Earnest Christian parents want to help their children learn to read, understand, trust, and love the Bible. But most of us find this to be a significant, even daunting, challenge. The Bible is big and complex enough to intimidate adults. How do we help our children get to know the most important book ever assembled and begin to develop habits of enjoying it daily?

There is no simple formula for success here. Each child is different, and the Holy Spirit works in different ways and at different times with each one. But I have found certain means of grace that generally prove effective. As a parent of five children, as well as a pastor, I’ll share eight that I’ve found helpful.

Read the rest of this article at desiringGod.com.

Remember, there are weekly videos to go with Exploring the Bible.

When we think of apologetics, most of us think of logic, reason, philosophy, presuppositions, evidences, and so on. Rarely, if ever, do we think of feeling, passion, desire, and needs.

Some forms of Christian apologetics are characterized by way too much heat and passion, but the manner of arguing is not what we’re talking about here. We’re talking about using human feeling, passion, desire, and needs as the substance of our argument. Yes, we argue that Christianity satisfies the mind, but we should also argue that it satisfies the heart. As I briefly mentioned yesterday, this more experiential or existential apologetic is rarely utilized in our own day. However, I want to make the case for its addition to our apologetic armory.

The best book I’ve come across on this subject is Clifford Williams’s Existential Reasons for Belief in God; A Defense of Desires and Emotions for Faith which advocates for a needs-based apologetics that appeals to basic human needs. These longings include cosmic security, meaning protection from difficulties and suffering, and assurance that even if they do come that all will still be well. Then there is hope of life beyond the grave and, more than that, the desire of a blessed existence in heaven in the afterlife. The need for goodness is the craving for a good and virtuous life for ourselves and others. A larger life includes new and exhilarating experiences of things, people, and places. People also want the emotional security of being loved and a sense of significance, purpose, and destiny. The last but foundational self-directed need is forgiveness.

Other-directed needs that also satisfy self are love to others, delighting in the goodness of others, being present with and to those we love, pursuing justice and fairness for others, and a sense of awe at natural, moral, and spiritual wonders. Although these needs spring not from self-concern but concern for others, yet they also enrich the self when satisfied and impoverish if unsatisfied.

For needs-based reasoning to be persuasive, says Williams, the existential apologist must help people recognize these needs and feel them deeply. The greater the felt need, and the more people see that God alone can meet them, the more compelling the argument will be.

Two Different Needs-based Apologetic Arguments

Having identified these basic human needs, how can they be incorporated into apologetics? Williams helpfully distinguishes between two related but different needs-based apologetic arguments based on need: the evidential argument based upon needs and the existential argument based upon needs.

The evidential argument says that the presence of basic human needs that only God can satisfy is evidence of God’s existence and the veracity of the Christian religion. Clifford presents the needs-based evidential argument as follows:

1. We feel these basic human needs.
2. Only God can satisfy these needs.
3. Therefore, God exists.

Like all other evidential arguments, this one aims at a correct representation of reality. The evidence purports to explain what exists. Although it may succeed in proving God’s existence, it does not necessarily justify or persuade to faith in God. The fact that these basic human needs exist and that only God’s design can explain them and only he can satisfy them may be insufficient to persuade to faith in God. The evidences are used to support the truth of a claim (God exists) but not to justify faith.

The existential argument says that faith in God is justified because it satisfies specific needs. It doesn’t say anything about whether God exists; it simply says that as faith in God satisfies basic human needs, that’s sufficient justification for believing in God. The argument is not based on evidence for the existence of God or of a correct conception of reality, but the existence of needs that only God can satisfy. The syllogism as presented by Clifford is:

1. We feel these basic human needs.
2. Faith in the Christian God satisfies these needs.
3. Therefore, we are justified in having faith in God.

Both these needs-based evidential and existential arguments claim that Christian faith satisfies many basic needs. The evidential argument uses this to make a case for believing that God exists and the Christian faith is true. The existential argument is not making a claim about truth, reality, or theism. It’s simply saying that if such a faith satisfies need, people are justified in having that faith.

The person convinced by the needs-based evidential argument says, “I believe because there is good reason to believe that God exists and the Christian faith is true.” The person convinced by the needs-based existential argument says, “I believe, not because I have evidence for the truth, but because it satisfies my needs.”

