Slowly but surely the whole idea of arming people to articulate and defend the faith and critique other worldviews which is the motivation behind Christian Apologetics is gaining traction in evangelical circles. Those of you who are familiar with the DVD set of question and answer sessions called "ASK" put out by RZIM -which is specifically aimed at young adults- may be familiar with the promotion trailer which depicts a young Christian woman being ostracized in a University setting.
If you're not here it is:
At the time I first viewed this a few times I thought wouldn't it be great if there was a follow up to this where this young lady having been properly equipped by studying Christian apologetics could replay the whole situation and give a reasoned cogent defense of her Christian beliefs.
Well my hopes have been somewhat answered by this new movie. It isn't the same young lady, in fact its a guy who takes up the challenge posed by his University professor. But it is definitely along the same lines. This professor is unashamedly mocking the Christian worldview and a young student takes exception to this dismissive and outright antagonistic attitude towards the claims of Christ. The "David and Goliath" situation sets the scene for an interesting look at the whole question. My only hope (having not yet seen the whole movie) is that they represent Christian apologetics in a positive way. We all know when movies get made there is a strong temptation to appeal to sensationalism rather than realism. Be that as it may I believe this should be a good opportunity to promote the understanding that Christianity can be defended rationally, it ought to be, and the call to defend the faith is accessible to every Christian who values this treasure enough to put some effort into it.
Another great Christian movie that has hit the cinema is "The Genesis Code" the following is a clip that I put together based on a couple of scenes in the movie. I have added some subtitles to emphasise the apologetic content and references to some of the post modern thinking that all Christians who take the Great Commission seriously would do well to understand in our Western post-modern context.
Further developement to commentary on the "God's Not Dead" movie. Professor of Philosophy and staunch Christian Apologist William Lane Craig lends his support to the aim of the movie to promote evidence based apologetics. It appears that Brooklyn Bishop Joseph Mattera took issue with the movie in the sense that he claims the over-emphasis and reliance, or magnification of human reason would- in the hands of learned professors- lead to the undermining of Christian truth. It is an interesting look at the role of reason and the role of what Alvin Plantinga calls "properly basic belief". Contrary to any sense of mutual exclusivity, the evidential defense of the Gospel does not exclude or negate properly basic belief. It is not either or, it is both and.
Here from CBN is some more news about some of the participants in the movie "God's Not Dead"
If you're not here it is:
At the time I first viewed this a few times I thought wouldn't it be great if there was a follow up to this where this young lady having been properly equipped by studying Christian apologetics could replay the whole situation and give a reasoned cogent defense of her Christian beliefs.
Well my hopes have been somewhat answered by this new movie. It isn't the same young lady, in fact its a guy who takes up the challenge posed by his University professor. But it is definitely along the same lines. This professor is unashamedly mocking the Christian worldview and a young student takes exception to this dismissive and outright antagonistic attitude towards the claims of Christ. The "David and Goliath" situation sets the scene for an interesting look at the whole question. My only hope (having not yet seen the whole movie) is that they represent Christian apologetics in a positive way. We all know when movies get made there is a strong temptation to appeal to sensationalism rather than realism. Be that as it may I believe this should be a good opportunity to promote the understanding that Christianity can be defended rationally, it ought to be, and the call to defend the faith is accessible to every Christian who values this treasure enough to put some effort into it.
Another great Christian movie that has hit the cinema is "The Genesis Code" the following is a clip that I put together based on a couple of scenes in the movie. I have added some subtitles to emphasise the apologetic content and references to some of the post modern thinking that all Christians who take the Great Commission seriously would do well to understand in our Western post-modern context.
Further developement to commentary on the "God's Not Dead" movie. Professor of Philosophy and staunch Christian Apologist William Lane Craig lends his support to the aim of the movie to promote evidence based apologetics. It appears that Brooklyn Bishop Joseph Mattera took issue with the movie in the sense that he claims the over-emphasis and reliance, or magnification of human reason would- in the hands of learned professors- lead to the undermining of Christian truth. It is an interesting look at the role of reason and the role of what Alvin Plantinga calls "properly basic belief". Contrary to any sense of mutual exclusivity, the evidential defense of the Gospel does not exclude or negate properly basic belief. It is not either or, it is both and.
Here from CBN is some more news about some of the participants in the movie "God's Not Dead"
