Lessons Archive 11
THE BIBLE IN CLASSICAL APOLOGETICS
THE BIBLE PRESENTS ITS OWN CLASSICAL APOLOGETICS USING TELEOLOGICAL, COSMOLOGICAL, ANTHROPOLOGICAL AND ONTOLOGICAL ARGUMENTS.
Romans 1:20 (KJV) For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
In other words, by science (the observation of nature..) one can understand that the world was created by an invisible being.
So this is the idea of classical apologetics. What the classical apologist is saying is that when you meet someone who claims that there’s no God who created this world, you will first have to convince him with sound arguments that there is God. You may argue the case by using the evidence of things created or the evidence of sound reasoning to show him that it makes sense to believe that there is a being that made this world. Examples of some of the arguments are as name
above as: TELEOLOGICAL, COSMOLOGICAL, ANTHROPOLOGICAL AND ONTOLOGICAL ARGUMENTS.
( Please don’t let these words seem like big words and scare you off the page. Keep reading !. Many Christians have been deceived to think that Christianity is anti-intellectual and thereby allowed the pagan intellectuals to take over our culture and inundate it with madness and force us to comply with it.
God is not anti-intellectual. He is the one that gives intellect and intelligence. The question is whether one will use it to honor Him or deny Him. The Bible says study to show yourself approved, be ready to give an answer.., and also worship the Lord with all your mind.) 2Tm 2:15, 1Pe 3:15, Matt 22:37)
We cannot afford to glory in self imposed ignorance out of laziness and watch our culture taken over by pagan ideas. (Eze 9) Paul did not speak against wisdom. He is against misguided wisdom of man.(1Cor 2:6) There is wisdom that comes from the devil and wisdom that comes from God. (James 3:13-17). The direction of any culture is a battle of ideas he who wins the battle of ideas wins the culture . Are we winning this culture for Christ? )
"You may win every battle, but if you lose the war of ideas, you will have lost the war. You may lose every battle, but if you win the war of ideas, you will have won the war. My deepest fear--and your greatest problem--is that you may not be winning the war of ideas."…Charles MALIK- Wikipedia
THE BIBLE USES COSMOLOGICAL , TELEOLOGICAL, AND ONTOLOGICAL ARGUMENTS IN THE BOOK OF JOB.
IN THE LAST 4 CHAPTERS OF JOB (38-41), GOD ASKS PHILOSOPHICAL AND RHETORICAL QUESTIONS. PHILOSOPHICAL BECAUSE IT MAKES ONE THINK DEEPLY, RHETORICAL BECAUSE HE IS NOT WAITING FOR YOU TO ANSWER BUT THE ANSWER MUST BE OBVIOUS TO YOU AFTER DEEP THOUGHT.
Let us exercise our brains and minds in an example using the second question in Job 38.
Job 38:4 (KJV) “Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding?”
This question is rhetorical because He is not expecting immediate answer in the dialogue but to stir up your reflections; moreover it is philosophical because it causes you to think deeper. As we see can see here, this question is difficult to answer.
You cannot deductively answer yes or no because you did not see yourself being born. You cannot tell if He kept you by His presence during creation and later brought you into your mother’s womb to be born?
The question also carries the implication that one cannot epistemically deny that it is God that laid the foundation of the earth and sustains it by His universal laws, but rather one can consider His uniqueness in authority in the bold claims such as the claims the sole creator of the universe (Is 48:13) We could do this by reference or examination of his resume for supporting evidence. One example is the evidence of fulfilled prophecies.
Isaiah 48:3-7 (KJV) 3 I have declared the former things from the beginning; and they went forth out of my mouth, and I shewed them; I did them suddenly, and they came to pass. 4 Because I knew that thou art obstinate, and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass; 5 I have even from the beginning declared it to thee; before it came to pass I shewed [it] thee: lest thou shouldest say, Mine idol hath done them, and my graven image, and my molten image, hath commanded them. 6 Thou hast heard, see all this; and will not ye declare [it]? I have shewed thee new things from this time, even hidden things, and thou didst not know them. 7 They are created now, and not from the beginning; even before the day when thou heardest them not; lest thou shouldest say, Behold, I knew them.
