Yo u A r e B r i n g i n g Strange Things to Our Ears: Christian Apologetics for a Postmodern Age R. Albert Mohler, Jr.

R. Albert Mohler, Jr. is President Introduction accommodated themselves to modernity and Professor of Christian Theology at We are called to serve the cause of Christ that there is virtually nothing left to The Southern Baptist Theological at one of the crucial turning points in defend, except perhaps the Golden Rule. Seminary. He is the author of numer- human history. The generations now liv- Postmodernism has been a great gift to the ous scholarly articles and has edited and ing have witnessed an explosion of knowl- liberal churches, for it has given them new contributed to important volumes on edge, the collapse of distance, and the ways to sound like they are saying some- theology and culture. Dr. Mohler’s writ- rising and falling of empires. Cultures and thing, without running the risk of offend- ing is regularly featured in World mag- societies have been radically transformed. ing anyone. azine and Religion News Service. Expansive wealth has brought great Evangelicals seem perplexed by the material comfort, but the most basic struc- postmodern condition. Some see post- tures of society are undermined. Families modernism as a new opportunity—the are fractured, lawlessness abounds, vio- death of Enlightenment rationality. Oth- lence invades, and the media bring a ers, myself included, see postmodernism constant stream of chaos into our lives. as modernity dressed up for a new mil- Most souls are homeless, and the real- lennium. In any case, the apologetic task ity of truth is itself denied. Postmodern is stranger than it used to be. Americans accept meaning as a replace- We can think back to the glory days ment for truth and exchange worldviews when apologetic giants walked the earth. as quickly as they try on new clothes. The early church had Apologists and theo- This is a very strange time to proclaim logians such as Athanasius and August- and defend the Christian faith. Evange- ine, Irenaeus and Cyprian, Ambrose of lism is difficult in an age when most per- Milan and Anselm of Canterbury, Tertul- sons think that their most basic problems lian and Chrysostom. We remember the are rooted in a lack of self-esteem and medieval Catholics such as Thomas when personal choice is the all-determin- Aquinas, and surely the Reformers; ing reality of the marketplace. The task of Luther, Calvin, Zwingli, and Knox. In our apologetics is complicated by the post- own nation, we think of Jonathan modern condition. How do you defend Edwards, Gresham Machen, Carl F. H. the faith to persons unwilling to make any Henry, and Francis Schaeffer. These men judgment concerning truth? and their kind were unapologetic apolo- In a very real sense, the defense of the gists, known for their defense and proc- faith has fallen on hard times. The liberal lamation of the truth. churches and denominations have so They had substantial opponents as 18 well. The famous skeptic philosopher manner, Charles will be the perfect king David Hume was once observed headed for a church whose bishops routinely deny to hear George Whitefield preach one of the most basic doctrines of the Christian his five o’clock morning messages on faith. Christ. The observer chided Hume: “I The shift from modernity to post- didn’t think you believe in God.” Hume modernity has not been pretty. In the end, replied, and referred to Whitefield: “I relativism is a more deadly enemy than don’t. But I am convinced this man does.” denial, for it rejects the very possibility of The times have certainly changed. truth, even as it allows for infinite forms England’s King Henry VIII was granted of meaning. This has not made the apolo- the title “Defender of the Faith” in 1521 getic task any easier. by Pope Leo X, who was grateful for In the premodern age, the great issue Henry’s attack on Martin Luther. Though was which supernatural claims are justi- Henry was to make his own break with fied and true. In the modern age the the papacy in later years, successive Brit- assumption was that no supernatural ish monarchs have retained the title, down claims are justified or true. In the ethereal to Elizabeth II. Queen Elizabeth, we might vapors of postmodernity, any supernatu- note, has been a singularly ineffectual ral claim is assumed to be true, whether “Defender of the Faith.” Her apologetic justified or not. But no claim to truth can maxim seems to be reducible to the doc- be absolute, universal, or exclusive. trinal principle, “We are not amused.” Oddly enough, it can make the Chris- Nevertheless, Elizabeth is to be the last