By Israel Wayne
One of the major branches of Christian Apologetics is called, "Classical Apologetics." The basic concept is that the skeptic can be convinced of the truth of Christianity by simply reasoning properly.
Rather than giving the skeptic lots of bits and pieces of evidence, as the Evidentialist approach would suggest, the Classical Apologist uses Logic and Rhetoric to persuade the unbeliever. The approach has its beginnings in Ancient Greece. Aristotle, Socrates, Plato and their contemporaries developed means of argument and persuasion that are still being used today.
Logic
Classical Apologetics tends to emphasize the forms of Logic that are deemed irrefutable (in attempting to contradict them you have to affirm their truth):
1.
The Law of Identity
- An object is identical to itself.
2.
The Law of Non-Contradiction
- Two contradictory statements cannot be true in the same sense at the same time.
3.
The Law of the Excluded Middle
- Just because two things have one thing in common does not mean that have everything in common.
4.
The Law of Rational Inference
- Inferences can be made from what is known to what is unknown.
Perhaps we can explore these in more depth in a later essay.
While Augustine or Anselm may get some votes, the man most highly favored as the father of Classical Apologetics is Thomas Aquinas (1224-1274).
Classical Arguments
Four of the main arguments for the existence of God, commonly used in Classical Apologetics are:
1.
The Cosmological Argument
- Argument from a First Cause or Prime Mover
2.
The Teleological Argument
- Intelligent Design implies an Intelligent Designer
3.
The Moral Argument
- Existence of a Moral Law implies a Law-Giver
4.
The Anthropic Principle
- A Teleological argument that says the earth was fashioned to support human life.
(full article posted at Brannon Howse's "Worldview Times" here)
