Apologia 101 v.1

In an online discussion I was once asked if I was a theologion. My answer was no, but I've been called worse ;-) Though I may not have formal training, I have done some reading and study over the years. This combined with my nature to debate and discuss big subjects has caused to notice that some Christians, while meaning well, get a bit beyond the knowledge that they have and end up causing confusion or presenting very weak arguments for the faith. I thought it might be a good idea to give some tips on some of these matters. Hopefully, I can keep the posts short and reference the reader to more detailed resources for further study.

At the bottom of these posts I will include my standard resources that I use for study quite often, but if applicable, add addtional resources for the topic at hand.

For my first post, I'll start with something I've concluded from watching some of these disucussions. Many times, a believer will say Christiantiy is not a religion but a relationship with God. This sounds good, until non-believers go, "huh?" The problem is in distinguishing religion and relationship. What is even more problematic is the Bible speaks of religion as well.

Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world. (James 1:27 KJV)

Clearly, there is a positive aspect of religion and spending time trying to make a sharp distinction between the Christian faith and religion is bound to cause needless confusion.

We can cover the important point that one is trying to make about Christianity in a better fashion. Instead of trying to say Christianity is not a religion but instead a relationship, it it would be best to say, Christainity is a religion that is about a relationship with God. This captures the heart of Christainity without getting into needless arguments about what religion is or is not. Instead of making it harder for non-believers to find God, let's do what we can to help lead them to his loving kindness.

*update*

It would be helpful if I would spell the term apologia correctly in my post title before I trackback everywhere. lol

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Standard Resources: A Christian Thinktank -- Tekton Apologetics Ministries -- BibleGateway.com

Additional Resources: N/A

Filed Under: Apologetics -- Christianity -- Religion

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