Friday, August 21, 2009

New Generation Apologetics

I was just reading an article on seanmcdowell.org titled "Apologetics for a New Generation". Several very important points are presented in that article that I would like to post here.

First, Sean says that too often young people today are caught up in day-to-day living and are not taking time to shore up their Christian faith with hard evidence, so when confronted with an opposing view, they lack the "intellectual tools and confidence to answer the challenges". This should bother us and motivate us to find a way to equip those young people with what they need to stand firm in their faith.

Second, many young people are leaving the church because "the Christian community is failing to engage their minds as well as their hearts". Jesus tells us "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind" (Matt 22:37 ESV), and we cannot do that without "always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you" (1 Peter 3:15 ESV).

Third, he points out that "If we want to shape the behavior of young people, then, we must guide them to truthful beliefs about the world and help them to strengthen and build on their existing true beliefs and convictions" It is vitally important that we be sure to reinforce the beliefs that our young people learn when they first start learning about God and the Bible. Sean expands upon this point and says that "This is why it is so critical to help our youth come to terms with their actual beliefs and to help address their doubts, questions, uncertainties, and fears honestly".

And the last point I want to make here is the importance of teaching young people about Truth. In this article, Sean says, "I can’t help but wonder how many truly understand that Christianity is the truth, the only hope for salvation, and the sole opportunity for a relationship with the living God who created the universe".

So to all those interested in Youth Apologetics, there is a lot of young people out there to be reached with the hard evidence that Christianity is a reality that cannot be ignored.

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