Pulse Magazine: Issue 21

T H E Z A C H A R I A S T R U S T M A G A Z I N E ISSUE 21 | AUTUMN 2015

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THE BIBLE: THE VERDICT OF HISTORY

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COVER IMAGE: ARCHAEOLOGIST EXCAVATING A HUMAN SKULL AT ASHKELON, ISRAEL, IN 2010

Retweet, not retreat

Big questions: how do we know it’s true?

The all new ‘Happy Humanism’

Persuasive Christianity: making conversations count

STAY CONNECTED

Introducing the next generation of evangelists: the OCCA Fellows Programme

AUTUMN 2015 | PULSE ISSUE 21

2

VLAD CRIZNIC

DIRECTOR, RZIM ROMANIA

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Dance by Luis Prado, Compassion by Scott Lewis.

The Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics (OCCA) is a partnership between RZIM and Wycliff e Hall, a Permanent Private Hall of the University of Oxford.

MICHAEL RAMSDEN

INTERNATIONAL DIRECTOR, RZIM

JOHN LENNOX

ADJUNCT PROFESSOR, OCCA

TOM PRICE

TUTOR, OCCAAND RZIM ITINERANT SPEAKER

RAVI ZACHARIAS

FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT OF RZIM

ALISTER MCGRATH

PRESIDENT, OCCA

AMY ORR-EWING

REGIONAL DIRECTOR, EMEA AND CURRICULUM DIRECTOR, OCCA

OS GUINNESS

SENIOR FELLOW, OCCA

VINCE VITALE

SENIOR TUTOR, OCCAAND RZIM ITINERANT SPEAKER

SHARON DIRCKX

TUTOR, OCCAAND RZIM ITINERANT SPEAKER

BECKY PIPPERT

ASSOCIATE EVANGELIST

The Zacharias Trust, 76 Banbury Road, Oxford, OX2 6JT T: +44 (0)1865 302900 F: +44 (0)1865 318451 www.rzim.eu

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HELPING THE THINKER BELIEVE AND THE BELIEVER THINKTh e Zacharias Trust is a UK charity that seeks to engage hearts and minds for Christ.

TANYA WALKER

RZIM ITINERANT SPEAKER

ANDY WICKHAM

DIRECTOR, RZIM SPAIN

CHRISTIAN HOFREITER

DIRECTOR, RZIM GERMANY, AUSTRIA AND SWITZERLAND

JO VITALE

TUTOR , OCCA

KEITH SMALL

TUTOR , OCCA

SIMON EDWARDS

RZIM ITINERANT SPEAKER

MAHLATSE WINSTON MASHUA

DIRECTOR, RZIM SOUTH AFRICA

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DIRECTOR, RZIM MACEDONIA

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SUMMER2015 | PULSE ISSUE 20

TO THE TWENTY-FIRST EDITION OF

pulse magazine

CONTENTSTHE BIBLE:

THE VERDICT

OF HISTORY 4POSTCARD

FROM ROMANIA 9INTRODUCING THE

NEXT GENERATION

OF EVANGELISTS:

THE OCCA FELLOWS

PROGRAMME 10RETWEET,

NOT RETREAT: 12CHRISTIAN

PERSUASION:

MAKING

CONVERSATIONS COUNT 16DATES FOR YOUR DIARY 19THE ALL NEW

‘HAPPY HUMANISM’ 20BIG QUESTIONS:

HOW DO WE KNOW

IT’S TRUE? 22

IN THIS ISSUE:

THE BIBLE: THE VERDICT

OF HISTORY

Can we really trust the Bible, given

that it was written thousands of years

ago? This is the topic of a DVD series

by 222Ministries, entitled, ‘The Bible:

The Verdict of History’. On page 4,

Simon Wenham examines some of the

arguments it uses, as well as assessing

how useful it is as an apologetics

resource.

RETWEET, NOT RETREAT

We live in an ultra-connected world,

where much of our communication now

occurs online. On page 12, Nancy Giff ord

gives advice on how Christians can

engage with social media.

THE NEXT GENERATION

OF EVANGELISTS

The Oxford Centre for Christian

Apologetics may only be just over a

decade old, but its infl uence has grown

signifi cantly in the last few years. On page

10, Helen Sherwin introduces the new

OCCA Fellows and Adjunct speakers.

EVENTS

Our speaking team is involved with lots

of forthcoming events and you can see

them all listed on page 19.

PERSUASIVE CHRISTIANITY

We don’t often hear Christians saying

much about persuasion, but on page

16, we look at Os Guinness’ new book

on the topic, which examines how to

communicate the gospel message more

eff ectively in today’s ‘post Christian’ world.

POSTCARD FROM ROMANIA

On page 9, Vlad Criznic reports back on

some of the important events that have

recently occurred in Romania.

THE ALL NEW

‘HAPPY HUMANISM’

The British Humanist Association recently

launched a new promotional drive

revolving around the concept of ‘Happy

Humanism’. On page 20, Martin Smith

goes on a light-hearted quest to fi nd

some joyful atheists, using clues from

their own four-point manifesto.

BIG QUESTIONS #4: HOW

DO WE KNOW IT’S TRUE?

Isn’t it arrogant to say that there is only

one way to God? On page 22, Ravi

Zacharias explores the question of

how we can test the truth claims of

any worldview.

STAY CONNECTED

Receive up-to-date information about our

team and apologetics material by signing

up to receive Pulse and our monthly

electronic resource at

www.rzim.eu/keeping-in-touch.

Our new ‘Evidence for God’ DVD is now

available for free* from 10ofThose.com.

The resource looks at fi ve key areas in

which a positive case for a creator can

be made (cosmology, history, ethics,

rationality and personal experience).

The resource can be ordered from

www.10ofThose.com.

Simon WenhamRESEARCH CO-ORDINATOR

* Customers are only required to cover the cost of postage.

WELCOME

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444444444444444

THE RELIABILITY OF SCRIPTURE IS VERY IMPORTANT, AS IT...GIVES BELIEVERS

IN THE WORD OF GOD

THE BIBLE:

THE VERDICT

OF HISTORY

BY SIMON WENHAM


5

Yet despite the helpful teaching it contains, some

would argue that it has become outdated and

is unsuitable for informing us about anything of

importance in our modern and scientifi c world.

The time has come, they argue, to consign it to

the history books and to view it alongside other

mythical accounts that are rightly considered to

be classics of literature, despite bearing little or

no resemblance to reality.

It is precisely this kind of thinking that is

challenged during a day-trip to the British

Museum that the Business Programme* students

at the Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics

take. During their visit, Dr Jay Smith guides them

around the many exhibits and artefacts that

relate to events recorded in scripture, in order to

bring to life how the biblical narratives fi ts within

the unfurling history of the ancient world.

The teaching they receive is a condensed version

of the material contained within an 11-part TV

documentary series produced for 222Ministries,

presented by Smith and Dr Sasan Tavassoli,

entitled ‘The Bible: The Verdict of History’.

Although it was originally produced for an Iranian

audience, so some of the content specifi cally

responds to common objections made against

the Bible from an Islamic perspective, many of

the arguments are exactly the same as those any

Christian might encounter. This article examines

some of the topics that the series covers, as well

as evaluating its usefulness as an apologetics

resource for Christians.

THE FLOOD

One of the fi rst topics the documentary covers

is the extra biblical evidence for the fl ood. This

remains a controversial topic, because there are

over 200 diff erent fl ood accounts from around

the world, including China. Two of them, a

Babylonian account about ‘Atrahasis’ dating from

around 1635BC (the original believed to have

been produced in the 18th century BC), and

the Gilgamesh epic from ancient Mesopotamia

(dating from around 650BC, although the original

is thought to go back to around 2100BC), are

contained within the museum. One response

to the existence of similar records would be to

argue that the Bible clearly borrowed the story

of the fl ood from an earlier source, but another,

which the presenters endorse, is to see them as

confi rming the biblical story of a massive fl ood.

