This evening Rev. Franklin Graham was briefly interviewed on the Laura Ingraham show by guest host, Raymond Arroyo (December 23, 2021). It pertained to a display in the Illinois State House where a statue of a satanic goat-like figure “just a few steps away” from a nativity scene which included the baby Jesus (https://nypost.com/2021/12/23/satanic-display-inside-illinois-statehouse-days-before-christmas-draws-protesters/). When asked by Arroyo to comment, Graham said that from the time Herod the Great sought to kill the actual baby Jesus, Satan has been seeking to destroy Jesus Christ ever since, but that all of his attempts have failed. I deemed that to be a subtle, yet sufficient retort. However, Arroyo asked a second (final) question, the answer of which left me disappointed and dismayed. Arroyo highlighted the growing reality of the decline of Christian belief in our time and then asked Graham for his suggestion as to how Christians might turn that trend around. I judge that what Graham affirmed was absolutely correct by highlighting the urgency of evangelism to the end that people come into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. On the other hand Graham utterly neglected what is absolutely vital in our calling to see people come to Christ, which is the employment of apologetic arguments with the goal of persuading people of the truth of the Gospel of Christ. I am, on the one hand, fully aware that many Christians think that task is unnecessary since it is the Holy Spirit who persuades people to repent. Yet what detractors fail to grasp is that the Bible is steeped in this strategy from beginning to end.[1] Furthermore, many of the same fail to appreciate that scientific and historical evidence together with trends in philosophy these days very strongly affirm that the existence of God, who reveals Himself in the Bible as both the creator of the universe and the redeemer of sinners through Jesus Christ, is far superior to competing world-views.[2] Christians cannot afford to be apathetic about this amazing reality since, by our silence in the face of an uninformed yet mocking world, surely implies that we Christians have nothing to challenge its skepticism.[3] To Christians, I say, inform yourselves firstly about the weight that the Bible places on seeking truth wherever it is manifested in the world, and secondly, about the utter strength of the evidence supporting the God of the Bible, which is so strong that one need not fear it being toppled by skeptics. To these ends, I urge you to read not only my papers that are listed below; but also that you investigate further by branching out to the large array of other writers, who affirm the same truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in their unique and inspiring ways.
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