I have brushed up against this topic on occasion. Time to hit it head-on.
Christianity claims to have all the answers. In order to maintain that claim Apologetics were born.
And to be clear, a reasonable amount of Apologetics aren't a problem. A biblical basis for our faith.
But after I had matured in the faith (go ahead and laugh), I began to notice something about Apologetics.
Church attenders, and especially those who hadn't memorized all the Apologetics, wanted answers.
To pastor a church meant being the answer man (or woman). The flock wants answers.
And in some cases, it seemed that if a Pastor, or Bible commentator, didn't have an answer,
they made something up. Which left me in a strange place. A loss of trust in the ability of leadership.
It was never okay to say, "I don't know." The church response might be, "We need to find a new Pastor."
Discussion questions:
1) Is our faith built upon answers?
2) Are we saved by Apologetics?
3) Aren't doctrines man-made?
4) Have Apologetics ever failed you?
5) Can Apologetics become a god?
--- PARODY ---
Christian: We have all the answers.
Victim: Good; I haven't done today's crossword puzzle yet.
Christian: I didn't mean those sort of answers.
Victim: That's okay, I can do my own puzzle games.
Christian: I mean the really important answers to life.
Victim: Like how to get my keys out of a locked car?
Christian: No, like where you will spend eternity.
Victim: It seems to take an eternity to get my keys out of a locked car.
Christian: Aren't you concerned about your eternal destiny?
Victim: Not really. I'm concerned about getting my keys out of a locked car.
Christian: That is a temporal concern; I'm talking about eternity.
Victim: I'm late for an appointment. That's my main concern at the moment.
Christian: Shouldn't you be more concerned about your eternal destiny?
Victim: Oh good, the police just arrived to rescue me.
Christian: To rescue you from being locked out of your car?
Victim: No, to rescue me from you.
[
Christianity claims to have all the answers. In order to maintain that claim Apologetics were born.
And to be clear, a reasonable amount of Apologetics aren't a problem. A biblical basis for our faith.
But after I had matured in the faith (go ahead and laugh), I began to notice something about Apologetics.
Church attenders, and especially those who hadn't memorized all the Apologetics, wanted answers.
To pastor a church meant being the answer man (or woman). The flock wants answers.
And in some cases, it seemed that if a Pastor, or Bible commentator, didn't have an answer,
they made something up. Which left me in a strange place. A loss of trust in the ability of leadership.
It was never okay to say, "I don't know." The church response might be, "We need to find a new Pastor."
Discussion questions:
1) Is our faith built upon answers?
2) Are we saved by Apologetics?
3) Aren't doctrines man-made?
4) Have Apologetics ever failed you?
5) Can Apologetics become a god?
--- PARODY ---
Christian: We have all the answers.
Victim: Good; I haven't done today's crossword puzzle yet.
Christian: I didn't mean those sort of answers.
Victim: That's okay, I can do my own puzzle games.
Christian: I mean the really important answers to life.
Victim: Like how to get my keys out of a locked car?
Christian: No, like where you will spend eternity.
Victim: It seems to take an eternity to get my keys out of a locked car.
Christian: Aren't you concerned about your eternal destiny?
Victim: Not really. I'm concerned about getting my keys out of a locked car.
Christian: That is a temporal concern; I'm talking about eternity.
Victim: I'm late for an appointment. That's my main concern at the moment.
Christian: Shouldn't you be more concerned about your eternal destiny?
Victim: Oh good, the police just arrived to rescue me.
Christian: To rescue you from being locked out of your car?
Victim: No, to rescue me from you.
[
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