One might add that it is also important to

compare the documents, if a suggestion is

made that the Bible drew from another source.

By doing so, you would quickly realise that

the Atrahasis and Gilgamesh epics have a very

diff erent feel to them, as they both focus on the

lives and disputes of the many diff erent gods

and how they interact with humankind. They

describe, for example, how it was one of the

deities, Enlil, who was responsible for sending

the fl ood, simply because he was fed up with

his sleep being disturbed by the noise from the

people! In the Atrahasis account, humans were

created because the gods had become tired of

working the land, and the eventual fl ood was

only one of a number of punishments exacted

against them (which subsequently led to a

new set of people being created). In the other

narrative, the deluge is simply one of the many

incredible adventures of King Gilgamesh, the son

of the goddess of Ninsun (and a human father),

whose other escapades included a failed quest

to fi nd eternal life and the slaying of mythical

creatures, like the monstrous giant, Humsbaba,

and the Bull of Heaven. Admittedly, the accounts

do contain a couple of details that are the same

as the story of Noah (a god-sent fl ood and a hero

building a boat to survive it), but, overall, these

similarities should not be overstated.

DISCOVERING ANCIENT CITIES

AND PEOPLE

One of the most interesting aspects of the series

is its focus on the numerous archaeological

discoveries that corroborate what is in the

Bible, when there had previously been no other

sources to substantiate them. This is obviously

important, because it challenges the suggestion

that we cannot rely on the historicity of ‘biased’

scripture, but should instead only trust extra-

biblical evidence (which may or may not

even survive).

It wasn’t known if the city of Ur existed (Genesis

11:28), until it was discovered in subsequent

excavations, for example, and whilst there was

once little information about the Hittites (Genesis

15:20), we now know a vast amount about a

major civilization descended from them in what

is modern-day Turkey. Another interesting fi nd

was corroborating evidence supporting the

Bible’s claim (in 2 Kings 15:9) that the Assyrian

King, Tiglath Pileser III, was also known as ‘Pul’.

Th e Bible is undoubtedly one of the most popular and infl uential books in history and of course parts of it are important to both Judaism and Islam.

* See the back cover for further information

about the OCCA Business Programme.

ARCHAEOLOGIST EXCAVATING A HUMAN SKULL AT ASHKELON, ISRAEL, IN 2010

S CONFIDENCE


6 This was a detail even the great

historian, Herodotus (writing around

400BC), did not know. These, and

numerous similar discoveries, serve

as an important reminder that when

it comes to archaeology, absence

of evidence to support the biblical

account is not evidence of absence.

THE EARLY BELIEVERS:

ABRAHAM, MOSES AND DAVID

It’s all very well saying that we have

found a few of the people groups

or cities mentioned in biblical times,

but what about the key leaders like

Abraham, Moses or David? It might

concern some Christians to discover

that there is actually very little

information about them outside of

scripture. Nevertheless, one would

have to have a very unrealistic

expectation of what archaeology can

deliver to suppose otherwise. Not only

is the evidence very fragmentary by

nature (in both senses of the word),

but many of the artefacts containing

written accounts are offi cial records

produced in order to venerate a

particular leader. Negative information

was not recorded and of course lesser

mortals were not considered worthy

of attention. It would be extremely

unlikely, therefore, to fi nd much extra-

biblical evidence describing the very

early Israelites, as they were initially a

relatively small and insignifi cant band

of slaves, shepherds and nomads.

Nevertheless, there are records that

hint at their existence later on, such

as an inscription from the Egyptian

Pharaoh Shoshenq I (described as

Shishak in 1 Kings 11:40) referring

to the highlands/heights of David,

and an ancient shard (dating from

around 500BC) referring to Yahweh.

Furthermore, the Nuzi tablets (c.

1450-1350BC), discovered in northern

Iraq, confi rm that some of the customs

mentioned in Genesis were indeed

practiced by other groups in the

region at the time, which supports the

suggestion that the latter was written

from within that historical context.

Admittedly, sceptics may want

more corroborating evidence,

but if someone is appealing to

archaeological expertise, then it’s

important they respect the discipline

and try to understand what it is or isn’t

likely or able to show. The fi ndings

confi rm, at the very least, that the

information in the early part of the

Bible fi ts within the historical context

of the time it is purporting to record,

which is certainly not always the case

with ancient literature.

THE ASSYRIANS

As you would expect, there are more

sources relating to the later periods

recorded in the Bible, such as a large

collection in the Museum from the

8th and 9th centuries BC (the era

covered in the books of Kings and

Chronicles). King Ahab is mentioned in

a stela about the reign of the Assyrian

King Shalmanezer III (859-824BC),

for example, whilst an obelisk also

mentions the latter being visited (and

paid homage to) by King Jehu.

There are also records relating to

Sargon II, the 8th century Assyrian

King (Isaiah 20:1), whose people,

through intermarriage with some

of the Israelite tribes, became the

Samaritans. The dating of this has

ramifi cations for Muslims too, because

the Qur’an mentions a Samaritan as

being responsible for the golden calf

in Moses’ time (Sura 20: 85-97), and

yet the people group were not in

existence at the time of Exodus.

One of the most interesting fi nds

relating to the biblical account is the

Taylor Prism, a record in cuniform

script commemorating the reign of

Sargon’s son, Sennacherib (704-

681BC). This includes a description

of his military campaign in which he

destroyed a number of cities in the

State of Judah – although, in keeping

with the biblical account, Jerusalem

was not one of them – and Hezekiah

paying tribute to him. According to

Isaiah (37:9), Sennacherib then had to

return home to repel an attack from

Tirhakah, King of Cush. There was no

evidence to support the existence of

the latter until around two centuries

ago, when the discovery of the

Rosetta Stone, an ancient Egyptian

decree written around 196BC in

three languages, provided the key

to translating ancient hieroglyphics.

This led to the discovery that Tirhakah

was in fact one of the most powerful

Cushite Kings, although, interestingly,

his people subsequently went into

decline, which may well have been

something to do with Sennacherib’s

attack.

BABYLONIAN PERIOD

One major historical question mark

hanging over the biblical account

was the reference in Daniel to the

Babylonian King, Belshazzar. This

appeared to be a major credibility

problem, because the last monarch

was known to be Nabonidus. Yet, a

discovery of a cylinder in a ziggurat at

Ur, provided evidence that Nabonidus

had a son named Belshazzar, another

fact that the famous historian,

Herodotus, had not known. Moreover,

it came to light that the former

went into retirement, leaving the

running of the country to his son.

This explains the seemingly puzzling

fact that Daniel was only elevated to

number three in the realm (Daniel

5:29). It also follows from this that

the book was probably written close

to the time of the events it records,

which has further ramifi cations for

how the prophetic literature within

it is evaluated. Daniel is obviously

important for another reason, because

it contains the important reference

to ‘one like a son of man’, which Jesus

applies to himself in the gospels.

PERSIAN PERIOD

Perhaps one of the most puzzling

stories within the Old Testament is the

account (in Ezra) of the conquering

Persian King, Cyrus the Great,

supposedly allowing the Israelites

to go home and build the temple.

Such a suggestion seems unlikely, as

it would be a risk to allow a people

group in captivity to return home,

as they might subsequently rise up

to challenge your own authority.

Nevertheless, this is exactly the kind of

behaviour that is corroborated by the

Cyrus cylinder (550-530BC). Although

it doesn’t expressly mention the

Israelites, it records the King allowing

the return of both foreign gods and

people to where they had come from.

Yet, we still have the problem of what

to make of the claim that the Persian

kings came to trust in Yahweh, when


77

their artefacts only refer to Marduk,

a pagan god. One response to this is

to stress that artefacts don’t tend to

focus on God per se, but instead they

usually relate to the achievements of

those in power. These often glorifi ed

accounts are in stark contrast to the

Bible, which is primarily concerned

with the human relationship to the

God of Israel. The latter contains

numerous criticisms of those in high

places, including even the great

heroes of the faith, like David and

Solomon. If there had been an offi cial

Persian edict to worship a foreign

God, then it would not have been

surprising if future kings destroyed

it for going against their beliefs.