The evidentialist believes on the basis of positive subjective evidence. The existentialist believes in order to have positive subjective experiences (and to get rid of the negative subjective experience of having unmet needs). The needs-based evidential argument points to the presence of needs as a fact that needs explaining, whereas the needs-based existential argument doesn’t try to explain why there are needs but simply uses them to move one to faith. “They are propelled toward faith,” said Clifford, “for the same reason that anyone is propelled toward satisfying needs, namely, because having an unfulfilled need is unpleasant.”

At this point, you may be thinking, “This sounds more like the health, wealth, and prosperity Gospel than Reformed Apologetics.” Tomorrow, I want to show you that this strand of needs-based apologetics is present in the Bible and has also been present throughout Church history.

Previous articles in this series

What is Apologetics?
The Two Primary Aims of Apologetics

Blogs

If Your Spouse’s Work Life Is Stressful, Design a Healthier Home Life
What’s fascinating about this Harvard Business Review article is that it’s written by the wife of one of the world’s leading happiness researchers, Harvard’s Shawn Achor. The Achor family are clearly no more exempt from stress, anxiety, and burnout than others. What’s most interesting is that their answer is a renewed focus on the family: ”By collectively focusing on strengthening a family culture, we give our brains and bodies a chance to relax and recover.”

Brief Book Reviews by Russell Pulliam
Christian newspaper journalist Russell Pulliam with some book recommendations.

Announcing Ask Ligonier: A Place for Answers
Obviously if you have a pastor, that’s your first port of call. However, this looks like a great service for people with spiritual questions, especially those outside the church or those with no reliable spiritual leader.

“For more than forty-five years, Christians have been looking to Ligonier Ministries, the teaching fellowship of R.C. Sproul, for clear and helpful answers to biblical and theological questions. Now you can ask your questions online as they arise, confident that our team will work quickly to provide clear, concise, and trustworthy answers.”

Six Ways Ministry Spouses Get Hurt
“We often lose sight of those in churches whose spouses serve on staff. These are the spouses of executive pastors, youth pastors, children’s pastors, lead pastors, and others. We have heard from these spouses through thousands of comments at ThomRainer.com. We want you to see the six issues we have heard most frequently. We want you to be aware of them so you can offer ministry, encouragement, and friendship to spouses of those who serve in the church. Sometimes those are among the loneliest people in the church.”

12 Observations on the iGeneration
Eric Geiger continues his summary and analysis.

Warnings Against the “Re-Moralization” of Sex
Believe it or not, there are people worried that the #MeToo movement are in danger of “re-moralizing sex.”

“Merkin here is fighting to keep the sexual revolution alive, even as it falls apart.  She ridicules “Victorian housewives” and warns against the “remoralization of sex.”  She is like a Soviet commissar who continues to praise Communism even while its victims are tearing down the Berlin Wall.”

New Booklet

How Can I Feel Productive as a Mom? by Esther Engelsma. An excellent little publication from one of Dr. Beeke’s daughter. Shona’s response:

“Replace your wearisome, multitasking, productivity driven approach to mothering with a grace-filled, Christ focused approach. Esther Engelsma does this beautifully as she reminds us that our primary aim is eternal—the glory of God and the salvation of our children.”

Kindle Books

For your non-Kindle book buying needs please consider using Reformation Heritage Books in the USA and Reformed Book Services in Canada. Good value prices and shipping.

An Infinite Journey: Growing toward Christlikeness by Dr. Andrew M. Davis $0.99.

Pocket Dictionary of the Reformed Tradition (The IVP Pocket Reference Series) by Kelly M. Kapic $4.93.

The Heavens Proclaim His Glory: A Spectacular View of Creation Through the Lens of the NASA Hubble Telescope $3.99.

Video

Devotional Resources for Children

In our teens and 20s, we seem to have unlimited reserves of energy. Nothing stops us or even slows us down. However, when we get into our 30s and 40s, we notice that our energy supplies are not infinite as we thought. Some days we fly, but other days we flop. What makes the difference?

At first it’s difficult to figure out, but eventually we notice that some activities fill our tanks while others drain us. Then, we figure out that we have to balance fillers and drainers so that when we engage in a draining activity, we follow it with something that fills us; otherwise we’ll be running on fumes, which won’t last long.

