WHY WORLDVIEW CAFÉ?

Why Worldview Café: The Need for Apologetics

Is there a need for Worldview Cafe or Christian Apologetics?

You Decide:

• • How do you know what is true?

  • How do you know there are objective moral laws of right and wrong?

  • Where did the universe come from?

  • How do you know God created the universe?

  • How do you know God exists?

  • Who made God?

  • How can God make something out of nothing?

  • How can there be three persons in one God?

  • How can God be both loving and just?

  • If God exists, why is there evil? 59

  • Why doesn't God just get ride of evil?

  • Is science and theology opposing?

  • Is the neo-darwininan theory of evolution true?

  • How do you that Jesus really existed?

  • Jesus was just a man. 59

  • Are the records of Jesus reliable?

  • Did Jesus really perform miracles, claim to be God and rise from the dead?

  • Where did the Bible come from? How was it put together? How do you know that you have the right books?

  • Is the Bible inspired on all topics or just spiritual ones?

  • Does the Bible have errors or contradictions?

  • The Bible we have today is not the same as when it was written 2000 years ago.59

  • What about the books of other religions?

  • How do you know that your Bible is better than other religious writings? 59

  • How do you know that Christianity is the correct worldview and not the others?

  • The Inquisition and the Crusades show that Christianity is oppressive. 59

  • Christianity is one way to God but not the only way. 59

  • Christianity is arrogant and exclusive. 59

  • Why does God allow bad things to happen to good people? 59

  • The church is full of hypocrites. 59

  • Why would a loving God send anyone to Hell?59

  • The God of the OT is cruel, partial, and unjust. 59

  • God and religion was invented by man. 59

  • Evolution has proven Christianity to be wrong.59

  • The Bible is a myth full of fairy tales.59

  • How did Noah get all of the animals on the Ark? 59

  • There are no such thing as miracles. 59

// Introduction //

What is the greatest failure of the Church in the US? How much influence is the Church having in our schools, government, laws, media? What percentage of young people (high school and college aged) are leaving Christianity and the Church? What are their reasons? For those that do return, why? What are some obstacles or barriers to communicating the Gospel today that were not present 10 or 20 years ago? Here is what some have commented on the above questions:

“It has become more clear to me that apologetics is a vital discipline for Christians to engage in. There are many Christians who don’t feel like apologetics is necessary and that worries me, because it speaks of how little they share their faith with people. If they did tell people about Jesus, then I think they would see the need for answers." – Shawn Hart, RC Chapter co-Director at Portland State University

“Christianity is a statement which, if false, is of no importance, and, if true, is of infinite importance. The one thing it cannot be is moderately important.”-- C.S. Lewis

“The truth is that today it is virtually impossible to do evangelism without apologetics. A life dedicated to getting the Gospel out is inseparably connected with one that is “prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason of the hope that is in you…” (1 Pet. 3:15). – Norman L. Geisler

“...most of us know what we believe, or at least feel like we do. And that is the problem. Do we really? Think about that for a second. Ask yourself what you believe. Typical answers are probably, I believe in God, Jesus and the Bible. Okay, what do you believe about them? Ah...That is the point. Belief in God, and everything else mentioned, is great. But before one can get to why they believe, we must first know what we believe.” -- John Mays

“I don't respect people who don't proselytize. I don't respect that at all. If you believe that there's a heaven and hell and people could be going to hell or not getting eternal life or whatever, and you think that it's not really worth telling them this because it would make it socially awkward.... How much do you have to hate somebody to believe that everlasting life is possible and not tell them that?" – Penn Jillette 87

“Describe the God you rejected… Describe the God you don’t believe in… Maybe I don’t believe in that God either.” —Tim Keller

“Men despise religion; they hate it and fear it is true. To remedy this, we must begin by showing that religion is not contrary to reason; that it is worthy of reverence and respect; then we must make it attractive, to make good men wish it were true; and then prove that it is true. Worthy of reverence because it really understands human nature. Attractive because it promises the true good” (Pensées 187 written by Bliase Pascal, child prodigy, scientist, mathematician, inventor, philosopher, and literary genius). 89

“Truth about life and all that we do is usually grounded on what we think of these five main topics, the answers depend on the existence of God and what one believes about Him: Origin: Where did we come from? Identity: Who are we? Meaning and purpose: Why are we here? Morality: How should we live? Destiny and eternity: Where are we going?” – Teri Dugan 90

“The philosophy in the schoolroom in one generation will be the philosophy in the government in the next.” Abraham Lincoln

Although all Christians are technically apologists (defenders of Christianity), most have not really reflected and studied what they believe and why. On the other hand, those who call themselves “Christian apologists” amateur and professional, usually have made the effort (based on their occupation) to really research and reflect. They usually are more open to critique, have conducted personal research, looked at the whole system and various sources and considered what others believe and why.

