My epistemology class is one of those classes that you will learn so much, but none of it will be taught in class. For those of you that don’t know what epistemology is; it’s the study of knowledge; a philosophy class. My teacher Dr. Davis is very good at teaching you how to think for yourself and helping you test out arguments and theories in hope that you will eventually make your own worldview that is sound and lines up with logic. He teaches a lot, and I do learn lots, but I think the majority of what I learn that I will remember is when my mind wanders off in class on a point. Since it’s a third year philosophy class there is a ton of philosophy majors in the class who like to bicker back and forth and comment on every sentence. I like it though, because it gives me time to think out where I stand on the issue and try to figure out how philosophical jargon can be applicable to our average lives.
Yesterday in class Dr. Davis was talking about an Alpha group that he is part of and how there is a few atheists in the group that he is running. He asked us how we would defend God’s existence or our faith to these atheists using what we had learned so far. I won’t burden you and go into the details of how we could do this, but I was struck by a few comments. One classmate mentioned that our own testimony is our best witness to the unsaved. I’ve heard this many times before, from many respectable people and at the time I would whole heartedly agree with them. What Christ and God have done in my life is amazing and I want to share that with as many people as possible. When I look at my friend Ron, his testimony is remarkable and he doesn’t even need to say anything to anyone and his life is a wonder to many because of the transformation that has gone on in the last few years. Usually if someone or myself doubted God’s existence, I would just point or look at Ron and that would be enough assurance that God does exist and is alive and working in the lives of his creation.
If you have been keeping up with some reading, you will know that a major thought concept that is going around is relativism. This means that ‘what is true for you, isn’t necessarily true for me.’ It’s a prevailing worldview and it is seeping into the Christian thought process too. I think though that we can learn a lot from this. For example, let’s say I was having a conversation with one of my high school buddies. I was telling them about what God has done in my life, and how my life is awesome and so fulfilling. Most of my high school friends would look at me by now, pat me on the back and say “that’s awesome Nathan, good for you, but I’m sorry, the God you have experienced and your interaction with God is not true for me, I don’t have those experiences, therefore in my mind God does not exist.”
This is where I think the flaw is in “your testimony is your best witness” ideal. For a relativistic generation, they don’t want to know your story, and how God is real to you. They want to know how God is real to them. Now, instead of just trying to convince them that God is real in your life, you need to convince them and help show them that God is real in their life. You need to guide them through the steps and show them where God has worked in their life, and allow the Holy Spirit to reveal God to them. See we are so used to trying to prove God’s existence that we use our own internal evidence to prove this constantly to everyone that is outside of us. Instead, we need to help show them that their story very much has God involved as ours does.
Even if you can successfully show them that God works in your life, you have only showed them that, you have not shown them God in their life. I’m starting to feel that maybe our testimony isn’t our best witness anymore; maybe their testimony is our best witness. Maybe being able to point out God in their story will be a lot more beneficial then simply showing them God in ours.
hmmmm, what about a rationalistic explaination of God? does that play into a discussion about God at all or has our society so shunned the scientism of the enlightenment that we must resort to the touchy feely for an avenue through which God can work. As well it is essential as Christians to differentiate between the knowledge of ‘God’ and the knowledge of ‘Our Lord’. You cannot teach the knowlege of our Lord through rational explaination but i do believe that through the proper use of reason, as institued by God at the creation of the world, we can lead even the non-believer to an understanding of our God but not our savior. we must always realize that the bible claims that our beliefs will be foolishness to the Gentiles (or Greeks) because they based thier knowledge of things on reason, which cannot lead us to the Savior. And a stumbling block to the Jews. As well the Bible claims that Christianity is completely irrational and irrelevant to those who are not being saved. So to try to convice anyone either way is just putting the reigns back into human hnds where they do not belong. PS. Rationalism is a farce, people who claim it are using it as an escape from reality and truth.
nick said, “and i do think we need to either embrace rationalistic explainations for things and admit they have value or reject them and cling to our senses and not our intellect.”
-nick this is where i think you’re wrong. because im saying that a rational explanation is valuable…but what im saying is that its not the most important part…its only a part, but experience is also a part…because no one is talking about experience void of rational experience…but perhaps the experience doesn’t have rationalism as the foundation. my relationship with Christ isn’t founded in rationalism…its founded in faith…so how can i rationally explain a relationship i have with Christ, which you will agree can’t be found rationally, to someone who asks me? i mean reason will play a part, but it can’t be the foundation.
and in regards to Joe’s post…i completely agree and what im saying here, i understand within a context where i am already engaged in a conversation where the question is asked about my faith…i don’t see it as chasing someone down and feeding to them forcefully…and thats all i got…
‘witnessing’ is such a loaded term. sometimes i wonder why we ‘witness’. is it for the sake of the unbeliever, or for our own? get my drift? sometimes i think our motivation is skewed. i don’t mean to generalize, but it seems that present day witnessing has become a calculated promotional scheme, where the end result is to add a number to the fold and guarantee eternity with God…not a fulfilled life on earth in relationship with God through xst. furthermore, it’s the the job of the HS to draw people to God, not ours. we’re to be ready to give ‘a reason for our faith’ when called upon, otherwise, i don’t think we should be knocking down anyone’s door to share xst. i guess being ‘called upon’ means they’re coming to me…i’m not running to them. in fact, xst never chased anyone and never made it easy for people to follow. in fact he told them (and us) to die to ourselves, that it was going to be hard, that we would be mocked and maybe killed. and for those like the rich young ruler…he let them leave. never begged them back. never argued for his existence or divinity…so i wonder sometimes why we should. do i want people to engage in the xtian dialogue? YES! do i want to be involved in helping people to journey towards God? YES? do i have to make ‘a case for christ?’ no. you see, ‘creation speaks his name and reveals God…’ nothing more to say i guess…
sorry darryl i actually didnt mean to say that rationalism was a farce i meant to say that relativism was a farce, my mistake i wrote this 15 minutes after i got up this morning. and i do think we need to either embrace rationalistic explainations for things and admit they have value or reject them and cling to our senses and not our intellect. If you are talking about expereince without rational explaination for it it is touchy-feely, or supernatural or whatever you want to call it. i still will cling to a rational explanation for my faith wherever possible and defend it using intellect and not experience because the whole problem with experience as nathan stated earlier is its subjectivity. Reason, exercised properly, in the form God created, is objective and can prove things to all people. But i will agree that the Bible does say that unless you have experienced the power of the transforming spirit of Christ all things Christian will seem like foolishness.
nick, so by excluding a rational explanation it is automatically touchy-feely? i dunno it just seems like you’re saying its either/or…either you have a rational explanation or its touchy-feely…i dunno nick kind of weak. plus at the end you say that rationalism is a farce…i believe that reason is important but perhaps it isn’t the crux of the discussion like it was for our parents generation and the generation before them. i believe what nathan is trying to say is that our generation is looking for experience…and by you simply explaining an experience you had with me does not allow me to have a similar experience…but i think that we can help others seek that experience with Christ…but you’re right nick, rationally you can’t come to a relationship with Christ…and that is why nathan is saying that we need to help them seek after that experience with Jesus…not just tell them about ours and hope that it convinces them that there is a God and He is seeking them out…