Observations From Hadleyville: A REASON FOR THE FAITH WITHIN

Sunday, November 13, 2011

A REASON FOR THE FAITH WITHIN

"Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect," 1 Peter 3:15

When sharing your faith, the person listening to you does not have to agree with you or even receive your message. You are not validated by their response. You are simply sharing what you know. Frustration or anger at rejection is an indication that you might not be so sure about your faith yourself. Be clear about what you believe and why.

What IS mandatory is to make your position clear, logical and internally consistent. I might be wrong but at the very least I try to be consistent. This means you don't bother trying to build a detailed, academic argument if you are not academically trained. Be a witness. Tell what you know, not what some clever person told you.

Don't claim to be an authority, you are setting yourself up for a fall. Even if you ARE an authority it is a mistake. Show some humility. You are sharing your faith with another. It is not necessary to build an airtight legal case. In the "Scopes Monkey Trial" of 1925, William Jennings-Bryan claimed to be a Biblical authority. He was not, and lawyer Clarence Darrow made a monkey out of him over national radio.

Be honest about who you are, what you know and what you don't know. Hypocrisy is the unpardonable sin as far as unbelievers are concerned.

“Marx is to communism what Christianity was to the Rulers of the Holy Roman Empire; convenient as a banner, irrelevant as a guide.”
Richard M. Nixon--The Real War

2 comments:

blunoz said...: Excellent post. Thanks for this.; November 13, 2011 at 2:49 PM
Don the Baptist said...: Thanks, Bro.; November 13, 2011 at 3:51 PM

Post a Comment

QUASI-LEGAL DISCLAIMER

Don the Baptist considers himself to be both intellectually deep and extremely humorous. Don the Baptist assumes no responsibility for blog browsers who cannot tell the difference between the two. Blog browsers are advised to consider any "Observations from Hadleyville" content that makes no sense to be the result of a lack of intellect or sense of humor on the part of the blog browser and not that of the blogger. Don the Baptist is a non profit guy so don't bother suing Don the Baptist as it would be a waste of time and resources.

WORDS OF WISDOM FOR WRITERS

The secret of becoming a writer is that you have to write. You have to write a lot. You also have to finish what you write, even though no one wants it yet. If you don't learn to finish your work, no one will ever want to see it. The biggest mistake new writers make is carrying around copies of unfinished work to inflict on their friends.

I am sure it has been done with less, but you should be prepared to write and throw away a million words of finished material. By finished, I mean completed, done, ready to submit, and written as well as you know how at the time you wrote it.
-Jerry Pournelle

WHAT'S THIS HADLEYVILLE THING?

Those of you familiar with Mark Twain’s works might recognize my blog title. As Samuel Clemons grew older, he became increasingly disillusioned with humanity. Towards the end he began referring to the Damned Human Race; employing the secular and religious epithet at one stroke.

I find I’ve not reached that level of despair myself. I still believe in redemption and I still see signs of nobility even among we fallen, damned creatures. So, I could not bring myself to call this blog “On the Damned Human Race.” I do however, resonate with another of Clemmons stories; “The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg.” And viola, there you have it. “Observations From Hadleyville.”