Managing our energy consumption is as important as managing our money and our time. Pastor Greg’s words reflect on his wife Jeni’s experience of depression, but they are applicable to all Christians living long-term overstressed lives:

The life of a young family can be incredibly stressful, and I don’t think we really appreciate enough the weight of that day-in, day-out stress. And it doesn’t have to be a family that experiences some really traumatic event. It can just be the normal everyday life of a busy young family. If you don’t take precautions for physical health, emotional health, spiritual health, eventually you’ll just run out of gas and energy and you’ll crash. And I think it’s a real danger in conservative Christian circles that we just keep going, going, going, doing the Lord’s will, having all the spiritual rationale behind it, and then suddenly finding ourselves completely exhausted.

Managing our energy begins with identifying our drainers and fillers so that we can plan ahead and fill up when we’re running low. To help you identify yours, here’s a sample of mine:

Read the rest of this article at the ERLC website.

Yesterday we proposed a preliminary definition of apologetics as the formulation of a persuasive case for Christianity as a whole, by a Christian who views their religion as a revelation from God. We closed by distinguishing between two key apologetical aims: persuading unbelievers and persuading believers. Let’s take a closer look at these two activities with a view to further refining our definition of apologetics.

Persuading Unbelievers

Apologetics involves “persuading unbelievers.” As noted yesterday, at its heart, apologetics is all about persuasion. It’s not a mere formulation of Christian doctrine, a bare statement of theological facts, but an attempt to persuade unbelievers to embrace the Christian religion. Christian apologetics is aimed at changing unbelieving minds and hearts with various arguments that may be placed in three main categories.

First, there are arguments that defend the Christian faith. These include those that answer and defeat arguments against Christianity, as well as those that refute false accusations, stereotypes, and ideas of Christianity. Concerning this approach, J. Gresham Machen noted:

God usually exerts power [for conversion] in connection with certain prior conditions of the human mind, and it should be ours to create, so far as we can, with the help of God, those favorable conditions for the reception of the gospel. False ideas are the greatest obstacles to the reception of the gospel.[1]

Second, there are arguments that commend Christianity, giving positive reasons to embrace the Christian faith. These more positive and commendatory arguments include arguments and evidences for the Christian faith and also the highlighting of the benefits and advantages of Christianity.

Douglas Groothuis asserts that “more time will be spent on the positive case for Christianity than on the negative case against other worldviews. Indeed, giving a strong positive case for a Christian worldview will automatically eliminate other views.”[2]

Third, there are arguments that attack non-Christian religions, aiming to dis-prove and discredit them.

Persuading Believers

In addition to persuading unbelievers, Avery Dulles* said that apologetics may also involve “helping believers to overcome their doubts and hesitations.” So, whether apologies are addressed to Christians or non-Christians, the common features in both apologetic activities are unbelief and persuasion.

That’s consistent with Dr. John Frame’s definition of apologetics as “the application of theology to unbelief.” The aim of the persuasion, of the application of theology, is to remove unbelief in order to win the unbeliever for the Christian faith or to establish the Christian more firmly in the Christian faith.

After surveying the New Testament books, Dulles found this double purpose to some degree in most of them and concluded:

While none of the NT writings is directly and professedly apologetical, nearly all of them contain reflections of the Church’s efforts to exhibit the credibility of its message and to answer the obvious objections that would have arisen in the minds of adversaries, prospective converts, and candid believers. Parts of the NT – such as the major Pauline letters, Hebrews, the four Gospels, and Acts – reveal an apologetical preoccupation in the minds of the authors themselves. (19)

These double aims of persuading both unbelievers and believers have been recognized not only in the Bible, as noted above, but also throughout church history. For example, Dulles cites Cyprian’s Testimonies as an apologetic example of persuading Christians, as “The treatise was evidently written more to support Christians in their encounters with Jews than with the direct aim of converting the latter.” (74)

When Christianity was ridiculed as absurd in Anselm’s time, Anselm’s theological reasonings were written “partly to equip believers to deal with unbelievers” which Dulles describes as a “properly apologetic” benefit by equipping believers with reasons for their hope, and, “insofar as they were based on cogent reasons, could be meaningful to those who lacked faith” but also help believers discern the rationality of their faith. (79-80)

