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Conversations between the faithful and the secular about the reality of Christianity and
the Bible are often not actually a conversation at all. Without a proper understanding of
apologetic methods, they are often just two people with opposing views talking at each other.
Finding a way to talk to each other and being open to actually listening to the opposing side is
really the key to helping someone understand what they have yet to grasp. When talking to a
secular person about Christianity, some of the most often argued facts are the concept of the
supernatural, miracles and the inerrancy or factualness of the Bible. Apologetics helps us use
logical arguments and facts so we can provide a non-believer with an appreciation for and
hopefully better understanding of Christianity and an appreciation for the resurrection of Christ.
The Inside-out method can help the Christian work with a secular person by not just
throwing scripture at them but by meeting them at a common ground to begin building an open
minded relationship. Acknowledging the non-believer’s viewpoint is also important. This can
directly apply when discussing the supernatural aspects of the Bible. In Apologetics at the Cross,
the authors agree that “… It is important to acknowledge that there are certain mysteries in the
world that God has not filled us in on, and that we will never have the independent, all-
encompassing view on reality that God does.”1 This entire statement leads to the Glory of God
and also will show the non-believer that you aren’t going to just razzle dazzle and explain away
concerns through the discussion.
Furthermore, when a non-believer looks at the resurrection of Christ, this supernatural act
can appear to be just a grandiose fanciful idea. Leonard Erwin Eisenburg gives a secular
argument to the resurrection saying that, “If Jesus (barely) survived the cross, the empty tomb
1 J.D. Chatraw & M.D. Allen. Apologetics at the Cross.pg 150.
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becomes a plausible consequence.”2 This argument can be used to lead a non-believer to say that
He may have been rescued from the tomb and died later at an undisclosed location. In contrast
to this, William Lane Craig reminds us that there were witnesses to the resurrected Jesus. In fact,
“…the apostles claimed to be eyewitnesses of the risen Christ. They even appealed to the
testimony of five hundred brethren who had seen Jesus after his resurrection.”3 How, logically
would five hundred people be able to corroborate the story? In today’s day with social media it
seems very easy for a large group to have the same story, at least claim to; but at a time, when
people had to send letters by hand or talk face to face, it seems less than unlikely. He also points
out that, “For had he not risen, contrary to his prediction, that would have destroyed the very
foundation of any faith the disciples had.”4 If witnesses had not been present and had not
believed the completion of the prophecy, they would not have believed Jesus as the savior and
the story would have just ended.
Now when discussing the inerrancy of the Bible or even is factualness, one must be able
to point out that the stories compiled in the Bible are not the only writings that exist from the
same period. Many writings exist that are not in the Bible but can corroborate the people, places
and situations that are mentioned in many of the stories. King Herod, for example is mentioned
as the King of the Jews during the time of Jesus’ birth. King Herod was a real person, made
evident by the existence of his standing work. A book called Herod: King of the Jews and
Friend of the Romans, dives deep into the life and work of Herod. “Herod constructed a large
number of forts, palaces, temples, infrastructure projects, and entire cities during his reign,
2 Leonard Irwin Eisenberg. “A New Natural Interpretation of the Empty Tomb.”AInternational Journal for
Philosophy of Religion.
3 William Lane Craig.AReasonable Faith (3rd Edition): Christian Truth and Apologetics.
4 William Lane Craig.AReasonable Faith (3rd Edition): Christian Truth and Apologetics.
3
whose skill, planning, and bravado continue to impress and awe today.”5 Another piece of
physical proof is what we call the Western Wall. The Western Wall was discussed as being the
only survivor of the Roman siege of the second Temple around 70 AD. This wall still stands
today.
Possibly the most well-known Biblical discoveries that science agrees with is the
discovery of the Dead Sea scrolls at Qumran. Well over 100 scrolls dating from as far back as the
3rd century B.C. were found with some being the earliest known copies of books from the Bible.
Lots of research has been done on these pieces including a book written by Maurya P. Horgan
that explains this. “Among the Hebrew documents recovered from the Qumran caves are
eighteen texts distinguished by the fact that each is a continuous commentary on or an
interpretation of a single biblical book.”6 Physical proof exists in several forms that are
undeniable proof of events that are documented in the Bible.
There are many ways to address the secular person who questions Christianity. Using the
Inside out method from Apologetics at the Cross, is one beneficial method. This includes
addressing the in, by finding some commonality that Christians and secularist can agree upon,
such as eye-witness testimony. Not only was it used at the time of the Resurrection, it is used in
court cases today and applied as facts. Moving to the out which brings concrete data in to
provide evidence to back up Christian claims. In this situation particularly, these outside facts
are hard to dispute. These include unrelated writings that corroborate Biblical stories and
architecture that still stands today that is discussed in the stories. Christians may not be able to
turn the hearts and minds of every non-believer but they can definitely use tried and true methods
to try.
5 Peter Richardson, and Amy Marie Fisher.AHerod : King of the Jews and Friend of the Romans.
6 Maurya P. Horgan.APesharim : Qumran Interpreations of Biblical Books.
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Bibliography
Chatraw, J. D., & Allen, M. D. (2018).AApologetics at the Cross. HarperCollins
Christian.Ahttps://libertyonline.vitalsource.com/books/9780310524724
Craig, William Lane.AReasonable Faith (3rd Edition) : Christian Truth and Apologetics.
Wheaton: Crossway, 2008. Accessed December 2, 2024. ProQuest Ebook Central.
Eisenberg, Leonard Irwin. “A New Natural Interpretation of the Empty Tomb.”AInternational Journal
for Philosophy of ReligionA80, no. 2 (2016): 133–43. https://www.jstor.org/stable/48700342.
Horgan, Maurya P..APesharim : Qumran Interpreations of Biblical Books, Wipf & Stock
Publishers, 2023.*ProQuest Ebook Central,
http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/liberty/detail.action?docID=31572943.
Created from liberty on 2024-12-03 18:17:39.
Richardson, Peter, and Amy Marie Fisher.AHerod : King of the Jews and Friend of the Romans.
Second edition. London: Taylor and Francis, 2017.
https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315163352.
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