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Conversations that Count

by Editor

Vince-Vitale-webI want to offer some reflections on something that God zoomed in on in my own life a number of years ago. If you take these pieces of advice seriously, I honestly believe it could radically change the depth and enjoyment of your conversations about God and the fruitfulness that comes from them. That is what I have found personally and that is my prayer for you.
There are a couple of reasons why I want to focus in on conversation. Firstly, all of us will probably be more influential in our conversation than in any other type of communication. Secondly, we tend to spend almost no time on this, as we don’t see it as important. People often focus on improving professional skills or learning more about the Bible, but who can say that they are now a significantly better conversationalist than they were a few years ago?

Caring about Conversation

There’s a scene in Pride and Prejudice when Mr Darcy says, ‘I have not that talent which some possess of conversing easily with strangers’, to which Elizabeth responds, ‘I do not play [the piano] so well as I should wish to, but I have always supposed that to be my fault, because I would not take the trouble of practicing.’
Similarly, if we’re not good conversationalists, we tend to see it as just how we are and not as a weakness or something we ought to change. Yet you can find some advice for conversation – normally in secular writing – and it often revolves around being prepared. One recommendation, for example, is to read about different popular topics so that you can engage with the interests of people around you.
That might seem fake, prescriptive, or disingenuous to you, but why should it, when many of us spend a great deal of time finding out about professional sportspeople or celebrities? After all, we generally view research and study as good things, because we care about the end result. We praise people when they carefully plan for someone’s birthday or going on a date, as it shows that they value the other person. So why should it be any different with normal conversation? Why should we restrict serious personal investment just to special occasions?
If I know I’m going to see someone tonight, why shouldn’t I take some time to pray about them and to ask God for a good question to ask them or for a good answer to something they might ask me? I don’t see anything artificial or disingenuous about that; it means that I care enough about the person not to say just the first thing that happens to jump into my head. We would never just wing something that was important, like a work presentation, so why do we almost always just ‘wing’ conversation?

Crafting our Conversation

I’d like to share with you a few pieces of advice for investing more intentionally in conversation. I have eight short points that I think can be really practical and powerful, if put into practice.

1. BE MULTILINGUAL

Be able to speak competently about the different things that matter most to the people you care about and feel called to. Almost two decades ago, I became a Christian, and initially it was difficult for my family. I found myself struggling to know how to share my newfound faith with my father. What came next surprised me! I sensed God prompting me to learn the language of a New York Yankees fan. So I started watching the games regularly, and within weeks I was an even bigger fan than my dad! All of a sudden we had something to connect about pretty much every day of the year, and I’d say this was one of the single biggest factors in my dad becoming more comfortable having spiritual conversations with me and ultimately putting his trust in Christ.
What would it look like for us to learn to speak the language of the specific people God is calling us to? Is there someone you feel called to relationship with and to share God with whom you are struggling to connect with? What are they interested in? What do they enjoy? What do they care about?

2. BE A GOAL-SETTER

When I fly home to see my family, I set goals to have at least one specific conversation with each of my family members, and I try to let my wife or a friend know what those goals are so that they can help hold me accountable to them. While I can’t necessarily direct what the outcome of those conversations will be, I can take responsibility for whether or not they take place.
We don’t always like setting goals because it opens us up to the possibility of failing, but one of the greatest gifts of being a Christian is that Jesus’ sacrifice should free us to be willing and unafraid for things not to go as we’d hoped, because our identity and value is rooted in God’s grace alone and not in our achievements.

3. BE QUESTION READY

Good questions are so powerful, as Jesus himself showed many times, but most people are pretty terrible at asking them. Some of our most common questions, like “How are you doing?”, aren’t even real questions at all, because they’ve come to mean nothing more than “hello”.
The reason we so often find it so difficult to get from shooting the breeze to Jesus is because too often we are merely shooting the breeze. We wouldn’t find it so difficult to introduce Jesus into conversation if we were in the habit of regularly entering into meaningful conversations. I have a list of questions that I find help to open up and deepen conversations without being threatening. Jesus then finds his way into those meaningful conversations quite naturally. Here are a few questions that I like:
What was the best part of your week? What was the worst part of your week?
What’s been on your mind most recently?
When was the happiest time in your life? Why?
What are you good at?
What are your dreams for the future?
What were you like as a child? Are you different now? In what ways?
What is your best childhood memory?
Whom in your family are you most alike? Whom are you most different from? In what ways?
How would your best friends describe you?
Who has had the most significant influence in your life? Why?
If there was one law you could make, what would it be?
What would you change about yourself if you could change one thing?
What is the most frustrating thing about religion to you?
Did you grow up in a religious home? [This is sometimes less threatening than “Are you a Christian?”]
Have you had experiences in your life that have made you think there might be a God? [I love this one! The stories people will share in response are amazing!]

4. BE RESPONSE READY

While we can open up conversations by enquiring about others, questions asked to us are an absolute gift because they are an opportunity to share something about who God is and what he has done. Yet our responses can often be as bad as our questions, when we say something like “Okay”, “Can’t complain” or “Fine”.
What questions are you asked most often and how could you respond in ways that allow you to talk about meaningful things generally and Jesus Christ in particular? Here’s an example of one way of responding:
Person A: “How was your weekend?”
Person B: “Not bad, thanks.”
But if you’ve encountered the living God in church on Sunday, saying “Not bad, thanks” isn’t even an honest answer! There’s nothing weird about giving an honest, meaningful answer, which might be something like this:
Person A: “How was your weekend?”
Person B: “Really good actually. On Saturday, we went to the movies, and then, on Sunday, we went to church, which is always a highlight for us. Do you ever go to church?”
Person A: “No, I’m not religious.”
Person B: “No, I never used to either, but a friend invited me along a few years ago and I’ve found it incredibly meaningful and a wonderful community to be a part of. It would be great to have you come along sometime.”

5. BE TESTIMONY READY:

Some of the deepest and most meaningful conversations happen when we personally relate to what others are saying. Sharing the faith is very often about finding Christ at the intersection between our own stories and those of others, but one reason why we often find evangelism so hard is that we don’t actually know our own stories very well. In churches, people are sometimes encouraged to share their testimony, but the truth is that each of us has innumerable testimonies of how God has worked in our lives.
I try to identify different themes within which I can understand my testimony, and then I pray and reflect about how that theme has played out in my life and how God has been at work through it. Here are some relevant themes:
Forgiveness, family, suffering, intellect, relationships, guilt, death, fear, dreams, purpose, loneliness, freedom, pride, worry and anxiety, shame, frustrations with the church, decisions about the future, image, identity…
The more themes we can articulate our testimony through the better, as it helps us to appreciate and understand the ways God has been at work in our lives, as well as helping us be more natural in connecting with the stories of others.

