RAPID RESPONSE REPORT

 

DEFENDING HISTORIC CHRISTIANITY IN A POSTMODERN WORLD

 

12/04/2000 #7

 

Editor: Bill Crouse

 

CULTURAL APOLOGETICS: continued

 

In the previous issue our point was, that culture, i.e., the fine arts, can be a bridge to reach PM's with the Gospel.  Charles Colson tells how he once was trying to share the gospel in the conventional way with some well-known person in the media.  He found that his efforts were continually frustrated because his media friend didn't believe the Bible and would always reply:  "I'm sure this works for you, but I have a friend that found the same satisfaction from crystals and channeling."  Finally, He and his media friend started discussing the Woody Allen movie, Crimes and Misdemeanors, in which a killer silences his conscience by concluding that life is nothing but the survival of the fittest.  Colson says immediately his friend became attentive and thoughtful.  He then pointed out other literary works dealing with the same theme of moral law in the works of Tolstoy and C.S. Lewis.  Later his friend paid close attention when he eventually turned the conversation to Romans and Christ's atoning death.

 

When the PM is confronted with the Biblical story initially (as the person above) a typical response is "true for you but not for me."  Ultimately the conversation must turn to the issue of  truth and ultimate authority.  As Christians, we believe that the Christian worldview is absolutely true in that it is ultimately in harmony with the way things are.  Or, to say it in another way: "What God has revealed to us in His Word is in complete harmony with the universe He has created."  And, much to the consternation of our modern multicultural world, whatever is in contradiction to the Christian worldview is false.  It takes a real brave soul to believe this or proclaim this in our PM world.  Now I'm a little hardnosed, being in my fifties, but some of you who are in your thirties or younger, doesn't it feel (there's that word) a little bigoted to not only believe your world view is true truth but that all others are false?  Don't you feel just a little hesitant to tell nonchristians that Jesus said:  "I am the way, and the truth and the life and no man comes to the Father except through me?"  If it makes you feel a little narrow-mined you are not alone.  PM has influenced us all to some extent. Hence, it is more than likely that if you start with the truth claims of the Christian worldview your relationship with that person and your mission is probably doomed.

 

In worldview-building everyone (including all PMs) starts with an assumption;  there are no exceptions.  These beginning assumptions are also called presuppositions.  The Christian's starting assumption happens to be that a personal God exists who is the creator of all that is;  He is personal, eternal, and infinite, and we know this because this God has spoken to us in His written Word, and through His Son Jesus.  Now I know a lot of Christians want to go beyond this and prove the Bible first.  But let me ask a question:  If we have to prove the Bible first, what becomes the ultimate authority?  Isn't it human reasoning?  The late Francis Schaeffer used to say:  "You can't get to an infinite reference point (ultimate authority) starting from the finite (human reasoning)."

 

To succeed in our evangelistic efforts we must be able to engage PM's in conversation that ultimately forces them back to what they admit to be ultimate authority or a final arbitrator (their starting presupposition).  There are several good sources that I can heartily recommend to help in this process.  The first is the book by Paul Copan "True For You, But Not For Me."  This small book (163 pages) is an excellent book to use in small discussion groups.  Secondly, I highly recommend Francis Schaeffer's book: The God Who is There.  During his ministry at L'Abri, Switzerland, he was one of the most successful in reaching PMs (though at that time they were not being called PMs).  Pay particular attention to Section IV, Speaking Historic Christianity in the Twentieth Century Climate, and,  Section V, Pre-Evangelism is no Soft Option.  These 2 sections are only about 20 pages but they are worth the price of the book.  In another book we've mentioned before in these pages (The Death of Truth by Dennis McCallum, General Editor), see the last chapter: Practical Communication Ideas for additional help.  This book is also good for broad educational purposes in that is shows how PM has affected all the major disciplines.

 

INTELLIGENT DESIGN AND ACADEMIC FREEDOM AT BAYLOR 

 

While the Intelligent Design movement had precedents, it really did not create much of a stir on the scientific scene until the blockbuster book: Darwin's Black Box, by Michael Behe, was reviewed by most of the major newspapers in the U.S.  With some risk of oversimplification, Behe's thesis is that a simple living cell is not all that simple, in fact, it is irreducibly complex.  He uses the analogy of a mousetrap:  what components can you eliminate for it to still function?  The answer is: nothing.  With this irreducible complexity and what we now know about the DNA code, the natural inference is that the cell shows undeniable evidence of intelligent design.  For a good overview of what's happening in the ID movement see "The evolution Wars," by Tom Bethell in The American Spectator Dec. 1999/Jan. 2000 (sorry, it's not on the web).

 

One spokesperson for the ID movement that has been leading this drive is Bill Dembski, a scholar with two doctorates, one in math and the other in philosophy.  His recent book: The Design Inference was published by Cambridge University Press, and was peer-reviewed by 70 scholars.  Because of his academic standing he was asked by the president of Baylor University to head up the Polanyi Center, a think tank set up to further explore Intelligent Design.  Problem:  it was set up without the vote or cooperation of Baylor's faculty.  But aren't they broad-minded and open to hearing ideas being promulgated by a growing group of highly credentialed and mostly Christian scholars?  Nope!  In fact, they put up such a ruckus the backed-in-a-corner president removed Dembski as the head of the think tank and effectively closed its operation.  The story of the opposition of Baylor's "open-minded" faculty is told in The American Spectator:  "The Lynching of Bill Dembski,"  by Fred Heeren. You can find it here www.spectator.org/archives/0011TAS/heeren0011.htm

 

In the current issue of The American Spectator (Dec2000/Jan2001) there is a follow-up article by the same author. See:  "The Deed is Done."  www.spectator.org/archives/0012TAS/heeren0012.htm