J. Warner Wallace sums up the importance of becoming apologists: “I bet there’s some aspect of your life where you are willing to invest time and energy for a much less important cause. How many hours a week do you spend catching up on our favorite television dramas? How much time do you spend watching sports, or reading about your favorite hobby? Few of us are so busy we have absolutely no time to spend studying what we believe about God. It’s really all a matter of priorities. Most of us are willing to spend time on the things that interest us most. Are our metaphysical beliefs about the existence of God important enough for us to invest the time necessary to become successful case makers?” 83

Apologetics is explaining or making an case for why we believe what we believe; why the Christian Worldview is true and best represents reality. It incorporates four functions or modes: proves/ vindicates (developing a positive case for Christianity as a belief system using scientific and historical evidence and philosophical arguments, showing it to be reasonable); defends (against other belief systems by clarifying the CWV, answering objections, criticisms or questions, clearing away intellectual obstacles and showing that CWV is credible or not unreasonable); refutes (opposing beliefs, answering arguments non-Christians have in support of their beliefs); and persuades (others to apply the truth of the CWV to their life and to commitment themselves to Jesus and not just accepting truth claims about Jesus). For more see What Is Apologetics? By Multiple Authors. Faith Has It’s Reasons. www.bible.org). 58 “Apologetics involves knowing why you believe and complies with Christ’s command of loving God with your mind.” 32 It is important to remember that: “Apologetics is not about polemical attacks on other faith groups. Apologetics includes at its core a deeper understanding of the gospel. The only way to demonstrate Christianity is true is to know what it is about. This requires both proper theology and the ability to see what the true gospel looks like in real life as it transforms individuals and communities.” 85

In my paper An Argument for A New Reformation, I ask: Why the local church needs to get back to reason and training: The Importance of Understanding Barriers to the Gospel, the Nature of Truth and the Christian's and Church’s Responsibility then move on to how the church can do that: By Understanding The Importance of Philosophy in Theology, by Understanding The Importance Purpose and Audience, by Interpreting and Applying The Bible Correctly, by Explaining Why There Are Different Systems, Views and Interpretations? and by Incorporating Apologetics. And I reached the conclusion that: All Christians and especially pastors should have some basic knowledge of philosophy, hermeneutics, theology and apologetics so that they can know and love God better and explain more effectively and more convincing what they believe and why in our postmodern culture. There will be a revival in our culture when there is a intellectual reformation in our church. Only then will the church have a greater influence in our culture, schools, government, laws, media and family. Much of the material in this paper is also incorporated in An Argument for A New Reformation.

You can find it here: https://sites.google.com/site/worldviewcafe

In this paper I will discuss: Is there a need for Worldview Cafe or Christian Apologetics in general? More specifically: How does Apologetics benefit the average Christian personally? What about those who leave the Church/Christianity? And how does Apologetics benefit Christians in Sharing the Gospel? I gathered together some of the research, surveys, quotes and case studies so that you can decide for yourself. We shall come to the conclusion that the Church in the USA is FAILING drastically our youth and to influence our culture and schools. Young people (high school and college aged) between 50-90% are leaving Christianity and the Church. And MOST churches either are ignorant to or deny the real problem that young students face and as a result they are leaving the church. “Christianity is increasingly under attack in our culture. Young people are walking away from Christianity in record numbers. Like it or not, the numbers don’t lie. In survey after survey, most college aged Christians appear to be abandoning their faith before they become seniors in college and only about a third of them ever return to the faith..” - J. Warner Wallace of Cold Case Christianity. Many times if we are doing a task or job and we don't know the reasons behind why we are doing it we lose interest and motivation and give up. But when we understand the reasons and importance of some task, we are more motivated and committed. This is similar to how Paul wrote. He would lay out doctrine (see Eph 1-3) then he would give the principles of application (see Eph 4-6).

Note: I have chosen to write this paper in an outline form to consolidate some of my research and so have included excerpts and short summaries at the end of each section. The outline form does not have extensive transitions between the various concepts, so the reader may better think through the individual sections and draw their own conclusions. This is not intended to be an exhaustive study so I encourage you to look up the authors and sources referenced

// Outline //

• • Part 1. The Need For Christians: How Does Apologetics Benefits the Average Christian Personally?

A. Why should Christians care about apologetics? Are only a select few called to be apologists?

B. What are the Right and Wrong Reasons and Motives to Pursue Apologetics?

C. How does Apologetics Engage Worldviews?

D. Should pastors use apologetics?

E. What are others saying a major (if not the greatest) problem in the church is?

F. How Can The Church Incorporate Apologetics?

• • Part 2. The Need For Young People: How Does Apologetics Benefit Those Who Leave the Church/Christianity?

A. What is the research is telling us?

B. Why are young people leaving the Church/ Christianity?

C. What can we do?

• • Part 3. The Need For Non-Christians: How Does Apologetics Benefit Christians in Sharing the Gospel?

A. Apologetics and the Gospel: How does Apologetics help us understand the barriers to the Gospel?

B. Apologetics and Evangelism: Is Apologetics a new form of evangelism?

C. Apologetics and Evidence: What is faith as defined by God?

D. Apologetics and Asking Questions: How did Jesus and his disciples engage people?

E. Apologetics and Relationships: What really matters?

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Does the Church Need A New Reformation?