tian apologist almost sentimental about of the British monarchs to be crowned Enlightenment rationalism. We can take with this title. Charles, the current Prince the honest, straightforward, bold denial of Wales, is likely to be England’s first of Christianity head-on. At least a true New Age king, complete with belief in atheist knows what he denies. Post- reincarnation, panentheistic worldview, modernity’s smug, “whatever,” pales and postmodern morals. In a recent inter- against Friedrich Nietzsche’s bold claim view, Charles declared himself unwilling that God is dead, and that we have killed to take on the title, “Defender of the him. Faith.” Better, he said, to be known as The vacuous and unthinking relativism “Defender of Faith” since, “People have of the postmodern mind is numbing. You fought each other to the death over these will forgive me for thinking that the shift things, which seems to me a peculiar from Bertrand Russell and Karl Marx to waste of people’s energies.”1 He added Bill Moyers and Phil Donahue is not that he would be the “defender of the social or intellectual progress. Divine in existence, the pattern of the This has complicated the work of theo- Divine which is, I think, in all of us but logical liberals as well. We have gone from which, because we are human beings, can Rudolf Bultmann’s program of supernatu- be expressed in so many different ways.”2 ral denial by demythologization to our So, the future King Charles will defend culture’s current program of what I call faith, but no particular faith, including hypermythologization. We are witnessing Christianity, and especially the Church of the repaganization of western civilization. England, of which he will be head. In this The old pagan cults are back, and new 19 cults are plentiful. or a book securely placed on the shelves. Clearly, not all modernists have turned Great Commission proclamation in our to pondering crystals and hugging sacred generation must be accompanied by trees. Modernity’s end stage is not a pretty apologetic ministry. Gospel witness must sight. Consider the Jesus Seminar, whose be undergirded by the defense of truth. purpose is to deny biblical Christology Personal evangelism will require cultural while presenting Jesus as a Palestinian dexterity. The task of world missions smart aleck and political agitator ready for reminds us that we are in a war of world- a tenure-track appointment at the nearest views. liberal divinity school. In America we are I believe there are several distinct treated to Episcopal Bishop John Shelby apologetic challenges facing the church in Spong and his quest to take Christianity the postmodern age. Internally, the church beyond monotheism. In the Church of must defend the faith against ignorance, England, the Bishop of Edinburgh, the against compromise, against doctrinal Primate of Scotland, denies that the Bible apathy, and against denial. The church is of any use in morality. now suffers from a breathtaking deficit of Having denied the virgin birth, doctrinal instruction and biblical truth. miracles, heaven and hell, biblical inspi- In some cases, the great truths of the ration, the incarnation, the resurrection, Christian faith are unknown. In other the Lord’s return, scriptural morality, cases, these truths are left dormant and and virtually every other doctrine of the untaught. Beyond this, the very real dan- Christian faith, the liberals are left in a gers of doctrinal corrosion and heresy quandary—there is nothing left to deny. threaten. In a sense, it is downright difficult to Externally, the Gospel must be be a creative liberal these days. Just about defended against secular atheism, post- the time you develop a new heresy, you modern relativism, naturalistic scientism, find out that someone else has already materialism, and current syncretisms. The written the book, collected the royalties, Gospel must be proclaimed in the face of and appeared on CNN. rival systems of belief and alternative Some suggest that the age of apolo- worldviews, new and old. getics is over. I intend to argue that the apologetic task has never been more press- Paul’s Model for ing, more urgent, or more important. Christian Apologetics Indeed, I believe that at this critical time This is where the task of Christian of cultural and intellectual transition, the apologetics began. In the Apostle Paul we Christian ministry, taken as a whole, must find a model of Great Commission proc- be understood as an apologetic calling. lamation matched to an apologetic argu- Apologetics—the task of setting forth ment—an argument in defense of the truth claims of Christianity and