Book Discussion - “The New Faces of Christianity: Believing the Bible in the Global South” by Philip Jenkins

-
Book Discussion - “The New Faces of Christianity: Believing the Bible in the Global South” by Philip Jenkins

I’m discussing the book “The New Faces of Christianity: Believing the Bible in the Global South” by Philip Jenkins with the ACFAR blog (see here). I find that book to be very encouraging so far. Here’s one of my comments from this post. We’d welcome your discussion.

Words in quotes are from the excellent chapter summary and commentary here.

“If we see the importance of apologetics in America and the West, then how much more important is it in the rapidly growing South?”

I don’t think the America church sees the importance of apologetics. We seem to be too busy trying to council everyone on their psychological issues, give them practical advice on how to live, playing the type of music the people in our area like, and promising people prosperity on the basis of their faith. At least it seems the Southern Hemisphere church is arguing about the right issues.

I pray we can have a return to solid apologetics and theology in our day for the church worldwide.

“But if Jenkins is correct in this difference, then the most pressing issues in the Global South are not dealing with doubt but with religious pluralism. How would apologetics change in this context?”

It might change in emphasis, but I doubt it will change in content. Here’s what I mean: make a positive case for Christianity is the bread and butter of apologetics. This positive case is equally at home battling doubt as it is battling false religions.

One quick example: an Muslim apologist name Al Haj. I spent allot of time responding to his concerns on his blog: Reminder to All Believers (I’d provide a link, but I can’t find the site anymore after changing computers.) His two main concerns and my approach:

We do not have the original words of Jesus in Aramaic, therefore the Bible is unreliable. The approach was similar to debating an atheist, provide a positive case for the authority of Scripture by discussing eyewitness testimony, manuscript evidence, and the Person and work of Christ.

The Trinity of “God, Jesus and Mary” is irrational and a shirk. The approach was to define the Trinity clearly, defend It’s rationality in that is at least not illogical, and point to the person of Christ. It could have applied to atheists, Mormons, and Jehovah’s Witnesses, to name a few.

Did all of this work? It may have at least caused him to think. He began deleting his posts that I had commented on. He may have been fearful of their content. It may be that he just got board. After all, I am not that good.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Face of Terror

-
Osama Bin laden is dead. Since the rest of the internet is buzzing with opinions on that death, I thought I would weigh in. First, this is not the end of global terrorism. Like the Hydra of old, when one head is chopped off, two more take its place. We still need diligence in our fight against global terror. U. S. and allied Armed Forces still need our prayers. We still need a strong military and intelligence community. We have not yet cut off the Hydra’s immortal head. Second, the way to get to the ‘heart of the matter’ is with Christian missionary efforts. We must reach the people who make up those societies and population segments that produce terrorists . To tell a story I have told here before : Early in the twentieth century, Baptist evangelists preached through rural Mississippi and Alabama with such effectiveness that moonshiners could no longer sell their whiskey: All their customers were getting converted! In desperation, the whiskey sellers hired two men to murder on
Read more

The Canons of Dort

-
I believe that the Canons of Dort are true. This is a statement that came out the Synod of Dort, held from 1618-1619. The Canons of Dort outline the system of theology known today as the “five points of Calvinism.” The problem I have with most “five-point Calvinists” is that the Canons of Dort contain much more than five points. Many explanations of the TULIP (total depravity, unconditional election, limited atonement, irresistible grace and the perseverance of the saints) are gross simplifications of the Canons of Dort. [This is especially true of explanations given by those who oppose Calvinism. It is easier to knock down a straw man than it is to knock down a real man, and so it is easier to criticize an oversimplified Calvinism that the more robust form.] Some of those who teach the “five points” leave out some of the quotes below: This death of God's Son is the only and entirely complete sacrifice and satisfaction for sins; it is of infinite value and worth, more than
Read more

Intelligent Design

-
The Intelligent Design (ID) movement makes much of the argument from irreducible complexity. Dr. Michael Behe has become famous for a simple example, the mousetrap. He points out that the mousetrap will not perform its function without all of its parts. The wooden base, the metal hammer, a spring, a catch and a metal bar to hold back the hammer are all necessary parts. One component by itself will not catch a mouse. Mainstream evolutionary science has a counter-argument. To paraphrase Dr. Kenneth Miller, if you disassemble the mousetrap, each component can serve as something useful on its own. If we take away the catch and metal bar, we have something left that can serve as a paper clip. The spring could make a simple two-section key chain. The wooden base makes a paperweight. Evolutionary processes like random mutation and natural selection can combine and retain the useful parts as the complicated evolves to perform the complex function. The useful parts are combined into the mousetr
Read more