Humanity has moved from a philosophical worldview that accepted the existence of absolute truth to a world of relative truths contingent on society. From Plato’s ancient paradigm of absolute truths transcending space and time to the post-modern paradigm of twentieth century philosophers, such as Ludwig Wittgenstein, that truth is contingent on society.
This paradigm shift was primarily motivated by a desire to render philosophy more scientific. The shift was further propelled by philosophical dilemmas that arose in the quest to make philosophy more scientific and less metaphysical. For example, what Kant called the scandal of philosophy--the problem of proving the existence of the external world. Wittgenstein’s contention in Philosophical Investigations that truth was relative and contingent on community indoctrination dealt with the skeptical problems like the existence of the external world while at the same time explaining the world in strictly materialist terms.
by Glenn Smith, Chapter Director at Texas A&M University
Ratio Christi operates differently from how Christian apologetics have traditionally been done. In the past, apologists were alone, doing work that was breaking new ground. Therefore, the only avenue available to them was through teaching, writing books and articles, and debates. So, when Ratio Christi came along, many Christians and apologists simply did not understand how we went about our work. From the perspective campus directors, we are finding that the Christian community needs an explanation of what we are not . . . and what we are.
We are all called to carry out the great commission, but who really holds the office of an evangelist?
Many Christians would describe an evangelist as someone that travels from church to church to preach messages. Their messages inspire believers to give to ministries that focus on taking the gospel to the unreached. Perhaps they would mention someone that preaches a message to bring revival to the church and convince people we bring to their meetings to become a follower of Christ. The right answer, however, according to Ephesians chapter 4, is that the evangelist is a person who equips believers to “do the work of the ministry so that they may build up the church.” That means the person who gives us the intellectual ability to answer the questions and objections of family and friends is really acting in the office of the evangelist. By training believers to give a reasonable answer, these people are probably doing more to win people to Christ than many traveling preachers. Apologetics is the branch of Christian theology that seeks to address the intellectual obstacles that keep people from taking faith seriously, and therefore it is the apologist who is the true evangelist.
