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Apologia Report 15:23 (1,028)
June 24, 2010
Subject: BUDDHISM: An outstanding, long-overdue resource
In this issue:
APOLOGETICS - essay collection "epitomizes the best work in the renaissance of philosophy of religion in the last 40 years"
ATHEISM - one of the most significant new atheist challenges now in circulation awaits a substantial response
BUDDHISM - "long overdue," "outstanding" resource for evangelicals
COMPARATIVE RELIGION - the best concise tool gets better and better
DISCERNMENT - Self-Deception and the Christian Life, popular treatment provides philosophical analysis
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APOLOGETICS
Passionate Conviction: Contemporary Discourses on Christian Apologetics, Paul Copan and William Lane Craig, eds. [1] -- Glenn B. Siniscalchi is generally enthusiastic in his review. He declares that the contributors to this collection of essays provide an "academic service to the church [which] continues to epitomize the best work in the renaissance of Anglo-American philosophy of religion in the last forty years. ...
"Perhaps the book's greatest strength lies in its ability to discuss newly formulated arguments for God's existence, the historical evidences for Jesus, the problem of postmodern relativism, and the uniqueness of Christianity in a highly accessible manner for the non-specialist. ...
"Undoubtedly the biggest reason why non-Evangelical Christians will resist Passionate Conviction is that apologetics still has so many negative connotations attached to it. The whole notion of defending Christianity with reason and hard evidences will seem preposterous and, in the worst case scenario, even offensive to non-Evangelicals and unbelievers. Craig and Moreland attempt to dispel this myth...."
Michael A. Murray "responds to what is probably the atheist's newest argument in defence of unbelief: if God existed, then he would give nonbelievers more evidence of his existence." In a section that is dedicated to apologetics and the historical origins of Christianity, Siniscalchi finds that N.T. Wright's contribution on Jesus' resurrection and Christian origins "is the most helpful and enlightening. ...
"The remaining chapters elaborate on selected themes in comparative religions, postmodernism, and the practical import of intelligently defending the Christian faith." Siniscalchi adds: "It is surprising to me that [the essays by] J.P. Moreland and Francis Beckwith ... never spell out the tremendous amount of good that postmodernism is having on Christian belief. For one thing, as a reaction to modernity, postmodernism is not necessarily hostile to Christian faith, but serves as a correction to the dogmatism of the past. ...
"If Evangelical apologists want their publications to be taken more seriously by the broader academic community of theologians, then they will have to wisely defend the legitimacy of apologetics (as Craig and Moreland indeed do in the first section), albeit they must do so under the larger umbrella of issues that concern theologians...." Evangelical Review of Theology, 34:2 - 2010, pp184-186.
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ATHEISM
Why I Became an Atheist, by John W. Loftus [2] -- reviewer Geoffrey W. Sutton limits his response largely to psychological considerations that fail to impress. Nevertheless, enough is said to suggest that Loftus should remain on your radar, long term.
"Loftus' work advances the position of atheism in a more rational and systematic way than do authors that are more confrontational" such as the "new atheists" of late. "As a former preacher, seminarian [Trinity Evangelical Divinity School], and apologist, Loftus knows the Christian faith like few insiders. ... The beauty of his work is the well-written and carefully documented review of primary and secondary issues in Christian theology and biblical scholarship organized in one easy-to-read volume. ...
"According to Loftus, three events that occurred within a period of five years were critical to his deconversion. First, he painfully discloses an affair with a coworker at a homeless center ministry, which he co-founded. ... Second, his beliefs about creation and the Genesis text collided with scientific information he received in an exchange of scholarly correspondence with a cousin who teaches science. ... In the aftermath of the affair, he resigned from the ministry and discontinued regular church attendance. Next, he resumed his participation at a church led by a cousin. Unfortunately, a serious rift developed. Of this, he writes, 'This was a blow to my faith and one of the reasons why I am an atheist today.'"
While the above suggests that Loftus' departure from the faith was in no small part due to emotional disillusionment, Why I Became an Atheist represents an impressive intellectual presentation for which the majority of the Christian public would be hard-pressed to mount a winning defense. As such, it represents one of the most significant atheist challenges now in circulation and one for which a substantial evangelical response is sorely needed. Journal of Psychology and Theology, 38:1 - 2010, pp65-68.
