Should we find a new term?

I’m not inherently opposed to replacing the term. Apologetics is derived from a Biblical Greek word used convey making a legal defense for a point of view (in this case our Christian faith). But, I don’t think it is important we insisting on it (like we might for terms such as justification, propitiation, or atonement). ⁽¹⁾Yes, I do think it is important we teach such terms, as something is always lost when we start substituting. In other words, it isn’t a term that is particularly unique or important in its own right.

I’ve tried J. Warner Wallace’s suggestion of the term, ‘case-making.’ The problem is that I usually get similar blank stares. I’ve tried using the definition of ‘defending’ or ‘making a defense for’ Christianity. This sometimes results in a blank stare coupled with a negative reaction. I suppose defense seems a bit more militant.

In many cases, confusion concerning apologetics isn’t a matter of difficult terminology, but of a struggle to fit the concept into a particular understanding of Christianity.

If I were an endocrinologist, I’d probably have to explain that term at dinner parties. But, once I told them I was a doctor who worked with the body’s system of hormones, and had patients with diabetes or metabolic disorders, they would be on-board. And, while they would be far from understanding the details, they would be unlikely to react in a, “why would you do that?” kind of way (which is often a reaction I experience to apologetics).

Another identity problem being overcome

Podcasters share a similar problem. Mentioning podcast to many also returns a blank stare. Some have suggested Internet radio, others Internet streaming audio, or ‘Net-cast.’ The problem is that these are longer, more technical, or suggest their own definitional problems which then require explanation and correction. And when people do start to understand what a podcast is, images of Steve Job’s ‘amateur hour’ quip might come to mind. It takes a bit of explanation and promotion before people start to see the true benefits and appreciate podcasting.

For example, while a podcast is delivered via the Internet, one of the best aspects is that you don’t have to be connected to the Internet to listen to one. You can listen at your own convenience, often while doing other things like commuting or cleaning the house. And, while ‘amateur hour’ is sometimes a problem, podcasting is rather unique in focusing on niche interests, often at a very in-depth level. It’s a bit like Internet radio, but that doesn’t really capture the unique benefits.

In other words, feel free to use other terminology to describe podcasting (or apologetics), but don’t expect that to be enough, or initially even help much. You’re going to have to teach, explain, and defend the CONCEPT behind them and explain why someone should care.

What can apologists learn from podcasters?

A few occurrences got me reflecting on this correlation between apologetics and podcasting (and writing an article on the topic). First, we podcasters (or aspiring podcasters in my case, and podcast fans) recently celebrated National Podcast Day on September 30th. It was established to raise awareness of podcasting and help educate people about what podcasting entails. Next year, it’s going to be rebranded International Podcast Day for obvious reasons – there is nothing national about it!

Second, I heard Cliff Ravesnscraft (aka. the Podcast Answer Man) talk about this topic a while back (including relating the issue to seeker-sensitive churches failed attempts at avoiding big terminology). He takes the tact of using the terms and teaching people through explanation and example to encourage the link in their mind. (16:23 ~ 23-15 min.)

Third, I recently wrote an article about why businesses should consider podcasting, and I’ll probably write a similar one on why Christian apologists should do the same! While some of the motives can be different, podcasting is an incredible opportunity apologists shouldn’t miss. You might say I’ve become an apologist of podcasting in addition to Christianity.

Essentially, I’ve become convicted concerning the value of educating people about podcasting and the approach that community is taking. I’ll teach people what the term means, what the benefits are, and help raise awareness. I think we can (and need to) do the same with Christian apologetics.

To change or not to change (the term)

I’m reaching to a similar conclusion in terms of Christian apologetics. Why should we drop a term that is centuries old with a rich history? The problem, as I see it, isn’t that people can’t learn to grasp a complex term. People use complex terms every day in their jobs and other duties. The problem is more one of apathy and misunderstanding.

The average Christian doesn’t respond with a blank stare because the term apologetics is too complex, but because even upon grasping the meaning of the term, they often (at least initially) find the concept irrelevant. Why would someone defend or make a case for Christianity? (They think or express.) Isn’t that kind of last-century modernism? ⁽²⁾No, they don’t use that language, but given the influence of postmodernity, relativism, and multi-cultural diversity/inclusivism, that is essentially what they are saying. Isn’t defending Christianity a bit impolite even if it can be rationally justified? Why not just take it all on faith? These are the messages I most often read from the blank stares and conversations that follow.

Focus on our identity and history

We face a tough battle. As I pointed out, the problem isn’t a term. It is the cancer of apathy within our churches and culture, consuming the rich historical place for apologetics alongside theology, community, the sacraments, etc. Not unlike the Reformation period, we face an apathetic church, attempting to placate diminishing masses with modern-day smells and bells (or sometimes real ones).

The reasons for this are many, but I think we should keep in mind the relationship between apathy and anxiety. Apathy is often a symptom of anxiety. It is especially common in people (or people groups) who experience a big set-back. Social pressure around controversial topics, nervousness about a perceived strain between faith and science, and cultural relativism are just a few factors creating a lot of spiritual anxiety. When we’re not aware of the strengths of Christianity or answers to those challenges, I think we often turn inward (for protection) and become apathetic.

As with the risk of dropping a term like podcasting, we Christian apologists risk diluting a powerful term and identity with a rich history. ⁽³⁾Yes, this history is short in podcasting, but ‘podcasting’ (term-wise) is the hub of that community. It’s an anchor point from which to build. In my opinion, we’re better off rallying around the term apologetics – educating, doing PR, promoting – all in a consolidated effort.

So, what is apologetics?

This is a great continuing discussion within our community. I’ve tried a number of tactics depending on the person I’m speaking with.

If the person is unaware of the term apologetics, I’ll often explain that it addresses why someone should believe Christianity rather than, say, Buddhism, Islam, or Atheism. Just be prepared, as many have never considered such a question and often look at me like I have just committed some kind of logical category error. I get the, “DOES NOT COMPUTE!” look.

If the person has a strong church background or theological training, I might explain that apologetics addresses the ‘why believe’ similar to how theology addresses the ‘what is believed.’ They typically understand, but also sometimes still give me a puzzled look.

If either of those approaches dead-end, I often try to think of some apologetics example to illustrate. This is challenging to do on the fly, as you want to try and find an example which will best resonate with the individual. Having a few on-hand and practiced is quite helpful. That way, if you can’t think of a custom tailored example, you have something to fall back on.

Here are a few:

• If your God is such a good God, why did He cause/allow X?
• I recently heard Jesus didn’t even exist.
• Why do you believe the Bible? It’s just an ancient book of myths.
• I don’t want to be associated with people who hate homosexuals.
• Science has done a lot for me. I won’t join up with science deniers.

Basically, find something you think they might care about (even better if it is also a hot cultural topic), and turn it into an objection to Christianity. That should make them see the importance of addressing it. This provides a real-world example of Christian apologetics.

Conclusion

Feel free to use whatever term you find works best. However, I’d like to suggest that we not abandon ‘apologetics’ because it isn’t the actual problem and has a rich history. And much more important, like with podcasting, is the common identity for the community to rally around and promote. Having a strong, unique term is helpful to that end.

Photo: © Depositphotos.com/vlue

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The end GOAL of Christian apologetics should always be to lead people to Christ – or to be more theologically accurate – to be a means through which the Holy Spirit brings people to Christ. But it is also important to step back and take a higher level view of our approach and methods. This might be a good time, then, to talk about the big picture of apologetics. I’m going to talk about this in a number of different senses (ie: topics, methods, style, tips, etc.).

