Currently away at the moment. This is a guest review by Dan C. He is a friend who reads this blog and his website can be found at The Battle Cry. Check it out.
Presuppositional Apologetics and Personal Evangelism
Sounds rather ominous, doe it not? Really deep stuff! Well, not necessarily. First, let’s define our terms.
“Presuppositionalism is a school of Christian apologetics that believes the Christian faith is the only basis for rational thought. It presupposes that the Bible is divine revelation and attempts to expose flaws in other worldviews. It claims that apart from presuppositions, one could not make sense of any human experience, and there can be no set of neutral assumptions from which to reason with a non-Christian”.[i]
“To evangelize is to present Christ Jesus to sinful people in order that, through the power of the Holy Spirit, they may come to put their trust in God through Him.”[ii]
We all have presuppositions, certain beliefs or assumptions with which we enter discussions. They frame our thoughts about a matter as well as our argument. In matters of personal evangelism, it means that we believe what the Bible tells us about ourselves as human beings, as well as what it has to has to say about lost sinners. We let those truths guide us in our sharing of the good news.
So, what does the Bible tell us about ourselves as human beings? For me, the two most significant facts are found in Romans, Chapter 1.
“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of (fallen) men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.”
(Rom 1:18-19) Emphasis mine.
First, since fallen men are full of ungodliness and unrighteousness, they are subjects of God’s wrath. Secondly, fallen men know that God exists, yet the suppress the truth in their unrighteousness. In other words, God doesn’t believe in atheists.
With that truth in mind, what else the Bible have to tell us about those with who we desire to share the gospel? We’ll share just a few.
- They don’t seek God.
“As it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God.” (Rom 3:10-11)
- They hate God and can do nothing to please him.
“For the mind that is set on the flesh (the only mind the sinner has) is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” (Rom 8:7-8) Emphasis mine.
- They cannot, in and of themselves, even understand the gospel!
“The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.” (1 Cor 2:14)
“In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” (2 Cor 4:4)
So how does this affect our evangelistic efforts? There are several ways:
- If all of us, by nature, already know that God exists, we do not have to ‘prove’ the existence of God. In fact, some would suggest that if we engage in proving the existence of God to an unbeliever, we are presenting a ‘case for God’ and making the unbeliever the ‘judge’.
- If it’s true that the unbeliever is living in rebellion against the God he/she knows exist, that person by nature also hates God’s gospel. We are actually presenting the gospel to someone who doesn’t want to hear it.
- If it’s also true that the unbeliever, in his/her natural state, cannot even understand the message of the gospel why do we present it at all? I tell you why I do.
You see, along with believing what the Bible says about us as fallen creatures (our presuppositions), I also believe that God saves all those whom he has chosen to save in exactly the same manner (another presupposition). Don’t worry, I’m not going to get into a long dissertation about the doctrine of salvation. But I do believe that there are two ‘steps’, if you will, in God’s saving of sinners.
- God opens hearts to hear the gospel.
- God sends a messenger to present the gospel to that divinely opened heart.
Do you remember Lydia in Acts, Chapter 16? Paul and company went down to a river outside of Philippi looking for a place of prayer and there was a small group of women already gathered there. Paul spoke to them and we are told:
“One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul.” (Acts 16:14) (Emphasis mine.)
In short, God opened Lydia’s heart to hear the gospel, sent Paul as his messenger to present that gospel and Lydia was baptized (along with her household) and invited Paul & company to stay at her house!
“And after she was baptized, and her household as well, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.” (Acts 16:15)
We don’t need to be told specifically that ‘Lydia was saved that day’; the text speaks for itself. God had a purpose ion opening her heart and God’s purposes cannot fail.
So, what does that mean for personal evangelism? It means that we have the great privilege to be God’s ‘gospel’ messengers. Our job is to ‘get the gospel right’ (Christ died for our sins) and share it with others. Out prayer for the lost is simple. “God, open their hearts to hear.”
We don’t need to try and pry open hard hearts with clever presentations. We don’t even need to ask people to open their own hearts. They can’t. That’s God’s business. Unless God opens a heart to hear the truth of the message, our words are just words. But when God opens a sinner’s heart and the gospel is heard, salvation happens.
In summary, presuppositional apologetics – believing what God says about fallen men and believing what we are told about how God saves sinners actually simplifies our evangelism. Our ‘work’ is knowing and being faithful to the gospel message (See 1 Cor 15:1-5) and being available to share that message as God leads us. No tricks, no gimmicks. We’re not ‘salesmen’. We’re simply messengers. It is God who saves sinners!
[i] John Frame, 2006
[ii] Alistair Begg, Crossing the Barriers
[…] via Presuppositional Apologetics and Personal Evangelism — The Domain for Truth […]
Thank you for this edifying post Dan!
Thanks for having me as a guest!
You have expressed very well something I was trying to put into words this weekend. A farmer does not need a Master’s degree in Agriculture to plant seeds and produce a crop. The seeds have the power to grow whether he understands how they work or not. Evangelism is not a matter of convincing someone to believe through persuasion or winning them over by manipulating emotions. Evangelism is sharing the Word of God, trusting that Word to have the power to enter hearts and change lives. J.
Amen to that!
“18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” 1 Cor 1:18
Reblogged this on Speak God's Truth and commented:
“…we have the great privilege to be God’s ‘gospel’ messengers. Our job is to ‘get the gospel right’ (Christ died for our sins) and share it with others. Out prayer for the lost is simple. “God, open their hearts to hear.”
Thanks for re-blogging and the note of encouragement to my heart!
Dan, this is excellent. What a clear and succinct description of proper evangelistic methods.
I hope you will consider joining me in Minnesota in February to practice evangelism with the crowds who gather for the Super Bowl. I would love to have someone with theology like yours and a desire to evangelize on my team.
Great to meet you, Michael!
Dan if you want to know more about the Super Bowl Outreach contact me at mac@michaelcoughlin.net.
Hi everyone! Dan, what a great and succinct post this was. I am a young Christian, 18 to be precise, and I had a few questions on presupostional apologetics. It seems to me to not only be the most biblical way of evangelizing and defending the faith, but the actual only way of properly doing so.
In Dr. Frame’s, along with Dr. Van Till’s, work, it seems that each person who reads the Bible, has their hearts divinely opened by God, and comes to put their Faith in the Lord, is gifted the ability to have an absolute certainty as to what it is they know. (In this case that God is who He says He is)
It seems to me that when our Philosophical terms are defined by the Bible, which is the source of all truth, and not by man, that whatever style of certainty one wants to describe, it is readily available to the believer. In other words, we can be Epistemically, Ontologically, Metaphysically, Psychologically, and in all other ways certain that God is who He says He is, as revealed in scripture and illuminated in our hearts by the Holy Spirit.
It seems that this certainty, or full assurance, isn’t just suggested in the Bible, but actually commanded to be the way that we view our situation. Certainly our sin can quench the Spirit’s witness in us, but by grace through faith, we can indeed return to our status of certainty.
I suppose having laid out my thoughts, the only question I have is, do you agree?
Also this question is completely open for anyone who might want to answer.
Blessings,
Nathan C
Reference:
https://frame-poythress.org/certainty/
http://choosinghats.org/2011/04/full-assurance-epistemic-certainty-and-christ/
Since Jesus did say, “Igive them eternal and they shall never perish”, when we take him at his word, the matter is settled, no matter what doubts Satan throws at us. Bunyan’s ‘Grace Abounding tomthe Chief of Sinners’ is a great read on the sublect of assurance. It looks like we agree about some things! 🙂
Right! so we do indeed have certainty, as described in the scripture!
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