6. BE PRAYER READY

The Bible tells us that our prayers are “powerful and effective.” How gracious is our God to set things up so that even when we’re not with someone in person, we can actively bless them by praying for them? Prayer is action at a distance; it’s a superpower! How do you remind yourself to pray for others consistently and in a disciplined way? There are many ways to do this, but, whichever way you choose, every Christian should be able to answer that question.

7. BE GOOD STEWARDS OF CONVERSATIONS.

If we’ve had a good conversation with someone, they may have been vulnerable with us and trusted us with personal information. So we have to be trustworthy and care enough to retain that information, reflect on it, and pray about it. As long as you are very careful about issues of confidentiality, it can be helpful to write down the information somewhere safe, so you can remember to pray about it and to ask about it the next time you see the same person.
Being good stewards of conversation also requires looking for opportunities to extend the conversation. Just say something like, “I really enjoyed that; maybe we can talk more sometime? Do you have an email address I can reach you at?” or “Are you on Facebook?” People are usually very willing to give Facebook or email addresses. You can then set up a time to continue the conversation, which also gives the other person time to give the topic more thought.

8. BE INVITATIONAL

If you are throwing a party, it doesn’t matter how much you tell people about how great it is going to be and how excited you are. In general, they are not going to show up unless you have actually invited them. It is the same when we talk about God. We may have told a loved one how great God is, shared our testimony, and even answered their objections, but have we actually invited them to come to Christ? I always remember when a student called Natasha was asked why she didn’t become a Christian sooner, and she replied, “I think I just needed an invitation.”
Why do we so often not make invitations? I think sometimes we are fooled into thinking God is far from certain people and they would not be ready for such a decision. We’ve also been deceived into thinking that it is up to us to persuade people to make the most important decision of their life and that God is not involved. The reality is so different, as the Bible doesn’t just say that “[God] is not far from any one of us” (Acts 17:27), but that even to those who are not Christians yet “…what is known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made.” (Romans 1:19-20) [emphases added]
That is an incredibly strong statement saying people don’t just know something about God, but deep down they know his divine nature. That is not to minimise legitimate questions and objections and doubts, but it is to say that God has already been revealing himself – through creation, through our conscience, through dreams, and in a million other ways.
Do you believe that about your friends and family? Do you believe that about the people you meet every day? Do you believe they already have a seed of the knowledge of God deep down? I think this is one of the most important questions for us to honestly ask ourselves. If you don’t believe this, then you won’t have the confidence to invite people to Jesus, but if you believe what the Bible says is true, then you start to think that in every single conversation, God could bring new life – and that’s when things start to get really exciting!
A former student of mine got invited to church by a friend who overslept. When he showed up, he heard the singing and slipped in at the back of the church, heard a sermon from John 15, was pierced to the heart, and walked forward to give his life to Christ. Can you imagine? By the time you call to apologise for oversleeping, your friend tells you he has already become a Christian! God will bless and use your invitations, if you are willing to trust him with them.

Confident Conversation

Do we have confidence in the power of the gospel? A while back I met a young man at church. He said he was not a Christian, and he asked a tough question about hell. I answered it as best as I was able, and I could see in his eyes that he thought my response made sense and that a shift was taking place. I hesitated, and he said “Thanks” and walked away. I thought to myself, “Man, I should have made an invitation”. So I ran after the guy, caught up with him, and I didn’t even get to finish my question, as he said “I really want to recommit my life to Jesus!” Those words were literally on the tip of his tongue! He just needed an invitation!
Trust God with those promptings – I call them Holy Spirit U-turns – and be invitational. Over time, as you build up evidence of God’s faithfulness in blessing your invitations, the feelings of nerves and discomfort will become excitement and expectation as you see God transform life after life after life.
Start with the assumption that God is near and he is known, because that’s what the Bible says, and be ready and excited to invite people to Jesus. Has God put someone on your heart? Will you trust Him? He wants to use you. Yes, you! Not because you have all the answers, but because he loves you and he delights in involving his children in his work. Will you accept that gift?
What would make this article a success? Wouldn’t it be a powerful result if everyone who reads this headed back home with an invitation to follow Christ for some person in their life? If we do that, you know what will happen? People will become Christians! You will be surprised at how many people will say “Yes” to your invitation. If we do that, we will have more brothers and sisters for all eternity. That’s what I am praying for.
Vince Vitale

Vince-Vitale-web
Dr Vince Vitale (PhD, Oxford)

has taught Philosophy of Religion at Princeton and Oxford Universities.

What would Jesus say to Boris Johnson?

by Solas

Our culture is ever more divided into warring factions, online flame wars, and mud flinging on all sides: so what does the gospel have to say to the messy world of politics? The latest SHORT/ANSWERS film tackles this timely question by asking what would Jesus say to the new British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson?
A related article was published yesterday in The Scotsman newspaper. Read it here.

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Please share this video widely with friends or family and for more SHORT ANSWERS videos, visit solas-cpc.org/shortanswers/, subscribe to our YouTube channel or visit us on Twitter Instagram or Facebook.

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SHORT ANSWERS is a viewer-supported video series: if you enjoy them, please help us continue to make them by donating to Solas. Visit our Donate page and choose “Digital Media Fund” under the Campaign/Appeal button.

