Daniel M.
Puritan Board Freshman
I remember taking an interest in apologetics early on in my faith, having been an atheist for most of my life beside my father.
After years of conversations with old non-believing friends, I realize now that my philosophy and interest in it has changed a lot, and it's made me more effective.
For one, anyone here who has ever watched or listened to Kirk Cameron's "The Way of the Master", it is this believer's advice that, unless the year you live in is 1970 and before, that you throw it out and forget it.
Why? Because the Ten Commandments cannot be the basis for the argument of God to people that think the Bible is a made up fable bent on subjugating the unruly masses.
Now, before I get lambasted, I'm not saying that the Ten Commandments are not a good reference for teaching total depravity. What I mean is that the degrees of unbelief are far and away more diverse and prevalent than in 20th century, Fundamentalist America.
My generation is the first in hundreds of years in western civilization wherein a majority of our parents are more likely to dismiss the Bible as fable than to accept it as fact.
I always find that first generation believers (not to sound biased) are normally the most effective at this because they're willing to relay their own conversion experiences and relate to the psychology of someone who never believed.
So, how do you level the playing field? How do you, in your talks with the nonbelievers you care about, make the case for
a.) absolute truth
b.) a single God
c.) the God of the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament
d.) the need for salvation and the means it comes about?
EDIT: Submitted before ready, sorry to those who read the unfinished post.
After years of conversations with old non-believing friends, I realize now that my philosophy and interest in it has changed a lot, and it's made me more effective.
For one, anyone here who has ever watched or listened to Kirk Cameron's "The Way of the Master", it is this believer's advice that, unless the year you live in is 1970 and before, that you throw it out and forget it.
Why? Because the Ten Commandments cannot be the basis for the argument of God to people that think the Bible is a made up fable bent on subjugating the unruly masses.
Now, before I get lambasted, I'm not saying that the Ten Commandments are not a good reference for teaching total depravity. What I mean is that the degrees of unbelief are far and away more diverse and prevalent than in 20th century, Fundamentalist America.
My generation is the first in hundreds of years in western civilization wherein a majority of our parents are more likely to dismiss the Bible as fable than to accept it as fact.
I always find that first generation believers (not to sound biased) are normally the most effective at this because they're willing to relay their own conversion experiences and relate to the psychology of someone who never believed.
So, how do you level the playing field? How do you, in your talks with the nonbelievers you care about, make the case for
a.) absolute truth
b.) a single God
c.) the God of the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament
d.) the need for salvation and the means it comes about?
EDIT: Submitted before ready, sorry to those who read the unfinished post.
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