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Recently I had the undeserved privilege to interview an outstanding Bible teacher, author, father, husband, and friend who also happens to be one of America\u2019s top trial lawyers. He is not only exceptionally skilled at defending his clients in court;\u00a0he also defends his Christian faith daily.<\/p>\n
Mark Lanier<\/a> is an attorney and founder of the Lanier Law Firm. U.S. News and World Report\u2019s Best Lawyers<\/em> named him to its Best Lawyers in America list for nine consecutive years and as the 2013 Top Class Action Attorney in America. His courtroom work has been featured in The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times, and he is a frequent guest on CNBC and Fox Business News. He is the founder of the Lanier Theological Library<\/a> and teaches biblical literacy at Champion Forest Baptist Church<\/a> in Houston, Texas; my beloved Church as well. Mark\u2019s classes are recorded for public consumption at www.biblical-literacy.org<\/a> and I have the privilege to teach his material in Spanish at Church, also available at www.veritasfidei.org\/estudio<\/a>. Mark is the author of the excellent book, Christianity on Trial: A Lawyer Examines The Christian Faith<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Now, the discipline of \u201cgiving reasons\u201d for our Christian faith is called Apologetics. Apologetics is not about \u201capologizing,\u201d but about lovingly and respectfully responding to objections or questions related to Christianity so that people can properly grasp the gospel message. I see apologetics as the task of removing obstacles so that people can clearly see the cross of Christ. Here Mark responds to some key questions about teaching apologetics and\u00a0defending the Christian faith. Enjoy!<\/p>\n ML:<\/strong><\/span> I think everyone needs to know the rational reasons behind their faith.\u00a0 We live in a world that lobs \u201ceducated\u201d grenades against the faithful, constantly suggesting that belief in God and the Christian faith is only for those who are too uninformed, uneducated, or unwilling to think.\u00a0 Believers need to be able both to withstand that onslaught and be armed to counter it in order to reach the lost.<\/p>\n ML:\u00a0<\/strong>To me, almost all teaching is attached to apologetics.\u00a0One could compare it to a concrete that holds bricks together.\u00a0So I find that most anything I teach fits into the apologetic principles that make sense to me.\u00a0 It is easy to tie most teaching in to show how it fits into the Christian worldview that best explains the world and the way we see it\/experience it. ML:\u00a0<\/strong>I wind up referencing apologetics almost every lesson, simply because it is a constant theme that for me is a worldview. So in every lesson, I try to show how whatever I am teaching fits into the larger whole perspective.<\/p>\n ML:\u00a0<\/strong>I find motivation goes hand in hand with what they care about.\u00a0Whether it’s reaching a loved one who is questioning, or answering one\u2019s own doubts and questions, I find people motivated when it means something to them.<\/p>\n ML:\u00a0<\/strong>ABSOLUTELY!!!\u00a0 The next generation is always the biggest challenge. Especially in our Internet age where people get exposed to more ideas than ever before; where people can appear to be experts, even though they aren\u2019t; and, where knowledge is broad and shallow.\u00a0I teach parents that they need to engage in dialogue with their children, that they need to know well for themselves why they believe, and that they need to make the subject a discussion point, even though children might not bring it up on their own.<\/p>\n ML:\u00a0<\/strong>I really haven\u2019t run into any barriers.\u00a0 Sorry!<\/p>\n ML:\u00a0<\/strong>The same mistakes I make teaching anything!\u00a0Sometimes I am not clear.\u00a0Sometimes I have not thought it through as much as I should have.\u00a0Sometimes I am insensitive to where people are.<\/p>\n ML:\u00a0<\/strong>I read everything I can that interests me.\u00a0 I try to chase down my own questions.\u00a0 I try hard to interact with as many people as I can, especially unbelievers and people who are questioning.\u00a0 I have a good base for why I believe, so some of my greatest \u201cneed\u201d in preparation is finding where others are and how they \u201chear\u201d my answers.\u00a0Then I am best prepared to teach the bigger general audience that doesn\u2019t have the one-to-one interaction.<\/p>\n ML:\u00a0<\/strong>I polled a class of 45 college student last year.\u00a0 These were students who were in a class on how to share your faith.\u00a0Now you would think that they are firm in their faith if they want to take an elective about sharing it.\u00a0 My poll was secret.\u00a0They wrote on pieces of paper their own greatest challenges to faith and, without signing them, passed them to me.\u00a0The results were amazing.\u00a0The largest group was centered on the age old question, if there is a God, then why do bad things happen?<\/p>\n ML:\u00a0<\/strong>It is always thematic on something, and almost always textual.\u00a0 Beyond that, it varies greatly and really can\u2019t be identified in an answer.<\/p>\n ML:\u00a0<\/strong>It\u2019s always on my mind, so it\u2019s always in my teaching.\u00a0 Only once in the last ten years have I targeted as series on apologetics.\u00a0It just fits into most everything I teach.\u00a0In that way, I want the student to make it an everyday part of who they are.\u00a0It\u2019s not a one course chance to learn and then hold onto.\u00a0Challenges to faith are daily.\u00a0Defenses to faith should be as well.<\/p>\n I am profoundly thankful to\u00a0Mark for his time and dedication to teaching truth and defend the Christian worldview.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ. 2\u00a0Cor. 10:5<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Recently I had the undeserved privilege to interview an outstanding Bible teacher, author, father, husband, and friend who also happens to be one of America\u2019s top trial lawyers. He is not only exceptionally skilled at defending his clients in court;\u00a0he also defends his Christian faith daily. Mark Lanier is an attorney and founder of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1445,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[275,278],"tags":[293,747,752,746,751,745,748,749,744,753,750],"class_list":["post-1444","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-apologetics-en","category-evangelism","tag-apologetics-en","tag-biblical-literacy","tag-christian-answers","tag-christian-lawyers","tag-christian-worldview","tag-christianity-on-trial","tag-lanier-theological-library","tag-law","tag-mark-lanier","tag-rational-christianity","tag-teaching-apologetics"],"views":697,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/veritasfidei.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1444","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/veritasfidei.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/veritasfidei.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/veritasfidei.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/veritasfidei.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1444"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/veritasfidei.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1444\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/veritasfidei.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1445"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/veritasfidei.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1444"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/veritasfidei.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1444"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/veritasfidei.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1444"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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\nMy apologetical teaching is not one of creationism vs. evolution, or young earth versus old earth.\u00a0 Mine is very much a presuppositional apologetic. I try to explain that we have key questions that deserve answers:\u00a0Why is there objective right and wrong?\u00a0 Why do I believe in love as something more than a chemical reaction?\u00a0 Why do I believe people are more than a bag of chemicals?\u00a0 I.s., what is it that makes humanity valuable? (Why aren\u2019t we all cannibals?)\u00a0 The best explanation for the way we are and the way the world is is that found in the Biblical worldview.\u00a0It makes more sense than any of the other options.\u00a0 It is the one worldview consistent with people\u2019s lives.\u00a0I have yet to find an atheist who can live consistently with that worldview.\u00a0For that matter, I\u2019ve yet to find one who would want to!<\/p>\n\n
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