Truth Tribe with Douglas Groothuis

Douglas Groothuis, Ph.D., is a Professor of Philosophy at Denver Seminary and the author of nineteen books, including Fire in the Streets (a critique of critical race theory or wokeness) and Christian Apologetics: A Comprehensive Case for Biblical Faith. Find more from Dr. Groothuis at www.DouglasGroothuis.com. Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

While the explosive and devastating riots of 2020 were sparked by the death of George Floyd, there was an ideological underpinning for much of the violence and verbiage of that summer of hate, carnage, ideological blindness, and outrage. It is called Critical Race Theory (or CRT), an ideology at odds with the truth of the Christian worldview on a number of counts. We will only address the theory of knowledge of CRT, which is called standpoint epistemology. As Francis Schaeffer wrote in He is There and He is Not Silent, “Unless our epistemology is right, everything is going to be wrong.” CRT epistemology is wrong.For more on Critical Race Theory, see Douglas Groothuis' Fire in the Streets (Salem, 2022). Douglas Groothuis, Ph.D., is a Professor of Philosophy at Denver Seminary and the author of nineteen books, including Fire in the Streets (a critique of critical race theory or wokeness) and Christian Apologetics: A Comprehensive Case for Biblical Faith. Find more from Dr. Groothuis at www.DouglasGroothuis.com. Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

Douglas Groothuis, Ph.D., is Professor of Philosophy at Denver Seminary and the author of nineteen books, including Fire in the Streets (a critique of critical race theory or wokeness) and Christian Apologetics: A Comprehensive Case for Biblical Faith. Find more from Dr. Groothuis at www.DouglasGroothuis.com. Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

I.    Meta-Apologetics A.    Apologetics: Defending the Christian worldview as objectively  true, compellingly rational, and existentially pertinent to the whole of life (1 Peter 3:15-6; Jude 3) B.    Meta-apologetics: thoughts about how to engage in apologetics, strategies and values. II.    The Christian Apologist’s Moral Compass A.    All are called to check their moral motives and develop godly characterI strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize (2 Corinthians 9:27).Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers (1 Timothy 4:16).B.    Yearn for Kingdom ministry (Matthew 6:33) C.    Put yourself second to the ministry; do not promote your brand or ego! Let others compliment you. III.    Godly Character A.    Humility, not self-promotionThis is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief (1 Timothy 1:5; KJV; see also 1 Corinthians 15:9). B.    Show love, not strifeAnd the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful.  Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth,  and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will (2 Timothy 2:24-26).C.    Dependence on the Spirit moment-by-moment (John 15; Acts 1:8). See Francis Schaeffer, True Spirituality. D.    Intellectual preparation for apologetics 1.    Know your Bible (Psalm 119; 2 Timothy 3:16) and biblical interpretation (2 Peter 3:16) 2.    Know biblical and systematic theology to ground your worldview (Acts 17:10-11) 3.    Know logic and logical fallacies; how to argue carefully and assess arguments carefully (2 Corinthians 10:3-5) 4.    Know your own culture: worldviews and means of communication (technologies) Issachar, men who understood the times and knew what Israel should do (1 Chronicles 12:32). 