk about seeing an artifact in situ (Latin for “in its place”).
d. Many artifacts in museums and collections all over the world – and on the antiquities market – were improperly collected and cannot be studied in situ.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�13 - Challenges from Archeology I
Archaeology
5. The quality of artifacts
a. Early efforts at archaeology did a poor job of documentation and often left sites contaminated and confused. They are now hard to understand.
b. The modern antiquities market is poorly policed. Poor people do not preserve sites when they are look for something to sell.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�13 - Challenges from Archeology I
Archaeology
5. The quality of artifacts
c. Sometimes, a real artifact has a fictionalized provenance to protect its illegal origin. Sometimes, clever people pass off fake artifacts as genuine. Even very knowledgeable people are taken in, at times, by these deceptions.
d. Archaeology once focused on rulers and military leaders. Now there is a much greater interest in the lives of ordinary people.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�13 - Challenges from Archeology I
Archaeology
6. People have begun to challenge the right of modern scientists to disturb the graves of their ancestors. There is a push to return artifacts to the nations of origin.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�13 - Challenges from Archeology I
The Purpose of history in the Bible
1. Fundamental purpose
a. Nothing in the Old Testament was not written as a purely historical document. The authors were not writing history the way that many authors do today.
b. The Bible was written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to give us a record of man’s sin and God’s grace. God was very selective about what he recorded. Historical research and archaeology can help us understand biblical accounts.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�13 - Challenges from Archeology I
The Purpose of history in the Bible
2. Problems with outside help
a. History and archaeology can give the false impression that we cannot understand the Bible without them. The basic truths of grace and sin are clear without them.
b. Research is often used to attempt to prove or disprove someone’s pet theory or belief. This is an example of the fallacy of confirmation bias.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�13 - Challenges from Archeology I
The Purpose of history in the Bible
3. Challenges to the faith
a. Denying miracles is common. Scholars argue that the worldview of the biblical authors included a belief that gods directly involved themselves in human affairs, sometimes even causing things to happen that are scientifically impossible.
b. Challenges are made to dates, geography or genealogies that do not match non-biblical documents.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�13 - Challenges from Archeology I
The Purpose of history in the Bible
3. Challenges to the faith
c. Some words and actions of historical figures are only recorded in the Bible, such as proclamations made by heathen kings or their interactions with Biblical figures. Historians challenge these. Why? Sometimes they rely on an argument from silence, which in classical logic is a fallacy.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�13 - Challenges from Archeology I
The Purpose of history in the Bible
3. Challenges to the faith
d. Some skeptics may express the belief that what is recorded is simply too fantastic to have really happened. At times, they seem to consistently assume that other sources are more accurate than the Bible.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�13 - Challenges from Archeology I
The Purpose of history in the Bible
4. Answering challenges
a. Historians are more concerned with the worldviews of a society than with their truthfulness. We must ask the skeptic to articulate why events cannot be true.
b. To simply dismiss the biblical account in favor of non-biblical sources because they are biblical is unethical. The purpose of an account is part of modern historical research, and we shouldn’t be afraid to use that principle.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�13 - Challenges from Archeology I
The Purpose of history in the Bible
4. Answering challenges
c. We cannot answer every objection raised by historians or archaeologists because we don’t know enough about the ancient world to give a definitive answer to every objection. That doesn’t mean that archaeology disproves the biblical account.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�13 - Challenges from Archeology I
The Purpose of history in the Bible
4. Answering challenges
d. We need to be sure that we know the difference between data and interpretations, as well as the difference between evidence that presents difficulties and evidence that positively disproves something. It is wrong to force evidence to prove or to deny God’s Word. Underlying biases, agendas and assumptions must not be allowed to make legitimate difficulties into clear proof that God’s Word is false.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�13 - Challenges from Archeology I
Is There Such a Thing as “Biblical Archaeology?”
1. Looking for proof
a. The Empress Helena, the mother of Constantine, traveled to the holy land from AD 326 to 328 to search for relics and to identify famous biblical sites.
b. Christian groups continue to sponsor archaeological digs, hoping to find evidence documenting the biblical narrative. Most archaeologists today regard the Bible as a heavily theologized interpretation of reality rather than as a reliable guide.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�13 - Challenges from Archeology I
Is There Such a Thing as “Biblical Archaeology?”
2. What’s in a name?
a. Today “biblical archaeology” is called “Syro-Palestinian archaeology,” The periodical Biblical Archaeologist has become Near Eastern Archaeology.
b. The archaeological community views much of the Bible with skepticism. So far, archaeology has not produced direct evidence of many Biblical accounts.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�13 - Challenges from Archeology I
Is There Such a Thing as “Biblical Archaeology?”
2. What’s in a name?
c. Biblical sites are hard to identify; they lack signs with city names. When a site is excavated, there can be an intense debate about whether it is an Israelite or a Canaanite site or partly each.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�13 - Challenges from Archeology I
The Role of the Media
1. News is often false.
a. Reporters are not well-educated about scientific matters and often write stories which contain major misstatements. This misleads the general public.
b. The news business is a time-sensitive occupation. When a disaster strikes or something dramatic happens, journalists have a very limited amount of time to collect and verify information. The story often changes between editions.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�13 - Challenges from Archeology I
The Role of the Media
1. News is often false.
c. The media is a for-profit industry. The money comes in through advertising. The headlines are often misleading so as to draw readers/viewers in. People tend to cherry-pick their news feeds in order to validate their pre-formed opinions.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�13 - Challenges from Archeology I
The Role of the Media
2. The difficulty of summation
a. Even when journalists are doing their best to give a clear and accurate explanation of what an archaeological discovery is and what it means, they do not have enough space/time to cover all the necessary details.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�13 - Challenges from Archeology I
The Role of the Media
2. The difficulty of summation
b. On 9/11/2001 the news media greatly overestimated the number of casualties in the attack on the World Trade Center because viewers/listeners wanted a number immediately, not careful analysis by experts.
c. Stories frequently use the words “may” or “might” to technically avoid making a claim about something while convincing most people they had.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�13 - Challenges from Archeology I
The Role of the Media
2. The difficulty of summation
d. The media loves “breaking news.” Most archaeological discoveries reported as “breaking news” were actually known about by archaeologists for many years before the media “discovered” them.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�13 - Challenges from Archeology I
The Role of the Media
2. The difficulty of summation
e. Stories that seem to shake or confirm the foundations of the faith attract media attention. When it comes to archaeology—or any other complex issue in apologetics—the news media cannot be our first source of information.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�13 - Challenges from Archeology I
Uses of archaeology
1. The practicality of archaeology
a. The gap between our culture and those the Bible originally spoke to is enormous. There have been many instances of historical texts and archaeology illuminating the past. Ancient records can give us information that the Bible omits.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�13 - Challenges from Archeology I
Uses of archaeology
1. The practicality of archaeology
b. Biblical accounts frequently picture people undertaking everyday activities in work and trade and even relaxation. Archaeology can often give us a better idea of how these activities were actually carried out.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�13 - Challenges from Archeology I
Uses of archaeology
2. In the examples that follow, our goal is to get a sense of how archaeology is done and what the apologist can and cannot say about such cases.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�13 - Challenges from Archeology I
The Dating of Jesus’ Birth
1. Information to note
a. Most scholars believe the Bible contradicts itself and history as a whole. Even Goldsworthy, who often uses the gospels and St. Paul’s writings as valid historical documents, subjects them to the analysis used by most secular historians.
b. The date and circumstances of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth rely entirely on the Gospel accounts. They are not mentioned by any other sources until much later.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�13 - Challenges from Archeology I
The Dating of Jesus’ Birth
1. Information to note
c. Matthew 2:1 firmly dates the Nativity to the reign of Herod the Great. Since Herod died in 4 BC, the probable date is between 7 to 4 BC.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�13 - Challenges from Archeology I
The Dating of Jesus’ Birth
2. The Quirinius issue
a. Luke 2:1-2 states there was an empire-wide census while Publius Sulplicius Quirinius was governor of Syria. There is no record of such a single decree imposing a census.
b. Quirinius was the legate of Syria and did conduct a census of Judaea, but not until AD 6. In 6 BC Publius Quinctilius Varus was legate of Syria.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�13 - Challenges from Archeology I
The Dating of Jesus’ Birth
2. The Quirinius issue
c. Goldsworthy argued that Luke probably confused the cultural memory of the outrage over Quirinius’ census in 6 AD with what happened under Herod.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�13 - Challenges from Archeology I
The Dating of Jesus’ Birth
2. The Quirinius issue
d. Goldsworthy allows for further confusion caused by the fact that although Herod styled himself as a king, he was viewed by the Jews as a stooge of the Roman government and that maybe Luke and other Jews figured any census Herod would have conducted would have to have come from Rome originally.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�13 - Challenges from Archeology I
The Dating of Jesus’ Birth
2. The Quirinius issue
e. The records simply are too incomplete to definitively say what did or didn’t happen. No one can demonstrate that a census of the Roman Empire did not take place sometime in the last couple years of Herod the Great’s rule.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�13 - Challenges from Archeology I
The Dating of Jesus’ Birth
2. The Quirinius issue
f. Another explanation is that an early scribe incorrectly wrote Quirinius instead of Quinctilius in transcribing the text because he was confused by whom Luke meant. The apologist must insist that those who want to demonstrate that Luke is wrong actually do so.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�End of Lesson 13
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�14 - Challenges from Archeology II
Discoveries
1. Early scrolls
a. First finds near Jericho occurred in AD 211–217.
b. Arab hunters had found many Hebrew books inside caves about AD 800.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�14 - Challenges from Archeology II
Discoveries
2. Modern finds
a. In 1946 a Bedouin shepherd found ten jars containing 7 scrolls in a cave.
b. These were taken to scholars in Jerusalem for investigation. In April 1948, the discovery was announced to the world.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�14 - Challenges from Archeology II
Discoveries
2. Modern finds
c. Between 1947 and 1956, eleven total caves were discovered which contained manuscripts. (More than thirty others contained pottery.)
d. At least 870 separate scrolls have been identified. Seven scrolls were intact.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�14 - Challenges from Archeology II
What is in the scrolls?
1. Physical contents
a. The documents were mostly in Hebrew, but also Aramaic and Greek.
b. Copies of books of the Bible, except Esther, and nonbiblical religious writings.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�14 - Challenges from Archeology II
What is in the scrolls?
