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A Dying Art
Christians Warned to Avoid Sorry Apologetics
By Jessica Allen (Class of 2003)
"The whole subject of ethics is a critical one in our culture. That seems to be where all of our social and political battles are being fought," said theology professor Dr. Samuel Thorpe, who helped coordinate the conference.
Dr. Ralph Fagin, Vice President for Academic Affairs, convened the first session of the conference in Zoppelt Auditorium on Wednesday evening, following the opening reception in the Regents' Dining Room. "These conferences help us take stock of ourselves...what we're doing and what we're becoming," Dr. Fagin said as he introduced the conference's keynote speaker, Dr. Paul Copan of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries. "Sometimes we don't give enough attention to our calling. But it's not only our doing we need to be concerned about--it is also our being."
Dr. Copan, an authority on Christian apologetics, explained the importance of intelligent dialogue among Christians and examined the myths that commonly impede it in "The Dying Art of Thinking."
He cited the two necessary tasks of higher education as spiritual and intellectual. While the former deals with saving the soul, the latter is concerned with saving the mind. "The art of thinking is dying among evangelicals in an attempt to be relevant," Copan argued. "We need to ask the question, 'How is the next generation equipped to defend their faith with so many conflicting interpretations?' ...We can preach fervently, but if society is being swept away in a cultural tide of tolerance without challenges to these assumptions, our teaching will amount to nothing because they don't see the Christian worldview as plausible."
Copan debunked three misconceptions that prevent Christians from engaging in the thoughtful discussion of their day. When they succumb to these misconceptions, he reinforced, "We deprive ourselves of the rich heritage we have as Christians from those who have gone before us." The first misconception, anti-intellectualism claims that the life of the mind is unspiritual; the second, anti-culturalism, compartmentalizes the sacred and the secular; and the third, anti-relationalism, loses sight of persons in its obsession with methods.
"I really liked how he dealt with the Christian misconceptions, especially anti-intellectualism," said Sheldon Yoder, a junior majoring in journalism. "We're in an environment [as Christians] where we need to be the number- one thinkers.... It was a wake-up call, a good re-emphasis of what I already know to be true."
The three-day conference dealt with a wide variety of ethical issues prevalent in a number of professions, from psychological ethics, to ethics in business, to naturalism and embryonic ethics. Speakers included Dr. Billy Joe Daugherty and Father George Eber, as well as ORU faculty members.
Laura Holland, professor of dramatic arts, spoke on "The Influence of Mass Media and Popular Arts on Social Ethics" in her Nov. 8 address. Stressing the need for thoughtful Christian criticism in the arts, Holland argued that modern media should be more concerned with truth than sentimentalism.
"If the storytellers shape society, how we respond to those stories is equally powerful," Holland said. "Christian criticism and discernment is at the heart of how much we let these things influence us."
According to Holland, the burden lies with the consumer, not with the product. "Active Christianity reaches to our choices of entertainment," Holland maintained. Nonetheless, she encourages Christians not to refrain from participation and reflection in the arts despite the secularism. "I don't understand how we can be salt and light if we don't get in the recipe," she stated.
"Moral Behavior in the 21st Century: Delineating a Judeo-Christian Response" certainly challenged the traditional understanding of ethics in a number of critical areas Christians must deal with personally as well as professionally.
"We've always had scholars who can make a case for Christianity against other philosophies," Thorpe said. "It should be very thought-provoking and fulfilling for us as Christians to realize that we have the strongest case."
