Christian apologetics tries to convince people that you can know for certain that god is knowably real and that modern skepticism is not justified if you take the time to fully disseminate the arguments coming from atheists.
Yet for last few hundred years christian philosophers have took it to be a given that the nature of god's special revelation to man (well, modern man, anyways) is that it can only accepted with a "step of faith", that is, to start believing for no other reason than being introduced to christian theology. Logic says that you can never now god is real. \
Logic says that even if god is real in some way, it is because of god's "mysterious" yet beautifully esoteric methods that you can aren't allowed to know for CERTAIN, certain. At least not as certain as you can epistemologically be that you are, in fact, sitting in front of a computer right now.
2007-09-06 20:57:04 · 12 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
yet christian apologists say that when you sort out all the odds and ends concerning contentions presented to Christianity, you can know that god is real and that the bible makes complete sense.
And as well, the pope himself (john paul) has stated that through logic you can know for certain that it is all real and sound.
If the most secure proponents of the Christian faith say that you can know for sure that it is real, how can it be sound for Christians to say that it is “all about faith” when accepting that god is real?
2007-09-06 20:57:14 · update #1
Not by our wisdom but by God's revelation. This is the truth that if a man loves and seeks the truth he will receive the gift of faith and through faith comes revelation of God. It is not something you have to blindly accept.
2007-09-06 21:02:27 · answer #1 · answered by djmantx 7 · 7⤊ 0⤋
I am certain God is real. I started out (as I suppose we all do) an atheist. In my first year of university I took a course on Plato that introduced me to two things, morality and God. These were just concepts and I still did not believe in God, but it did make me aware of what God would be like if he did exist. I think this is the purpose of Christian apologetics. I then met a Catholic seminarian who revealed to me that the statement "There is no truth" is a self-contradiction. For some reason this had a profound effect on me, and I started to pray for the first time. This was the turning point. If apologetics can get you to kneel down and say an Our Father, it has acheived its purpose. I ended up joining a Catholic contemplative community for two years and have since had several experiences that leave no doubt in my mind that God is real and is willing to reveal himself to us if we just give him the chance. You are right in stating that logic is not the same thing as an experience of God, but logic can certainly lead us to such an experience. God bless.
2007-09-06 21:22:24 · answer #2 · answered by morkie 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
From the reading I've done on Christian Apologetics I believe the main thrust of that subject is concerned more with giving Christians tools of argument when faced with questions like "How do you know your religion or faith is real, correct, true, etc, etc." The book I have on the subject (and it is very compelling and involved) is written more for explaining how to deal with issues such as "postmodernism", polytheism, religious pluralism, and relativism as pertaining to how these things creep into the Christian faith and what their insidious effects are once fully embedded in the corrupted doctrines that subsequently get preached from the pulpit.
Christian Apologetics is more about defending against these things and radical theologies of humanist origin(s), but it also serves the function of helping a believer to get a firm grasp of understanding why they believe and how to logically and rationally defend their choice.
2007-09-06 21:14:34 · answer #3 · answered by RIFF 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well, say if you take that 'step of faith' and you have a spiritual experience like you couldn't imagine. What then? And then to couple with that, the knowledge that Jesus promised to Holy Spirit to deal with everybody, but to believers He is here because Jesus left to do what He is supposed to do, what then?
What then becomes logical? The logic that there is no God when you have God guiding you through things that you would never have done before? What would you do?
When God gets you in gear, then you'll know.
I swear, it's like talking to virgins about sex. They act like they know what they are talking about, but they don't know crap. They talk the talk, but everyone in the room who has had sex knows they are talking out their butt.
You were respectful though. I'm not saying that you weren't. It's just this: how do I convince a person who has never been 'experienced'? Do you get that?
2007-09-06 21:12:46 · answer #4 · answered by Christian Sinner 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I don't give a crap what "apologetics" say.
I don't give a crap what christian philosophers have said in the past 100 years. Hell, I don't give a crap what the Pope says. In my lifetime, I have been
"introduced to God", although it was thru
intense tragedy; now, 36+ years later, I have realized that the changes promised to my life have occured, and I was given the
gift of a child that I had asked for, even though my age is well over child bearing years. Miracles occur in my life and intervention and intercession in my life happens constantly. I feel complete and absolute protection around me.
If you want to be a non-believer, go ahead,
I could give a rats asss. Nobody can force anyone to believe and I have no mandate from God to try to. Do what you want.
You get to sail your own ship. Bon Voyage,
Captain. The only piece of advice I would give you is that you not set yourself up as an enemy of the Living God. If you do, then you will be treated as an enemy, period.
Thats not a position you want to find yourself in.
2007-09-06 21:07:03 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Atheists look at the same set of facts that Christians apologists do, they just take a "step of faith" in a different direction with their interpretation of those facts.
Anything else I said would merely be a more long-winded version of that sentence.
2007-09-06 21:03:21 · answer #6 · answered by SDW 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The purpose of Christian apologetics is to defend the Christian faith as strongly as possible. Then it is possible to compare its claims with other religions and ideologies.
Malcolm, theology_talk-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
2007-09-09 03:21:49 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Why did you ask this question? All the christians will disagree, all the athiests will agree, and you will accomplish nothing but a reaffirmation of your smug little worldview. brilliant job. i guess you're on the winning side of the argument, right?
and why does the question sound so damn hostile? as if a lack of logic were (pun intended) a sin.
2007-09-06 21:03:46 · answer #8 · answered by Doc Manhattan 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
didnt read most of the babel ha babel ...yeah the means to the end is logical any other theory isnt read the bible you'll figure it out maybe bye bye.
2007-09-06 21:44:21 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Christian apologetics tries to convince people that you can know for certain that
2007-09-06 21:01:00 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