2. The significance of Biblical materials
a. They are 1000 year older than previous manuscripts but are very similar to them.
b. They show that hand copying of the Bible did not change the content over this period. Jesus had the same Old Testament that we do.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�14 - Challenges from Archeology II
What is in the scrolls?
3. Why sometimes the scrolls and Masoretic Text differ.
a. Were different versions of the Hebrew text for a few books in wide circulation?
b. Did other Jewish communities recognize these alternate forms? We simply do not have the evidence to say as to where or why they arose.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�14 - Challenges from Archeology II
What is in the scrolls?
3. Why sometimes the scrolls and Masoretic Text differ.
c. The overwhelming majority of the text of the Bible is not in doubt. None of the differences changes a single scriptural teaching.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�14 - Challenges from Archeology II
What is in the scrolls?
4. Effects on the canon of the Scriptures
a. “The canon” is a specific set of writings identified as the inspired Word of God–there are 66 books and no others.
b. The Dead Sea Scrolls contain numerous books that today are called apocrypha and pseudepigrapha. Did the Qumran sect view these writings as Scripture?
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�14 - Challenges from Archeology II
What is in the scrolls?
4. Effects on the canon of the Scriptures
c. The Qumran Sect preserved quite a large number of religious writings, not all of which are in complete agreement with each other. There are multiple copies of several sectarian works which clearly were influential in expressing their theological positions. Were these viewed as authoritative, descriptive, or novel?
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�14 - Challenges from Archeology II
Jericho
1. Old Testament issues
a. Jericho is one of the oldest regularly inhabited sites in the world. Today it consists of a tel that has multiple layers of inhabited city beneath.
b. Recent excavations have shown that the walls of the city fell down in the 1400’s BC. They fell; they weren’t knocked down by siege engines.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�14 - Challenges from Archeology II
Jericho
1. Old Testament issues
c. The excavation also showed that the site was not plundered or subject to a siege. It furthered showed that the site was burned. (Joshua 6)
d. While we cannot prove from the archaeological evidence that the Joshua account is true, it is not disproven by the archaeological evidence either.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�14 - Challenges from Archeology II
Jericho
2. New Testament issues
a. Jesus healed a blind man named Bartimaeus.
b. Matthew and Mark state that this happened as Jesus was leaving Jericho, but Luke states that it happened as Jesus approached Jericho.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�14 - Challenges from Archeology II
Jericho
2. New Testament issues
c. There are several tels at the Jericho site. At the time of Christ there was the ancient city that had been inhabited since the time of King Ahab, as well as a Roman city, built by King Herod to collect tolls. Matthew and Mark might have looked at things from the Jewish viewpoint and Luke from the Roman viewpoint.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�14 - Challenges from Archeology II
The Isaiah Bulla
1. What was found.
a. In 2018, Professor Eilat Mazar of Hebrew University of Jerusalem announced the discovery of a bulla—the impression made from a seal—that might have be-longed to the prophet Isaiah. A bulla was made by pressing a seal into clay.
b. Bullae served several different purposes, such as signatures on documents or as receipts for payment.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�14 - Challenges from Archeology II
The Isaiah Bulla
1. What was found.
c. This particular bulla was found in situ in debris dated from the seventh or eighth century BC. About ten feet away, another bulla was found that clearly did belong to King Hezekiah, who often had dealings with Isaiah.
d. There is a question about the Isaiah bulla—it’s broken. It’s only about half an inch wide. It clearly has the name “Isaiah” written in Hebrew characters and the beginning of another word which may be “the prophet.”
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�14 - Challenges from Archeology II
The Isaiah Bulla
2. Its meaning.
a. It is the only archaeological discovery to date with Isaiah’s name on it. It might be physical evidence of a relationship between King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah, but that is not certain.
b. At most it gives some pause to people who want to question whether there really was a historic Isaiah at all.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�14 - Challenges from Archeology II
The James Ossuary
1. What is an ossuary?
a. An ossuary is a box that is filled with bones.
b. At Christ’s time, it was customary for Jewish families to lay their dead out in a tomb (usually a burial cave) and then to return when the flesh had decayed and to gather the bones into a box and often inscribe the name of the deceased on it.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�14 - Challenges from Archeology II
The James Ossuary
2. What was found.
a. An ossuary was found with an Aramaic inscription that read “James the son of Joseph the brother of Jesus.” Was this the man who wrote the epistle of James?
b. If authentic and if it really is talking about the James of the New Testament, this would be the oldest known reference to Jesus outside the Bible.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�14 - Challenges from Archeology II
The James Ossuary
2. What was found.
c. The ossuary did not come from an approved dig, so its provenance is unknown. The inscription is just twenty letters in Aramaic, but there is question whether it was forged at a later date.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�14 - Challenges from Archeology II
The James Ossuary
3. Its meaning.
a. The Israeli Antiquities Authority studied the issue and concluded the inscription was added later. Other scholars disagree.
b. Even if it is authentic, what would it prove? “Jesus” was a very common name at the time of Christ, as were “Joseph” and “James.”
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�14 - Challenges from Archeology II
The Lost Tomb of Jesus
1. The tomb of Jesus
a. What is the correct location of Jesus’ tomb? Significant archaeological evidence supports the location as being at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�14 - Challenges from Archeology II
The Lost Tomb of Jesus
1. The tomb of Jesus
b. In 2003 James Cameron and Simcha Jacobovici made a documentary called The Lost Tomb of Jesus. They claimed a tomb discovered in 1980 in Talpiot (in Jerusalem) was the family tomb of Jesus. Ten ossuaries were found in this tomb. They claimed that the James ossuary originally came from this tomb.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�14 - Challenges from Archeology II
The Lost Tomb of Jesus
2. Is it real?
a. The archaeological community swiftly and completely rejected all these claims. None of what Cameron claimed held water archaeologically, historically, or theologically.
b. Although it has been publicly debunked, it’s the kind of sensational thing that people will remember and bring up, without knowing how ridiculous it is. The Da Vinci Code is a similar example.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�14 - Challenges from Archeology II
The Shroud of Turin
1. What is the item?
a. The Shroud of Turin is a piece of cloth. It is 14 ½ feet long and 3 ½ feet wide. It is made of flax in a herringbone twill pattern.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�14 - Challenges from Archeology II
The Shroud of Turin
1. What is the item?
b. The two images on the Shroud are the front and the back of a naked man with his hands folded in front of his groin. The heads of the images are near each other in the middle. The feet are at opposite ends. The man has a beard and mustache and shoulder length hair, parted in the middle. He would have been almost six feet tall and is muscular in appearance.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�14 - Challenges from Archeology II
The Shroud of Turin
1. What is the item?
c. The Shroud is light brown in color with some reddish stains that some people believe are blood. It also has some holes where it was singed in a fire.
d. Many people believe that it is Jesus’ burial cloth and that the image was made when Jesus rose from the dead, presumably by a great flash of light.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�14 - Challenges from Archeology II
The Shroud of Turin
2. Is it real?
a. The shroud is consistent with the descriptions in Matthew, Mark, and Luke but not with that in John, who speaks of linen cloths.
b. Our information on first century Jewish burial customs is limited. The practice of using ossuaries means that we don’t often find a body still wearing its shroud.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�14 - Challenges from Archeology II
The Shroud of Turin
2. Is it real?
c. The Shroud of Turin is first mentioned in 1390. A letter from Pierre d’Arcis, the bishop of Lirey, France (where the Shroud was at that time) to Pope Clement VII calls it a forgery and says that the artist had confessed.
d. Radiocarbon testing was done on a fragment of the Shroud in 1988 by three separate laboratories. The tests yielded dates ranging from AD 1260-1390.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�14 - Challenges from Archeology II
The Shroud of Turin
2. Is it real?
e. Creating fake relics was a big business in the Medieval Ages.
f. The Roman Catholic Church has never officially accepted nor repudiated the Shroud.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�14 - Challenges from Archeology II
Noah’s Ark
1. Where might the ark be?
a. Mt. Ararat is on the eastern border of Turkey (Genesis 8:4). Legends have proliferated that the remnants of the ark are there.
b. The Hebrew actually speaks of “the mountains” in the plural, i.e., a mountain range. Due to name changes resulting from the many languages spoken in the region, the exact location is impossible to identify.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�14 - Challenges from Archeology II
Noah’s Ark
2. What has been found?
a. Expeditions to Ararat have occurred periodically since the 7th century. Numerous claims have been made, but no verifiable remnants of the ark have been found.
b. Various people have claimed to have seen the ark, but no reliable photographs exist. Despite TV specials, claims that the ark has been found lack evidence.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�14 - Challenges from Archeology II
Noah’s Ark
3. Verdict on the claims
a. It is difficult to take archaeological claims seriously when they cannot be verified. Even were the evidence compelling, we would still base our faith on what God says, while we rejoiced at his working to champion his truth.
b. Another example of a quixotic quest is the Ark of the Covenant.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�14 - Challenges from Archeology II
Meaning of archaeological finds
1. The Bible was wrong. This is often the conclusion of scholars, media figures and even the man in the street. It’s not an option for us. Faith is being certain of what is not seen. We accept what God says.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�14 - Challenges from Archeology II
Meaning of archaeological finds
2. The Bible was not wrong, but our interpretation of it was. We understood the biblical text as claiming something that, in fact, it does not. There are lots of reasons why this might be the case.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�14 - Challenges from Archeology II
Meaning of archaeological finds
3. The archaeologists’ data is not wrong but their interpretation of it is. They draw conclusions from the data that it does not support. This goes back to the difference between facts and artifacts.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�14 - Challenges from Archeology II
Meaning of archaeological finds
4. The archaeologists’ data is bad. What they found was not what they thought they had found (hoaxes, false provenances, etc.). This is difficult for us to evaluate. It usually takes time for things like this to come out.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�14 - Challenges from Archeology II
Meaning of archaeological finds
5. With our present state of knowledge, we cannot reconcile what archaeology says with what the Bible says. The apologist must remember the two per-cent rule and the accidental nature of nearly all historical and archaeological evidence.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�14 - Challenges from Archeology II
Summary
1. Final comments about archeology
a. Artifacts, arguments, and “proofs” are all used in one way or another to attach a truth claim to a standard, or an implied standard.
b. Archeology requires a certain level of professional expertise to use it properly. We need to do hard and honest work to evaluate the claims we hear in the media.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�14 - Challenges from Archeology II
Summary
2. Final comments about history
a. History rarely generates the media excitement that archaeology does.