argu- Christian truth. In Acts 17:16-34 we find ing for the unique truthfulness of the Paul standing at Ground Zero of apolo- Christian faith—must be the major mode getic ministry in the first century. of ministry in a postmodern age. Athens was the most intellectually This means that apologetics cannot be sophisticated culture in the ancient world, reduced to a course taken at the seminary and even in Paul’s day it basked in its 20 retreating glory. Though Rome held of intellectual pride, but of spiritual con- political and military preeminence, Ath- cern. A dying world languishes in spiri- ens stood supreme in terms of cultural and tual confusion. I wonder how many of us intellectual influence. The centerpiece of are grieved as Paul was grieved in his Paul’s visit to Athens is his message to the observation of Athens. Looking at the court of philosophers at the Areopagus, spiritual confusion of American culture, also known as Mars Hill.3 do we experience the paroxysm with Some critics have claimed that Paul’s which Paul was seized? experience on Mars Hill was a dismal fail- We live in a nation filled with idols of ure. Luke presents it otherwise, however, self-realization, material comfort, psycho- and in this account we can learn a great logical salvation, sexual ecstasy, ambition, deal about the proper defense of the faith. power, and success. Millions of Americans Several principles of a proper Christian embrace New Age spiritualities in a quest apologetic become evident as we consider for personal fulfillment and self-transcen- this great biblical text. dence. The ancient paganisms of nature worship have emerged once again, along A Christian Apologetic Begins in a with esoteric and occultic practices. Provoked Spirit (Acts 17:16) As journalist Walter Truett Anderson Paul observed the spiritual confusion observes, “Never before has any civiliza- of the Athenians and was overcome with tion made available to its populace such concern. The sight of a city full of idols a smorgasboard of realities. Never before seized Paul with grief, and that grief has a communications system like the con- turned him to proclaim the Gospel. temporary mass media made information Luke records that Paul experienced about religion—all religions—available to paroxyno, a paroxysm, at the sight of such so many people. Never has a society spiritual confusion. Athens was intel- allowed its people to become consumers lectually sophisticated—the arena where of belief, and allowed belief—all beliefs— the ancient world’s most famous philoso- to become merchandise.”4 Anderson phers had debated. This was the city of notes that America has become the Pericles, Plato, and Socrates. But Paul was “belief basket of the world.”5 not impressed with the faded glory. He I fear that we have become too accul- saw men and women in need of a Savior. turated, too blind, or too unimpressed This text reminds us that a proper with the paganisms and idolatries all Christian apologetic begins in spiritual around us. We betray a comfort level that concern, not in intellectual snobbery or Paul would certainly see as scandalous. scorn. We preach Christ, not because Where is the outrage? Where is the grip- Christianity is merely a superior philoso- ping realization that millions of men and phy or worldview, nor because we have women are slaves to the idols of our age? been smart enough to embrace the Gos- Where is the courage to confront the idols pel, but because we have met the Savior, on their own ground? we have been claimed by the Gospel, we have been transformed by the renewing A Christian Apologetic is Focused of our minds. on Gospel Proclamation (Acts 17:17) Our apologetic impulse is not a matter Moved by a city full of idols, Paul went 21 to the synagogue and to the market- report amazingly large numbers of Ameri- place each day, presenting the claims of cans who profess belief in God, but live Christ and reasoning with both Jews and like atheists. The vast majority of Ameri- Gentiles. cans profess to be Christians, but have no The goal of a proper apologetic is not concept of Christian belief or discipleship. to win an argument, but to win souls. A quick look around the local trade Apologetics separated from evangelism is bookshop will reveal something of the unknown in the New Testament, and it is contours of America’s spiritual confusion. clearly foreign to the model offered by the Books on religion and spirituality abound, Apostle Paul. The great missionary was but most are empty of content. You know about the business of preaching the Gos- you are in a confused age when a popular pel, presenting the claims of