Softer Approach to Apologetics in a Not-So-Postmodern Culture

Sometimes, giving pat answers to some of the most common apologetic questions students ask isn't satisfying.

Sometimes, giving pat answers to some of the most common apologetic questions students ask isn't satisfying.

"What is truth?" and "How can we know Christianity is the true religion?" are two questions that Dale Fincher, author of the newly released Living with Questions, frequently comes across in his ministry career.

Fincher is offering students a softer approach to apologetics, a reading that doesn't sound academic and that's more accessible to younger Christians and those seeking answers about Christianity.

"I really sensed there was this world out there that needed to wrestle with these questions and get honest with themselves [about] them," he said, according to Youth Specialties, which supports Christian youth workers across various denominations.

With an educational background in performing arts and philosophy of religion, Fincher travels with his wife Jonalyn Grace, speaking to thousands of students and youth workers using narrative apologetics, or what they call "giving sturdy answers for better souls."

Over 15 years into story telling and addressing common arguments in the church, Fincher doesn't believe Christians are living in as much of a postmodern culture as many say they do, at least not among their students.

"I find that students really want to know what the truth is," he said, arguing against many baby boomer authors who say the truth is dead and that it's all relative in this culture. "They're just confused about what truth is and I think if we clarify some of that confusion, they're a little more ready to accept it and go into it.

"What I think our kids are allergic to right now is some sort of dogmatism by just saying something is true because we said it's true, or that's the way we've always done it," Fincher noted.

Christian apologist Anthony Horvath and his brother Brian have started a new movement to fill in the gap that churches often leave when educating students on even basic Christian teachings and reasons for believing Christianity to be true. The brothers began a T-shirt line called Apologia315 to help students preserve and defend their own faith while also witnessing to others. T-shirts read "Did Jesus rise from the dead?" and "Why does God allow suffering?"

"While we hope that these T-shirts are a good first step, they'll work best when integrated into a church's whole educational program where Christian apologetics already is a critical component in the curriculum," said Brian Horvath in a statement. "Unfortunately, not enough churches have such a program."

But there aren't really any five-minute answers to the questions seekers and Christians have, Fincher indicated.

"It's just hard work," he said, describing the research an individual needs to do to get find answers.

Although Fincher’s new book gives students some answers to the difficult questions and youth workers tips on how to address the student who's asking, they're all just "breadcrumbs of truth" along the way of an individual trying to piece together an answer satisfying to their own soul.

"Don't put on the attitude that we know all the answers because we don't," said Fincher, addressing youth workers. "At the same time, [encourage] students that this is part of the journey of life and we're trying to get to the point where we're satisfied with an answer" and not to the answer that nobody can disprove.

Fincher reminds youth workers that all the burden isn't on them when it comes to answering the difficult questions. "Of course, kids are responsible too and I believe they can handle it."

Some things I’d like to say to this reply, as I think in the world of anonymity, we need still be responsible with our comments.

1) I’m not emergent. I fall into line with historical thinking on these matters in a conversational way, like the way C. S. Lewis, Chesterton, Zacharias, J.P.Moreland, and the like do.

2) I do not believe the author of this article actually read my book. I believe the quotes were taken from an EDITED podcast made by Zondervan/Youth Specialties.

3) I’ve spent a lot of time thinking through this book to make it readable to teens while at the same time remaining orthodox. Please don’t dismiss it without a fair hearing. You may be surprised.

“Living with Questions” is the first apologetic book of its kind for students who are asking the hard questions. These questions were taken from a collection of 3,000 gathered while speaking around the country the last few years. These questions reveal more about what’s going in students than a lot of what we gather from our statisticians. Too many books today are written to answer questions students may not be asking or written in ways that do not adequately or robustly address those questions.

Too many youth workers are underequipped to handle the hottest questions their students are throwing at them. This should be no surprise. This book is to help with that.

Because there have been no books for students written on this subject, especially in a conversational way with tools to help them think through answers on their own, I thought I’d step up.

My background is not only in the performing arts but also in philosophy of religion at Talbot School of Theology (very non-emergent).

So before speculating, please look at a larger picture. Check out the reviews of my book at Amazon.com and perhaps order one for a student you love. Sometimes it isn’t enough to send them off to the many seminars around the country just before they enter college. Sometimes they need to hear an honest heart sharing robust tools to find answers in an honest way. Sometimes they need a book to keep referencing, to reread, to share with a friend, and to talk about. They need to start getting grounded long before college... no later than the beginning of high school.

And for those who really think we DO know all the answers, that is simply irresponsible to say so. That kind of posturing does no good for the Kingdom. And teens eventually see through it.

Teens want to stand on the floorboards of their faith. They want own it. They don’t just want to parrot what they’ve been told. I counsel hundreds of teens every year who are silently giving up their faith because nobody is helping them in these areas, even in Christian homes and schools.

So let’s get mature about all of this, stop name-calling, and start doing the hard work of communicating hard truths in ways that make sense and give life. Consider reading Living with Questions for yourself and passing it along to a teen.

Some forms of post-modernism has told us truth has died. If you read chapter 2 of my book, “What is Truth?”, you’ll see where I come down on the matter, which is not postmodern, but it isn’t constricting, like the way the enlightenment told us to think about truth. It is more historically and Biblical broad.

I’m always happy to dialog on this more. Visit our non-profit, Soulation (www.soulation.org) or email me directly at dale@soulation.org.

Grace and Peace,
Dale Fincher

As a translator, I work with languages in order to communicate a message everyday, and I am a bridge between authors and readers. I can tell as an actual reader of Fincher’s book that it is all about effective communication. The book clearly gets to the point.

Someone in a previous post referred to the “narrative” style as being of lesser importance than the Scriptures. Of course... if one reads both! You must first drag people to read the Bible, and if it takes a narrative, a testimony, day-to-day examples, or humour - things that abound in Fincher’s book - to encourage young people to do so, well, why not?

As an adult, I found valuable insights in it, not just “breadcrumbs of truth.” In fact, even if there would indeed just happen to have only “breadcrumbs of truth” to be found in Fincher’s book - which is definitely not the case - that would still be a good start. Hasn’t Jesus fed five thousands with five loaves of bread and two fish?

We must believe every step matters when we look for truth. We must seek answers within ourselves, and the burden to find these answers clearly doesn’t rest upon the one who is helping in our quest, but upon us as seekers. A little help is always welcome, let’s not bring down those who really try to change the world one soul at the time.

Marie-Claude Plourde, C. Tr.

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