Every Believer Confident, Part 5
May 1, 2025 | by: Dale Thiele | 0 Comments
Posted in: Pastoral Encouragement
Destroying Strongholds
This is a multi-part series interacting with Mark J. Farnham’s new book, Every Believer Confident: Apologetics for the Ordinary Christian. Farnham is the founder and director of Apologetics for the Church and professor of apologetics at Lancaster Bible College and Capital Seminary. He states, “The purpose of this book is to help you to know, appreciate, firmly grasp, proclaim, and defend the Christian faith. My ultimate goal is to strengthen your faith, so you can confidently and effectively persuade unbelievers to believe in Jesus Christ” (p. 16). Let’s dig into the book together and see how our faith might be strengthened.
Up to this point, Farnham has been laying the groundwork for his apologetics method. What is the nature of apologetics? Does the Bible commend and encourage apologetic work? What power lies behind apologetics? And what does the Bible teach us about unbelievers? Now he begins to lay out his apologetic method. What does an apologetic conversation with an unbeliever look like?
2 Corinthians 10:3-5 gives the background to Farnham’s apologetic method. Paul writes, “For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ.” The “strongholds” of unbelievers are the authorities on which they rely for some sense of security, significance, or acceptance. These may be science or human reason or religion or family or their own experience. Farnham’s apologetic method is aimed at weakening the unbeliever’s confidence in his or her “stronghold.” He writes, “As we converse with unbelievers, we seek to show the weakness and incoherence of their worldview” (p. 88).
The key to Farnham’s apologetic method is to ask questions. He explains, “Listening and asking follow-up questions demonstrate respect and gentleness and often open the door for you to challenge another person’s unbelief and present the gospel” (p. 90). “Rather than trying to have all the answers, we put the burden on unbelievers to justify their objections to the Christian faith” (p. 87). “What we see here is the subversive power of the gospel. To subvert something means to undermine it and overthrow it, and the gospel destabilizes, disrupts, and sabotages belief systems that are constructed out of a suppression of the truth. Asking good questions is the key to paving the way for the gospel to do this and also to bringing the unbeliever closer to Christ.” (p. 92).
Farnham outlines four tactics that flesh out this apologetic method.
- Ask Clarifying Questions. “When non-Christians tell you what they believe, ask them questions from time to time to make sure that you understand their position” (p. 94).
- Restate the Other Position. “This is an important step, because once they affirm that you properly understand them, you can then move on to the next step” (p. 95).
- Take the Other Position for the Sake of Argument. “Take their position for the sake of argument and show them its implications” (p. 95). “By taking their position and holding it consistently, you are showing them that beliefs should be coherent” (p. 96).
- Call the Unbeliever’s Bluff. “When you hear a ‘fact’ that supposedly proves Christianity wrong, or that challenges the truth, question it…By calling their bluff, you are pulling them back to the realm of fact” (p. 97).
These four tactics “can help you make great progress toward disarming unbelieving opposition” (p. 98). Farnham then gives three ways to “begin to present the Christian faith to unbelievers more directly” (p. 98). First, you can “challenge their errors and misconceptions about Christianity” (p. 98). He says, “Don’t allow misconceptions about the Christian faith to stand without correction” (p. 99). Second, you can “contrast the irrationality and contradiction of unbelief with the wisdom and rationality of the Christian faith” (p. 100). He writes, “If you can present the logic and beauty of the Christian faith, you show unbelievers that they have somewhere to go once they have rejected their former views” (p. 101). And, third, Farnham encourages, “If you don’t know the answer to a question or objection, say so” (p. 101).
As final encouragement, Farnham says that this apologetic method “takes considerable practice,” and “the way to improve your ability is to … engage non-Christians in conversation” (p. 102). I also would encourage you to prayerfully seek opportunities this week to engage with an unbeliever with this method of asking questions. Don’t worry about having a complete conversation where you actively share the gospel (don’t get me wrong, that would be awesome). Focus on asking clarifying questions and seeing if you can understand the unbeliever’s position. May God work through us to tear down strongholds and draw people to Christ!
