Apologetic Method

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My name is Belushi Prevalon, coming to you from the Boston area. And right now, you are listening to Truology, the study of the truth as it is in Jesus. Well, amen. This is the second episode of Truology.

And on this episode, we will be looking into apologetic methodology. But before we do so, I just want to give another disclosure, saying that the views that are represented here are from my studies and the things that I currently hold to.

And they are not representative of the school or the church that I currently go to. Now, I want to thank Eli Aiella and Apologia Studios for their episode in the Academy, from which I took these notes, which I think would be very beneficial for you to hear, concerning apologetic method.

Presuppositional Apologetics as a Christian Worldview

The apologetic method that I subscribe to is presuppositional apologetics. And before we get a little more into that, if you do not know what apologetics is, apologetics is seeking to give an answer for what you believe.

It is what lawyers do when they defend a defendant. They give answers and reasons for why their defendant is not guilty. Therefore, apologetics, or presuppositional apologetics by definition, according to Cornelius Van Til, who is a 20th century Christian, who is the foremost proponent of presuppositional apologetics, before Dr. Greg Bonson, defined presuppositional apologetics this way.

It is the vindication of the Christian worldview or the philosophy of life against the non-Christian worldview. So, apologetics is giving an answer for what we believe about the Christian worldview. You see, presuppositionally, when we argue for the faith, we are not defending mere pieces of facts.

And the reason why is because, well, facts can be understood within a particular context, or they should be understood under a particular context. Our worldview creates the context for understanding individual things within our worldview perspective.

For example, item A is understood in light of other beliefs within our perspective. Another example could be seen this way. A more concrete one would be the resurrection of Jesus Christ is a fact in history.

But that fact of history exists and can only exist and be meaningful in light of the greater context of the omnipotent, sovereign God. You see, even the Apostle Paul recognized the greater context in which he lived.

When appealing to King Agrippa after being put on trial for his preaching, Paul asked King Agrippa whether it was a thing to be considered impossible that God should raise the dead. Now, why did he say that?

Well, he said that because he understood that in the greater context of the triune God, raising up the Messiah from the dead was not something to be considered to be outrageously impossible. You see, unbelievers even have their own worldview by which they interpret facts.

You know, their worldview, like ours, determines what can and cannot be true. Too often, we will fall for the myth of neutrality when an unbeliever says, Lay aside your biases, lay aside your pre-commitments, and come to the table as if you don't yet know.

Look at the facts and follow them logically to their conclusions so then we can know assuredly what they mean. Believers will actually fall for that. They think it's fair because by being asked to put away their religious commitments, they think they're coming to the table with an open mind or a we-don't-know-as-of-yet mentality until we give a proper analysis of the things that we're called to give an answer for.

But is that what the Bible tells us to do? According to 1 Peter 3 .15, the Scripture says,. This is what it means to be ready always to give an answer to every man that asks if you will reason of the hope that is in you, yet with meekness and fear.

So then, sanctifying the Lord God in our hearts means to make the Lord God the very starting point of everything that we do. That includes our very own thinking and reasoning faculties. The unbeliever has not sanctified the Lord God in his heart and therefore he cannot give a proper apologia or reasoned defense.

And now he's inviting you to give an answer for the hope that is in you? How are you to give an answer if what it means to give an answer is to sanctify the Lord God in your hearts? We ought not to think that it is, you know, being open-minded and fair and whatnot when we are asked to put aside our religious commitments because the unbeliever has not done so.

There is no neutrality there. It's a myth to assume that we can actually come to facts without any pre-commitments or a worldview that is all pervasive and giving us a lens through which we are analyzing the facts we are called to give an answer for.

You see, presuppositional apologetics is an apologetic methodology. Other methods include the evidential method of apologetics, which really focuses on the evidences. And after proper analysis of the evidences, it seeks then to give the most possible conclusion of the facts.

Another method is the classical apologetic method, which seeks first to lay down argumentation for a general theistic God, then provides argumentation for what kind of God is being demonstrated. So in evidentialism, you will commonly see Christians argue for the fact that since we have early and abundant manuscript evidence, it must mean that the scriptures are not only reliable, but that the Bible itself must be the Word of God.