5.    Be above reproach in citing your sources in speaking and writing (Exodus 20:15) 6.    Behind all these six principles is the importance of being studious, a good scholar Not only was the Teacher wise, but he also imparted knowledge to the people. He pondered and searched out and set in order many proverbs. The Teacher searched to find just the right words, and what he wrote was upright and true (Ecclesiastes 12:9-10; see 1:17; 8:9, 16).I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught (Luke 1:3-4; see also John 21:24). IV.    Opportunity and Uncertainty in Apologetics A.    Break new ground! It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else's foundation—Romans 15:20). B.    Ecclesiastes 11:1-6 Cast your bread upon the waters,For you will find it after many days.Give a serving to seven, and also to eight,For you do not know what evil will be on the earth.If the clouds are full of rain,They empty themselves upon the earth;And if a tree falls to the south or the north,In the place where the tree falls, there it shall lie.He who observes the wind will not sow,And he who regards the clouds will not reap.As you do not know what is the way of the wind,[a]Or how the bones grow in the womb of her who is with child,So you do not know the works of God who makes everything.In the morning sow your seed,And in the evening do not withhold your hand;For you do not know which will prosper,Either this or that,Or whether both alike will be good (NKJV). C.    Calculate effort in relation to effect and chances of success. D.    Embrace unexpected opportunities. 1.    Paul at Mars Hill (Acts 16-17): unscheduled mission trip before imposing intellectuals. 2.    Paul to Timothy Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine—2 Timothy 4:2 (KJV). V.    My Apologetic Surprises, Successes, and Failures A.    Surprise: Lecturing at a Baha’i meeting B.    Successful attempts  1.    Writing On Pascal and On Jesus 2.    Doing author events for two of my books at a local bookstore in Denver. Another one flopped (Fire in the Streets). C.    Unsuccessful attempts 1.    Debate with James K. A. Smith 2.    Doing a Buddhist-Christian dialogue at Naropa University (Boulder, CO) 3.    Secular publisher for Philosophy in Seven Sentences VI.    Attempts, Failures, and Successes before God A.    Seek God’s Kingdom first, last, and always (Matthew 6:33) B.    Remember the audience of a holy God Now all has been heard;    here is the conclusion of the matter:Fear God and keep his commandments,    for this is the duty of all mankind.   For God will bring every deed into judgment,    including every hidden thing,    whether it is good or evil—Ecclesiastes 12:13-14.Resources1.    Greg Koukl, Tactics: A Game Plan for Discussion Your Christian Convictions, 2nd ed. (Zondervan, 2019).2.    Douglas Groothuis, “Cast Your Bread upon the Waters: Taking Risks in Christian Witness,” Christian Research Journal, 2014. https://www.equip.org/articles/cast-bread-waters-taking-risks-creative-christian-witness. 3.    Os Guinness, Fool’s Talk: Recovering the Christian Art of Persuasion (InterVarsity Press, 2015). Emphasizes the rhetoric of apologetics and reaching those far from Christ through wise means. A new classic.4.    Douglas Groothuis, Christian Apologetics: A Comprehensive Case for Biblical Faith, 2nd ed. (InterVarsity Press, 2022).5.    Douglas Groothuis, On Jesus and On Pascal, both Wadsworth, 2003.6.    Francis Schaeffer, True Spirituality (orig. pub., 1973; Tyndale, 2003). Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

