VERITAS
"Politically Incorrect Faith"
By Craig Branch
July 2001

In our ministry's inaugural issue of this journal, I laid out the foundational concepts and goals of the Apologetics Resource Center. Central to our mission is the defense and application of God’s truth. One passage that dramatically demonstrates the fundamental and ongoing need of our ministry focus is John 18:3, 7-38. In this passage, Jesus has been condemned by the false religious teachers of His day and now is brought to “trial” before the secular authority, Pilate.

Pilate questions Jesus about claims concerning Jesus' kingship:

Therefore Pilate said to Him, “So you are the King?” Jesus answered, “You say correctly that I am king. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.” Pilate said to Him, “What is truth?”

Here we have Jesus directly relating His life and message to the proclamation and demonstration of truth. And here we have both the religious and secular authorities rejecting the message and messenger, even mocking the claim to know or have truth. Pilate then went out, thinking he had “washed his hands” of any guilt, and handed Jesus over to be slain.

Of course, no one is truly able to absolve himself after he rejects the truth. Jonathan Edwards once wrote, “Unconverted men would kill God if they could get to Him.” May I add that they did and they continue to do so. The writer of Hebrews solemnly testifies that those who reject the truth “insult the Spirit” and “ trample underfoot the Son of God” and “crucifies again the Son of God” (Heb. 6:6; 10:26-31).

And we, as followers of Christ, who “hear his voice,” have the duty to know and bear witness to that truth—to redemptively engage our own rebellion and deception, as well as that of others (1 Cor. 9:16-23). Part of that process is understanding the truth of God's word, defending it, and living it out, trusting in the power and love of the One who is in us. We are called to be truth-bearers, as salt and light in a world which continuously and incredulously asks the question, “What is truth?”

Ideas have consequences. To embrace the notion that there are no absolutes, that no one can know the truth, inevitably leads to death. One’s soul begins to deteriorate, and relationships and cultural institutions do as well. Indeed, as we have repeatedly reminded our readers, the Barna and Gallup research demonstrates that well over 2/3 of the U.S. population no longer believes in the existence of absolute truth. But this scandalous state of affairs is not confined to the secular population. Even 44% of those who fall into the “born-again” Christian category (40% of the population) do not believe in the existence of absolutes. Shockingly only 9% of “born-again” teenagers were certain of absolute truth!

Currently, there is a helpful dialogue going on among evangelical apologists concerning the most productive apologetic approaches to the growing postmodern culture. Many theologians and apologists believe that the cultural shift has significant implications for evangelical apologetics in the postmodern context.

At the risk of being repetitive for our long-time readers, let me define the distinction between modernism and postmodernism, and thus the different types of people and their mindsets that the Christian encounters. Simply, “modernism” is a term describing the long prevailing mindset of our Western culture, primarily shaped by the Enlightenment era, which holds that mankind, through reason, logic, invention, and scientific empiricism, can ultimately solve the problems of the world and usher in a very satisfying and fulfilling existence.

Some will argue that evangelicalism has been unduly and unfortunately influenced by Enlightenment modernism in the way it has approached apologetics, producing a mistaken reliance on human reason, “logical consistency,” or “common sense.” But since we live in an increasingly Postmodern culture, we cannot do apologetics with such a modernistic paradigm. Instead, they say, we need a new postmodern apologetic.

Postmodernism is a more recent movement, generally seen as a result of or reaction to the apparent failings of modernism. Postmodernism, simply summarized, is a denial of human individualism, of the omnicompetence of human reason, and of any universal truth. Instead it offers community-related “truths” which are shaped by pragmatism, subjectivism, and experientialism. Postmodernism is the embodiment of relativism. As an intellectual movement it has affected the academic arena and is now trickling down to a receptive, fallen world. Add to this the knowledge explosion; the shrinking of the planet in regard to technology, trade, and communication; the open immigration status of America, and we have the additional factors of radical pluralism and multiculturalism undermining the Christian claim of living by and under absolute truth—God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and His living word.

One of the most respected Christian philosophers in our day, Alvin Plantinga recently concured with the importance of addressing this issue in an article in Christianity Today (June 11, 2001, p. 76). He indicated that the three most significant issues for Christian apologetics today are, “critical biblical scholarship that undermines the authority of Scripture, postmodernism and pluralism that undermines any claim to having the truth, and the problem of evil.”

