Arguments Not to Use

Yesterday I was looking at a Christian channel on the hotel’s cable selection. I cannot recall the name of the show but two men were talking about evangelizing the lost and drawing into the church those who do not believe in God with sound and compelling arguments. Both men were engaged in some disconcerting Christian apologetics.



The first line of reasoning runs this way…there is a God because the Bible tells us there is a God. The rationale is that in Scriptures God self validates His very existence. Furthermore, as the Bible is God’s Word, we can trust it, and because we can trust it and it tells us of God’s existence, God therefore exists. They claimed that all argument is over as A validates B and B validates A. While very common within the church, it is nothing less than circular reasoning….”A” exists because “B” tells us so, and “B” is reliable and true because “A” exists. In a court of law, one criminal of a crime can claim to be somewhere else and have the alibi validated by a second criminal when that second criminal is using the first to validate his alibi. What the two men fail to realize is that to the outsider this logical is shallow and makes little sense for if B is not reliable than A is not proved, and if A does not exist than regardless of what B says, it is not a reliable testimony.


Another argument that they encouraged their viewers to use when they encounter agnostics or atheists was the “play it safe argument”. Not only is this a laughable argument it is one that Scriptures invalidates. The argument is to encourage those being evangelized to live and believe as Christians just in case they are wrong. In other words, just in case, con God and others into thinking you are truly a Christian. While there are other flaws, the two primary ones are the nature of belief and the basis of divine judgment as per Scripture. Belief is a deeply held conviction that is evidenced in how one lives, not in a collection of behaviors. This approach positions faith as a collection of behaviors, not a heartfelt firm belief. Lastly is troublingly flaw found within Scriptures, God judges the heart, not the actions. In other words, one can go through the right motions and behaviors and be judged harshly, unworthy and cast out. God by moving beyond the superficial to examine the motives, the heart if you will, cannot be conned. Furthermore, living the life without the correct heart orientation not only has little value but may expose one to a harsher judgment. Yet these two evangelists, these ministers of the Gospel were encouraging people to come to church as a means to con God…a means to fill the church with people thinking that they have an eternal “just in case” insurance that at the end turns out to be worthless. Ah but in the meantime there will be more people in the pews and adding to the church coffers which is nothing less than a modern version of the middle ages indulgence system that led to the Reformation.

An Alarming Statistic Called "Good News"?

Retired Commissioner Joe Nolan recently wrote on The Rubicon (http://therubicon.org/2009/08/grasping-for-salvation/)

“Interestingly and coincidentally, in the July issue of Salvationist, the editor comments as follows: ‘Here is some good news: YP rolls peaked in the period following the 1950 International Youth Congress; more than 111,000 young people were on those rolls of whom 33,000 were junior soldiers. Half a century later those figures were approximately 14,000 and 7,000 respectively.’”

“Good news?

“I guess it can be interpreted as good news, the percentage of those becoming junior soldiers rising to 50%, the bad news being that the rolls have declined significantly: 111,000 to 14,000? She does go on to say that “statistics do not tell the whole story and in some cases can be misleading” (”Lies, damn lies and statistics,” said Disraeli, not me, I would have politely said “darn lies”).”

I concur with Nolan. We need to ask, “what planet are you living on” and “where did you learn your logic” of anyone who sees “good news” in 7,000 out of 14,000 youth being junior soldiers in the USA when there use to be 33,000 out of 111,000 fifty years before. The cited stat should send alarm not comforting good news. It signifies the Army in the US is dying and that the officer pool both in numbers and in quality of leadership is collapsing. If the quality of leadership at all levels is collapsing, the American Army (also similarly trends in Canada) as a whole is in decline, that decline will increasingly become evident on two levels, the number attending worship and a significant decline in support from the community. Support from the community will take longer to be felt but the first signs could start to show within seven years.