Are Apologetics Sparking Revival?

Transcript Are Apologetics Sparking Revival?

Kevin Harris: Thanks for being here. You're on the Reasonable Faith podcast with Dr. William Lane Craig. Some conferences coming up, Dr. Craig, that I know people will want to attend—some Reasonable Faith conferences. Now, like the Reasonable Faith chapters these are starting to show up with more frequency.

Dr. Craig: Yes, one of the purposes we have for this ministry is not only to be an intelligent and articulate voice for Christianity in the public square, but to train Christians in the art of articulating and defending their faith as well. And so I have come to see the value of Christian conference speaking, which for many years I shunned in favor of secular university venues. But now we are beginning to do a number of conferences each year in which we will bring the resources of Reasonable Faith to a local church or a conference center for the purpose of helping to equip people in giving a reason for the hope that is in them.

Kevin Harris: So it's going to be not necessarily an either/or but a both/and with you. You'll continue on college campuses.

Dr. Craig: Oh, certainly. That's my main burden – the secular university campus. But I've come to see that this other is important, too. So probably two or three times a year we'll be speaking in major conferences; and I emphasize that because I don't want listeners to this podcast flooding us with emails saying, “Oh Dr. Craig, come and speak at my church.” We're talking here about conferences attended by fifteen hundred people or more. That's what we're aiming at – large conferences where we can train a significant number of believers in defending their faith.

Kevin Harris: Well, the demand for this has gone up. There is more of a demand than ever for training in this area.

Dr. Craig: I find a tremendous hunger on the grassroots, Kevin. We've had fantastic conferences over the past year in various places. Laypeople are hungry for this, I think, as a result of the attacks of the New Atheists on Christian belief, as a result of the work of Christian popularizers like Lee Strobel, Ravi Zacharias, Greg Koukl and others who have brought this material to the laity, and as the result of the terrible exodus from Christian faith of youth people have come to sense the great need and value of this kind of equipping. And so people are demanding this from their church leaders. These conferences are not coming from the top; it's the people who are telling their leaders and pastors, “We want to have a conference at our church so we can get this material.”

Kevin Harris: How do you structure these conferences, Bill? What kind of teaching? What kind of methods do you use?

Dr. Craig: Well, there are basically two types of conferences, Kevin, that one can do. The main type that we have done heretofore are what I might call inspirational conferences. And by that I mean we bring in a number of speakers who will talk about various topics of apologetic significance, but there isn't a sort of overriding theme to the conference, or a kind of unifying stream to the conference. People come away simply inspired to engage as Christians intellectually with their faith. That's one kind of conference that can and has been frequently held.

But, frankly, my burden, Kevin, and my desire is for a conference that is more hands-on and equipping in nature. And what I have in mind would be a conference that would feature workshops where people would actually be trained in how to present the cosmological argument, the teleological argument, the moral argument for God's existence, and how to deal with questions and objections that come up. Other workshops on the evidence for Jesus, something on the problem of evil, so that we would basically take people though, for example, a curriculum like the On Guard book, and really equip people to defend their faith. And I think that kind of conference is much more valuable, and that's the direction I'd like to see Reasonable Faith move in.

Kevin Harris: Tell me about some of the events coming up. We have in Dallas-Fort Worth and in Oklahoma?

Dr. Craig: Right. [1] Watermark – which is a megachurch in Dallas – wants to have a conference, and they have not only contracted with me to speak at the conference but Ravi Zacharias has also agreed to speak at the conference. And this is a wonderful opportunity because he is so difficult to get. He travels the world very widely, and so he's very difficult to snag, but he has agreed to participate in this conference at Watermark along with several other Christian apologists or philosophers and scholars. And so the folks at Watermark are planning for a major conference, and we anticipate that that one will be, I think, hugely attended.

Kevin Harris: I find these so valuable in my own life, Bill, because I can read the material, but it really comes alive and is put into motion by the speakers, and you get to interact with others and just participate in this tangible spirit where you feel the brain power and the power of the Holy Spirit. And that's a combination that just can't be beat.