We know that this kind of thing

happened in the ancient world, as we

have the later example (as recorded

in the hadith) of the third Caliph,

Uthman (577-656AD), overseeing the

standardisation of the Qur’an and the

destruction of alternative manuscripts.

THE NEW TESTAMENT:

CORRUPTION AND THE CANON

The series then switches to the British

Library for its assessment of the New

Testament. One of the major issues

it tackles is the question of whether

the Bible was corrupted, a claim that

is often made by Muslim apologists.

This accusation relates more

specifi cally to the New Testament, as

the Qur’an doesn’t really address the

Old Testament, other than diff ering

over some minor details, such as the

identity of Isaac and Ishmael. Yet,

surprisingly, not only does it contain

references supporting the authority

of the Bible (Sura 4:136 and 5:46-48)

and Christians (Sura 10:94 and 21:7),

but it actually doesn’t say anything

about corruption of the text. The idea

was a much later one popularised by

Ibn Hazam in the eleventh century,

whereas there is very strong evidence

for the contents of scripture remaining

consistent over time, which makes

it very diffi cult to discern when any

widespread changes could possibly

have occurred.

Although dating the books of the

Bible is diffi cult because papyrus

disintegrates (and we only have

copies of the originals to refer to),

the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls

in the mid-nineteenth century

confi rmed that large sections of our

Old Testament were the same (i.e.

unaltered) as the earliest versions

we have discovered (dating from

within 300 years of Christ). The New

Testament is easier to date, as the

vast majority of scholars date all of

the books (the originals) to the fi rst

century, and some, such as a number

of Paul’s letters, to within 20 years

of Christ’s death. Furthermore, it

does not describe any key historical

events in Christian history after about

AD60, such as the martyrdom of

James (62AD) and Paul (64AD), or the

insurrection (66AD) and destruction

of Jerusalem (70AD), which suggests

that it mostly predates them. We can

be confi dent, therefore, that much

of what we have was recorded whilst

many eyewitnesses were still around

and could be referred to.

The programme also considers

the question of how the canon

was decided upon, as well as how

the transmission of the Bible can

be shown to have a high level of

accuracy, as is shown by comparing

early manuscripts, codexes, diff erent

translations (in other languages) and

lectionaries. It is true that a small

number of verses have been found

to have been mistranslated or not

included in the earliest editions, but

these have been acknowledged and

tend to be noted in modern Bibles.

The series concludes by exploring

the relationship between Paul and

Jesus, in order to tackle the suggestion

that it was the former, rather than

the latter, who came up with much

of the theology we rely upon today.

The presenters stress that not only

do Pauline ideas come from earlier

biblical teaching, but we also have

to bear in mind the church leader’s

background. The early Christians

understandably viewed Paul with

considerable suspicion, as he had

been persecuting the church, so they

simply wouldn’t have accepted him if

he was going against what Jesus had

taught. In fact, it is telling that they

actually ended up embracing him and

sending him out. Nevertheless, he was

obviously a sophisticated and learned

man who was seeking to apply Jesus’

principles to new and Gentile settings

– quite diff erent from rural Jewish

BUT IT ALSO AFFIRMS THAT THE CREATOR WANTS TO REVEAL

HIMSELF TO ALL

WOMAN LOOKS AT THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS

ON DISPLAY AT THE CAVES OF QUMRAN.


Galilee where Jesus ministered –

so it is unsurprising that people have

seen him as creating something

new, though he would have

vehemently denied being anything

but a faithful follower of Jesus.

CONCLUSION

Overall, ‘The Bible: The Verdict of

History’ may not be a big budget

documentary, but its approach is

very helpful for bringing to life some

of the rich tapestry of the ancient

world, as well as showing how the

biblical narrative fi ts within it. It is not,

however, a panacea that answers

all of the major objections about

scripture. It is inevitably restricted

somewhat by primarily focusing

on the artefacts within the British

Museum and Library, which means

that it doesn’t cover some other

arguments for the reliability of the

Bible, both archaeological (such as

mentioning the inscriptions referring

to Pilate and Gallio, for example, or

the ‘ossuary’ box containing the

bones of Caiaphas) and historical

(such as unpacking Josephus’

writing). Furthermore, it is does not

explore some key areas of academic

discussion, like the important issue of

redaction, alternative interpretations

from archaeology, chronological

questions relating to the early part

of the narrative, and the specifi c

challenges of handling a collection of

so many diff erent types of scripture.

Nevertheless, it defi nitely succeeds in

neutralising some of the uninformed

and strong caricatures circulating

OLD TESTAMENT

ARCHAEOLOGY

K. A. Kitchen, On The Reliability of the Old Testament: A helpful book on the archaeology of the Bible, which is cleverly structured in reverse chronological order.

J. K. Hoff meier, The Archaeology of the Bible: A good overview of the evidence relating to the biblical narrative.

GENESIS

J. K. Hoff meier, G. J. Wenham and K. L. Sparks, Genesis: History, Fiction or Neither?: A useful discussion containing three views on how we should interpret Genesis.

D. A. Young, The Biblical Flood: An academic historiography that examines the diff erent views on the fl ood (including unorthodox ones).

NEW TESTAMENT

F. F. Bruce, The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable?: Although over fi fty years old, this remains a helpful text on the historicity of the New Testament (and it can be viewed online for free).

D. Wenham, Paul: Follower of Jesus or Founder of Christianity: An academic book that affi rms that Paul was a follower of Jesus and not the founder of Christianity.

THE CANON

B. Metzger, The Canon of the New Testament: An academic book looking at the origin, development and signifi cance of the canon.

M. Green, The Books the Church Suppressed: A popular level book responding to the ideas espoused in Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code.

FURTHER READING:

today that try to suggest that scripture

lacks any reliable historical value. As

the notable biblical scholar, William

Albright, pointed out,

…excessive scepticism shown towards the Bible by important historical schools in the eighteenth- and nineteenth-centuries…has been progressively discredited. Discovery aft er discovery has established the accuracy of innumerable details and has brought increased recognition to the value of the Bible as a source of history.

Moreover, the series acts as a great

encouragement for believers to

look into the evidence for what they

believe. Indeed, those in the UK have

the wonderful opportunity of being

able to go and see the artefacts for

themselves (either on their own or by

booking a similar tour with Smith).*

As he stresses, the reliability of

scripture is very important, as it not

only gives believers confi dence in the

word of God, it also affi rms that the

creator wants to reveal himself to all

and that the whole story of what he

has done for humanity can be trusted.

To drive home his fi nal point, he ends

the series by exclaiming ‘And what a

story it is!’

Simon Wenham

RESEARCH CO-ORDINATOR

8888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888

THE WHOLE STORY OF WHAT HE HAS DONE FOR HUMANITY CAN

BE TRUSTED.

‘The Bible: The Verdict of History’ can be purchased for £13 from www.222publications.com

(use the search function to look for ‘The Bible: Verdict of History’).

* Tours of the British Museum with Dr Jay Smith can be arranged by emailing [email protected].

ARCHEOLOGICAL DIG AT THE CAVES OF

QUMRAN SITE ON DECEMBER 14 2008.

THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS ON DISPLAY

AT THE CAVES OF QUMRAN.


9999

Our fi rst year in Cluj was one of the most fruitful in the short history of RZIM Romania.

After returning from a year of full-

time study in the UK (for my PhD),

we focused our attention on planning

strategic events that would impact

the maximum number of people for

Christ, including the cultural infl uencers

within society.