As Dulles explained in his preface to A History of Apologetics, although Christian apologists aimed “to win converts from other groups” their focus increasingly shifted towards Christians and the need for an inner apologetic:

Finally, apologists came to recognize that every Christian harbors within himself a secret infidel. At this point apologetics became, to some extent, a dialogue between the believer and the unbeliever in the heart of the Christian himself. In speaking to his unregenerate self the apologist assumed – quite correctly – that he would best be able to reach others similarly situated. (xvi)

So much did the focus of apologetics shift over the years, from the unbeliever to the believer, that the 18-19^th century philosopher, Friedrich Schleiermacher eventually went so far as to say that apologetics was “not to bring others into the community – a task pertaining rather to ‘practical theology’ – but rather to communicate to the faithful a ‘conviction of the truth of the mode of faith’ propagated in the Church community in such manner that it becomes intellectually acceptable.”[3]

This is imbalanced compared to most definitions of apologetics, but confirms the point of this survey that, as Groothuis puts it, “apologetics is offered not only in response to the doubts and denials of non-Christians. It also fortifies believers in their faith, whether they are wrestling with doubts and questions or simply seeking a deeper grounding for their biblical beliefs.”[4]

Based upon this brief historical survey, any comprehensive definition of Christian apologetics must include two elements: persuasion and a focus on unbelief. A definition that meets such criteria would be: Christian apologetics uses arguments that defend and commend the Christian faith, and that critique non-Christian religions and worldviews, in order to persuade non-Christians to accept the Christian faith or to persuade Christians to greater faith.

Blogs

Who Are the iGeneration and What Does Research Tell Us?
Eric Geiger summarizes Jean Twenge’s important book iGen.

Your smartphone is making you stupid, antisocial and unhealthy. So why can’t you put it down?
This is from the Globe and Mail:

A decade ago, smart devices promised to change the way we think and interact, and they have – but not by making us smarter. Eric Andrew-Gee explores the growing body of scientific evidence that digital distraction is damaging our minds.

There have been so many articles in the past few days about the damage digital technology and social media are doing to us. Here are two more, this time from the BBC:

Is social media bad for you? The evidence and the unknowns

#LikeMinded: A new series on social media and mental health

Even Apple’s major investors are urging the company to take action on phone addition. It’s probably only when this begins to reduce income and investment value that these companies will take this seriously.

Eight Questions on Addictions for Pastors – Christian Counseling & Educational Foundation
“The word addiction is open to all kinds of theories, which is one reason some Christians try to avoid it. Slavery is more specific. But the word addiction is a useful point of contact that essentially says, “I like this, or at least I once liked it, but I certainly never planned to be owned by it.” How do you approach addictions in your church? Here are eight questions for pastors to consider.”

The New Normal for Church Security
“I recently conducted a social media survey to ask church leaders and members to share what their churches were doing for church security. I then went to the Church Answers community (ChurchAnswers.com) for more in-depth responses. Here are some realities of the new normal as articulated by these respondents:”

The Institute for Expository Preaching with Steven Lawson
Here are some opportunities to attend Steve Lawson’s highly regarded Expository preaching seminars around the country.

Puritan Reformed Seminary and Reformation Bible College Forge Partnership For MDiv Program
Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary (“PRTS”) in Grand Rapids, Mich., and Reformation Bible College (“RBC”) in Sanford, Fla., have agreed to a a strategic partnership establishing of a 6-year Master of Divinity (MDiv) Program. This strategic partnership exemplifies the vision of the strengthening and sharing of resources in the service of the academy and church.

New Book

Preparing Children for Marriage: How to Teach God’s Good Design for Marriage, Sex, Purity, and Dating by Josh Mulvihill (RHB).

Kindle Books

For your non-Kindle book buying needs please consider using Reformation Heritage Books in the USA and Reformed Book Services in Canada. Good value prices and shipping.

Faith Alone: A Daily Devotional by Martin Luther $2.99.

The John MacArthur Collection Volume 1: Alone with God, Standing Strong, Anxious for Nothing, The Silent Shepherd  by John MacArthur Jr $1.99. The book on anxiety is good for common-garden everyday anxiety but don’t apply it to anxiety disorders.

A People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn $3.99.