Lawrence and the pigs

by Editor

If I were a betting man, I wouldn’t have put a lot of money on Lawrence’s ever attending a Bible study. In fact, I would have wagered against his ever going to anything connected with faith or God or the Bible, Lawrence was an unlikely candidate for a Christian convert. But in his first year at university, Lawrence did go to an event where students could ask “some Bible expert” any question they wanted. Lawrence went because he heard there’d be pizza. And the girl who invited him gave out cookies to anyone who said they’d come.
He had virtually no church background to speak of. When he filled out the part of his college application that asked for his religion, he had to ask his mother what he should write. She told him, “Methodist,” and that’s what he wrote, although he had no idea what that meant. His mother had taken him to church a few times, but he doubted whether God existed. When I asked him how he would describe himself as he began college, he offered the words “lonely, angry, and apathetic.”
So he went to the ask-the-expert event to be “obnoxious” and “have fun” and to try to show the speaker that the Christian faith had “obvious issues.” What he remembers most was that the speaker and the Christians were nice to him even though he “was being really mean.” He asked the speaker, “What about aliens? What does that mean for Christianity?” The speaker responded brilliantly, admitting he didn’t know much about aliens, that he didn’t think their existence would affect Christianity all that much, and that if Lawrence wanted to know about Christianity, he should attend the eight- week study of the gospel of Mark that would start the next week.
So Lawrence went, with an attitude of “whatever” (a word he used a lot during the first fifteen minutes of our conversation). He asked many questions during those eight weeks and was impressed that the leader answered thoughtfully and respectfully. He learned a lot about God’s righteousness and his own sinfulness. For a few weeks, he was baffled about how “unfair” it was for Jesus to pay for his sins. But he found himself believing more and more as the weeks passed.
At one point in our conversation, I asked him if there were any major objections or questions that needed resolution. Was there a significant roadblock, I wondered, that, once removed, would pave the way for belief? He paused and shook his head no. But then he remembered and said, “Well . . . the thing that stands out in my head mostly . . . was about the pigs and Jesus casting the demons into the lake.”
I must confess. At that point, I wanted to say, “Really? That tripped you up? Even if I wasn’t Jewish with my innate disdain for pork, I’m not sure that’s what would hold me back from God’s offer of eternal life.” I tried to clarify by asking, “What was your question about the pigs?”
His answer didn’t help me much. “What the heck was that? Jesus just killed all those pigs? They didn’t do anything.” But then he just started laughing and made a face that seemed to say, “That story makes no sense.” So I asked him how the leader answered his question, and Lawrence’s laughter came to a sudden stop. He told me the Bible study leader took his question seriously and started by admitting that he wasn’t sure. That impressed Lawrence as humble and sincere. And then he suggested there really must be some things that are evil, that we shouldn’t mess around with demons, and there must be a big difference between being a pig and being a person.
I asked him if that satisfied him and he said it did. “I was amazed that he had an answer,” he said and added, “people I had dealt with before in churches that I had been to didn’t know how to handle the Bible.” They just told him to believe in Jesus and stop asking all his questions. That didn’t sit well with a fairly intelligent guy, and so he dismissed Christianity as a stupid person’s religion. However, a thoughtful answer about pigs persuaded Lawrence that there probably were good answers for his other questions.
There’s much more to his story, a beautiful and gradual one that included a lot more Bible studies, a major conference for Christian students, attending a good church where people did know how to handle the Bible, and a lot of conversations where he learned more and more about Jesus’s “unfair” sacrifice for sinful people like Lawrence.
His experience highlights at least four important lessons:
First, the process of coming to Christ takes time. While God certainly can work instantaneously, most often he does not. People tend to come to faith gradually.
Second, God uses a large and diverse cast of ordinary people to accomplish his extraordinary purposes. People tend to come to faith communally. People’s stories reveal a tapestry of experiences, struggles, realizations, and transformations.
Third, layers of dramas lie beneath the surface. People’s stories reveal a tapestry of experiences, struggles, realizations, and transformations. People tend to come to faith variously.
Fourth, nothing is too difficult for God. He can and does draw people to himself miraculously. People always come to faith supernaturally.

Randy Newman

Randy Newman PicRandy Newman, M.Div., Ph.D. serves as the Senior Teaching Fellow for Apologetics and Evangelism and is an adjunct faculty member for Reformed Theological Seminary and Patrick Henry College. He established Connection Points, a ministry to help Christians engage people’s hearts the way Jesus did. Randy blogs atwww.connectionpoints.us . Lawrence and the Pigs is an extract from his forthcoming book, Unlikely Converts.
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Outreach in Inverness

by Editor

“Why did Jesus need to die for me, I’m a good person?” “Why couldn’t God just forgive me, why was the cross necessary?” These are two common objections to the Christian message and a few weeks ago, Solas’s Andy Bannister tackled both of them head on at an exciting evangelistic event organised by our friends at Culduthel Christian Centre in Inverness.
We often find that the best evangelistic events happen in neutral venues, outside the four walls of the church, and so it was in Inverness. Culduthel Christian Centre hired The Kingsmills Hotel, a place where Christians would feel comfortable inviting their non-Christian friends from around the town. The dining room at the hotel was packed and after a fantastic meal, Andy gave a short presentation: “Why did Jesus Die For Me?”
At the end of his talk, after tackling those two objections to Easter, Andy zeroed in on the truth that forgiveness is always costly, and that there is no such thing as “just forgiving somebody”. For instance, if you forgive someone who has wronged you economically, you bear the financial cost; if you forgive someone who has wronged you relationally there is a personal or reputational cost. Thus we should not be surprised that this is even more true of God, whose standards are perfect, the one who is goodness; thus at Easter, we see God in Jesus Christ paying the price for our forgiveness on the cross.

Quoting best selling author Tim Keller, Andy explained that “The bad news of Easter is that we are so bad that Christ had to die for us. The Good News of Easter is that we are so loved that he was glad to die for us.”

The audience were incredibly engaged throughout the talk and in the Q&A afterwards asked a number of really thoughtful and genuine questions. The final question concerned the nature of suffering and evil—a question that allowed Andy to bring the evening to close by explaining that the cross of Christ, as well as providing forgiveness for our sins, is also God’s method for reconciling the world to Himself and so ultimately dealing with the problem of sin and suffering.
The main organiser of the event, Angus Jamieson, said: “We had 60 guests of whom about two-thirds had no Christian faith, and Andy’s talk was excellent and well-judged for this audience. His easy manner and sense of humour made it more like a friendly chat than a sermon. We then had a Q&A session which was fun but yet informative too. We were really grateful for the way Andy was willing to address questions on the spot! The feedback from the guests was very positive and I know has sparked subsequent conversations.”
One of the keys to sharing the gospel of Christ in today’s secular age is to do as the early church did and take the message of Jesus outside the walls of the church. Whenever we do events in coffee houses, pubs, restaurants, hotels, sports clubs, or other ‘neutral venues’, we find a tremendous response—people who don’t yet believe in Jesus are open to coming to listen and engage. There is also something powerful about combining a gospel presentation with hospitality: a meal, a drink, a coffee, a dessert. All this makes for a warm, friendly evening and makes it much easier for Christians to invite their friends—and much easier for their friends to say ‘yes’.
Why not consider inviting Solas to come and work with your church to help you put on an evangelistic event in your city, town, or village. We’d love to help you.
To invite a Solas speaker to your event click here.

Curry and Conversation

by Editor

In this new video-blog, Andy Bannister talks about taking the gospel outside the walls of the church, where there are many people who want to talk about Jesus, and ask genuine questions about Christianity. When he recorded this, he had just returned from a “Curry and Conversation” night in an Indian restaurant outside Glasgow, hosted by Maxwell Mearns Church.

