Reasons to Believe

Posted on August 27th, 2008

Pastor’s Column in The Informer (FBC’s Newsletter) - published September 2008

In the months of September and October, I will be embarking on a sermon series called “Reasons to Believe.” On the Sundays when I will be preaching, I will be addressing some topics of faith that non-Christians (and even some Christians) ask, such as: “Is there a God?” “What about other religions?” “What about evil and suffering?” “Is God a killjoy?” “Are we sinners at the hands of an angry God?” and “Is God seen or unseen? Known or unknown?”

My approach to these topics will be a little different from the standard “apologetics” approach, which often tries to produce evidence that “demands” a rational verdict for the truth of Christianity. This approach assumes that we’ve got the “truth,” and therefore we can “reason” unbelievers into believing in the existence of a deity, hopefully one that bears some resemblance to the God of Jesus Christ. Apologetics used in this way can sometimes become a weapon used to target those who believe differently than we do. But I am of the belief that very few people have ever been argued into a loving and trusting relationship with anyone, much less God. I also believe that reason can take us a way, even a long way toward belief, but it is less likely to lead us all the way to staking our very lives on a loving God. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: apologetics, belief, God
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