b. The biggest single challenge in historical studies comes from submitting the Bible to the critical analysis of scholars, as if it were any other document.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�14 - Challenges from Archeology II
Summary
2. Final comments about history
c. While we dare not rest our faith on archaeology or historical research, we can use it to help us understand the times and the cultures in which the Bible was written.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�End of Lesson 14
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�15 - Challenges from Cognitive Psychology I
From youth on
1. Setting the stage
a. There is no such thing as a tabula rasa. At birth, children already have certain tendencies, including original sin, that will come into play when they are exposed to appropriate stimuli. Infants view the world only in terms of their own needs.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�15 - Challenges from Cognitive Psychology I
From youth on
1. Setting the stage
b. Children also have the inherent ability to place things into categories. It becomes almost automatic as their minds attempt both to group things as similar for identification but also to subcategorize them for ease of retrieval.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�15 - Challenges from Cognitive Psychology I
From youth on
1. Setting the stage
c. Some of this assignment is rule-based while other assignments are done through guessing. These approaches do not always work correctly, which is one reason why people sometimes misunderstand information.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�15 - Challenges from Cognitive Psychology I
From youth on
2. Building a mental matrix
a. As they age, children learn behavioral scripts by the same two mechanisms. Through reward, punishment, and observation a person develops a pattern of behavior which we call a culture, including attitudes toward religion.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�15 - Challenges from Cognitive Psychology I
From youth on
2. Building a mental matrix
b. Scripts are activated by specific triggers and are important to the brain’s ability to address issues without excessive thought. Such scripts affect how a person will react to words such as “church,” triggering a series of images and feelings.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�15 - Challenges from Cognitive Psychology I
From youth on
2. Building a mental matrix
c. Each person has an established mental matrix of information in the form of categories and scripts guiding his or her beliefs and actions. People develop beliefs, scripts, and mindsets in an effort to deal with a world which is too complex to understand.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�15 - Challenges from Cognitive Psychology I
From youth on
2. Building a mental matrix
d. To present an appropriate and effective defense of biblical truths, the apologist must probe not only the person’s beliefs but also the underpinnings of those beliefs, being cautious so as not to trigger defensive reactions.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�15 - Challenges from Cognitive Psychology I
Memory
1. Types of memory
a. Long-term memory stores processed information and scripts indefinitely in the cortex. It has an intricate retrieval system which allows the information and scripts to be brought into the subconscious or conscious mind for processing.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�15 - Challenges from Cognitive Psychology I
Memory
1. Types of memory
b. Short-term memory is the repository in the hippocampus for information newly arrived through the senses. It can hold about 7 chunks of information for up to 30 seconds. The information is then discarded or is transferred, after processing in which sleep plays an important role, into long-term memory.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�15 - Challenges from Cognitive Psychology I
Memory
1. Types of memory
c. The working memory is of short duration and used for learning, reasoning and comprehension, such as adding numbers “in our head.” It is located in the prefrontal cortex and is regarded as part of consciousness.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�15 - Challenges from Cognitive Psychology I
Memory
2. Limitations of the memory
a. It is not a photographic array that records events as they happen. This is true both due to the physical limitations of the memory and because the mind at all levels is operating based on scripts to prevent being swamped by new inputs.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�15 - Challenges from Cognitive Psychology I
Memory
2. Limitations of the memory
b. While using its current script to interpret the sensory inputs, the brain may find there is a mismatch between the inputs and what the script expects. The brain requires a metascript to watch for deviations and to quickly switch scripts.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�15 - Challenges from Cognitive Psychology I
Memory
2. Limitations of the memory
c. If everything fits together, the sensory input is allowed to slide out of short-term memory and be forgotten. When a notable incident does occur, the brain transfers information about the event from short-term to long-term memory.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�15 - Challenges from Cognitive Psychology I
Memory
2. Limitations of the memory
d. The memory image of the event, however, is not necessarily a truthful representation of the event that occurred, but rather a blended representation of our sensory inputs with the details of our current script.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�15 - Challenges from Cognitive Psychology I
Memory
2. Limitations of the memory
e. The poor blending of script and sensory input has produced many tragic consequences, like police shooting unarmed suspects. Moreover, all parties involved in an incident can genuinely remember the events differently based on their scripts.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�15 - Challenges from Cognitive Psychology I
Memory
3. Memory self-enhancement
a. Once an image is inserted into our long-term memory, our subconscious mind continues to refine the image to diminish our errors, remove our inappropriate actions or add positive information that didn’t happen but we wish would have.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�15 - Challenges from Cognitive Psychology I
Memory
3. Memory self-enhancement
b. We tend to see ourselves as more heroic or as more helpless. Our brains may even replace actors in an incident with others it feels are more appropriate. All this is done subconsciously, making our conscious mind really believe it.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�15 - Challenges from Cognitive Psychology I
Memory
3. Memory self-enhancement
c. When we present correct reasoning on a troubling theological issue, someone might indicate understanding the argument at the level of working memory, but have it distorted by a processing script when it is stored.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�15 - Challenges from Cognitive Psychology I
Memory
3. Memory self-enhancement
d. Due to original sin, we are all internally programmed to justify ourselves at the expense of others. It is not only a problem of our conscious minds, but it extends into all our subconscious memory processes.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�15 - Challenges from Cognitive Psychology I
Memory
3. Memory self-enhancement
e. When we discuss a topic with someone with whom we expect to have a continuing dialogue or with whom we will need to follow up to see whether our previous efforts have been correctly internalized, it is useful to write a note to ourselves so that we will remember our impressions at the time of the conversation. Written notes don’t change with time like our memories.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�15 - Challenges from Cognitive Psychology I
Personality types
1. People’s personalities differ greatly.
a. Children do not respond in the same manner to similar stimuli. This trend continues into adulthood.
b. People have different personalities, different goals, and different concerns. An apologist must recognize dissimilarities in people to be effective.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�15 - Challenges from Cognitive Psychology I
Personality types
1. People’s personalities differ greatly.
c. Dr. Carl Jung developed four criteria that have guided subsequent work for classifying personality types: nature of a person’s energy, his perception of information, his processing of information, and his use of the processed information.
d. Types are often combined into four personality styles.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�15 - Challenges from Cognitive Psychology I
Personality types
2. The decision-maker
a. She wants the key information summarized so that a decision can be made, a plan put into place and an action accomplished.
b. Christianity to this type of person is a group of clearly stated doctrines which have implications for personal behavior. (Business leaders and military officers)
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�15 - Challenges from Cognitive Psychology I
Personality types
3. The analyst
a. She wants all the detail and a carefully reasoned presentation. Evidence is important, and its organization is critical.
b. Christianity to this type of person is a set of interconnected doctrines, each related to the overall theme, which needs to be understood to be applied in the Christian’s life. (Engineers and accountants)
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�15 - Challenges from Cognitive Psychology I
Personality types
4. The communicator
a. She wants everyone to feel good about what is happening and needs to understand the people involved.
b. Christianity to this type of person is a community in which correct doctrines are part of the bond between people. (Clergymen and social workers)
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�15 - Challenges from Cognitive Psychology I
Personality types
5. The visionary
a. She sees the world differently than the obvious way it appears to others. She visualizes how things might be organized or done differently and sometimes seems completely detached from reality.
b. Christianity to this type of person involves interacting with a dynamic God who is continually renewing His people and His creation. (Artists and inventors)
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�15 - Challenges from Cognitive Psychology I
Personality types
6. Apologetic approach
a. Apologists must remember that they are not trying to convince themselves about the truths of God. They must shape their arguments to the nature of the person with whom they are dealing.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�15 - Challenges from Cognitive Psychology I
Personality types
6. Apologetic approach
b. Because few people are of one pure personality style, the apologist needs to probe to find which underlying personality type of the person is most easily reachable and which is dominating his or her view of the Gospel.
c. If the person is approached from a different perspective, the ability to get a profitable hearing will be greatly diminished.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�15 - Challenges from Cognitive Psychology I
The two-layer mind
1. System 1
a. System 1 (also called the “automatic brain”) simultaneously processes many inputs in a parallel manner and tries to synthesize the best solution based on the inputs and the accumulated biases that exist in its relevant script.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�15 - Challenges from Cognitive Psychology I
The two-layer mind
1. System 1
b. It is automatic and often works below the level of our conscious awareness. It allows us to walk, ride a bicycle and drive a car. We cannot do these well if System 1 has not been trained on the proper responses to make.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�15 - Challenges from Cognitive Psychology I
The two-layer mind
2. System 2
a. System 2 uses serial processing to analyze the inputs that it receives, which means it must consider the merits of each input, one after the other, relative to the previous inputs and make decisions accordingly.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�15 - Challenges from Cognitive Psychology I
The two-layer mind
2. System 2
b. It may even have to backtrack to previous decisions based on the information. This makes System 2 much slower than System 1. Yet, it is through System 2 that we learn and do our deeper thinking and analysis.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�15 - Challenges from Cognitive Psychology I
The two-layer mind
3. System 2 controls System 1
a. System 2 trains System 1 to handle as many tasks as possible. This is critical for daily life, but the shortcuts prejudice the decisions that System 1 makes.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�15 - Challenges from Cognitive Psychology I
The two-layer mind
3. System 2 controls System 1
b. System 2 is the master; it can override System 1, but this requires a positive action by System 2. Since System 1 is faster than System 2, System 2 is in the position of having to change a decision that System 1 has already sketched out.
c. If System 2 is distracted, unwilling to countermand that decision, or fatigued, the System 1 decision will prevail.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�15 - Challenges from Cognitive Psychology I
The two-layer mind
4. Points for apologetics
a. Both temptations from the devil and conversion by the Holy Spirit work with System 2. Apologists must direct their arguments for consideration by System 2.
b. A large amount of a person’s behavior is preprogrammed into System 1. Even if the Holy Spirit converts a person to faith, the System 1 programming does not automatically change. It retains pre-Christian attitudes and scripts.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�15 - Challenges from Cognitive Psychology I
The two-layer mind
4. Points for apologetics
c. Failure to give a new Christian adequate spiritual and emotional support can often lead to the new Christian’s System 2 becoming weary and giving up.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�15 - Challenges from Cognitive Psychology I
The two-layer mind
5. Urgency of training
a. Children must learn their catechism and memory work lessons well enough so they are placed into long-term memory linked with processes in System 1.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�15 - Challenges from Cognitive Psychology I
The two-layer mind
5. Urgency of training
b. Jesus’ followers must learn to serve Him through their actions by biasing their System 1 to automatically respond to the situations of life in a God-pleasing way that does not need conscious effort to take such actions. This requires constant study of God’s Word so that Satan will not successfully corrupt Systems 1 & 2.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�15 - Challenges from Cognitive Psychology I
Anchor points and deception
1. Definition of anchor point
a. An anchor point gives us a place from which to measure so that we can make judgments about such things as price, value, position or size.
