The second of two articles by Dr Whitcomb on the role of apologetics in evangelism
How much do we need scientific evidence and intellectual arguments in Gospel witness?
But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned
1 Corinthians chapter 2 verse 14
A prominent proof text for majoring on apologetics in the presentation of the Gospel is Paul’s message to the Athenians on Mars’ Hill (Acts 17:16–34). Not only did Paul avoid giving any direct reference to Holy Scripture, he even quoted two Greek poets approvingly (Epimenides of Crete, and Aratus of Cilicia, in verse 28).
It is very important to recognise that before the Mars’ Hill confrontation began, Paul had already “preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection” day after day in the market place of Athens (Acts 17:17–18). Thus his Mars’ Hill address was not presented in a total vacuum. These Greek thinkers wanted to know more about this new doctrine (vv 19–20).
Furthermore, so far from proving the existence of the God of Christianity, Paul simply and authoritatively declared him to these men (v 23). He declared this God to be the Creator and the Lord of the world and of mankind. He declared the nearness and accessibility of God to mankind, as well as the utter ignorance of idolatry.
Finally he announced that this great God will some day judge all men through that resurrected Man whom Paul had previously named as Jesus, who now “commandeth [lit: declares to] all men every where to repent” (verse 30).
How many of these startling assertions could the great apostle have demonstrated to the Athenians on a scientific, historical, or logical basis, even if he had had many years to spend with them? Dominated by a fallen nature and blinded by Satan, Paul’s hearers did not share his outlook or approach to truth in any way. The only common ground between Paul and his hearers was their mutual possession of the image and likeness of God through creation (this being vastly more significant for evangelism than their common knowledge of Greek literature and philosophy).
While it may be technically correct to say that Paul did not quote directly from the Scriptures, with the normal introductory sentences which he would have used in a synagogue sermon, he was nevertheless absolutely true to the biblical message throughout.
His Greek audience was not familiar with the text of the Old Testament. But it is the message of God’s Word, not necessarily the precise Hebrew and Greek words of the original text, which God uses to draw men to himself. (We acknowledge, of course, that the only message which God will honour is the one which depends upon and is derived from the true and verbally inerrant text.)
The apostle’s sympathy
Many have been perplexed by Paul’s quotations from the pagan poets, Epimenides (quoted also in Titus 1:12) and Aratus. Was this an appeal to human reasoning to prove the truth of biblical revelation? By no means! Paul, in alluding to these Greek authors to illustrate points of formal agreement with God’s revealed truth, was simply being consistent with his own determination to minister sympathetically to those who were outside the knowledge of God’s law.
Paul was doing in Athens as he had already done in a similar situation at Lystra (Acts 14:15–17). In other words, what we actually have here is a model of effective Christian communication, not a model of semi-rationalistic apologetics.
Unfortunately, it is not only the semi-rationalists who have misread Paul’s message to the Athenians. Some writers who stand in opposition to rationalism in apologetics feel that Paul was guilty of this very thing at Athens, and as a result, (1) reaped no great spiritual harvest there, and (2) later acknowledged his failure by assuring the Corinthians to whom he came next in his southward journey: “I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2).
Furthermore, if Paul’s message was not honoured of the Holy Spirit, why did Luke inform us that “certain men clave unto him, and believed: among the which was Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them” (Acts 17:34)? As may be expected wherever the Gospel seed is sown, some mocked and others procrastinated. But some did believe!
Another passage frequently appealed to by rationalists is 1 John 4:1—“believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God.” Thus, we are told, all available religious options must be tested by the measuring stick of factuality, internal consistency and ethical validity before Christianity will be adopted by the ‘rational man’. But this verse is addressed to Christians (those who are beloved) and their measuring stick is Holy Scripture.
One of the tragic fruits of semi-rationalism may be seen in Clark Pinnock’s suggestion that “God discerns who among the heathen truly searches for the Good” and offers them salvation after death (‘Why Is Jesus the Only Way?’, an article in Eternity magazine, 1976).
Two levels of ‘evidence’
It may be useful to distinguish between two levels of empirical evidences which God has chosen to use in reference to the unregenerate mind. The first and most powerful of these may be designated as supernatural sign-miracles. The second consists of circumstantial evidences.
On the ‘higher’ level, God directly confronts the human mind with himself and his Word. Such confrontations would include all the spectacular miracles recorded in Scripture and experienced by men. Biblical testimony indicates that they were presented to human minds with such force and clarity that no one was able to deny them.
A careful study of Scripture also indicates that such high-level, empirical confrontations were exceedingly rare in Bible times, being particularly abundant only in the ministries of Moses, Elijah, Elisha, and especially of our Lord. It is the writer’s conviction that they are not occurring today, during what may be called the superstructure phase of post-apostolic church history.