We started this by creating a platform

called ‘Think/Ask/Ponder’, aimed at

young professionals from the city. It

was specifi cally designed to address

their questions with relevant and

creative answers, whilst also leaving

room for Q&A – a rarity in a Romanian

context. The events had an evangelistic

focus and the speakers, who included

Michael Ramsden, Os Guinness and

Ravi Zacharias, helped to draw a good

proportion of non-believers too,

some of whom were quite hostile.

Nevertheless, this helped to establish a

very genuine and honest environment

from which questions could be raised

and addressed. Each open event was

followed by a private dinner with

professors, politicians and businessmen,

during which a number of interesting

discussions occurred. One involved an

atheist struggling to defend his non-

belief whilst in conversation over dinner

with Ravi. Weeks after the meal, we

heard that he had asked to know more

about Christianity.

Having Ravi Zacharias in Romania

provided us with huge momentum and

the events, organised in conjunction

BY V L A D C R I Z N IC

POSTCARDFROM ROMANIA

with local churches, drew some of the

largest audiences in recent history,

including a 10,000-strong contingent

of students packed into the largest

sports arena in the country. After two

outstanding sessions, over 600 people

made commitments to follow Christ as

their Lord and Saviour. Following that

event, Ravi then came to Bucharest to

speak in the Senate House, possibly the

fi rst evangelical to deliver a sermon in

this manner. As one of the organisers,

I could hardly believe my eyes, as those

with the most infl uence in Romanian

society engaged extremely well with

the message of good news delivered

to them in the greatest possible way.

Four months have now passed since

those events, but we are still hearing

of people who have had their lives

completely changed, as a result.

Many young adults have attended

camps and conferences over the

summer, including one in Colorado, for

the Romanian-American community,

where twenty students made fi rst-time

commitments, and one in Chisinau,

Moldova, where 300 students gathered

for a week-long conference. We are

still waiting for the fi nal numbers to

be confi rmed, but many came to faith

in Jesus.

We are now preparing for the launch of

three new books, one written by myself,

and the other two being Romanian

translations of books by Amy Orr-Ewing

and Sharon Dirckx. Having travelled

all over the country, I arrived at the

conclusion that teenagers and their

parents are absolutely helpless when it

comes to fi nding literature to help them

answer their many questions about

faith. I used this as an opportunity to

try and meet this need, by producing

a book called, Apologetics around the

kitchen table: ten questions every teenager

and their parents should be able to answer

together on the topic

of the Christian faith.

Please continue

to pray with us,

as we continue to

preach and defend

our faith in our

Lord Jesus Christ.

Thank you.

Vlad Criznic

DIRECTOR, RZIM ROMANIA

RAVI ZACHARIAS AT THE SPORTS ARENA

VLAD CRIZNICVLA

10

INTRODUCING THE NEXT

GENERATION OF APOLOGISTS:

THE OCCA FELLOWS PROGRAMME

ALYCIA WOOD

USA

1 2

NATHAN RITTENHOUSE

USA

3

MADELINE JACKSON

USA

Th e vision of the OCCA Fellows Programme is to raise up a new generation of apologists who are committed to confi dently commending and defending

their Christian faith in a way that connects with the culture they are in.

Launched a couple of years ago, the programme

now consists of fourteen OCCA Fellows,

all recent graduates of the OCCA,

who are working as apologists under

the mentorship of our established

speaking team in various strategic

locations across the world.

In connection with this programme, we

have also launched a new category of

team: RZIM Africa Adjuncts. We now

have four African graduates of the OCCA who, whilst called to work

full-time in Africa in other capacities, are now funded by RZIM for

thirty days per year in order to lead missions, speak at evangelistic

events and give apologetics training to the churches in their region.

For over a decade, the OCCA has been training internationally diverse

groups of students and it is incredible to see how God is using these OCCA

graduates to spread the gospel and to establish the ministry of RZIM around

the world.

4 56

7 123


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MARI OVSEPYAN

UK

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DANIEL PATERSON

Australia

13

RAYMOND BUKENYA

Uganda

16

GIDEON ODOMA

Nigeria

159

LARA BUCHANAN

UK

18

DAVID FRASER

South Africa

DANIEL RANGEL

USA

64

MICHAEL SUDERMAN

USA

5

SHAWN HART

USA

7

LOGAN GATES

Canada

17

RACHEAL MUTESI

Uganda

JORDAN THYER (FROM JANUARY 2016)

Australia

14

OCCA FELLOWS

RZIM AFRICA ADJUNCTS

KEY:

15

1011

14

13

12

8 9

1716

18

www.theocca.org@theocca

12The photos of our

three Middle Eastern

Fellows are not shown,

but they are YOUSSEF

and WASSIM (based

in Egypt), and KAIS

(based in Jordan).

10 11


111222

RETWEET, NOT RETREAT

CCCCChhhhhhrrrrriiiissssstttttiiiiaaaannnnnssss nnnnneeeeeeeeeeeddddd tttttooooo bbbbbeeeee bbbbbeeeeettttttttteeeerrrrrr iiinnnnfffffffoooorrrrrmmmmmmmeeeeddddddddd aaaaaabbbbbbooooouuuuttttt ttttthhhhhheeee wwwwwoooorrrlllllldddddd aaaaannnnddddd mmmmmoooooorrreee eeeennnngggggaaaaagggggggeeeeeddddd

iiiiiinnnn sssssooooocccciiiiiaaaallll mmmmmmmeeeeedddddiiiiaaaaa aaaaannnndddd tttthhhhhhhheeeee gggggglllloooooobbbbbaaaalllll pppppuuuuuuubbbbbbbllllliiiiiccc sssssqqqqqquuuuuuaaaaaaarrrrreeeee..

BY NANCY GIFFOR D


13In the eighteenth century, John

Wesley and George Whitefi eld

changed the face of Britain and

America by riding out to towns and

villages around the country, standing

up in the public square and preaching

the gospel.

From the age of twenty-four until

his death thirty years later, Whitefi eld

spoke in fi elds and parks a thousand

times every year – some 18,000

sermons in all – many interspersed

with theatrical re-enactments of Bible

stories.1 John Wesley may have had

a more reserved preaching style, but

like Whitefi eld, his talks were preached

and printed, so within a matter of

weeks a sermon given in Savannah

was available in Bristol.2 In a pre-

modern age, it was the only way

to get the message out to the

general public.

As Christians in the modern age,

there is no doubt that we should

be following the lead of Wesley

and Whitefi eld, as they themselves

followed in the footsteps of the

apostles in fulfi lling the Great

Commission. But what does that

mean in a world of Facebook, Twitter

and Snapchat, where active mobile

subscriptions nearly equal the world’s

total population?3 What would

Wesley and Whitefi eld make of the

modern age, where everyone can be

reached at all times and in all places

instantaneously? Would they still

literally be riding out into the market

places where hundreds, sometimes

thousands, of people could hear

them preach? Or would they have

embraced new forms of media that

enable millions of people to hear their

message at the press of a button?

The chances are that, like the

reformers before them who embraced

the new technologies of printed

books and pamphlets, they would

have engaged in new forms of media.

225 million people have used the

internet for the fi rst time in the last

year. This is the equivalent of seven

new users every second, and a

year-on-year increase of 23%.4 Social

media is experiencing even greater

impact with Facebook adding six

new users every second. According

to The Economist, by 2020, 80% of

adults will have a supercomputer (i.e.

smartphone) in their pocket. Yet many

Christians today are not only cut off

from (and uninformed by) mainstream

media, but also dismissive of new

modes of communication, like social

media, as if they are just another

gimmick for the kids.

If engaged at all, Christians in much

of the developed West are retreating

into an evangelical media sub-culture,

where they only hear what they

want to hear. They have learned to

use the media, but they are often

talking only to themselves. Whilst

Christians do wonderful work in the

community and preach the gospel

in their personal relationships, the

mainstream secular media is often

derided for being ‘liberal’ or ‘elitist’, as

if it is a hostile enemy to be avoided

at all costs.

