Gregory Koukl's Blog, page 125

Why Some People Simply Will Not Be Convinced

I spent last week with Frank Turek (at the CrossExamined Instructors Academy) and Bobby Conway (the One Minute Apologist)
training and talking about the evidence for God’s existence and the
reliability of the Gospels. The three of us have dedicated ourselves to
helping people overcome their skeptical objections to the Christian
worldview, but all of us recognize that some people will simply not be
convinced by our arguments and presentation of evidence. In fact, I know
that most people will not be convinced. Why? Because (as I’ve written in Cold Case Christianity) there are three reasons why someone will “shun” (reject) a truth claim:

Some Reject Ra”shun”ally
Sometimes
folks simply have rational doubts based on the evidence. You’ll
recognize this form of resistance when you hear someone say something
akin to, “I need more evidence. I’m not convinced.” For those of us who
have taken the time to prepare ourselves as good Case Makers, this is
the kind of skeptic we are hoping for; someone who’s resistance is
grounded in a lack of information. Unfortunately this seldom the kind of
person we encounter.

Some Reject Emo”shun”ally
Many
people have doubts that are purely emotional. You’ll recognize this
form of resistance when you hear someone say something like, “I know a
lot of hypocritical Christians. If that’s what Christianity is about, I
want no part of it.” Some skeptics have been injured or offended by
Christians and now struggle to overcome negative feelings that prevent
them from evaluating the case fairly.

Some Reject Voli”shun”ally
When I was an atheist, I denied the truth for volitional reasons. I was willfully resistant and refused to accept any argument offered by Christians I knew. In fact, I actually hated the idea
of God and all it represented. I was happy running my own life; I was
stubbornly independent. People like me typically say things like, “I
don’t care if it is true, I’m not changing my life.”

If you’re a
Christian trying to make the case for what you believe, recognize that
your jury is filled with all three kinds of people, and only the first
group will probably be willing to listen to your presentation. I’ve
discovered most people actually fall into the third category; their
willful resistance to the truth actually prevents them from fairly
examining the case for Christianity. Frank Turek offers an excellent
example of this in his “I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist”
presentation. As part of his four step argument, he engages the issue
of miracles, and offers a brief example of how a volitional
presupposition can actually prevent you from recognizing a miracle, even
if one occurred in your own life.

 

David Hume famously argued against miracles,
on the basis that we humans have no “uniform experience” of such
events. But if we start with a volitional presupposition against the
miraculous, this willful foundation will prohibit us from any fair,
rational inference from our observations. In other words, we know the
experience against miracles to be “uniform” only if we accept all
reports of miracles as false. And we know all reports to be false only
if we begin from the position miracles have never occurred. In essence,
our volitional resistance leads us to reason in a circle.

While
you and I can do our best to present the evidence to our unbelieving
friends, there is clearly a foundational, presuppositional problem in
the heart of man. Our own desires and love of autonomy (our rebellion
from God) typically stand in the way of our investigation. I am an
evidentialist; I believe in the power of the evidence when presenting
the case for God’s existence. But I know that God had to do something with my heart before I could see the evidence fairly,
and no friend of mine could accomplish this with his or her evidential
presentation. So as I share the case with my skeptical friends, I begin
by praying God will remove their enmity so they can hear my words with
clarity and interest. I know volitional and emotional resistance is
often the reason some people will not be convinced.

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Challenge Response: The Bible Only Mentions Homosexuality Six Times

Here's my response to this week's challenge. I apologize for it being a little long, but I try to make up for it by engaging some of the people who also responded to the challenge.

 

Links Mentioned on the Show

The following are links that were either mentioned on this week's show or inspired by it, as posted live on the @STRtweets Twitter feed:

The Herd of Unicorns: The Myth of Evangelical Political Engagement by Joe Carter


Never Read a Bible Verse by Greg Koukl


How to Know Immaterial Things Exist by Greg Koukl


Correct, Not Politically Correct: How Same-Sex Marriage Hurts Everyone by Frank Turek


CrossExamined.org – Frank Turek's website


Lexington, Mass., father of 6-year-old arrested, spends night in jail


Same-Sex Marriage Quick Reference Guide by Greg Koukl


Does God Whisper? Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 by Greg Koukl (PDFs)


Did Morals Evolve? by Greg Koukl


Monkey Morality: Can Evolution Explain Ethics? by Greg Koukl


The Evolution of Moral Truth Claims by J. Warner Wallace

Listen to today's show or download any archived show for free. (Find links from past shows here.)

To follow the Twitter conversation during the live show (Tuesdays 4:00–7:00 p.m. PT), use the hashtag #STRtalk.

