APOLOGETICS AND GENESIS

HISTORY OF APOLOGETICS

God has risen Christian apologist over the ages to address attacks from outside the church, address heresy with in the church and to educate and inform the church.

In the 2nd and 3rd centuries Christianity faced it’s most difficult challenges from out side the church. Paganism and Religious Jews attacked it or attempted to convert Gentiles to Jewish practices. Civil authorities persecuted it.

The most important 2nd century apologist was Justin Martyr (100-165). He write “Dialogue with Trypho the Jew”. He used Messianic prophecies to prove that Jesus is the messiah, In his two Apologies he appealed for civil toleration of Christianity and that it was the true philosophy. He refuted common errors and rumors( drank human blood and ate human flesh)

HISTORY OF APOLOGETICS

In the 3rd century we have two important Apologist Clement of Alexandria and Orgien(185-254)

Clement of Alexandria wrote a number of Theological discourses and an apologetic work call Protrepticus. A more persuasive and sophisticated work addressing the same issues of the 2nd century apologists.

Origen’s lengthy work Contra Celsum is ranked as one of the classics of apologetics. He refutes a popular philosopher Celsus stating that Jesus Miracles were not done by Sorcery, offered an impressive historical defense of the resurrection against an early hallucination theory and showed that the miracle stories of paganism are far less credible than those of the Gospels

HISTORY OF APOLOGETICS

After the edict of Constantine in 313 we see the church’s ascendancy throughout the empire. Apologist of the 4th and 5th century wrote with pride on the progress and life changing effects of Christianity. They became more systematic in their presentation of The gospel in contrast to competing philosophies, most notably Neoplatonism.

The greatest apologist and theologian of this period and the first 1000 years of christianity was Aurelius Augustine (354 -430). His early works addressed the Manichean Philosophy. Later in life he took on a more complete Pauline approach to Christianity. From this he developed the first philosophically sophisticated, biblically sound and comprehensive Christian view of the world and history. “The City of God” is widely regarded as one of the five or ten most most important books in the history of Western thought.

HISTORY OF APOLOGETICS

In the thirteenth century Christian Europe was shaken by the rediscovery and distribution of the philosophical works of Aristotle

The Spanish-Arab philosopher Averroes led this worldview

The growing influence of Averroist thought in European universities led to a crisis for Christian thought. Some scholars at the universities were embracing an uncritical Aristotelianism, while others, especially high-ranking church officials, uncritically condemned anything Aristotelian.

Albert the Great was one of the earliest philosophers to rise to this challenge, writing On the Unity of the Intellect against Averroes.

HISTORY OF APOLOGETICS

Following him came Thomas Aquinos (1225-1274) who would offer a response to this challenge that would change the course of Christian Philosophy and apologetics

He used Aristotelian categories and logic it refute the Greco-Arabic worldview .

In Summa Contra Gentiles he presented an apologetic against Averroism but also offered a sweeping comprehensive Christian Philosophy in Aristotelian terms. Suma Theologiae is a systematic theology designed to instruct students in theology.

Aquinos is best know for his Five arguments for the existence of God. God’s existence may be inferred from the nature of the world as changing, causative, contingent, graduated, and ordered (the five ways)

HISTORY OF APOLOGETICS

Now we come to the Reformation. The Protestant Reformers primarily addressed the issue or doctrine of Salvation. During the 14th and 15th centuries a philosophy called humanism had crept into the church. This had led to some very strong legalistic actions by the church and greedy acts like the selling of Indulgencies.

The doctrine of justification by faith in Jesus Christ alone was the heart and soul of the ministry of Martin Luther (1483-1546) who lit the torch of the Reformation with his Ninety Five Theses protesting legalistic abuses in the church.

He emphasized the limitations of reason and rejected the traditional theological project of employing logic and philosophy to explicate and defend the Christian faith.

Luther admitted that non-Christians can gain a “general” knowledge about God through reason, discerning that a God exists, etc… However, reason is incapable of helping them know who the true God is or how to be justified in his sight. Such knowledge is available only in the gospel, and can be appropriated only by faith. Not only is reason unhelpful in gaining a saving knowledge of God, it is actually an enemy of faith.

HISTORY OF APOLOGETICS

John Calvin (1509 - 1564) Chief Theologian of the Reformation, his apologetic labors were directed against Roman Catholic criticisms of the Reformation Gospel.

Calvin held that faith is always reasonable.

Faith often seems unreasonable to us because our reason is blinded by sin and spiritual deception.

God has given us his Word in Scripture, which is so much clearer and fuller in its revelation, and, through the redeeming work of Jesus Christ, God has also given us his Spirit, who enables us to understand his Word.

Because God’s Word comes with his own divine, absolute authority, it cannot be subjected to our reasoning or tests. Faith needs no rational justification and is more certain than rationally justified knowledge, because it is based on God’s revelation in Scripture.

HISTORY OF APOLOGETICS

Source https://bible.org/seriespage/3-brief-history-apologetics

Over the centuries God Raises Apologist to defend the faith, persuade the lost, correct and bring back those going astray and lay down the path for future Apologist.

Apologetics didn’t stop in the Reformation but It gets a lot more complicated after that. I encourage you to read the source.

GENESISWhat do you think of when you think of Genesis?

