Gospel Crumbs: September 2013

Resources by William Lane Craig on the importance and usefulness of apologetics for Christians, their children and in order to clear the ground for evangelism. Craig argues that apologetics, while not absolutely necessary, is nevertheless very useful, even critical and vital for evangelism and the spiritual stability of Christian believers.

Christian Apologetics: Who Needs It? by William Lane Craig
(video link)
A written version of the lecture above:
Christian Apologetics: Who Needs It?

In Intellectual Neutral by William Lane Craig
(video link)

William Lane Craig on Dealing with Doubt
(video link)

More Resources on Dealing with Christian Doubt

Links Dealing with the Inner Testimony of the Holy Spirit

Imagine a Christian living in Europe during the late Medieval period and not having apologetical material, nor even having a Bible or even being literate. Let's call him Abraham. His father was a Christian Crusader, his mother a Muslim who fell in love with his father in her homeland and followed him back to Europe. When it comes to the Bible and the Gospel all he has is the fragmentary stories he's heard from his local priest about God sending Jesus to earth to save sinners like himself. All around him there's tragedy, plagues, sickness and tyranny and his "friends" try to convince him (like Job's wife) to curse God, renounce Christianity and become an atheist like themselves. "Besides" they say, "there's no evidence that the world even ever began [i.e. a beginning to the universe]." Note that even Aquinas had difficulty arguing for a beginning of the universe armed as he was with Aristotelian philosophy. Since the expansion of the universe was not scientifically detected until the 20th century. Day after day his atheist friends bombard him with arguments for atheism; and in addition to that he wonders about the truth of Islam (the religion of his ancestors on his mother's side). What is a person like that to do? How can someone like that become or maintain being a Christian? That's why the doctrine of the inner testimony of the Holy Spirit is not only necessary apologetically, but in actuality. [This is also why the doctrine of election makes a lot of sense as well. But that's a topic for a different blog.]

Articles by William Lane Craig:

Counterfeit Claims of the Spirit’s Witness (Q & A #30)
https://www.reasonablefaith.org/writings/question-answer/counterfeit-claims-of-the-spirits-witness

The Witness of the Holy Spirit (Q & A #68)
https://www.reasonablefaith.org/writings/question-answer/the-witness-of-the-holy-spirit

The Witness of the Spirit as an Intrinsic Defeater-Defeater (Q & A #136)
https://www.reasonablefaith.org/writings/question-answer/the-witness-of-the-spirit-as-an-intrinsic-defeater-defeater

Counterfeit Claims to the Witness of the Spirit (Q & A #167)
http://www.reasonablefaith.org/counterfeit-claims-to-the-witness-of-the-spirit