This essay is intended to discuss the debating practices of Christians, both with other believers and non-believers alike. The reason for this is that I have discovered a good majority of Christian arguments, especially from the Fundamentalist side although this is found everywhere, have very little substance to them and usually resort in guilt by association, ad hominum attacks, or straw man arguments. It seems strange to me that we as Christians would resort to such low handed tactics and ultimately shows our fundamental doubt in the truth of God. We as Christians should never be afraid of the truth.
Truth is not completely limited to a Christian worldview. For example, there are many types of truth that are not inherently dependent on the Bible. Mathematics is a good example. You do not have to believe in God or the Bible to know that 1+1=2 is true. Also, the fact that I had cheese and bread this morning is true, but it is not dependant on what the Bible teaches. This is a very important point because when we debate with someone, there is almost always some level of truth in what they believe and it is important to recognize this. It is pretty hard to convince somebody an absolute lie is true. It is not hard, however, to mix truth with the lies and corrupt the whole idea.
Too often we generalize things, making things black and white when they otherwise shouldn’t be, and in the process we completely alienate those we are speaking with. We must also recognize that some truths are not exclusive and that we can agree to disagree. Of course, I also need to say that the Christian worldview does claim some truths to be exclusively theirs, such as the deity of Christ, his death and resurrection just being a few. Being willing to recognize truth in the world must be the place to start if we are to debate effectively. Simply saying that just because one of your arguments is false invalidates everything else you say is silly.
Out of all the Christians I’ve read, listened to, or met, not one will say that they agree 100% totally with everything another Christian happens to say. People like John Piper, C.S. Lewis, Martin Luther, Ravi Zacharias, John Calvin, St. Augustine, and many, many more have all come to their own conclusions about life, God, and Christianity through the study of their Bibles, their observations of the world around them, and thinking and reasoning through things. And they’ve all come to slightly different conclusions. This is very interesting. It seems that one could have differing views about many things and still claim to be a Christian. I believe that this argues for the complexity of God, as well as his personal nature, as he reveals himself differently to different people. Even in my own life I find this. I agree with John Piper on many things but I disagree adamantly with his view of Calvinism.1 Does this mean that I then throw out all of his other arguments and thoughts because I disagree with his interpretation of scripture? Of course not. The same is true for C.S. Lewis. I love his works and his ability to make complex philosophical ideas very understandable, but I disagree with his view of the Old Testament.2 Should I then discard all the rest of his teachings? No.
Of course there are going to be heretical interpretations and these must be dealt with by careful reading of Scripture, but these are and should be limited to things that are essential to Christianity. Old earth vs. young earth, pre-trib vs. post-trib, instruments in church or no instruments; these are all non-essential and while fun to debate, should not resort to heretical accusations. I have seen this over and over again. Christians argue their view and immediately place anybody who doesn’t agree with them in the heretic category. This is wrong and usually comes from pride.
The question that then arises is how does the Christian, who believes that his worldview is truth, interact with fellow believers and non-believers that disagree? By its very nature, absolute truth is exclusive. This means that two opposing views cannot be true at the same time, also called the Law of Non-contradiction. We must not fall into the trap of presuming we have it all figured out and that those who disagree with us are simply ignorant fools. This is the biggest problem I have with Christian debates. One side usually ends up questioning the salvation of the other, in the case of Christian vs. Christian, or the intelligence of the other, Christian vs. non-Christian. Of course when called out on it, these critics usually shout ad hominum or throw verses out about how Christians should love one another and not judge each other.
Tim Keller, the senior pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City, spoke to this very topic.3 His argument was that as Christians; we must continually view our knowledge of God not as academic, but as relational. The only way to argue this type of knowledge as true is through experience. For example, when you smell something amazing, the first thing you do is look around to try and find someone to share it with and you usually end up saying something like “Here, you got to smell this” as you shove it to their nose. The same is true for a good restaurant. If you had a really good experience at a restaurant, then you are likely to share that with other people. In fact, most small businesses depend on you doing this to stay alive. Now, it would be silly to judge and criticize someone for not knowing about the restaurant or what it was like if they had never been there. The same is true for the smell. You wouldn’t say “Well, you certainly are an ignorant fool since you haven’t smelled this.” No, you would say “Here, try this.” In the same way, let us invite the world around us to experience this amazing God with us and not get judgmental towards them for not knowing about something of which they’ve never experienced.
1) “We Believe About the Five Points of Calvinism”; Bethlehem Church Staff, March 1, 1985 Revised March, 1998; http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/Articles/ByDate/1985/1487_What_We_Believe_About_the_Five_Points_of_Calvinism/; Accessed 8/10/2009
2) Miracles, C.S. Lewis,
3) Receptive Grace, Timothy Keller, Sermon originally given on 2/10/2002
