54. "Faith, Apologetics, and the Future of Christianity" with Justin Brierley

How do we know the Bible to be true? Popular British apologist, author, and podcaster Justin Brierley desires to answer this question head-on. Growing up in a Christian home, his life-changing experiences serving across Africa, and even his personal doubts about faith led him to wonder where genuine Christian theology starts and how we share those things in a predominantly secular society. This idea led to his passion for Christian apologetics, inviting non-Christians into positive conversations, and the hope he has for a revival in the years to come.

Guest Bio:

Justin Brierley has been working in radio, podcasting, and video for two decades. He cohosts the Re-enchanting podcast for Seen & Unseen and is a well-known speaker and broadcaster. Justin founded the popular Unbelievable? faith debate radio show and podcast, and has also hosted the Ask NT Wright Anything podcast. 

Justin’s first book, Unbelievable? Why, after Ten Years of Talking with Atheists, I’m Still a Christian, was published in 2017. His latest book, The Surprising Rebirth of Belief in God, has just recently been released. Justin and his family live in Surrey, England.

Notes & Quotes:

• Christianity lifts rather than crushes different cultures around the world when, in its best forms, Christianity can liberate and bring out God’s diversity in a way that honors and transforms people in where they are and the culture that they’re part of.
• Christianity without emotion would be pretty soulless. If it’s purely intellectual, you're getting the balance wrong. At the same time, I think to a large degree, we weren’t catechizing Christians anymore with what they believed and why.…They [the church] didn’t know how to respond to this sudden upsurge in quite militant Atheism…. It forced the church to pick up its Thomas Aquinas again and start reading C. S. Lewis again and everything else.
• The New Atheists had come along and said, “God doesn’t exist. Science is our best route to understanding the world.” What we discovered is that it didn’t really satisfy any of our deepest longings or questions and that we’re starting to see, especially with the rise of technology and everything else, a real kind of meaning crisis emerge in our culture.
• The problem with apologetics has always been that it can lead to a form of idolatry where you think, “I can just have the answer to everything, and as long as I can kind of give you a rock-solid philosophical argument for God, you must accept my conclusion and become a Christian.” That’s not the way people work in reality. You can show an intellectual case for faith, for God, for Christianity, but if people don’t want it to be true, there is always going to be another intellectual objection they can reach for.

Links Mentioned:

• FULL EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
• Keep up to date with Justin’s latest projects at his website
• Listen to Justin’s newest podcast Re-enchanting here or on your favorite podcast platform. 
• Check out either of Justin’s two books, Unbelievable? and The Surprising Rebirth of Belief in God, on Amazon or his personal website. 
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