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Apologetics4all – Dr. Williams' Religion Blog

~ Respectfully giving reasons for faith – 1 Peter 3:15

Apologetics4all – Dr. Williams' Religion Blog

Monthly Archives: November 2019

Thanksgiving means GIVING Thanks

25 Monday Nov 2019

Posted by D. L. Williams in Campus Apologetics, Ratio Christi

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good-cook-good-god

At this time of year it is always good to ask:

To whom are you GIVING thanks?

Our society is turning all language INWARD to the ISOLATION of the individual.

  • People don’t meditate on something external like Scripture. They feel mindful. They practice mindfulness.
  • People don’t dialog with each other. They feel offended. They take offense.

And in line with our current holiday week,

  • People don’t GIVE thanks. They feel thankful. They practice thankfulness.

But this is an opportunity to ask them if they know the cook who cooked up this awesome feast of our universe with all its beautiful, breathtaking, and life-giving GIFTS.

A great feast requires a great cook! You know the cook. Introduce your friends and family to the cook. It’s always a special thing to meet the cook in a restaurant, and it is even more special to meet the cook of the universe.

happy-tg

A Sin of Omission?

Is ingratitude a sin?

The ungrateful are often (always?) focused on self. They are curved inward in all their thinking. This curving inward is an ancient description of the “S-word” SIN.

“Martin Luther is credited with concretizing the term “homo incurvatus in se”, humanity curved in upon itself. In reality, the roots of the term extend back to Augustine, Bishop of Hippo. While the two men were separated by over a millennium, their descriptions of sin still give us an excellent metaphor for understanding sin today.” Read more…

Being passively “thankful” is dangerously close to “incurvatus in se“. It eliminates any “other” and makes the conscience warm and fuzzy by stoking the feels.

However, if you are thankful, you are thankful for things you RECEIVED, which implies a GIVER.

Wait! you say. I’m thankful for my own mind, my own resourcefulness, and my own ability to work hard for what I have.

Of course you can be thankful for these things. But your mind, your mental health, and the food and structures that allow you to work are still gifts.

18 Behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of his life that God has given him, for this is his lot. 19 Everyone also to whom God has given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them, and to accept his lot and rejoice in his toil–this is the gift of God. [Ecclesiastes 5:18-19 ESV]

Do not curve your thanks upon yourself to result in generic thankfulness. Give your thanks to God – the Great Gift Giver!

17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights… [James 1:17 ESV]

Come discuss this and other topics related to a rational defense of the Christian truth claims, every Monday night while school is in session at SHSU at 6:30 to 8 PM in CFS 123.

Apologetics and Conversion

11 Monday Nov 2019

Posted by D. L. Williams in Campus Apologetics, Philosophy

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You can’t argue someone into the Kingdom!

Wait… really? I personally know dozens of people who experienced “arguments that brought them into” the kingdom of God.

I think I know the source of the objection, though. As a Lutheran, I affirm the statements and explanations in Luther’s Small Catechism. The objection to “arguing someone into” the kingdom is most clearly addressed in the Third Article of the Apostles Creed.

THE THIRD ARTICLE

(Sanctification)

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

What does this mean?

I believe that I cannot by my own thinking or choosing believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to him.

But the Holy Spirit has called me by the gospel, enlightened me with his gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith. In the same way he calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian Church on earth, and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith.

In this Christian Church he daily and fully forgives all sins to me and all believers.

On the Last Day he will raise me and all the dead, and give eternal life to me and all believers in Christ. This is most certainly true.

How do I see the role of apologetics in relation to this clear helplessness to choose Christ?

Simple. What do you think the Holy Spirit is doing when he CALLS and ENLIGHTENS.

A person in the fallen state cannot overcome their prejudices, personal biases, and suspicions of new information without EXTERNAL help. As this person hears arguments for God’s existence, the reliability of the scriptures, etc, they need the spirit’s help to even consider the views that are contrary to their own positions on those topics.

For more on this topic, I hand you off to my friend, Philosopher and Theologian Ken Samples at Reasons to Believe. Here is the first part of a 4 part series on the role of Apologetics in Conversion.

In historic Christianity the field of apologetics (a reasoned defense of the faith) is considered a branch of theology. Apologetics often has a close connection to evangelism (communication of the gospel message) by attempting to remove intellectual obstacles that may stand in the way of a person embracing faith (conversion).

In this four-part series we’ll take a look at how apologetics can directly impact conversion by examining the historical case of Augustine of Hippo (354–430). St. Augustine had one of the most famous conversions to Christianity in history, and various apologetic elements facilitated his coming to faith. Read more…

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