The ‘lower’ (and to some extent distorted and contaminated) level of evidence for the truth of God’s revelation (from the standpoint of sense-experience) includes the following: reports of conversion experiences; answers to prayer as testified by true Christians; biblical prophecies which have been fulfilled or are seemingly being fulfilled today; archaeological discoveries that pertain to certain statements in the Bible; philosophical arguments for the existence of God; logical arguments for the supernatural origin of the Bible based on its unique qualities, and historical arguments for the bodily resurrection of Christ.
These evidences for the truth of God’s Word are logically persuasive to some extent or other, but they are not sign-miracles, and therefore are incomparably less compelling to the unregenerate mind.
It is precisely at this point that the drastic limitations of apologetic argument as a tool for evangelism are revealed. The ultimate in empirical evidences, namely, the biblical sign-miracles, are not occurring today. The truly astounding fact, however, is that these miracles, even when they did occur, did not in and of themselves change the hearts of men from sin to God.
The same drastic limitation of empirical signs in reference to lost men is set forth by John in the sixth chapter of his Gospel. Several months had passed, and now thousands of ‘Nicodemuses’ were following Jesus, absolutely fascinated by his unique and undeniable sign-miracles.
Ineffectiveness of miracles
If any lingering doubts remained in the minds of these five thousand men and their families, they were dispelled by the miracle of the loaves and fishes. “Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world” (John 6:14).
Can we say these people were true believers because they saw and accepted the validity of the divinely-wrought signs? Our Lord did not think so. “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled … Ye also have seen me, and believe not … From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him” (John 6:26, 36 and 66).
Even more startling, perhaps, is the account which our Lord gave of the rich man in Hades (Luke 16:19–31). Discovering his hopeless position, the rich man begged Abraham to send Lazarus back to the land of the living, to his five brothers who had not yet believed God’s Word, and who were thus moving steadily toward the same fate that he himself had come to experience.
The plan was admittedly impressive. Doubtless on more than one occasion the men had seen this wretched beggar as they had come to visit their wealthy brother. Leftovers from their reunion banquets may have kept him alive a little longer. They also knew that the beggar had died.
Would proof have power?
Thus the stage was set for an apologetic confrontation second to none. From the depths of Hades, the scene unfolded in the imagination of one in flames and agony. In response to repeated knocking, a still-living brother opens his door to behold in utter astonishment the once-living beggar:
“I am Lazarus! I am back from the realm of the dead! I have seen your dead brother in torment! He desperately wants to warn you to turn from sin and believe in God before it is eternally too late! Now, at last, you have the proof you have longed for. Don’t delay!”
Would such a confrontation, an unanswerable sign-miracle, an overwhelming empirical evidence of divine realities, have produced a change of heart in these five brothers? Many contemporary apologists apparently think so. But Abraham did not. Residing in the full light of Heaven’s realities, the friend of God answered: “They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.”
The rich man’s response reveals why the gates of Heaven were forever closed to him. It was not because he had no concern for his brothers, it was because he had no respect for the Word of his God. “Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.”
Ponder the implications of his words: “Moses and the prophets are utterly irrelevant to my brothers. You must understand, father Abraham, that our family has always insisted on logical, objective, empirical demonstrations before making important commitments. Religious documents from the distant past have never really impressed us. But to see a man risen from the dead would be another matter entirely!”
In the light of contemporary trends in Christian apologetics, what should Abraham’s final response have been? To be fully accepted into the semi-rationalistic circles of modern evangelicalism, he should probably have said to the rich man across the great chasm—
“I didn’t realise that your family rejected Moses and the prophets. Since this is the case, it probably would be best to send someone to them from the dead, for the time is short and it certainly would be unfair to expect them to believe the Scriptures to be the Word of God on the basis of a so-called ‘self-authenticating witness’.
The Word alone!
In stark contrast to the intricate philosophising that is so much in vogue in Christian apologetics today, or even the sign-miracles that were available in Christ’s day, our Lord emphasised again (through the mouth of Abraham) the absolute priority of the powerful Word of God, through which the Holy Spirit has chosen to accomplish his exclusive work of spiritual illumination.
It is this profound and fundamental revelation from God that explains the continued unbelief of a Judas Iscariot in the face of overwhelming evidence. It explains the paradox of John 12:9–19, where, on the one hand, “many of the Jews … believed on Jesus” on account of Lazarus whom he had raised from the dead, while on the other hand the chief priests and Pharisees were, as a result, determined to kill Lazarus as well as Jesus.
The amazing contrast of responses to this sign can be explained by the varied responses to the Word of God that accompanied the sign. Thus, sign-miracles were never intended to convert men to God, but to attract attention to the divine message that alone could save (see also Matthew 9:6 and Acts 14:8–18).