b. Appropriately setting scriptural anchor points and uprooting secular anchor points is an important task of an apologist.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�15 - Challenges from Cognitive Psychology I
Anchor points and deception
2. Anchor point manipulation
a. Merchants often attempt to manipulate buying decisions and customer happiness by resetting their anchor points. Examples are sale prices, discounts, and extra charges that appear to make certain actions more favorable.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�15 - Challenges from Cognitive Psychology I
Anchor points and deception
2. Anchor point manipulation
b. Secular Humanists attack Christianity by manipulating the meanings of the Golden Rule (treat others as you yourself want to be treated), the Platinum Rule (treat others as they want to be treated), and the Rights Rule (treat others as they have a right to be treated).
c. Political correctness is just the “tradition of the elders” in another guise. There is a difference between taking offense and giving offense.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�15 - Challenges from Cognitive Psychology I
Anchor points and deception
3. God and anchor points
a. The question “How can you believe in a God who does X or lets Y happen?” is used by Humanists to cause us to change our anchor points to exclude X and Y from what we would consider a God capable of doing.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�15 - Challenges from Cognitive Psychology I
Anchor points and deception
3. God and anchor points
b. Through progressively limiting suggestions by Humanists about God’s nature (i.e., by their moving the anchor point of divine acceptability), most people have come to believe that God is much more humanistic than the Bible states.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�15 - Challenges from Cognitive Psychology I
Anchor points and deception
4. Changing anchor points by false compromise
a. The apologist must attack the legitimacy of these new anchor points. He or she must show that Humanists have been trying to mess with our minds.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�15 - Challenges from Cognitive Psychology I
Anchor points and deception
4. Changing anchor points by false compromise
b. The phrase “Certainly, we can agree that…” is often a false compromise to avoid the messy details that will call into question ideas Humanists want to use to induce our System 2 to train our System 1 to automatically reject anything that doesn’t fit what they are trying to cover with their “agreement.”
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�15 - Challenges from Cognitive Psychology I
Anchor points and deception
4. Changing anchor points by false compromise
c. For example, what does “Certainly, we can agree that everyone has a right to be treated with human dignity” mean? That no one should be starved or tortured or held without trial? That no matter how antisocial people act, they must be given total freedom and all the comforts of life? The Bible teaches that governments are to appropriately punish evil deeds.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�15 - Challenges from Cognitive Psychology I
Anchor points and deception
4. Changing anchor points by false compromise
d. The apologist must raise the issue of whether people are to be afforded dignity based on some intrinsic property of being human or because people are a special creation of God for whom Jesus died. We must avoid being backed into the trap of having to reject that which we had previously agreed was appropriate behavior or of having to reject some doctrine of the Scriptures that conflicts with it.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�End of Lesson 15
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�16 - Challenges from Cognitive Psychology II
Birds of a Feather
1. Avoiding the gunfight
a. We do not want to be forced into a do-or-die situation where we face some spiritual villain alone.
b. We want allies. It would seem that the bigger the coalition that we can build, the better our chances to avoid the theological gunfight that we fear.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�16 - Challenges from Cognitive Psychology II
Birds of a Feather
2. Unite to improve the world
a. Those who wish to develop a temporal paradise want harmony among all religious groups to gain this purpose, by downplaying critical doctrinal differences.
b. If we could assemble a larger group of the faithful, even if they have some diversity in beliefs, we could accomplish a great deal of good. This is the principle that if you are the enemy of my enemy, then you are my friend.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�16 - Challenges from Cognitive Psychology II
Birds of a Feather
2. Unite to improve the world
c. Accepting the apologetic “help” of other Christian bodies by forming a common front on some doctrine is asking for trouble. Things become even worse when the burden of the battle is shifted to us, even though others also benefit. It’s the old “let’s you and him fight” because he is our common enemy.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�16 - Challenges from Cognitive Psychology II
Birds of a Feather
3. Spiritual insurance for Judgment Day
a. Many fear the scenario of arriving at Judgment Day and discovering that they have bet on the wrong religious horse or that their deeds are much worse in God’s sight than they had imagined.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�16 - Challenges from Cognitive Psychology II
Birds of a Feather
3. Spiritual insurance for Judgment Day
b. Such people reason, if we all agree to recognize each other as fellow children of God, then we can all stand together and present a united front before God when the moment of judgment occurs. They comfort themselves by the thought that God wouldn’t dare damn everyone.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�16 - Challenges from Cognitive Psychology II
Birds of a Feather
4. Avoiding the trap of common cause
a. We all believe that we are strong enough not to fall into the trap of making common cause with false teachers, but they often apply social pressure.
b. The trap can involve merely wasting time, immoral or criminal behavior, doctrinal compromise, or showing a false flag. We must not be taken in by, “What’s wrong with a little X?”
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�16 - Challenges from Cognitive Psychology II
Birds of a Feather
4. Avoiding the trap of common cause
c. When faced with the opportunity to flock together with other birds, we must be certain that they really have the same type of feathers.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�16 - Challenges from Cognitive Psychology II
Faith and the Goals Hierarchy
1. The Christian’s highest goal
a. The Lord, the God of the Bible, expects the first place in our lives. From Mount Sinai He told the Israelites, “Do not have other gods besides me” (Exodus 20:3)
b. Jesus said, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, and even his own life—he cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:26).
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�16 - Challenges from Cognitive Psychology II
Faith and the Goals Hierarchy
2. Selecting other goals
a. People are naturally drawn to things that give them pleasure, and they learn to avoid things that cause them pain. The acceptable pain/pleasure ratio will vary by individual.
b. Both intrinsic motivators (e.g., a sense of accomplish-ment, a feeling of guilt) and extrinsic motivators (e.g., public acclaim, financial loss) play a role in goal setting, with extrinsic motivators often trumping intrinsic motivators.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�16 - Challenges from Cognitive Psychology II
Faith and the Goals Hierarchy
2. Selecting other goals
c. The lure for the Christian to elevate temporal goals above spiritual goals is ubiquitous. (A new car, a college degree, the school sports program, better facilities)
d. The sheer number of these that come cascading onto our list of goals can over-whelm our System 2s’ ability to properly evaluate their long-term significance.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�16 - Challenges from Cognitive Psychology II
Faith and the Goals Hierarchy
2. Selecting other goals
e. Psychological manipulation is used to create the illusion of urgency. Christians are led to put their faith on autopilot, permanently shifting their goals hierarchy.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�16 - Challenges from Cognitive Psychology II
Faith and the Goals Hierarchy
3. Defending against goal-shuffling
a. When someone says, “I know that I should be more committed to God, to the church, to reading my Bible, etc., but …,” what follows the “but” tells us how her heart has fallen under the psychological manipulation of the things of this world.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�16 - Challenges from Cognitive Psychology II
Faith and the Goals Hierarchy
3. Defending against goal-shuffling
b. The apologist must probe a person’s thinking with pointed questions to determine what factors people regard as important in establishing their goals hierarchy, so that the Law and/or the Gospel can be presented effectively.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�16 - Challenges from Cognitive Psychology II
Faith and the Goals Hierarchy
3. Defending against goal-shuffling
c. The Christian’s life strategy needs to involve the regular study of God’ Word, compiling a list of blessings and challenges, and deciding how each of the blessings will be used and how each of the challenges will be addressed.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�16 - Challenges from Cognitive Psychology II
Faith and the Goals Hierarchy
3. Defending against goal-shuffling
d. Priorities in terms of how these fit into a life of service to the Lord can then be established. The Lord will allow us to experience surprises. Having a plan, periodically revised, will prevent us from succumbing to the tyranny of the urgent.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�16 - Challenges from Cognitive Psychology II
Faith and the Goals Hierarchy
4. Thought experiments as a tool
a. How can a high school lad pursue a particular secular career, while imagining how he can serve the Lord while in it, maintain church connection while in college, find a job near a faithful church, and be a good husband and father?
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�16 - Challenges from Cognitive Psychology II
Faith and the Goals Hierarchy
4. Thought experiments as a tool
b. Will the education cost so much money as to hamper his other goals? Will the career put him into situations that are risky for maintaining Christian ethics?” All these types of questions need to be thought through.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�16 - Challenges from Cognitive Psychology II
Faith and the Goals Hierarchy
4. Thought experiments as a tool
c. Proactively strengthening someone’s intrinsic goals of the Christian faith vis-à-vis the extrinsic goals of the secular world will diminish the amount of work that is needed to later repair the damage done to their goals hierarchy by the world.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�16 - Challenges from Cognitive Psychology II
Cognitive Lessons about Education
1. Chain yanking
a. Hidden messages are programmed into much of the communication that we get.
b. Displays in stores are organized to encourage the purchase of specific items.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�16 - Challenges from Cognitive Psychology II
Cognitive Lessons about Education
1. Chain yanking
c. News stories are written to elicit emotion as well as to provide information.
d. Issues are framed to cause directed, rather than unbiased, decisions.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�16 - Challenges from Cognitive Psychology II
Cognitive Lessons about Education
2. The problem of overload
a. While the brain has a large long-term storage capacity, it is not limitless.
b. The organization of the information must be done by System 2, and this becomes more stressful as the amount of information grows. System 2 wears down so that it cannot handle other decision-making tasks.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�16 - Challenges from Cognitive Psychology II
Cognitive Lessons about Education
2. The problem of overload
c. The amount of time and effort needed to gain technical knowledge is time and effort which is not available to study God’s Word.
d. For many people, technology is becoming their real god.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�16 - Challenges from Cognitive Psychology II
Cognitive Lessons about Education
3. “Where did you hear that?”
a. People can check on the truthfulness of any statement on the omniscient internet. However, simply because someone posted something does not make it true.
b. The American public is highly gullible. The first thing people hear about a subject frequently sets the anchor point for judging all subsequent information.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�16 - Challenges from Cognitive Psychology II
Cognitive Lessons about Education
3. “Where did you hear that?”
c. It is important to collect knowledge about the sources of information so that the reliability of the information from the source can be determined. This is particularly true when someone claims that the Bible says a certain thing.
