My Journey To Orthodoxy: EV- 500 Apologetics- Notes

EV- 500 Apologetics- Notes

EV-500 Apologetics

-5 views on apologetics-

1) Classical Method
Builds from Creation, natural revelation, to prove Theism. Uses historical evidence to build a case for Christ/refute other regions or views- It is usually argued that the order of the two phases in classical apologetics is essential. That is, before one can meaningfully discuss historical evidences, one has to have established God's existence because one's worldview is a framework through which miracles, historical facts, and other empirical data are interpreted. Without a theistic context, no historical event could ever be shown to be a divine miracle. The flipside of this claim is that one cannot appeal to alleged miracles in order to prove God's existence.- RC Sproul

2) Evidential Method
Same as above but includes Miracles, The Supernatural, and Focuses on the Resurrection- an approach to Christian apologetics emphasizing the use of evidence to demonstrate that God probably exists. The evidence is supposed to be, evidence both the believer and nonbeliever share, that is to say you need not presuppose God's existence- Evidentialism as an apologetic method may be characterized as the ''one-step'' approach. Miracles do not presuppose God's existence (as most contemporary classical apologists assert) but can serve as one sort of evidence for God. This method is fairly eclectic in its use of various positive evidences and negative critiques, utilizing both philosophical and historical arguments. Yet it tends to focus chiefly on the legitimacy of accumulating various historical and other inductive arguments for the truth of Christianity. Josh McDowell

3) Cumulative Method or the Cumulative Case Method
Builds an overwhelming case like a lawyer, uses massive amounts of factual data to overwhelm subject with the evidence for Christ- It is an informed argument that pieces together several lines or types of data into a sort of hypothesis or theory that comprehensively explains that data. The data that the cumulative case seeks to explain include the existence and nature of the cosmos, the reality of religious experience, the objectivity of morality, and certain other historical facts, such as the resurrection of Jesus.- Basil Mitchell, C.S. Lewis and C. Stephen Evans.

4) Presuppositional Method
The mind is fallen, “The Noetic Effects of Sin” - is a school of Christian apologetics, a field of Christian theology that aims to (1) present a rational basis for the Christian faith, (2) defend the faith against objections, and (3) expose the perceived flaws of other worldviews. Due to the Noetic effects of sin, presuppositionalists usually hold that there is not enough common ground between believers and unbelievers that would allow followers of the prior three methods to accomplish their goals. The apologist must simply presuppose the truth of Christianity as the proper starting point in apologetics. Here the Christian revelation in the Scriptures is the framework through which all experience is interpreted and all truth is known. Various evidences and arguments can be advanced for the truth of Christianity, but these at least implicitly presuppose premises that can be true only if Christianity is true. Presuppositionalist attempt, then, to argue transcendentally. That is, they argue that all meaning and thought - indeed, every fact - logically presupposes the God of the Scriptures.- Francis Shaffer

5) Reformed Epistemology
People come to Christ without logic or reason- the focus will tend to be on negative or defensive apologetics as challenges to one's theistic belief are encountered. To encourage unbelievers to put themselves in situations where people are typically taken with belief in God attempting to awaken in them their latent sense of the divine. It is perfectly reasonable for a person to believe many things without evidence. Most strikingly, they argue that belief in God does not require the support of evidence or argument in order for it to be rational. The Reformed epistemology apologist will not necessarily eschew making positive arguments in defense of Christianity, but will argue that such arguments are not necessary for rational faith. If Calvin is right that human beings are born with an innate sensus divinitatis, then people may rightly and rationally come to have a belief in God immediately without the aid of evidence.

1st Peter 3:15-
vs. 15- Christ is in control, see if our hearts are right- why are you living the life you are? Treat others with respect when responding to the question. Give an intellectual reason why you follow Christ-

…but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence;…NASB

2nd Corinthians 10:1-
vs 1- Paul being sarcastic
vs 2- states that you may think I am timid but I will confront you
vs 3- we are two in hearts yet different in the world
vs 4- our weapons are prayer, fasting, kindness, compassion
vs 5- this Stronghold is anything that keeps us from coming to Christ, we come against the arrogance/pretention of this world and we take captive ALL thought (false views) to the obedience of Christ.

…Now I, Paul, myself urge you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ--I who am meek when face to face with you, but bold toward you when absent! I ask that when I am present I need not be bold with the confidence with which I propose to be courageous against some, who regard us as if we walked according to the flesh. For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ…

Is it arrogant to say that Christ is the only way?

-Modern concepts-

1) Relativism-
All points of truth are and all truth is relative to the individual.
No absolute truth exists. (when you make such a claim you are also making an absolute claim that everything is relative)
It is self contradictory.
Whatever you feel is right to you- just follow your heart.
You cannot say that there is no god then make moral claims…
If Stalin felt is was right to purge Russia then it was right for him to do so, he just followed his heart.

