word and image pt (ii)

Part 2 of 2.  Taught by Ann Brown, at UCCF South Team Days March 09.

In the Acts 17 account of Mars Hill, Paul gives us a brilliant example of how to engage with the surrounding culture:
- He was greatly distressed by it
- He studied their culture and uses a cultural cue v23 (possibly a classical sculpture) to begin his address
- He reinforces his argument by quoting from the Stoic philosopher Aratus, v28
- He demonstrates the inadequacy of the Athenians’ polytheistic worldview – focuses on the point of tension and highlights their inconsistency.

This is what Francis Schaeffer called “taking the roof off someone’s argument”.  Every non-Christian protects themselves from the reality of life and the gospel by building a roof over themselves.  It is helpful to very gently prise the roof off, by finding the inconsistencies.  Visual art & apologetics are a brilliant bridge builder in this.

4 different ways to use visual art as such a bridge builder:

word and image pt (i)

Part 1 of 2.  Taught by Ann Brown, at UCCF South Team Days March 09.

We are people of the Word, saved by an historical Saviour and called to verbally communicate the gospel; yet we live in an image-driven culture.  And there is a long-standing suspicion of the image in our protestant church.  What are the roots of this nervousness?  How should we engage ourselves with this culture?

1. What are the roots of this nervousness?

Post-Reformation, many churches were stripped bare of any imagery, and made completely bare.  As Protestants, we are heirs to this tradition, so we do well to examine it.  During the Reformation, waves of iconoclasm (burning of images) swept across Europe.  One of the first outbreaks was in Wittenberg, shortly after Luther nailed his theses to the door in 1517.  He, however, didn’t incite the violence; in fact, he tried to stop it.  But many people emptied the churches of the visuals of the old order, perceived as the idolatry of Roman Catholicism.

Images weren’t always despised in Christendom.  Augustine of Hippo and Pope Gregory in the 7th Century gave a role to images.

Images are useful for “the illiterate, who read in them what they cannot read in books”

- Gregory 600AD.

Compare this with our culture – people can read, but don’t like it!  They prefer the visual.

augustine

The Church Fathers, pt (iv).  From ‘The Story of Christian Theology’, Olsen, IVP.  

Prolific writer, influential theologian, great beard.

Prayed for by Monica, learned in rhetoric and neo-platonism, converted under Ambrose, became Bishop of Hippo.

3 major debates:

(i) apologetics against Manichaeism, regarding the nature of good and evil

(ii) tackling Donatism, regarding the church and the sacraments

(iii) tackling Pelagius, regarding original sin, free will, and grace.  

leading the secular to Christ

 

Read this article:  ‘Deconstructing Defeater Beliefs: Leading the Secular to Christ’ by Tim Keller.  Below is an abridged version, but the original is brilliant and offers more expanded comment.  

 

Anti-Christian cultures hold to a set of commonly held beliefs that automatically disqualify Christianity as believable.  These are called ‘defeater beliefs’ and vary depending on the culture.  For example, in the West it is assumed that there can’t just be one true religion; therefore, Christianity cannot be true.  In the Middle East, this isn’t a problem, but the American culture is; it is unjust and corrupt, and is based on Christianity – therefore, Christianity cannot be true.  A combination of defeater beliefs leads to a cultural ‘implausibility structure’ where Christianity is dismissed without even a hearing.  

How do we deal with such a cultural attitude towards Christianity?  Many suggest that arguments are ineffective; the right apologetic is a loving community, or the embodiment of social concern.  Of course, these are important; people today come to Christ through relationships, through trying it out.  But this is expressive individualism, a central part of a non-Christian worldview today.  The problem with using this ‘it is true if it works for me’ is that when it ceases to work – when life gets tough – then Christianity ceases to be true.  At some point one must challenge the sovereignty of individual consciousness.  Jesus is Lord, not my personal consciousness.  Many people today make a heartfelt commitment to Christ, but give up when it really affects their lifestyle.  This is often because they have fitted Christ to their individualistic worldview, rather than fitting their worldview to Christ.  

Apologetics needs to adapt to postmodern sensibilities, but it must challenge those sensibilities too.  

why study historical theology?

Part 1 of … on Historical Theology.  Taught by Mike Reeves for the UCCF staff study programme.  Listen to the talks here 

 

 

Church history / historical theology: what’s the difference?

 

Church history = what has happened in history to/by/with the church

Historical theology = not just about what happened, but history of what people have believed. 

Generally, people focus on the former; the benefit – we get to see how the Lord is sovereign in all history.  Instead we’ll focus on the latter, so that through understanding what they think we can access great theologians quickly and not scarily.  Eg persecution – not just what happened, but what did the early church say about the persecution they were going through. 

