What faults do you see most critics make when confronting…

What faults do you see most critics make when confronting Christianity? What faults do you see most Christians make when confronting skeptics ?
From my experience with skeptics its been :
1) Misinterpretation of scripture.
2) Caricaturing of scripture.
3) Biased examination of scripture due to unacknowledged philosophical presuppositions.
4) Not acknowledging their burden of proof.
5) Overconfidence.
While for Christians:
1) Lack of knowledge or understanding of important objections.
2) Relying only on scripture when in a conversation with someone who doesn’t believe in its inspiration.
3) Following aimless conversations with extreme skeptics.
4)Ending up arguing between themselves.
5) Overconfidence.

What do you think we can do as Christians to improve and become more successful at bringing people to Christ ?

Categories: #ourCOG

2 comments

Marinos Kladas says:

May 15, 2020 at 10:31 am

Λευτέρης Πανηγύρης I love the way You put overconfidence as a common fault in dialogues among doubtful Skeptics and pious Christians.

First of all, Christians should let go of their confidence in themselves and rather concentrate on their Lord as the sole source of confidence. Self-confidence may lead the believer astray and away from the path of truth and righteousness, turning them into self-righteous and close-minded individuals, unable to commune the important questions or essential objections of the people they preach or respond to. On the other hand, Christ-confidence allows the believer to liberate themselves from the chains of overconfidence, in order to actively proclaim the Truth in humility, mildness and with grace. It is the type of confidence the Holy and Sacred Scriptures describe when the faithful are instructed to trust the Lord and have good faith in Him in times they need to defend the Church and her teachings: the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, shall bring words of wisdom to guide the people around us into repentance and eternal salvation.

Furthermore, it is imperative Christians practice what they preach and live up to the lifestyle they proclaim in open debates and dialogues. The life of a faithful, dutiful and loving person, filled with the Holy Spirit and acting as a worthy child of God, works like a beautiful fragrance that attracts the attention of those around them and captivates their minds and spirits through the manifestation of the Kingdom of God in the face of the same individual. In other words, our actions speak louder than our words, our mercies and loving kindness deeper than our tongue and lips. Integrity and sincerity prove the validity and reality of the proposed faith and position, not as something imaginary or utopian, but rather as empirically true and experientially credible.

Moreover, it would be greatly beneficial both for the skeptic and the pious if the Christian actually prayed and fastened for the people they tried to share the Gospel with. When we allow the Lord to actively participate in our conversations and relationships, wonderful and incredible repercussions may follow, such as the illumination of our minds to predict how to correspond to a skeptic, the divine inspiration for repentance in the heart of the skeptic or the clarification of the Christian teaching to the mind of the skeptic after the removal of unclean spiritual forces who may bind their reason and emotions.

Additionally, it would most certainly prove prudent and wise if the children of God belonging to different Christian denominations and traditions expressed understanding and love for one another instead of antagonistic missionary zeal or selfish attitude of superiority, especially when confronting biased skeptics who crave such “gladiatorial holy fights” in order to justify their mockery and criticism of the Church and Gospel.

Last (but not least), it would prove very helpful if the average Christian actually spent some quality time in a library in order to deepen their understanding of Scripture, Church History and Patrology, while giving a good amount of time trying honestly and genuinely to comprehend the objections and the arguments of the people who happen not to share the same appreciation and reverence towards the message of the Nazarene and His Cross.

Jo Kothenbeutel says:

May 15, 2020 at 3:31 pm

The Bible teaches that God’s ways are foolishness to men and that his wisdom is above Man’s wisdom.