1) Pluralism-
Sees all religions or faiths as legitimate and valid within their cultural background and tradition.
All religions say the same thing.

Differences in the major world religions/faiths-

Hinduism- god is everywhere and in everything.- Sects: Vaishnavas, Shaivites, Shaktism, Smartism, Ganapatya, Saura, Arya Samaj,The Tantric traditions. Tenets: Dharma, Artha, Kama, Moksha, Karma, Samsara, Yoga, Bhakti, Maya, Puja, Mandir.- Writings: Vedas, Upanishads, Ramayana, Mahabharata, Bhagavad Gita, Purana.

Buddhism- there is no god.- Sects: Theravāda, Mahāyāna, Vajrayāna (Early and Pre-sectarian). Tenets: Sotapanna, Sakadagami, Anagami, Arahant.- Writings: Pali Canon, Mahayana Sutras, Tibetan Canon.

Islam- monotheistic.- Sects: Suni, Shia, and other mystic diversions. Tenets: five pillars (Shahadah, Salah, Zakah, Sawm, Hajj)- Writings: Qur'an, Sunnah, Hadith, Fiqh, Sharia, Kalam, Tasawwuf.

Judaism- monotheistic.- Sects: Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, Haredi, Hasidic, Modern Orthodox, Reconstroctionist, Renewal, Rabbinic, Humanistic, Karaite, Samaritanism.- Tenets: Brit-Milah, Shabbat, Torah, Temple, Feasts, Kashrut.- Writings: Torah, Tanakh, Mesorah, Targum, Midrash, Mishnah, Tosefta, Talmud, Mishneh, Tur, Kabbalah, Siddur, Piyyut.

Christianity- Trinitarian.- Sects: Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant (this sect has thousands of local and cultural diversions) Tenets: Ressurection, Forgiveness, Rebirth Grace. Writings: The Bible, Apocrypha, Gnostic writings.

3) Tolerance-
Behavior- Peacfully co-exsist with people who maintain other “worldviews”.
Belief- All “worldviews” and religions are equally valid or true.
There is no tolerance for prostylization; it is viewed as an infringement on others rights to believe as they wish if you were to prostylitize another to your set of beliefs or views.

(Worldview-was coined by the Third Reich, it came to designate the instinctive understanding of complex geo-political problems by the Nazis, which allowed them to openly begin invasions, twist facts or violate human rights, in the name of a higher ideal and in accordance to their theory of the world)

How do we respond to this world?

1) as a friend thru our behavior
2) as a servant in our lifestyle
3) to proclaim by persuasion not intimidation- sharing with words.

-How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? How will they preach unless they are sent?-Romans 10

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Achtiname of Muhammad

The Achtiname of Muhammad, also known as the Covenant or Holy Testament of Muhammad, is the document or ahdname which is a charter or writ ratified by the Prophet Muhammad granting protection and other privileges to the monks of Saint Catherine's Monastery, Mount Sinai. It is sealed with an imprint representing Muhammad's hand. ""This is a message from Muhammad ibn Abdullah, as a covenant to those who adopt Christianity, near and far, we are with them. Verily I, the servants, the helpers, and my followers defend them, because Christians are my citizens; and by Allah! I hold out against anything that displeases them. No compulsion is to be on them. Neither are their judges to be removed from their jobs nor their monks from their monasteries. No one is to destroy a house of their religion, to damage it, or to carry anything from it to the Muslims' houses. Should anyone take any of these, he would spoil God's covenant and disobey His Prophet. Verily, they are my allies and have my secure charter against all that they hate. No one is to force them to travel or to oblige them to fight. The Muslims are to fight for them. If a female Christian is married to a Muslim, it is not to take place without her approval. She is not to be prevented from visiting her church to pray. Their churches are to be respected. They are neither to be prevented from repairing them nor the sacredness of their covenants. No one of the nation is to disobey the covenant till the Last Day."

Prayers by the Lake - St. Nikolai Velimirovic

Who is that staring at me through all the stars in heaven and all the creatures on earth?

Cover your eyes, stars and creatures; do not look upon my nakedness. Shame torments me enough through my own eyes.

What is there for you to see? A tree of life that has been reduced to a thorn on the road, that pricks both itself and others. What else-except a heavenly flame immersed in mud, a flame that neither gives light nor goes out?

Plowmen, it is not your plowing that matters but the Lord who watches.

Singers, it is not your singing that matters but the Lord who listens.

Sleepers, it is not your sleeping that matters but the Lord who wakens.

It is not the pools of water in the rocks around the lake that matter but the lake itself.

What is all human time but a wave that moistens the burning sand on the shore, and then regrets that it left the lake, because it has dried up?

