09AR14-11

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Apologia Report 14:11

March 19, 2009

Subject: Habermas, "The Current State of Evangelical Apologetics"

In this issue:

APOLOGETICS, GENERAL - great resource for high school grads going off to college

+ Gary Habermas summarizes the current state of evangelical apologetics

CHRISTOLOGY - William Lane Craig targets "the most important and influential historical Jesus scholar now writing"

LIBERATION THEOLOGY - a clear explanation of concerns over his former pastor, Jeremiah Wright

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APOLOGETICS, GENERAL

Welcome to College: A Christ-Follower's Guide for the Journey, by Jonathan Morrow [1] -- reviewer R. Keith Loftin describes this resource as "a field-manual for incoming college students. Recognizing that, sadly, many lose their faith during their formative college years, Marrow is careful to explain the importance of 'owning your faith,' that is, becoming established in your beliefs. ...

"The main part of the book consists of ["an impressive variety of"] forty-two short chapters (none are longer than ten pages)" that include topics like "how to share your faith, staying healthy in college, slaying that behemoth 'syllabus shock,' [and] handling money wisely."

Marrow uses "a wealth of clever illustrations - most from popular movies and other things with which college students are familiar and can relate - and good humor." Loftin notes that the book's four appendices are also very significant: 1) a list of discussion questions for each chapter; 2) a devotional reading plan; 3) a discussion of Christian-versus secular colleges: pros and cons; and 4) a short bibliography of philosophical resources. Areopagus Journal, 8:2 - 2008, pp35-36.

"The Current State of Evangelical Apologetics" by Gary Habermas -- answers the question: "What advances has evangelical apologetics made in the past few decades?" While it may be no surprise, unfortunately Habermas gives the impression that apologetics is primarily academic in nature. A concluding remark (see the end of this item) leaves us a bit concerned regarding overall balance.

He rejoices that "Evangelicals have recently become very successful academically. ... Thirty years ago, the people who did apologetics were mostly pastors and non-specialists." [Would that we could have it both ways. I'd like to keep the academics, but if the church's local leaders and individual members continue to lose their influence, we're likely to see our current secular climate get much more hostile. - RP] "Apologetics is a hot area for publishing right now, due to some of the trends in today's postmodern world. It was not like that twenty years ago."

Habermas briefly discusses "six areas where I think evangelical apologetics has made some incredible strides in recent years. [Namely,] philosophical theology, especially what might be called Reformed epistemology [think Alvin Plantinga], Intelligent Design, the resurgence of interest in the historicity of the Gospel narratives, the historical Jesus, Jesus' resurrection appearances, and Pauline studies."

It is reassuring to see that more than once Habermas emphasizes the importance of evangelicals valuing friendships with their non-evangelical peers. Habermas lives up to his advice in reference to his friendship with former atheist Antony Flew, for instance. Also, in an encouraging personal-life context, he concludes with "a few areas of concern" in which he urges us to "be careful." His remarks remind me of the exhortation: "Christianity is always just one generation away from extinction." First, Habermas reminds us that "One of the first wars we often face is peer pressure. It is often difficult to take a stand against the crowd - or contrary to the faculty members and mentors under whom we studied. Peer pressure can be very tough. A lot of evangelicals bend for the wrong reasons." Second, Habermas reminds his audience that sex, pride, greed, and dishonesty pick off many who are unsuspecting. Third, he emphasizes that, with the above in mind, "hurting people" are often not "rational or empirical," resulting in an emotional path that frequently manifests itself as religious doubt.

"My last, perhaps chief, advice can be summarized this way: mind your heart." In other words, "If we lose our sense of relationship with Christ, it is often not long before our beliefs follow the same trail. It is one of the easiest things that can happen in a world dominated by graduate degrees, and public lectures. [As he writes in a later paragraph, "with success comes temptation."] But the price is not worth it. In fact, what could be worse?"

After his "30 years ago" reference at the beginning of this item, Habermas adds by way of conclusion that "Today, if someone asks me to debate God's existence or objective truth, there is no way I would accept." He refers to specialists such as J.P. Moreland, Bill Craig, Norm Geisler and others who would do a better job. And therein lies the rub. When an intellect as stout as Habermas feels too timid to debate outside his area of specialization, it suggests an over-dependence on scholastic acumen. Faith & Mission, 24:4 - 2008, pp62-74.

POSTSCRIPT 5/2/09: If the remarks that Habermas makes related to emotional imbalance and doubt interest you, he expands on the idea in "Overcoming Spiritual and Emotional Doubt" in Christian Counseling Today, 16:2 - 2009, pp18-21.

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CHRISTOLOGY

"'Noli Me Tangere:' Why John Meier Won't Touch the Risen Lord" by William Lane Craig -- first, one needs to understand that Meier "is the most important and influential historical Jesus scholar now writing." Second, "Noli Me Tangere" is Latin and refers to John 20:17 and Christ's words often translated as, "Don't touch me."

The abstract fills us in a bit more: "John Meier distinguishes 'the real Jesus' from 'the historical Jesus'. Meier claims that whatever happened to the real Jesus after his death, his resurrection cannot belong to the historical Jesus because that event is in principle not open to the observation of any observer. But why think that the resurrection of Jesus is not observable in this way? Meier finds justification in Gerald O'Collins' view that although the resurrection of Jesus is a event, it is not an event in space and time and hence should not be called historical, since a necessary condition of historical occurrences is that they are known to have happened in our space-time continuum. Is this a good argument for the resurrection's being in principle excludable from the historical Jesus? A close examination of the argument reveals that it is not and that Meier's adoption of such a procedure contradicts Meier's own historical methodology." See how Craig does it. Heythrop Journal, 50:1 - 2009, pp91-97.

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LIBERATION THEOLOGY

"Against Heresies" by Clete Hux -- clearly makes the connection between the liberal teachings of Liberation Theology and those of Jeremiah Wright, Obama's United Church of Christ pastor for two decades. Hux explains that Liberation Theology (LT) "is a theological perspective that interprets the Christian message as being mostly about the social, political, and economic deliverance of the poor and oppressed" and has its roots in South America. The influence of LT most common in America is found in "the poor African-American community ... where it has come to be called Black Liberation Theology" (BLT). The Union Seminary professor of theology James Cone, who "imported LT to the United States ... explains that at the core of BLT is an effort to make the gospel relevant to the plight of American blacks in a white-dominated society where black has been defined as evil. It also seeks to help black people learn to love themselves." Cone says BLT constitutes "an attempt to teach people how to be both unapologetically black and Christian at the same time." Hux describes it as "a revolutionary ideology that is African-centered and in opposition to American culture."

The concern Hux emphasizes is that "There is no voice in America today trumpeting the BLT message louder than Jeremiah Wright, Barack Obama's [former] pastor, who recently stepped down from his pulpit at Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ." This move was made in order to promote Black Liberation Theology full time, speculates Hux. The reader is left to wonder why Obama lingered under Wright's caustic influence for so long and how Wright's teachings will now affect Obama's judgement as America's president. Areopagus Journal, 8:2 - 2008, pp6-9.

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Sources, Monographs:

1 - Welcome to College: A Christ-Follower's Guide for the Journey, by Jonathan Morrow (Kregel, 2008, paperback, 384 pages) <www.tinyurl.com/db8kxu>

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