We had been traveling for several days. After landing in Tel Aviv at the Ben Guerin Airport we traveled south, from one side to the other, viewing the Mediterranean on one side and the desert on the other. Roman aqueducts still stretch for miles through the desert and Tiberius is still a city by the Sea of Galilee. It was all fascinating and ancient and caused one to feel they are a part of the history of the Holy Land until, that is, we reached Jerusalem. The nation’s capital is a bustling city and not unlike most other world metropolises…
In most philosophy, world-view or apologetics classes world religions are studied and arguments for and against them are examined. Topics such as nihilism, existentialism, and even eastern pantheistic monism are dissected. While this line of study can benefit one committed to becoming an apologist, for the mainstream believer there may be more immediate and practical concerns. In the case of western Christianity, the three most encountered ideologies opposed its teachings are evolution, Islam and Mormonism. We will examine the basic arguments of each of these over the next few days before turning to a defense of Christianity and the Bible.
One of the many jobs I held down while a freshman in college was as a sales associate for Kinney Shoes. What was expected to be a busy shopping day turned out to be extraordinarily slow, and as a result we were over staffed. The store manager, assistant manager and another sales person and myself were all waiting near the back of the store, trying not to scare off casual shoppers. The manager made mention of a belief in evolution, which prompted my interest and one of the most well-reasoned arguments for God my 19-year-old mind could think of.
One of the first articles to appear on this site is titled “Spiritual Fitness” and it provides the foundation for building one’s spiritual physique. The primary concept for developing spiritual muscle is inverting our understanding of life from believing it to be a primarily physical existence to a primarily spiritual one. This defies the wisdom of our age that teaches man is only a biological machine and denies any kind of spiritual life. This is in opposition to the world view of the ancients – including the Bible’s authors – that man is an eternal spiritual being living a temporary physical existence.
Our final ideology under examination is Mormonism, once the fastest growing religion in the United States, adds on average 800 coverts to its rosters every day. Its growth is largely attributed to its conservative family and political values, the care provided to members, charitable contributions, and the financial success of its followers. More of its over six million members are involved in mission’s work than evangelical Christians and distributes five million copies of the Book of Mormon every year. How does one argue against a faith that many well-meaning people, including Sean Hannity, believe is simply a branch of Christianity?
We have said it here many times before, that conflict with the world is inevitable for the practicing Christian. This simple truth may not be remarkable, but it seems that from time to time the body of Christ needs to be reminded of it. In this age of Islamic violence, however, it may serve our readers best to define what kind of conflict is permissible by Kingdom standards. Sometimes the best way to define a concept is to illustrate it.
Last week we examined what it means to be spiritually “fit” and learned how to be properly motivated to exercise our faith beyond the basics. We even recommended some ways in which you might act on your faith, growing stronger and deeper in your relationship with God. Today I’ll introduce you to what some might consider the martial arts of faith – apologetics. This involves defending the truths of the Christian faith using a variety of methods including historic truth, revealed truth and even logic. Being an apologist it isn’t for everyone, however, the basics should be practiced by every believer.
Yesterday we looked at how to strengthen faith, to become a strong believer. This week we’ll continue looking back at other writings on this site as well as new material to train our thinking and actions in order that both work simultaneously and in sync with our faith. We mentioned that we need to challenge ourselves if we want to change ourselves. One of the ways we can challenge our faith is in service to others, but before we do that we need to understand how that service is to be rendered. In that regard, motives are everything.
In our primer on ideologies opposed to western Christian teachings we come to Islam. Since Islam is now the fastest growing religion in America (overtaking Mormonism in the winter of 2001) we must ready ourselves to defend the faith before them, communicate the gospel to them, and guide them into a personal relationship with Jesus. We must learn to address them with courage, righteousness and love if we are to successfully turn them from the darkness of their ideology and toward forgiveness in Christ. Addressing Islam will be the greatest challenge the western church will face for the foreseeable future.
All this week we have been introducing the concept of apologetics and comparing it to martial arts. The analogy is a good one, both require learning, practice and experience to master. Furthermore, the techniques at the early stages are helpful to everyone, while the more advanced are useful only to those committed to the lifestyle. Today I’ll outline a course of study that will be beneficial to every believer, from those who simply want to live a peaceful life according to Romans 12.18 and to those who want to go on the offensive for God’s kingdom as per 2 Timothy 1.12-14:
This week we are looking at becoming spiritually “fit”, which includes exercise just as physical fitness does. So far we have discovered that becoming spiritually fit starts with an understanding that Life is first about God, and then about the welfare of others. To properly serve others requires the right motivation and attitude. Once our world view shift to be God- and other-focused, and our attitude and motives align with God’s heart, we will discover that our acts of service are synchronized with our faith. Today we will list a number of ways you can live your faith responsibly.
Christmas day is nearly upon us; our celebration of the first advent of the Messiah is only hours away. Children are anxious about the presents under the tree and adults are anxious (in a good or bad way) about seeing the extended family. Like the good father Jesus speaks about in Luke 11.11-12 we all want to give good gifts. What does that mean today? In 1983 the go-to gift was a Cabbage Patch doll, in 1995 it was Beanie-Babies. An iPod was the must-have gift of 2002. What gift are you giving your family this year? Will it matter?