There are a number of reasons

why retreating from the media

marketplace is an unbiblical approach.

First, Jesus went where people were

and he not only engaged directly with

his enemies, but he commanded his

followers to do the same. Indeed, he

went further than that:

You’re familiar with the old written law, ‘Love your friend,’ and its unwritten companion, ‘Hate your enemy.’ I’m challenging that. I’m telling you to love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst.5

It cannot be wrong to engage

with the world in the place where

everyone, especially young people,

live out their lives. Christians are

called to be in the world, not of it.

It is hard to be in today’s world

without being part of the news

and social media revolution.

1 M. A. G. Haykin (ed), The Revived Puritan:

The Spirituality of George

Whitefi eld (Dundas, 2000).

2 I. J. Maddock, Men of One Book: A Comparison

of Two Methodist Preachers (Cambridge, 2012).

3 www.wearesocial.net, Global

Statchat, August 2015.

4 Idem.

5 Matthew 5: 43-48 (The Message translation).

THERE ARE A

NUMBER OF

REASONS WHY

RETREATING

FROM THE MEDIA

MARKETPLACE

IS AN

UNBIBLICAL

APPROACH.


14 Other biblical fi gures, too, show

how important it is to engage

people where they are. On the

day of Pentecost, Peter preached

at the temple where the crowds

had gathered. Similarly, Paul, in his

missionary journeys, frequently

engaged with the public in the market

place. He also wrote that we should

become ‘all things to all people’,

so that some might be saved.6 We

should not become obsessed with

social media, so that we are unable to

take a break from it, but, if we are not

already, surely that means logging on

to Twitter or Facebook occasionally for

gospel, rather than gossip reasons. At

a meeting place in Jerusalem, Stephen

talked of ‘brimming with God’s grace

and energy’7 to freed slaves, Cyrenians,

Alexandrians, and some others from

Cilicia and Asia. Some tried to shout

him down, but they were no match

for his wisdom and spirit when he

spoke. Similarly, Daniel, Joseph and

Esther engaged with the government

and the world, as God led them. They

did not retreat to monasteries with

no wi-fi . It is a clear biblical principle

to spend time with people where

they are, whether at meeting places,

markets, weddings, work, school

or online.

The fact that the media outlets are

sometimes hostile to Christians

is exactly the reason why we

should be engaged with them. It

is just like the marketplaces of the

eighteenth century, where Wesley

and Whitefi eld were pelted with fruit

and sometimes assaulted. Just look at

the transformation that God brought

about in British and American society

as a result. We won’t change the world

stuck in our smug, snug Christian

ghetto. Yes, of course we’ll get some

scars, but at least we’ll know we

followed the biblical mandate to fi ght

the good fi ght.

If we retreat, then we cannot moan

that the media are against us. It is

only by engaging that we can tell the

message of the amazing things that

Christians are doing around the world

and the gospel that inspires them.

Even journalists trying to be objective

about religious issues are frequently

uninformed about them. Not knowing

where to turn for a thinking Christian

response, they often turn to the

people who shout the loudest –

those who may not be presenting

a loving, balanced, thoughtful

biblical view, thus confi rming media

perceptions that Christians are

bigots, homophobes or cavemen.

In the absence of informed Christian

engagement, many journalists are

willing to believe the worst stories of

prejudice to be representative of the

broader Christian church. How can we

prevent this happening? By getting in

on the conversation!

Another crucial reason for being

involved in the conversation is for

the young people of the world. They

are a huge slice of the one million

new users accessing social media via

phones or tablets every single day.

They are early adopters of mobile

apps like Whatsapp, which has gained

300 million new users since August

2014. How can we reach a younger

generation, if we don’t go where they

go? Young people live online, so it is

even more important that there is a

voice out there explaining Christianity

in a relevant way for teenagers.

As well as needing to engage with

mainstream media, we also need to

watch and read it. We may not agree

with the editorial line of the New York

Times, The Guardian or The Economist,

but they have excellent news

coverage, telling us what is going on

in the world today. Our engagement

should not just be about getting the

gospel message out. We should be

informing ourselves about the world

in which we live, so that we can better

understand global needs and address

them in a relevant way.

It is shocking how uninformed

Christian people are about world

issues that do not involve the Christian

church. Of course we need to know

about the oppression of Christians

by ISIS in Iraq and Syria, but we also

need to understand better what it

is that drives ISIS and to be asking

what Western governments should

be doing about it. Yes, we need to

support Christians being detained

in China, but we also need to

understand more broadly about

the Chinese economy and what

sort of social reforms are taking

place there too.

We also have a responsibility to be

better informed about our own

leaders and our own nation’s politics,

so that we can form our own point

of view and not just be sucked into

the culture wars in which only one

political viewpoint is acceptable.

Are we sure we understand the

issues for which we are criticizing a

national leader or policy? Or are we

just parroting what we heard some

other Christian say? Yes, we need

to be reading the Christian press,

but we also need to be reading the

Washington Post. It is not smart, godly

or a good witness to be ignorant of

world aff airs.

Of course, how we engage is crucial.

Take our apologetic lead from Peter’s

fi rst epistle, which says, ‘Don’t give the

opposition a second thought. Through

thick and thin, keep your hearts at

attention, in adoration before Christ,

your Master.’ Then comes the key line:

‘Be ready to speak up and tell anyone

who asks why you’re living the way

you are, and always with the utmost

courtesy. Keep a clear conscience before

God so that when people throw mud at

you, none of it will stick.’ That doesn’t

mean stay away from anyone who is

HOW CAN WE REACH A

YOUNGER GENERATION, IF WE DON’T GO WHERE THEY GO?


15

throwing mud. The following verses

explain that it is better to do what

Christ did by suff ering ‘because of

others’ sins, the Righteous One for the

unrighteous ones. He went through it

all – was put to death and then made

alive – to bring us to God.’8

Some mainstream evangelical

organisations are so caught up in the

culture wars or in their own internal

problems that they are not sure what

to do when broadcasters call them

looking for a person to take part in

a discussion. Part of that is a loss of

confi dence in what we have to say.

Sometimes we can lose confi dence

in the Gospel’s relevance to people’s

everyday lives and struggles. This can

make us concerned that we won’t be

able to answer people’s questions.

But our way of engaging the world

through media, or in any other

forum should be the same: asking

questions, fi nding out the reason

behind the question and fi nding out

what motivates the question in the

fi rst place. In our media opportunities

at the Zacharias Trust we are always

trying to fi nd ways of linking in Gospel

truths and also universal truths about

our experience as human beings.

By taking this approach, the result is

that the Gospel shines through, but

the humanity of the speaker also

draws the listener or viewer closer

to hear more.

Since the Zacharias Trust set up a

media unit in 2011, our interactions

with the mainstream media have

increased substantially. Initially we

built contacts through meeting with

editors and producers and gradually

introducing the idea that there are

thinking Christians in the world who

• Am I happy

if this ends up on

the front page

of a newspaper?

• Am I happy

for any child

I know to see it?

• Am I happy for

my parents

to see it?

• Will I ever

need to apologise

or make excuses for

what I posted?

• Can my worst

enemy do anything

with what I’m

about to post?

can articulate the Christian worldview

succinctly within the constraints of

live radio and television programmes.

Perhaps the most fascinating thing

about our engagement in recent years

is that TV and radio producers and

print journalists are often intrigued

to hear that thinking people adhere

to the gospel. People are so used to

woolly Christian liberalism or shouty,

angry fundamentalism, that they are

intrigued (and often challenged) to

hear a robust Christian defence of

biblical teaching from someone

who does not fi t their category of

an evangelical.

Most importantly, we need to make

sure we back it all up by living out the

Christian gospel in our daily lives. It’s

no good preaching it, if we are not

living it. With that in mind, what are

we waiting for? We are not called to

spend our life online, but we all spend

time on the internet and if Christians

stop engaging in a godly way on

Facebook, Twitter and Youtube, it will

be left to non-Christian voices. So get

reading, get tweeting and get in on

the conversation.

