“Testing Truth-Claims for Truth”—Closing Thoughts

This blog article marks the end of my 20-week apologetic series on establishing the truth and reliability of the Christian worldview, in general, and the Bible in particular. I want end with some closing thoughts and give a preview of my next blog series— which will begin the week after Labor Day (I’m taking a short hiatus during the month of August).

Apologetic Evangelism

The job of apologetic evangelism is to encourage unbelievers to consider the evidence for Christianity and to make a faith decision for Christ, having the assurance that Christianity is true. On the flip side, we also encourage unbelievers to see that other religions are false because they lack the scientific, legal, historical, and other evidences that support Christianity.

Evidence alone will not lead one to make a faith commitment to Christ. No one makes such a decision unaided by the Spirit of God. Nor can a person who doesn’t have the indwelling Holy Spirit experience the subjective confirmation that a Christian can (Rom. 8:16; 1 Cor. 2:14; 1 John 4:13).

Nevertheless, on a purely intellectual level, unbelievers can recognize the truth of Christianity and can conclude that if divine revelation exists at all, Christianity is it. They can do this because all human beings have a God-given capacity to reason by virtue of being created in His image. God designed us to love and accept Him with our minds as well as our hearts (Mark 12:30). By applying this reasoning capacity to religious matters, people searching for truth can check the facts and verify or falsify Christian truth-claims before ever committing themselves to becoming a Christian. This doesn’t mean that one will then choose to become a Christian, but it does show that the decision is not a leap of blind faith. The decision rests on facts.

The job of apologetics is completed when intellectual obstacles (real or imagined) to faith are removed, thereby creating an environment in which the Holy Spirit is free to work. But it is always the job of the Holy Spirit to convict and convince the unbeliever of saving truth. ©

Beginning the week after Labor Day, I will start a new series of blog articles based my book Engaging the Closed Minded: Presenting Your Faith to the Confirmed Unbeliever (1999, Kregel publications—but recently taken out of print). I call the series “Evangelizing the Tough Minded.” It will be a “how to” examination of effective ways to use apologetics in evangelistic encounters. It will include topics such as “how to get a fair hearing in discussions,” “how to establish a point of contact,” “how to communicate clearly,” “when to use apologetics and when not to in witnessing opportunities,” and other topics relevant to effective evangelizing in today’s world.

I hope you will watch for it in a few weeks. Or you can subscribe to my blog and receive the articles automatically.