Christ, and book is entitled, That’s Funny, You Don’t calling for men and women to believe in Look Buddhist: On Being a Faithful Jew and the Lord Jesus Christ, and be saved. a Passionate Buddhist.6 Sadly, this confu- For too many evangelicals, the study sion has invaded our churches as well. An of apologetics is reduced to philosophical amazing number of Christians allow for structures and rational arguments. This is belief in reincarnation, channeling, or not Paul’s method. He is not merely con- other spiritualist manifestations. cerned with the justification of truth The current popularity of angels is claims, but, more profoundly, he is con- another symptom of our spiritual confu- cerned for the justification of sinners. sion. Americans now love to decorate their This is another reminder of the truth homes with angel figurines, artwork, cal- that every true theologian is an evange- endars, and inspirational messages. These list and every true evangelist is a theolo- citizens may or may not believe in God, gian. Christianity is not a truth to be but they do believe in divine messengers, affirmed, but a Gospel to be received. and they are always cute and friendly— Nevertheless, that Gospel possesses the theological counterparts to the Smurfs. content and presents truth claims that To the Athenians—and to modern secu- demand our keenest arguments and lar Americans—the preaching of the boldest proclamation. Moved by the sight authentic Gospel sounds strange. “You are of idols, Paul preached Christ, and called bringing some strange things to our ears,” for belief. the Athenians responded to Paul. The Christian evangelist hears this same A Christian Apologetic Assumes a response today. In postmodern America, Context of Spiritual Confusion the Christian Gospel is strange in its whole (Acts 17:18-21) and in its parts. Most Americans assume Paul’s Gospel proclamation brought themselves to be good and decent per- confusion to the Athenian intellectuals. sons. They are amused at the notion that The Epicureans, the forerunners of mod- they are sinners against God. We assume ern secularists, and the Stoics, committed our need of therapy. The Gospel insists on to pantheistic rationalism, accused Paul our need of salvation. We want to work it of teaching nonsense. out ourselves. The Gospel argues that this Confusion marks the spiritual under- leads to death. We want to look within. standing of most Americans. Pollsters The Gospel points us to Christ. We want 22 to do our part. The Gospel insists that derision. Jesus paid it all. We demand to get what To contend for biblical morality in this we deserve. The Gospel warns that this is culture is to run the risk of being cited for exactly what we will receive, unless we “hate speech.” We must assume a context turn to Christ in faith. of spiritual confusion, and this is often Grace is an alien concept in American now a hostile confusion. The Gospel culture. Sin is almost outlawed as a sounds not only strange, but threatening category. A substitutionary atonement to the local deities. sounds unfair. God in human flesh is too much to take. But that is what we preach. A Christian Apologetic is Directed “You are bringing some strange things to a Spiritual Hunger (Acts 17:22-23) to our ears; so we want to know what Paul’s observation convinced him that these things mean” (v. 20). The Athenians the Athenians were a religious people. A were confused by Paul’s preaching of deficit of religiosity was not the problem. Jesus and the resurrection. More explana- The Athenians seemed to be fearful lest tion was needed. “He seems to be a they miss any new philosophy, or neglect proclaimer of strange deities,” accused any unknown deity. others, charging Paul with the same American culture is increasingly secu- offense that led to the execution of laristic. The past century has seen the Socrates. agenda of secularism accomplished in the The Athenians and their tourists loved courts, in the schools, in the marketplace, to spend their time telling or hearing and in the media. And yet, Americans are something new—but not this new. Ameri- among the most religious people in the cans are consumers of meaning in like world. The emptiness of the secular waste- manner as they buy cars and clothing. land haunts most postmodern persons. They will test drive new spiritualities and They long for something more. try on a whole series of lifestyles. To many, Many people declare themselves to live the Gospel is just too strange, too counter- by scientific rationality, and yet they read cultural, too propositional, too exclusive. the astrology charts, believe in alien Paul was