Nancy Giff ord

GLOBAL MEDIA DIRECTOR

@NancyRGiff ord

OTHER TEAM MEMBERS (UK)

@VinceRVitale

@SharonDirckx

@amyorrewing

@abetterhope (Tom Price)

@RamsdenMichael

@theocca

@ZachariasTrust

@ProfJohnLennox

@simon_a_edwards

6 1 Corinthians 9:22 (New International Version).

7 Acts 6: 8-10 (The Message translation).

8 1 Peter 3:13-18 (The Message translation).

* applies to any

online communication.

TOP TIPS FOR TWEETING *

ILLU

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11111666666

The powerful fi rst line of Os Guinness’ new book, Fool’s Talk: Recovering the Art of Christian Persuasion, captures perfectly what he considers to be the wonderful opportunity facing believers today. This might even be, he stresses, the ‘greatest opportunity for Christian witness since the time of Jesus’. Yet, despite this, many in the church have simply lost the ability to persuade, some having bought into the idea that apologetics is ineff ective, unpopular or even implausible. It is no wonder, therefore, that he felt called to produce his magnum opus, a book named after Paul’s description of

believers in 1 Corinthians 4 that attempts to distil much of the wisdom he has gleaned from a life of commending Christianity to others.

As a notable social commentator, it is perhaps unsurprising that Guinness has produced an incisive dissection of the state of modern culture today, driving home his points by drawing from a treasure trove of historical, contemporary and Biblical examples. Surveying the intellectual landscape in this manner may be unfamiliar terrain for some – as it is not written like a teaching ‘manual’ with the key points summarised in bullet form

or follow-up discussion questions being posed – but this approach helps to really draw out the richness and depth of thought in many areas that will be of interest to evangelists. It also acts as a helpful barometer by which Christians can understand and gauge today’s ‘post Christian’ age of commodities, technological advance and rationality, whilst also seeing how the shifting sands of the intellectual climate have shaped the way in which the church has witnessed. The book also contains a number of pertinent warnings, perhaps none more so than the reminder that some of the deadliest challenges to the church come from

(AN ARTICLE ABOUT OS GUINNESS’ NEW BOOK FOOL’S TALK)


PERSUASIVE CHRISTIANITY:

making conversations count

(AN

‘We are all apologists now, and we stand at the dawn of the grand age of human apologetics…’


17

PHOTOS FROM THE RECENT DOUBLE BOOK LAUNCH OF FOOL’S TALK BY OS GUINNESS AND THE ATHEIST WHO DIDN’T EXIST BY ANDY BANNISTER

within, such as when theological

teaching slides into revisionist ideas

that undermine the gospel, or when

useful types of evangelism are simply

written off .

Reading the culture is only part of

the challenge, of course, and much

of the book is also dedicated to

understanding the human condition,

which includes discerning when

someone is open to the gospel

message. There is an ‘anatomy’ of

unbelief and a person’s worldview

can, at times, be challenged by

what Peter Berger calls ‘signals of

transcendence’ (events that can cause

people to reconsider their atheism).

These can lead some people on a

journey that progresses from a time

of questioning to one where they

survey the diff erent answers, before,

hopefully, arriving at a place where

they are ready to commit to Christ.

Any interaction with seekers along

the way has to be mindful of what

stage they are at, although the gospel

message should always be conveyed

in a way that connects with people,

because ‘the heart of apologetics

is apologetics of the heart’. Yet, the

evangelist must also avoid certain

potential pitfalls. Guinness notes

that self-deception, for example, is

an intrinsic part of being human, so

believers must fi nd ways of pointing

people to truth, whilst avoiding

certain ‘boomerangs’, such as the kind

of hypocrisy that is so often linked

with people in the church. The latter is

obviously particularly damaging if the

apologist is trying to commend living

out a Christian worldview.

By this point, you may be getting the

impression that the book is reinforcing

the notion that apologetics is some

kind of arcane discipline that is only

for intellectuals. This is certainly not

Guinness’ intention, as he is careful

to stress that Christians need to avoid

the ‘deadly trap’ of always trying to be

right or providing formulaic responses

that are ‘tone deaf’ to the surrounding

culture or the needs of the individual.

After all, he reminds us that ‘Jesus

never spoke to people in the same

way and neither should we’. Instead,

what Guinness is trying to do is to

encourage believers to be ready for

engagement and to strive to be more

eff ective. He reminds readers that

apologetics is an art and not a science,

and therefore believers need to aim

to be subversive and creative with

their communication (utilising both

sides of the brain), whilst maintaining

a focus that is ‘cross-centred’ and

‘cross-shaped’. This opens the door to

all kinds of innovative engagement,

including using ‘spring loaded

dynamics’ to reframe the debate

when misconceptions are aired, and

using questions in order to get to

the heart of the matter. Sometimes

conversations will inevitably

degenerate into meaningless word-

play, at which point it is important for

the apologist to keep drawing things

back to the issue of truth. He also

stresses that it can be helpful to look

out for when someone relies upon

an idea that might sound superfi cially

persuasive until closer inspection

reveals that it either can’t be lived out

(in a practical sense) or it is simply

self-refuting. In such cases, you can

‘turn the tables’ on the argument, like

when you relativize relativism, or apply

strong scepticism to itself.

OS GUINNESSANDY BANNISTER


18

* This sentiment is also echoed in Nancy Giff ord’s

article, ‘Retweet, not retreat’ (see page 12).

ART

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Overall, the book acts as a clarion

call for believers to lead, as Socrates

suggested, an examined life, because

eff ective communication requires

an understanding of the people

around you and the culture in which

you live.* Guinness concludes the

book by reminding readers of the

two symbols that once encapsulated

Christian advocacy in the earlier days

of the church. One was the closed

fi st, which represented the defence

of the gospel by way of reason, logic,

evidence and argument (like Paul

describes in 2 Corinthians 10:5). This is

essentially what many today consider

apologetics to be, in its entirety. Yet

this was only half of the story, as there

was also another symbol, the open

hand, which represented the

positive side of persuasion.

This involved deploying

the highest strengths of human creativity in defence of truth. Expressing the love and compassion of Jesus, and using eloquence, creativity, imagination, humour and irony…to pry open hearts and

minds that, for a thousand reasons, had long grown resistant to God’s great grace, so that it could shine in like the sun.

Although you will be naturally

inclined – or better – at one type of

advocacy than the other, he stresses

that they should never be divorced,

because both are an essential part of

persuasion. If done well, the approach

can be disarmingly potent, because

an incisive argument can really hit

home, if it is communicated in an

innovative way that really connects

with someone. Indeed, his book is a

great encouragement for Christians to

seize this important opportunity and,

above all, to ‘strive, as never before, to

witness to him in a way that is worthy

of him, and so introduce others

to know him as our own greatest

privilege is to know him’.

Simon Wenham

RESEARCH COORDINATOR

Fool’s Talk is published by IVP and is available from all major book suppliers for £11.99.

DOUBLE BOOK LAUNCH

Os Guinness’ Fool’s Talk was

recently launched at an event

(see photos) that included the

unveiling of Andy Bannister’s new

book, The Atheist Who Didn’t Exist. The latter, which was featured

in the last edition of Pulse, is

published by Lion Hudson and

is available from all major book

suppliers for £8.99. It has

recently received a number

of new endorsements:

If you only read one book this year, read this book. Th e book is signifi cant, equipping, argues brilliantly and is warm and witty. So much so that I even laughed out loud at footnotes - I’ve never done that before in my life! Th is book is really well done. JEFF LUCAS, AUTHOR AND RADIO HOST

Andy Bannister has written a clever book that patiently, humorously, and eff ectively dispatches popular neo-atheistic slogans and arguments. Nicely done!PAUL COPAN, PLEDGER FAMILY CHAIR OF PHILOSOPHY AND ETHICS, PALM BEACH ATLANTIC UNIVERSITY


11111999999

EUROPEAN TEAM SELECTED HIGHLIGHTS

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

THIS LIST DOES NOT INCLUDE ALL OF THE EVENTS THAT OUR SPEAKERS ARE INVOLVED WITH, AND SOME MAY BE SUBJECT TO CHANGE.

