#56: The Apologetics of Jesus: His Use of Arguments for God

Hello thinker,

Six months ago, we embarked on an examination of the apologetics of Jesus. In March I asked, “Did Jesus endorse and practice apologetics?” As we’ve seen, Christ reasoned with his disciples, the Pharisees, and others and provided evidence as to who he was. In our primary reference [1] Geisler and Zukeran state, “Jesus was continually confronted with the need to defend his claims to be the Messiah, the Son of God. So, by definition, he was an apologist.” In fact, Jesus’ entire life on earth was an apologetic – his very existence was evidence of God.

This is my last note on the topic. We will briefly examine one more chapter in our book: Jesus’s Apologetic Use of Arguments for God. As you know, Jesus lived and taught in a Jewish culture, one that already believed in the God of Scripture; he did not have to argue for a monotheistic God. But what if Jesus had chosen to be incarnated today rather than 2000 years ago? 

How would Christ address contemporary objections to the biblical worldview including the very existence of God? How might he respond to non-believers who claim that God does not exist, that there is either nothing but a material reality (i.e., atheists) or an ultimate reality consisting of an impersonal force (e.g., pantheists)? We know how Paul addressed such skeptics when he spoke to the Epicureans and Stoics on Mars Hill (Acts 17:16-34), but how might Jesus engage such nonbelievers? Geisler and Zukeran offer some insights based on four traditional apologetic arguments.

First, “Jesus upholds the basic elements of a First Cause [or Cosmological] argument.” One form of the argument says that (1) everything that begins to exist has a cause; (2) the universe began to exist; therefore (3) the universe has a cause. [2] Jesus often cites Genesis and the beginning of Creation. For example, he refers to God as the First Cause when he says, “For in those days there will be such tribulation as has not been seen from the beginning of the creation that God created until now . . .” (Mark 13:19). He mentions “the beginning” (when God created male and female) in Matt 19:4-8, and also cites “the foundation of the world” in Luke 11:50.

Second, “Jesus uses the design in creation [the Design or Teleological argument] as evidence for a divine designer.” In Matt 6:25-30 he discusses why we should not be anxious about life. He employs a teleological argument to do this by referring to the order in creation; e.g., the birds of the air that our Father feeds and the lilies of the field that grow. In other words, Christ “highlights God’s care for his creation, which is displayed in his designed order for feeding the animals and his artistic care in the coloring of the lilies.”

Third, “Jesus believes the moral law of God is binding not only on believers but also on unbelievers.” We see Jesus summarize Moses’ law in Matt 22:37, 39: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind . . . and . . . You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” He also refers to our moral duty in the Golden Rule (Matt 7:12). Christ says these laws and duties apply to nonbelievers, too: “If you then, who are evil [nonbelievers], know how to give good gifts to your children . . .” (Matt 7:11) reveals that Jesus knows even nonbelievers recognize what is right and wrong. The Moral Argument states that for there to be “goodness” and righteousness as well as objective moral values and duties there must be a moral lawgiver. Jesus tells us that this lawgiver is God.

Finally, Jesus employs an Existential argument. One form of this argument is as follows: (1) We have existential needs (e.g., the need for meaning, justice, to be loved, to be forgiven); (2) God satisfies these needs; therefore (3) God exists. When Christ tells us that “man does not live on bread alone” (Matt 4:4), he is saying that life without God and eternal life is meaningless. In Luke 12:15 he states that “one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” That is, there is more to life than material goods and we will find eternal meaning and satisfaction only in him (Jesus). In a well-known verse, Jesus says, “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?” (Matt 16:26). In the Parable of the Rich Fool (Luke 12:16-21) Jesus warns against defining one’s life in terms of material possessions. When the rich fool faces God and eternity, he will not have his earthly goods to comfort or save him.

Geisler and Zukeran summarize the arguments for the existence of God, and Jesus’ likely response to modern-day atheists and other skeptics as follows:

[We] believe Jesus would press the atheist [and other skeptics] to realize the ultimate end of his or her worldview. If there is no God, then our existence is ultimately without meaning, significance, or hope. The dilemma facing humankind is that we cannot live in a world in which our existence is meaningless, which makes it impossible for atheists to consistently live out the implications of their worldview.

There is no doubt that Jesus would be the greatest apologist today just as he was 2000 years ago. His apologetic discourses, parables, and actions would (and, in fact, still do!) speak to the hearts and minds of skeptics of any age.

In Christ,

Doug 

[1] Most of this short essay is drawn from chapter 8 (pp. 115-127) of the book, The Apologetics of Jesus by Norman L. Geisler and Patrick Zukeran. All uncited quotes are from this chapter.

[2] This is the Kalam Cosmological Argument.