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BUDDHISM
Buddhism: A Christian Exploration and Appraisal, by Keith Yandell and Harold Netland [3] -- in his review, Chandler H. Im calls this a "long overdue" and "outstanding" resource which "illustrates, from an evangelical position in particular, what interfaith interface between Christians and Buddhists should look like for the purpose of mutual understanding and enrichment, while pursuing a quest for truth and reality."
The authors understand that "Buddhism has always been a missionary religion." They "provide a panoramic survey of the expansion and development of Buddhism throughout Asia and the West" while providing "in detail similarities and differences among diverse traditions....
"One main purpose of the text is 'not to comprehensively argue for the truth of Christian claims ... but to clarify the differences' between Christianity and Buddhism." The authors "conclude that the two major (irreconcilable) differences between Christianity and Buddhism are (1) the existence of God and (2) Jesus as the historical incarnation of God. In short, Buddhism is a 'self power' religion, whereas Christianity is a religion of 'other power.' ... [T]hey competently demonstrate that Christian-Buddhist interface would be fruitless if focused only upon the religions' similarities without examining their differences as well." Evangelical Missions Quarterly, 46:1 - 2010, pp113-114.
COMPARATIVE RELIGION
Apologia Report Contributing Editor Paul Carden recently finished updating the best concise religion comparison tool in print, the 7th edition of Rose Publishing's Christianity, Cults & Religions. In this 14-panel fold-out side-by-side comparison chart of the Christianity's 20 principal rivals in the West, details for each belief system considered include: founder, date, location, teachings on God, Jesus, salvation, death, key writings, other beliefs, and distinctive practices.
The news regarding the 7th edition centers on a fresh DVD-based curriculum that is designed to complement this product. To learn more, go to <www.christianitycultsandreligions.com>.
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DISCERNMENT
I Told Me So: Self-Deception and the Christian Life, by Gregg A. Ten Elshof, associate professor and department chair of philosophy at Biola University [4] -- argues that as Christians "We persuade ourselves to believe things that we do not really believe and to think that we are the kind of people we really are not. And, while doing so, we rest content on the spiritual and intellectual progress we have not really made. ...
"Christians often convey their religious beliefs to others in an insular, emotional, and communal environment, with the 'felt pressure' of commitment: 'a recipe for self-deception.' ...
"These conditions encourage the audience to believe in Christianity, regardless of the actual content of the beliefs to which they are being asked to commit. ... The emotional conditions keep the fact that [people] are deceiving themselves 'on the periphery of conscious awareness,' while the communal atmosphere helps to maintain the desire to believe.
"Furthermore, Christian discipleship is often an insulating rather than formative force we hope it to be, involved in protecting rather than authenticating one's beliefs. ... Thus, Christian life is strongly susceptible to self-deception both at its inception and continued maintenance.
"Ten Elshof is at his best exposing the many aspects of Christian life that are hospitable to self-deception. His response is just as insightful: Christians need to purposefully live a selfless, ecumenical, and simple life."
One of Ten Elshof's great insights is that, ironically, the value of recognizing our propensity to being self-deceived is that it should enable us to "be as gracious with our selves as we are - or should be, anyway - with others."
Brian Glenney ends his review with interesting criticism of Ten Elshof over the role and importance of self-authenticity. Ten Elshof is found to be uncritical while Glenney emphasizes the need to "see ourselves aright" as being essential. Journal of Spiritual Formation & Soul Care, 3:1 - 2010, pp107-108.
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SOURCES: Monographs
1 - Passionate Conviction: Contemporary Discourses on Christian Apologetics, Paul Copan and William Lane Craig, eds. (B&H, 2007, paperback, 288 pages) <www.tinyurl.com/2dzg4fg>
2 - Why I Became an Atheist: A Former Preacher Rejects Christianity, by John W. Loftus (Prometheus, 2008, paperback, 428 pages) <www.tinyurl.com/28ylleh>
3 - Buddhism: A Christian Exploration and Appraisal, by Keith Yandell and Harold Netland (IVP, 2009, paperback, 230 pages) <www.tinyurl.com/2b6lgl7>
4 - I Told Me So: Self-Deception and the Christian Life, by Gregg A. Ten Elshof (Eerdmans, 2009, paperback, 160 pages) <www.tinyurl.com/266o4td>
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