One overwhelming impression of these engagements is the way in which the intellectual defense of Christian faith attracts men. Both at Texas A&M and again at Miami every single student who got up to ask a question was a guy! I wondered if the girls are just shy. But then I remembered a lengthy clip Jan and I watched of cast members of Downton Abbey doing a Q&A with an audience in New York. Almost every person who came to the microphone at that event was a woman! It wasn’t until late into the evening that a man finally asked a question, which was remarked by all the cast members. Why the difference between that session and the ones I experienced?—simply because the Downton Abbey program is highly relational, which is more appealing to women, whereas my talks were principally intellectually oriented, which is more appealing to men.
Churches have difficulty attracting men, and the church is becoming increasingly feminized. I believe that apologetics is a key to attracting large numbers of men (as well as women) to church and to Christ.
Saturday, April 13, 2013
The Bad Fruit Of Neglecting Apologetics And Other Intellectual Matters
I agree with William Lane Craig's comments in his April 2013 newsletter (I'm quoting the email edition I received):
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I agree with Craig, but he is going to be attacked for sexism now.
ReplyDeleteHe should have worded that better.
His remarks on genocide, or at least the way he said it, have caused enough trouble.
I agree that Craig will be attacked for sexism, and that's actually part of the problem he is identifying. Personally, I think it's genuine sexism when someone claims that there is no difference between men and women. In other words, a man treating a woman as if she's just a man with a different anatomy--THAT is sexism.
DeleteBTW, this is also part of why homosexual adoption could never be as good for the child as heterosexual adoption, regardless of the morality of homosexuality. Two men or two women are not the same as a man and a woman because men and women are not interchangeable. Children need *both*.
It would actually be a good idea for WLC to employ a PR agent to review some of his most controversial statements. Philosophers are not known for their diplomatic talents.
DeleteHow should have worded it?
ReplyDeleteReference to the Genocide comment?
Any stigma will do to beat a dogma. A simple observation of fact might be attacked as "sexism" but that does not alter the fact. If apologetics will bring more men into the church then we should practice apologetics. It is well documented that men are the leaders in their families, despite the best efforts of the secular levellers to alter the situation, and more men in church means more women and children in church. We can worry about what the world says when it attacks us (as it always will) or we can worry about fulfilling the biblical mandate... take your pick.
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