The NUA Film Series

by Editor
Nua is a amazing resource, and its creator Jonny Somerville came into the Solas office to tell us about it, and show us some clips from the videos. Here’s what he had to say:

Solas: So what is NUA?
BODY-IMAGES-3Jonny Somerville: NUA is an 8-part video series, which looks at 8 tough questions for the Christian faith. They are fifteen minutes long, and each episode is split into three five minute sections, so they are built for integrated discussion. The real heart behind NUA is to enable a better conversation about faith, which will enable young people to dig deeper, explore what they believe, and share honestly. Our hope is that they will dialogue with good, credible content, explore the Christian faith clearly and also look at the compelling message and person of Jesus Christ. So while it has apologetic questions on ‘faith and science’, ‘is God good?’, ‘has the church caused more harm than good?’, ‘is the resurrection credible?’; it also has episodes on ‘the character of Jesus’, ‘would I like Jesus’, and ‘what’s with Christian-extremism?’ Lots of people have said to me over the years, “I like Jesus, but your followers give me the heebie-jeebies!”

So we were looking to make an apologetic series that would really engage the mind, but also really show who Jesus is. So one of the episodes entitled, “Would I like Jesus?”, looks at three encounters that Jesus had with certain individuals, and its framed with the statement, “You get to know someone truly by the way they treat other people!”. The way that Jesus treated people in the gospels, gives us a picture of who God is, His heart, His nature, His love, His Kindness, and also His strong words to those who would seek to use power or greed, to the detriment of others.

Solas: And your target age-group is..?

PrintJonny Somerville: It’s geared for a 17-18 year olds, but the feedback has shown that it is pretty age-less really. It is humorous, it has a quirk about it, but is in no way childish, and I think that the way that it has been filmed, coupled with the animation, makes it quite universal. It been really encouraging to see it being used in church homegroups, and in prison ministry in Dublin too.

Solas: And how do the printed materials, the discussion guides, etc integrate with the filmed material?

Jonny Somerville: We wanted to help people to use NUA most effectively, so we produced the ‘supplementary guide’ which gives you discussion-starters, and an activity to the get the juices flowing in the group. Then for each five-minute segment of each episode there are three great small-group questions. At the end there are ‘reflective questions’, for the viewer to sit down to consider, “What do I really think about this?’ We also encourage journaling with the resource. That can be effective in a classroom, it can be effective in a youth-group, or in a homegroup. But we do want to encourage thought!

Solas: How did you chose which questions to go for?

Jonny Somerville: Five of the episodes were research based, and the other three were essential! The research-based questions were things we had been asked in youth ministry over many years like “science and faith”, and “is God good?” The essential ones get into the character of Jesus, His compelling nature and ultimately, “What’s Jesus got to do with me?”

Solas: And you went for really beautiful production, it’s visually stunning, how did you manage to make it look and sound so good?

Jonny Somerville: We took a year to fund-raise. We wrote proposals, approached trust-funds and we were shocked at the uptake! We were then able to pay for a production company who were really on the money, they create beautiful things, they capture things, in a super way. The budget allowed us to go to Jerusalem, and to film at sites where Jesus would have been like Galilee, or The Dead Sea, the Road up to Jerusalem. We also got to New York, and show plenty of all the beauty that Ireland has to offer as well.

It’s quite a reflective piece too, which is a bit counter-cultural as most videos watched today by young people are so high-paced, but this matches some of the recent Netflix shows which might be slower-paced, but visually impressive. And for an Irishman, slower-paced is well, just who we are!

Solas: And everyone loves the Irish, right!?

Jonny Somerville: Yes, everyone likes the Irish – I’m told! It is cool to be able to speak from Ireland; when we would normally be an importer of resources.

Solas: So where is NUA being used?

Jonny Somerville: It’s been quite strong in the USA and Canada, New Zealand and Australia. We’ve translated it into French, Portuguese and Spanish, Finnish and Korean. The French and Spanish ones have the onscreen graphics re-made in their languages as well as the animations.

Solas: So what have reactions been like?

Jonny Somerville: In the schools setting we have had amazing feedback, but we get the most feedback from youth ministries and we hear of just how effective NUA has been in building up young people’s faith. And its lovely to hear that it’s something that young people are happy to bring their non-Christian friends to.
We’re partnering with the Jesus Film people in the states to make this new app for evangelism. It’s called VOKE and NUA lives there also, as it’s a great video platform to invite friends along to on this digital, faith-journey. It’s got some gaming elements to it, but really the content of NUA is designed in such a way as to make it easy for folks to be bold, to text a friend and say, “hey, do you want to come on this faith adventure with me?” “Watch this trailer and tell me what you think, and maybe be can start episode one!”

Solas: Looks great, thanks for coming in to speak to us! So where do folks need to go to find NUA?

Jonny Somerville: https://nuafilmseries.org/ is the place to start,

The NUA store is here: or you could start by watching episode one below.

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GENEXIS

by Editor
(For Andy’s notes from the 2020 Genexis course, see this link: www.solas-cpc.org/genexsis)
GENEXIS

So often it seems that Christians are on the backfoot when it comes to responding to atheism and secularism. So it was exciting for Solas to be asked to help support a new project called “Genexis” that aims to take the challenge to secularism.
948889Taken from the Latin word for “meaning”, Genexis is the name of an exciting series of public lectures taking place in Coventry Cathedral, starting in September 2019. The brains behind the project, Paul Downes QC, has enlisted a phenomenal line-up of thinkers to address some of the greatest reasons to believe in God and to disbelief in atheism: among the speakers are such leading public intellectuals as Ard Louis, Francis Collins, John Lennox, N.T. Wright and Sharon Dirckx.
948893One especially interesting speaker is Professor Paul Davies from Arizona State University. Although Paul is an agnostic, he has written extensively on the ‘fine-tuning argument’, the way the fundamental numbers built into the laws of physics are so precisely “tuned”. Paul vehemently believes that atheism is untenable in the light of the evidence; he just doesn’t accept the Christian concept of revelation. However, from a purely scientific perspective he argues that the universe shows all the marks of having been designed. It’s wonderful that he is willing therefore to engage in this ostensibly Christian project.
Paul Downes’ intention was to design a series of public lectures about God from some of the best minds in the world. His vision is that these lectures would be credible, persuasive and accessible to Christians and atheists alike. Each session is going to be filmed, to take the content far wider than the thousand or so people who are expected to fill the cathedral. Genexis are then going to produce a book and a study guide to help churches really dig into the material. Amazingly the events themselves are going to be completely free, and they plan to make the supporting resources free as well.
From the very beginning, Solas’s Andy Bannister has been assisting Paul with some of the work setting up this event, making some connections and introductions. In April, Paul Downes held a Genexis launch dinner for churches in the Midlands, to get them on board, endorsing and promoting the whole project.
After giving the keynote address at the Genexis dinner, Andy commented. “It was a privilege to speak at the launch of this hugely ambitious and exciting project. It was tremendous to be in a room full of church leaders, really excited about these events.”
We’re really praying that when Genexis begins in September that it will change the nature of the conversation we have about God in this generation. It really is time that the utterly compelling arguments and evidence for God became public knowledge.”
Paul Downes explains, “I wanted to create an event that Christians could invite their atheist friends to. We all know some people that exclude themselves from the gospel because they see themselves as atheists. Yet if you can find a way to have a meaningful discussion with them, they soon come to see that atheism is not as plausible a world view as they might previously have thought. The idea behind Genexis is a series of talks that can be run by Churches, youth groups, Christian Unions etc on a local basis as well as the national live event this September. The course is very simple, built around 7 topics that support the theist’s world view: big bang, numbers, life, DNA, consciousness, ethics and the resurrection. These are the ‘imponderables that point to God’.”
https://www.genexis.org/
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Genexis - 1901 Seminar Poster A3