Topics

I identify three classes of topics which Christian apologetics addresses. The first I would call ‘foundational.’ These are things which prepare one for apologetics, such as knowing what apologetics is, epistemology, logic, critical thinking, history, worldviews, and definitions.

The second is what I’d call ‘classical’ or ‘traditional.’ These are the topics such as the Resurrection, existence of God, or revelation and reliability of the Bible. These haven’t changed since the Apostles.

The third are ‘hot topics’ within our culture. These might seem to be peripheral, or distractions, but they usually become reasons people turn away from Christianity unless properly understood (even then, they might still turn away, but we must stand for the truth). These change over time. In the early church, they were things like atheism (Christians didn’t worship many of the gods), cannibalism (they talked of eating flesh and drinking blood), and incest (everyone was called a brother or sister, even their spouse). Today, they include the environment, sexuality, Islam, and evolution.

A Christian apologist needs to have some familiarity with all of these. We can’t know it all, but familiarity helps us at least know where to look, and to not get caught off-guard.

Action: It is good to review a list at times to check your blind-spots. For a starting point, see our training outline at TilledSoil, or this comprehensive list at Christian Apologetics Alliance.

Method and approach

There are a number of methods of going about apologetics, as well as theology and philosophy behind them. I’m not going to belabor some of the latter here, but want you to at least be aware of them and some dangers.

The first thing you will likely notice is that there is much debate over presuppositional vs evidential apologetics. This might be expected, as at their foundations, these two can’t really be reconciled philosophically or theologically. That said, I’ve rarely run into a purest, and in practice, nearly all apologists mix the techniques.

Presuppositional apologetics comes at things from the understanding that without God, arguments and knowledge fail in the first place. Since this is reality, flaws in the opponents case can be found and pointed out. Certainly, this is true on the Christian world view, and nearly every apologist uses such an approach at points. However, if woodenly applied, it starts violating the ‘with gentleness and reverence’ aspect of our 1 Peter 3:15 passage.

Evidential apologetics focuses more (exclusively?) on the person and their mind. Evidence is presented and built upon until the person is left with no choice but to see the reasonableness and weight of the Christian worldview. The critique comes in with the fall of humanity and the ‘why’ people don’t believe. Romans 1 says that people don’t believe in God, not because they lack information, but because they are hostile towards God.

There are many books on the subject, but one excellent discussion recently occurred between K Scott Oliphint and Kurt Jaros on Unbelievable? While I didn’t feel it did justice to explaining the Evidential position, it cleared up many misconceptions about the presuppositional position. Most apologists, in my experience, seem to look more like evidentialists in practice. Hopefully, though, they learn from the presuppositionalist camp in their view of humanity and knowledge. I think this view, in it’s underpinnings, is clearly Biblical, whereas a pure evidentialist view would run into theological problems.

What do some of the actual approaches look like? I’m going to list a few just in terms of flow or progression.

Existence of God -> God is best revealed in the Bible -> Jesus claimed to be God -> Resurrection validates the claim.

Bible as God’s revelation -> Jesus -> Resurrection

Cumulative evidence from many disciplines -> Plausibility and web of arguments -> abductive reasoning (inference to the best explanation) -> Christian worldview -> Bible -> Jesus -> Resurrection

God -> man -> Jesus -> Cross -> final resurrection ⁽²⁾H/T: Greg Koukl

Meaning of life? -> Does God exist? -> Do all religions lead to God? -> Why is there evil? -> Is there life after death? -> Gospel message ⁽³⁾H/T: Andy Steiger cf. Thinking Series or Apologetics’s Canada podcasts #9-14. An interesting new approach by my friend’s at Apologetics Canada which I hope to review soon.

These are presented just to give you an idea how some different apologists ‘flow’ or progress through conversation towards the goal.

Action: Familiarize yourself with some of the advantages and dangers of different approaches, and what the Bible says (theologically) and provides as an example. This will help you avoid pitfalls, keep the big picture in mind, and forge a path to get there. In the above progressions, are there aspects you are weak on or missing?

Tips and style

I will refer you to another article I wrote specifically on this topic. However, I want to highlight and add some here.

Build relationships and listen! I’m not sure I have to explain these too much, as they are part of the art of conversation and persuasion, but also crucial to really caring about someone. Unfortunately, they are really easy to forget in the moment.

Definitions are crucial to discussion. You might seem like a stickler at points for trying to pin them down, but if they are not, people just talk past one another and get frustrated. And watch the ‘inside language’ or terms which have meaning within Christianity, but are confusing or points of contention to unbelievers. ‘Faith’ is a great example, consider substituting trust.

Don’t go for the home-run. The Holy Spirit controls the heart and we just need to faithfully play our part. Every conversation doesn’t need an altar-call at the end. As Greg Koukl often points out, it might be best to just to ‘put a stone in their shoe.’ (Meaning something to ponder that will challenge their view.)

Specialize in some area (so you can contribute to the discipline), but remain broad enough to converse with anyone.

Apologetic arguments and worldview are like chain mail (armor), not a chain. ⁽⁴⁾H/T: William Lane Craig If someone knocks out one of your arguments (or seems to), the whole system usually doesn’t crumble. Likewise, this is probably true of their worldview as well. ⁽⁵⁾There are exceptions, of course. If Jesus didn’t resurrect, Christianity is finished. If the universe isn’t eternally existent, materialism fails.

Don’t let such conversations be a one-way interrogation. Both you and the person you are conversing with should have to answer the tough questions, as well as provide a positive case.

Watch out for the ‘pseudo-postmodern two-step’ as John Stackhouse calls it. “This is the rhetorical device of, first, using postmodernist criticism to de-privilege elites and then, second, asserting that the views of one’s own group are better than anyone else’s.” ⁽⁶⁾John G. Stackhouse, Jr., Humble Apologetics: Defending the Faith Today (Oxford University Press, 2002), 33-4.

Try to determine the underlying hopes and fears driving the person. ⁽⁷⁾H/T Dr. John Stackhouse, Jr. If you meet an environmentalist (hostile to Christianity), you might find they have similar hopes about the world and their fears are a distortion of Christianity.

Are you debating? Being conversational? Being an ambassador? Different situations call for different approaches, but are we being appropriate to the situation? Do we look more like a combatant or an ambassador?

Action: Keep these kinds of tips in mind and review them often. Even if you do, being Christ’s ambassador will still be challenging. Constant practice is the key.

I remember one of my seminary professors saying that all Christians are theologians. The question is whether we’re good or bad ones. I would add apologists to that list. We are all called to ‘give a reason for the hope that we have in Christ’ during our lives. Will we do a good job in presenting that reason? In other words, will we be good apologists or bad ones? The Bible says we are to be prepared to do so… to be good apologists. ⁽⁸⁾1 Peter 3:15 NASB – “but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with … Continue reading

I’ll take this one step further. I often hear a debate between ‘Christian living’ and ‘life of the mind’ when it comes to Christian witness. The two go hand in hand. You can’t have one without the other and be effective. Let me illustrate: If I have the best answers and can defeat any idea brought against Christianity, yet don’t reflect Christianity in my life, most will reject my witness. Yet, if I live a flawless Christian life (at least as far as my fellow humans can see), but fail to give a proper reason when asked about it, I’m of little more benefit to witness than the Buddhist or New Age follower who might match my good behavior. In Christianity, the life and mind are inseparable.