In the same issue there are two other worthy articles, one by Tom Bethell, "No Time for Science,(not on the web) and the lead story by Jonathan Wells "The Survival of the Fakest." (not on the web)  The latter article is a condensation of Wells' new book Icons of Evolution: Science or Myth?  Why much of what we teach about evolution is wrong?  This book is already causing some teeth-grinding among evolutionists.  Some of the teachings Wells documents as being erroneous are: The Miller-Urey experiment, Darwins's tree of life, homology in vertebrate limbs, Haeckel's embryos, archaeopteryx, peppered tree moths, Darwins's finches, four-winged fruit flies, fossil horses, and ape to man.  Christianity Today also reports on the Baylor controversy at:  www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2000/014/18.20.html

 

The magazine we referred to several times above: The American Spectator is the conservative publication Hillary Clinton was referring to when she proclaimed there was a "vast rightwing conspiracy."  This publication was recently bought out by George Gilder, a futurist and economist of some note.  He is also one of the founders of the Discovery Institute, a conservative think-tank located in Washington state.  Their website is one you will definitely want to bookmark as they post articles of great importance for keeping up with cultural trends (www.discovery.org)   Another important website to keep up with the intelligent design movement is Access Research Network (www.arn.org), and it is also my personal favorite site for Christianity and science issues.  You must visit this site.

 

SOME ELECTION REFLECTON

 

In the Fifties, a person generally voted democrat or a republican based on his parent's political affiliation.  Both political parties pretty much subscribed to the same basic Judeo-Christian worldview though there were minor differences in policy.  It does not seem so in this PM world.  While observing all this presidential mess I have been on the web for hours reading commentary and analysis.  In my opinion, the major political parties, though their candidates may sound similar, their proposals on what are deemed the popular issues, are coming from totally different worldviews.  How else can you explain the polarization, the emotion, the vitriol, etc.?  By worldviews in collision!  We see very similar worldview struggles elsewhere in the world.  More than one writer has commented:  "It is as though the major parties have become religions.”  Here are few of the articles that I thought were very insightful:  The first is by Gene Edward Veith It's the Culture, Stupid in World Magazine  www.worldmag.com/world/issue/11-25-00/cultural_1.asp

Peggy Noonan's article in the Wall Street Journal is particularly sobering.  www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/pnoonan/?id=65000671 .  Noonan quotes the Washington Post in its unbelievable description of Kathleen Harris, the Secretary of State of Florida.  I'm including it here just to illustrate that this is struggle of worldviews:  "Her lips were overdrawn with berry-red lipstick--the creamy sort that smears all over a coffee cup and leaves smudges on a shirt collar.  Her skin had been plastered and powdered to the texture of pre-war walls in need of a skim coat.  And her eyes, rimmed in liner and frosted with blue shadow, bore the telltale homogeneous spikes of false eyelashes.  Caterpillars seemed to rise and fall with every bat of her eyelid, with every downward glance to double check--before reading--her latest 'determination.'  Her mouth is set in a jagged line.  She has applied her makeup with a trowel.  One wonders how this Republican woman, who can't even use restraint when she's wielding a mascara wand, will manage to...make sound decisions."  Is this a good example of the politics of destruction or what?  The real true story about Ms. Harris is that she is an evangelical Christian, attends a good Bible church and studied at L'Abri with Francis Schaeffer.  See: www.worldmag.com/world/issue/12-02-00/cover_2.asp

 

NOAH'S ARK SEARCH UPDATE

 

In the eighties I edited the newsletter The Ararat Report.  I spent hundreds of hours (probably an understatement) researching all the claims that Noah's Ark had been sighted on Mt. Ararat in Turkey.  I still have some interest in the continuing quest, and my friends who are involved keep me up-to-date.  One of the things I always found intriguing in that search was the continuing reports from military people who had seen secret photos purporting to be Noah's Ark.  The late Col. Jim Irwin, the moon-walking astronaut, had a General tell him he had seen such photos.  However, Irwin, even with his connections, could never come up with anything.  I, myself, had a former serviceman whose job it was to process photos coming in from U-2's in the fifties, tell me he had also seen the photos.  He later became the pastor of a large Bible church!  Despite all efforts, no military photographs were ever forthcoming.  However, a Christian attorney, and law professor in Virginia, decided to use the freedom of information act to force the government to release photos.  The fact that he once worked in the government and had a high security clearance helped him know how to properly apply the FOIA.  About 5 years ago he succeeded in getting the first photo released, a photo that was taken in 1947.  I was given a copy to study.  We then found a photo of the same area taken by a Turkish Air Force Pilot in 1987 showing the same object.  The phenomena, whatever it is, is very interesting, though most think it is just a natural object.  Recently, this law professor, Porcher Taylor, was featured in an article in Insight Magazine.  You can find the article online at: www.insightmag.com/archive/200011218.shtml

It still has not been determined if the object is natural or manmade.  If you read the article, you will see that some professional analysts are convinced it is man-made.  There are explorers who are planning to check out the anomaly as soon as permission is granted by the Turkish government.  Taylor also has learned that other photos exist which were taken by the most sophisticated satellites in our government's arsenal.  So far, he has been unsuccessful in getting any of these released.  If you want to keep up with this search, we recommend the site of B.J. Corbin at  http://www.noahsarksearch.com

B.J. Corbin has also edited a new book published by Great Commission books entitled The Explorers of Ararat.  I contributed one of the chapters in this book, and what I wrote here is the heart of my research.  You can order this book at this site: http://gcibooks.safeshopper.com/2/1.htm?994

The back issues of the above-mentioned  Ararat Report can  also be ordered at the same address: http://gcibooks.safeshopper.com/2/12.htm?994

 

For Christ and His Kingdom