Those who use the classical method will usually use arguments like the teleological argument, concluding that since the universe shows such purpose and design, that must therefore mean that there must be a personal creator.

And from that, they argue that because the scriptures are also reliable, that that creator that exists is specifically the triune God of scripture. These two methods are what are considered bottom-up approaches.

And the reason it is bottom-up is because it begins down here with human rationality, and then it reasons up to God as being Lord over all. Whereas the presuppositional method begins with God as presupposed, and then it reasons downward to give meaning to everything else as it relates to the God that has revealed himself.

In other words, presuppositional apologetics affirms that if God is rejected, then you lose the ability to make sense of anything, including science, history, mathematics, whatever you put in that blank.

It is a top-down approach. It begins with God, and then everything else as it relates to God and who he is as the creator and sustainer in the greater context in which we literally exist. This gives God his proper place.

You see, God is the context through which we understand everything else. This view holds that the Christian faith is the only basis for rational thought. For example, Psalm 369 says that with God is the fountain of life, and in his light shall we see light.

Because God has revealed himself, he has necessarily revealed everything about everything else, including human rationality. How are we supposed to use our minds? Our minds are supposed to be understood in light of who God is.

In order for us to have knowledge or understanding about the creation or anything therein, we need to understand first who God is. We need to sanctify him in our hearts so that we might have him as the lens by which we can understand truth or light.

In Proverbs 1 .7, it says that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, meaning that our epistemology... Now, epistemology means a theory of knowledge. In other words, how you know what you know.

It's a fancy philosophical word. Epistemology is based on this for the Christian. The fear of the Lord. We ought to have a reverent respect and fear of God first in order for us to begin to have knowledge.

Therefore, when we are told by the atheist or the opposer of the Christian faith, the non-Christian, whatever label you want to put on there, when we're told to set aside our religious commitments, we are not to take heed to that because we are to begin with the fear of the Lord if we are to have knowledge.

And if we are to expound on anything pertaining to knowledge, we ought to retain sanctified in the Lord, not put them aside and surmise that we are able without God or his revelation to be able to give an answer as we are called to do.

Colossians 2 .3 says that in Christ are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. The Bible is very clear on who possesses knowledge and wisdom and who by his grace is able to give it to those who come to him in humility.

And that is Jesus Christ from whom all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are deposited. Romans 11 .36 says that all things are from God and to God. Therefore, that means that our minds, which are created by God, designed by God to function in a particular way, are not only from God, but are to be used to his absolute glory.

So anyone who would provoke you to say that we are to put away anything pertaining to a commitment to Jesus Christ and this so-called creator God to give an explanation for what we believe should not be taken heed because God is the one from whom our rational mind has come and only by submitting how it functions and is supposed to work to him can we properly give him glory and give him our minds, which he gave us.

In Genesis 1 .1, the Bible gives us the ultimate foundation for doing apologetics. And the reason I say the ultimate is because herein is found the creator and creature distinction. It says in the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth.

And after that, he made all other things and he rested. You see, biblical apologetics must flow out of a consistent application of theological and biblical truths. So any viewpoint that would tell us to put aside this theological commitment to the fact that there is a creator God to whom we are accountable and must answer to is not honoring to God and is absolutely right there displaying the fact that it itself is not neutral to the truths of the scripture.

It is already in opposition to it. And now it is going to try to convince you that it is actually being very fair and unbiased. And why don't you come in and join with it and come to the table and be, you know, you know, not to over, you know, sold out to a particular view until you first observed and tested the facts before us.

The Unregenerate Mind and the Myth of Neutrality

In order to engage in apologetics, we must truly understand what the Bible says about the unbeliever. In Ephesians 4, verse 17 through 18, the Bible says this,. So here is biblical anthropology. The unregenerated, unsaved man is postulating his viewpoint from a vain mind and a darkened heart.

