Recently I’ve been trying to recover some blog postings that I lost in a database crash. I have found some and thought I would re-post a few. Here is one from December 2006
The End of Apologetics
Some time back, I posed a question in the Wednesday night men’s class: “What do we say to someone who does not believe they are lost or need God and their lives are, for the most part, satisfying”? We had quite a bit discussion, mostly it was suggested that it is Christians’ responsibility to make sure non-Christians understand they are in jeopardy. Today as a read a section in “How (Not) to Speak of God” entitled The End of Apologetics, there were some interesting thoughts that hint at some answers to the question. I will paraphrase them briefly. The author asserts that the 20th century church reflected an obsession with apologetics ( a term which refers to the formal justification or defense of doctrine). He says further, that legal terminology is often employed within the apologetic discourse so as to give the impression that Christianity can be proven beyond all reasonable doubt by a cold and objective analysis of the empirical evidence for its claims. The apologetic process employs “power discourses” to build an apologetic case via the use of either reason or miracle. In the former case, the rational and logical case is so compelling that it must be accepted by anyone who wishes to be rational. The latter builds an apologetic case through demonstration such that the other must believe. These “power discourses” attempt to present faith in such a way that rejection, if not impossible, is utterly irrational. The result being “converts” with no heart, having been compelled to bow their knees regardless of their motives or desires. The author suggests a different kind of discourse based on 1 Corinthians 2:1-51 And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. 2 For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3 I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. 4 My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, 5 so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.
Paul’s suggests a “powerless discourse” which refrains from resting his faith on wise words or the miraculous, instead endeavoring to create a space for the Spirit’s power to arrive, a power that is not compelled by human might or miraculous wonder. Instead of closing thought down – by telling people what they ought to think – this discourse opens up thought. Unlike “power discourses” (which attempt to forcibly bring people to their knees), the discourse of Paul acts as an aroma. It is in this “powerless discourse”, unlike a religious discourse that is a type of drink designed to satisfy our thirst for answers, that one experiences the teaching of Jesus which is salty, evoking thirst. In a world where people believe they are not hungry, we must not offer food but rather an aroma that helps them desire the food that we cannot provide. As I considered these thoughts, it becomes apparent that I need to think about what “opening up space” and “aroma” mean pragmatically