THE FIVE MOST CONSEQUENTIAL QUESTIONS IN LIFE1. Origin: Where did we come from?

2. Identity: Who are we?

3. Meaning: Why are we here?

4. Morality: How should we live?

5. Destiny: Where are we going?

Geisler, Norman L.; Turek, Frank (2004-03-12). I Don't Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist (Foreword by David Limbaugh) (Kindle Locations 284-288). Crossway. Kindle Edition.

THREE BIG ACTS: CREATION, FALL AND REDEMPTION

Genesis Answers these questions as explained in the source material for this section

Cloud, Henry; Townsend, John (2009-05-18). How People Grow: What the Bible Reveals About Personal Growth

Genesis also talks about God as creator and designer of this universe. We will explore those thoughts next time I teach.

Get ready for a wild ride of scientific discovery from Einstein, Hubble and so many more.

ACT ONE: CREATION BIG IDEA ONE: GOD IS THE SOURCE

God is more than just the creator of all things but also the recreator of our lives

We have to understand it to mean that it includes his bringing life to dead situations in our lives.

It is the theology of how one overcomes a depression or heals a marriage or rescues a failing business career. In other words, “How do I bring this marriage or this business career back to life?” The Bible’s answer to all these questions is “God.”

God is the source of life. He is the source of growth as well.

ACT ONE: CREATION BIG IDEA TWO: RELATIONSHIPS

(Gen. 2:18). Man was incomplete with God alone. So we see at the outset that relationship was at the core of the way things were created.

As the Bible says, “The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame” (v. 25).

One of the aspects of genuine, healthy relatedness is that people don’t hide their vulnerability from one another and are not ashamed of who they are before each other.

But for now, the important thing to see is that relationship as it was created to be was vulnerable and open, without duplicity and without brokenness or breach

ACT ONE: CREATION BIG IDEA THREE: GOD IS BOSS

The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the LORD God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die” (Gen. 2:15–17).

We were to live life, but to live it in submission to God, or we would not have life at all. Life and submission to God were one and the same.

ACT ONE: CREATION BIG IDEA FOUR: GOD’S ROLE OUR ROLE

GOD’S ROLE WAS TO BE IN CONTROL; OUR ROLE WAS TO YIELD TO GOD’S CONTROL OF THE WORLD AND TO CONTROL OUR SELF.

So many of people’s problems come from trying to control things outside of their control, and when they try, they lose control of themselves. It is no wonder that praying “the Serenity Prayer”*—knowing the difference between what we can change and what we cannot—leads to people regaining control of their lives.

God’s role is to be in control of the big picture, and our role is to be in control of our self and our responsibilities. In short, to maintain “self-control.”

ACT ONE: CREATION BIG IDEA FOUR: GOD’S ROLE OUR ROLE

GOD’S ROLE WAS TO BE THE SOURCE OR PROVIDER; OUR ROLE WAS TO DEPEND ON THE SOURCE.

God originated life, and we were given life. Therefore we depended on God for life and for all that we needed. God’s role was to provide; our role was to receive. God gave breath; we took it in. God gave the garden; we lived in it and ate from it. God gave us relationship; we received intimacy and relatedness. Our role was designed to be a dependent one. He provides; we depend and trust.

The role we must take in life is not only for dependency but also against self sufficiency

What Does this mean to our Lives?

How have we seen this in our lives?

ACT ONE: CREATION FOUR: GOD’S ROLE OUR ROLE

GOD WAS THE JUDGE OF LIFE; WE WERE TO EXPERIENCE LIFE.

We were to experience all that God had given us in pleasure, work, and relationship. Live it to all the limits, but don’t try to become God and judge it.

ACT ONE: CREATION FOUR: GOD’S ROLE OUR ROLE

GOD MADE THE RULES; WE WERE TO OBEY THEM.

The roles were clear. God designed life the way it was supposed to be and the rules on how to live it. We were to obey them. God did not consult us on setting up the rules and the design of life.

ACT TWO: THE FALL

The Desire The Result

We are the source We depend on ourselves

We are the creator We exist unto ourselves

We have control of the world We try to control our world and each other, losing control of ourselves

We become the judge of life We judge ourselves and each other and cease to be able to experience ourselves and each other

We design life and the rules We live any way we want to

ACT THREE: REDEMPTION

GOD IN CHRIST IS “reconciling” all things. He was, and is, bringing it all back to the way it is supposed to be.

Return to the Source: In redemption, we come back to God as the source of life.

Return to Relationship: To return to the created order means to get back into relationship with God and with each other.

Return to the Order: Redemption is also a surrender to God as Lord. As Jesus said, the first and the greatest commandment is to love God first.

Return to the Order: Redemption is also a surrender to God as Lord.

Return to the Roles

TIPS FOR GROWERS

We become dependent and give up our independent stance before God and others. We give up trying to control things we cannot control and yield to and trust God’s control. Also, we regain control of what we were created to control in the first place, which is ourselves. We regain the fruit of “self-control.” We give up the role of playing judge with ourselves and others by giving up judgmentalism, condemnation, wrath, shaming, and so on so that we are free to experience ourselves and others as we really are. So, by not being God, we are free to be who we truly are and allow others to be who they truly are as well. We stop redesigning life and making new rules and instead live the life God designed us to live. In redemption we begin to do it God’s way.