I.    Prayer for Those Who Influence Public Opinion (Book of Common Prayer)  Almighty God, you proclaim your truth in every age by many voices: Direct, in our time, we pray, those who speak where many listen and write what many read; that they may do their part in making the heart of this people wise, its mind sound, and its will righteous; to the honor of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. II.    The Meaning of Logos for Writers (John 1:1-3) In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. III.    Writing with Integrity A.    Luke 1:1-4 B.    Ecclesiastes 12:9-10 IV.    Risking Failure in Writing Ecclesiastes 11:1-6 V.    The Craft of Writing Well A.    Need God’s wisdom (James 1:5) B.    Don’t add unnecessary words (Ecclesiastes 6:11) C.    The need for good editors D.    A pleasing style (Philippians 4:8) E.    Be clear (1 Corinthians 14:7-9) F.    Using one’s imagination to write lively prose (Dorothy Sayers, “The Dogma is the Drama”) Official Christianity, of late years, has been having what is known as “a bad press.” We are constantly assured that the churches are empty because preachers insist too much upon doctrine—“dull dogma,” as people call it. The fact is the precise opposite. It is the neglect of dogma that makes for dullness. The Christian faith is the most exciting drama that ever staggered the imagination of man—and the dogma is the drama.  Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

Several years ago, after giving a message on New Age spirituality at a church in Berkeley, California, I was approached by a distraught middle-aged woman. She asked if I was familiar with Jungian therapy. After I said that I was, she spoke briefly of her mental problems, which were being treated by a Jungian analyst. Looking at me intensely, she asked, “As a Christian, should I be treated by someone like this?” I answered that although Jung provided a few helpful psychological insights, his overall world view was Gnostic and anti-Christian. Therefore, a Jungian analyst would not be able to help her work through her difficulties in accord with her own Christian beliefs. In fact, such a view could do much harm to her soul.             Although I am not a trained counselor, psychologist, or psychiatrist, I did not offer this advice lightly. I warned of the dangers of Jungian analysis not because I reject all psychotherapy as unnecessary or dangerous, as do certain incautious and unsophisticated Christian critics. I accept the legitimacy and importance of integrating a thoroughly Christian world view with psychological insights. However, as a student of new religious movements, I have repeatedly found Carl Jung to be a fountainhead of all manner of spiritual aberrations, whether in non-Christian movements or in Christianity itself. More recently, psychologist and best-selling author, Jordan Peterson, has drawn attention to Jung’s philosophy, which he draws on and uses as a lens to interpret the Bible. Christian counselors and other Christians, however, may be drawn to the fascinating figure of Carl Gustav Jung (1875-1961) for several reasons. Before summarizing some of the hazards of Jung’s thinking, we need to understand something of his strange magnetism… Recommended Reading1. Richard Noll, The Jung Cult: Origins of a Charismatic Movement (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1994). Stanton L. Jones and Richard E Butman, Modern Psychotherapies: A Comprehensive Christian Approach(Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1991). Paul Vitz, Psychology as Religion: The Cult of Self-Worship, 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1995). Douglas Groothuis, Ph.D., is Professor of Philosophy at Denver Seminary and the author of nineteen books, including Fire in the Streets (a critique of critical race theory or wokeness) and Christian Apologetics: A Comprehensive Case for Biblical Faith. Find more from Dr. Groothuis at www.DouglasGroothuis.com. Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

Ecclesiastes has saved my Christian life too many times to count. In the summer of 1999, this sometimes vexing book—perhaps the black sheep of the Christian canon—was the only book of sacred Scripture that I could stand to read. This is not a testimony to my Christian virtue but to the existential and theological power of this piece of wisdom literature. Ecclesiastes offers us an abundance of topics to consider and verses to ponder. For my purposes, I will ask what Ecclesiastes can teach us about epistemology, which is the study of the nature, means, and scope of knowledge. Link to my original article in Touchstone Magazine: Chasing Wisdom: The True Ways of Knowing in Ecclesiastes Recommended commentary on Ecclesiastes: Jeffrey Meyers, A Table in the Mist (Athanasius Press, 2006). Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up - Galatians 6:9. Acedia - the sin of sloth or laziness -- is the enemy of moral achievement and the agent of cultural bone rot. Isaiah exposed this in his day when he lamented, “So justice is driven back, and righteousness stands at a distance; truth has stumbled in the streets, honesty cannot enter” (Isaiah 59:14). Secrecy and camouflage accompany its weakening of the conscience and vitiating of the will. Acedia easily becomes a habit of the heart, a way of being that blends in with the moral mediocrity—or even debauchery—of the day. Vice it is, but a crafty one. Monks and nuns of the medieval age understood acedia, both in experience and in concept. They called it “the noonday demon.” Theologians, such as Thomas Aquinas and John Cassian, wrote about it in depth. Yet Christians today hardly mention it or even know its meaning. Scripture condemns laziness, warns of its results, and commends diligence in doing goodness. Many of these anti-indolence texts are proverbs. Through laziness, the rafters sag;    because of idle hands, the house leaks—Eccles 10:18. One who is slack in his work is brother to one who destroys.—Proverbs 18:9 In a longer proverb, King Solomon tells us to look to the ant for rebuke and exhortation. Go to the ant, you sluggard;    consider its ways and be wise!7 It has no commander,    no overseer or ruler,8 yet it stores its provisions in summer    and gathers its food at harvest. 9 How long will you lie there, you sluggard?    When will you get up from your sleep?10 A little sleep, a little slumber,    a little folding of the hands to rest—11 and poverty will come on you like a thief    and scarcity like an armed man (Proverbs 6:6-11). If the lowly ant is industrious in its realm, then how much more should God’s image-bearers get about the work of having dominion over the creation (Genesis 1:26). Jesus, in The Apocalypse, issues these flaming words against laziness: To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation.  I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other!  So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth (Revelation 4:14-16).  Jesus, whose ardor led him to the Cross to please God and redeem God’s people, does not tolerate tepid religion. He did not take up and go to the Cross to make us comfortable in our conformity to custom and convenience.   Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