Is Christianity a psychological crutch?

by Solas

Is Christianity just a psychological crutch for those too weak to deal with the difficulties of life? In this SHORT ANSWERS video, Andy Bannister tackles a common atheist accusation aimed at Christians … and discovers that maybe it’s atheism that actually has the biggest weakness in this area instead.

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Book: God’s Undertaker: Has Science Buried God by John Lennox

by Editor

The first time I heard of John Lennox was listening online to his debate against Richard Dawkins. Not only was he able to stand up to Dawkins’s arguments, but he concluded with a sterling appeal to the resurrection of Jesus Christ as the final proof that God exists and has revealed himself to us. Dawkins responded that he was “disappointed” that Lennox would bring that matter up in a scientific debate, but I was encouraged. Later, hearing Lennox in person speaking in Washington State, I was further impressed by his knowledge, fluency, and ability to explain complex ideas to a popular audience.

John Lennox is Professor in Mathematics in Oxford and Fellow in Mathematics and the Philosophy of Science at Green Templeton College. In addition to being a leading mathematician and philosopher of science, Lennox is a committed Christian and an outspoken apologist. In addition to debating famous atheists like Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens, Lennox speaks to popular audiences to encourage their faith in God and the biblical revelation.

This book presents a strong case for God as the intelligent, powerful Creator of the universe. As an expert in mathematics, including probability and chaos theory, Lennox analyses and explains the fine tuning of the physical forces and constants of the universe, and the information richness of the genetic code. These facts point to intelligent input. Lennox does not “argue from analogy, but [makes] an inference to the best explanation” (p. 175). This is not a “god of the gaps” argument, where, as science progresses, the need for “god” shrinks. Rather, it is an “atheism of the gaps” argument, as each new scientific advance provides more, not less, evidence for a divine, intelligent Creator.

The book surveys the major areas of debate—the origin and design of the universe, the origin of life, the origin of the major types of life, and the information-rich content of the genetic code. In each of these areas Lennox documents his statements well, citing leaders in each field. He selects the strongest, not the weakest, argument of his opponents and treats them fairly. In all these diverse subject areas, he emphasizes the issues that relate to his own strength and expertise.
Near the end of his book Lennox discusses the philosophical contribution of David Hume, who supposedly destroyed the argument for God based on the design found in various creatures. These pages summarize and state well the fallacy of Hume, and the emptiness of modern arguments by atheists who quote him.

This book is fun to read, even though sometimes the reading is heavy. I recommend it to all who desire to argue for the existence and work of the God of the Bible. It also is helpful to all Christians who have feared that their beliefs somehow are unscientific or unreasonable.

You can purchase God’s Undertaker from our book partner – 10ofThose.com

This review has been kindly supplied by Dr John Battle of Western Reformed Seminary, Washington State.

Solas, Rural Ministry and Lee Abbey

by Editor

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It’s important to us at Solas that we don’t only get involved with gospel work in the big cities around the country, but that we reach into rural areas as well. While many of our evangelism and training events take place in the big population centres, we also believe it’s important to reach beyond those urban areas.
And so it was that Andy Bannister recently led a small conference at the beautiful Lee Abbey in the Exmoor National Park. Lee Abbey is a Christian conference centre launched just after the war, with a vision to get the gospel out of the churches and to reach places like Devon. The pioneers of this work recognised that the big churches in places like London, Birmingham or Manchester can all too easily neglect places like the South-West, where churches tend to be smaller, and are spread out more thinly across the countryside. Part of Lee Abbey’s work is running training courses and conferences designed to encourage, strengthen and inspire Christians, especially from across the South-west.
The four-day course entitled “Confident Christianity – Persuasive Evangelism in an Age of Sceptics” took a small group and equipped them to share their faith with friends and neighbours, colleagues and classmates in engaging ways.
Andy says: “It was particularly fantastic to have so much time with a group, because you really get to know them and talk in-depth about their situations; specific friends they are trying to share their faith with, particular issues they are dealing with; and to pray with some of them too.”
dsc_0354_14359254650_o-2048x1152He was also really impressed with Lee Abbey: “While lots of guests come and go for the conferences, there is a continual Christian community of about 90 people, staff and volunteers, at the Abbey too. Watching them as they work out what outward looking Christian community is all about was quite inspiring. They do a lot in the local towns and villages; they are always thinking about how they can bring non-Christians in for events. It was a real privilege to work with them, in what was a new partnership for Solas. I’d seen Lee Abbey before in passing, when walking the Devon coastal path, but never been inside, it was great to meet them and work with them!”
Lee Abbey were also enthusiastic about working with Solas. “Everyone who attended was ‘fired-up” they said, while guests wrote that it was “excellent, informative, and well-informed”, “Bring Andy Bannister back!”, “Andy’s ideas are presented in a memorable way and well argued. Others wrote that “His humble, gentle and respectful approach had lessons for us all.” The Lee Abbey community are also using Solas’ Short Answers videos in their ministry too, so the partnership goes on!

Rebecca McLaughlin: It’s Time To Go On The Offensive

by Editor 2 Comments
When it comes to giving reasons for our faith, we Christians are playing far too defensive a game.

We’ve believed that Christianity is declining. It isn’t. We’ve assumed Christianity can’t stand up in the university. It can. Too many of us think Christianity is threatened by diversity. It never has been. And too few of us think Christian sexual ethics are sustainable in the modern world. They are. On these and many other fronts, we have conceded far more ground to secularism than it deserves.
But we’ve also been playing too aggressive a game. We’ve majored on point-scoring and culture-warring, when the Bible calls us to “gentleness and respect” (1 Pet. 3:15). We’ve propagated weak arguments without listening to real experts. And we’ve blindly stepped out into cultural traffic, rather than taking our lead from those with the credibility to speak.
If we are to be faithful in this cultural moment, we must be neither retreaters nor attackers, neither (needlessly) defensive nor (faithlessly) aggressive. Instead, we must go on a “gentle offensive.” Here are five things that will help.