Dr. Craig: Yeah, that's really true, Kevin. The electricity that's in the room, the chance to network with other Christian apologists. I hope that, for example, the directors of our Reasonable Faith chapters will be present at these various regional conferences so that they can network together and swap notes. And just the fellowship of meeting other like-minded Christians from all over. It's so much fun. Usually the book table area will be the focus of attention as people gather around there to look at the literature and then talk with one another. For people who in their local churches often find themselves intellectually isolated because they just don't have others in their local church that care about these issues as they do, these conferences are a real shot in the arm. So you're absolutely right—in addition to simply hearing the material there are these intangibles that the conferences bring to you as well.

Kevin Harris: Keep an eye on ReasonableFaith.org for full schedule and where these are going to be. There's information there about starting a Reasonable Faith chapter in your town, and they're springing up all over the world, in fact. Dallas, Texas has a big one. I run into this about once a month, Bill, and I ran into it two nights ago, in fact, on the internet reading an article. A women complained that apologetics is not necessary and that Paul failed at Acts 17. Paul failed and decided not to ever do that again in Acts 17 on Mars Hill. That's kind of a prominent Christian myth—is what I call it.

Dr. Craig: Yes, that is a myth. There's no indication that Paul thought that he was a failure in Athens, or that he reverted to some sort of different preaching later on. Paul's standard procedure was to go into the marketplace and rent a hall (like the hall of Tyrannus) and hold daily lectures and argue and dispute with anybody who would come by and would talk with him about these things. So I feel very much as though I'm following in the footsteps of the apostle Paul in the sort of thing we're doing.

Kevin Harris: And he said, “Do as I'm doing.” What a great model.

Dr. Craig: He was; oh, he was an incredible man.

Kevin Harris: He knew their material, he quoted to them: Aratus of Silicia, Epimenides of Crete. But that got stuck in a seminary somewhere, and people have parroted that – that the Acts 17 type activity is rejected by Paul later and that he shouldn't have done it. Well, for one thing, Bill, he had people who came to Christ.

Dr. Craig: Yes.

Kevin Harris: I'd like to see somebody go up to the American Philosophical Association and speak and come away with converts on the spot.

Dr. Craig: That's right. Luke doesn't present it as a failure – does he? – in the book of Acts. Not at all.

Kevin Harris: And the second response was, “We want to hear more.”

Dr. Craig: Yes.

Kevin Harris: And then there were those who scoffed. Well, boy, the same three reactions we get today.

Dr. Craig: Yes.

Kevin Harris: So, I wanted to just spell that out really quickly and show that. I'll go as far as to say, Bill, that one's discipleship as a Christian is stifled if you don't have a growing knowledge in this area and engage the mind. I really think so. I think it solidifies all of the other aspects of discipleship, and is not one that we can neglect since we're supposed to love God with all our heart, soul, and mind.

Dr. Craig: Right, a disciple is a learner – that's what the word means in the Greek, a learner – and far too many Christians have ceased to learn as Christians. And I think you're right that the discipleship of the mind is an important part of Christian discipleship and maturity. [2]

Kevin Harris: What would you say to the person who just says, “Look, I'm just not that smart; I'm not a very smart person?”

Dr. Craig: Oh – you know – I'll tell you, Kevin, I get very impatient with that kind of person because I say “How dare you insult your creator God who made you to be a person that can learn these things if only you'll apply yourself.” This kind of false humility is a mask for intellectual laziness, quite honestly. And it parades as a virtue – 'I'm just not very smart' – but in fact it's really an excuse. They're insulting God. I remember one women I was talking with said, “I came to the realization that I was really downplaying God's ability to work in me by saying 'I couldn't learn this stuff.'” And she said, “How could I deny that the Lord would give me the strength and the ability if I applied myself to do these things. I was really depreciating him.” And she, then, began to apply herself seriously to a study of theology and doctrine and apologetics, and that was such an encouragement for me to hear, that she came to see that so clearly. This false humility is really a denial of the power of God and your God-given abilities and gifts.

