Dealing with Doubts - Rethinking Apologetics for the 21st Century, Part 1
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Apr 24, 2025
The podcast dives into the alarming trend of young people leaving the Church and offers fresh hope. It highlights the need to rethink apologetics, shifting from purely intellectual arguments to compassionate, relatable conversations. By engaging with modern cultural issues like LGBTQ rights, it stresses the importance of embodying faith in everyday life. The discussion also tackles the challenge of communicating objective truth in a subjective world, underscoring the necessity of addressing doubts through genuine relationships and grace.
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Need to Rethink Apologetics
Rethink apologetics because the current approach isn't working with today's youth and culture.
Traditional apologetics focused on intellectual proof, but now prioritizing relevance and compassion is crucial.
question_answer ANECDOTE
Faith Challenged by Professor
Chip recounts a college professor challenging his faith, which motivated him to research and confirm his beliefs.
This experience led to his commitment to intellectually defend Christianity and write 'Why I Believe'.
question_answer ANECDOTE
Youth Choosing Friends Over Truth
A 15-year-old girl told Chip she would choose friendship over biblical truth, risking her faith.
This highlights how today's youth face cultural pressure to compromise beliefs for relationships.
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In this book, Dr. Henry Cloud leads readers through his personal journey of faith, sharing his early struggles with illness and depression and the miraculous experiences that healed him. Written in the vein of books like 'An Unquiet Mind', 'When Breath Becomes Air', and 'On Being Mortal', 'Why I Believe' is a masterwork in spiritual exploration. Dr. Cloud combines masterful storytelling with a nuanced understanding of the human mind to explore the great questions of life, suffering, and faith, making it a groundbreaking and uplifting read.
Are you concerned about your kids and grandkids as the world becomes increasingly hostile to Christianity? Did you know a high percentage of youth who grow up in the Church are leaving the faith after high school? And do you increasingly wonder: What do we do? In this program, Chip brings real hope and real answers for anyone concerned about these disturbing trends.
Main Points
Rethinking our communication
Yesterday: Apologetics were about what we believe and why. And it was aimed at answering the skeptic’s questions.
Today: We need to aim apologetics first and foremost toward believers, especially young people.
Yesterday: We needed to master facts, data, and history to intellectually prove what we believe is true.
Today: We need to model a concerned and compassionate life-style that proves that what we believe is actually relevant.
Yesterday: We needed to win the debate.
Today: We need to win an audience.
Yesterday: We communicated on a level playing field that presumed TRUTH was an objective reality.
Today: We communicate on the shifting sands of TRUTH as a subjective reality.
Yesterday: The Church and the culture shared a general knowledge of the Bible.
Today: Both the Church and the world are biblically illiterate.
Yesterday: Committed Christian men or women were admired.
Today: Committed Christian men or women have been called “dangerous”.
Yesterday: We could begin with the truth and then express grace.
Today: We must begin with grace in order to share the truth.
Yesterday: The moral climate and the values of major institutions like education, medicine, and the media reinforced our values.
Today: The moral climate of major institutions challenge and ridicule our our faith.
What this means for you:
The early Church had a living hope. --1 Peter 1:1-3
They believed they had an inheritance. --1 Peter 1:4, 6
We need to be sober in our thinking. --1 Peter 1:13-15
We need to have a faith that is rooted in eternity that leads to living a holy life, which leads to a fervent love for others. --1 Peter 1:22-23
Get rid of all hypocrisy, get rid of anger, and stop blaming. --1 Peter 2:1-2
Have lips of praise and encouragement. --1 Peter 2:20-24
The number one apologetic is your life. It’s a holy life, with an eternal perspective, that’s radically loving. --1 Peter 3:8-9
Chip Ingram’s passion is helping Christians really live like Christians. As a pastor, author, and teacher for more than three decades, Chip has helped believers around the world move from spiritual spectators to healthy, authentic disciples of Jesus by living out God’s truth in their lives and relationships in transformational ways.
About Living on the Edge
Living on the Edge exists to help Christians live like Christians. Established in 1995 as the radio ministry of pastor and author Chip Ingram, God has since grown it into a global discipleship ministry. Living on the Edge provides Biblic
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