d. The greatest lesson that one can learn from cognitive psychology is that failing to study is the surest way to be deceived.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�16 - Challenges from Cognitive Psychology II
Cognitive Lessons about Education
3. “Where did you hear that?”
e. Both failure to learn and learning from the wrong sources will place people’s souls at great risk. People must be urged to read sound religious materials at their level of comprehension on a continuing basis.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�16 - Challenges from Cognitive Psychology II
Neural Research
1. The brain
a. The human brain is the center of the nervous system. It contains many billions of neurons. It is divided into sections, such as the cerebrum, thalamus, hypothala-mus, tectum, tegmentum, cerebellum, pons, and medulla.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�16 - Challenges from Cognitive Psychology II
Neural Research
1. The brain
b. The brain can be mapped by Computed Axial Tomography (CAT), Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), Magnetoencephalography (MEG) and Positron Emission Tomography (PET). These are now routine types of brain study.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�16 - Challenges from Cognitive Psychology II
Neural Research
2. Neural research on religious practices
a. Some researchers study the effects on the brain of performing certain religious practices. Such studies show consistent patterns for the various types of religious activities.
b. They showed religious practices were firmly rooted in brain activity. The patterns differed by the type of activities, but not necessarily by the beliefs of the subjects.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�16 - Challenges from Cognitive Psychology II
Neural Research
2. Neural research on religious practices
c. Religious practices improve mental alertness and health, particularly among the senior population, but the effects seem independent of the belief system.
d. The research indicated that religious activity activated those parts of the brain that increased contentment and a sense of well-being, but they were independent of the religion of the participants.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�16 - Challenges from Cognitive Psychology II
Neural Research
3. The brain and God
a. The brain changes our concept of god. The various parts of the brain want different types of “gods” to which they can relate. The parts of the brain seem to cause people to assign specific attributes to their image of god.
b. Some brain patterns are more consistent with desiring an angry god that punishes its enemies, while other patterns correlate to seeking a god that is benevolent.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�16 - Challenges from Cognitive Psychology II
Neural Research
3. The brain and God
c. People need to be taught that God can relate to them in the way that they need Him to establish a relationship with Him within the framework of His Law and Gospel. We need to start where people are so the Holy Spirit can bring them to where they need to be.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�16 - Challenges from Cognitive Psychology II
Neural Research
4. The near-death experience
a. The Lord did not create humans to die, but since the fall, death is inevitable.
b. The human mind has developed scripts to deal with dying, just as it has developed scripts to deal with other scenarios from slipping on the ice to witnessing a bank robbery.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�16 - Challenges from Cognitive Psychology II
Neural Research
4. The near-death experience
c. The script for dying will be incomplete because no one has a lot of experience with dying. It will also be colored by the person’s culture and by what he or she has previously heard about dying.
d. Some people who enter the near-death state will have their minds at some lower level implement such a script and begin feeding the conscious mind the information from the “dying” script. Things in the script will seem real.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�16 - Challenges from Cognitive Psychology II
Neural Research
4. The near-death experience
e. While what happens in the dying script seems very real to the person involved, the person is not really dead because the brain is still functioning at some level.
f. The apologist should not interpret any figures or events in these near-death experiences as being real but should rather assure the person that at the time of death their soul will be brought before God for judgment. The apologist need not challenge experiences which people believe that they have had.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�16 - Challenges from Cognitive Psychology II
Analytic Paralysis
1. Denial of reality
a. Our long-term memory is not reliable. Its mechanisms protect what we remember to be true from alteration by new evidence which we do not like.
b. Healthy skepticism about new information is warranted to prevent being gullible and being blown to and fro by every wind of change. The unwillingness to consider or discuss an issue can be a sign of a deeper psychological problem.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�16 - Challenges from Cognitive Psychology II
Analytic Paralysis
1. Denial of reality
c. Denialism is rooted in the fallacy called the appeal to absurdity. Something is claimed to be absurd; so, it cannot be true. This mindset prevents people from even considering scriptural evidence that is opposed to their ideas of God.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�16 - Challenges from Cognitive Psychology II
Analytic Paralysis
1. Denial of reality
d. Denialists often resort to another logical fallacy called moving the goalposts. They sometimes agree to consider evidence that could prove them wrong if it is produced. When such evidence is produced, they demand further evidence.
e. If a position is truly denialist, the apologist will make no progress reasoning with the person because his or her heart will not accept scriptural arguments.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�16 - Challenges from Cognitive Psychology II
Analytic Paralysis
2. The grand conspiracy theory
a. Some people so strongly believe they are right about some matter that the only explanation why everyone does not think the same way is that they have been duped by a broad-based conspiracy which is suppressing their evidence.
b. Those who try to raise objections to this line of reasoning are accused of being part of the conspiracy.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�16 - Challenges from Cognitive Psychology II
Analytic Paralysis
2. The grand conspiracy theory
c. Certainly, there can be collusion, as when competitors divide up the market or an “old-boys’ network” steers contracts to members of the club or people agree to hide evidence of a crime to shield a prominent person. These are small-scale operations with a very limited number of players, not grand conspiracies.
d. People will conspire and act dishonestly for their own advantage and to promote causes which are harmful to the faith of Christians.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�16 - Challenges from Cognitive Psychology II
Analytic Paralysis
2. The grand conspiracy theory
e. The LORD will not let the devil so organize the world against the beliefs of his elect so as to destroy them, but he will cause the hellish hosts to frequently fall all over themselves in their opposition to the divine will.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�16 - Challenges from Cognitive Psychology II
Analytic Paralysis
2. The grand conspiracy theory
f. We should never claim something is based on malevolence that can be explained by mere incompetence or ignorance or assert that people’s natural hostility to the Gospel must imply that they are part of a conspiracy.
g. The Scriptures are the firm foundation against which even the gates of hell cannot prevail.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�16 - Challenges from Cognitive Psychology II
Analytic Paralysis
3. Summary
a. We should be aware of how easy it is to manipulate human thinking by altering its reference points and by changing decision environments.
b. We are all gullible by nature, and it is even worse in matters concerning our souls, because Satan and his hosts are working to deceive us.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�16 - Challenges from Cognitive Psychology II
Analytic Paralysis
3. Summary
c. As a result, we must study the Word of God diligently.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�End of Lesson 16
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�17 - The Christian Church I
What is a “church”?
1. Setting the stage
a. “Church” can mean a “building,” a “congregation,” a “church body,” a “denomination,” a “synod,” a “conference,” or all Christians.
b. For Lutherans, the Holy Christian Church is a technical term that means all true believers in Jesus Christ of every time and place.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�17 - The Christian Church I
What is a “church”?
2. The invisible church
a. In the Apostles’ Creed, we confess, “I believe in the Holy Christian Church, the communion of saints.” The Christian church is an article of faith.
b. The visible church is every congregation and church body we can see. The invisible church is everyone who shares faith in Christ. Only God can see it.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�17 - The Christian Church I
What is a “church”?
3. Marks of the church
a. The Gospel in Word and sacrament shows God’s power to accomplish His purpose. Wherever you find the Gospel (even if it is somewhat adulterated by false teaching), you can assume there are believers present.
b. A person’s confession of faith lets us make a provisional identification of who is and who isn’t a member of the invisible church.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�17 - The Christian Church I
Membership in a church
1. The dilemma of membership
a. When they claim membership in a church and/or other religious organization, many people today will say that it is generally accepted that someone might not agree with everything that a church or an organization says or does.
b. Membership without complete commitment to a church’s teachings creates a dilemma. How does the world at large know which things a specific member agrees with and which ones he or she disagrees with?
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�17 - The Christian Church I
Membership in a church
2. The nature of membership
a. A person’s confession is not a perfect indicator of faith. Some believers hide their faith. Some people join a visible church and echo its confession without actually believing it. However, membership in a visible church is a confession of its faith.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�17 - The Christian Church I
Membership in a church
2. The nature of membership
b. The invisible church (“the body of Christ,” “the household of God,” “the new Jerusalem,” “the people of God”) is made up of individuals who are true believers, but it is also a community interconnected in their faith.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�17 - The Christian Church I
Membership in a church
3. The nature of the church
a. The Holy Christian Church is holy not in the sense that we Christians stop sinning. It is holy in the sense that God declares us to be holy on the basis of the life, death and resurrection of Christ.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�17 - The Christian Church I
Membership in a church
3. The nature of the church
b. The church is Christian in the simple sense that it hopes in Christ alone. The modern emphasis on religious diversity and coexistence is not part of the Christian faith. Nevertheless, the Holy Christian Church transcends denominations.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�17 - The Christian Church I
Membership in a church
3. The nature of the church
c. If this is true, why can’t everyone worship together? In heaven we will. We will enjoy perfect fellowship with all members of the Holy Christian Church. On earth, however, our church membership is still a part of our confession of faith.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�17 - The Christian Church I
Membership in a church
3. The nature of the church
d. God tells us to watch out for those who teach things that are contrary to what we have learned and to avoid them. This means that we must not join with them in supporting common ministries or in proclaiming the Gospel.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�17 - The Christian Church I
Membership in a church
3. The nature of the church
e. Because we cannot tell who truly has faith, we cannot separate the invisible church from the visible church. But God does know the difference. It is the believers within visible churches that make those bodies “church.”
