Posted by Martin Murphy on Thursday, November 18, 2010
Under: Apologetics
I walked into a fast food restaurant and asked the cashier what kind of meat was on the super snicker sandwich. With a blank dumbfounded stare he said, "I don't know." No, that really didn't happen, but it could happen because incompetency is the norm rather than the exception in the American culture. We find it in every segment of our society. I can understand how a relativistic unbelieving society might fall prey to the "incompetency syndrome", but I do not understand how Christians have so easily drank from that well. Why do Christians tolerate incompetency? There may be many reasons for such behavior. Perhaps relativism has invaded the church. Maybe anti-intellectualism is the culprit. These and other factors have influenced Christians, but I believe the essence of the problem is theological.
The quest for spiritual relevance has driven evangelicalism deeper and deeper in pietism and mysticism. Equality has replaced equity. Ethics are determined by a sliding scale according to the non-rules of relativism, rather than the rules given by the Lord God omnipotent. More often than not professing Christians avoid the study of Christian apologetics. Why? There are too many reasons to elaborate in this monograph. One reason is the abuse, misuse, and retreat from theological studies. Another reason is that Christians do not have a theological foundation to stand on. Then stealthy the postmodern concept dismantled the modern mind.
The American culture began to adopt the postmodern concept during the last quarter of the twentieth century. The postmodern concept leaves behind all the plans and hopes of modernity. Ironic as it may seem modernity was supposed to have left behind the antiquated concepts and ideas of the past. The postmodern concept allegedly redefines literature, art, philosophy, education, architecture, fiction, cultural and literary criticism, and other cultural disciplines. The shift from the modern to the postmodern has created philosophical skepticism in the academy and practical skepticism in the public square.
In the face of this cultural dilemma, I am writing a monograph entitled "My Christian Apology." Although I hesitate to set a date, I hope to have it published by the end of 2010, D.V.
My first priority in life is spending time with my wife and enjoying life together. Next on the list is writing books. After spending nearly 30 years in the class room, the pulpit, the lectern, the study, and the library, I now devote most of my time consolidating my academic and practical gains by writing books. My web site is titled "Writing My Books" because last year my wife kept insisting that I start writing before it was too late. Every day counts when most of life is in the past. I starting writing my books last summer and my wife would often ask "what are you doing?" My answer was "writing my book." When I proposed the idea of a web site about my writing project I asked my wife "what should I name it?" Without a second thought she said "writing my books."
I have a B.A. in Bible from Columbia International University and a Master of Divinity from Reformed Theological Seminary.