I Am Put Here for the Defense of the Gospel

Dr. Norman L. Geisler: A Festschrift in His Honor

Terry L. Miethe, Miethe

• Publisher: Pickwick Publications
• Year: 2016
• ISBN:
  9781498221863
• Topic: Teología y religión
• Subtopic: Iglesia cristiana

Dr. Norman L. Geisler has been called the "father of evangelical Christian philosophy." He has written more than one hundred books and taught at universities and top seminaries for some fifty-six years. He was the first president of the Evangelical Philosophical Society and the founder and first president of the International Society of Christian Apologetics. He has spoken or debated in more than two dozen countries and held pastoral/pulpit ministries in four states. Many view him as a cross between Thomas Aquinas and Billy Graham. No one has done more to communicate the modern challenges of the Faith to the "average" Christian, to the church, and to the academy. This volume offers creative and constructive essays from twenty-three contributors, all notable in their own right, who preserve and propagate Dr. Geisler's ideas and express appreciation for his influence. Those who know him best say he is "true, faithful, and blessed by God!"

chapter 1

Using Apologetics in
Contemporary Evangelism

by David Geisler

It certainly would not be an understatement to say that I have been greatly influenced by my father, Norm Geisler, in the area of Apologetics. Of course, this is true for many others around the world as well. In fact my current ministry as an evangelist/apologist has been shaped by much of what my father taught me about apologetics and theology over the years. Even as a young boy, I had access to answers to questions that many Christians may have struggled with to different degrees. Unfortunately this may have caused some believers to even doubt their faith at times. But for me, I cannot really relate to that kind of experience. From the age of five when I accepted Christ, I honestly don’t ever remember a time in my life that I had any doubts about whether my faith was true or not. Even as a little boy, having at my fingertips scripturally sound answers from my father to any potentially challenging questions about the Christian faith was a great asset. It certainly gave me great confidence in what I believed and why I believed it. I also learned early on how important it was to give other Christians solid answers to challenging questions to help build up their faith. Like many others, what I owe my father for what I learned from him is a debt that can never be paid back. But I certainly plan to pass on what I learned in order to further his impact around the world.

Having some background in apologetic issues at an early age, combined with having a passion for evangelism, has, over the years, provided me a unique platform from which to observe and critique both disciplines. The unfortunate part is that even as a young boy I could walk into any Christian bookstore and see many books on apologetics and many on evangelism, but not many (good or bad) on how to use apologetics in evangelism.1 I was certainly puzzled by this because as I studied the New Testament it was clear that evangelism and apologetics were normally used hand in hand in connection with reaching others for Christ! The use of evidence was a common practice that accompanied the proclamation of the gospel in the New Testament.2 (see Matt 4:23; John 5:36, 10:37–38, 20:30–31; Acts 9:22, 14:1, 17:2–3, 26:28–29, 28:23). This was especially important in Jesus’ ministry to others because by continually showing evidence of his supernatural power it helped some to believe in Him. The miracles that Jesus performed demonstrated to the Jews in a tangible way that God did send Jesus! This was also true for Jesus’ disciples.

The apostle John pointed out that there were other miracles that Jesus performed that weren’t even mentioned in his book but that “these have been written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name” (John 20:31). Also, the apostle Paul did not just proclaim the gospel to the Jewish people but his custom was to “reason with them from the Scriptures” (Acts 17:2–3). In Acts 28:23, Paul’s goal was to help Jewish non-believers see that Jesus’ life and death was the fulfillment of the Old Testament Scriptures, which they had already accepted as being true. The apostle Peter declared that we are to give reasons to others for why we believe what we do as Christians (1 Pet 3:15). Overall, in the New Testament, some kind of Christian evidence normally accompanied the proclamation of the gospel as was emphasized both by Jesus and his disciples.

But it is not just that some untrained laypeople didn’t seem to understand this important link between apologetic and evangelism that bothered me the most. It bothered me even more that those who were trained in apologetics didn’t seem to understand at times how to use Christian evidences in the most fruitful ways in witnessing situations with their non-Christian friends! That is why I appreciated so much an important principle that my father taught me about using apologetics in my witness to others early in my life. As a result, I believe it helped me to avoid some of the mistakes that some have made over the years in their witness to others. This principle can be summarized in the words that I’ve heard my father utter on many occasions: “You don’t go to war with a pea shooter, but you don’t go to target practice with a bazooka.”

This principle is something that God has used to shape how I witness to people today and what I teach to others. In fact, over the years practicing this very simple but profound principle has helped me in so many ways to maximize the use of apologetics in my witness to others. It has also helped me to avoid at least two misunderstandings some Christians may have concerning the use of apologetics in our witness to others today.

On the one hand there are those who believe that there is no value in learning about the objective evidence for the Christian faith but believe firmly that they simply need to unleash the gospel as a lion. For example, I remember once having a conversation with a well-known and respected evangelist who tried to assure me that God had called him to simply proclaim the gospel and that he didn’t feel a need to concern himself with answering questions that others may have about the Christian faith and thus engage others in apologetic dialog. Now certainly the gospel may be simple, but getting to the gospel is not always so simple in the world we live in today. It certainly puzzled me that this seemed to escape his notice, but he wasn’t the only one who felt this way. In the last twenty-five years of training missionaries, pastors, and church lay people both in the East and the West, I’ve met many evangelists who didn’t seem to understand that they had to do more than merely proclaim a simple gospel message and share their own personal testimony to lead people to Christ.

