Lectures for those seeking ‘reasons to believe’

MICHELE MARR

For several summers Evangelical Free Church of Huntington Beach and

Calvary Baptist Church have hosted a series of Christian apologetics

lectures called “Give Me an Answer.” Throughout June and July they

will do it again.

Their common goal is to give Christians rational answers to some

of the toughest questions about their faith, and to get those who are

not Christians to treat the claims of Christianity seriously.

A few days ago, when I spoke to Tina Thompson, a member of

Evangelical Free Church who does a lot of the front-end organizing

for these series’, she told me, “We believe that through

investigation and careful thinking, Christianity makes its case.

Sometimes that investigation takes some time.”

On college campuses and in other venues, a similar series would

cost $200 or more. Working together, the churches are able to offer

the series to the public for free.

“This is an excellent opportunity for people with honest questions

to receive [answers] from those in the top of their field of study,”

Thompson said.

Following each lecture there will be time for the audience to pose

questions to the lecturer.

Lecturers for this summer’s series include Robert Bowman Jr., an

author and the president of the Center for Biblical Apologetics. ;

Kenneth Samples, a scholar with the organization Reasons to Believe;

Fred Saunders, professor at the Torrey Honors Institute at Biola

University; Robert Cargill, director of operations for the Institute

for the Study of Archeology and Religion ; Gary R. Habermas,

professor in the department of philosophy and theology at Liberty

University in Lynchburg, Va.; and Greg Koukl, radio talk show host

and president of Stand to Reason, an apologetics ministry.

Each Sunday evening, through July 25, a speaker will address one

of these questions: Is Christianity reasonable? Did Jesus really rise

from the dead? How is God three in one? Is the New Testament defended

by archeology? Is Jesus really the only way? How can we know God

exists?

“We want to get people thinking more deeply about these questions

and provide solid answers [for them]. We want to demonstrate that the

claims of Christianity are true ... that Christianity is a testable

faith that passes the test using archeological evidence, scientific

evidence, historical evidence and philosophy,” Thompson said.

Samples’ lecture is titled, “On Solid Ground: Is Christianity

Reasonable?” I asked him why if the claims of Christianity can be

demonstrated to be true that there are so many people, many very

intelligent and well educated, who insist the claims of Christianity

cannot be proved true.

“Historic Christianity doesn’t call for believers or nonbelievers

to choose between faith and reason. The claim is that Christianity is

uniquely a reasonable faith, a trustworthy and reasonable belief. The

events that form the core of Christian belief -- the life, death and

resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth -- are rooted in history. Historic

Christians view faith and reason as clearly compatible and

complementary,” Samples said.

In fact, according to Samples, Christians believe that it is the

God of the Bible who provides the metaphysical foundation for logic

and rationality itself.

“Just because a person is not persuaded by an argument, facts,

evidence [and] reason, doesn’t necessarily mean that the argument is

somehow defective. [That] doesn’t mean there isn’t a true or correct

position. Logically speaking, Jesus Christ is either God incarnate

[as Christians claim] or he isn’t. Logically, no middle position is

possible,” he said.

Tom Puls has attended apologetic series similar to “Give Me an

Answer” with many of the same lecturers.

“I grew up in the church. My father was a pastor, and as a result

I caught Christianity like a cold when I was fairly young. I never

gave much thought to any other world views or to how Christianity

measured up against those views,” Puls said.

The lectures he attended gave him a clear understanding of “the

whys” of what he believed and set him straight about some of “the

whats” he had had wrong.

“[It has] strengthened the foundation of my beliefs and my

confidence in expressing those beliefs. I’m no longer afraid of

engaging people in conversation about issues of faith and morality.

“Prior to my exposure to Christian apologetics, I had no idea so

much thought has gone into [the] faith. Great thinkers have spent so

much time trying to answer the questions I’d always had,” said Puls,

who now works at Stand to Reason.

* MICHELE MARR is a freelance writer from Huntington Beach. She

can be reached at [email protected].