It seems quite obvious, then, that God never intended that Christians should win the lost through purely philosophical and academic arguments, or even that they should by this means remove the mental obstacles within unbelievers so that the Word of God might penetrate their hearts. This series of articles is written by Dr John Whitcomb.
(https://metropolitantabernacle.org/articles/priorities-in-presenting-the-faith/).
Another important New Testament example of this approach to Christian apologetics may be found in Paul’s admonition to the Corinthian church to turn from worldly wisdom and from an unwarranted glorying in certain sign-gifts in order that they might give themselves to the clear proclamation of God’s Word. He said: ‘But if all prophesy, and there come in one that believeth not, or one unlearned, he is convinced of all, he is judged of all: and thus are the secrets of his heart made manifest; and so falling down on his face he will worship God, and report that God is in you of a truth’ (1 Corinthians 14.24-25). It is perfectly obvious from this remarkable passage that neither human wisdom nor empirical signs were an adequate substitute for the clear proclamation of God’s Word.
However, if the Christian communicator constantly appeals to God’s Word in order to establish its truth in the mind of the unbeliever, is he not guilty of reasoning in a circle? If the unbeliever refuses to accept the Scriptures as divinely inspired, should not the communicator temporarily abandon the Bible until he has demonstrated its truth independently by appealing to the vast array of archaeological, historical, scientific, and other facts that tend to confirm its claims?
The answer to this question is – no. If Christianity is merely one circle of truth to be conditioned and defined by other circles of truth, then it is not true at all, because the Scriptures boldly and consistently claim to be God’s eternal, all-inclusive, unique, final, and absolutely authoritative Word. This is the crucial foundation of true Christian apologetics.
When the Christian appeals to God’s Word he is appealing to the only ultimate circle of truth concerning God and spiritual realities. This circle is so vast and profound that it includes everything that exists, both within and beyond the universe, both visible and invisible – including the unbeliever himself and the very ‘god of this world’ who blinds him!
To turn off the light of God’s Word, as it were, in order to establish first a ‘common ground’ with the unbeliever is thus to abandon truth in order to grope together with an unregenerate mind in the darkness that characterises this world-system apart from God.
Revealed truth is self-authenticating and self-vindicating, like light. Peter stated – ‘ye do well that ye take heed [to the Word of God], as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn’ (2 Peter 1.19).
Imagine a man lost within the deep recesses of a dark underground cavern in utter despair of ever finding his way out. If a friend had a general idea of his location, how could he best come to his rescue? Should he rush into the cave, careless of his pathway, and sit with him in the darkness, sharing with him the common ground of being lost?
Would it not be much wiser to take along a powerful torch, marking his path as he enters the cavern so that he could retrace his steps to the safety of the world above? However, suppose that the lost man, in his utter despair, refused to believe that his friend had a torch and that there was a way out? Should the would-be rescuer sit there in the darkness and argue with him concerning the size, make, power, and previous performance of his torch?
Since the lost man still has the capacity to recognise light when he sees it, should not his friend immediately end the debate by inviting him to look at the light as he switches on the torch?
Man’s amazing capacity to hear and to see in the physical realm did not come about by chance. ‘The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, the Lord hath made even both of them’ (Proverbs 20.12). Neither is man’s capacity to recognise God’s truth a product of chance. Every human being has this capacity and will be judged by the Creator on the basis of his use of it. John tells us that Christ is ‘the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world’ (John 1.9). Thus, man has an innate knowledge of his Creator. ‘That which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them’ (Romans 1.19).
When a man is therefore confronted with Christ, the Light of the world, it is no help to him to humour him when he demands another light first. When a Christian apologist turns off the light of his Lord and begins groping to find light from the general consensus of scientific opinion, he has entered into a spiritual cavern from which there is no escape.
What he must do is to keep the heart and mind of his unbelieving friend exposed to God’s Word in one way or another, all the time praying that the Spirit of God might bring conviction of sin and a willingness to trust the Saviour. If he does not respond to God’s infallible Word, which is His special revelation, what assurance do we gain from the Bible that he will respond to the witness of general revelation, such as the various theistic proofs for God’s personal existence and historical evidences for the truth of Christianity?
The Christian who adopts such a Bible-centred method must, however, prepare himself for intense criticism, even from fellow Christians. To subordinate rationalistic argumentation to the supremacy of Scripture is to cut across the grain of all our natural inclinations and invites the accusation of obscurantism. ‘After all,’ we are being told on every side, ‘with so many false religions, cults, and philosophies in the world today, is it not the right and responsibility of an intelligent person to investigate carefully the validity of Christianity in comparison with other possible alternatives before making a final decision?’
Again, the answer is – no. Christianity is not simply one of several available religious truth systems. Nor is our Lord Jesus Christ just one of several saviours we may investigate at our leisure and on our own terms.
Furthermore, our intelligent investigator is far from being neutral and unbiased in spiritual matters. He cannot sit in judgement with complete objectivity as one religion after another passes in review, waiting to find one that is logically coherent, historically and scientifically factual, and personally satisfying before adopting it as his own.
Quite to the contrary, men are active enemies of the one true God of revelation and redemption, in Whose image and likeness we have all been created, and in Whom ‘we live, and move, and have our being’ (Acts 17.28). While it is true that the divine image has been marred through the Fall, it is nevertheless very much intact (Genesis 9.6; 1 Corinthians 11.7; James 3.9). It is precisely because man does bear God’s image that he inwardly knows Who this God is. That is why he runs away from God and His Word and hides his face from Him (cf Genesis 3.10; Isaiah 53.3). That is why he also hinders or suppresses the truth in unrighteousness (Romans 1.18) and ‘hateth the light, neither cometh to the light’ (John 3.20).
Sinful men cannot innocently claim that God is an unknown entity to them – ‘Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened’ (Romans 1.21). These are the reasons why sinful men actually have no right to demand ‘proper credentials’ when the Creator says to them: ‘Repent! Believe My Word! Obey Me – now!’ When the Holy Spirit says to the human heart, ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,’ it is potential suicide to procrastinate, investigate or debate. ‘Behold, now is the day of salvation’ (2 Corinthians 6.2). ‘God…now commandeth all men every where to repent’ (Acts 17.30). God may graciously prolong the appeal, but sinful man cannot presume upon this!
. . . to be continued