Pride in Apologetics

This ministry isn’t even yet a year old, and I still feel like this essay is overdue – for both itself and the rest of Christian apologetics.

God hates pride. He hates it with a passion. Over and over and over again in the Torah and throughout all the Old covenants, God continually says things like “I will break down your pride” (Lev. 26:19), while his prophets declare “You rebuke the arrogant” (Psalm 199:21). The first of 7 “abominations” that “the Lord hates” in Proverbs 6:16 is “haughty eyes,” (עֵינַיִם רָמוֹת) which means a person who is “blatantly proud” and “self-willed,” and in fact “signaling triumph” and even “independent of a source.”

Of course, the center and foundation for all godliness is being God-centered. But pride presupposes that man himself is not even dependent upon His Creator, for it overlooks God altogether. Pride is all about me me me, while humility is all about God, and God when we don’t feel like it, and God when we don’t see hope, and God when we feel pain, and God when our loved one dies, and God when our apologetic argument fails, and God for eternity. Yes, pride is perhaps the ugliest of all sins and leads only to death, and more than one Christian apologist has indulged in its madness, myself included (we preach best what we need to learn the most).

The job of the Christian apologist is to defend, clarify, and articulate the Christian faith. Doing so involves making distinctions and separations. Therefore, apologetics often requires the direct refutation of false beliefs. Needless to say, this discipline is possible without being prideful, but it is by no means easy. How does one correct another without being condescending? How can one refute false teachings without assuming a position of elevated status? Bavinck even said that “the apologists do not start from a base of doubt or neutrality but from a position of firm belief and unshakable conviction. They face the enemy, not in dread and fear, but with a strong sense of spiritual superiority.” How does one embrace this true superiority and be confident in the assurance of faith and not appear arrogant at the same time? In short, how does the Christian apologist deal with pride and avoid its temptation when it seems so easy to do?

I want to offer three responses to this issue: the Scriptural teaching, examples in church history, and practical instruction.

The Biblical Conditions of the Apologetic Task

God knew apologetics was necessary, and He likewise knew the apologist is constantly tempted to fall into the sin of pride. Is it any surprise then, that in I Peter 3:15-16, we read:

but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence;  and keep a good conscience so that in the thing in which you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ will be put to shame. (emphasis mine)

First of all, the Scriptures assert the necessity of being ready to give a defense – but it does so with specificity: “Yet with gentleness and reverence.” The word ἀλλὰ can mean either “but,” “yet,” or “except.” In other words, “slow down sir, before you get gung-ho about the defense of the faith, you have to make sure you do it in a certain way.” The first assertion about apologetics is, without a doubt, given direct conditions. Indeed, Christian apologists are never to be harsh and arrogant, but instead gentle and revering.

The third condition for the Christian apologist is in verse 16: “and keep a good conscience.” Did you just write a blog article that you weren’t sure you should post? Did you write a relative a letter feeling uneasy about the tone you wrote it in and aren’t sure whether to send it? Are you thinking about saying something at that next church meeting but aren’t sure if it would be wise?

Don’t do it. Luther wisely stated, “To go against conscience is neither right nor safe.” The Christian apologist should always, always keep a good conscience, which essentially means “moral sensitivity,” (see also the word in I Cor. 8:7). If there is any question about your apologetic in terms of whether it would violate your conscience or not, or if it is truly gentle and respectful, talk to brothers and sisters in Christ (preferably elders/pastor) to see if your conscience is correct. If two or more who are fit to give counsel say “it’s OK,” then you’re probably over-reacting. If they say “that’s a bit harsh, arrogant, or inappropriate,” you either change it or don’t do it at all. As Chuck Swindoll once preached, “If one man calls you an ass, pay him no mind. If two men call you an ass, buy a saddle.” Whatever the case, doing apologetics as God requires in Scripture simply leaves no place for pride.

Examples in the Faith

Greg Bahnsen and Greg Koukl are the only two formal apologists I’ve ever listened to and read that have never come across as being arrogant. Their tongue is almost perfectly controlled. They craft their words so carefully that they know exactly what its effect will be on both the present listener and the third-person listener of the future. They deliver knowledge to others appropriately and concisely. They refuse to escalate in response to someone else’s temper, they provide sound knowledge without making compromises in the process, and they minister with the keen awareness and sincerity of a pastor’s heart. And yet, they are some of the greats in terms of knowledge and wisdom, especially Bahnsen.