And that's the person that calls you to set aside Christ so you can give a more truthful and honest and unbiased perspective and conclusion on the things that you are called to give an answer for. To do apologetics, we must understand the insights into man's nature that the Bible presents us and go forth doing apologetics, understanding that those that we are engaging with are not those that are going to be neutral and fair about the situation, but are actually already displaying their antagonism against the word of truth.

In Mark chapter 7, the Lord Jesus is confronting the Pharisees yet again on the fact that they have set aside the word of God. In verse 8, he says,. In other words, they've rejected the commandment of God and they've subverted it and they've transformed and made their own rules and standards of living for the people to obey.

He says in verse 9,. Now, this is the passage where, you know, the Pharisees have made the fact that the penalty for cursing father and mother is no longer a penalty, but rather a way for them to earn some money.

Jesus says,. The reason why this is applicable to apologetics is because here is revealed the philosophy of man that sets himself to make the knowledge of God void. You see, because the Pharisees have rejected and put away the commandments of God, they have necessarily replaced it with something else.

Something that they thought is more, I guess, reasonable or because of their greedy minds have made it more profitable to them. You see, when we do apologetics, the question to ask is, are we showing the reality that the unbeliever is wearing a mask?

I mean, do we do apologetics as if Romans 1 .18 is actually true? The Bible says, from the fact that they are made and they're present and they're eminently testifying that God exists. He has made these things.

His eternal power and Godhead, his great ability is on display when we open our eyes, therefore leaving us without excuse to deny him. What unbelievers have done is what the Pharisees have done. They have, through a form of idolatry, just replaced the obvious truths of God.

Therefore, when we do apologetics, as Eli Ayala says, apologetics is exposing the suppression of the truth. We are not here to placate to unbelievers. We are here to understand who they are and their responses in light of what God has already revealed about them.

We are not to take their words for it. So, when defending the Christian faith, we must not allow ourselves to be deceived in thinking that the unbelievers are innocent and genuine in their oppositions to the Christian faith.

Biblical Foundations for Defending the Faith

Now, I want to move on to more of explaining the foundations for what we're actually doing here. Because in doing apologetics, you know, we can get into arguments and arguments aren't necessarily bad because for 2 ,000 years of Christian history now, Christians have given well-articulated defenses of biblical doctrines.

And being acute in theology, you know, is a Christian calling so that when the objections come, we can respond in a way that's faithful to the God of Scripture. Now, as we move on, the command to defend the Bible comes from the Bible itself.

A Christian worldview is a biblical worldview. It comes from the Scriptures. One, because the Bible tells us to do apologetics. Earlier, I mentioned 1 Peter 3 .15. This is where we get the word apologetics or the Greek word that makes the English word apologetics, apologia, so that we can give a reasoned defense of what we believe.

The Bible tells us on how to do apologetics, though. In 1 Peter 3 .15, the command begins with sanctify the Lord God in your hearts. It doesn't say be ready always first. No, it says sanctify the Lord God.

That's what it means to be ready to give an answer. Having God sanctified in your hearts, you know, committed to his commandments, dedicated to his testimonies, and bringing them out of your life, even through the way you think.

That is what it means to be ready to give an answer to the opposing worldviews that will clash against it. Now, in 1 Peter 3 .15, it says that the Lord God is to be sanctified in our hearts. And, of course, what the Bible means by hearts here is obviously not the thing beating in your chest, but rather the seat of the will where the intellectual capacity is.

You know, this goes into our decision making. All must be dedicated to Christ's Lordship, or the Lord God. It must be all in worship to him. The way we give reasoned defenses must be all in reference to who he is as our master and owner.

Therefore, we are not to abandon that, set him aside in the margin, and then go about to use our rational mind to defend his glory. We are to be ready always because in sanctifying the Lord God, it necessitates that we spend time with God and his word, getting to know theology, having a robust understanding of Christian truths.

So that way, when people object with supposed contradictions, we can get to it. When people tell us, you know, with their audacity that they just don't believe in God, we can give the biblical response to that.

The fool has said in his heart that there is no God. We can point to them, not in a ridicule sense, that really what they're doing is they're holding back or suppressing down what God has already made obvious to them, not just through their sensory experiences, but in all that's around them in the creation.