Image credit: Forest – High Contrast by (www.debabrata.info) debabrata

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The virtue of integrity seems to be suffering greatly today. While I sometimes fail to express this quality at its best, it has always been an important pursuit of mine. I could never understand, for example, how Christian friends would simply divide ‘business’ and ‘personal’ in their lives. ⁽¹⁾I know to some extent that such a division needs to exist, if for no other reason than legal liability. I’m talking here of the simple ease and extent to which so many make the distinction. They would treat a friend one way, yet in business, easily treat people entirely differently. Even personally, they might sell their troubled car, best hiding any problems it might have, without even hesitating to consider the morality of such behavior (or worry about the effect on the unsuspecting buyer).

In Christian apologetics, integrity is a critical virtue. Not only is it morally significant – being expected as a virtue of a Christian – but also is an integral aspect of the discipline (as it is of many disciplines. Can you imagine not caring if your doctor or accountant were virtuous?). I’ve heard it said that once someone has put something into print, it is very unlikely they will correct it. That needs to be the polar-opposite behavior of the Christian apologist. ⁽²⁾You’ll note that we try to practice this here at TilledSoil.org, by constantly updating and correcting our articles. We usually even leave the incorrect information in place – though … Continue reading

A Christian apologist needs to be ready to learn new information, fairly present the opposing viewpoint, take correction humbly, and when someone has been wronged, or Christian witness damaged, apologize and take corrective actions. This is not easy. We all fail in some manner as our egos get in the way.

This all said, ALL apologists (and people for that matter), fail in their lives and ministries in various ways. When these failings impact our ministries, this is especially an occasion for repentance, mourning, and taking the best corrective actions we are able to muster. We’ve damaged more than our personal growth as a Christian disciple, as well as hurt those close to us; we’ve damaged Christian witness.

It is bad enough when a Christian disciple has a personal failing which impacts their ministry, but far worse when this failing is directly connected to the nature of the ministry itself. For example, it is one thing if someone involved in a pro-life ministry secretly had an abortion to cover-up their pregnancy. This would certainly cause a stir in the media, doing damage to the ministry. Yet, it would be quite another thing if it were found out that the director of a pro-life ministry was secretly moonlighting as an abortion doctor. The latter would fundamentally undermine the ministry’s message and credibility.

The Ergun Caner scandal

As a case study, I’d like to examine the ongoing saga of Ergun Caner, the ex-Muslim ‘extremest’ from Ohio, turned Christian convert and Evangelical rising-star. I pick this scandal as an example because of its importance, scale, longevity, and breadth of entanglement within the Evangelical community.

What is the big deal? That is the point the supporters of Ergan Caner have been trying to sell (doing so quite effectively, I might add). This is why the situation has been dubbed, “The Great Evangelical Cover Up.” ⁽³⁾Or, maybe the recent ‘Evangelical Industrial Complex’ that got to Janet Mefferd. See: More allegations of plagiarism surface against Mark Driscoll or I Told You This Was No Boating Accident! or … Continue reading It is a coverup reaching to the highest levels of the Evangelical community (at least the American community). The word on this needs to get out, as it is simply unacceptable. It not only involves the actual deception cased by Ergun, and the ensuing damage to Christianity, but now concerns the integrity of the American Christian apologetics community (and beyond). Being part of that community, I’m not willing to let this slide by without trying. ⁽⁴⁾And, we shouldn’t be. See Why I Criticize in Public by Dr. John G. Stackhouse.

If you would like to research it yourself, just Google, “The Great Evangelical Cover Up” and start reading, watching, and listening. The evidence is excruciatingly clear for anyone who bothers to pay attention. I have included a resource section below with many links.

I want to express my thanks to Dr. James White of Alpha & Omega Ministries, pastor Jason Smathers, Jonathan Autry, and others who have exposed this dangerous behavior (at great personal cost), and join them in hoping Ergun Caner will one day come to his senses, recognize how a Christian should be conducting himself, repent, and join us in working to correct the damage he has done.

The Ergun Caner story

Ergun was born in Sweden, but moved at a very young age (2 or 3-years old) to the USA and then a suburb of Columbus, Ohio (Gahanna, to be exact. I’ve been there several times when I lived in Columbus for over a decade. From my experience, Ergun should have run across a Christian or two growing up there). ⁽⁵⁾I’m also a bit baffled by his mention of ‘urban jungle’ so often. I don’t really think of Gahanna, or even Columbus, as an urban jungle. Maybe this is just a matter of perspective, as I’ve … Continue reading His father was a Muslim, and though his parents separated when Ergun was fairly young, I’m sure he had an impact on Ergun and his siblings. I have no complaint that Ergun considers himself a Muslim (is anyone contesting this???), who later converted to Christianity (in his teens). And, while he’s made numerous mistakes concerning Islam, I’m sure he knows more about some aspects of Islam than I currently do. In some sense, I suppose he’s an expert so long as we don’t push that definition too far.

However, somewhere along the way (seeming shortly post-9/11), Ergun (commonly referred to up until that point as Butch Caner or E. Michael Caner) decided that simply coming from a Muslim family and converting to Christianity wasn’t a good-enough testimony. I don’t know if his intention was to sell more books, become a famous speaker, career advancement, or even to more effectively impact audiences to pay attention to Islam and Christian apologetics (the latter, certainly a noble ambition.). He created an alter-ego, Ergun Mehmet Caner, who was raised in the Middle East, trained as a Muslim extremist, hated Americans, and had difficulty integrating into American society. He passed himself off, not only as someone with technical knowledge of Islam (which he debatably, might have), but as an insider of a deep nature, turned convert. It must have worked, as even the US military hired him to speak to the troops before deployment to Iraq. Even if you don’t give a hoot about Christianity or apologetics, that should put a bit of fear in you (whether the deception of the US military, or their background check capabilities!).

He made claims to have debated top Muslim apologists, even in Arabic and other languages which Ergun doesn’t know. This is how he got caught by one prominent Christian apologist, Dr. James White of Alpha & Omega Ministries, who fortunately didn’t lack the integrity necessary to resist going along with many of Ergan’s peers in ignoring all of this. Imagine Dr. White’s surprise when he was contacted by a Muslim concerning Ergun Caner’s alleged debate with Shabir Ally in Nebraska (Dr. White actually had debated Shabir a number of times). He started looking into this, contacted Shabir Ally, and realized this was false. As he looked into this further, he found more and more problems… on MANY different sermons and lectures. He even found Ergun telling different stories to Christian audiences than he was telling to interviews with Turkish newspapers.

Ergun has made numerous basic mistakes in his knowledge of Islam, including such things as references to Hadith which couldn’t possibly be followed if one has a cursory knowledge of Islam. An analogous example Christians would easily understand might be… how many of you, despite your level of Christian scholarship, would tell someone to look up Bible 5:29. That level of error, makes some Christian apologists question Ergun’s core knowledge of Islam. At minimum, it is extremely sloppy scholarship.

Worse, despite Ergun’s efforts, the evidence of this deception keeps coming out, and has been now since around 2005-06. Eventually, the heat became a bit too much to not look into, at least in some sort of manner. Investigations, by his employer at the time were launched. Problems were found. Ergun was disciplined. He did ‘apologize’ in a sort of fake manner, saying he was sorry that he misspoke on a few occasions. I’ll just let you find and watch a few of the videos and audio clips of Ergun and see if you’re buying the ‘misspoke’ line. (Hint: It is so obvious that such a thing would be funny were it not for the fact that so many gullible Christians have simply bought that story without checking it out.) ⁽⁶⁾Here is a recent example of James White making it incredibly obvious. Laughter in Medina: the Ongoing Saga of the Caner Scandal

Still worse, many powers-that-be within the Evangelical community have been involved in the cover up. I know fellow-apologists I traffic among have likely seen my tweets and retweets concerning this cover up over the last couple years. None have retweeted or commented, save one brave former professor of mine who commented on one of my tweets, confirming the ridiculous nature of this ‘farce/fiasco,’ as he put it. My point being that many know, but most are keeping quiet. If Liberty University did any kind of meaningful inquiry into the allegations, they know much more than they reflected in their findings. Even prominent, highly-esteemed Christian apologists such as Dr. Norm Geisler (ironically, a professor at Veritas, which is Latin for truth) have come to Ergun’s rescue with laughable defenses. Motive? I don’t know. Beyond the ‘good-ol-boy network’ reflected in the, ‘why are we Christians picking on our own?’ type responses, I can only, charitably, assume they fail see how damaging this situation is and deem the benefits outweigh the negatives.

