Equipping Members of the Next Generation of Christians to Defend Their Faith and to Embrace a Biblical Worldview, Part 5
I hold that belief in God is not merely as reasonable as other belief, or even a little or infinitely more probably true than other belief; I hold rather that unless you believe in God you can logically believe in nothing else.
—Cornelius Van Til—
Christians need a good dose of confidence.
—Greg Koukl—
Key point: A Christian’s confidence in what he or she believes doesn’t just come from knowing what Christianity teaches, but also from understanding why. Learning how to defend the faith through biblical apologetics equips followers of Christ with an understanding of why their faith is reasonable—and true.
You can find links to all the articles in this series here.
You might remember that two weeks ago we told the stories of several individuals—16 total—who had become followers of Jesus after examining the evidence for the Christian faith. One of these was Cyril E. M. Joad, a professor of philosophy at the University of London. Dr. Joad was a skeptic who sought
to weaken the faith of students who professed to be Christians. However, as he reflected on the ills of the world and humanity’s involvement in them, Dr. Joad began to rethink his beliefs about God and Christianity. In the end, he became a believer. People really are sinners, he concluded, and the only remedy for their sin resided in the Person of Jesus Christ. Jesus truly was unique. No one—absolutely no one—was like Him!
We need to emphasize that Dr. Joad absolutely was no academic lightweight. He had a reputation for being a brilliant intellectual and espoused liberal ideologies such as socialism, atheism, and pacifism. He promoted the “ideals” of free love as well.1 Among his friends and colleagues who also influenced Christians to turn away from their faith were Bernard Shaw, H. G. Wells, Bertrand Russell, and Julian Huxley. In fact, Dr. Bill Bright, who later would found Campus Crusade for Christ (now Cru), observed that these men “have probably done more to undermine the faith of the collegiate world of the last generation than has any other one group.”
All that changed for Dr. Joad when he became a Christian. Bright, who had become a believer just a few years earlier in 1945, received the news of the scholar’s conversion with great interest and enthusiasm. What had compelled him to return to the faith of his childhood? The evil he saw in humanity and in world events, including two world wars, convinced Dr. Joad that despite an explosion of knowledge and technological advances, the world was not improving; humanity wasn’t moving toward a utopia after all. Instead, the biblical doctrine of original sin offered an explanation that rang true and that coincided with Dr. Joad’s observations. If a person rejects the doctrine of original sin, he will “fall victim, as so many of us whose minds developed in an atmosphere of left-wing politics and rationalist philosophy have fallen victims, to shallow optimism in regard to human nature.”2 Coming to see rationalism as empty and Christianity as substantive, Joad rejected rationalist philosophy for the teachings of Christianity. He wrote, “What better hope was offered than by the Christian doctrine that God sent His Son into the world to save sinners?”3
What better hope was offered than by the Christian doctrine that God sent His Son into the world to save sinners?
—Dr. Cyril E. M. Joad—
As we indicated, the news of Dr. Joad’s acceptance of Christianity was a spiritual shot in the arm for Bill Bight. He didn’t think of himself as especially brilliant, but he knew Dr. Joad was. Moreover, having grown spiritually and in his understanding of the Christian faith since his conversion, Bright was convinced that it offered “the only reasonable explanation for life itself.”4 At the same time, Bill
had feared the possibility of someday encountering someone whose anti-Christian arguments would appear to be a valid undermining of the logic of the gospel, leaving Bill hanging on a limb. “Joad’s decision took away any intellectual anxiety. From that point on, I knew I could witness to anyone who was rational.”5
The Nature of Faith
All too often, faith is considered to be irrational. Consider that Mark Twain once wrote, “Faith is believing something that you know ain’t so.” His statement represents the perspective of many today, but was Mark Twain right? Actually, the validity of faith depends on its object. If the individual or idea being believed is trustworthy and reliable, faith isn’t irrational at all, but reasonable.
Significantly, Christianity invites rational inquiry, and fair-minded inquiry validates rather than debunks it as a belief system. Why? Because the evidence of Christianity is strong! Just as it has compelled skeptics and atheists to become followers of Christ, and just as it played a big part in bolstering Bill Bright’s confidence in what he believed, so, too, will it give believers “staying power” when forces opposing Christianity are doing their hardest work.
Stand to Reason
Numerous ministries seek to help Christians, especially young believers, examine and understand the evidence of Christianity and the biblical worldview. Stand to Reason (STR) is one of them. Each year, STR holds its reTHINK conference on biblical apologetics for students in three strategic locations across the country—one in California, one in Texas, and one in Alabama. By shining the spotlight on apologetics and connecting it to the importance of embracing a biblical worldview, reTHINK speakers show students the importance of thinking biblically and living according to biblical truth. Here is the promo video for reTHINK 2017-2018.