But of course, in 1 Peter 3 .15, it doesn't say we're supposed to go around being big fat meanies to people who do not hold our viewpoint, but rather it tells us what Christian character we are to do these things.

It says with meekness and fear, the medium through which the content is expressed must be also a biblical one, right? We are to have a Christ-like character if we are to give him true honor in bringing the revelation of his mind to bear upon the testimony of the world.

Now, another passage I want to look at very quickly as we head towards concluding this second episode is Jude 3. Now, Jude should have one chapter, and if your Jude has more than one chapter, I think you might have the wrong book.

But Jude 3 says, Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you. So here, Jude is saying that contacting Christians about defending the faith was, he did this out of necessity.

Why? He continues to go on and says that you should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. So contending here means that actively engaging in the defense of the Christian truths.

Now, the faith, as is said in Jude here, is referring to the entire body of doctrine. You know, in order to defend those, it obviously means that we must be acquainted with them, and we must believe them.

And, of course, most importantly, we must be already living them, if we are to properly understand and share what we have in the Lord. There. So, some biblical foundations for what we're actually doing in apologetics.

It's not just some high intellectual thing that, you know, those who are trained in ministry and go to Bible college or, like, you know, pastoral ministers do. But rather, this is, you know, if we really believe this is God-breathed revelation, then this is to be applied personally to all those who are able to read the inscriptuations in the book that is called the Bible.

Apologetics, Theology, and Evangelism

Some misconceptions going forward is that some people may think that, you know, you need to know everything about every opposing viewpoint in order to be able to actually defend and give a reasoned defense against them.

But that's not true, because the very first step to giving a defense is being grounded and rooted in biblical theology. And from biblical theology should naturally flow a biblical apologetic. Knowing what you believe and why is crucial and central to being able to do what God has called you to do.

And I hope that through what we've discussed today, tonight, and my end, that you would find some courage to be able to say, All right, God has clearly given us instructions here. The world is not always friendly towards Christians.

I'm going to be living in the midst of non-believers, and I'm going to face the reality of objections. And when I seek to give honor to God in answering objections and criticisms, how are we going to respond?

Are we going to respond by placating to the unbelieving standards of the secular worldview? Or are we going to do what the other apologetic methods do, which in many ways resemble the fallen natural man?

Or are we going to sanctify the Lord God in our hearts, bringing ourselves under the obedience of his already revealed nature and character, not only through the person of Christ, but in the inscriptuated Word of God?

You see, I posit to you that that is the only way to actually rescue not only intellectual endeavors, but also spiritual salvation matters. Now, I really hope that this has been very helpful to you. For all it's worth, I hope that you can take something with you today.

But most importantly, if I can just underscore that you do not have to suspend your commitments to contribute to the area of science, history, education, government for that matter, because Christ created all those things for his glory and only in submission and honor to him can we properly rescue the true meaningfulness of all those things.

Understand also that apologetics is not completely disassociated from evangelism, because in apologetics, what we're seeking to do is simply close the mouth of those that are objecting to the Christian faith.

And after we do so, then can we properly present the gospel as the only hope to rescue everything that they're trying to retain, which is true knowledge and true wisdom about their life experiences. I'd like to thank you now for tuning into the second episode of Truology.

If you missed the first episode, it is still available on YouTube. If you type in Truology, debut the gospel. You can follow me also on Instagram at studyofthetruth. If you're a fan of Apple podcast, you can type in Truology and you'll be able to see us there also.

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Now, until next time, my name is Belushi Prevalon and you've been listening to Truology. The study of the truth as it is in Jesus. God bless. Truology is a podcast that seeks to equip, effect and engage the world through Christ and his wonderful gospel of the kingdom, against which he has promised that the gates of hell shall never prevail, but increased by his government, his law and grace, till it be presented a glorious church without spot or wrinkle.

If there's any fear, threat or worry, remember that the one that has called you according to his purpose and grace has also promised that all enemies will soon be placed under his feet. Now, I want you to believe that not because I said it or because it sounds really nice and spiritual, but primarily and wholeheartedly and only and biblically, because it's the truth.