brought up on charges and abductions, line up to see bleeding stat- gained a hearing at the Areopagus. “May ues, and talk about past lives. In America, we know what this new teaching is which even some atheists say they believe in you are proclaiming?” (v. 19). The one miracles. Sociologist Robert Wuthnow offense certain to bring charges against the suggests that “Americans are particularly evangelist in our generation is the claim fascinated with miraculous manifes- to objective, absolute, eternal, universal, tations of the sacred because they are exclusive truth. Polytheists, syncretists, uncertain whether the sacred has really and secularists are untroubled by the pro- gone away.”7 motion of one more deity or spirituality Paul had taken account of the plentiful in the cultural cafeteria. But preach Jesus idols and houses of worship found in Ath- Christ as the Way, the Truth, and the Life ens. He noted that they were hedging their and the Gospel as the only message of bets, lest they offend an unknown deity. salvation, and you will find yourself Paul seized the opportunity. Brought hauled off to the court of public scorn and before the court at the Areopagus, Paul 23 brought up the altar to an unknown god. passed the claims of the Hellenistic “It just so happens that I know that God,” deities. Paul asserted. “Therefore what you wor- Paul’s concern was to establish his ship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you.” preaching of Christ upon the larger foun- This is surely a pattern for Christian dation of the knowledge of the God of the apologetics in a postmodern age. We must Bible, Maker of Heaven and Earth. John seek constantly to turn spiritual hunger Calvin organized his systematic theology toward the true food of the Gospel of around what he called the duplex cognito Christ. God has placed that hunger within Domini, the two-fold knowledge of God. lost persons so that they might desire We must start with the knowledge of God Christ. We bear the stewardship of pro- as Creator, but this is not sufficient to save. claiming the Gospel. We must muster the “Nevertheless, it is one thing to feel that courage to confront confused post- God our Maker supports us by his power, moderns with the reality of their spiritual governs us by his providence, nourishes ignorance. Paul never allowed that this us by his goodness, and attends us with ignorance is an excuse, but it is a reality. all sorts of blessings—and another thing In their ignorance, Americans are feed- to embrace the reconciliation offered us ing on a false diet of superstition and in Christ.”8 It is a place to start. myths. The hunger is a place to start. Our challenge is to preach Christ as the only A Christian Apologetic Confronts answer to that hunger. Error (Acts 17:29) In this sense the apologetic task and the A Christian Apologetic Begins with polemical task are related. Error must be the Fundamental Issue of God’s confronted, heresy must be opposed, and Nature, Character, Power, and false teachings must be corrected. Paul Authority (Acts 17:24-28) was bold to correct the Athenians with a Interestingly, Paul does not begin with firm injunction: “we ought not to think” Christ and the cross, but with the knowl- false thoughts about God. edge of God in creation. The God who cre- False theologies abound in the post- ated the world is not looking for modern marketplace of ideas. Americans Corinthian columns and the Parthenon, have revived old heresies and invented Paul argued. He does not dwell in temples new ones. The Mormons believe that God made with human hands. is a celestial being with a sex partner. The He is the author of life itself, preached ecological mystics believe that the world Paul; and He needs nothing from us. Fur- is God, the so-called Gaia Hypothesis. thermore, He has made humanity and is New Age devotees believe that God is Lord over all the nations. He sovereignly infinite empowerment. Shirley MacLaine determines their times and boundaries. believes that God is . . . Shirley MacLaine. You were partly right, said Paul, even The Athenians made idols out of as he quoted their poets. We are God’s marble and precious metals. Paul rebuked children, but not in the sense you believe. this practice, and proclaimed that the In proclaiming God as the Creator, Ruler, Divine Nature is not like gold or silver or and Sustainer of all things and all peoples, stone. Furthermore, God is not “an image Paul was making a claim that far sur- formed by the art and thought of man.” 24 Our culture is filled with images of is comprehensive, even as it is driven gods formed by art and the thought of by the