Not persuaded. . .

Reason is supposed to be the servant of the Word for Christians and we presume it is an aid to apologetics, the confessing and arguing of Christ into the unbelieving hearts of the world.  At least that is the idea.  We have come to the point in which we seem to frame the faith into debate points rather than faith propositions.  At least that is how it sounds sometimes on the internet.  The problem is that the ground of the faith is Scripture and, well, Scripture just does not seem to have the power or punch it once had.  It just does not persuade people like it once appeared to convince.  It is time we admit this and consider the reasons for it.

First of all is the rise of Biblical illiteracy among those outside of the faith.  It is hard for us to recall that there was a time when our American culture, in particular, but all of the West, in general, had a basic knowledge of Scripture and its teachings.  This was due to several things.  One was the fact that the Bible was likely the one book guaranteed to be in the family library growing up.  As books became more readily available, the Bible faded a bit into the background and as alternates to the printed page took over, it receded even more.  In addition to this, Scripture was embedded in the fabric of the culture and education.  Even if the Bible was not explicitly taught, it was there in the background of great literature, history, morality, and even media.  Perhaps the old movies like Going My Way and The Bells of St. Marys were examples of just how connected was religion, Scripture, and the entertainment industry.  And then it was not simply absent but the enemy of everything in culture, education, and the media.

Second is the loss of a sense of truth common to all people and the erosion of truth into individual perception, feeling, and choice.  How can the Scriptures fit into this schematic?  When the Bible itself is subject to individual whim, choice, and desire, it no longer has any power to persuade or truth to under gird any conversation much less shape it.  As sad as we are to admit this, it is better to know and confess that you cannot begin or end a conversation with the world by simply quoting a Bible passage.  It is not enough now and it was not enough for a while.  The longer we hold onto the images of a past in which the Bible was held in high esteem and had the power to engage the world in the great debate over who we are, our purpose, why things are the way they are, and what is left for us when death comes, the harder it is for us to hold a conversation with the world that truly does need to be held.

The great temptation is to resort to natural law alone as if this is the only way to regain any influence upon the world around us or to engage those outside the faith into a religious conversation.  But natural law is neither a replacement for the Scriptures nor is it able to stand without the voice of God' Word.  The truth is that natural law never stood alone and away from the revelation of God in His Word.  It is precisely the Scriptures which were the source of much, if not all, that built the West and is still at work building so many parts of the underdeveloped world.  The Scriptures are first and foremost the revelation of God's own Son, of the plan of salvation laid long before the foundations of the world were planted, and the means by which this unknowable God has made Him known.  In fact, the Bible has generated those basic ethical and societal concepts that have been the ground of Western ideas and ideals.  The example of this is just about everywhere -- the sacredness of life, the dignity of man, compassion for the weak, the need to to protect the poor and the underprivileged, the appreciation for women, the power to choose mercy over  vengeance, the power to choose duty over self-interest, the reason for charity, and the possibility and need for moral improvement.

Perhaps natural law needs to rediscover the voice of God's Word for both to impact again the great conversation between those who contend for the faith and those who do not know it yet or need to know it again.