How to Be a "One Dollar Apologist" (What I Learned This Year at CIA)

I returned yesterday from Frank Turek’s CrossExamined Instructor’s Academy (CIA) in North Carolina. CIA is an intense three-day program that teaches students how to present I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist ,
a four part apologetics presentation based on Frank’s iconic book of
the same title. Students spend three days on the campus of Southern
Evangelical Seminary learning how to present the case for truth, God,
miracles and the New Testament. They make their own presentations as
well and learn how to answer questions about these topics in a hostile
environment. I participated as an instructor this year, along with
Frank, Ted Wright, Greg Koukl, Richard Howe, Brett Kunkle and Larry Blythe.
It was a powerful (and busy) three days, and I highly commend the
experience to anyone who is serving the Christian community as a Case
Maker and wants to become better at their craft.

I often try to
remind people: The impact of a single “million dollar apologist” will
not change our culture as powerfully as the impact of a million “one dollar apologists”. Many of you have resonated with that idea (and the resulting term) and some of you have even taken me up on the proposal. This year, my experience at CIA provided a number of insights on how all of us can become better “one dollar apologists”:

You Don't Need to Be a "Vocational Apologist" to Have a Powerful Impact

CIA was filled with students from nearly every walk of life. We did
have a few pastors, but most of the students were employed in
non-Christian environments. We had teachers, engineers, moms,
veterinarians, business men, and laborers. I felt right at home. I’ve
never been a vocational apologist, and I continue to derive my income
from my career as a detective. Last year, as a full-time detective
navigating two cases through the criminal justice system, I finished
writing Cold Case Christianity, illustrated the book and started a daily
blog. You’d be amazed at the impact you can have, even without leading a
non-profit ministry, working at a church or becoming a well-known
public figure. God uses each of us on the basis of our individual life
experiences. There are people out there who need to hear your voice. You can reach them better than anyone else, including the people you think of as “million dollar apologists.”

You Must Learn to "Bloom Where You Are Planted" to Have an Immediate Impact

CIA was also a great reminder that powerful ministry begins in your own
backyard. Greg Koukl likes to say each of us must “bloom where we are
planted.” Every nationally recognized Christian Case Maker I know began
by serving in the small context of his or her own local community or
church. While there are a number of ways each of us can serve in our
individual settings, I personally encouraged the students of CIA to jump
in with their local youth pastors and volunteer to lead a small group
or teach a short series. I believe there is a dire need in every church
to reach young people with the truth and answer their questions,
and all of us can get in the game. Every student at CIA was equipped to
make a powerful difference in their world; the world that begins just
outside their front door in the context of their own spheres of
influence.

You Need to Be a "Life-Time Learner" to Have Meaningful Impact

As an instructor at CIA, I was reminded, once again, about the
importance of continued training. When you are surrounded by smart
people, you realize just how much you don’t know and how God needs all
of us, as a team, to bring out the best of us individually. Whether we
like it or not, we must be committed to learning on a daily basis. The
students of CIA were incredibly gracious. Many of them were older folks
who were smart, experienced and capable. Yet they graciously submitted
to the instruction of the instructors with an amazing eagerness and
desire to learn. I found myself asking the question: Am I still that
gracious and excited to learn? I certainly found myself surrounded by
other instructors who know a lot more than I do. CIA reminded me of the
simple truth: Good teachers are good learners. Start today. Research
on-line, build your own apologetics library, listen to podcasts, find an
apologetics certificate program, enroll in CIA; become an eager
student.

As we ended the training at CIA, students and instructors
lingered for over an hour, talking and affirming our relationship with,
and commitment to, one another and the cause of Christ. Sometimes these
kinds of events are “mountain-top experiences” that motivate us and
encourage us in the “here and now.” The danger, of course, is that we
will step back into our lives and let the “busyness” of our routines
overtake our temporarily heightened enthusiasm. So let me encourage
those of you who are reading this to retain your passion and calling.
Remember: You can have incredible impact on your world as a Case Maker,
even as you work and raise your families. Bloom where you are planted
and continue to be an eager learner. Together, a million one dollar
apologists can change the course of history.

[By the way, J. Warner’s book is on sale for less than $4.00 (Kindle and eBook) for a very limited time.]

Challenge: The Bible Only Mentions Homosexuality Six Times

In an article about Fuller Seminary's new student group, OneTable, created to be “a safe place for dialogue between LGBTQ students and the wider Fuller community," a student explains the shift in her beliefs about homosexuality:

In a blog post from this past spring, OneTable’s former president—simply identified as “Samantha”—shared her personal story of growing up as a Christian, but eventually becoming more tolerant of the homosexual lifestyle. Through a week-long FTS/Young Life “ethics course,” she came to doubt her long-held belief that “being gay was a sin.”

