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Living Hope SDA Church

Apologetics for a Secular Culture

Subodh Pandit

Apologetics for a Secular Culture Part 1

I'm a medical doctor born and brought up in India.

India is a land of tremendous diversity of language, food, culture, and even religion.

India has the largest Hindu population in the world, 850 million.

Few people realize that India also has the second largest Muslim population in the world.

We have more Muslims than the whole Arabian peninsula put together.

Buddhism was born and brought up, nurtured there in the eastern parts of India.

Hinduism moved off to even after Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism.

Among the Zoroastrians on Earth, the largest population of Zoroastrians are in India.

And then I immigrated to the United States and specialized in internal medicine and taught at the University of Oklahoma as an assistant professor, and then went into emergency room medicine, and then retired from there about 10 years ago.

But during this time, that's when I got interested in this topic.

And if you don't mind sharing, how did you get interested in this topic?

Now, if you lived where I was living with all the other religionists around you, as you grew, you will have the question, what is that?

And why am I here and not with them and them?

So that was always playing at the back of my mind.

But I didn't ask the question as a young man.

But as soon as I finished medical school, I said, I need to ask that question.

And so my first posting was at a hospital.

And just beside that hospital was a very beautiful Hindu temple.

And the priest of that Hindu temple was not just an ordinary priest.

And These Shishyas came from all over the world to sit at his feet and learn.

So those who came from outside were not used to the immunity that we have in India.

So when you go and eat outside, you can fall sick.

And so they would go and eat and fall sick, and they'd come straight to me.

That's how I got to be a good friend of this priest, an articulate, well-educated, pleasant, nice person.

So 1 day he told me, Doc, I've been watching you.

And even the way you think and the way you speak, you will make a good Hindu.

Now imagine my background, I've been always questioning.

I said, sure, but you know the way you told me, I think, yep, I think that way, so I have to give reasons for what I do.

1 reason to accept Hinduism and 1 reason to leave Christianity.

I will teach you Hinduism and why you should be a Hindu.

And then we got chatting, and slowly I realized that neither he knows much of Christianity, nor I know much about Hinduism.

And in the end, both of us did not know how to establish the fact that God exists, both of us.

So that started me off, that was the start of my journey.

That's a start and I mean it's very fascinating, it's very fascinating.

Now we have this word apologetics, What is the meaning of apologetics and do only Christians engage in apologetics?

The word apologetics comes from the Greek word apologia.

An apologist is a person who looks at a certain claim and he says, okay, I'm going to defend the tenets of this claim.

I'm making a claim, but I have to defend it.

Defend the veracity, the credibility of that claim.

So an apologist, the 1 who gives a reason for a belief.

So there are all kinds of belief systems on earth.

Some of the great Muslims were apologists, especially in the 12th century.

They were able to discuss and tell you why you believe this or that.

So an apologist is a person who states it and then gives you the reason for the veracity and the credibility of it.

So a very broad definition and it's very inclusive of various people groups and it's not a word that only Christians can claim to.

But does Christian apologetics have unique features to it?

If you look at the way people do apology and the reasons why they do apology, in other words you have a reason for apology itself, you will find that there are some unique features of the Christian apology.

And there are a few, I will mention just 3.

Number 1, only the Christians have a very specific call to engage in apologetics.

Only Christians have, Everyone does it, but only Christians have a specific call.

Always be ready to give a defense, apologia, apologist, to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that you have.

In other words, it's specifically stated in the writings of the Christian faith that you should engage in apologetics.

Number 2, it is not only says that you should do it, it says how you should do it.

And so Paul in 1 Corinthians 9, 22, 22 says how you're supposed to do it.

And this is how he said it, to the Jew, remember Paul was a Christian, but he said to the Jew, I will become a Jew.

To those who don't know the law, I will become as 1 who does not know the law.

He means he must get to understand them, step into their shoes, and then he will understand them enough to have a good conversation.

It's the confidence that there is a reason that is so strong that anybody looking at that reason will say, yes, I got it.

There's a statement and it ends with these 6 words, so that they are without excuse.

In other words, there's something there that has such veracity, that such credibility, such a base that appeals to the intellect and also to the conscience that you have no reason to knock it off.

Do you know that no other religion says this?

No other religion said you're supposed to engage in apologetics.

Apologetics for a Secular Culture Part 2

Our Father, as we look more about how we can be effective witnesses for You, I pray God that You would help each 1 of us, help us to learn and understand so that we can allow You to use us so You can reach others through us.

And we thank you so much for giving us this privilege.

It's an eye honor that you have given upon us to take your word to people, to talk about you to other people.

I pray God that you'd help us and teach us how to be effective in that, in those endeavors.

And I pray God that in the process that you would also solidify our faith so that we are not believing in some cunningly devised fables, but our faith is rested on evidence that you have left for us.

And I pray God that you continue to be with us this hour.

Pandit, we are going to continue our building off of what we saw from last session, we talked about this 4 letter word called bias.

Do you consider yourself to be fair and free of bias?

Because you yourself came from a, you're brought up in a 70 Adventist family as you said, so do you consider yourself fair and free of bias?

The question is whether you recognize your bias.

You cannot be free of bias because everyone has a leaning no matter whether it's right or wrong you have a leaning that's called bias.

The question really is, is your bias standing in the way of coming to the truth of a matter.

Some people hold on to their bias because that's what they like the most.

It's a very precious, precious commodity, precious treasure, and won't let it go.

So sometimes people say, well, you're biased.

And they totally dismiss what you say, because they claim that you're biased.

Like we're just stating here, if everyone is biased, then to call somebody biased is meaningless.

So for example if everyone is fat then what's the use of saying hey you fat guy, everyone is fat.

So to say anyone is biased is actually quite meaningless.

What we should do is not worry whether a person is biased or not.

Discuss the point that is placed on the table, not whether he is biased.

That's an extraneous quality to what is being placed on the table.

Is it backed by real evidence and information that I can respect and I can accept?

That is far more important than whether he is biased or not.

So similarly with your own self, when you go and speak to people, you should be able to say, yeah I am biased but I am biased because of this reason.

Not I am not biased and I am wonderful and so fair.

So consider the facts as they are and recognize that there are 4 things, like we said.

Yeah, and before we move on, if any of you have any questions at any point, just raise your hands and we'll have a paper, a blank paper brought to you and we'll collect them towards the end.

So if at any point you have any questions, or if you think you'd have questions, you can always raise your hands and we'll bring the paper to you.

Yeah, we'll deal with that question and answer time.

So if any of you have questions, just raise your hands up.

And so coming back, have you met anyone who is totally unbiased?

And if the answer is yes or no, what does that tell you?

If there was anyone who was supposed to be unbiased, it would be me.

I didn't find myself unbiased, so therefore, no, I have not met anyone who is totally unbiased.

The question is do you acknowledge your bias or do you hide it?

Because if you hide it, you can't take it away.

So, if everyone is biased, How can we solve the problem of bias?

How could we move on from this roadblock and engage in a dialogue?

Number 1, You must confess that you are biased.

Most people don't like to confess that they are biased.

Because the bias is such a bad word, you know, a bias?

So the first thing you do is confess that you are biased because you do have leanings on 1 side or the other.

That's number 1, you should confess that you are biased, acknowledge it that man I am biased.

Number 2, if I am biased and if there is a controversy, then I make a deliberate effort to look at both the sides of the controversy because I am biased.

If you are not willing to acknowledge your bias, why should you look at both?

You just look at your own side and say that's where I am and I'm not biased at all.

No, if you say that you are biased, then you are willing now to humbly look at both sides.

You know, the Muslims when they were really formulating their Ottoman Empire, They were strong.

And in the position of strength, they often spoke things that made good sense.

So, about the 12th century, the Muslims, really some of them really came out with some really good things.

1 of them was Abu Walid Muhammad bin Rashtan.

It's a big name, but that's how they named themselves.

And this is what he said, if you in a good philosophical discussion, you should always be able to cite the opposing view.

The failure to do that is an implicit acknowledgement of the weakness of your own case.

So when he said that it tells us that you know when it comes to the question of being fair you always go to the opposite side and say and acknowledge that side.

It is not easy But when you recognize that respect does not mean agreement, yeah, why not?

Tell me what you want to say, tell me what you believe, I want to know what you believe.

Apologetics for a Secular Culture Part 3

Loving Heavenly Father, thank you so much for this morning you've given us.

Thank you for the Sabbath day and the rest that it brings.

To forget a lot of things around us and to focus our minds on you.

And we ask you this morning that your Holy Spirit will be with us in our search of truth.

And may the Spirit of truth lead us into all truth.

I pray for all of these things in the name of Jesus.

Pandit, thank you for joining with us once again this morning.

You know, I was about, I think, 14 or 15 years old when I first met you in India.

I did not understand a lot of material, except for the wow factor.

And so, if there is something that you find very interesting, very unique.

On either side of the issue, it is only fair to say, wow.

In fact, the golden rule of research is to rightly represent the other side.

And I was looking at some Gallup polls recently, and last year, in 2022, on June, in the Gallup poll, it says that 81% of people believe in God, which came down from 87%, which was in 2017.

So, why then do we need to discuss about God and his existence?

Why not leave it aside if there seems to be a loss of interest about God that seems to be very steady?

First of all, 6% or 7% is millions of people who have changed their minds.

So that's the first question you ask is, should we do anything about it?

Some of them turn around and tell me, hey, why do you want to talk about God?

So What difference does it make, is their question.

There can be 2 depending on a big if and we're going to look at that if right now.

If our human lives, we live on this earth 70, 80, 100 years or whatever, 50 And that's all.

After that, it's oblivion, completely nothingness.

Think, why do you need God for 50 years if there's nothing beyond?

The fact is both the side, the atheist and the theist agree with this.

I'm going to show you a quote by Quentin Smith, who is a very staunch atheist.

He's a co-author of the book, Theism, Atheism, and the Big Bang Cosmology.

And this is what he said, the only reasonable belief is that we came from nothing, by nothing, and for nothing.

So on the atheistic side, yeah, nothing, nothing, that's it.

The believing side also says the same thing.

We call Solomon the wisest of them all and this is what he said, what happens to the fool happens to me also.

The fate of the humans and the fate of animals is the same.

Why do you need God to live like a king or a fool?

Why do you need God to live or die like a beast or like a human?

That is if our lives on this earth is all that there is.

But the second if, if there is a supernatural realm, and if that is real and God really exists, then some kind of a final attainment is possible.

In other words, heaven or paradise or nirvana or something is there, then that's a reasonable theory.

If there is more than what we have, And if that's the actual goal of our lives, contrary to Quentin Smith, then we have to confess at least 2 things.

Number 1, that we don't know any way how to get there.

And once we get there, we don't have anything.

Therefore, we do need God first of all to tell us how to get there and then to give us whatever there is when we do get there.

And yes, absolutely yes, if that realm exists.

And there is something known as heaven and paradise.

So the pertinent question is, right now, is that a real thing out there, heaven and paradise?

So back to the original question, is there a God?

In other words, it is a relevant question.

James Sire, a thinker and a writer, he called it the prime reality question.

Because any time You begin to think of your existence, your family, the world, the universe.

You'll have to ask this question, what is there behind it all?

Everybody answers it, either consciously or subconsciously.

And you're talking about how, you know, the explanation for the existence of life, but also the goal of life and the meaning of life can be explained only if we answer the question if God exists or doesn't exist.

And so that leads me to the next question.

You know, when I've been out there speaking to a mixed audience with atheists and agnostics, and then there are believers also in the audience.

And this vocal atheist stands up and says, Doc, don't you think there's a possibility that God does not exist?

Oh, boy, he's so happy because he puffs up his chest and looks at the believer and says, see, you're a champion.

And the believers will say, oh, we brought him here to be on our side, and he's given the thing to them.

Because whenever you use the word possible, you must realize that you're using only half the statement.

Apologetics for a Secular Culture Part 4

First question a common atheistic debate tactic is to take an obscure passage from the Bible out of context example several verses that can be misinterpreted to endorse slavery and Use that as an excuse to discredit the entire Bible How do you defend a Bible verse that you're not familiar with?

Or how do you respond to people who use this tactic?

You see, you can already make out that the person who's speaking is antagonistic.

And like I said, everyone is biased, but that doesn't knock them off.

That is the first thing you should recognize.

It is a genuine, from his point of view, a tactic.

He's stating so that you will not explain it.

So that once you don't explain it, then he has a reason to say, now you're off.

So that attitude itself, somehow we should first tackle before actually tackling the verse or the thing that you are.

So to do that, I usually invite them, you see the title of my whole seminar is always come search with me.

I am not telling you, you are not telling me.

But that doesn't mean we, you know, knock them off, right?

But so, how do we address something like that?

1 of the things that I do when I see a person who is really hard hitting back and clearly wants to discredit.

I asked them to start from the end of their conclusion.

So in the end of their conclusion is, throw the Bible off.

Let's put the Bible aside, what will you have?

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Apologetics for a Secular Culture

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