Last week I went through ten authors and a number of books that have shaped my life and thinking. I include the full list below. This quote from Neil Postman highlights the significance of reading. One must begin, I think, by pointing to the obvious fact that the written word, and an oratory based upon it, has a content: a semantic, paraphrasable, propositional content. This may sound odd, but since I shall be arguing soon enough that much of our discourse today has only a marginal propositional content, I must stress the point here. Whenever language is the principal medium of communication—especially language controlled by the rigors of print—an idea, a fact, a claim is the inevitable result. The idea may be banal, the fact irrelevant, the claim false, but there is no escape from meaning when language is the instrument guiding one’s thought. Though one may accomplish it from time to time, it is very hard to say nothing when employing a written English sentence. What else is exposition good for? Words have very little to recommend them except as carriers of meaning. The shapes of written words are not especially interesting to look at. Even the sounds of sentences of spoken words are rarely engaging except when composed by those with extraordinary poetic gifts. If a sentence refuses to issue forth a fact, a request, a question, an assertion, an explanation, it is nonsense, a mere grammatical shell. As a consequence a language-centered discourse such as was characteristic of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century America tends to be both content-laden and serious, all the more so when it takes its form from print. [Postman, Neil. Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business (pp. 49-50). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.] Books and Authors W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy and The Pursuit of God. Blaise Pascal, Pensées, many editions. I prefer the Penguin ed. See also the collection The Mind on Fire. Carl F. H. Henry, God, Revelation, and Authority, 6 vols. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, Abolition of Man, Miracles, God in the Dock, Screwtape Letters. Francis Schaeffer, all of his books, but especially The God Who is There, He is there and He is not Silent, How Should We Then Live?, True Spirituality, and Whatever Happened to the Human Race? K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy and The Everlasting Man. Harold Netland, Dissonant Voices and Encountering Religious Pluralism Harry Blamires, The Christian Mind. I. Packer, Knowing God and Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God. P. Moreland, Scaling the Secular City and Love Your God With All Your Mind. James W. Sire, The Universe Next Door: A Basic Worldview Catalogue, Habits of the Mind, and Scripture Twisting: Twenty Ways Cults Misinterpret the Bible. John Calvin, The Institutes. John Stott, The Cross of Christ and Basic Christianity. Ken Myers, All God’s Children and Blue Suede Shoes: Christians and Popular Culture. Marshall McLuhan, Understanding Media: Extensions of Man. Neil Postman, Amusing Ourselves to Death, Technopoly, and The End of Education. Os Guinness, The Dust of Death, God in the Dark, Prophetic Untimeliness, A Time for Truth, The Call, and all the rest. J. Rushdoony, Institutes of Biblical Law, The Messianic Character of American Education, This Independent Republic, The Nature of the American System, The Politics of Guilt and Pity, and many more. Rebecca Merrill Groothuis, Women Caught in the Conflict and Good News for Women. Richard John Neuhaus, The Naked Public Square. Augustine, The Confessions. Thomas Sowell, The Politics and Economics of Race and A Conflict of Visions. Walter Martin, Kingdom of the Cults.   Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

  W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy and The Pursuit of God. Blaise Pascal, Pensées, many editions. I prefer the Penguin ed. See also the collection The Mind on Fire. Carl Henry, God, Revelation, and Authority, 6 vols., Confessions of a Theologian. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, Abolition of Man, Miracles, God in the Dock, Screwtape Letters. Francis Schaeffer, all of his books, but especially The God Who is There, He is there and He is not Silent, How Should We Then Live?, True Spirituality, and Whatever Happened to the Human Race? K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy and The Everlasting Man. Harold Netland, Dissonant Voices, Encountering Religious Pluralism, Christianity and Religious Diversity. Harry Blamires, The Christian Mind. I. Packer, Knowing God and Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God. P. Moreland, Scaling the Secular City and Love Your God With All Your Mind.   Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.