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Four tips for defending the Bible in a debate
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It is the strangest thing: Lately, I have been put on the spot about the Bible quite a bit from various people. Sure, it happens to all of us from time to time, but for me, more than usual. The overwhelming, common denominator in these recent encounters, I've found, is the disregard for context when referring to scripture.
But, the more I think about it, the more I realize that this is the prevailing posture out there. I can remember a time, as a youngster, when I acted similarly toward believers. I spent a great deal of time and energy reading the Bible and reading books that sought to discredit the Bible with the intention of discovering the magic bullet that would hopefully leave Christians speechless and unable to respond, thereby proving that they were wrong. I prided myself on "knowing the Bible better than most Christians". When I would enter into a debate, my purpose was one thing only: to win the argument.
As such, I brandished a pre-meditated list of verses I felt to be contradictory, atrocious or anachronistic. Yet, even as I expertly laid out my argument, I gave zero play to context or translation. I simply pulled out one liners and thereby summed up my case against Christianity based on those verses. As long as I could keep the focus on the literal dimension of those scriptures, I would leave the debate feeling bolstered and justified. I win. Here's the thing: my focus was on myself.
If you are a believer, this is going to happen to you. It is going to happen to you a lot. It's okay. You can handle it. Here are some guidelines that may be helpful when confronted by someone who wants to engage you in debate over your faith or a particular scripture.
1. Pay Attention.
It will not take long to figure out the mood texture of the encounter. The tone of the debate can be dramatically different based on the intentions of the person presenting the challenge. Some people will be genuinely curious about the Bible and about your faith. This will likely yield a fairly pleasant experience.
Some people will engage you with the intention of refuting Christianity specifically. Still others will care only about the debate itself, wanting to win the argument, giving less regard to the subject matter in question. If you can determine this early on, you will have a better chance of staying on topic and not being manipulated.
2. Check yourself.
It is very important to keep a posture of humility during such an encounter. You might help someone to Christ that day or you might not. But, no matter what, you will plant a seed. It is a mistake to focus on being right. If the truth is the truth, it doesn't need us to make it true. Instead, we should focus on being civil, forgiving and non-inflammatory in our demeanor. The seed will remain and if they come to Christ later on, they will remember that we were kind, even if they were not. You can not force someone with a hardened heart to glean the Spirit that resides within scripture. But, we can demonstrate evidence of the Spirit through our actions.
3. If you do not know a scripture, do not pretend that you do.
Many people, especially those that specifically seek to discredit the Bible, are very well-read Bible students. There are droves of books and articles out there that point out all sorts of Biblical contradiction, weirdness and miscellany. Most who confront you will come into the conversation with a plan of action.
Part of that plan will likely be to catch you off guard by proposing that you explain how a specific scripture could be true. If you do not have the context of the scripture down, then just admit it. You could offer to look it up and discuss it with them or you could contact someone that you know to be well versed in that particular area. Or, you could simply say that you don't know but you will gladly get back to them after you research it more.
The worst thing you could do is to take a contextual stance on a scripture that you are unfamiliar with. That is exactly what they are looking for. Just because they have more of the Bible memorized than you does not mean that they are right nor does it mean that you are a bad Christian. Don't bite the hook.
Instead, when they spring a scripture on you that you aren't very familiar with, you could say something like "Could you show it to me?", "What translation is that?" or "That is very interesting, I wonder in what context it was written".
4. The Goal is not to win.
Again, we must avoid falling into the trap of trying to win an argument. Instead we should be focusing on how God would have us respond to someone who he has his heart set on reaching. This requires that we remain prayerful and sensitive to the spirit during the encounter as best we can.
These are just a few guidelines and every encounter is different. The world of apologetics is extremely vibrant and has its own cultural momentum within the Christian community. It is very interesting. One can spend an entire lifetime defending our faith as a matter of daily course. Many do just that and they are good at it. Most of us, though, can become flustered or embarrassed when put on the spot.
Regardless of our proficiency in debate, if we stay focused on loving the other person, we just might positively direct that person's heart toward seeking an eternal relationship with God.
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