Christian Apologetics

Sunday, April 21, 2002

[4/21/2002 10:09:05 PM | Irmgard Wiesner]
Reading Scripture with the Church Fathers

Does not sound very much like apologetics - it is not, but it helps in defending the Christian faith.

This book talks about a time in Christian history and about some figures which are often maligned - especially by people who don't know anything about them (well, maybe they've heard somewhere that Augustine is against sex... and that's enough for a final conclusion ;-)

One of the most fruitful chapters was for me the analysis of our own worldview and the comparison with the worldview of the church fathers - especially speaking about our own biases and blind spots - really enlightening. The problems they were faced with were not completely unlike ours: An oversexualized environment, for example - vividly described in Augustines confessions and not so different from a teenager today. Or the Arians - well they do have quite some parallels with the Liberals of today.

And there's a lot to be learned when reading other people's views about scripture - especially views from a different angle. And that's something the church fathers have to offer. Moreover, I like people who take the Bible serious - they do, really.

And they, especially the Greeks, have the advantage, that they are much close to the culture of the people who wrote the new testament - and they speak the same language. For John Chrysostom to read the new testament is similar to an American reading the King James Bible - about the same distance of time and language. His homily on Philippians 2 (not in this book but on the web) has helped me to understand what Paul really meant with "Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God" - better than any contemporary theologian could have explained it.

Well - the result of the book is a lot more reading - Church Fathers ;-).

Friday, October 05, 2001

[4/21/2002 10:09:05 PM | Irmgard Wiesner]

Faith has its Reasons
I ordered this book and am right now enjoying myself with it.
It's very readable, also for non-theologists, and I am really learning a lot - about my own ways of finding arguments for Christianity and using my mind while believing - and about other, different, ways tackling the same issue.
It helps me to understand what's behind some discussions with other Christians which did not really resolve at the time. Now I understand what's behind the special way that person talks about his or her faith - and having understood that there are other valid methods beside my own, I got more tolerant and patient.
The author describes four basic ways of arguing for one's faith:
- philosopher - using logical arguments
- judge, historian - deducting probable truth from facts
- theologist - God's revelation is more reasonable than human thoughts
- believer - my own experience
The conclusion is, that not one of these ways is perfect, but that each one is the best in certain situations - people arguing for Christianity should become more informed and more flexible in using their tools.
posted by Irmgard Wiesner 1:28 PM