Southern Seminary Magazine (Vol 90.1) The Light of Truth: Apologetics in the 21st Century

More documents

Recommendations

Info

contents v90 n1 THE LIGHT OF TRUTH • APOLOGETICS IN THE 21 ST CENTURY 1 from the editor 3 president’s message 46 alumni: we have to live out our faith by Jeff Robinson 32 reaching history’s most secular generation: apologetics and gen-z by Dustin Bruce 36 we argue that jesus is the only way, but are we living it out? by Tom Schreiner 40 you don’t have to be an expert to share the gospel by Tim Beougher 43 3 key truths for better apologetics by Timothy Paul Jones 4 The Changing Face of Apologetics in a Secular Age by R. Albert Mohler Jr. 10 Adam and Eve DID THEY LITERALLY EXIST IN THE BEGINNING AND WHY DOES IT MATTER? by Kyle D. Claunch 18 Pillars and Bridges HOW TO PROCLAIM AND UPHOLD THE GOSPEL THROUGH APOLOGETIC METHOD AND STRATEGY by Stephen J. Wellum 24 Playing Offense HOW CHRISTIAN NATURAL LAW ARGUMENTS WORK IN PUBLIC APOLOGETICS by Andrew T. Walker 51 news & features 55 alumni: kitchens, sbts alum, promoted to air force chief of chaplains by Travis Hearne 57 faculty books 60 york, nettles, & schreiner: 25 years of faithful service by Jeff Robinson 2 the southern baptist theological seminary
President’s Message r. albert mohler jr. ALBERTMOHLER.COM @ALBERTMOHLER We are living in one of those hinge moments in human history. The tectonic plates beneath the society around us are moving and changing in such a way that many of us can recognize the before and after within our own lifespans. The acceleration of social change and the conditions of late modernity now represent a challenge because we understand that—just to take the issue of moral change—it can come with such speed that human beings aren’t built to a scale even to really understand it. On May 9, 2021, the first openly transgender bishop of any church in the United States was elected by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. That was a church that didn’t ordain anyone to the ministry who identified as LGBTQ+ until 2009. If you look at that change over the course of twelve years, you might think that there have been two millennia of Christian history and over five hundred years of the Lutheran tradition in particular when something like this would have seemed unimaginable. If you had talked to the people who on behalf of that denomination decided to ordain openly gay a clergy back in 2009, they would have said that it was not in their imagination that ordination could be extended to someone with a transgender identity. They would have said instead, “By the way, what is that?” After all, the ideology behind transgender identity hadn’t been developed yet. Now, it’s mainstream. Indeed, it’s the reigning orthodoxy of the dominant cultural authorities in our secular age. Within my own lifespan, from 1959 until the present, I’ve witnessed the changing of worlds. In fact, I began to experience our culture’s shifts in a personal way when I was in the eighth grade. It was then that I was yanked out of a very comfortable and overtly Christian culture and placed into a context in which the ambient culture was markedly different. I had no tools for it. I didn’t understand it. As I tell people, the limits of my imagination about religious pluralism for the first thirteen years of my life was related to the fact that we had one Methodist and one Presbyterian family in the neighborhood. In a new school, I found myself surrounded by people who came from many different parts of the world and had many different worldviews. I also had teachers who were ardent in their atheism—something that I don’t know if I even knew about until I met an atheist. The new culture I began to inhabit wasn’t as secularized as our own in this current stage of late modernity, but one could already see the threads of contemporary secularization coming together. We must consider the Bible’s command to “be prepared to give an account for the hope you have” (1 Peter 3:15) in light of these rapid shifts. We must see that a current seminarian’s entire life may be given doing the work of evangelism and apologetics in a culture that is a moving target. It’s a rather humbling realization. Seminary graduates today are entering a culture that is in such fast motion that it’s difficult either to exaggerate or to predict the pace of change. Let me be clear. The theological task has not changed, but the task of apologetics does seem to have changed, not in terms of its biblical mandate but in terms of its current expression. That is the theme of this issue of Southern Seminary Magazine. Within these pages we’re exploring the theme of apologetics— giving a reason for our hope. When I was a young Christian encountering cultural upheaval for the first time, I first encountered apologists like Francis Schaeffer and R. C. Sproul. They made a big impact in my life. It’s just that kind of difference that the faculty of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary has in the life of our students. Every day, we are giving seminarians the intellectual tools they need to take ideas and truth claims seriously so that they can give a reason for their hope. R. Albert Mohler Jr. summer 2022 3
Page 1 and 2: 4 The Changing Face of Apologetics
Page 3: Summer 2022. Vol. 90, No. 1. Copyri
Page 7 and 8: “How do we speak to a culture tha
Page 9 and 10: . albert mohler, jr. de-Christianiz
Page 11 and 12: Tuesday, June 14, 2022 In the midst
Page 13 and 14: y kyle d. claunch The Expulsion of
Page 15 and 16: kyle d. claunch under the administr
Page 17 and 18: kyle d. claunch in Genesis 1-11 tha
Page 19 and 20: kyle d. claunch reading, the interp
Page 21 and 22: What does apologetic method and str
Page 23 and 24: stephen j. wellum Defining Presuppo
Page 25 and 26: BIBLES • AUTHOR EVENTS • CHRIST
Page 27 and 28: Playing Offense HOW CHRISTIAN NATUR
Page 29 and 30: andrew t. walker theology. Instead,
Page 31 and 32: “If God’s world is one of order
Page 33 and 34: Is it ok to be friends with unbelie
Page 35 and 36: “THE LORD HAS PROMISED TO BUILD H
Page 37 and 38: Master of Arts Biblical Counseling
Page 39 and 40: “A FEW YEARS AGO, EVANGELICALS DI
Page 41 and 42: Discover the explosive power of Jes
Page 43 and 44: “SURVEYS SHOW THE GREATEST BARRIE
Page 45 and 46: y timothy paul jones Christ’s App
Page 47 and 48: LOUISVILLE KENTUCKY Equipped Today
Page 49 and 50: THIRTY TO SIXTY SECONDS. That’s h
Page 51 and 52: Wes Fowler talks with church member
Page 53 and 54: The Southern Baptist Theological Se
Page 55 and 56:
news & features Southern continues
Page 57 and 58:
alumni kitchens, sbts alum, promote
Page 59 and 60:
The Southern Baptist Theological Se
Page 61 and 62:
The Southern Baptist Theological Se
Page 63 and 64:
interview In 1997, three conservati
Page 65 and 66:
interview investigation and the ant
Page 67 and 68:
Master of Divinity Learn to defend
show all

Southern Seminary Magazine (Vol 90.1) The Light of Truth: Apologetics in the 21st Century

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?