Review

1. Apologetics to the Glory of God ch3 Proof - Method Review Reference: ____________ ____ in your _________ _____ apart ______ as ______. Always be ________ to give an _______ to _______ who asks you to ____ the _____ for the _____ that you have. ____ do this with ______ and _______, ?_______ a clear conscience, so that those who ______ _______ against your ______ _______ in ______ may be ___of their _________. Today through Tuesday topic: “proof” = finding a rational basis for faith

2. Apologetics to the Glory of God ch3 Proof - Method Faith, Scripture, and Evidence • Faith is not • Irrational • “belief in the absence of evidence” • Faith IS a trust that rests upon sufficient evidence. • e.g. Abraham sacrificing his son • What God says can be neither irrational nor immoral • God’s Word defines rationality and morality! • Faith honors God’s word as sufficient evidence. • see Rom 4:20-21 • What is the argument given for the Resurrection in 1 Cor 15:1-11? • The main thrust of the argument is…

3. Apologetics to the Glory of God ch3 Proof - Method Faith, Scripture, and Evidence (cont) • What is the ultimate proof, the ultimate evidence? THE WORD OF GOD • Eyewitnesses are important, but they die • Memories fade • God has reasons, but he doesn’t always reveal the reason • as a wise, true, and faithful God, and as the very standard of rationality, he always has a reason. • E.g. Abraham again • Scripture often contains its own reasons • “therefores” • Eyewitness • General revelation

4. Apologetics to the Glory of God ch3 Proof - Method Proof Defined • In mathematics, conclusions are derived by logical inference from axioms. E.g. • Premise 1: What Scripture says is always true • Premise 2: Scripture says that God exists • Conclusion: Therefore, God exists. • It isn’t enough for the proof to be based on true premises and sound logic; it must also be persuasive. • The premise and logic of an argument must be consistent with Biblical teaching. • The premise must be true and the logic valid • The specific subject matter of the argument must take into account the specific situation of the inquirer… Since every fact testifies to the reality of God, the apologist has not shortage of resources, but rather a great abundance.

5. Apologetics to the Glory of God ch3 Proof - Method Need for Proof ? • We believe many things that we personally cannot necessarily prove, e.g. 2+2=4 • Sometimes the objective evidence is sufficient; formulating a verbal argument is only a waste of time. • Scripture teaches that God’s existence is obvious Rom 1:18ff 18The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.  21For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools Psalm 14:1 The fool says there is no God – this isn’t intellectual error, but moral blindness.

6. Apologetics to the Glory of God ch3 Proof - Method Psalm 8 When we consider the heavens and observe the incredible vastness of the universe and the magnificence of its order, that experience has a persuasive value equal to, and perhaps beyond, that of any verbal teleological or cosmological argument.

7. Apologetics to the Glory of God ch3 Proof - Method Advice to the inquirer Encourage them to • READ the Bible (often this the most effective) • Be as open as possible to creation – LOOK at the stars Most who have become Christians, when they list what factors led them to trust in Christ, they do not list any argument or proof. Christianity, for them, was intellectually believable enough. The issue was that the person was not yet motivated to repent of sin, seek forgiveness, and obey. That motivation, supernatural in origin, came through various experiences – often merely a vivid retelling of the gospel of Jesus, especially when connected to a loving behavior. (OUR LIVES ARE PART OF OUR APOLEGETC.) It is Jesus who assures us that God is real!

8. Apologetics to the Glory of God ch3 Proof - Method Transcendental Argument Briefly stated: Without God there is no meaning (truth, rationality, etc); therefore God exists. God exists, because without him it would not be possible to reason, to think, or even to have moral judgment. God is more than a first cause, an intelligent designer, or a moral legislator. But no one argument can satisfy everyone

9. Apologetics to the Glory of God ch3 Proof - Method Not complete without… • Evangelistic apologetics is never complete without a presentation of Christ as Lord and as Lord of all. Specifically • (Mt 19:16-30) money/finances • (John 4:7-25) marriage & sex and even worship • (Mark 2:28) Sabbath Jesus mentioned the area of His Lordship that was a particular temptation to each individual

10. Apologetics to the Glory of God ch3 Proof - Method • Listen to debate • See other ppt

11. Truth of Christ (Luke1:4) Your own salvation (1John5:13) Apologetics to the Glory of God ch3 Proof - Method Absolute Certainty Regenerate knowledge presupposes God’s word. So two things that God wants us to be certain of: The believer is assured by the supernatural factor of God’s Spirit concerning both the truth of the gospel (1 Cor 2:4-5; 1 Thess 1:5) and his own relationship to Christ (Rom 8:16). Sometimes believers doubt both, but they have the resources and the right, both logical and supernatural, to come to full assurance on at least the major points of the gospel message.

12. Scripture speaks of the certainty of the evidence that God has given us for his truth. General revelation is so plain and clear that it obligates belief and obedience – leaving us without excuse (Rom 1:19-20). John speaks of Jesus’ miracles (“signs”) warranting belief (John 20:31), and Luke speaks of “convincing proofs” (Acts 1:3) which Jesus presented to the disciples after the Resurrection. The content of Scripture is always authoritative, whether Written on a page - Chiseled in stone Recorded on a DVD - Spoken through a preacher’s mouth Exemplified in a life (2 Cor 3:2-3) Insofar as an argument communicates truly the evidence that God has revealed in nature and Scripture, it may be said to convey the certainty of the evidence. Apologetics to the Glory of God ch3 Proof - Method Absolute Certainty

13. Apologetics to the Glory of God ch3 Proof - Method “Point of Contact” • Some common interest • We cannot appeal merely to the unbeliever’s reason and will, for his will is bound by sin and his reason seeks to distort truth. We appeal to the knowledge of God which he has (Rom 1:21) but suppresses. • It is this knowledge, however he may distort it, which enables him to go on living in God’s world. • A truth will introduce awkwardness into an unbelieving system

14. Apologetics to the Glory of God ch3 Proof - Method Presuppositional Apologetics … …of the heart. The presuppostionalism we are talking about is • a clear-headed understanding of where our loyalties lie and how those loyalties affect our epistemology (how we know what we know) • a determination above all to present the full teaching of Scripture in our apologetic without compromise, in its full winsomeness and its full offensiveness, • especially a determination to present God as fully sovereign, as the source of all meaning, intelligibility, and rationality, as the ultimate authority for all human thought, and

15. Apologetics to the Glory of God ch3 Proof - Method Presuppositional Apologetics … …of the heart. The presuppostionalism we are talking about is • an understanding of the unbeliever’s knowledge of God and rebellion against God, particularly (though not exclusively) as it affects his thinking.