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�17 - The Christian Church I
Membership in a church
3. The nature of the church
f. The power is in the Gospel, not in the preacher. As long as Christ is preached, the Holy Spirit works. That comforts us when we act as apologists. The Gospel is God’s power. It will accomplish His purpose.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�17 - The Christian Church I
Making Disciples
1. Proclaiming
a. The church exists to enlighten the hearts and minds of those who are inside of it and those who are not. The church exists to prick consciences in this world, like salt, by proclaiming the Law and the Gospel.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�17 - The Christian Church I
Making Disciples
1. Proclaiming
b. When Jesus gave the Great Commission, He told us to make disciples of all nations by telling what He has done. Making disciples is more than just sharing the Gospel. It’s leading Christians to follow their LORD for as long as they live.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�17 - The Christian Church I
Making Disciples
1. Proclaiming
c. Mission work is an essential part of the church’s work. It does this in different ways. Individual Christians simply talk about their faith. Congregations reach out into their own communities, and they support sending missionaries elsewhere.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�17 - The Christian Church I
Making Disciples
1. Proclaiming
d. Churches should not engage in concerted efforts to “steal sheep” from other Christian congregations; however, they should accept members of other churches who feel they are not being well-fed there.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�17 - The Christian Church I
Making Disciples
2. Discipling
a. We make disciples on numerous levels. Not only do we baptize our children, but we also teach them to know their Savior. God commands parents to raise their children in the faith.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�17 - The Christian Church I
Making Disciples
2. Discipling
b. Another key component to making disciples is discipline. The purpose is love. Love demands that we risk wrath and hurt feelings by confronting issues of sin, before a lack of repentance destroys faith and robs that person of eternal life.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�17 - The Christian Church I
Making Disciples
2. Discipling
c. Part of making disciples is the church’s ongoing need to provide comfort for the troubled and the afflicted. But we need to be careful here. The comfort of the Gospel is different from the comfort that comes from therapy.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�17 - The Christian Church I
Making Disciples
2. Discipling
d. Many medical professionals point to studies that show that religious people often respond to treatment better than non-religious people and that pastoral care in the hospital can help with the healing process. However, the real work of a pastor in such situations is to point the sick and troubled to the LORD.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�17 - The Christian Church I
The Holy Ministry
1. What is the public ministry?
a. St. Paul made it clear that the public ministry is God’s will when he wrote that Jesus Himself gave some to be apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. He also asked how anyone can preach unless he is sent.
b. In the Lutheran church, the public ministry is focused on the work of pastors and teachers. The administration of the sacraments is generally a pastoral function.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�17 - The Christian Church I
The Holy Ministry
1. What is the public ministry?
c. The Bible does not specify educational or organizational requirements for ministers. The Bible does invest the Law-and-Gospel authority in the ministry.
d. Ministers speak as Christ’s representatives and point exclusively to Him. They are called to show the exact same kind of humility and self-sacrifice that He did.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�17 - The Christian Church I
The Holy Ministry
2. Attacks on the ministry
a. Ministers are the most visible part of the church’s operation, so it’s not surprising that the ministry has often been a lightning rod for controversy and attacks.
b. Attacks on institutionalized religion generally assume dishonesty by church leaders. They charge that the church is now all about power, not people.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�17 - The Christian Church I
The Holy Ministry
2. Attacks on the ministry
c. Has the “institutional church” became obsessed with power? In some cases, yes. But Jesus warned those who lead that they were to be servants, not masters, just as he came to serve.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�17 - The Christian Church I
Miscellaneous issues
1. The Role of Women in the Church
a. The true purpose of the church is to rescue all people, male and female, slaves and free, of all races, from the power of sin.
b. The holy ministry was established by Christ. Although some women supported Jesus’ ministry, none were given ministry roles or called to be apostles.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�17 - The Christian Church I
Miscellaneous issues
1. The Role of Women in the Church
c. The ministry is an institution of service, not of power and glory. The role of a follower is no less important or less beneficial to the church than being a leader. God calls men and women to serve Him in different ways.
d. God himself denies women any role in the church where they teach or exercise authority over men. Faith accepts God’s words and plan; it does not distort them.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�17 - The Christian Church I
Miscellaneous issues
1. The Role of Women in the Church
e. The apologist would do well to distinguish between role and value. Every human being is worth the blood of the Son of God to the Father. Yet not everyone is called to be a pastor. God has assigned different roles in life to different people.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�17 - The Christian Church I
Miscellaneous issues
1. The Role of Women in the Church
f. Leaders must avoid the sin of chauvinism. Women are created by God and gifted, just as men are. We must commit ourselves to giving women the full scope of opportunities to serve that God allows in his Word.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�17 - The Christian Church I
Miscellaneous issues
2. The Priesthood of All Believers
a. The New Testament teaches that all believers have access to God. All believers can ask for forgiveness and approach Him directly. All believers can share the Gospel and apply it.
b. “Christian vocation” is applied to secular jobs and even to different roles in life. Christian people serve the LORD when they fulfill their roles.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�17 - The Christian Church I
Miscellaneous issues
2. The Priesthood of All Believers
c. Ministers serve as Christ’s representatives to the church and as the church’s representatives to the world. They provide leadership in the visible church.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�17 - The Christian Church I
Miscellaneous issues
3. Public Sin in the Church
a. God doesn’t call us to defend ourselves, except by the testimony of our lives. Our vindication comes when Jesus returns. We may experience lies like Jesus Himself experienced. Our enemies know their claims aren’t true, but still make them.
b. However, we may need to present a defense because the attacks on the church have a purpose, namely, to discredit our message by discrediting the messenger.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�17 - The Christian Church I
Miscellaneous issues
3. Public Sin in the Church
c. Church members sometimes fall into public sin. We cannot allow these public sins to be used to deny the truth of the Gospel. “Christians aren’t perfect, just forgiven.” We need to acknowledge sinful failings on the part of believers.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�17 - The Christian Church I
Miscellaneous issues
3. Public Sin in the Church
d. Another attempt to discredit the church is to claim widespread corruption. Church leaders are painted as hypocrites who engage in illicit sex or financial shenanigans. We must point out that all Christians are not this way.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�17 - The Christian Church I
Miscellaneous issues
3. Public Sin in the Church
e. Jesus certainly warned us about wolves in sheep’s clothing. We must point out that the vast majority of pastors ministers to congregations where fewer than 100 people gather for Sunday worship and are poorly paid.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�17 - The Christian Church I
Miscellaneous issues
3. Public Sin in the Church
f. Corruption happens in all areas of life. Politicians get caught in compromising situations, and teachers sometimes go to jail for their misbehavior. God’s grace is independent of those who preach it. The Holy Spirit was still working.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�17 - The Christian Church I
Problems in the ancient church
1. The time of the apostles and apostolic fathers
a. The ancient church was far from united. There were numerous false teachers. There was Judaizing and issues concerning what the Old Testament law means for the New Testament believer.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�17 - The Christian Church I
Problems in the ancient church
1. The time of the apostles and apostolic fathers
b. Gnosticism became a major issue in the second century and divided the church. Gnosticism was a religious movement that burrowed into Christianity, introducing false teachings which then multiplied and mutated into various forms.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�17 - The Christian Church I
Problems in the ancient church
2. Controversies that divided the church in the 3rd through 5th centuries
a. The Trinitarian Controversies dealt with what it means that we worship the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Nicene Creed, written in AD 325 and enhanced in AD 381, represents the summary of the church’s answer to this controversy.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�17 - The Christian Church I
Problems in the ancient church
2. Controversies that divided the church in the 3rd through 5th centuries
b. The Christological Controversies grew out of the Trinitarian Controversies. They dealt with what it means that Jesus is both God and man. They were resolved with a creed called the Definition of Chalcedon in AD 451.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�17 - The Christian Church I
The Great Schism
1. Greek/Latin division
a. The church soon produced two great streams of theology and tradition, an Eastern stream of Greek-speaking theologians centered in Antioch and Alexandria and a Western stream of Latin speakers centered in northern Africa and Rome.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�17 - The Christian Church I
The Great Schism
1. Greek/Latin division
b. In the East, the importance of the office of the bishop became the rallying point of the church against false doctrine. The bishops embodied the unity of the church. A major theologian was Ignatius.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�17 - The Christian Church I
The Great Schism
1. Greek/Latin division
c. In the West, thinking about the church revolved around the doctrine of penance. Rather than something that involves the heart, it was conceived as a way to get back into God’s good graces. A major theologian was Tertullian. He laid the groundwork that would develop into the Roman Catholic penitential system.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�17 - The Christian Church I
The Great Schism
2. The rivalry
a. In both East and West, the episcopal structure became entrenched. There was a conflict over authority. The bishop of Rome claimed authority over the entire church. The bishops in the East regarded several key Eastern bishoprics as being equal to him.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�17 - The Christian Church I
The Great Schism
2. The rivalry
b. In AD 1054, after centuries of doctrinal and practical disputes, the two churches separated. They had much in common, but struggles over church politics and a klecks of doctrinal issues have kept them separate for a thousand years.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�End of Lesson 17
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�18 - The Christian Church II
The Lutheran Reformation – based on three “sola’s”
1. Sola gratia - The Lutheran church understands grace as God’s work and His alone. Any teaching that in any way makes human beings responsible for the things that God does runs contrary to all Lutheran and Biblical theology.
2. Sola fide - There is not any hint of merit on the part of fallen mankind. God saves the elect by faith. God calls them righteous by faith. Our Lutheran forefathers liked to call faith “the hand that grasps God’s grace.” Faith is simply trust. God gives us faith.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�18 - The Christian Church II
The Lutheran Reformation – based on three “sola’s”
3. Sola scriptura - The Scripture is inspired by God. He gave every word of the Bible (in its original languages) to the men who wrote it; therefore, it is the only source and standard for doctrine and a Christian life.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�18 - The Christian Church II
The Lutheran Reformation – based on three “sola’s”
4. Post-Reformation events
a. The Lutheran Church has adopted a set of writings called the Lutheran Confessions to summarize its teachings.
b. In the 17th century, Pietism arose in the Lutheran Church with a legitimate concern for Christians living their faith, but it fell into an indifference to doctrine.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�18 - The Christian Church II
Protestant Christianity
1. Calvinism
a. John Calvin’s (1509-1564) approach to theology was different than Luther’s. Calvinism is characterized by a rigorous intellectual approach to matters of faith.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�18 - The Christian Church II
Protestant Christianity
1. Calvinism
b. TULIP stands for total depravity, unconditional election (double predestination), limited atonement (Jesus died only for the elect), irresistible grace (God’s call to faith cannot be resisted) and perseverance of the saints (a true believer cannot fall away, “once saved, always saved”).
