Did Jesus use apologetics?

St. SteVen said:

Why does the church depend on apologetics to argue people into a relationship with God?

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IDK

Perhaps ( the leaking out ) of “some churches” threatening, fear mongering and hitting people into submission … finally fell out of vogue…and on to the next gimmick ?

No one comes to Jesus unless the Father leads them. Gimmicks are exactly that.

St. SteVen said:

There has been a HUGE push for the use of apologetics for evangelism.
Although it has peaked and dropped over the years.
It seemed to have given way to Friendship Evangelism some years back.

I actually thought Friendship Evangelism made more sense.
Since apologetics evangelism made people projects.
And frankly, if you can argue someone into the kingdom, is that a valid conversion?
Maybe, maybe not.

Did Jesus use apologetics? I don't think that He did.
Rather, He followed what the Father was doing and partnered with Him.

Why does the church depend on apologetics to argue people into a relationship with God?

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WRONG type of apologetics....

Apologies are an explanation of what scriptures say in the full context more completely than what flat, surface reading can provide.

The stories in scripture are largely misunderstood as written and translated today.

St. SteVen said:

There has been a HUGE push for the use of apologetics for evangelism.
Although it has peaked and dropped over the years.
It seemed to have given way to Friendship Evangelism some years back.

I actually thought Friendship Evangelism made more sense.
Since apologetics evangelism made people projects.
And frankly, if you can argue someone into the kingdom, is that a valid conversion?
Maybe, maybe not.

Did Jesus use apologetics? I don't think that He did.
Rather, He followed what the Father was doing and partnered with Him.

Why does the church depend on apologetics to argue people into a relationship with God?

[

Click to expand...

Jesus worked by appeal. He is who he is and it either attracts or repulses. That said, attraction or repulsion is not always an instant phenomena.....so he let himself be observed (he did nothing in secret)
He continually invites us to observe him, from the cradle to the grave to the resurrection, to weigh up where we stand in relation to him.

Is it any wonder that his drawing power is muddied by theological constructs?
Satan knows that when Jesus is presented as he is, all his sophistry is threatened; particularly his religious sophistry....and therefore hell bent on his ever seductive smoke and mirrors approach.

'Force' of argument was never Jesus' game. Revelation of truth is the water he allows to find its own level, either, as said earlier, it attracts or repulses.

St. SteVen said:

...Why does the church depend on apologetics to argue people into a relationship with God?

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Could you specify what you mean by "apologetics"?

Biblical truths must be reasoned from the Scriptures themselves. Given that there are so many hundreds of different beliefs on the same subject, only intelligent reasoning about the subject based on what is written can help someone determine which of these doctrines is truly biblical.

On the other hand, there are believers who confuse "reasoning" with arguing and employ fallacies; among the most common are disqualifications and personal attacks. They also use a lot of emotional manipulation and senseless threats, with the false idea that they are authorized by the Holy Spirit to denigrate those who do not accept what they say. Unfortunately, these kinds of demonic tactics are considered by some to be "apologetics," which is the carnal way of imposing a discourse through manipulation, not through reasoning.

Paul, Peter, Stephen, and many other Christian preachers reasoned from the Scriptures and showed through logical arguments that they were speaking the truth. They had to do it this way so that the new Christians would understand the difference between Jewish beliefs and the new Christian teachings. Changes in practices and teachings had to be justified with the Scriptures themselves in a logical, reasonable, and clearly understandable way for the listeners.

St. SteVen said:

There has been a HUGE push for the use of apologetics for evangelism.
Although it has peaked and dropped over the years.
It seemed to have given way to Friendship Evangelism some years back.

I actually thought Friendship Evangelism made more sense.
Since apologetics evangelism made people projects.
And frankly, if you can argue someone into the kingdom, is that a valid conversion?
Maybe, maybe not.

Did Jesus use apologetics? I don't think that He did.
Rather, He followed what the Father was doing and partnered with Him.

Why does the church depend on apologetics to argue people into a relationship with God?

[

Click to expand...

By and large Friendship Evangelism is better. Apologetics is better when it comes to the narrative/ propaganda front. And I there are even levels beyond that when it comes to more aggressive Apologetics that actually get into polemics when it comes to dealing with strong ideologies like Islam, Communism, and the New Atheism. There is a famous Coptic priest (Fr. Zacharia Botros) that has had a 60-million-dollar price on his head from the Muslim brotherhood because he began speaking very candidly about Faith in Egypt. He mentions that you cannot really evangelize or preach to the average Muslim that they are usually so brainwashed that they won't listen to you because, "they think their Faith is the greatest, most beautiful thing that ever existed" while yours's is incredibly inferior and you as a Christian are not worth listening to. So to preach the gospel to them "You need to give them a short sharp shock" like an electric shock to wake them up. And Botros being fluent in Arabic, and growing up in a Islamic society is able to do that by showing the various moral and theological problems and inconsistencies of Islam especially concerning Mohammed and the Koran.