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May 04, 2014

Reaching Our Brave, New Secular World

Reaching Our Brave, New Secular World

Preacher: Abigail Hohenstreet

Series: God is NOT Dead!

Category: Christian Apologetics

Keywords: doubts, scientism, materialism, rationalism, apologetics, doubts

Summary:

This message served to introduce this entire Christian apologetics series dealing with some of the serious questions both secularists and Christians wrestle with when it comes to credible, intellectual belief in God, particularly the God of the Bible.

Detail:

Overview of Apologetics: Reaching a Brave, New, Secular World

1.) What’s my story?
" Although I grew up in a pastor’s home, memorized thousands of verses to win trophies in AWANA, attended church and Bible studies regularly, I remained a skeptic about God, His character, the Scriptures, and whether Jesus was who He said He was or not. For several years, I kept all of my confusion and fears regarding my doubts to myself; it doesn’t seem that Church provided an unbiased environment in which to voice concerns without being judged; relationships with Christians were positive for the most part, but I felt that each time a sensitiveor controversial subject came up concerning the faith, they gave trite answers that weren’tsufficient to quell my fears. The more I tried to figure out God so that I could trust Him, the moreI was overwhelmed with the impossibility. Was there absolute truth? Could I find out? Is thereobjective meaning and morality? Did God want to be known? Could I trust the God whosecharacter seemed marred by the problem of evil in the world as I studied genocide, the Godwho killed people in the Old Testament, the God who didn’t save me from hard experiences in
my own life? How could I meander through all of these questions without being subjective?
Throughout my college years at Purdue and Oxford, I was definitely a seeker, and I was
definitely depressed. I was a perfectionist in academia and extracurricular activities, and yet I was paralyzed with a sense of hopelessness, purposelessness, and frustration about existence. I was, as I was diagnosed, suffering from existential depression. What was real progress, flourishing, fulfillment? How could I “get my ducks in a row” and why was that necessary? As I studied various world views, religions, and the evidences to support or oppose them, I found that Jesus Christ became more and more trustworthy in my heart. When I came to the outskirts of my understanding, I called out in faith on the Person who claimed to come into this existence to tell me what life was all about, and He answered. When I chose to re-think everything, I dug
to the bedrock, and I found that the Rock is Christ (Colossians 1:16-20)."

" My life has completely changed. Rather than becoming a lawyer, like I originally had
planned, the Lord showed me that I can give hope and guidance to people who are going through what I went through. I don’t want anyone to feel alone while dealing with the most difficult questions about life, and that’s why I’m a theological attorney: I prosecute lies through polemics, I defend the Gospel through apologetics, and I advocate for those who don’t have a voice as I counsel them. I have degrees in Apologetics and Counseling because we must be able to love the Gospel with our heads and our hearts. I work internationally with students and leaders, helping the believer to think and the thinker to believe. Apologetics helps to disciple believers in exploring, building, articulating, and living out their faith. Apologetics helps to reach
out to those who are hostile to the faith or who are misunderstanding what Christianity is all about. God has redeemed all of the time, talent, and treasures that I spent lost in the world by using not only all of the education and experiences I’d had, but also the life-long desires I kept deep inside my heart, to bring me fulfillment and purpose and to bring Him glory." "

2.) Your story matters, your voice matters, and you are responsible to act." ""This world you’re engaged in, whether you’re in college, public service, private or public business settings, government, or other various settings, is not neutral ground. It’s not
unbiased. Every legislation has morality; it’s just a matter of whose morality is being promoted.
Every legal system enforces a system of thought; it’s just a matter of whose ideas and
philosophies are being enforced. In a world of competing and conflicting world views, those who vocalize and back up the claims the most consistently will end up with the most influence. That is a big reason why each of us, in our respective vocations, should know not only what we believe but why we believe it. There is a problem: at least 70% of those who begin college as professing Christians leave as non-Christians, and this is a solid diagnosis of our failure to know why we believe what we say we believe. Under pressure, we cave, and rightly so, because we haven’t learned what we can trust because we haven’t tested it. Sunday School answers don’t stand up to Secular Humanism, Hedonism, Scientism, Pluralism, and the like."

" Have you ever felt ashamed in class because you didn’t know how to respond to an
accusation towards Christianity or the Christian world view? Have you ever hesitated to speak up because you don’t know what you’d say in that meeting at work? That’s why the Bible tells us that we must study to show ourselves approved, workmen unto God needing not to be ashamed, but rightly dividing the Word of Truth (2 Timothy 2:15). If you haven’t studied the Bible, and you haven’t studied why the Bible is reliable (historically, archaeologically, literally, socially, philosophically), then you will miss out on the blessings of strengthened faith and you’ll suffer from doubt. Is it not pride to think that we can out-think God? If He is who He says He is, and He is, I guarantee that He can withstand scrutiny. As we study the Scriptures and various academic disciplines, that’s exactly what we find. As we take steps of faith, trusting what He says about life, we’ll find that He’s right time and again. 1 Peter 1:15 tells us to give a reason for the hope within us, and practicing apologetics is the responsibility implied in that verse. You
can either be a good or bad apologist, but either way, you’re an apologist. To be an effective evangelist, you must undergo becoming a disciple, and doing the hard, tedious work of studying Truth and meditating on Truth is a big part of that."
"When Christians disengage from the culture and from higher platforms in society due to fear, doubt, or feeling overwhelmed, situations of oppressive public policies (precursor to the Holocaust) are more likely. Why not be the Bonhoeffer of this era?" "

3.) There are resources available for you, so you can fearlessly investigate."
"Organizations I work with are here to demonstrate that for every tweed-wearing
professor denying faith as reasonable, there are tweed-wearing professors who advocate for the faith! For every professional and powerful individual implementing evil, there can be and are professionals who can bring a renaissance of purity, integrity, and solid values back to our culture. You can be a part of that, and it starts with your decisions today. There are so many technological, scientific, medical, philosophical, and societal advances made by people boldly proclaiming theistic beliefs; you need not feel intimidated by those who lie about Christians being unreasonable, irrational, close-minded, and unsubstantiated. Ratio Christi, RZIM, The Veritas Forum, Christian Union, Cross Examined, Reasonable Faith, Stand to Reason, and so many more organizations have free podcasts, lectures, debates, articles, and literary resources for you to access so that you can ask the hard questions and be able to articulate intelligent and affirmed answers for yourself and in interactions with others. Christian Faith, properly understood, is not blind.

Next week, we’ll go more into how we can deconstruct logical fallacies and irrational beliefs of world views prevalent in our society.