Why do Christian apologists argue

Why do Christian apologists argue



Argumentativeness is a work of the flesh. v('Ga 5.19-21') Christians, especially Christian apologists, will defend getting into arguments, debates, or quarrels, as “defending the truth.” Theyll claim its spiritual warfare. Theyll insist we need to defend Christendom against those who want to destroy it, or slander it, or otherwise lie about it. And theyre right; we do. But is argument an appropriate or acceptable tactic for Christians? No.So why do we do it? Because were arguing for Jesus, and that must magically make it all right. Its like when teenagers date inappropriate people, and claim theyre trying to entice them to church. Or when a nation leaps into a war for a “just cause,” but its really out of bloodlust, cause all peace overtures are dismissed as insufficient scams. Or when a society executes repentant criminals because “they did the crime and deserve their punishment,” but really to avenge the victims and society. We do such things cause were evil, and we think weve found a loophole which makes our evil okay.When Christian apologists “defend the truth,” and resort to arguments to do so, what were really doing is defending ourselves. We identify very closely with the things we believe. Theyre our opinions. Our choices to embrace such ideas. Our decisions to make them part of our lifestyles. Our faith. And so were not defending Jesus or truth so much as were trying to justify ourselves. The average Christian apologist is selfishly defending their ego and self-esteem—but hypocritically disguising it as spiritual warfare.
Arguments versus forensics.Forensics [fə•REN•ziks, noun] Art or study of formal debate or argumentation.Let me be clear Im not talking about forensics. When people engage in scholarly or academic debates, there are rules to it, meant to keep things from getting personal, rude, harsh, or illogical. Personal feelings arent meant to enter into the discussion—although itll happen, cause humans are biased. But the point of forensic debates is to pursue truth, and anything which might get in truths way is ruled inappropriate.From time to time, someone will set up a formal debate between Christian apologists and skeptical apologists. Usually, these debates are meant to follow forensic rules: Stick to the facts, and leave personalities out of it. And sometimes they will. But sometimes they wont. It all depends on whether they have a moderator, and whether the moderator can make the participants stick to the rules. (If youve seen political debates, youve seen exactly what it looks like when participants freely ignore the rules, and moderators never do their job—for when they do, people criticize them for “stifling debate.”) A lot of times, people attend these apologetics debates cause they want to see the opponents take personal potshots at one another. But in a formal debate, thats not meant to happen.Can Christians engage in formal debate? Sure. Should we? Not always. Some of us cant control ourselves. For too many people, debates arent about truth; theyre about winning. And in order to win, the truth will get bent. Half-truths will be offered. Lies will be told. Attempts will be made to steer the debate away from the real subject, and get into the participants motives. I cant tell you how many debates Ive seen between Christians and skeptics, where the Christians tried to change the subject to how the skeptics have inconsistent views on ethics and morals, and for this reason we cant trust a word they say. Yep, Christians engage in such tactics. Clearly Christians who would do such things have no business debating.But your average Christian apologist is way more likely to get into an argument—not a scholarly debate, but a simple verbal smackdown. Not against an opponent who agrees to ground rules, but a friend, acquaintance, stranger, family member, or even a fellow Christian, who puts no rules on the table. It can get rude, and personal, and offensive, and sarcastic, and ridiculous. It nearly always will: Christians might remember we need to be kind to our opponents (and I really wish more of them would), but our opponents rarely feel any such compunction, and can be as obnoxious as they wish. This is why so many skeptics are jerks: Its fun, and why not treat Christians like the fools they think we are? And sad to say, Christians take the bait, and act like jerks right back.
But we gotta defend the truth!Every Christian will, from time to time, come across someone who starts mouthing off about Christians, or Christianity, or Jesus, or God, or some odd point of theology they dont understand. And way too much of the time, the Christian will foolhardily try to correct them… and next thing you know its an argument.Before you dive into these discussions, there are two proverbs to keep in mind.
Dont answer the foolish arguments of fools,
or you will become as foolish as they are.
Be sure to answer the foolish arguments of fools,
or they will become wise in their own estimation.
—Proverbs 26.4-5 NLTWait, dont those proverbs contradict one another? Yes they do. Each proverb applies to a different circumstance. You have to figure out which circumstance is yours. Are you dealing with a fool whos searching for truth and open to correction, or a fool whos trying to bait Christians into a fight?Half the time—and on the Internet, more like 99 percent of the time—youre dealing with a troll. Someone wants to rip a Christian a new one, and youre the dummy whos about to get ripped. In these situations, youre utterly wasting your time. As Jesus put it, “Dont waste what is holy on people who are unholy. Dont throw your pearls to pigs! They will trample the pearls, then turn and attack you.” vW('matt 7.6','Mt 7.6 NLT','NLT') But too many Christian apologists dont know the difference, and dive right into these battles, figuring theyll righteously fight the good fight. But its a stupid fight. The trolls have no intention of listening. Theyll just mock, blaspheme, stomp on the Christians balls, and see how long it takes before the Christian loses all sense of propriety and starts acting like a lowlife—exposing the Christian as the hypocrite which the trolls always suspected they were.I have infuriated fellow Christians by refusing to take the bait. Once, in seminary, I stopped a “friendly debate” with a pagan at a coffeehouse because I knew it was going absolutely nowhere; the other fellow just wanted to be contrary. “Can we talk about another subject?” I asked, and he was amenable—and a Christian friend, observing this, was outraged. “You gave up an opportunity,” he fumed. “There was no opportunity,” I pointed out.But sometimes there is an opportunity. And you can usually tell these cases by how open-minded the other person appears to be. A person might ask “Why is it Christians always act that way?” purely as a rhetorical question, but at the same time such people might actually be open to an answer. So feel em out. Suggest an answer. See whether they want to fight, or whether theyre truly looking for a better understanding.Look for fruit of the Spirit. When the Holy Spirit is provoking people to ask the right questions, hes usually primed them with the right attitude. Theyre gonna be patient with you. Theyre gonna be peaceful, not violent. No, theyre not gonna be as patient or peaceful or kind as a Christian (or as a Christian should be, anyway) but theyre gonna show some evidence that the Holy Spirit has been nudging them in Jesuss direction, and heres a chance for us to nudge them a little further. Keep your ears open.And pay attention to the fruit, or lack of fruit, in yourself. When someone pitches a question, how do you respond to it? Do you immediately feel a burst of adrenalin, get into a fighting attitude, and want to tackle this skeptic and wrestle em to the ground? (Intellectually, of course; or “spiritually,” or however you want to put it.) Are you trying to come up with clever answers as fast as possible, or do you have the patience to listen to them, see where theyre coming from, figure out their real concerns, and then try to help? Are you kind, or do you have trouble keeping the snide remarks to yourself? If you lack self-control, you personally need to stay out of it. Step back, and go find another Christian.If youre the argumentative sort, stay away from argumentative apologetics. Go right ahead and study truth, history, philosophy, logic, and all the appropriate subjects. But when theres a fight to fight, you shut up. Stick to prayer. Intercede for people. Work on your self-control. Practice with fellow Christians. Wait till they deem you ready. And then… dont argue. Inform. Share. Point stuff out. But leave the battle to the Lord.