Missing The "Academic Elephant" In The Room: A response to Pastor Randy Clark - Part 4

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Evidence! This word has been running around the blogosphere, a very wide variety of academic literature and in personal and professional conversations for years - heck, as it relates to the last two paradigms the word evidence has been used for centuries! But it begs the question: when a group such as members in the scientific community or individual people proclaims something to be 'evidence of X' what are they insinuating? What does the word 'evidence' mean? Merriam-Webster dictionary defines it as:

• a visible sign of something[i] 

A visible sign of what? Creationists argue that the universe is a sign of a supernatural creator; atheists argue that the universe is not a sign at all.  Here we are presented with a fundamental law of logic: the Law of Excluded Middle. Either this universe and all within is a sign pointing to a creator[ii] or it is no sign at all. So for simplicity lets give Christians the benefit of the doubt and entertain their premise that their God, the triune God of Scripture is that creator. 

If you have been following me over the last few days you would have been following my response to Pastor Randy Clark's article Leave Apologetics Out of Evangelism. This is the forth and final part of this series response; the first three parts can be located here[iii]. In summary Clark asserts that apologetics should not be used as a tool of evangelism. He argues that "Biblical evangelism is a revelation encounter with the power and presence of God, resulting in faith (“hearing” and obeying [God)]"[iv] - a position that have consistently supported throughout my response as it is only through the activity of the Holy Spirit in one's life that one receives salvation and the ability to effectively do the will of God, (cf. John 6:44, Phil. 1:6); something that I reiterated throughout the first three parts of this response; but Clark believes that the most effective tool of evangelism is the works of God through signs, wonders and miracles; as he states: 

"...most of the ... evangelical missionaries on the Sinai peninsula told me that they had met and discovered that none of them had ever led someone to Christ through apologetics but only after the indigenous people had seen signs, miracles, healings, visions, dreams about Jesus did they become Christians."[v]

Regarding apologetics Clark states that "[it] may be perfectly reasonable to show that Christianity can be confirmed by biblical archaeology or philosophical proofs for the existence of God, but apologetics appeals more to those who already believe than to those who don’t.[vi] He is treating the Gospel as a numbers game - do the style of evangelism that has the highest salvation count; and by necessity this gives partial credit to the evangelist; but as already seen throughout this series the efforts of salvation is credited to God alone. 

Now Clark isn't denying the fact that that apologetics has led people to the foot of the cross, but he cynically asserts that for most of the skeptics that hear the Gospel apologetics will not have any effect - But, perform signs, wonders and miracles, and let the people see the wonders and work of God! Let  the disabled be publicly healed for all to see; bring grieving parents their dead children back to life; let people see the happiness that is only found in Christ pour out of them like a waterfall, etc. However as pointed out in the second article how effective is a sign without an explanation? ANSWER: Not effective; without the explanation (the apologetic) the signs are nothing more than a spectacle. 

However there is another aspect that Clark is seemingly missing or is willingly blind to. These words: signs, wonders and miracles hold for Christians like Randy Clark a specific nuance - unusual, nonnatural, events that only have one explanation - an act of God, etc - much like the many of the events recorded in the book of Acts and throughout all four Gospels. However when you concentrate on looking at these acts of wonder, you are missing out on the most basic wonders of God:

You:

"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well." - Psalms 139:13-14 (my emphasis).

This universe: 

...I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained; - Psalms 8:3 (NASB) (my emphasis)

The resurrection of Christ:

But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. - 1 Corinthians 15:12-14. (my emphasis)

Etcetera. As discussed earlier apologetics for many people is frightening because it is synonymous with academics - the sciences, philosophy, history, etc. And not everyone is academically astute and nor do many people have the time to be; but as also explain apologetics is much more widespread than the academics; but a big arena were apologetics is used is throughout academia. The Gospel message:

For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, - 1 Corinthians 15:3-4

...calls attention to the study of history and ethics. It asserts that Christ died as a consequences for sins and rose three days later. The word sins teach a violation of God's moral law (cf. 1 John 3:4); it suggests that there is such things as the two planes *right* and *wrong* and we have done the latter. The word 'rose' isn't metaphorical but is to be taken literally; over 2000 years ago in human history Jesus literally rose in bodily form from after being physically dead. Paul states a few verses after that Jesus resurrection is the emulsifier for Christianity - if there was no risen Christ there is no Christianity. His wonder, this miracle is claiming to be historical and thus inviting us to research its claim.  

If someone enacted Clark's petition to exclude apologetics from evangelism in this ministry they would be disabling themselves from being able to show the facts that God has given to validate his claims - creation, his resurrection, etc. Moreover, God has given us minds that for those who are being reformed into the image of Christ, (cf. Romans 8:29) their minds are being reformed (cf. Romans 12:2); a reforming mind is a mind that is under repair however how can one repair something that isn't broken to begin with? One issue many atheistic skeptics at least is the validity of the idea of miracles; however miracles, such as Christ's resurrection or the healing of the disabled man in Acts 3 is easily explainable by simple logic: 

Premise #1: If God created the heavens and the earth (cf. Genesis 1:1), he would be able to manipulate its contents, including repairing physical brokenness and resurrecting the deceased. 

Premise #2: God created the heavens and the earth (cf. Genesis 1:1).

Premise #3: Therefore God can manipulate its contents, including repairing physical brokenness and resurrecting the deceased. 

This is education is found in study of logic. To conclude this response to Pastor Randy, if we excommunicate apologetics from evangelism then what God has offered to us becomes unintelligible and it also tells God that we are not going to show people him through the other means he has shown us himself through, (cf. Romans 1:20). 

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[0] http://ministrytodaymag.com/index.php/ministry-news/columns/67-pastors-heart/19752-leave-apologetics-out-of-evangelism - accessed March 15, 2014
[i]  http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/evidence - accessed March 13, 2014
[ii] For the purpose of this thesis it is not top relevance, but it is still important to note that the law of excluded middle is played out within the creationist community as a whole, but on a much more larger scale - which creator does this universe as a sign point to? (Allah, Elohim [Mormonism], the God of the Jehovah Witnesses, Yahweh, etc.). If this universe points to the God of the Christian Bible then by necessity everyone else's divine entries are out of the running.  

[iii] A Response to Pastor Randy Clark's article, Leave Apologetics Out of Evangelism

• Part 1: http://acrazychristian.blogspot.ca/2014/03/what-is-proper-vehicle-for-evangelism.html - accessed March 15, 2014
• Part 2: http://acrazychristian.blogspot.ca/2014/03/sign-miracles-wonders-apologetics.html - accessed March 15, 2014
• Part 3: http://acrazychristian.blogspot.ca/2014/03/the-duel-effect-of-evangelistic-methods.html - accessed March 13, 2014

[iv] http://ministrytodaymag.com/index.php/ministry-news/columns/67-pastors-heart/19752-leave-apologetics-out-of-evangelism - accessed March 15, 2014
[v] Ibid., - accessed March 15, 2014
[vi] Ibid., - accessed March 15, 2014