A Time for Explanation

Why? Why is the question that I ask! I ask it not for the mere sake of creating or maintaining conversation, but rather, because it is the quintessential question one must answer if they are to truly grasp anything. A terrifying question, for within it dwells the possibility of exposing mankind to things previously unknown. More terrifying still, however, is that it is the one question which can destroy the dearly held truths to which one holds to. Why?

This question I have asked a number of students over my years of teaching, a question I apply to a number of variant topics, topics including history, politics, and literature, but none so vital as religion, and more specifically, Christianity. As a World History teacher at a private orthodox Protestant Christian school, I have the privilege of sharing my values and beliefs with students from many different socioeconomic, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds, many of whom come from predominantly Christian homes, and as a result, claim the faith as their own. What is remarkable about many of these students, however, is not so much their ignorance of the Christian faith, but rather their inability to articulate the why. Consequently, the effect is a generation of mindless “Christians” who, for the most part, could provide the basics of the gospels, but who upon questioning, would be unable to describe and explain how and why the faith they claim is real. This is a reality among many young Christians today, and I can only assume that such is true for Christians across all generations.

The cause of this phenomenon I cannot say, but what I fear is that a future generation of Christian leaders and believers will develop without understanding why they believe what they claim to believe, and as a result, will be more apt to fall victim to any number of thoughts and ideas which might crawl across their consciousness. There is a war of ideas, and as Christians we must be armed to defend ourselves, we must be prepared to give an apology of our faith.
It is to the accomplishment of this that I set forth to write an apologetic history of world religions. My goal is to develop a historical and theological breakdown of those religions which vie for attention in this day, while simultaneously developing an apologetic viewpoint as it pertains to each one. The end result will be a full length and documented text, but here I create a forum where I will lay out my theological understanding of today’s religions, and do so both for my own clarification, but beyond that, to obtain further insight from those who might read my notes.

Thus, I ask that from time to time you, who read this now, might return and provide comment upon the work I currently do. Thank you, and may God bless you