Link tot the source - http://home.houston.rr.com/apologia/sec1p1.htm
This lesson aims to establish some basic reasons for studying Christian Evidences, also called Apologetics. Even though it is an important aspect, there is more to this subject than just presenting evidences.
Some feel that religious faith has no need for a defense, and that faith and reason can be held separate within the mind of man.
Man is a complex creature, driven not merely by chemistry and physiology, instinct and environment, but also by emotion and reason. In contrast to certain animals — which some argue have simple abilities of thought and decision — we have, in vast superiority to all other earthly creatures, the power of self awareness and of reason, controlled by a free will.
We are clearly unique within all creation in that we are also spiritual beings, somehow aware of something that exists above and beyond ourselves, yet still capable of being understood. Religion is a distinctive characteristic of homo sapiens — faith exists, but why? Where does faith begin?
In a sense, defending our Christian faith calls us to retrace the journey from evidence to faith. If we have faith in something now, we must have begun by evaluating certain teachings, events, circumstances or evidence, in order to make some decision about life. That decision, substituted for direct experience, became a belief. If that belief proved trustworthy, it turned into faith.
This journey is alluded to in the words of Paul the Apostle:
Rom. 10:17 "So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ."
Hearing the word of Christ is listening to evidence. The vehicle that travels the road from evidence to faith is human reason, and the destination is faith.
6 comments:
I know we all got here by different routes, but I suspect that at some point we all had this evidence in front of us and had to make the decision. I personally believed as a younger man, but drifted away for quite some time. I knew something was missing and had to get to the bottom of it and it was Christ. It had to be, no other explanation I could come up with would work, and boy did i try to find other things.
cas
Testing to see if this is emailing comments to the team.
I remember once as a young boy asking my pastor "why do I need to come to church if I can read the bible for myself". Boy I guess even at a young age we try to find other explanations for our creation. Luckily or should I say blessingly, the pastor had a good answer.
LT
Hey Clark et al.
I came to Christ in a simple belief way. I guess I just always believed in Jesus. But afterward, I wanted to explain Him to others. My endeavors into apolgetics are born out of a desire to see as many people saved as possible.
Testing again.
er
It's so healthy to circle back to where I came to faith. I had to figure out for myself who Christ was to me. Growing up in a Christian home and being around christian people was not enough 'evidence' for me to come to Christ. It definitely was a help to search for the answers to the basic questions of who I am and why I'm here. However, I/we dont have the luxury of assuming that the people around us will search for truth in the same way that we did or ask the same questions in the same order as I did. My ideal would be ready to give a defense for any opportunity/challenge to my faith. It's definitely a life long journey.
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