Rather than trying to describe the impact reTHINK conferences have on students, I asked a friend at STR to send me some feedback the ministry had received from the students themselves. These are students’ actual comments.
- It helped me challenge what I thought was true and supported by Scripture from what I had been told. I must back the truth I know with the truth of the Bible, not just what others say.
- It challenges me to be bold in my faith and in my speech, not only being able to speak my faith but defend it.
- Now that I have all this information and have been equipped, I’m challenged now by the thought, “Why haven’t I really taken time to learn this?” I feel more confident now in what I believe and challenged to go out and use the information to further the Kingdom. Specifically, I think I was challenged most by Drew Worsham’s breakout session on using my gifts to glorify God. I know God has given me many gifts, it challenged me to use them as a platform to reach out to others and tell God’s story to them. [Go here for information about Drew Worsham.]
- It reminded me of knowledge that I need to commit to memory so that I am ready to provide a defense.
- It challenged me to think beyond just the typical reasons of what I might say to someone in defense of my faith. It gave me factual evidence that I can present to them especially on issues such as origin of the earth, abortion, and homosexuality.
Summit Ministries
Another ministry that works to equip teens and young adults to think according to a biblical worldview is Summit Ministries. Each year, Summit holds worldview conferences that are just under two weeks long. These feature training sessions that help participants use biblical principles to recognize and evaluate both good and bad ideas. Students also have opportunities to forge deep and lasting friendships. The conferences are held in various places across the country. Here are a few comments from young men and women who have been involved in one or more of these events. A friend of mine at Summit sent these samples to me at my request.
- This past year I struggled with finding out how I could share and defend my faith while at the university and I have been greatly encouraged by the various speakers and their talks on worldviews as well as apologetics. – Auckland, New Zealand, 19 years old #SummitTN
- I came here to learn new things from new people, but perhaps the greatest lesson thus far is simply how much I have yet to learn. – Houston, TX, 15 years old #SummitTN
- The combination of rigorous academics and significant heart connection has been a breath of fresh air for my soul. – Houston, TX, 15 years old #SummitTN
- Coming from a background where questions were perceived to be a hindrance to faith, Summit opened my eyes to the fact that Christians aren’t lacking in the intellectual marketplace of ideas. – Prospect, TN, 19 years old
- Coming to Summit was the best thing I’ve ever done. Being a staffer is taking that experience to a whole new level. – Baltimore, MD, 23 years old, Summit Summer Staff #SummitCA
Here are statements from a couple of students who in 2017 had attended the Summit conference and currently are serving as summer staff leaders.
- I really enjoyed Summit. It was probably the best two weeks of my life. I love to learn new things and everything that was taught was amazing. Small group was so great, this was the first small group I have ever connected with. I haven’t even experienced anything like that in my youth group. I thought everything was great!
- Overall, I loved my Summit Ministries experience this last summer. I learned how to answer questions that I had never even thought about before, as well as one’s that I’ve struggled with. Summit Ministries helped to bring me closer to God before going off to college, and I’ve learned how to have great conversations with my non-Christian friends. I also loved being able to meet new people and make new friends. What you guys are doing is awesome, I honestly can’t think of anything that I would change about it!
Watch this four-minute video, which was released on YouTube on June 1, 2018. If four minutes sounds like a long time to you, reconsider. This is worth every second! The video contains highlights of the conference recently held at the ministry’s headquarters in Manitou Springs, Colorado.
Now, consider this question. Are the students who gave the above feedback more confident in their faith than the average Christian student? Without a doubt, the answer is yes!
Are the students who gave the above feedback more confident in their faith than the average Christian student? Without a doubt, the answer is yes!
Here’s the bottom line. As we indicated at the beginning of this series in our open letter to pastors and student leaders, followers of Jesus not only need to know what they believe as Christians, but also why they believe it. They need to embrace a Christianity that applies to all of life, not just to things typically considered religious. That kind of Christianity is authentic Christianity.
Apologetics and worldview training equips believers along these lines.
It gives them much needed “staying power.”
Copyright © 2018 by B. Nathaniel Sullivan. All rights reserved.
Note: A third worldview ministry is Impact 360 Institute. This ministry also is doing first-class work training the next generation in apologetics and the biblical worldview. Check out an excellent apologetics video from this ministry.
Learn more about some of the learning opportunities this ministry offers here.
top image: Photo by Levi Bare on Unsplash
Notes:
1Michael Richardson, Amazing Faith: The Authorized Biography of Bill Bright, (Colorado Springs, CO: WaterBrook Press), 46-47.
2Cyril E. M Joad, quoted in Richardson, 47.
3Ibid.
4Richardson, 47.
5Ibid.
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