Using the statistics of probability, to examine the reliability of Bible prophecies, here is an excerpt from this website:
https://empower.global/the-mathematical-probability-that-jesus-is-the-christ/
After examining only eight different prophecies, they conservatively estimated that the chance of one man fulfilling all eight prophecies was one in 10^17. To illustrate how large the number 10^17 is (a figure with 17 zeros), the professor gave this illustration: If you mark one of ten tickets, and place all the tickets in a hat, and thoroughly stir them, and then ask a blindfolded man to draw one, his chance of getting the right ticket is one in ten. Suppose that we take 10^17 silver dollars and lay them on the face of Texas. They’ll cover all of the state two feet deep. Now mark one of these silver dollars and stir the whole mass thoroughly, all over the state. Blindfold a man and tell him that he can travel as far as he wishes, but he must pick up the one silver dollar that has the special mark on it. What chance would he have of getting the right one? Just the same chance that the prophets would’ve had of writing these eight prophecies and having them all come true in any one man, from their day to the present time.
If the accuracy of 8 prophecies sound alarming , consider 300 prophecies fulfilled in Christ.
So by prophecies alone one can conclude that the Christian God is the true God.
THE ARGUMENT IN JOB CHAPTERS 38-41.
In these chapters, God uses the case of Job as a channel in His apologetics of His handiwork to a larger audience both contemporary and futuristic.
He systematically addresses, (1) the creation of the universe, (2) laws of nature, (the KJV uses the word ordinances, ) (3) the Ontology of the Gates of Hell, Light, Darkness, lightning, etc, the Maintenance and Management of elements, the sea, rain, vegetation, clouds, the unique characteristics of beasts , the sea and the air.
LET US EXAMINE SOME OF THE APOLOGETIC QUESTIONS, CLAIMS, AND PROPHETIC EVIDENCE, IN THE BIBLE BOOKS SUCH AS JOB, ISAIAH, JEREMIAH, PSALMS, EPISTLES ETC AND DETERMINE WHETHER THEY ARE TELEOLOGICAL, COSMOLOGICAL, ONTOLOGICAL OR WHETHER THEY ARE FULFILLED PROPHECY OR JUSTIFIED CLAIMS
Isaiah 45:18 (KJV) For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else.
Job 38:4-7 (KJV) 4 Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding. 5 Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it? 6 Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof; 7 When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
Job 38:8-11 (KJV) 8 Or [who] shut up the sea with doors, when it brake forth, [as if] it had issued out of the womb? 9 When I made the cloud the garment thereof, and thick darkness a swaddlingband for it, 10 And brake up for it my decreed [place], and set bars and doors, 11 And said, Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further: and here shall thy proud waves be stayed?
Job 38:33 NLT
[33] Do you know the laws of the universe? Can you use them to regulate the earth?
Job 38:31-33 NLT
[31] "Can you direct the movement of the stars- binding the cluster of the Pleiades or loosening the cords of Orion? [32] Can you direct the constellations through the seasons or guide the Bear with her cubs across the heavens? [33] Do you know the laws of the universe? Can you use them to regulate the earth?
Job 38:35-38 NLT
[35] Can you make lightning appear and cause it to strike as you direct? [36] Who gives intuition to the heart and instinct to the mind? [37] Who is wise enough to count all the clouds? Who can tilt the water jars of heaven [38] when the parched ground is dry and the soil has hardened into clods?
Job 38:25-27 (KJV) 25 Who hath divided a watercourse for the overflowing of waters, or a way for the lightning of thunder; 26 To cause it to rain on the earth, where no man is; on the wilderness, wherein there is no man; 27 To satisfy the desolate and waste ground; and to cause the bud of the tender herb to spring forth?