“I was shocked, absolutely floored,” she wrote about the ethics course, “to learn that the Bible only explicitly references homosexuality six times in both testaments combined. What!?!? How had no one ever told me that? I felt slighted by my faith communities and by the guidance and teachings they had offered me. When we watched For the Bible Tells Me So, I was moved to tears by the hatred and intolerance the gay community had suffered in the hands of the Church.”

If this article is accurate, Samantha found the argument that "the Bible only references homosexuality six times" to be paradigm-shifting. There is much one can say to this. And while I think there are simple explanations as to why this shouldn't have changed her mind, I'm not just interested in hearing your answer to this objection, I'm also interested in hearing how you would respond to Samantha in particular. What would you explain to her, and how would you do it? Just going by the quote, there is clearly more going on with Samantha than just the idea that the Bible doesn't bring up the issue of homosexuality very often.

Remember that in this case, you're speaking to someone who is attending a seminary, so I think it would also be helpful to address the view of sexuality expressed throughout the Bible.

Let's hear how you would graciously respond to Samantha, and then Alan will give his video response on Thursday.

Does a Christian Have to Answer Every Question Raised by an Atheist? (Video)

Does a Christian have to answer every challenge an atheist raises in order to give a credible, persuasive case for Christianity? Are there some challenges that a Christian doesn’t need to answer?

Why Would a Good God Allow Pain and Suffering?

As Christians, we acknowledge God is good, all-powerful and all-loving. If this is the case, why does God permit the pain and suffering we see all around us? A good god would not allow the kind of suffering we see in our world, would He? Those of us who have tried to comfort a gravely sick child understand the difficulty of explaining how a good God could allow such agony, particularly when the person suffering appears to be innocent or helpless. If an immaterial, eternal God exists, however, it is reasonable to expect this God to value immaterial and transcendent realities over the physical and temporal comforts we often seek as humans.

We Sometimes Misunderstand the Nature of ‘Love’
A transcendent God understands that ‘love’ is the perfect balance between mercy and justice. We, as humans, often hold a very temporal understanding of love; we think of love as a warm, instantaneous feeling, a lustful desire, or a passionate season of romance. But God understands that true love transcends the moment and often requires discernment, discipline and judgment. We could hardly say we loved our children if we didn’t care enough about their future to discipline them, and discipline often feels painful. Love sometimes requires a concern for justice that focuses on the future, and justice often requires the infliction of pain and suffering to achieve the greater good. God, therefore, may allow some level of pain and suffering to maintain the just and transcendent character of ‘love’.

So, how can a loving all-powerful God allow pain and suffering? The same way a loving father can allow his infant child to suffer the doctor’s needle. From the child’s perspective, the shot is terribly painful and unwanted, but the father knows that the pain of the injection will result in something beneficial to the infant. The father also knows he is acting in love, even though a painless day (from the child’s perspective) might seem like a more loving approach. Finally, the father knows that the pain of the injection is fleeting relative to the life of the child. For these reasons, it is reasonable to surmise that a good, loving God might allow pain and suffering in our own lives as well.

[By the way, J. Warner’s book is on sale for less than $4.00 (Kindle and eBook) for a very limited time.]

Pastafarian?

An Austrian man won the right to wear a pasta strainer in his drivers license photo because he claimed it was the headwear for his church – the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. Some atheists use the "Spaghetti Monster" as a supposed parallel to theism to show it's ridiculous. Greg explains in this video why it fails as a rebuttal to Christianity.

Links Mentioned on the Show

The following are links that were either mentioned on this week's show or inspired by it, as posted live on the @STRtweets Twitter feed:

Greg's vacation pictures on Facebook


Four Degrees of Postmodernism by J.P. Moreland (essay in Come Let Us Reason)


Postmodernism and the Christian Life by J.P. Moreland


Having It All without Having Children by Lauren Sandler


Black Hebrew Israelites by Ryan Turner


Is Mormonism Just Another Christian Denomination? by Greg Koukl (PDF)


Euthyphro's Dilemma by Greg Koukl

Listen to today's show or download any archived show for free. (Find links from past shows here.)

To follow the Twitter conversation during the live show (Tuesdays 4:00–7:00 p.m. PT), use the hashtag #STRtalk.

Webcast Tuesday-He's Baaaack!

Greg is LIVE online today 4-7 p.m. PT. Back from vacation - undoubtedly, with plenty of stories to tell. Open lines all three hours so give him a call with your question or comment at (855) 243-9975.

Listen live online. Join us on Twitter during the program @STRtweets #STRtalk.