Douglas Wilson said of Bahnsen, ” The ancient Romans would have said to him, Rem acu tetigisti. He could ‘touch the thing with a needle.’” While it has been some 15 years since Bahnsen walked, talked, and ministered to the flock on this earth, he remains one of the greatest examples of how to do apologetics rightly – with gentleness, reverence, and remaining in good conscience. While Bahnsen could have spent all his time bragging about how he completed his philosophy doctoral exams in less than two weeks with the highest scores possible in all of them, how he completed his Th.M and M.Div simultaneously from Westminster, how he completely shut down Gordon Stein’s atheism in the famous debate of 1985, Bahnsen simply refused to stoop to that level. Why? Because he knew apologetics is a biblical discipline before God, not a competition of wits in front of men. Again, if apologetics is to be genuine, there is no place for pride.

Practical Instruction

If that is true – that apologetics is a discipline before God and not before men – RealApologetics.org has failed miserably. In comparison with most other apologetics, it has fared rather well (of course, even that is disputable). But in front of a Holy God (which really matters), RealApologetics.org has been anything but blameless. I’ve failed as a blogger, as a commentator, but more importantly, as a representation of Christ.

And yet, that is what makes RealApologetics.org what it is and makes a Christian apologist a good one – not its failure, but its accountability to higher standards. In failing those standards, there is still no excuse. And when rebuke is due, rebuke is due. But, by God’s grace, this ministry – as will other brother and sisters in the Lord “fighting the good fight of faith” – will continue to grow, learn, and seek to present a heart of wisdom before the Lord. There is no hope for a fool whose heart is made of stone, but there is always hope for a heart of flesh.

Therefore, despite the fact that RealApologetics.org has failed the following instruction, I want to offer a few things to prevent falling into pride when doing apologetics:

1. You can’t do apologetics alone. Defending the faith was never designed to be an isolated activity. It is the joining of God’s people and the fellowship of the church that makes a person as sharp as he or she is, because the Spirit works in people. Books can be a shortcut to knowledge, but rarely a shortcut to wisdom. It is a most fearful and necessary thing to be rebuked, corrected, and taught at the feet of one older and wiser than yourself. Apologetics must take place in step with the church, not despite it or along side it.

2. Ask yourself one question before making any major assertion in apologetics: “Is this ‘blameless’?” Is this article blameless before men (I Cor. 9:22) and before God? Will someone listening to this verbal argument think “he’s wise and being humble”? If the answer to any of these questions is no, then you have no choice but to either back down, or pause and make changes. Think before speaking. Assess before typing. Learn and seek third-party instruction before publicly rebuking. Paul said, “I have become all things for all men, so that I may by all means save some,” and “Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men,” (Luke 2:52). Jesus learned more and more and more without becoming arrogant and losing friends and without dishonoring God. Granted, there will be times when seeking human approval doesn’t work. Cultural accommodation must often get thrown out the window for the sake of the truth; if every apologist was concerned about political correctness and not offending anyone, apologetics would essentially end. However, there is still something to be said about being blameless. When I listen to Bahnsen, Koukl, and James R. White debate in the public square, not once have I ever thought of them as being arrogant. Let it be a standard, and always ask: is this action blameless?

3. Be precise and concise, but never overstate your argument. The power of understatement opened my eyes in a chapter by that name in The Little Red Book of Wisdom. When a person reads your argument, he should understand it and be convinced. That’s the short-term goal of apologetic argumentation. However, you’ve screwed up as soon as that person understands it, is persuaded of it, and finds it annoying and arrogant because you’ve beat it to death and gone too far. For example, it is appropriate to argue “the fool has said in his heart, there is no God,” and that atheism is irrational, but it is an overstatement to then say “atheists are idiots and stupid people.”  When a point has been made and received, the point should rest at ease and not accelerate into extremity. Apologists like myself take great pleasure in seeing people be persuaded of the utter and mind-blowing coherence of God, Christianity, and the truth of the Scriptures. But that passion can be a vice. Because when the pleasure of seeing a light bulb go on in someone’s head begins to motivate our hearts, we can get addicted to the pleasure of successful persuasion and want more – which leads to overstated arguments. A wood post must be carefully pressed several feet into the ground to hold a fence, yes, but it doesn’t have to be pounded carelessly and completely into the ground in order to function. In that case, you’ve destroyed the post and defeated your purpose.

Other Wisdom, From Scripture

Let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger. – James 1:19

The fear of the Lord teaches a man wisdom, and humility comes before honor. – Proverbs 15:33

Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him. – Proverbs 26:12