The worst, is the damage this is doing to Christian witness, especially to Muslims. How can we call Muslim apologists to account concerning factual accountability or loose-cannons within their fold when we’ve got an obvious one in our camp, right under our noses, yet do nothing or cover for him? By extension, how can I (as I’m not yet trafficking in apologetics to Islam to great extent) call out skeptic/atheists such as John Loftus as fakes (or con-artists), if I’m unwilling to call out those on my own side? And yes, Muslim apologists ARE talking about and using Ergun in their efforts.

Then, there is the broader manner of damage to Christian witness and apologetics when a prominent figure conducts himself in such a manner and then is supported, rather than disciplined, by the community.

The evidence

I thought it might be interest to take a look at the Ergun Caner defense given by Dr. Norm Geisler ⁽⁷⁾The original document seems to have been authored by someone using Truett-McConnell College’s Microsoft Office license… guess who the president is… for whatever that is worth. in light of Ergan’s own testimony before the US Marines. (The article has moved many times on his site, so we’ll see how this goes… I made an image of the page on Dec 8th, 2013, just in case.) Unfortunately, I’d love to transcribe the actual testimony of Ergun from the video, but Ergun is suing the pastor who posted it (Jason Smathers), so it has been temporarily removed while the lawsuit drags on. Ergun will most certainly lose, as the actual video, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act from the US military, indicates no copyright. However, this means I’ll have to use transcription of clips from various other lectures and sermons.

First, let’s consider some of what Ergun Caner has said:

“Mine just happens to begin from a position of animosity. I hated you. I am 21 generations, a Turk. … Everything we knew about you, we knew only because we were taught from outside. I had no contact with Christians, I had no contact with Jews.”

“I was born in Istanbul, Turkey. I am a sand-monkey; been called worse. I came to America after going to Beirut and then Cairo. And, when I came to American in 1978, at the age of 14 years old. Um, I’ve lived a very urban life.”

“Everything I knew about America, I knew through television before I came here. That, could you imagine? In Turkey, wherever we were watching television – whatever the Turkish government allowed – that was my glimpse of America. And so I would watch that and say, ‘That must be America.’” (How much do kids learn from TV before the age of 3?)

“I cannot be president. I came in 1978 when I was getting ready to go to college.”

“I learned English on Sesame Street. Held back a year from school so that I could learn English so I could follow along better.”

“I hated you. That may be harsh, but as Dr. Hays told you, my madrasa, my training center, was in Beirut.”

“And so we came to America, it was ’78. Ayatollah Khomeini had said, we will not stop until America is an Islamic nation, and so we came.” (Wasn’t Ergan Sunni???)

“I was the oldest; my father brought his wives with him. Yes, polygamist Muslims do come to America, they call it the Abraham Lie. Basically, this is my wife, and this is my sister.”

“Every debate, Abdul Saleeb, Nadir Ahmed, Shabir Ally, every debate I’ve had with these men, they always end at the same point, so what if Jesus did die?”

“… you can do for yourself in Islam. One of the #1 lines that Shabir Ally, the muslim apologist, gave me at the debate which took place in Nebraska was, ‘why does man have to die for me?’”

“I spent the first 17 years of my life assuming that you, as Christians, hated me. I mean, I’d never been in a church, I’d never really been around too many Christians. There’s not that many of them in Turkey or in Sweden. And, coming to America, I’d lived under the misconception that you hated me, as a Muslim. That really affected a lot of what I did in my younger years. I’m not really proud of the fact that I was part of the Islamic jihad.”

“And I walked into that little church. My English was very poor. There was a great and glorious time when my hair was long. They didn’t make fun of my accent. They didn’t make fun of the clothes I wore.” (If he grew up in Gahanna, Ohio from the age of 2 or 3, why would his English be very poor? Why would he have an accent? Where did it go?)

Basically, the story he spun (even if you could wiggle around various aspects textually), had been that he was the son of an Islamic scholar, who came to America in his teens prior to university. He had been trained in jihad in madrases in Istanbul, Beirut, and Cairo. He hated us. His knowledge of English, America, and Christians came from watching TV shows. He says his father was a polygamist who brought multiple wives with him. He claimed to dress in full Arabic clothing, even in public school (though Muslims in Turkey don’t wear Arabic clothing… and any of his school photos look pretty 70’s American to me). After his conversion and education, he made numerous claims to have debated over 60 Muslims, even Imams in mosques in the Arabic language. And this is the impression his audiences were left with.

The defense

Now, let’s take a look at Norm Geisler’s defense (and remember, this guy is a top APOLOGIST):

About his place of birth?
“Since both Ergun and his father were Turkish citizens, he strongly identified with that ancestry. Thus, an occasional misspoken word about his birthplace is understandable.”

Really? Would you make this many major mistakes about your history… over and over again? Read Ergun’s statments again, or better listen to Ergun at some of the resources below. Does this sound like misstatement, or an intentional, intricate story spun to sell you on his authority on the subject matter?

About his having lived in Turkey?
“Ergun traveled with his father to Turkey several times.”

So, lets say you made a few trips to Beijing, but spent most of your life in Texas. Would you misspeak about growing up in China, and weave this into a story about how you were so out of place in Texas, because all you knew was Chinese culture? While you fumbled with your chop-sticks as a teen, you were shocked at everyone using forks and spoons?

About learning what you know of America from Dukes of Hazzard, etc.?
“This statement was intended as humor and was taken as such by the audience.”

Watch the videos folks. While it might be a joke, he uses it as part of his basis of learning English and his misconceptions about American life. If he came here at 2-3 years old, he didn’t learn everything about America, including English, from a TV show. This is true of many in other countries, but Ergun made it about himself.

About the confusion over whether he came to the USA in 1978 or 1982?
“It is well known that Caner became a US citizen in 1978. The other date is from the period of his call to the ministry and is sometimes lumped together with the earlier date in his testimony. … Since it is well known by Bible scholars that this kind of thing is found in the Scriptures…”

Did he really just do that?!?! That’s sickening, actually. No, Norm, this kind of thing IS NOT found in Scriptures. It would be one thing if these were just a couple of dates from Ergan’s mid-life events, and he got some numbers mixed up. It’s quite another to mix up a date right around your birth, and another from your late teens, then build your life story on that. Toss in some dates and events from your own life. Could you make such a mistake… over and over again? And even if you were that confused or clumsy, would you keep them straight enough so that you used them this way when speaking to one kind of audience, but the other way when you spoke to people who were likely to catch you on it? Would you utilize this date discrepancy in a foundational way such as to build your case… accidentally, over and over again? Does Norm think we’re all stupid??? And then to drag God’s Word in to defend such foolishness… I’m not sure I can ever respect Norm again. Yea, this particular one has my righteous anger a bit riled up!

And my personal favorite (remember, from a Christian apologist, no less):
About Ergun’s father’s polygamy?
“Ergun’s father did have two wives, having divorced the first one.”