1. Know Our Moment

Forty years ago, sociologists predicted religious decline. Modernisation had bred secularisation in Western Europe, and where Western Europe led (so the logic went), the rest of the world would follow.
But that prophecy failed.
In the West, religious identification has certainly declined and looks set to decline further. But the rest of the world has not followed suit. In the next 40 years, Christianity is set to remain the world’s largest belief system, claiming 32 percent of the global population (a 1 percent increase over its current share), while Islam is expected to grow substantially from 24 percent to 31 percent. Meanwhile, the portion of humanity that does not identify with any particular religion (including atheists, agnostics, and “nones”) is set to decline from 16 percent to 13 percent. Indeed, if China swings toward Christianity as rapidly as some experts expect, the non-religious category could shrink even more, and the proportion of Christians would increase.
To the surprise of many in the Western academy, the question for the next generation is not, “How soon will religion die out?” but “Christianity or Islam?”

2. Level the Playing Field

The New Atheists claimed that religion poisons everything. This warps the thinking of our secular friends, but it doesn’t line up with the facts. A large body of empirical evidence shows that regular religious participation is good for individuals and good for society. In America, those who attend church weekly or more are 20 percent to 30 percent less likely to die over a 15-year period, suffer less from depression, are less likely to commit suicide, and are less likely to divorce.
We all know the health benefits of exercise, quitting smoking, and eating more fruit and vegetables. But it turns out that going to church at least once a week is correlated with equivalently good health outcomes to any of these! And the benefits extend to others. In his 2018 book The Character Gap: How Good Are We?, philosopher Christian Miller observes that “literally hundreds of studies” link religious participation with better moral outcomes. In North America, regular service attenders donate 3.5 times the money given by their nonreligious counterparts per year and volunteer more than twice as much. Meanwhile, levels of domestic violence in a U.S. sample were almost twice as high for men who didn’t attend church versus those who attended once a week or more, and religious participation has also been linked to lower rates for 43 other crimes.
Many of these effects aren’t exclusive to Christianity, but they give the lie to the idea that secularisation is good for society. Why have we heard a different message? As atheist social psychologist Jonathan Haidt warns, “You can’t use the New Atheists as your guide” on these matters, because “the new atheists conduct biased reviews of the literature and conclude that there is no good evidence on any benefits except the health benefits of religion.”

3. Reclaim Diversity

Celebration of diversity is a core secular liberal value. But when it comes to diversity, the cards are firmly in our hands. Christianity is the most culturally and ethnically diverse belief system in the world. Further, as we look at the demographics of Christianity in North America, two themes stand out. First, people of colour are far more likely to be religious than whites are. Across every index of Christian participation, black Americans poll substantially higher than whites—often by as much as 20 percentage points—while Latino Americans are also more likely than whites to identify as Christians. Second, in line with global trends, women are significantly more likely to be active Christians than men are. The gender gap is smaller than the racial gap. Black American men are more religious than white American women. But it’s still significant. Conversely, among American atheists white men are over-represented.
And this is no accident. Christianity was fiercely multi-racial, multi-ethnic, and multi-cultural from the start, and the church throughout history has always been majority-female. When we think about our cultural moment, therefore, we need to stop lamenting how the church is being eroded by demographic forces beyond our control, and start celebrating what God is doing through his glorious mixed-multitude of a church.

4. Field Our A-Team

Twenty-five years ago, historian Mark Noll wrote these damning words: “The scandal of the evangelical mind is that there is not much of an evangelical mind.” For much of the 20th century, many evangelicals saw the simplicity of the gospel as a mandate for intellectual laziness. But Christianity is the greatest intellectual movement in all of history! Christians invented the university. Schools like Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard, and Yale were founded specifically to glorify God. Even academic disciplines that are supposed to have discredited faith turn out to have deep Christian roots: For example, the modern scientific method was first developed by Christians because they believed in a Creator God.
When it comes to the university, we’re not begging for a place at the table or trying to chop it up for firewood. We’re pulling up a chair to the table we built. But in the academic realm, as in other areas, we need to seek out our experts—the thousands of Christian professors whom God has raised up in universities—and learn from their work and let them lead.
Likewise, when it comes to other areas of cultural engagement, we need to let our most credible voices speak. In a world where Christians are seen as homophobic bigots, we need to get behind the biblically faithful, same-sex-attracted Christians God has raised up to speak for and to his church. In a world where Christianity is dismissed as a white man’s religion, we need to get behind biblically faithful men and women of color. And in a world where Christianity is thought to denigrate women, we need to get behind biblically faithful, rhetorically gifted women—particularly on issues like abortion, where being pro-life is often (falsely) equated with being anti-women.
None of this means bowing to identity politics. Truth is truth, whoever is voicing it. But God has raised up leaders whose voices can be heard. We need to field our A-team in the public square. And the rest of us must follow their lead.

5. Raise Our Game

When Jesus first preached, the harvest was plentiful. The same is true is today. Encouragingly, much of the trumpeted decline within Western Christianity has come from nominal or theologically liberal denominations—while more full-blooded, evangelical faith persists. Moreover, while many people have switched from identifying as Christian to identifying with no religion, the traffic is by no means one-way. A recent study found that while 80 percent of those raised Protestant in the United States continued to identify as Protestant in adulthood, only 60 percent of those raised non-religious kept away from religion when they grew up, with many converting to Christianity. Being non-religious turns out to be quite hard to sustain over multiple generations.
Rather than battening down the hatches, therefore, we need to go on an evangelism offensive. The secular consensus is crumbling, and we must humbly make the most of every opportunity—in schools and universities, at the bus stop, or by the water cooler. But we need to raise our game.
To be sure, if we’re sharing the gospel faithfully, we’ll often meet rejection. Only God can open blinded eyes, and we must pray like people’s lives depend on it—because they do. But we must ensure it’s the stumbling block of Christ our friends trip on, not an obstacle course of myths we could dispel.
So let’s field our A-team and go on an evangelism offensive with diligence, gentleness, and respect. Because Jesus is no relic from the ancient world. He is our modern world’s best hope.

