As soon as you mention that you are interested in apologetics, someone will say “You can’t argue someone into the kingdom.” I heard someone say that tonight. Now in that case, what was meant was that someone who is determined not to believe will likely not be moved by arguments, which I agree with. But others mean that arguments for the truth of Christianity cannot not bring someone to faith.
Really? How do they know? Have they interviewed every single Christian and discovered that not one came to faith through apologetic arguments? It is so easy to make assertions without any evidence to back it up. Christians get annoyed when atheists make unfounded assertions, we should be careful not to do the same.
What some people may mean by this is that it is not arguments that bring a person to salvation, it is the Holy Spirit. Of course that is true. But that would also mean that you cannot preach a person into the kingdom or you cannot evangelize a person into the kingdom but most people do not say that. Apologists understand that their arguments are only part of the picture and that it is ultimately the Holy Spirit who brings the person to Christ.
So the next time someone says, “You can’t argue someone into heaven,” challenge them on what they mean by that.
- Apologetics
- You can't argue someone into the kingdom