Did you read the quotes by Ergan above, or listen to the videos? Are you laughing? Unfortunately, I’ve seen places where people are discussing this Caner farce, where they cut and paste these ‘answers’ from Norm’s site. If this is how Christian apologists operate, we may as well all just pack up and go home now. The skeptics may be right about our naivety and lack of critical thinking! Fortunately, there is an apologetics world beyond the ‘good-ol-boy’s network’ where this stuff doesn’t fly. Can you imagine Norm giving such a lame response to a Christian apologetics question? Can you imagine Norm responding to an atheist who used this kind of argument?

“Ergun has readily admitted the mistakes he has made and has apologized for them publically.”

Take a look at the apology:
“I have never intentionally misled anyone. I am sure I have made many mistakes in the pulpit in the past 20-plus years, and I am sure I will make some in the future. For those times where I misspoke, said it wrong, scrambled words, or was just outright confusing, I apologize and will strive to do better.”

Now, let’s take a quick look at the ‘repentant’ Ergun Canner’s twitter feed:

@erguncaner
// No need to prove anything, Certainly not u. Again, 3 schools looked at it all. Finding? Exonerated

@erguncaner
Well, this has been fun, but I must get home. In summation- I categorically deny the charges & those who brought them.

@erguncaner
And I shall keep doing exactly what I’ve been doing for decades. Humbled before God & unrepentant before the Calvin boys

@erguncaner
I think the word you’re looking for is EXONERATED. Cleared by three schools since attacked by the Calvinlluminati.

Ergun, I’ve got another word which seems a better fit, EXPUNGED!

And, reading the statements by all the prominent people coming to Ergan’s defense at the beginning of the article just makes me sick. The evidence is so clear, yet they make statements like:

“Ankerberg said he believes Caner’s testimony is ‘completely true.’” – Christianity Today

“Having examined all these charges against Dr. Caner carefully and having looked at the related evidence, I can say without hesitation that all of the moral charges against Dr. Caner are unsubstantiated. … Dr. Caner is a man of honesty, integrity, and loyalty to Christ.” – Dr. Norman Geisler

“Dr. Geisler’s response to the charges brought against Dr. Ergun Caner by some Muslims and other groups has hit the mark.” – Dr. Joseph Holden, President of Veritas Evangelical Seminary. (I wonder if this guy looked for himself?)

Conclusion

I don’t know Ergun personally. Apart from this mess, I have little against the guy. Since I don’t traffic heavily in SBC (Southern Baptist Convention) circles, I doubt I’d even have heard of him if it weren’t for this. I’m assuming he loves Christ, and I could even give him the benefit of the doubt that he did this for evangelistic reasons (rather than selfish gain). But, this has to stop. And the ‘good-ol-boy’s network’ needs to stop enabling him. You’re all making a mockery of Christianity. Please, stop.

In our own apologetic efforts, we can learn a few things from this case. First, don’t embellish your testimony, credentials, expertise, etc. God can use the real you more effectively than a fake you. Second, when you make a mistake, correct it and apologize honestly for damage you might have caused. Third, don’t get involved in these coverups of Christian brothers and sisters. Deal with people honestly and with as much grace as possible. But, don’t sacrifice the integrity of Christianity for power, money, or even simply trying to be a bit too nice. You aren’t really helping people who have gone astray by letting them get away with it.

While Ergun has been the focus here, the bigger problem is the Evangelical community being unwilling to engage, or worse, making the problem larger.

Resources:

Laughter in Medina: the Ongoing Saga of the Caner Scandal – Dec 4, 2013

James White: 9/10/13 @ FBC Lindale reviews the Caner scandal (starts about 24 min in)

Highlights of the FBC Lindale Ergun Caner Presentation – Sep 11, 2013

“I categorically deny the charges & those who brought them” — Ergun Caner – May 6, 2013

Ergun Caner Materials – Mar 9, 2010

Internet video scrubbing alleged

Focus on the Family “From Jihad to Jesus” – Ergun Caner – April 26, 2010
(This is Ergun about 1 month after the Sept 11 attacks. I’ll give him one thing, he’s ambitious and works fast!)

United States Marines duped by pretend jihadist, Ergun Caner – Aug 18, 2010

Ergun Caner Continues to Work on his “Exoneration” – Jun 13, 2013

Ergun Caner Has Sued Witnesses Unto Me – Jun 20, 2013
(This page gives a template for filing your own FOIA to obtain a copy. I have filed one, and will report on how that goes and the costs, if any.)

Ergun Caner Intransigent in Fight to Keep His Lies Offline – Nov 27, 2013

Turretinfan’s Ergun Caner Index
(Unfortunately, many of the original source links are now dead, as they were mp3 or video based. They were pulled down for some reason. Why were they pulled? If Ergun has nothing to hide… good question. It must have taken quite an effort to get all these 3rd parties to pull normal interviews and lectures from their libraries. Fortunately, a lot of these things have been downloaded before they were pulled. And, Turretinfan often created transcripts of the relevant details.)

An Open Letter to Dr. John Ankerberg – Jan 21, 2013

Bloggers Target Seminary President – May 3, 2010 (Christianity Today)

Ergun Caner Out as Seminary Dean – Jul 2, 2010 (Christianity Today)

Liberty U. removing Ergun Caner as seminary dean over contradictory statements – Jun 30, 2010 (Washington Post)

A collection of public documents relating to Ergun Caner and his family history.
(It is SO sad that Ergun and company have take things so far as to require this kind of documentation and digging into his history.)

Photo: © Depositphotos.com/PixelsAway

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“Beware the barrenness of a busy life.” – Socrates (469-399 BC)

I often get the impression that people – even those already interested in apologetics – feel they just don’t have time for apologetics. It is as if I can ‘hear’ them thinking, “well, that is for you apologists, but the rest of us (with real lives) simply don’t have time for things like that.” What they may not realize, is that most apologists are ‘tentmakers,’ like the apostle Paul, supporting their missionary work through some other profession. Apologists are pretty busy too.

I can easily count the apologists who earn their living through apologetics work. All but a few have some other career which is their primary means of support. The church simply does not value apologetics enough at this point to fund it. One doesn’t just say, “I want to be an apologist when I grow up,” head off to school, and get hired into an apologetics job upon graduation.

This is not so much a complaint (here) as an insight; we love apologetics and we love the church, so we press on. It is simply the current reality, but an important one to recognize for the budding apologist. You are not going to get to some point in your life where becoming an apologist is easy, nor likely where someone pays you to do it. You just need to start NOW.

So, how then does a busy person become skilled at apologetics?

Leaning one’s craft seems to require three basic components: resources, time, and motivation. As the title of this article indicates, we’ll mostly focus on the time component, but I want to briefly address the others as well.

Resources

When I started learning about apologetics, resources were sparse and required far more effort to gather. There were a few books by authors such as Lee Strobel or Josh McDowell. Every now and then, one might run across an apologetics oriented discussion on some product or interest BBS forum (this was before the Internet). There were a few ministries with radio programs beginning to address the topic. A friend got me started by lending a few RC Sproul and White Horse Inn cassette tapes. I was hooked.

Today, resources abound! There are a lot more books and many of the ministries have podcasts. There are apologetics web sites everywhere, and even some insanely useful apologetics aggregators, such as Apologetics315 and The Poached Egg. Various apologists fill social media like Twitter and Facebook with streams of resources every day. The problem becomes almost opposite; there is now too much to keep up with. No excuses in this category!