Although God sometimes uses our testimony to draw people to Him, in the world in which we live, a testimonial only approach to witnessing is having less and less appeal to those we are trying to reach. From a non-believer’s perspective everyone seems to have a religious experience of some sort. So how do we determine which ones are legitimate and which ones are not so legitimate? Furthermore, because the world’s view of truth has changed so dramatically, many today may simply believe that Christianity may be true for you but not true for me. As a result, some will say, “It’s nice for you that you believe in truth,” or “It’s nice that it works for you, but it doesn’t work for me or mean anything to me,” or “It may certainly be true for you, but not for me.”3 In the kind of world we live in today a mere testimonial approach to evangelism seems incomplete, and certainly getting to the gospel may not always be so simple. We now live in a world where right and wrong are seen more and more as personal preferences, similar to a person’s taste in ice cream. Consequently no one’s religious experience is seen as being more valid than another, and therefore no “story” should be preferred over any other, including the Christian story.4 Our world has trouble seeing the need for a savior when from their perspective they have no sins that need to be forgiven.5

On the other hand, I’ve also met those who seem to have a decent understanding about some of the evidences for the Christian faith but unfortunately have a tendency to bring out their heavy apologetic guns and blast people away no matter what the barriers to faith really are! They don’t seem to understand that there is an art to using apologetics in our witness with others in order to maximize our potential effectiveness. Many times not being sensitive to how one uses apologetics can lead to discussions that really don’t go very far and unfortunately produce more heat than light. I am afraid that too many of us who have been trained in the discipline of Christian apologetics have not learned how best to use our vast apologetic resources in each witnessing situation we find ourselves in today. Certainly reason and rationality must play an important part in our attempt to reach the hearts and minds of those we want to reach today. Yet former students of my father, like Christian Apologist Ravi Zacharias, are aware of the importance of finding an appropriate use of reasoning in our witness to others today. He reminds us that: “there is just enough of the modern worldview left so that reason still has a point of entry. But we have to use this knowledge wisely. We cannot give an overdose of argumentation.”6

Unfortunately, not being careful in using apologetic content in our witness to others has led many to miss seeing the value of apologetics in our witness today. Even after so many great books on apologetics have been written in the last forty to fifty years, still today the word “apologetics” conjures up to many an image of someone who has a “Type A,” driven personality, who likes to argue with people and who may be perceived as a little “insensitive” in how they approach any critical dialogue. For the vast number of evangelical Christians in the United States, this image of what an apologist is does not encourage greater participation in apologetic dialogue. Certainly as Christian apologists we must find a way to better communicate the scriptural mandates to “destroy speculation” (2 Cor 10:5) and yet do so in a way that non-believers will know that we deeply love and care for them (Acts 17:16; 1 Cor 13:2–3), and that will set a good example for other Christians to follow (Phil 1:14; 1 Thess 2:8). We must learn to destroy speculations and yet not tear down the person in the process and come across as harsh and or insensitive. This is an art that all Christians will need to master in order to be faithful to the commands of Scripture to share the hope that we have as Christians (1 Pet 3:15 NKJV).

Certainly, the apostle Paul was able to practice the art of destroying speculation, and yet he did it in a loving way. In fact, in Acts 17, it was because of his great compassion for the people in Athens that Paul was motivated to “reason in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles” (Acts 17:17). It was because Paul was so distressed—”his spirit was being provoked within him” (Acts 17:16 NASB)—that he felt compelled to do something about it! Somehow we need to be able to show both compassion towards others in how we speak to them...

Table of contents

• Introduction
• Tributes to Norman L. Geisler
• Preface
• Chapter 1: Using Apologetics in Contemporary Evangelism by David Geisler
• Chapter 2: Distinctive Elements of a Judaeo-Christian Worldview by William E. Nix
• Chapter 3: Our Faith Seeks Their Understanding by Ramesh Richard
• Chapter 4: Beware the Impact of Historical Critical Ideologies on Current Evangelical New Testament Studies by F. David Farnell
• Chapter 5: Building Babel: Genesis 11:1–9 by Thomas A. Howe
• Chapter 6: The Task of Bible Exposition by Elliott E. Johnson
• Chapter 7: God’s Ultimate Purpose for Creation by Grant C. Richison
• Chapter 8: Text Versus Word by Donald T. Williams
• Chapter 9: Some Features of Finite Being in St. Thomas Aquinas by Winfried Corduan
• Chapter 10: Unamuno and Quine by Timothy Paul Erdel
• Chapter 11: Open Theism, Analogy, and Religious Language by Joseph M. Holden
• Chapter 12: Defending the Handmaid by Richard G. Howe
• Chapter 13: Aristotle: God & The Life of Contemplation by Terry L. Miethe
• Chapter 14: The Enlightenment, John Locke, & Scottish Common Sense Realism by Terry L. Miethe
• Chapter 15: Big Data, Big Brother, and Transhumanism by J. Kerby Anderson
• Chapter 16: Using Expository Preaching to Address Ethical Issues in Our Day by Walter C. Kaiser, Jr.
• Chapter 17: Moral Absolutes and Moral Worth by Richard A. Knopp
• Chapter 18: A Christian Response to Homosexuality by Patty Tunnicliffe
• Chapter 19: Why They Blow Themselves Up by "John Christian"
• Chapter 20: A Theological and Apologetical Assessment of Positive Confession Theology by Ron Rhodes
• Chapter 21: The Impact of Norman Geisler on Christian Higher Education by Wayne A. Detzler
• Chapter 22: A Detroit Yankee in King Cotton’s Court by Paige Patterson
• Tabula Gratulatoria
• “Geislerisms”
• About Dr. Norman L. Geisler