The Apologetic claims of Psalm 104:5-30:
ARGUMENT APPEALING TO THE NATURAL CHARACTERISTICS OF ANIMALS : JOB 39 ENTIRE CHAPTER, JOB 40: 15 -24, JOB 41 ENTIRE CHAPTER:
BY those questions God reveals the marvels characteristics in animals which could never be attributed to random or self creation but by a creator. Eg the strength of the leviathan and the marvel of speed of the ostrich and in contrast with her disappointing wisdom or motherly love.
BIBLE ONTOLOGICAL ARGUMENT : IN JOB 38 THE BIBLE ALSO PRESENTS PHILOSOPHICAL ARGUMENT FOR THE ONTOLOGY OF HELL, DEATH , LIGHT, DARKNESS, ;
Job 38:17-21 (KJV) 17 Have the gates of death been opened unto thee? or hast thou seen the doors of the shadow of death? 18 Hast thou perceived the breadth of the earth? declare if thou knowest it all. 19 Where [is] the way [where] light dwelleth? and [as for] darkness, where [is] the place thereof, 20 That thou shouldest take it to the bound thereof, and that thou shouldest know the paths [to] the house thereof? 21 Knowest thou [it], because thou wast then born? or [because] the number of thy days [is] great?
Job 38:19-21 NLT
[19] "Where does light come from, and where does darkness go? [20] Can you take each to its home? Do you know how to get there? [21] But of course you know all this! For you were born before it was all created, and you are so very experienced!
Jeremiah 31:35-37 (KJV) 35 Thus saith the LORD, which giveth the sun for a light by day, [and] the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The LORD of hosts [is] his name: 36 If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the LORD, [then] the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever. 37 Thus saith the LORD; If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the LORD.
Psalms 119:90-91 (KJV) 90 Thy faithfulness is unto all generations: thou hast established the earth, and it abideth. 91 They continue this day according to thine ordinances: for all are thy servants.
Genesis 8:22 (KJV) While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.
Jeremiah 33:25-26 (KJV) 25 Thus saith the LORD; If my covenant be not with day and night, and if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth; 26 Then will I cast away the seed of Jacob, and David my servant, so that I will not take any of his seed to be rulers over the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: for I will cause their captivity to return, and have mercy on them.
BIBLICAL ANTHROPOLOGICAL ARGUMENT:
Example 1: Appeal to morality
Romans 2:14-15 (KJV) 14 For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: 15 Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and [their] thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;)
ARGUMENT APPEALING TO THE NATURAL CHARACTERISTICS OF ANIMALS : JOB 39 ENTIRE CHAPTER, JOB 40: 15 -24, JOB 41 ENTIRE CHAPTER:
BY those questions God reveals the marvels characteristics in animals which could never be attributed to random or self creation but by a creator. Eg the strength of the behemoth, the leviathan and the marvel of speed of the ostrich and in contrast with her disappointing wisdom or motherly love, the non domestic animals that will not submit to domestication in contrast to domestic animals.
The Psalm 104
BIBLE ONTOLOGICAL ARGUMENT : IN JOB 38 THE BUBLE ALSO PRESENT PHILOSOPHICAL ARGUMENT FOR THE ONTOLOGY OF HELL, DEATH , LIGHT, DARKNESS,
BIBLICAL PRESUPPOSITIONAL ARGUMENT:
Romans 1:18 (KJV) For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;
Romans 1:19 (KJV) Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed [it] unto them.
Romans 1:20-23 (KJV) 20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, [even] his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: 21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified [him] not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, 23 And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.
Psalms 53:1-3 (KJV) 1
The fool hath said in his heart, [There is] no God. Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity: [there is] none that doeth good. 2 God looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were [any] that did understand, that did seek God. 3 Every one of them is gone back: they are altogether become filthy; [there is] none that doeth good, no, not one.
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