Motivation

This category is key. This is the reason many of us have attended school at some point in our lives. Having that accountability in the form of money spent, or at least exams, keeps us focused on the goal. But, other motivations exist as well, such as a yearning to be a good disciple of Christ. There are communities of apologists who check in with one another, but it can certainly just be a friend from church. And while there may not be exams, if you start talking to people about your faith or teaching others, the pressure will soon be on to learn more.

“If someone doesn’t think they need apologetics, one has to wonder if they have tried evangelizing lately.” – Bobby Conway ⁽¹⁾“Apologist Interview: Bobby Conway” – Apologetics315 08/26/2012

Time

Most people are pretty busy these days. Some are extremely busy. However, I don’t think that is a good excuse, and I’ll explain why. For roughly twenty years now, I’ve been loading apologetics knowledge into my mind. I’ve been a pretty busy person over that time; sometimes, insanely busy. For example, I’ve learned apologetics while running an IT consulting firm. I’ve learned apologetics while working a more than full-time job AND earning my BA, simultaneously. I continued to learn apologetics while in graduate school AND being a full-time dad to an infant and toddler, simultaneously.

The secret?

As you can imagine (or have first-hand knowledge of), when you’re that busy, you don’t have much time to read books or attend classes and conferences. But, I’ll bet you have time to listen to podcasts and lectures. I used my commute time when working away from home, and time doing laundry and dishes, etc. when working at home. For some jobs, you may even be able to learn while working.

You likely won’t learn things as quickly this way, but over time the knowledge will seep in as you are exposed to similar material over and over, and the materials begin to overlap. It is an opportunity to use such times more wisely which almost everyone has.

For this reason, we’re planning to start a podcast for TilledSoil.org. I would strongly suggest other apologetics ministries do so as well. It is a form of communication that is going to become increasingly utilized, and might be the only way you will reach a too-busy person.

The other issue for most of us is priorities. Even at my busiest points, I probably had at least a little time I could have devoted to learning apologetics which I chose to spend on something else. For the average person, this is quite a lot of time. How much time do you spend watching TV or movies, playing video games, or surfing the Internet? Many of us, aside from our busiest times, actually spend a great deal of time on activities we could dip into if we changed our priorities.

We don’t have time not to do apologetics!

In the world in which Christians find themselves today, skipping apologetics is simply not an option. Every Christian is called to be an apologist on some level. And yes, the Bible tell us so! But aside from that, we need to be persuasive in such a culture. Os Guinness notes that we have mostly lost this ability today. ⁽²⁾WHI-1168 | The Case for Civility –
http://www.whitehorseinn.org/blog/2013/08/25/whi-1168-the-case-for-civility/ He says that many Christians (especially in America) don’t know how to persuade (classically, apologetics). They can preach, protest, proclaim, or pronounce, but they aren’t persuasive to the culture. Is it any wonder why the culture is going in the direction it is?

“We should not ask ‘what is wrong with the world?’ for that diagnosis has already been given. Rather, we should ask, ‘What has happened to the salt and light?'” — John Stott

I could give you page after page of quotes by prominent apologists, theologians, and church leaders about the urgent need for apologetics. The fact that you need to get involved should not be in question. I’m trying to help with the HOW.

Where do I start?

First, you are going to need a media player of some kind. While your computer will work just fine when you’re actually in front of it, to maximize learning in your spare-time, you’re going to need to be mobile – like ‘in your pocket’ mobile. If you are on a tight budget, you can find very inexpensive players, but this comes at a time-cost of being harder to manage. My recommendation would be investing in a tool such as an iPod touch or iPhone. This way you can get many more uses out of the device beyond our needs here. You can also do things like take text notes or audio memos of things you’re learning or reminders to re-listen to something later.

Subscribe to a couple of good podcasts to start. While I don’t want to discourage anyone from RC Sproul or the White Horse Inn where I began, I’d start with Greg Koukl’s Stand to Reason podcast, or J. Warner Wallace’s PleaseConvinceMe podcast. Then, begin to branch off as you hear guests you like or discover other podcasts, being sure to add a variety of apologetic focuses (ie: theology, history, science, etc.)

Once you start getting comfortable with these, add in a podcast by a skeptic or start interacting on-line in some discussion. This will begin to show you where you are weak in what you have been learning. Begin to take opportunities to calmly discuss apologetics issues with people you meet. You’ll be surprised at how easy this is once you’ve begun to master the information. It is being uninformed and feeling cornered which bring out the tense and angry dialog (or, simple avoidance) I so often run into in such discussions.

You need to start somewhere and the time is now. The quality of your discipleship, and in some measure, the health of society, depends on your doing so.

Image credit: RUSH HOUR by marc falardeau

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Photo:March2011 061 by Lord Jim

In just under 24 hours, we’ll know if this billboard is correct (I might check in early with some of my Australian friends). As I think it was TurretinFan who Twitter’d the other day, nothing says ‘thief in the night’ like world-wide bulletin boards and advertising, huh?

Having listened to Dr. White’s “Dividing Line” podcast for years, I was familiar with Harold Camping (FamilyRadio.com) and the May 21st 2011 ‘world end’ for quite some time. I figured it was mostly a debate between a fringe group led by a false prophet (note that he was wrong in 1994 . . . what does the Bible say about this?) and more main-stream Christianity. I did not give it much further consideration . . . until recently that is.

This story has been popping up everywhere in the media! What I thought was something very few even knew about, is now known by just about everyone. Even tech sites (which I follow, being a tech geek as well) have been ablaze today. Since it seems atheism is quite common among tech types, this has become quite the joke in these places. Take for example this Gizmodo article: http://gizmodo.com/5803766/rapture-prank

“A lot of people think the Rapture is coming May 21. . . . And if you make your local news? You’ll be Giz’s hero for the day.”

Really, a lot of people? Like, maybe, Christians? Or would that be a tiny fringe group of ‘Christians’ following a deluded man? The article isn’t very clear on this. Even if the author understands this, it is clear many of the respondents do not. (Note: I’d have been able to interject a bit of sense into the fray had Gizmodo implemented a sensible system of response, not requiring handing over my Facebook or Twitter account to them . . . but enough on the tech rant for now. I’d have been the 4th post too.)

But, why hero? Is it really difficult to prank a silly cult? It seems maybe these folks don’t understand what they are even poking fun of. I’m not sure who I feel more sorry for, Camping’s followers or all the tech-geek-atheists who think they understand the religion they are denying and poking fun of.

And this is where us apologists come in. We’ll have a lot of work to do, come Sunday, both in trying to educate any Harold Camping followers we might come across (have you ever met one?) but more importantly, the millions of people who might be talking (and joking) about this event. It does introduce yet another unique opportunity to open the discussion.

Update: Saturday, May 21, 2011 6:00:44 AM

Well, since the ‘end of the world’ is approaching half-way finished ⁽¹⁾OK, so like 5 hours away, but we’re already to New Delhi. One would think Japan, China, Russia, or half of India would have reported something by now., I figured I should give a status update. As Dr. White reports, the prediction of Harold Camping has already been proven false. You can also keep tabs on things at: http://www.rapturefail.org/ as well as your preferred news outlet. Or, if you like, pop on over to: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/ and keep watch for one of those big earthquakes (bigger than the Japan 9+, btw) which is supposed to be preceding all of this.