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�18 - The Christian Church II
Protestant Christianity
1. Calvinism
c. Calvin made human reason the judge of theology (the magisterial use of reason). Lutherans have always acknowledged that Calvin’s views are very logical, but they are simply not in accord with what the Bible says.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�18 - The Christian Church II
Protestant Christianity
1. Calvinism
d. Pure Calvinism is relatively rare today. The apologist should be aware of it because the elevation of reason, which is the heart of Calvinism, pervades our world today. Rational people demand that God’s Word make sense to them.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�18 - The Christian Church II
Protestant Christianity
2. Arminianism
a. Jacob Arminius (1560-1609) rejected the TULIP principle and started a movement that exalts the role of feelings, which is why emotionalism is so prevalent in the church today. John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, was a major adherent.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�18 - The Christian Church II
Protestant Christianity
2. Arminianism
b. The whole Evangelical movement is Arminian in outlook, including Pentecostal/Charismatic groups, Holiness bodies, and Baptists. This strain of thought is the majority view of conservative, non-Catholic Christianity in America today.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�18 - The Christian Church II
Protestant Christianity
2. Arminianism
c. Most Arminians believe that sin damages us and leaves us in need of God’s grace but that we still have some good left in us and can respond to God’s call. Their teaching on election is confusing.
d. Arminians correctly argue that Jesus died for all people and acknowledge that believers can fall away. They replace irresistible grace with decision theology.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�18 - The Christian Church II
Protestant Christianity
2. Arminianism
e. Arminians have an imperfect understanding of the relationship between the Law and the Gospel. Lutherans preach the Law in order to be able to proclaim the Gospel. Evangelicals tend to be more concerned about improving people morally.
f. Arminian theology is very much a blend of reason, emotion, and subjectivity. This blend produces arguments that are only satisfying to someone who already holds to all the Arminian positions.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�18 - The Christian Church II
The Ecumenical Movement/Modern Liberalism
1. The Enlightenment
a. The Enlightenment swept Europe in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. It entered the German universities as Rationalism, which sought to subject Christianity’s truth claims to standards of human reason and knowledge.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�18 - The Christian Church II
The Ecumenical Movement/Modern Liberalism
1. The Enlightenment
b. Rationalism developed theories about the composition of the Bible that assumed an evolution of the text, and it doubted or denied the authorship that many Biblical books claim for themselves. It accepted Darwin’s theory of evolution.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�18 - The Christian Church II
The Ecumenical Movement/Modern Liberalism
2. The Enlightenment splintered the church
a. In 20th-century America, churches went through theological struggles over the inspiration and authority of the Bible. Was it plenary or full inspiration of the Bible or was it general inspiration, requiring periodic reinterpretation?
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�18 - The Christian Church II
The Ecumenical Movement/Modern Liberalism
2. The Enlightenment splintered the church
b. Lutherans experienced the same battles but were also influenced by the Confessional Awakening that took place in Germany in the 19th century. It arrived in America with the immigrants soon thereafter.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�18 - The Christian Church II
The Ecumenical Movement/Modern Liberalism
2. The Enlightenment splintered the church
c. The divisions in Lutheranism today derive directly from this debate. Liberal Lutheranism, like liberal Christianity in general, does not see the Bible as the inspired and inerrant Word of God nor the Confessions as timeless witnesses.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�18 - The Christian Church II
The Ecumenical Movement/Modern Liberalism
2. The Enlightenment splintered the church
d. Conservative Lutherans cling to the inerrancy of the Scriptures and the historical position of the Confessions. They have begun referring to themselves as “Confessional Lutherans.”
e. As time passed, the internal struggle within church bodies was replaced with a general division of churches between conservative and liberal bodies.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�18 - The Christian Church II
The Ecumenical Movement/Modern Liberalism
2. The Enlightenment splintered the church
f. A general movement, called the ecumenical movement, was founded with the vision of uniting the Christian church on earth into one organization.
g. The ecumenical movement downplayed doctrine. Fundamental teachings like the Trinity and the Person of Christ have been reinterpreted by claiming that the Bible does not actually teach these doctrines, rather that they were developed by the early church.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�18 - The Christian Church II
The Ecumenical Movement/Modern Liberalism
2. The Enlightenment splintered the church
h. The key issue is: can what the Bible says about God and about Christ be expressed in a set of universally valid propositions, like the Nicene Creed? They answer “no”. As Lutherans, we insist the only possible answer must be “yes.”
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�18 - The Christian Church II
The Ecumenical Movement/Modern Liberalism
2. The Enlightenment splintered the church
i. The apologist needs to understand the scriptural basis for these teachings and to be able to demonstrate that this is what God’s Word teaches. This reality allows us to view the human process that led to the creeds, with all the sinful foibles of man that it exhibits, as a tremendous testimony to the grace of God.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�18 - The Christian Church II
The Ecumenical Movement/Modern Liberalism
2. The Enlightenment splintered the church
j. Skeptics look at the divisions in the Christian church and dismiss them as so much fighting about nothing. They see these things as sapping the life out of whatever efforts the church might undertake that would be of value.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�18 - The Christian Church II
The Ecumenical Movement/Modern Liberalism
2. The Enlightenment splintered the church
k. The apologist must understand that divisions in the visible church are inevitable so long as we live in a sinful world. The Bible tells us that the truth will come under attack, not just by outside enemies, but also by some who are inside the visible church. Jesus told us to be prepared to face them.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�18 - The Christian Church II
The Ecumenical Movement/Modern Liberalism
2. The Enlightenment splintered the church
l. The apologist needs to understand the difference between the evolution of doctrine (with the implication that the church decides what to believe) and the growth in our understanding of scriptural truth. God’s teaching does not change.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�18 - The Christian Church II
The Ecumenical Movement/Modern Liberalism
2. The Enlightenment splintered the church
m. We should not allow the skeptic to subject Christianity to a different standard than any other field of study. We must insist that growing in our understanding of the message is very different from developing a doctrine or choosing what we will believe.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�18 - The Christian Church II
Distinction between Church and State
1. Their basic relationship
a. The church and the state are both agents of the LORD but assigned different missions by Him. The mission of the state is to maintain peace and security for those who reside within its dominion in this sin-riddled world.
b. From the description of their missions, it should be clear that the church and state are complementary organizations. One works in the spiritual realm and the other in the physical realm.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�18 - The Christian Church II
Distinction between Church and State
1. Their basic relationship
c. The church should not force its teachings on any who are not its members. The state should not create laws which inhibit the church from carrying out its mission or propagate its own standard of morality (e.g., political correctness).
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�18 - The Christian Church II
Distinction between Church and State
1. Their basic relationship
d. Nations sometimes seek the blessing of the church’s moral authority to strengthen their hands in certain policy areas. Churches sometimes seek the state’s sup-port to coerce obedience from their members or leverage their opponents.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�18 - The Christian Church II
Distinction between Church and State
2. Moral Suasion
a. The church must proclaim the moral law that forbids its members to engage in sinful actions mandated by the government. It also must remind the government that as God’s agent, it does have specific responsibilities that it must carry out.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�18 - The Christian Church II
Distinction between Church and State
2. Moral Suasion
b. The church should never endorse any particular program of the government to meet its responsibilities. For example, the church might call upon the government to address the rise of crime in an area, but it must not lobby for specific solutions.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�18 - The Christian Church II
Religious Politics
1. Twentieth century history
a. In the mid-20th century, liberal Protestant churches became involved in the civil rights and anti-war movements. This led many worshippers to have concerns over making common cause with political radicals and even revolutionaries.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�18 - The Christian Church II
Religious Politics
1. Twentieth century history
b. Then the religious right came into its own as a political force. Rooted in the Evangelical movement, the Moral Majority, the Christian Coalition, and Focus on the Family made abortion and family values major political issues.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�18 - The Christian Church II
Religious Politics
1. Twentieth century history
c. The attempt to make Christian values a political issue opens a line of attack for enemies of the Gospel. Trying to advance a Christian agenda through political action undercuts its dependence on the Gospel to make disciples.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�18 - The Christian Church II
Religious Politics
2. Apologetics
a. The sanctity of human life and of marriage, the sinfulness of sex outside of marriage, and the sinfulness of homosexual behavior are issues to which God’s Word speaks. We need to debate these matters calmly, not with angry words.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�18 - The Christian Church II
Religious Politics
2. Apologetics
b. Debating homosexuality or gay marriage or abortion will not bring anyone into the kingdom of Heaven. Unbelievers have suppressed the natural law that God wrote in their hearts on these issues.
c. We will have more success focusing on things that the other person knows are wrong and feels guilty about. We can bring the Gospel to bear on these questions.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�18 - The Christian Church II
The Christian and the State
1. The Christian as a citizen
a. While the visible church’s relations with the state must be restricted based on their differing missions, the church’s members are integral parts of the state as well as the church and need to behave as good citizens of the state.
b. This means that Christians must obey the laws of the state because each Christian serves the LORD by doing so.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�18 - The Christian Church II
The Christian and the State
1. The Christian as a citizen
c. A Christian must disobey the laws when the laws require the Christian to blaspheme the LORD or disobey his clearly stated will. Christians may not disobey laws simply because they don’t like them or because the laws are “stupid.”
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�18 - The Christian Church II
The Christian and the State
1. The Christian as a citizen
d. Christians may not refuse to pay taxes because some of the money is used for purposes they find immoral or reprehensible. Just because the state permits immoral behavior, however, does not mean that a Christian may engage in it.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�18 - The Christian Church II
Christian liberty versus civil liberties
1. Christian liberty
a. Christian freedom is a spiritual state that impacts almost all that we do and say as Christians. It is not the right to do whatever we want, so long as we don’t hurt anyone. The Bible never speaks of freedom or liberty as a right.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�18 - The Christian Church II
Christian liberty versus civil liberties
1. Christian liberty
b. Christian liberty manifests itself in the freedom to choose how to behave in matters of adiaphora. The Bible tells us that we should not judge others when they use their Christian liberty, even if we do not agree with their choices.
c. The choices that a Christian makes should not be self-centered, but rather should reflect a heart changed by the Gospel to glorify God and to serve our fellowmen.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�18 - The Christian Church II
Christian liberty versus civil liberties
2. Civil liberties
a. Although some people might prefer the word “freedoms” to “rights” when discussing what they feel their society owes them, everyone does expect some level of respect for their personal prerogatives by the nation in which they reside.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�18 - The Christian Church II
Christian liberty versus civil liberties
2. Civil liberties
b. The church’s concern over civil rights is solely in regard to issues that affect its ability to carry out its mission and to the individual Christians’ ability to practice their religion. The church has no specific program concerning how secular societies should operate.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�18 - The Christian Church II
Religious Persecution
1. There is a long history of physical persecution against Christians by the state and by other religious groups.
2. Efforts to use psychological manipulation of popular opinion concerning authority and freedom date back to the French Revolution. Such tactics are being used to change the public perception of the proper role of the Christian church in society.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�18 - The Christian Church II
Religious Persecution
3. Secularists hide behind legitimate political issues and use them to direct resentment against the Christian church as a pervasive bulwark of entrenched obstructionism. The entertainment media has represented traditional Christians as bigots. Guarantees written in constitutions mean nothing if the public attitude changes to such an extent that everyone looks the other way when churches are restricted in their teachings.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�End of Lesson 18
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�19 - Afterward & Appendix III
Dealing with Malicious Attacks
1. The role of the apologist
a. The apologist needs to carefully untangle the knotty political and religious issues. The structure of a government and the nature of the civil liberties it grants are legitimate political issues, with no direct bearing on the church.