Dr Rebecca McLaughlin

rmcm
holds a Cambridge PhD in English Literature, and a theology degree from Oak Hill College. She blogs at  https://www.rebeccamclaughlin.org/ and writes for several magazines and websites including Christianity Today and The Gospel Coalition, for whom this article was first produced. We are very grateful to Rebecca for allowing us to republish this article at Solas.

What happens when we die?

by Solas

What happens when we die? Are we just worm food? Are our atoms just scattered to the four winds? And doesn’t the same fate, on atheism, await all of humanity—in which case, what difference does it make how we live now? This Short Answers video explores arguably one of the most important questions one can ask—and shows why Christianity and Christianity alone offers hope and certainty.

This video is used as part of the SU Scotland “Connect Groups Q&A” curriculum.

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Care, Equality & Freedom: What the Atheist-Psychologist Jonathan Haidt can teach us about Christian Apologetics.

by Editor

A classic scene of British comedy sees Basil Fawlty, before the arrival of some German tourists to the hotel, instructing his staff: “Whatever you do, don’t mention the war”. Of course, things go wrong very quickly! Similarly, we’ve often been told it’s impolite to discuss matters of politics and religion in public, because they start arguments. However, just because they cause disagreement doesn’t mean we can dismiss them altogether. After all, religion addresses the ultimate questions of life, the universe and everything – and politics concerns issues that touch our every day lives (education, health-care, taxation, immigration, etc.).

Furthermore, in light of the open questions of Brexit and Scottish Independence, there is an urgent need for us to be talking about: What kind of society do we want to be? This is not just a political question, but a moral one. There are things that we approve of and celebrate, and there are things that we discourage and condemn. Moral values and judgements stand behind everything from our laws that limit the speed on our roads (because we value peoples’ lives and safety above their freedom to cruise at whatever speed they wish) to our welfare policies for the poor, the disabled and unemployed (because we believe it is right for vulnerable people to receive additional support from the rest of the community). However, moral questions aren’t always so clear cut!

If it ever seems that when people are discussing morally contentious issues (like the beginning and end of life, gender and sexuality) that they are talking past one another or even talking in different languages altogether – it is because they are! They possess different moral visions of the good life and different understandings of what it means to be a good person. But what if we could find a way to discuss our different convictions without being disagreeable and confrontational? Someone who can help us is Dr Jonathan Haidt. As a professor of moral psychology, his work has sought to understand the psychology behind our religious and political disagreements. This article will introduce you to some of the key ideas in his important book “The Righteous Mind” and also indicate how they are helpful for Christians seeking to missionally engage with culture.

In Part 1 of the book Haidt makes the case that human beings are driven more by our hearts (motives, intuitions and desires) than our heads (reason and logic). “We are emotional actors! We are highly intuitive beings who act first, and justify later. Our beliefs, convictions, and values are far less “rational” than we imagine.” To illustrate this, Haidt develops the image of an Elephant and its Rider. He says that our emotions/desires/intuitions are like the elephant, while our intellectual reasoning is like the rider perched on top. Haidt’s research suggests that many of our decisions and responses are the gut reactions of our elephant to its surroundings. Our reasoning comes later trying to justify those prior decisions. This will ring true if you’ve ever had a strong reaction against something, but been unable to articulate why you disapprove of it beyond stammering “It’s just wrong – surely everyone knows that?!”

The key take away from Part 1 is that if you want to get people to change their minds, then you need to do more than talk to their Rider with facts and arguments, you also need to appeal to their Elephant:

“The elephant can be steered by the presence of other friendly elephants: Do you want to influence the people who disagree with you? You have to talk to their elephants. The main way we change our minds on moral, political or religious issues is by interacting with other people. We are terrible at seeking evidence that challenges our own beliefs—others must do us that favour. We are good at finding errors in other people’s beliefs. But the interactions must be civil. When discussions are hostile, the elephant leans away and the rider works frantically to rebut the opponent’s charges. But if there is affection, admiration, and trust, the elephant leans in and the rider tries to find truth in the other person’s arguments. The elephant may not usually change in response to objections from its own rider, but it may be steered by the mere presence of other friendly elephants.”

Part of Haidt’s own experiences as a secular atheist was a change of mind about the value of religion after his experience of welcoming church communities during his field research. As he has said elsewhere: “When your heart is open, then your mind is open”.

In Part 2 Haidt explores the six foundations of morality. The title of his book “the righteous mind” suggests that we are not born into this world as blank slates, but rather all humans come pre-loaded with a package of moral inclinations or “taste receptors”. Here they are expressed in positive and negative form:

(1) Care/Harm: the intuition to maximise peoples’ well-being while protecting them from harm, especially the vulnerable and marginalised
(2) Fairness/Cheating: the intuition to work for justice and equality (whether that is defined by the left as equality of outcome, or by the right as equality of opportunity)
(3) Liberty/Oppression: the intuition to appreciate freedom of choice and freedom from undue external interference
(4) Loyalty/Betrayal: the intuition to be willing to make sacrifices for the sake of a cause greater than oneself
(5) Authority/Subversion: the intuition to respect the wisdom of those who have come before us or in positions of responsibility over us
(6) Sanctity/Degradation: the intuition that some things possess special sacred status and must be protected from contamination (whether it’s the right’s concerns for the sanctity of life, sex and marriage on the right, or the left’s concern for the conservation of the natural world)

Depending on our genes, our environment, our society those moral taste buds will be reconfigured causing us to lean in different directions. For example, Haidt’s research suggests that those who identify as Liberal politically or who are younger generationally will be more concerned with the first three foundations (Care, Fairness and Liberty), while those who are older or more Conservative will be attracted more by the last three foundations (Loyalty, Authority and Sanctity). This insight has huge significance for our cultural engagement today.

An often overlooked aspect of cultural change has been the impact of individualism on the moral landscape of our society. For example, after last year’s referendum on changing the Irish constitution, removing the provision on the sanctity of life from conception – commentators attributed the campaign’s success to the influence of feminism, the rising religious apathy among young people, and the deleterious impact of child abuse scandal on the reputation of the Catholic Church. However, there was little reflection on how the elevation of the individual and their bodily autonomy has resulted in a bias in moral thinking. Today the emphasis is on individual needs (moral foundations 1-3), not on universal sacred principles (foundations 4-6). That is why the appeal to a woman’s right to choose what to do with her body suffocates any discussion about what the moral status of the embryonic human is. Interestingly, as a liberal pro-choice supporter, Haidt would be critical of how this moral bias is also a blindspot that means that contemporary liberal and younger people are impoverished in the resources for engaging in moral discussion and decision (Part 3 of the book considers how “moral binds and blinds”).