O stars and creatures, do not look at me with your eyes but at the Lord. He alone sees. Look at Him and you will see yourselves in your homeland.

What do you see when you look at me? A picture of your exile? A mirror of your fleeting transitoriness?

O Lord, my beautiful veil, embroidered with golden seraphim, drape over my face like a veil over the face of a widow, and collect my tears, in which the sorrow of all Your creatures seethes.

O Lord, my beauty, come and visit me, lest I be ashamed of my nakedness—lest the many thirsty glances that are falling upon me return home thirsty.

Who put me in this bed of worms? Who buried me in the dust, to become a neighbor of snakes and a banquet for worms?

Who pushed me off the high mountain, to become a companion of bloodthirsty and godless men?

My sin and Your justice, O Lord. My sin stretches from the creation of the world, and it is swifter than Your justice.

I count my sins throughout my entire life, throughout the life of my father and all the way back to the beginning of the world, and I say: Truly, the name of the Lord's justice is mercy.

I bear the wounds of my fathers on myself-wounds that I myself was preparing while I was still in my fathers—and now they have all appeared on my soul, like a spotted hide on a giraffe, like a cloak of vicious scorpions that sting me.

Have mercy on me, O Lord, open the floodgate of the heavenly river of Your grace, and cleanse me of leprous evil, so that without this leprosy I may dare to proclaim Your name before the other lepers without them ridiculing me.

At least raise me up by a head above the rotten stench of this bed of worms, to inhale the incense of heaven and return to life.

At least raise me up as high as a palm tree so I can laugh at the serpents chasing my heels.

O Lord, if there has been even one good deed in the course of my earthly journey, for the sake of that one deed deliver me from the companionship of bloodthirsty and godless men.

O Lord, my hope in despair.

O Lord, my strength in weakness.

O Lord, my light in darkness.

Place just one finger on my forehead and I shall be raised. Or, if I am too unclean for Your finger, let a single ray of light from Your kingdom shine upon me and raise me-raise me, from this bed of worms, O my beloved Lord.

III

Are there days gone by, O man, to which you would wish to return? They all attracted you like silk, and now remain behind you like a cobweb. Like honey they greeted you, like stench you bade them farewell. All were totally filled with illusion and sin.

See how all the pools of water in the moonlight resemble mirrors; and how all the days that were lit up with your levity resemble mirrors. But as you stepped from one day to the next, the false mirrors cracked like thin ice, and you waded through the water and mud.

Can a day that has a morning and an evening as doorways be a day?

O luminous Lord, my soul is burdened with illusions and longs for one day—for the day without doorways, the day from which my soul has departed and sunk into the shifting shadows—for Your day, which I used to call my day, when I was one with You.

Is there any happiness gone by, O man, to which you would wish to return?

Of two morsels of the same sweetness the second is the more trite. You would turn your head away in boredom from yesterday's happiness, if it were set out on today's table.

Moments of happiness are given to you only in order to leave you longing for tme happiness in the bosom of the everhappy Lord; and ages of unhappiness are given to you, to waken you out of the drowsy dream of illusions.

O Lord, Lord, my only happiness, will You provide shelter for Your injured pilgrim?

O Lord, my ageless youth, my eyes shall bathe in You and shine more radiantly than the sun.

You carefully collect the tears of the righteous, and with them You rejuvenate worlds.

My elders taught me, when I was a youth, to cling to heaven and earth, lest I stumble. For a long time I remained a child, and for a long time I used to lean on the crutch that they gave me.

But once eternity flooded through me and I felt like a stranger in the world, heaven and earth snapped in two in my hands like a frail reed.

O Lord, my strength, how frail are heaven and earth! They look like palaces built of lead, but they evaporate like water in the palm of the hand in Your presence. Only by their bristling do they conceal their frailty, and frighten uneducated children.

Get out of my sight, suns and stars. Sunder yourselves from the earth. Do not entice me, women and friends. What help can I receive from you, who are helplessly growing old and sinking into the grave?

All your gifts are an apple with a worm in its core. All your potions have passed through someone's entrails many times. Your garments are a cobweb that my nakedness mocks. Your smiles are a proclamation of sorrow, in which your feebleness is screaming to mine for help.

O Lord, my strength, how feeble heaven and earth are! And all the evil that men do under heaven is an admission of feebleness and—infirmity.

Only someone strong dares to do good. Only someone who is nourished and watered with You, my strength, is filled with strength for goodness.

Only someone who sleeps in Your heart knows rest. Only someone who plows before Your feet will enjoy the fruit of his labors.

My childhood, nourished with fear and ignorance, came to an end; and my hope in heaven and earth vanished. Now I only gaze at You and cling to Your gaze in return, O my cradle and my resurrection.