b. The apologist must be concerned because these efforts often try to influence Christian consciences and to impose legal restrictions on the teachings of the church.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�19 - Afterward & Appendix III
Dealing with Malicious Attacks
1. Psychological tactics
a. Ascribing corporate guilt to the church by blaming church members as a whole for the sinful actions of a few or for historical events in which current members had no involvement. This is done to leverage the practices of the church or to undermine its legitimacy. Guilt by association fallacy.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�19 - Afterward & Appendix III
Dealing with Malicious Attacks
1. Psychological tactics
b. Merely because the church shares some of the same goals or opinions with some other person or some other group does not mean that it is of one mind with them in all matters. This is the fallacy of the undistributed middle.
c. If we Christians are proclaiming God’s truth in love, then we are not accountable before God if others take offense at what is being said.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�19 - Afterward & Appendix III
Dealing with Malicious Attacks
1. Psychological tactics
d. We must answer a Big Lie with the Big Truth, namely, that Jesus died for the sins of everyone. If people have sinned, they need to repent, but if they are the victims of the lies of others, the Lord will judge the liars.
e. Apologists must address ad hominem arguments by shaming the opponents for having such a weak case that they have to resort to such tactics.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�19 - Afterward & Appendix III
Summary
Faced with utopian dreams wrapped around a godless morality, the apologist needs to remember the church’s early history. True Christians will always be in conflict with those who want to build their own paradise because they do not want to hear that it can never happen. A comfortable Christianity is not Christianity at all. The world may market to the middle, but the LORD looks for commitment in the extreme.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�19 - Afterward & Appendix III
The Importance of Personal Growth
1. Any of us can fall.
a. One of the subtle realities is that our faith never reaches a point of equilibrium. Again and again, we see great “heroes of faith” in the Bible confessing the LORD in one verse and falling into sin or tripping over their own weaknesses in the next.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�19 - Afterward & Appendix III
The Importance of Personal Growth
1. Any of us can fall.
b. Practically speaking, there is a war going on in our hearts between our sinful nature and our new man, the believer that God put inside us. The war will only end with our dying or Jesus’ return.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�19 - Afterward & Appendix III
The Importance of Personal Growth
1. Any of us can fall.
c. The old man makes apologetics hard. He demands logical or scientific or historical facts that God simply doesn’t give us. He raises doubts in our own minds—part of apologetics is dealing with our own weakness and doubt.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�19 - Afterward & Appendix III
The Importance of Personal Growth
2. God’s Word makes the apologist.
a. To be a skilled apologist, a person needs to be in the Word, to personally read it regularly, to hear it preached, and to hear it taught regularly. The means of grace are the only way that God gives us to grow in our faith.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�19 - Afterward & Appendix III
The Importance of Personal Growth
2. God’s Word makes the apologist.
b. Apologetics can be challenging. Success rarely comes from one conversation. People will repeatedly challenge what we say, but still they will leave the door open. To keep going, we must refresh our faith with the Gospel.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�19 - Afterward & Appendix III
The Importance of Personal Growth
2. God’s Word makes the apologist.
c. We need to know what the Bible actually says so that we don’t let skeptics set the terms of the debate. We need to be able to say to skeptics, “That’s not what the Bible says. And if you don’t believe me, I can show you.”
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�19 - Afterward & Appendix III
Knowing the times in which we live
1. We need to know the territory.
a. We also need to know our audience. We need to be current on what is and isn’t happening in our culture. When opinion-makers speak, other people accept their thoughts as authoritative. We need to address the real arguments they raise.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�19 - Afterward & Appendix III
Knowing the times in which we live
1. We need to know the territory.
b. We need to have an inquiring mind. No one can expect to become an expert in all these fields. We don’t have to be experts if we understand what God really says and the assumptions that underlie science and history.
c. It is worthwhile to do a little reading or take a course in areas of science and history from time to time, just to understand the context in which people are speaking.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�19 - Afterward & Appendix III
Knowing the times in which we live
2. Learning more about apologetics
a. There are numerous approaches to apologetics. Most of the apologetic material is not worth mastering. The Lutheran apologist must seek material that is well researched and reviewed by faithful Lutherans.
b. The Reformed approach is not scriptural. It does not mesh with a Lutheran approach to God’s Word. The basic question is the role of reason, which the Reformed tend to use in a magisterial sense.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�19 - Afterward & Appendix III
Knowing the times in which we live
2. Learning more about apologetics
c. Human reason is a gift of God. It enables pastors to comfort people when they are afraid and call sinners to repentance. We must not use it to decide which parts of the Bible make sense and which parts do not.
d. Creation science is a good example of the problem. It tries to uphold faith with human arguments in an arena where even good arguments can fail. If they do fail, what happens to the faith of the people who rely on them?
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�19 - Afterward & Appendix III
Knowing the times in which we live
2. Learning more about apologetics
e. Our only refuge is the armor of God. We must put on that armor if we are to be successful against the forces of Satan. We must trust in the Holy Spirit. We must engage the skeptic. The LORD will be with us.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�19 - Afterward & Appendix III
The nature of our bondage
1. Freedom is only in Christ.
a. Christian freedom (liberty) is a gift of God in Christ. A central teaching of the New Testament is that God has set us free through the work of Jesus. To understand this freedom, one must understand the nature of human servitude.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�19 - Afterward & Appendix III
The nature of our bondage
1. Freedom is only in Christ.
b. Erasmus argued that people have a free will. Luther countered that people have no free will in spiritual matters. Luther insisted that mankind has a bound will or, in other words, is subject to the bondage of the will.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�19 - Afterward & Appendix III
The nature of our bondage
2. The bondage of the will
a. The bondage of the will is a spiritual reality, not a physical one. It is not determinism, which means that God would ordain every action that every person ever does. It does not remove our ability to make temporal choices for our lives.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�19 - Afterward & Appendix III
The nature of our bondage
2. The bondage of the will
b. This bondage means sinners have no ability to choose God. Thus, in conversion no human being can cooperate or “make a decision for Christ.” The whole being—the heart, mind and will, resists God’s call to faith with all its strength.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�19 - Afterward & Appendix III
The nature of our bondage
2. The bondage of the will
c. When it comes to how he or she lives, the sinner cannot do anything but sin. Every choice is corrupt. Every desire in the human heart is based on selfishness and lust, even when a sinner chooses to do things that are outwardly good.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�19 - Afterward & Appendix III
The nature of our bondage
2. The bondage of the will
d. The bound will means that all human beings by nature are slaves to sin, slaves to the devil, slaves to ego, and slaves to the sinful world. The practical result is that people are born slaves to works.
e. All human religions, in the end, are products of this slavery and create some kind of system to earn God’s favor and avoid his judgment by human efforts.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�19 - Afterward & Appendix III
How Christians are free
1. Luther’s explanation
a. A Christian is a perfectly free lord of all, subject to none. A Christian is a perfectly free lord because God has declared us to be so. Peter calls us a royal priesthood.
b. A Christian is a perfectly dutiful servant of all, subject to all.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�19 - Afterward & Appendix III
How Christians are free
2. Freedom in the Gospel
a. Christian freedom is finally the Gospel. God declares that in Christ all our sins are wiped away and that we are freed from all record of them. As a result, we are free from the need to satisfy God by works.
b. We will not go to hell. No hardship of this life is punishment from God. God may use things of this sort to discipline us in this life, but He does so only to teach us to follow him here, not to punish us for what we did.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�19 - Afterward & Appendix III
How Christians are free
2. Freedom in the Gospel
c. Christian freedom means that the Christian—and only the Christian—is freed from the dominion of sin. Sin is still a power in our lives, and we have to wrestle with it every day. But the Christian no longer is a slave to sin.
d. When the Holy Spirit worked faith in his or her heart, that Christian became a new creation. God placed a new man, i.e., a new nature, in the heart of that Christian. That new man lives for Christ.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�19 - Afterward & Appendix III
How Christians are free
2. Freedom from the Law
a. Christian freedom means finally that we are free even from the Law. We no longer have to work our way to heaven. Christ has done it all. This life, then, is not about constantly checking off lists and jumping through hoops.
b. The Christian life is not one of servitude but one of free service to God. It is not about lists of rules but about a new spirit that joyfully seeks ways to serve God and our neighbor.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�19 - Afterward & Appendix III
How Christians are free
2. Freedom from the Law
c. Christian freedom is not a license to sin. It’s a joyful embracing of God’s will as the highest good and of all that is best for us. The Christian does study God’s Law because in this life our knowledge of his will is still incomplete.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�19 - Afterward & Appendix III
How Christians are free
2. Freedom from the Law
d. It is freedom from the letter of the Law that allows the Christian to be a perfectly dutiful servant of all, subject to all. The Christian life is freedom, but freedom to serve God and our fellowmen with all that we are.
e. Christian freedom even rejoices in poverty and humility for Christ’s sake and knows that all that we face in this life is temporary. Our true home is in heaven.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�19 - Afterward & Appendix III
The measure of the book
1. The authors presented a great deal of information about many different topics. It may have seemed like too much, too fast. Sections may need to be read again.
2. The purpose was to help the reader get or strengthen his or her bearings, Biblically, theologically and also logically. By this point the reader should have a better idea of what apologetics is and isn’t.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�19 - Afterward & Appendix III
The measure of the book
3. This book will not be the last word on the subject. Until Jesus comes back, the topic of apologetics will be in constant flux as the devil and his hosts regroup and find new ways to attack the Gospel message. His purpose is to keep people out of heaven.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�19 - Afterward & Appendix III
The continuing battle
1. Words from St. Paul
a. “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek.” {Romans 1:16} Our witness about Jesus is the only thing that will change hearts.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�19 - Afterward & Appendix III
The continuing battle
1. Words from St. Paul
b. “For although we live in the flesh, we do not wage war according to the flesh, since the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but are powerful through God for the demolition of strongholds. We demolish arguments and every proud thing that is raised up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to obey Christ.” {2 Corinthians 10:3-5}
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�19 - Afterward & Appendix III
The continuing battle
2. The Gospel demolishes arguments. The Gospel takes every thought captive to Christ. We have no other purpose when we engage in apologetics than to give a clear testimony about Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world.
Clearing a Path for the Gospel�End of Lesson 19