desire to see sinners turn to Christ man. Our confrontation must be bold and in faith. biblical. We have no right to make God in our image. Conclusion Paul’s apologetic method did not make A Christian Apologetic Affirms the him popular in Athens. He was not hired Totality of God’s Saving Purpose on as a philosopher on Mars Hill. Some (Acts 17:30-31) began to sneer. Others professed interest Paul brought his presentation of the in hearing more—but later. But some men Gospel to a climactic conclusion by call- joined him and believed, “among whom ing for repentance and warning of the also were Dionysius the Areopagite and judgment that is to come. He proclaimed a woman named Damaris and others with Christ as the appointed Savior who will them.” judge the world, and whose identity has “You are bringing some strange things been clearly revealed by the fact that God to our ears.” As our Lord exhorted the has raised Him from the dead. crowds, “He who has ears, let him hear” It is not enough to preach Christ with- (Matthew 13:9). Proclaim and defend the out calling for belief and repentance. It is Christian faith today and some will sneer. not enough to promise the blessings of Others will listen with the ear, but not with heaven without warning of the threat of the heart. Some, however, will believe, hell. It is not enough to preach salvation and will join the church of believing saints. without pointing to judgment. We have The world has no need of half-evange- not preached Christ until we have pro- lists preaching a half-gospel to the half- claimed His resurrection from the dead. converted, leading to a half-hearted An authentic apologetic defends and church. I pray that God will raise up and declares the whole Gospel. The center of call out a generation of bold and coura- our proclamation is Jesus Christ the geous evangelist-apologists for the Savior, who was crucified for sinners, was twenty-first century. These would be men raised by the power of God, is coming and women who will be witnesses to the again in glory and in judgment, and is power of the Gospel to the whole world, even now sitting and ruling at the right and who would proclaim the whole coun- hand of God the Father Almighty. We sel of God. We need a generation of men must defend the truths of Christ’s deity, who will lead bold churches in preaching the virgin birth, the historicity of the and teaching the Holy Scriptures, equip- miracles, the truth of the incarnation, the ping the saints for every good work, reality of His substitutionary death, and including the work of defending the faith. the assurance of His bodily resurrection. Yet we dare not stop at these affirma- O God, who dost ever hallow and protect thy tions, for we must place the person and Church; Raise up therein, through thy work of Christ within the context of God’s Spirit, good and faithful stewards of the eternal purpose to save a people to His mysteries of Christ, that by their ministry own glory and to exalt himself among the and example thy people may abide in thy nations. The task of Christian apologetics favor and be guided in the way of truth, 25 through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee in the unity of the same Spirit ever, one God, world without end.9

ENDNOTES 1 Jonathan Dimbleby, The Prince of Wales: A Biography (New York: William Morrow and Co., 1994) 528. Charles introduced the words quoted above with this decla- ration: “I personally would rather see it as Defender of Faith, not the Faith, because it [Defender of the Faith] means just one particular interpretation of the Faith, which I think is sometimes something that causes a deal of a prob- lem. It has done so for hundreds of years.” (Ibid.) 2 Ibid. 3 So named because it was claimed that at this spot Mars had defended himself against the charge of murdering Hall- irhothius, son of Neptune. See A. N. Wil- son, Paul: The Mind of the Apostle (New York: Norton, 1997) p. 156 n. 42. 4 Walter Truett Anderson, Reality Isn’t What it Used to Be (San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1990) 188. 5 Ibid. 6 Sylvia Boorstein, That’s Funny, You Don’t Look Buddhist: On Being a Faithful Jew and a Passionate Buddhist (San Francisco: HarperCollins, 1997). 7 Robert Wuthnow, After Heaven: Spiritu- ality in America Since the 1950s (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1998) 139. 8 John Calvin, Insitutes of the Christian Religion, ed. John T. McNeill, trans. Ford Lewis Battles, 2 vols. (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1960) I:40. 9 The Book of Common Prayer (1928), p. 562.

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