Faith and Apologetics Journal

By ALEX REICH 

 

1. Apologetics are the defense of Faith by showing that scientific, philosophical, and theological evidence favor Christianity. This section uses these types of examples (from people like C.S. Lewis and G. K. Chesterton) to strengthen our faith. The section shows that about 99 percent of all people believe in some sort of higher power and that almost every culture has some sort of God or power whom they worship. This section, and basically the whole book, tries to show some specifics reasons why people believe in God. There are specific reasons, whether or not people are consciously aware of them and this section of the book shows us that it is up to us to ask ourselves what our reasons are and whether or not these are good reasons.
2. Three of the most important arguments this section presents are William Paley’s analogy of “The Watch and the Watchmaker”, the Anthropic Principle, and the Kalam Argument.

 

“The Watch and the Watchmaker” uses a story to describe how God exists. William Paley says that if you are walking through the woods and find a watch lying on the ground, if you pick it up and examine it and see its intricacy, you automatically assume that since it has such an intelligent design it must have an intelligent designer as well. Paley argues that since humans are also intelligently designed, it is only logical to assume that there is an intelligent designer.

 

The Anthropic Principle is a bit more complicated, but equally as helpful in explaining one’s belief in God. It states that the odds of an entire universe “accidentally” forming in a way to make intelligent life possible are extremely small. However, intelligent life exists. Therefore, the universe must have been deliberately formed in order to make intelligent life possible. If this is true, then there has to be a Creator who made this universe and the intelligent life that came out of it.

 

The Kalam Argument seems to me to be the most controversial of the three. It states that everything that begins to exist has a cause outside of itself and, obviously, the universe (everything that exists in time) began to exist. Therefore, the universe has a cause outside of itself. Expanding on this, the universe has either always existed or began to exist at a certain point. If we follow the Big Bang theory, then we believe that the universe will continue expanding forever, or it will contract back into a single point (this is called the “Big Crunch”), possibly to explode again and start a whole new universe. So either this is the only universe to ever exist, or there is going to be an infinite series of universes. Either way, the universe must have a purpose outside of itself and this idea of purpose leads to God.

 

3.
From Pictures of Jesus 4 You.com

 

4. Who do I say Jesus is? The Messiah is too simple an answer. Jesus is who I see in my parents and family and how much they truly and genuinely love me. This incredible family relationship and love is a blessing that not everyone has and Jesus is the only reason that I can see for giving them to me. Jesus is the reason that I don’t smoke or drink or do things that the church considers immoral. By his example, I see that faith and self-control go a very long way. Jesus is the prime example of patience, putting up with the disciples’ human behavior. Patience is one of the areas in my life that I have the most trouble in and Jesus’ example helps me deal with this. Another thing I have a hard time with is sacrifice, which Jesus did to the ultimate level, giving his life for his people. Jesus is everything that a perfect person should be.