As a staff team we’ll work our way through the centuries over next couple of years.  Here: up to 200 AD.  Firstly, the Apostolic Fathers, followed by  Justin Martyr and Iranaeus. 

 

Why study dead theologians?

 

Back in the summer I was in a class of bible students encouraging them to read dead theologians (eg CS Lewis introduction to Athanasius and the incarnation – read!).  When I appealed, one student challenged me: “Are you suggesting that the bible doesn’t have all I need to know?  Are you denying sola scriptura?”  My response: what are you doing here?  If you can read your bible on your own, why are you here?  Historical Theology is like having a bible study with the greats.  Have lunch with Luther!  Theology is really done as a community; we know God together.  So in Historical Theology we want to go to the great ones and find out what the Holy Spirit has taught them that he hasn’t taught us yet.  So we want to learn from these guys. 

However, we also want to cultivate a critical mind.  If one tendency is to reject them, another is to deify them, eg ‘Augustine is papal authority who we can’t answer’.  Instead – look critically at these guys; to see that there are problems even in the greats, and good things in the non-greats, so that big names don’t hold such sway – that’s the goal of cultivating this critical mind. 

 

Why look at the early church? 

 

(1) Their situation is remarkably similar to our situation today.  In first two centuries: church persecuted, pluralist society, no idea of Christendom – it was just a persecuted cult. 

(2) Facts about how the early church developed are becoming very important in apologetics.  Eg Dan Brown’s ‘The Da Vinci Code’ makes claims about the corruption of Christianity in the first few centuries due to Constantine, that Nicea decided canon of scripture and discarded 80 gospels etc.  We just need to know this stuff to know it’s rubbish!

 

The best way to study this is to try to look at these guys as objectively as possible. Because: they can often seem wrong/weird to start with, and it’s easy to condemn them straight off.  OR it’s easy to loot these guys for good quotes to back up my position, without studying and earning these guys – just filling up my ammo store with big weapons to shoot people down! 

This means: try not to pre-judge/quickly judge.  May be uncomfortable; hang in with them to understand why they say what they say.  Stress: these are their words, not mine!  These are introductions, not final conclusions about them. 

There are full notes out there somewhere, with a timeline at the back. 

calvin’s institutes, book 1, chapter 8

 

 

Chapter 8 The credibility of Scripture

(follows from previous post)

 

We need our assurance of the truth of Scripture to come from an authority higher than our own judgement; nonetheless, there are proofs to its truth and trustworthiness:

calvin’s institutes, book 1, chapter 7

 

 

Ch 7: The Spirit and the Church in relation to Scripture

(follows from previous post)

 

How can we know that the Word of God is the Word of God?

an introduction to apologetics (pt 2)

From Chris Sinkinson, speaking at UCCF Joint South Team Days, April 2008.  

 

Apologetics in Practice

 

Some boundaries (or presuppositions, if you like!) as we begin:

- Apologetics & evangelism: need to be so together that they are one and the same thing.

- Apologetics & faith: we can’t create faith, but we can create the conditions favourable to faith.

- Apologetics & evidence: there is evidence there to be used.

 

“I believe in Christianity in the same way as I believe the sun has risen – not just because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.” – C.S. Lewis

 

If dealing with apologetics we must consider C.S. Lewis – not because it’s the right thing to do (!) but because he’s so influential.  He is the singlemost best read Christian apologist among non-Christians.  He quite naturally mixed evidentialism, presuppositionalism etc and didn’t see a problem with that.  Take the above quote as an example: why did he believe in God?  Partly because evidence suggests it; partly because his faith makes everything else make sense.  

 

1. Why does God allow suffering?

an introduction to apologetics (pt 1)

From Chris Sinkinson, speaking at UCCF Joint South Team Days, April 2008.  

 

1. What is Apologetics?

Apologia = ‘a word back’.  In 1 Peter 3:15, and Acts 10:3-5.  Was used in a legal context, in reference to giving a defence.  

In evangelism, are we just about winning people’s hearts?  Some argue this, and say apologetics is too intellectual.  But often in Scripture, the heart = the thinking part of us (when used in context such as “heart & soul & strength”).  So we are about winning hearts, but that means their thinking!

2 Corinthians 10:3-5.  This and 1 Peter show the two sides of apologetics: negative & positive; defence & offence.  Apologetics = “the task of commending Christianity to thinking people as needed truth”. – Jim Packer

 

2. Different Methods of Apologetics

 

This is an issue that is divisive among evangelicals, especially in the US.