IF YOU WANT FURTHER INFORMATION ABOUT ANY OF THE ABOVE PLEASE CONTACT OUR OXFORD OFFICE.

2 DEAN CLOSE SCHOOL, CHELTENHAM (Tom Price)

2-4 PROCLAMA, MADRID (Simon Edwards and Andy Wickham)

4 HOLY TRINITY BROMPTON, LONDON (Amy Orr-Ewing)

9 BIG QUESTIONS, ST ANDREW THE GREAT, CAMBRIDGE (Team)

9-10 OICCU FRESHER’S BANQUET, OXFORD (Vince Vitale)

9-11 ZACHARIAS TRUST WEEKEND, OXFORD (Team)

11 WESTMINSTER CHAPEL (Michael Ramsden)

11 HOLY TRINITY, CAMBRIDGE (Amy Orr-Ewing)

11 WESTMINSTER CHAPEL (Michael Ramsden)

12 ALPHA LAUNCH, WESTMINSTER CHAPEL (Michael Ramsden)

13 GRESHAM COLLEGE, LONDON (Alister McGrath)

14 CITY PRAYER BREAKFAST, ST HELEN’S BISHOPSGATE, LONDON (Michael Ramsden)

15-18 EVENT SERIES, INNSBRUCK, AUSTRIA (Christian Hofreiter)

17 SOLAS, EDINBURGH (Michael Ramsden)

18 EVENSONG AT ST PETER’S COLLEGE, OXFORD (John Lennox)

18 LATIMER MINSTER, GERRARDS CROSS (Tom Price)

19-22 UNIVERSITY EVENTS, ZURICH, SWITZERLAND (Christian Hofreiter)

20 ETON COLLEGE (John Lennox)

23-25 COUNTIES CONFERENCE, BIRMINGHAM (John Lennox)

24 CHRISTIANS IN SCIENCE ANNUAL SOUTHERN CONFERENCE, OXFORD (Vince Vitale)

24-27 RED TIMOTEO, TOLEDO (Andy Wickham)

2-3 VIENNA UNIVERSITY (Christian Hofreiter)

2-4 PROCLAMA, MADRID (Andy Wickham and Simon Edwards)

6-9 FEUER CONFERENCE (John Lennox and Christian Hofreiter)

7 MEAT AND MEET, SUNBURY-ON-THAMES (Simon Edwards)

9 EDGE, GLOUCESTER DIOCESE (Tom Price)

9 SWITZERLAND EVENT (John Lennox)

10-11 ALBANIA EVENTS (John Lennox)

12-15 LATVIA EVENTS (John Lennox)

15 WESTMINSTER CHAPEL, LONDON (Ravi Zacharias)

15 QUEVEDO THEATRE, MADRID (Andy Wickham)

15-21 CARDIFF UNIVERSITY MISSION WEEK (Team)

20 VERITAS FORUM, CAMBRIDGE (John Lennox)

20-22 GRANADA, SPAIN (Andy Wickham)

24 GRESHAM COLLEGE, LONDON (Alister McGrath)

24 VERITAS FORUM, OXFORD (John Lennox)

26 UCCF WALES AND SOUTH WEST TEAM EVENT (Amy Orr-Ewing)

27-29 EXETER UNIVERSITY ECU HOUSE PARTY (Simon Edwards)

4 SIXTH FORM EVENT, PAMOJA HALL, SEVENOAKS (Tom Price)

13 ST ANDREW’S CHURCH, OXFORD (Sharon Dirckx)

13 CAROL SERVICE, CHRISTCHURCH LONDON (Amy Orr-Ewing)

18 WHITEHALL CAROL SERVICE, WESTMINSTER ABBEY (Amy Orr-Ewing)

OCTOBER

NOVEMBER

DECEMBER

TRAINING DAY Make a note of our next training day, which will be

held on Saturday 7th May 2016 (i.e. not in January, as in previous years).

SAVE THE DATE!

Zacharias Trust Training Weekends

The next Zacharias Trust Training Weekend will be held in Oxford on the

weekend of 9-11 October.

IF YOU WOULD LIKE FURTHER INFORMATION ABOUT IT (OR FUTURE WEEKENDS),

SEE: WWW.RZIM.EU/WHAT-WE-DO-2/TRAINING-WEEKENDS


20

You’re familiar with the ‘angry atheists’, but have you met the new

‘happy humanists?’ Martin Smith takes a light-hearted look at the

British Humanist Association’s new promotional material.

I’m a Christian and I think it would be great to meet some of these happy humanists. Fortunately, the British Humanist Association has given me some clues about how to fi nd them. I can look for people wearing their badge of course, but it’s quite small, so I might miss it. More helpfully, their website lists four things that these people distinctively believe (and they’ve kindly highlighted certain words, so we know what’s really important). Won’t you join me as I try and fi gure out where some happy humanists who believe these things might be? Then we can all make friends with them and things won’t be sad any more.

HUMANISTS… THINK FOR THEMSELVES ABOUT WHAT IS RIGHT AND WRONG, BASED ON REASON AND

RESPECT FOR OTHERS.

1

1Lots of people handle right and wrong like this! That’s great news: that

might mean that there are happy humanists everywhere! But wait… When I think about right and wrong, don’t I sometimes do that thing whereby I draw conclusions from premises? And when people disagree with me, don’t I sometimes hold my ground? Is that thinking for myself? Is that reason?

No, according to them, it can’t be, because I believe in God and the Bible. Don’t I just believe something is wrong because God says it is wrong? But wait… Didn’t I think really hard about God and the Bible before believing them?I remember reading some books about this stuff . And I did that reasoning thing as well. Also almost everyone around me didn’t believe in God and the Bible and pressured me not too. It looks like I reasoned and thought for myself about that too.

And I even respect people. Sometimes someone is eating a Twirl and I just want to take that Twirl and eat it for myself. But then I look into their eyes and realise they are just like me: another human who wants to eat a Twirl and not worry about sneaky thieves.

I do all these things happy humanists are supposed to do, but I’m still not a happy humanist. I need to see the other clues to narrow my search.

2 I’m glad this is so happy. I’d heard really scary things about unbelief before. I’d heard that we need courage to face the existential emptiness of living with the fi nality of death and the pitiless

indiff erence of the universe. Meaning, beauty and joy makes more sense of how humanists can be so happy. I was also reassured that even though Stephen Fry’s BHA video on how to be happy is three minutes long, not once was courage mentioned.

Still, I believe in meaning, beauty and joy in this life. And I sort of believe that we only have one life too – it’s just stretched across diff erent stages. Eventually, there will be a stage that won’t end – an eternal stage. But it’s still the same life. I’ll have my body – I won’t be a cat or anything. I don’t believe it because I need an afterlife, but one thing I am in need of is more help from the rest of the clues to fi nd some bona fi de happy humanists.

THE ALL NEW HA

HUMANISTS… FIND MEANING, BEAUTY,

AND JOY IN THE ONE LIFE

WE HAVE, WITHOUT THE NEED FOR AN AFTERLIFE.

2

THE BRITISH

HUMANIST

ASSOCIATION

SAYS

THAT...


21

I get that the BHA are just joking around with their four statement clues, but they did leave me with some doubt. If I can sign up to these four statements, maybe I am a happy humanist after all? Maybe I’m happier than I realise?