When you find people discussing this, be sure to let them know the following:

• Mainstream Christians have known this to be false for a long time now. Harold Camping made predictions in the past which did not come true, which should automatically send up a red-flag about his being any kind of prophet. Many have pointed all of this out in public and through the media.
• Since Harold Camping is a false prophet, his only other way would have to be a) sheer speculation or b) some kind of crazy calculation. If A, then he should certainly be ignored. If B, he should be shown the passages in the Bible that say not even Jesus knows… so it certainly isn’t encoded in the Bible for Harold to discover.
• This is not proof of any kind of failure of Christianity. Since this doesn’t align with Christian teaching, it is at best an example of what happens when you DO NOT follow Christian teaching.
• Point out that most of the non-believers who seem to be commenting on this in the media know less about it than the poor, deluded followers of Harold Camping.
• I was challenged on one blog, that the fact that this kind of event requires Christian apologists, speaks volumes about the message of Christianity. However, then why does science, for example, need so many apologists to straighten out the public misconceptions? How about so many other topics? It is because humanity is fallen that we are often too lazy to get our facts straight, or outright twist the facts. Christianity is not alone in the need for apologetics.

Stay tuned for a post-end-of-the-world news wrap-up.

Update: Sunday, May 22, 2011 2:17:58 PM

It now the 22nd of May everywhere on earth, so I guess that makes it official without a doubt, Harold Camping failed with HIS message about the end of the world, judgement day, the rapture, etc. Because of this, many non-Christians had a lot of fun poking fun of Christianity yet again (with Rapture Parties and such). Thanks Harold! We Christians have also had some fun making jokes about how silly this whole event was . . . and hopefully at least some of the non-Christians also picked up on that (so as not to implicate all Christians. I’ve seen at least a few articles in the general media point this small detail out).

God, it seems, also had a bit of fun with the occasion if I’m seeing this correctly. We lived in San Francisco for a number of years, and I’ve grown accustom to checking the USGS earthquake map (which I pointed out above). I can’t recall ever seeing a more calm day in the sense of world-wide earthquakes. Supernatural smack-down? I’ll let you decide.

In any event, I guess now us apologists will need to get back to the day-to-day correcting and informing people on what Christianity really teaches. Hopefully in the next few weeks, until this story wears off, it will be a useful tool to engage people in conversation and let them know Christianity has a tad bit more substance than wacky folks predicting the supposed rapture.

One more thing. Is it just me, or do the popular ‘rapture’ texts like Matthew 24 indicate it will be the non-believers who will be taken away? That would put a kink in the whole ‘Left Behind’ image so common among both believers and unbelievers alike. Though, just so this doesn’t get too serious, I leave you with the following:

What Really Happened to the Dinosaurs?

(via)

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Photo:earthquake japan by Generationbass.com

I often post when I come across articles on the Internet ⁽¹⁾In the future, I’ll discuss why I think this is so important. Many have said it is a waste of time, but I obviously disagree! such as the recent one in the ‘belief blog’ section of CNN. “Finding faith amid disaster,” by Jessica Ravitz on March 20th was one such article. ⁽²⁾Just as an aside, my comment still has not been ‘moderated’ (Tuesday, March 22, 2011 3:59:10 PM) despite TONS of every sort of crazy comment being published. Anyone see something in it … Continue reading

While Jessica certainly rounded up some big names for comment, I feel they did a very poor job of responding. I’m posting EXACTLY what I responded with, so you can see an example, however imperfect, of what someone trained in apologetics might contribute to the typical static of Internet discussion. I’ll also post a few more comments after to expand on what I said there. We’ll be getting into a much deeper discussion on the ‘problem of evil’ in future posts. ⁽³⁾I also apologize for the lack of ‘Foundations’ articles and so much ‘In the News’ stuff. Writing good ‘core’ material takes more time, which I won’t have for … Continue reading

Also, please pray for and donate money to help Japan, as well as other worthy causes! Here is a good article by World Vision on how to best help in such situations.

What the people of Japan need right now is help and comfort, not a deep theological discussion. That said, a good, deep theological discussion help prepare people for this kind of event.

Natural events like an earthquake are not ‘good’ or ‘evil’ in themselves, but the way the world was designed to work (without them, there is no advanced life!). So, the real question is not ‘why did this happen?’ or ‘why did God not stop this from happening?’, but ‘why were these people not better prepared, and why did God not protect these people?’ To answer this, we need to understand the rebellion of people (everyone, not just Japan) against God, and against one-another. First, since humanity has rebelled against God, I’m not sure why humanity expects God to let them have their way, yet still protect them from every harm. Second, God has given us really great minds and capabilities to prevent much of this kind of tragedy, yet we don’t really use them to their full potential (whether due to money, or just our wants). I don’t think we should expect God to protect us from everything. We once had that kind of protection and blew it… but we will have it again one day. In the mean time, we could do a MUCH better job of using our wisdom and resources to minimize these kinds of events, if we put our money and resources in the right places rather than our own selfish ways and wants. (Note: Japan was incredibly prepared for this kind of thing compared to most people of the world, but of course, they as well, could have done better.)

So, to Sam Harris’ statement, “Either God can do nothing to stop catastrophes like this, or he doesn’t care to, or he doesn’t exist.” … Another option is that maybe God is, to some extent, letting us have our way. A few weeks ago, my little son burned his finger on a pot sitting on the stove. I suppose had I been super-dad, I could have stopped this from happening. I certainly think I exist. I also deeply care that he burned his finger. However, in my not excessively controlling him, he learned about hot pots (which I warned him about many times). I kept him from ultimate harm, while allowing some harm. If I were perfect, I could perfectly control this whole situation, so this isn’t an exact parallel, but I think might teach us something.

Yes, God has the power to control everything down the the motion of every sub-atomic particle. Yet, for some reason, He seems to allow a good amount of autonomy. On a cosmic scale, I like to think this is a form of good parenting. I’m sure that doesn’t comfort those harmed or who lost loved ones in Japan’s tragedy. However, God is looking on a bigger scale, just like I, as a dad, am looking on a much bigger scale than my son currently does about his development. This doesn’t ease the pain of these tragedies. It certainly doesn’t make everything clear (the book of Job, the best on the subject in the Bible, doesn’t give us the answer). But, I think it does give us something to ponder compared to some of the silly responses, like that of Harris.

First, my heart does break for Japan and all the people who have had their lives destroyed and who have lost loved ones. We need to pray for, commiserate with, and assist these people. There are many excellent ways to do so.

Second, I could have said things better than I did. Maybe this is an example of how not to do apologetics in some regards. However, my hope was to ‘put a stone in the shoe’ of some of the readers, especially in the light of Sam Harris’ response.

I also really want to emphasize that earthquakes and tsunamis are not evil, but natural aspects of creation. If you study the actual effects of earthquakes on the planet, you soon realize that they are quite beneficial and necessary. We couldn’t live here without them! We also happen to be living at a time in the history of the planet where earthquakes are minimal.

What is evil is the damage we humans experience and the suffering, when we could have enjoyed God’s perfect protection, had we not decided to go it on our own and throw off God’s care. What is also evil is that we could do so much better than we do to protect ourselves and loved ones, but fail to do so for financial or selfish reasons. ⁽⁴⁾Buildings and infrastructure could be much better constructed to minimize damage, and humans could choose not to build in places so susceptible to such catastrophes. (Note: Japan was incredibly prepared for such an event compared to just about everyone else in the world.) While in a fallen world, we can’t prevent these kinds of events or perfectly protect ourselves as God could, we can certainly minimize the damage and loss of human life if we keep proper priorities. Japan is actually a great testimony to this, even if it isn’t so obvious at the moment. The damage and loss of life could have been FAR greater!

Sam Harris closes his response with an interesting comment: “It is time to grow up and let our hearts break at moments like this.” There are a couple of problems here. First, does Sam not think the ‘hearts’ of Christians (or other religions) break as well? Second, is he speaking of ‘heart’ in the physical sense, in which case it doesn’t break, or in the metaphorical sense, which his own worldview precludes? Worldviews matter Sam!

