Tony Jones is Doing Apologetics!

Last updated on: September 6, 2012 at 9:23 am by Kyle Roberts

Tony Jones is Doing Apologetics! 2012-09-06T09:23:27-04:00 Kyle Roberts

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Emergent theologian Tony Jones is starting a new blog series called Questions that Haunt Christianity. He’s inviting readers to submit their vexing questions about the Christian faith on Tuesday of each week, and then he’ll answer them on Friday.

Jones says, “I’m not afraid of doubt. I, myself, am a doubter. But I consider a large part of my vocation as a Christian theologian to proffer intellectually honest answers to the big questions of faith.”

I think we need more of this kind of kind of thing in public Christian discourse: honest, serious engagement with tough questions. Theology blogs naturally attract these sorts of conversations–but it’s also nice to have theologians inviting them in a focused way.

Recently, on the Her*meneutics blog, guest writer Kara Powell sugggested that “doubt belongs in your youth group curriculum.” She noted an anecdote in Steve Jobs biography: at age 13, Jobs asked a tough, but classic, question about the problem of evil and suffering to his pastor (to paraphrase, if God has absolute divine foreknowledge, why does he allow global hunger and starvation?). The pastor shrugged off his question. Jobs left the church, never to return.

That narrative is multiplied countless times over, as the church struggles mightily with retention rates. (And now, thanks to Steve Jobs, every teenager has an IPhone or a Mac with which they surf the net to discover yet more difficult questions that “haunt” Christianity). The percentages of young people leaving the church, often due to the inability or unwillingness of church leaders to handle these complex questions, should be deeply troubling to those concerned with the future of Christian faith–and more importantly–with how these kids respond (or not) to Jesus.

I think what Jones is doing here is a new kind of apologetic approach, one that is not so much focused on winning arguments or somehow rationally “proving” the legitimacy of Christian faith or the existence of God, but simply engaging tough questions head-on, acknowledging the complexity, mystery and “unprovability” where necessary. I’ve written before about Richard Beck’s The Authenticity of Faith, where he argues that a new apologetic will be one that shows that Christian faith can be existentially authentic and compelling, without sealing off or squelching theological doubts.

Anyway, I think it would be kind of cool if Emergence Christianity, once branded by its critics as a grumbling, skeptical, disenfranchised movement with a penchant for relativism, could have an instrumental role to play in the revitalization of apologetic discourse–even if it’s a different brand than your father’s and mother’s.

Uncategorized

Previous Post

September 5, 2012

The Temptation of Truth

Next Post

September 7, 2012 Why I Don't Tally the "God" References at Political Conventions

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Alex Blondeau Authors Daniel Harrell Daniel Siedell Dawn Duncan Harrell Kyle Roberts Uncategorized Wyndy Corbin

Select a Month November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

True or False: Twelve spies were sent to explore Canaan, and all gave a positive report.

Select your answer to see how you score.

FALSE TRUE