One of the benefits of these debates is the stimulation to read deeply
from great books. A few weeks ago I dusted off a volume from my shelf that I
had not fully completed. It is Wilbur M. Smith's magnificent "Therefore,
Stand." Written in the mid-40's, it is one of the classics of contemporary
apologetics, and I would urge all interested parties to hunt down a copy,
either in a used bookstore or a good library. His last chapter is a clarion
call to Christians to reaffirm the admonition of Jude, namely, "earnestly
contend for the faith." This is especially needed in an age of widespread
skepticism, and we must not shrink from the duty.
While dogmatic atheists in our culture and universities feel no qualms
about trumpeting their beliefs, and denigrating the Bible and the Christian
message, Christians often shrink back from confronting them. Some are worried
about making a bad impression, and enemies of the Gospel are not averse, as a
strategic matter, to pointing this out. Thus, a strong defense of Christianity
might provoke an atheist to label the messenger "arrogant," or some such. It
is well to remember, however, that worse was said of Paul, and Smith's volume
is really a tribute to that spirit (indeed, most of the book uses Paul's
address on Mars Hill as a template for Christian apologetics).
Smith also quotes one of this century's great men of faith, J. Gresham
Machen, who said:
"There are, indeed, those who tell us that no defense of the faith is
necessary. 'The Bible needs no defense,' they say; 'let us not be forever
defending Christianity, but instead let us go forth joyously to propagate
Christianity.' But I have observed one curious fact--when men talk thus about
propagating Christianity without defending it, the thing that they are
propagating is pretty sure not to be Christianity at all....A chip that floats
downwards with the current is always at peace; but around every rock the
waters foam and rage. Show me a professing Christian of whom all men speak
well, and I will show you a man who is probably unfaithful to his Lord."
But the fact remains that the arguments--even when logical,
reasonable, and supported by substantial evidence--fail to move those who are
determined to resist. When that happens, Machen reminds us:
"It is perfectly true, of course, that argument alone is quite insufficient to
make a man a Christian. You may argue with him from now until the end of the
world; you may bring forth the most magnificent arguments: but all will be in
vain unless there be one other thing--the mysterious, creative power of the
Holy Spirit in the new birth. But because argument is insufficient, it does
not follow that it is unnecessary. Sometimes it is used directly by the Holy
Spirit to bring a man to Christ. But more frequently it is used indirectly. A
man hears an answer to objections raised against the truth of the Christian
religion; at the time when he hears it he is not impressed. But afterwards,
perhaps many years afterwards, his heart is at last touched: he is convicted
of sin; he desires to be saved. Yet without that half-forgotten argument he
could not believe; the gospel would not seem to him to be true, and he would
remain in his sin. As it is, however, that thought of what he has heard long
ago comes into his mind; Christian apologetics at last has its day; the way is
open, and when he will believe he can believe because he has been made to see
that believing is not an offense against the truth." [Therefore, Stand, pp.
499-500]
Writing from the perspective of the 1940's, the following words from
Dr. Wilbur Smith seem almost prophetic for us today. Their power has only
increased over the decades:
"As far as I can see, humanly speaking, the forces which have created the
unbelief of today are going to grow more powerful rather than less powerful.
What is going to stop them? We certainly are not going back to the days of our
forefathers, and in many ways we do not want to. What force is going to bring
about a knowledge of the Word of God in place of the ignorance of our day,
what power is going to deliver us from the every deadening influence of
materialism, what force in the world is able to cope with the demonic
influences that have been released in our century? There is only one power
that can ever break the spell of all these earthly and superearthly powers
combined, and that is the power of an omnipotent God manifested through the
Holy Spirit, as He works through yielded servants of God, that with great
boldness and increasing power they might proclaim the only gospel which is
able to deliver men from the present wicked world, from the grip of sin and
the power of evil, and translate them into the kingdom of the Son of God.
Unbelief as it now is, is blighting the very life of the church; unbelief as
it is going to be will work even worse havoc unless--unless we who believe
give ourselves to prayer and the Word of God, and boldly stand up in a
skeptical yet ignorant world to give a reason for the hope that is within us,
setting ourselves for the defense and confirmation of the gospel." [Id., pp.
185-186]
That is why we contend for the faith.
Jim