To try and set things straight I took the BHA ‘how humanist are you?’ quiz. It might be another joke though, as it is defi nitely has all of the hallmarks of one. It’s very funny how it intentionally lets you only pick one answer to each question, even when lots of answers are compatible with one another. I tried to answer that I can tell right and wrong from both reason and from scripture, but it would not let me. I had to choose between thinking about the consequences of my actions, not worrying at all about others, or consulting a holy book or religious leader!

Now I can see that there is a down side to being so happy. It must feel good, because it makes you say some very funny things. But what they say is not very clear much of the time. So maybe it’s a good thing that it’s really hard to fi nd these happy humanists.

Martin Smith

OCCA TUTORS’ ASSISTANT

Is this clue broken? I’m having trouble understanding it. What is ‘the world’? And why are science and religion competing? I’m annoyed that

the BHA haven’t made this clearer, so we can all fi nd lots of happy humanists.

I’ll have to try to decipher it. They can’t mean that science is the best way to discover and understand all of reality. They are too happy to believe something silly like that. No amount of lab experiments by themselves will show you that theft is immoral. It has to be a more modest claim. Probably, the BHA, in their euphoria of happy feelings, just got carried away in how they expressed their belief.

What they must have meant is that science is the best way to understand the physical world. That sounds more sensible. And it gets rid of that silly science or religion implication as well. (Those happy feelings must be really distracting when you are trying to put together statements like these!) Science and religion can now work together to understand diff erent aspects of reality. That’s a little simple still, but it makes sense.

It also makes me a little sad, because I believe that. This is yet another clue, which isn’t pointing me to where the happy humanists are. Are they deliberately making their clues useless, so they can keep all their happiness to themselves? That’s a very mean thing for happy people to do. It’s all resting on the fi nal clue now.

I see – they aren’t being mean. They are having fun with us to try and cheer us up. Those happy humanists

– always joking and larking around! They make you think they are giving you a clue to fi nd happy humanists, but if you followed these clues you would fi nd everyone believes in empathy and compassion, whether they are sad Sadducees, uplifted Unitarians or apathetic Anabaptists. Even I do and I’m just a regular Christian!

3

HUMANISTS… LOOK TO SCIENCE

INSTEAD OF RELIGION TO DISCOVER THE BEST WAY TO DISCOVER AND UNDERSTAND THE WORLD.

4

APPY HUMANISM

HUMANISTS… BELIEVE PEOPLE CAN USE EMPATHY AND COMPASSION TO MAKE

THE WORLD A BETTER

PLACE FOR EVERYONE.

4

3


HOW DO WE KNOW IT’S TRUE?

We are living in an era when apologetics is indispensable, but at the same time, we need a Christian apologetic that is not

merely heard – it must also be seen. Th e fi eld of apologetics deals with the hard questions posed to the Christian faith.

BY R AVI ZACHAR IAS

BIG QUESTIONS #4


23Having had deep questions myself,

I listen carefully to the questions

raised. I always bear in mind that

behind every question is a questioner.

The convergence of intellectual and

existential struggles drives a person

to a brutal honesty in the questions

they have.

The gospel of Jesus Christ is beautiful

and true, yet one will often ask, ‘How

can it be true that there is only one

way?’ It’s odd, isn’t it, that we don’t

ask the same questions of the laws

of nature or of any assertion that lays

claim to truth. We are discomfi ted

by the fact that truth, by defi nition,

is exclusive. That is what truth claims

are at their core. To make an assertion

is to deny its opposite. Rather than

complain that there is only one way,

shouldn’t we be delighted that there

is one way?

The question really is, how do we really

know this is the truth?

Whether Hitler or Hugh Hefner,

religious or irreligious, everyone has

a worldview. A worldview basically

off ers answers to four necessary

questions:

• ORIGIN

• MEANING

• MORALITY

• DESTINY

In turn, these answers must be

correspondingly true on particular

questions and, as a whole, all answers

put together must be coherent.

Taking it a step further, the three tests

for truth must be applied to

any worldview:

• LOGICAL CONSISTENCY

• EMPIRICAL ADEQUACY

• EXPERIENTIAL RELEVANCE

When submitted to these tests, the

Christian message is utterly unique

and meets the demand for truth.

Consider the empirical test of the

person, teaching, and work of Jesus

Christ. A look at human history shows

why he was who he claimed to be

and why millions follow him today.

A comparison of Jesus’s teachings

with any other claimant to divine or

prophetic status quickly shows the

profound diff erences in their claims

and demonstrations. In fact, none

except Jesus even claimed to be the

divine Saviour. His off er of grace and

forgiveness by being the perfect

sacrifi ce of our off ense is profoundly

unique.

I position the sequence of fact and

deduction in the following way: Love

is the supreme ethic. Where there is

the possibility of love, there must be

the reality of free will. Where there

is the reality of free will, there will

inevitably be the possibility of sin.

Where there is sin, there is the need

for a Saviour. Where there is a Saviour,

there is the hope for redemption. Only

in the Judeo-Christian worldview does

this sequence fi nd its total expression

and answer. The story from sin to

redemption is only in the gospel with

the ultimate provision of a loving God.

But the question can be pushed back

further. Does this not all assume that

there is a God? Yes, it does, and there

are four stages in the argument. The

fi rst is that no matter how we section

physical concrete reality, we end up

with a quantity that cannot explain its

ONE WILL OFTEN ASK, ‘HOW CAN IT BE TRUE THAT THERE IS

ONLY ONE WAY?’own existence. If all material quantities

cannot explain their own existence,

the only possibility for self-explanation

would be something that is non-

material.

Secondly, wherever we see

intelligibility, we fi nd intelligence

behind it. Thirdly, we intuitively know

that our moral reasoning points to a

moral framework within the universe.

The very fact that the problem of evil

is raised either by people or about

people intimates that human beings

have intrinsic worth. Fourthly, the

human experience in history and

personal encounter sustains the

reality of the supernatural.

There you have it. Who is God? He

is the nonphysical, intelligent, moral

fi rst cause, who has given us intrinsic

worth and who we can know by

personal experience.

The verifi cation of what Jesus taught

and described and did, make belief

in Him a very rationally tenable and

an existentially fulfi lling reality. From

cosmology to history to human

experience, the Christian faith presents

explanatory power in a way no other

worldview does. Our faith and trust

in Christ is reasonably grounded and

experientially sustained.

I often put it this way: God has put

enough into this world to make faith

in Him a most reasonable thing. But

He has left enough out to make it

impossible to live by sheer reason

alone. Faith and reason must always

work together in that plausible blend.

Many of you may be familiar with my

own story. I was born to Indian parents

and raised in India. My ancestors

were priests from the highest caste

of Hinduism in India’s Deep South.

But that was several generations

ago. I came to Christ after a life of

protracted failure and unable to face

the consequences, sought to end it

all. It was on a bed of suicide that a

Bible was brought to me and in a cry

of desperation, I invited Jesus Christ

into my life. It was a prayer, a plea, a

commitment, and a hope.

That was fi fty years ago. I hardly knew

what lay ahead of me, except that I

was safe in Christ’s hands. Now as the

years have gone by, I marvel at the

grace and protection of God and the

doors he has opened for our team.

And more and more, I am convinced

that Jesus Christ alone uniquely

answers the deepest questions of our

hearts and minds.

Ravi Zacharias

FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT OF RZIM

(This article (in its original form) was entitled ‘Deep Questions’ and was from the ‘Think Again’ section of the RZIM publication Just Thinking (22.4), pp. 29-30).

The OCCABusiness ProgrammeDESIGNED FOR THOSE WITH A PASSION TO MAKE CHRIST KNOWN IN THE MARKETPLACE

6th June to 9th July 2016. Oxford, UK

RAVI ZACHARIAS

MICHAEL RAMSDENJOHN LENNOX

OS GUINNESS

AMY ORR-EWING

The OCCA is a partnership between Ravi Zacharias International Ministries and Wycliff e Hall, a Permanent Private Hall of the University of Oxford.

For further details and to apply online, see www.theocca.org

The Business Programme at the Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics is designed to

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