Kevin Harris: Bill, I was invited to speak at a small, rural church way out in the country from some acquaintances. And I said, “I'd like to speak on the problem of evil and teach on that a little bit.” And they said, “Ah, these are rural people, you don't need that kind of stuff out here. Sing Amazing Grace, read John 3:16, and that's all they need. They're out here and they don't need that kind of stuff.” Well, what do you say about that? I'll tell you what I said.

Dr. Craig: Oh my goodness, I'd say “Have none of these people ever had a loved one die of cancer? Or someone get in a farming accident where they lose a limb, or something of that sort?” Of course these people confront terrible and apparently pointless suffering in their lives and have questions about it.

Kevin Harris: And if anything they're missing out on the richness of discipleship if they just neglect this and keep on these very superficial issues all their lives. And Paul said “get off the milk and get into the meat.”

Dr. Craig: Right.

Kevin Harris: It also occurs to me with the rise of the internet there really aren't any unreachable places anymore. You can be sitting out in the sticks all you want, but if you're online you can speak with people all over the world.

Dr. Craig: That's right. And their kids will go online and they're going to see the atheist and infidel material. They're not going to be sheltered from this.

Kevin Harris: Maybe their kids will go to college.

Dr. Craig: Yeah.

Kevin Harris: I'll tell you, Bill, you're going to be busy because I think that the demand for this kind of material and this kind of training and discipleship is on the rise as we seem to be thawing out a little bit in the American church in particular. So we'll keep an eye on ReasonableFaith.org and get more information. Not only Dallas at Watermark Church, but also Oklahoma.

Dr. Craig: Yes, the genesis of this conference is really interesting to me. There was an internet video posted attacking Christianity, and in response to this Christian students began to respond and began to rise to the challenge of becoming intellectually engaged with their Christian faith. And as I read one response after another each student would say 'I'm going to do it; count me in; I'm in,' and then another person would say, 'me, too; I'm in,' and another 'I'm in; I'm going to do it,' and another 'I'm in; I'm not going to be lazy anymore; I'm going to engage, I'm in!' And just one after another of these students made this commitment to become intellectually engaged as Christians in order to be able to defend the Christian faith in a secular society.

And it turned out that most of these students were from this area in Oklahoma and are university students. Somehow the invitation came to me: “Would you come and do a conference in this area if these students would attend?” And I said, “If these students are committed to intellectual engagement I'll come and train them if you hold the conference.” And so this has been agreed to, I'm going to do it with some of my colleagues, and this is going to be one of those equipping conferences, Kevin, that I talked to you about. Not just an inspirational conference; we're going to equip these students to defend their faith. So it'll start off with an overview given by me of the whole field of Christian apologetics. Then we're going to have workshops taught by various philosophers on the different arguments for God's existence (parallel sessions). And then the next morning we'll have more of these parallel sessions so people can go to at least two and learn how to present and defend at least two of these theistic arguments. [3] Then I'll be giving a plenary session on the problem of evil, and then we'll have plenaries from other persons on the claims of Christ, the resurrection of Christ, and so forth before we have a final Q and A session with everyone. So the students who attend this are going to get equipped during that weekend on how to present good, solid theistic arguments, how to respond to objections, and then how to give Christian evidences in support of the Christian faith. So I am really looking forward to the time with these university students in Oklahoma, and this particular conference.

Kevin Harris: Bill, call me a dreamer but this could be the beginnings of a revival.

Dr. Craig: Boy, Kevin, when I see the way people's eyes light up after being at one of these conference I believe it, too. I thought that apologetics would help people to become intellectually engaged with their faith. But, Kevin, I never dreamed or anticipated the spiritual effect that it has on people. When Christians suddenly become convinced that this is really the truth – this is really true, this stuff that they believe – suddenly their eyes are opened and they suddenly become confident, excited, and they want to share their faith with others. This has an energizing impact on people that I never anticipated and really leads to spiritual revival. So the spiritual impact of these kinds of things I think is yet to be fully seen. [4]