{"id":702,"date":"2015-11-09T20:00:20","date_gmt":"2015-11-10T02:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thechristiangeek.net\/wp\/?p=702"},"modified":"2015-11-10T10:45:06","modified_gmt":"2015-11-10T16:45:06","slug":"practical-apologetics-the-peter-principle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/thechristiangeek.net\/wp\/?p=702","title":{"rendered":"Practical Apologetics \u2013 The Peter Principle"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Practical<\/a>I have written in the past about the dangers of abandoning apologetics in the Church (see: Apologetics: Never Having to Say You’re Sorry<\/a>). \u00a0In that article I had taken issue with the number of believers who rely on a blind faith rather than being able to “give an account for the hope that is within you,” as Peter put it (1 Peter 3:15). \u00a0Another part of the problem is the mental connection that apologetics has with academia. \u00a0Not only does this connection tend to relegate apologetics to higher education or the clergy, it also compartmentalizes apologetics into an intellectual or theoretical endeavor that does not have real and practical use for the layman.\u00a0 I have the highest respect for the professional apologist, and indeed, rely on their knowledge and research. \u00a0I also think that without a practical application for all Christians, the field would be nothing more than knowledge for knowledge’s sake. \u00a0Unfortunately, far too few laymen know enough about was apologetics is – much less the actual arguments themselves – to make practical use of it. \u00a0As I write this, we are coming into the Christmas\u00a0season. \u00a0This is one of the two times of year that we begin seeing special after special on channels like Discovery or History about the holiday. \u00a0These shows speak much to the historical events of Christmas or Easter and devote a great deal of effort to show us the “historical Jesus.”<\/p>\n

Sounds good, right?<\/p>\n

What could be better than understanding Jesus within His historical context? \u00a0After all, isn’t that one of the key rules for interpreting scripture? \u00a0Interpret it within the context of the author and the audience? \u00a0Plus, we get the benefit of analysis by professional historians and theologians. \u00a0Except you are not getting what you expect. \u00a0With near certainty what you get is what I like to call a “Holiday hit-piece.” \u00a0Yes, you do get plenty of scriptural references to place the historical setting or discussion.<\/p>\n

However, mixed in with scripture – and giving equal weight as scripture – are references to things like The Gospel of Thomas, The Infancy Gospel of Matthew, The Gospel of James.<\/p>\n

What are these other “scriptures” to which these scholars refer?<\/p>\n

And why do the scholars keep questioning the accuracy of the Bible with regard to these other “forgotten” scriptures?<\/p>\n

Why do they keep questioning whether Jesus really did or did not say something?<\/p>\n

At the end of the show, you could very well be doubting where we even got our Bibles. \u00a0The other popular subject of these types of shows is presenting the “historical” Jesus. \u00a0Now that the biblical account is in question, what do we really know about the “real” Jesus? \u00a0What did he really say and do? \u00a0Where and how was he born? \u00a0Sometimes you even find the show questioning if he ever even really lived. \u00a0The documentary will typically leave you with either the declaration we cannot know anything about the real Jesus or that everything you knew about him is wrong. \u00a0The virgin birth, His miracles, even his basic teachings are all brought into doubt. \u00a0At the end of the show, you find that these biblical scholars have done a very thorough job of undermining the Christian faith.<\/p>\n

Many Christians walk into these types of documentaries not knowing what is coming. \u00a0Even worse, they watch them with their kids. \u00a0In this latter case, you may very well find yourself in a lose-lose situation. \u00a0Watch the show and let their faith be weakened. \u00a0Turn off the show and let the seeds of doubt be planted.<\/p>\n

Either way, it has the same root cause; you don’t know how to respond to these kind of challenges to the faith. \u00a0The advantage that these “experts” have is not just the degrees after their names, but that they can often give reasons for their belief. \u00a0They may not be good reasons, but the problem is you may not be able to give any reasons that go beyond blind faith. \u00a0Over the next weeks, I will begin a series of what I call “Practical Apologetics.” \u00a0I’m going to focus on two topics:<\/p>\n