Stay tuned for a much deeper discussion of the various aspects surrounding the ‘problem of evil’ in the months to come. While Christians certainly don’t have all the answers, I think we have better ones than other worldviews (remember, the atheist needs to give an answer as well). These types of events are times when Christians really need to step up with both Christian living (helping our neighbor) as well as using the teaching opportunities to make the Christian worldview more clear (and expose the holes in other worldviews).

The post Earthquakes, Japan, Religion, and the problem of evil. appeared first on TilledSoil.org.

Last weekend, I attended the Apologetics Canada Conference (put on by Apologetics.com and other partner ministries) in Coquitlam, B.C. Canada (kind of a ‘suburb’ of Vancouver; hope that doesn’t offend anyone ). I was excited to listen to some great lectures by some top folks in the apologetics world. I was especially excited to finally meet one of my heroes of apologetics, Greg Koukl. Yes, I do now have an autographed copy of “Tactics” which I need to read soon (though I’ve heard a lot about it already). My unsigned copy will probably now be passed around to many brothers and sisters in Christ.

It was an excellent conference, however, what stuck me most about it, were several things I had not anticipated. First, there was the turnout! From my understanding, the organizers had been hoping and praying to get a couple hundred people. God answered, maybe a bit too much. The facility had a capacity of 600, and I heard they sold out and were turning people away to keep the fire marshal happy. Amazing!

Second, the diversity of people there. There were youth to elderly and in-between, whole families, men AND women! (If this doesn’t strike you as odd, you maybe haven’t been around apologetics too long ). I’m hoping this is a signal of great change in this field. I recently ‘retweeted’ a similar Twitter sentiment from fellow apologist Mary Jo Sharp, “I am overwhelmed at how great the response to apologetics has been at the SBTC women’s conferences this year.” As I said in response to my previous post on the conference, this WARMS MY HEART!

Third, the atmosphere! People were genuinely excited. You could just feel it in the air. The worship team, Ethos ⁽¹⁾Kudos to the Ethos team and many thanks. I’ve been around and have played with a number of talented worship bands over the years, and you folks were top notch!, contributed to this atmosphere, turning it from what some might imagine to be a ‘dry conference’ to an excellent time of worship in all that took place! The organizers included several times of worship throughout, which was an excellent idea. Note: Friday night, I felt the song selection was a bit off ⁽²⁾Worship leaders need to always be measuring the music against metrics of both theological depth and worshiper participation. The latter seemed to be having some issues Friday night., but Saturday, was just excellent all day!

In summary, I was overwhelmed by the conference in a very good way which was extremely encouraging as I push forward in the ministry of TilledSoil.org. Thank you!

Some notes about the conference content:

Greg Koukl started the conference on Friday night. He spoke about the topic of New Atheism. He highlighted how the new atheists really see religion as dangerous, hence their tone. These people tend to be rhetorically powerful in their presentation.

They also tend to shot-gun objections, hoping to win by sheer number (again, a rhetorical approach). I’ve run into this quite a bit in my discussions with atheists, especially on-line. They just keep tossing out objections, and hardly stick to anything that is being discussed.

He then said that their challenges could be boiled down to their saying that reason, science, and morality are on their side. He then walked through each of these, showing how this is not the case.

He also pointed out how when you read the New Atheists works, try to get rid of the ‘trash-talk’ (ex: Christians are dumb; God is a crutch; . . . therefore you are wrong) and ‘silly-logic’ (ex: God made the universe, so then who made God?) aspects of their work. Once you do, you should be down to a few issues to address, rather than a whole bunch (which seem overwhelming).

On Saturday, Dr. Craig Hazen spoke on the Resurrection of Christ. Christianity, in many ways, is a testable religion. In fact, the main tenant of Christianity is testable (1 Cor. 15). The big way to defend the resurrection is actually quite simple. Jesus was alive at point A, dead at point B, and alive again at point C. There is really no serious disagreement on A or B. He distributed an excellent flow-chart to look at all the possibilities of C, and where they fall apart. (I guess Gary Habarmas was the architect of the method.)

Of all the options, the only ones that reasonably account for the historical data (on which most everyone agrees, btw), is either that a) Jesus was an alien (think StarTrek transporters and stuff), or b) Jesus resurrected. We’ll certainly be doing a more full exposition on Christ’s resurrection in a future blog.

Dr. John Mark Reynolds then spoke on ‘The War of Worldviews.’ (my notes are more sketchy here, but I’ll toss out a couple points) He said there are a couple kinds of atheists: ‘religious’ non-believers who don’t have to think about this stuff, because Dawkins said religious people are stupid; and more classical atheists who come from a line of atheism which began in wishing there was no god(s). He said the beginnings of atheism came from humanity being the play-things of Zeus (or other gods). In other words, anything was better than becoming that, even ceasing to exist. The science tie with atheism is a much more recent thing.

One thing he noted that was very important, is that in some circles, Christians are just as guilty as the atheists in their misbehavior in discussion.

He listed some of the main reasons he is a Christian:1) we have to ask whether we live in a cosmos or a chaos? 2) how does one account for beauty? (even the bottom of the ocean, which few see, is beautiful). Why does beauty help in math, logic, and science? (Why Ockham’s Razor?) He notes that the selection of helio-centrism over geo-centrism wasn’t initially made on the basis of empirical science, but beauty. 3) The problem of ‘is’ to ‘ought.’ Basically the argument from morality. The problem of evil is a huge problem without God.

There were a number of great breakout sessions on a number of topics in the afternoon.

The concluding keynote was given by Dr. Steven Collins, who is the Dean of the College of Archeology at Trinity Southwest University in New Mexico and director of the Tall el-Hammam Excavation Project, which is basically looking at the city of Sodom and others in the area.

I especially enjoyed this lecture because it was something quite new to me. It is also interesting because so few seem to believe in the historicity of the Biblical story of Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19) these days.

He said that the location of the city on most Biblical maps is not only in the wrong place, but usually even has a question mark by it. He says this is because of the work of William Albright, and that since, scholars have not paid attention to all the Biblical witness in Genesis 13:1-12.

The detail of this lecture was incredible. I’ll just try to give a few of the important points. First, how this ends up will have an impact on dating of the Genesis events, ie: bronze age or late iron age. Sodom has more Biblical geographical indicators to its location than Jerusalem or Ai. Sodom was bigger than Jerusalem by a factor of 10. Sodom occupations are early to middle bronze age. Sodom is located on the best agricultural land in the region, yet was uninhabited for 5-7 centuries after it’s destruction. Bronze age layer is sitting in over 1 meter of ash with sulfur smell. So, 2500 years of continuous occupation, then nothing for 5-7 centuries? Sodom is over square kilometer in size.

Then he talked about the destruction layer. I think most of that is unpublished, and was found just this last year. Bodies ripped and torn apart, of all ages, yet it happened very quickly. Bricks and rocks show extreme heat. Zircons turned into to bubbles at over 2000 degrees.

He also notes that the Arc of the Covenant would have probably been sitting where the Sodom temple was located (good one, God!), before the Israelites crossed the Jordan, and that it was probably the Israelites who began to resettle the area. Most other cultures would have been too afraid to after it’s destruction (hence uninhabited for so long).

NOTE: Sodom – Apologists have to be quite careful about this kind of thing until the work is published, the findings are reviewed, etc. However, I would tend to side with Dr. Collins’ theories, as the general history of archeological evidence seems to keep confirming the Bible as time goes on, rather than the skeptics and liberal Bible scholars. It’s a wait and see situation before I’d put too much weight on this.

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