As helpful as the discussions (sometimes debates) among Christians are concerning how we need to adapt our approaches to reach the lost, my study and experience has led to the following reference points. First, the Bible informs us that all mankind is made in the image of God and this implies, among other things, that he is able to know the truth. Second, Romans 1:18-25 and 2:14-16 tell us that cultural forces, ideas, and man's own sin nature combine to “suppress the truth” to varying degrees in human beings.

In light of these reference points, I can agree with those pushing for a new apologetic that since God’s truth is comprehensive and is true to what is, we should be able and ready to approach people at new and different levels in areas like the arts, community, and even on emotionally gratifying levels. But, in keeping with traditional apologetic approaches, we cannot and should not give up ground to postmodernism on the issue of truth. Man is still made in the image of God and “those who are of the truth” will hear His voice, being drawn by the Spirit of Truth.

This issue of our journal offers articles which are very relevant and applicable to both moderns and postmoderns. They address some of the most common barriers to faith which you will encounter if you engage people at the important level of faith. Study through the material and pray through Col. 4:2-6. God will bring opportunities into your life which will allow you to utilize God’s truth, addressing those barriers and hopefully bring others face to face with God—and trust in Christ.

The first article by ARC's staff and journal editor, Dr. Steve Cowan, addresses the objection endemic in a pluralistic multiculture, “Do All Religions Lead to God?” In it Steve describes the issues of common resistance to Christi-anity's exclusive truth claims, and provides a defense (apologetic) for responding to those objections.

The second article is “Can Someone Be Saved Without Faith in Jesus?” by Dr. Ron Nash. One is tempted to think that this is another way of answering the common objection “What about Those Who Haven't Heard?” But though the issue Nash covers has some points in common, it is different. Nash addresses some of the questionable teachings, both explicit and implicit, being offered today by some theologians who maintain that they are still part of the evangelical community. Theologians like Clark Pinnock and John Sanders defend a position called inclusivism (similar to pluralist John Hick's position): that God's common grace is able to save people whether they have heard of Christ or not.

The third article is by ARC's newest staff member, Clete Hux, who does tackle the common objection “What About Those Who Have Never Heard?” The implication of the objection is that Christianity could not be credible or true because it would not be fair for God to condemn people who were never exposed to the message of Christianity.

The fourth article is written by Dr. Paul Copan of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries. Paul takes on probably the most popular, frontline objections made today especially by those affected by both postmodern and New Age relativism. The article is entitled, “Who are You to Judge Others? In Defense of Making Moral Judgments.” The truth claims of Christianity are challenged by the charge of intolerance and the moral relativism of man's natural rebellion to God. Copan ably demonstrates the lack of basis for those charges, as well as the coherence of Christian truth claims.

Finally, you may have noticed the new name of this journal. After much deliberation and consultation, we have decided to rename our journal, Areopagus Journal. We do appreciate the input we received from our readers.

Why Areopagus (pronounced eh-re-ah-pa-gus)? Many who are familiar with apologetics will immediately recognize Areopagus as the location where the apostle Paul engaged the leading philosophers and governing council of Athens (Acts 17:16-34). Areopagus literally means "Hill of Ares" or, in Roman terms, "Mar's Hill," after the Roman god of war, Mars. Athens was the center of Greek culture and the house of the important schools of philosophy that shaped the culture. We believe that the place identifying this event in Scripture best embodies what we are all about with the Apologetics Resource Center. Permit me to explain.

Areopagus has a long tradition as a focal point in the history of Apologetics and it is directly rooted in Scripture. The event captures our thrust at ARC in that we are attempting to engage everyone, including the academic cultural shapers with the Christian truth claims in contrast to their own.

Notice in the passage that Paul was profoundly provoked (greatly distressed) as he everywhere encountered signs of paganism and depravity. Rather than retreat in disgust, Paul was motivated by his love of God and compassion for others to speak the truth. He began to reason (dialegomai) with everyone, inside and outside the temple (Acts 17:16-17). Then Paul turned his attention to the academics and philosophers. Two particular schools, the Epicureans and Stoics began to argue, but were intrigued and challenged with Paul's proclamations. So Paul gained a hearing at Areopagus and wisely and ably presented the truth claims of Christianity in a way that challenged and refuted the foundational precepts of those opposing philosophies (vv. 18-31).

Our hope is that God will be pleased to bless our obedience to follow the same course by providing the same results. Some rejected Paul's message, but some wanted to further explore, and some believed. We pray that this journal will be used to cause discernment, provoke, and equip the body of Christ to engage people anywhere and everywhere with the truth of the gospel and all of its implications, in such a way as to destroy every vain philosophy raised up against the true knowledge of God, taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ (2 Cor. 10:5).

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