Haase_UZ_x007E_DTh (2).pdf - South African Theological Seminary

component of the overall package, but one’s religious convictions still need to be built
upon something of substance: there must be some substantive reason why you believe
what you do.
Under no circumstances should we retreat into
a presuppositionalism or a fideism which
would rob our fellow men of the opportunity
to consider the Christian faith seriously with
head as well as heart. Our apologetic task is
not fulfilled until we remove the intellectual
offenses that allow so many non-Christians to
reject the gospel with scarcely a hearing. We
must bring them to the only legitimate offense:
the offense of the Cross. We must make clear
to them beyond a shadow of doubt that if they
reject the Lord of glory, it will be by reason of
willful refusal to accept His grace, not because
His Word is incapable of withstanding the
most searching intellectual examination...
When the Greeks of our day come seeking
Jesus (John 12:20-21), let us make certain
they find Him (Montgomery, 1978:41).
While postmoderns seem to relish their relativistic and pluralistic position, I am not
at all convinced that any of them truly wants the life-instability that attends their position.
They too want something that goes beyond meeting a present need: they too want
something of real and lasting value. Like all mankind, postmoderns want something real
to believe in. Their doubts, like the doubts of peoples of all ages, are rooted in fear:
mostly an uncertainty about the future and what happens at death. Other ideologies and
religions attempt to answer such questions and quench these fears -- but only Christianity
can fully answer and alleviate them all.
Postmodern doubts about Christ and the Bible are hardly new. People have always
doubted the validity of Jesus’ claims, and questioned the authenticity and authority of the
Bible. Before the New Testament canon was even complete, heresies abounded, not least
among them, Gnosticism. Jesus’ own disciples, who lived with Him daily for months,
had doubts. Philip expressed His doubts about Jesus’ relationship to Yahweh, ‘the
Father’ (Joh. 14:8-11). Those who first came to the empty tomb (cf., Luk. 24) could not
believe He had risen from dead, though Jesus told them He would (Mat. 12:40). Thomas
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University of Zululand, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa