Thursday, June 16, 2005
How WOULD I Answer Larry King?
That's what Allthings2all wants to know. Quoting a discussion at Maria Swoffer Catez sets up her post
I'm wondering if I might not duck the question. Here's the thing - Christian faith is informed and shaped and strengthened and supported by intellect, but it is known only on a spiritual level. Let's face it, there is, ultimately, no rigorous, scholarly answer to King's inquiry. As Catez suggests, there are far better answers than "the pastor" gave, but in the end that Jesus is the only means to salvation is not knowable -- it may only be experienced.
Too many people approach Christianity on a purely intellectual level -- to often as evangelists, we settle for intellectual ascent, but these things do not last. Genuine life changing transformation comes as a result on something on levels other than intellectual.
The intellect can be a barrier to genuine faith, and it must be overcome, but genuine faith is far more than the intellect. I do not believe it possible to argue someone into a relationship with Jesus -- they must be loved and prayed into it. There will be in the context of those activities be arguments, but those discussions are stepping stones on the path and no more.
Thus if a question such as that posed by Larry King is put to me in a private setting my tendency is to turn it back on the asker -- "Why do you ask?" "What alternative means to salvation can you posit?" "Why are you concerned about salvation?" In a public setting where there is no opportunity for relationship, like on a television show, I think I would duck the question, for in that setting it serves only as a barricade to a genuine encounter with Jesus, and cannot, absent relationship, be turned into something else.
"Recently, I saw Larry King ask a well-known Evangelical pastor how he knows that salvation is only through faith in Jesus. The pastor answered, "The Bible is the authority and I believe the Bible." Simple? Yes. Thoughtful? Not really."She then goes on to describe how she might deal with that setting.
I'm wondering if I might not duck the question. Here's the thing - Christian faith is informed and shaped and strengthened and supported by intellect, but it is known only on a spiritual level. Let's face it, there is, ultimately, no rigorous, scholarly answer to King's inquiry. As Catez suggests, there are far better answers than "the pastor" gave, but in the end that Jesus is the only means to salvation is not knowable -- it may only be experienced.
Too many people approach Christianity on a purely intellectual level -- to often as evangelists, we settle for intellectual ascent, but these things do not last. Genuine life changing transformation comes as a result on something on levels other than intellectual.
The intellect can be a barrier to genuine faith, and it must be overcome, but genuine faith is far more than the intellect. I do not believe it possible to argue someone into a relationship with Jesus -- they must be loved and prayed into it. There will be in the context of those activities be arguments, but those discussions are stepping stones on the path and no more.
Thus if a question such as that posed by Larry King is put to me in a private setting my tendency is to turn it back on the asker -- "Why do you ask?" "What alternative means to salvation can you posit?" "Why are you concerned about salvation?" In a public setting where there is no opportunity for relationship, like on a television show, I think I would duck the question, for in that setting it serves only as a barricade to a genuine encounter with Jesus, and cannot, absent relationship, be turned into something else.
