Classical
Apologetics is that style of Christian defense that
stresses rational arguments for the existence of God and
uses evidence to substantiate biblical claims and
miracles. It appeals to human reason and
evidence. Early Classical Apologists include
Augustine, Anselm, and Thomas Acquinus.
Contemporary classical apologists are Norman Geisler,
William Craig, and J. P. Moreland.
Some
of the arguments relied upon for proofs of God's
existence are the cosmological argument and the
teleological argument. The cosmological
argument attempts to prove God exists by stating that
there has to be an uncaused cause of all things.
That uncaused cause is God. The teleological
argument uses the analogy of design; that is, the
universe and life exhibit marks of design.
Therefore, there must be a Designer. Other times,
strict evidence is used establish Christianity's
validity. Of course, both aspects are also combined
in classical apologetics.
An example of the latter might be as follows:
Allen:
I do not believe Jesus rose from the dead?
Paul: Why not? The eyewitnesses stated
that they saw him after his resurrection?
Allen: Sorry, I can't accept that. The
Bible has been rewritten so many times it cannot be
trusted.
Paul: But the manuscript evidence for the
New Testament shows us that the manuscripts have been
faithfully and accurately transmitted to us. We can
trust the documents and we can trust that the Bible is
reliable.
Allen: What manuscript evidence?
Paul: The fact that over 5000 supporting
Greek manuscripts of the New Testament have been
discovered, when examined, shows us that they are all
copied with extreme accuracy. The New Testament
alone is over 99% textually pure. In addition,
another 20,000 manuscripts in other languages also have
been discovered. All these manuscripts range from
the second century to after the turn of the first
millennium. They all demonstrate an amazing
accuracy and consistency within the copies.
Therefore, we can trust that the New Testament which has
been transmitted to us as accurate. Since we can
trust the documents, we have reliable eyewitness accounts
of the resurrection accurately recorded and transmitted
to us.
Allen: Even if the New Testament is
reliable, I still cannot believe Jesus rose from the
dead.
Paul: But, if it is reliable and it
accurately records eyewitness accounts of Jesus'
resurrection, then why won't you believe the
witness? If Jesus did indeed rise from the dead,
then what He said is true.
The preceding very simplistic dialogue has strengths and
weaknesses but it demonstrates a way of using evidence
and logic as a defense to support the resurrection, a
biblical miracle.
A variation on this could focus
on prophecies and be as follows:
The
Bible claims to be the word of God.
The
Bible has been accurately transmitted to us
through the copying method.
The
Old Testament was written before the New
Testament.
The
New Testament contains prophecies of Jesus
fulfilled in the New Testament.
Jesus
fulfilled the prophecies
This
shows that the Bible is inspired.
Since
it is inspired, it is accurate.
It
says that God exists
Therefore,
God exist.
No argument is without strengths and weaknesses and all
Classical Apologetic approaches have been tackled by
critics. But, the critics are not left unanswered
and Christians have, in turn, refuted the
refutations. This back and forth process of
point-counter-point is going to continue until Jesus
returns. Nevertheless, God commands that we do our
best to defend the faith and classical apologetics is one
of the means to do that.
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