Some Thoughts on “On Guard” by William Lane Craig (chapters 1 and 2)
This week covered the first two chapters, “What Is Apologetics” and “What Difference Does It Make if God Exists.” Chapter one discussed the definition, purpose, and attributes of apologetics. Apologetics is a defense of the faith. It is both offensive and defensive. As a Christian, I must remember that giving a defense is not the same as being defensive or argumentative. Those types of attitudes are what pushes people away, and in my experience that is true. Being argumentative shuts people off to the gospel and ruins whatever traction might be present otherwise in the conversation. The truth must be spoken in love.
The way Jesus, Peter, and Paul appealed to evidences in order to support the validity of the Christian faith should act as a model for modern Christians. Those three presented appeals to miracles, prophecy, nature, typology, and connected to where their audience was culturally. This appeal to things which happened in the past (historical evidence) and things which can be pondered anytime (philosophical evidence) are important for different people. A whole group of evidences should be presented to demonstrate the gospel.
These whole groups of evidences demonstrate the coherence of Christianity as a complete worldview. This is important for breaking down negative plausibility structures held by those being evangelized to. In my experience, many atheists hide behind an intellectual mask when really there is a hatred for God. Presenting the gospel as a whole and complete worldview helps to bring those hidden reasons for not believing in God to light.
Christianity can be taken seriously as an intellectual framework, and should be presented that way, both inside and outside the church. As someone who plans to teach, I need to present the gospel not as something supported by emotions, but something supported by well-thought-out reasoning. Inside the church this would help with a whole manner of problems, including apostasy and fear in evangelism.
While apologetics can help with doubt, it can only go so far. I really enjoy the study of apologetics, however apologetics are less helpful than I would want. Apologetics helps to present Christianity as a plausible alternative, even the best alternative, to any worldview. However, it can not change the heart of the listener. Even if the best case is presented for Christianity, someone can still choose to hate God and turn their backs on Him. The Christian witness helps to combat that, not so much apologetics.
Many Christians are afraid to give the gospel to other people because they fear they will not have an answer to some rebuttal. I have felt this many times. There is a definite fear that someone would be able to ask a question so good that it would stump me, and I would completely lose the opportunity to give the gospel. However, as I continue to reach out to people, I have found this is not the case. To be frank, many people do not have good reasons to believe what they believe, especially on the side of atheists.
Likely the most common worldview in the west, which is very commonly held by atheists in particular, is relativism. Relativism and postmodernism have much in common, though relativism more particularly comments on religion and ethics. Relativism is the belief that there is no overarching truth in life. There are many good apologetics books which comment on relativism, and the most commonly-cited fallacy of relativism is that while relativism claims religion and ethics are relative to culture, relativism itself would only be true in its own culture. This sort of contradictory thinking is something which I believe many people have not thought through, especially in personal conversation. When there is a belief many skeptics have not properly thought through, there is a great opportunity for Christians to point this out and present the gospel.
For that reason, Christians should be equipped with the truth of apologetics. I think that giving apologetics will be crucial in missions, especially if new converts are to be kept in the church, rather than taken by cults without knowing better. Christians should be able to present what they believe and why they believe it.
The last purpose of apologetics, which I use as the main purpose, is to win unbelievers to Christ. Unfortunately, as noted earlier, most unbelievers will remain unimpressed. This is because apologetics only helps to present Christianity as a complete and coherent worldview, which the person begins to see as a reliable and realistic alternative to their own worldview.
A Christian should not give up, and I will not. The purpose of apologetics is not to make instant converts. The purpose is to patiently plant and water seeds, praying that the Spirit will grow the seeds. I must not lose hope even when people do not instantly convert, because the hard questions I ask will, by the Lord’s grace, be stuck in the hearer’s mind as a seed.
Chapter two jumps into the meat of the book and discusses alternative worldviews to Christianity. The debate between theism and atheism has been a hot one, especially in the west. The results of this cultural debate have serious eternal ramifications, however many seem to be uninterested in Christianity. Understanding the disinterest in Christianity helps to direct my sword of apologetics in conversation. If someone is disinterested in Christianity and content in atheism, I can point out the absurdity of their own worldview.
These absurdities are plenty, especially in atheism. For example, if there is no God, there is no overarching metanarrative or truth. This is the level most atheists believe at. However, those concepts carried out to their natural conclusions show that in atheism there is no meaning, value, or purpose to one’s life. These things are incredibly important to people. No one can live consistently without them. Pointing this out, I believe, is a great first step toward helping someone become interested in Christianity. The lives of atheists would be unbearable without meaning, value, and purpose. Their inconsistency in living life with objective beliefs (such as Hitler was wrong, even though he was in a culture that believed he was right) is in sharp contrast with their claim to life subjectively and relativistically. In other words, while they claim that all cultures are valid, they object to female genital mutilation on the grounds of an objective moral wrong. As a Christian, I can point out this inconsistency.
Unfortunately for the atheist, two things are required for meaning in life (which means they are also required to consistently believe there is meaning in life): God and eternal life. Without one of these things, one’s life has no meaning. There is no reason they should be moral. This is another point which helps bridge the gap between theism and atheism: Why should an atheist be moral? There is no consistent reason for an atheist to be moral. There is no objective grounds for obeying morality, or which morality to follow, apart from God. This is not to say that atheists are not moral, but that their worldview does not allow them to be consistent in that way.
Nietzsche’s “Madman” story is one I always enjoy reading (also featured in The Universe Next Door and Strange New World). The story follows the same mournful yells of the Teacher in Ecclesiastes. Everything is vanity apart from God and eternal life. Pointing this out to a skeptic is probably one of the most helpful ways to shake them out of their inconsistent worldview. No one truly wants to say everyone’s life is meaningless and without value, as least I do not believe anyone would. However, atheism can lead to no other conclusion. Who would live like that? In switching from atheism to theism, one can have the potential to lose nothing and gain the world. The Pascal’s Wager is another classic evangelistic statement.
Overall, these first two chapters begin the dive into Christian apologetics by defining first what apologetics is, and second why atheism is unlivable. While there are not many reports of these concepts being practically applied in my own life, the study of apologetics is broadly helpful for everyday conversations and questions.
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