Whereas Christian apologists have been talking about the importance of mental worldviews for a long time, it is only more recently we have begun to realise the significance of moral visions. If we are going to persuade people about the truth, goodness and beauty of the Bible on morally contentious matters, then we need to start using our culture’s moral language and concepts as a way in. For example, here are Dr Glynn Harrison’s reflections on the significance of Haidt’s work for discussions about sexual ethics:

“Christians often cave into the sexual revolution because they haven’t understood its moral nature and particularly its reliance on individualistic moral reasoning. They try to rebut its compassion and fairness (moral foundations 1-3) with argument from authority and tradition (foundations 4-6). But in today’s culture, people who possess no language of fairness, or compassion, or equality lose every time. So Christians need to find a language that connects their general convictions to their culture’s individualistic concerns”.

In today’s culture, people who possess no language of fairness, or compassion, or equality lose every time

Glynn also suggests a way forward that takes us back to the example of Jesus: “Jesus integrated justice and compassion for the individual with uncompromising obedience to God’s Word and His moral law”. If we can see Jesus possessed the full moral spectrum as the perfect God-Man – this will then help us find the words and stories to better connect with our culture, showing that Jesus remains surprisingly good news.

#1 Care / Harm
As Jesus declared in word the good news of the coming of the kingdom of God in Himself, He also demonstrated in deed that His rule was good news for those who were poor, suffering, vulnerable and marginalised. Jesus showed compassion as He ministered to the crowds of needy people, taking the time to counsel and heal individuals – He was undoing the effects of the curse and giving previews of what life in the new creation would be like for those who trusted in Him.

#2 Fairness / Cheating
As you listen to Jesus’ teaching, He had lots to say about the justice of God being brought to bear on this world, making wrongs right and holding the guilty to account. It’s often been noted that the person who most frequently spoke about the reality of eternal judgement in hell was the most loving person who ever lived: Jesus. While there are many people who would cheat justice in this world, Jesus makes clear that they will receive their just desserts in the world to come. Also Jesus promised rewards for those who were faithful in His service. I half-wonder if the reason we have two parables about rewards for service (one with equal outcomes and the other with proportionate outcomes) is God’s way of appealing to both the left and right?!

#3 Liberty / Oppression
As you watch Jesus in action, you cannot miss his many encounters with people who were spiritually oppressed by demonic forces, who enslaved and ruined their lives. Jesus demonstrated His divine power and credentials by delivering these captives from their evil oppressors. However, Jesus was not just interested in spiritual oppression, but also social evils. There’s the interesting story about the widow who puts her last coins into the temple treasury who is commended for giving more (all that she had) than the rich people. But many commentators point out that Jesus goes on in context to condemn that temple and its custodians for their systematic corruption and exploitation of people, like this poor woman. There is also the interesting encounter between Jesus and Zacchaeus the tax collector, who is himself a traitor and oppressor of his own people. That encounter resulted not only in personal transformation of Zacchaeus but also social restitution and reconciliation as he reimburses all those he stole from.

#4 Loyalty / Betrayal
As Jesus embarks on his journey towards the Cross, He begins to speak more about the cost of discipleship. It entails taking up the Cross and following Jesus, dying to ourselves and our own agendas, so that we might instead live for Him alone. The night before His death, Jesus also graphically taught His disciples about the importance of putting the good of others in the believing community ahead of themselves. As the disciples jockeyed for power and position, Jesus took the posture of a servant and washed their dirty feet – even the feet of the man whom He knew would betray Him only hours later.

#5 Authority / Subversion
As Jesus began His Sermon on the Mount, He explained that what He was saying was not in competition or conflict with the Old Testament Scriptures, but rather His ministry was the fulfillment of all that had been promised. He was not a radical innovator or revolutionary seeking to rewrite things; instead He was fully committed to the Word of God. When Jesus clashed with the traditional Pharisees, this was because they elevated their manmade wisdom over the divine Word of God, and to make matters worse were hypocritical: demanding more from others in terms of obedience than they expected of themselves. Jesus also modelled His own submission to the will and authority of His Father, most notably in the Garden of Gethsemane. The heart of what has gone wrong in this world – sin – is the rebellion of God’s creatures against His authority. Humans have sought to be rulers of their own autonomous kingdoms of self, all the while rejecting God’s authority and His good word. Thus, Jesus insists that repentance is necessary: taking God’s side against sin and submitting to His authority.

#6 Sanctity / Degradation
Asked about divorce and remarriage, Jesus took his questioners back to the story of the first marriage to explain that it is not a man-made idea but a God-given institution between a man and woman. He would go on to explain that sex was a sacred gift (not just another bodily appetite) to be enjoyed within the covenant of marriage – as a picture of the committed love that God has for His people and a preview of the great wedding of heaven and earth, Jesus and His church at the end of history. Being unmarried and celibate all His earthly life, Jesus has shown us that respecting the sacredness of sex does not entail living an unfulfilled and frustrated life.

In summary, how can the secular psychologist Jonathan Haidt help us? For our apologetics ministry, his image of the elephant and its rider reminds us the significance of leading with compassion and concern for people, before seeking to share the arguments and reasons for our hope in the gospel – so they have open hearts and open minds. This what Peter was saying all those centuries ago in the Bible: “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect” (1 Peter 3:15). Also Haidt’s concept of the six moral taste receptors suggests that to persuade both the elephant and its rider to listen, we need to start with the language and concepts it already finds morally compelling: care, equality, freedom. This is not merely a mercenary tactic, rather we see in Jesus the perfect image of the God of compassion, justice, freedom, faithfulness, sovereignty and holiness. As we are being changed more into His likeness, we will develop a fuller moral palate – not just empowering us to live as good people, but good neighbours and good ambassadors for our Father in heaven.

David J. Nixon

david.nixonis Pastor for Youth and Students at Carrubbers Christian Centre, on The Royal Mile in Edinburgh’s historic Old Town.

“A.S.K.” by David Robertson

by Solas

Welcome to A.S.K – Ask. Seek. Knock. ‘Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.’ (Matthew 7:7–8). We all have questions about Jesus, the Bible, the Christian faith and our culture today. The great news is that Jesus gives answers. These questions were gathered from teenagers in fifteen countries in five different continents. All of them are real questions from real teenagers. 52 short chapters. Each contains a question, a Bible passage, a Bible verse, a discussion, something to consider, recommended further reading and a prayer. These answers may lead to more questions which is fine – but the main aim of this book is that you the reader comes to see and know better the One who is the Answer, Jesus Christ.

Available at 10ofThose.com

Author David Robertson was a co-founder of Solas and its Director for six years. He was minister at St Peter’s Free Church in Dundee  from 1992 until 2019, when he relocated to Australia. His other books include The Dawkins Letters, and Magnificent Obsession.