#61: Why Are You Folks Christians?
Hello thinker,
Several months ago, I had the opportunity to teach an apologetics class to 14-year-old Christian home schoolers. Halfway through the class I asked them, “What would you say to a non-believing friend if s/he asked you, ‘Why are you a Christian?’” The response surprised me - it was near silence. One young man eventually looked at me and said, “I don’t know.” These are children raised in good Christian homes and churches. They have been schooled in the Bible and can usually explain what they believe but, often, struggle with why they believe it.
This month I want to share a short video (~9 min) by J. Warner Wallace [1]. Wallace is a former Los Angeles cold case detective. He grew up as an atheist but became a believer in his 30s. He subsequently served as a youth pastor and is now a Christian apologist. Wallace is very well known in apologetics circles and writes and speaks full time on a variety of topics. His well-known book, Forensic Faith, applies the knowledge he learned in criminal forensics to, what he calls, “Christian” forensics – that is, analysis of the evidence for the truth of Christianity.
Listen as Wallace discusses experiential and evidential faith (in the context of Christianity vs Mormonism), his experience as a youth pastor, and “accidental Christians.”
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jm69yZpdwIA
I will not repeat what Wallace says, however, I do want to emphasize something that is important to our own faith and especially to that of the younger generation. He said,
If you want to have a faith that is grounded - [one which]
will stand in a time of challenge - you have to have a faith
that you know is true; [that is,] is more than just experience.
Wallace adds, we need to have a faith that is based on evidence. The advantage of evidence is that it “has the ability to lead you to truth [like experience] but [evidence] also protects you from error."
Unlike experiential claims, evidential faith claims can be verified or falsified. Christianity is grounded in historical events - in evidence – meaning that we can verify its truth claims and confidently hold onto our beliefs in the face of challenges. Jesus, the Son of God, did walk the face of this earth and there is much evidence to attest to this (e.g., scholars, both believers and non-believers know it’s true . . . despite what fringe social media influencers might say). And the resurrection actually occurred. Evidence for events surrounding Jesus’ resurrection better supports the resurrection story than any other naturalistic explanation (recall historicity of the resurrection arguments). And as I often tell non-believers, we can see God’s fingerprints – evidence for Him – all throughout his creation. We see it in history, archeology, science, mathematics, philosophy, worldviews, etc. Both evidence and reason overwhelming confirm the truth of the Christian worldview.
All Christians should learn and examine the evidence for faith and teach it to children. Perhaps, then, they won’t be as easily misled by those who claim that what churches teach is irrational and lacking any evidential basis (a “blind faith”); instead, they might know both what they believe as well as why they believe it.
This is why Ben and I are headed to Africa next week. 150 pastors from churches in Zimbabwe and neighboring countries, and 100 faculty members in Christian universities in Uganda want to better understand apologetics – the reasons and evidence for the truth of Christianity – in order to respond to the increasing questions of the younger generation. Please pray for them and us.
In Christ, Doug
1 Peter 3:15
Academic Director, Apologetics On Mission
[1] J. Warner Wallace. Wallace is a cold-case homicide detective, popular national speaker, and best-selling author. He continues to consult on cold-case investigations while also serving as a Senior Fellow at the Colson Center for Christian Worldview. He is an adjunct professor of apologetics at Talbot School of Theology (Biola University), Gateway Seminary, and Southern Evangelical Seminary, and a faculty member at Summit Ministries. For information concerning his apologetics work, see: https://coldcasechristianity.com.