Forums on faith
Michele Marr
Since the earliest of New Testament times, Christians have been
called on to defend their faith and to consider what it means in
terms of how they should live.
Peter taught early Christians to “be ready at all times to answer
anyone who asks you to explain the hope you have in you, but do it
with gentleness and respect.”
James instructed those in the church to take care of widows and
orphans who were otherwise often left without a source for food or
shelter.
It is in that tradition that Calvary Baptist Church and
Evangelical Free Church of Huntington Beach are presenting seven
weeks of lectures and discussions called “Give Me An Answer Summer
Series 2003.”
The series, which is designed to help Christians become educated,
articulate and gracious when explaining and defending their faith and
worldview, also offers non-Christians a forum where they can, if they
want to, ask questions and get thoughtful, well-reasoned answers.
“The information presented at these lectures was like a light bulb
for me,” said Tina Thompson, a member of Evangelical Free Church,
who, with James Lucas of Calvary Baptist Church, organized the
lecture series.
“Philosophical, historical and scientific evidences that make the
case for the claims of Christianity will be addressed during the
series,” she said. “The way the material is presented, graciously and
logically, is usually surprising and challenging to non-Christians.
[It] gives them plenty to think about.”
A few years ago, Lucas started going to church because of a sports
league he wanted to be a part of, but he wound up accepting the faith
and marrying the daughter of a pastor. So he’s seen the faith and its
worldview from both sides of the fence.
“As an engineer I’m drawn to strong, logical arguments,” he said.
“‘Give Me An Answer’ brings in speakers who know the issues.”
Seven scholars, theologians and apologists are scheduled to speak
on topics and issues that include the reliability of the Bible; the
deity and humanity of Jesus Christ; the nature of faith, evidence and
miracles; the evidence for the physical resurrection of Jesus; and
contemporary issues of bio-ethics.
Scott Rae, professor of biblical studies and ethics at the Talbot
School of Theology in La Mirada, will present a lecture titled,
“Bio-ethics: Where are the Moral Lines.”
Rae is the author of six books on ethics, the most recent, “Body
and Soul: Human Nature and the Crisis in Ethics.” He holds a PhD. in
social ethics from the University of Southern California.
“Without belief in God and the notion of the image of God, there
is no ultimate basis for believing that human beings are of worth or
significance,” he said.
He points to the respect for human dignity as the common moral
thread that runs through many of our culture’s thorniest social
issues, such as genetic technologies, stem cell research, human
cloning and assisted suicide.
“I want this [lecture] to be a wake-up call to people to pay
attention to these issues and to think hard about them,” Rae said.
“Some are black and white but some are very gray.”
Regarding how our culture thinks about and values human fetuses
and embryos, he has found the recent coverage of the murder of the
pregnant Laci Peterson interesting.
“There are a host of states that have fetal homicide statutes and
California is one of them,” Rae said. “[Scott Peterson, Laci’s
husband] has been charged with double murder.”
“With ultrasound and all the technology we have to look into the
womb, it’s getting harder and harder to deny that [the fetus] is a
person,” he said.
Steve Wagner agrees. He is a summa cum laude graduate of the
University of Southern California, a student of author and ethicist,
Scott Klusendorf, and a lecturer for Stand to Reason, an organization
devoted to teaching Christian apologetics.
He will present a lecture during the series titled, “Who’s Waiting
for You?”
He will contend against three main ideas: there is no truth about
religion or morals; Jesus did not rise from the dead, he is not the
Son of God and is not the only way to salvation; and human beings are
only valuable if thy have certain abilities.
“No quality, not rationality or self-awareness or pain sensation
or size or level of development or independence, can justify equal
treatment. Only our human nature, which we all have equally, can
ground our idea of human rights,” he said.
* MICHELE MARR is a freelance writer from Huntington Beach. She
can be reached at [email protected].
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