If and when the message of God’s Word was believed, salvation came. But for the majority of Israel’s leaders of that day, as well as for the millions of sign-seeking Israelites (and others) before and since that day, the signs they saw and “the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it” (Hebrews 4:2).
Does rational evidence have any value?
What, then, are the true values of Christian evidences? At this point, great caution needs to be exercised. To the extent that such evidences are used as a substitute for, or an essential preparation for, the true Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, they can become a satanic obstacle in the pathway of the Holy Spirit to the heart of man.
Nowhere does Scripture indicate that the Spirit uses any instrument other than his Word to bring true conviction and conversion (Isaiah 55:11; Romans 10:8–17; Hebrews 4:12–13). If used ‘lawfully’, however, Christian evidences can have great value. For the believer, they can provide a certain degree of intellectual satisfaction, deeper appreciation for the marvels and complexities of God’s universe, and helpful background materials for the study of various aspects of biblical revelation.
For the unbeliever, they can be used to arouse interest and hold attention (somewhat like the sign-miracles during the period of the Gospels and the book of Acts), if carefully and skilfully handled by the Christian in conjunction with a true Gospel witness.
But Christian evidences can neither create nor sustain true faith in God! Otherwise, the greatest faith would have been exercised by the greatest Palestinian archaeologists, but it must sadly be admitted that very few of these have been giants of the faith. On the contrary, “faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17).
Furthermore, there are perfectly legitimate ways of attracting and holding the attention of the unbeliever which are available to the average Christian who may not be skilled in history, archaeology, philosophy or science.
On an even deeper level, the image and likeness of God in a man includes his capacity and need for friendship and love. A Christian couple, who may not have read any of the latest works on Christian evidences, can be powerfully attractive to an unsaved neighbour by demonstrating loving concern for him as a person.
Might not this be considered a form of Christian evidences in the broader sense of that term? In fact, might it not be even more effective as a means of attracting and holding the attention of this unsaved neighbour for the purpose of presenting a genuine witness to the Christ of Scripture? This may well be included in our Lord’s promise: “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another” (John 13:35).
Love for a neighbour, however, can never be a substitute for presenting the message of salvation to him. It is indeed important to speak to men “in love”, but it is infinitely more important to speak “the truth in love” (Ephesians 4:15).
By the same token, scientific or other evidences for the truth of Scripture may be the area of deepest interest or concern for an unbeliever. But if all he receives is extra-biblical evidences, he remains in spiritual darkness, even though those evidences may be presented with marvellous clarity and force.
The exclusive instrument
It is the writer’s conclusion, then, that apologetic reasoning constitutes just one of the various ways God has given us to attract and to hold the attention of unbelievers while the Gospel message goes forth. Love and mercy are universally attractive; but the Gospel message that goes along with that love and mercy is the exclusive instrument of the Holy Spirit for bringing conviction of sin, righteousness and judgement.
Using our Lord’s final word to Thomas as a model, the true apologetic for post-apostolic church history may thus be summarised: “Blessed are they who have seen neither a sign-miracle nor even a providential sign (eg: a sample of the vast array of available Christian evidences, or even better, an act of Christian love and mercy), and yet have believed the Gospel message by responding to the convicting and illuminating work of the Holy Spirit through the living Word of God as presented by my faithful servants.”
Related content
Sermons
- Impact of the Word — Peter Masters. What was the purpose of apostolic miracles? Discover why the preaching of God’s Word holds the central place in bringing sinners to Christ.
- The Conversion of Damaris — Peter Masters. Among those who heard Paul at Athens, Damaris believed. What persuaded her to turn to Christ, and what does her response teach us about conversion?
- The Penalties of Pride — Peter Masters. Paul’s encounter with Athens exposes how pride in learning and culture can hinder the reception of truth and harden the heart against repentance.
Articles
- Apologetics and the Gospel — John Whitcomb. Read the first part of this study, explaining why effective Gospel witness must reckon with humanity’s fallen nature and depend upon Scripture and the Holy Spirit.
- Regeneration and Gospel Persuasion — Peter Masters. If conversion is God’s work, why should we reason and plead with sinners? The apostles’ example shows the vital place of earnest persuasion in Gospel witness.
- How God Uses His People in Soul Winning — C H Spurgeon. Christ alone gives spiritual life, yet he honours his people by using their witness. Encouragement to speak, pray and labour for the salvation of others.
Resources
- Physicians of Souls — Peter Masters. A call to recover persuasive Gospel preaching, addressing the theological and practical obstacles that hinder clear, earnest appeals to unconverted hearers.
- The Soul Winner — C H Spurgeon. Warm, practical counsel for preachers, Sunday School teachers and all witnessing believers, helping us overcome obstacles and grow in our desire to bring souls to Christ.