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13. Worldviews in collision
When we are engaged in apologetics with unbelievers, we are not merely discussing a few propositions. We are not only talking about whether Jesus rose from the dead, or if the Bible is the word of God, or any other Christian doctrine in isolation. We are talking about an entire worldview. We are talking about which ultimate authority makes sense of reality, and makes human knowledge possible. This is the case with any unbeliever, whether they are atheist, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, or adopting any other worldview.
If we naively think that we only have to prove a few things, then we are in for a big surprise. Suppose you are talking with a naturalistic atheist about the resurrection of Christ. You would think that if you prove it, your job is done. So you go about proving it from history, logically, and then refute all the other competing theories (like the mistaken tomb theory, the stolen body theory, the swoon theory, the twin theory and so on). You make your case and prove the point. Now you would expect your opponent to agree with you and that there is nothing left now, except for you to pray with him. But it is not that easy. Remember: your opponent is “a naturalistic atheist“. So his presuppositions are: everything that exists is natural (material). Nothing immaterial exists (nothing abstract or spiritual). There is a natural explanation for everything. All events in the universe are caused by purely physical means, and so on. Your opponent therefore could come up with two answers for your proofs, both of which work in his framework:
You see? The unbelievers don’t have to give in to proof. Given their presuppositions, they could even agree with you and re-interpret the evidence on the basis of their worldview.
The same thing could happen to you with Muslims. You prove to them that the Bible is true and inerrant and that therefore they should trust it. But they would still come back to you, saying: I agree, but the Quran that came later abrogated the Bible. And therefore it is irrelevant to me as a Muslim. (We will look at this type of argument in more detail later.)