Tracylight said: And now on to a tangent on apologetics and "proof vs evidence": The two main branches as I understand it are evidentialism and Presuppositionalism. I believe they can both be excellent tools for sharing the gospel, but that they should still be used as minor tools alongside the Great tool of Gods word and His Law.
The Jews require a sign…evidence …Greeks seek after wisdom… the presuppositional method- Interesting.
1 Peter 3:15 "But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and [be] ready always to [give] an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:"
Paul tells us that the "evidences" are self-evident to every man both in the things which can be seen and by the manifestation of that truth by God Himself within them. What a Christian must do to make an "apologetic" (defense) of the truth is to show the fallacy of the unbeliever's rejection of the truth he already knows, rejected and that which he has substituted in its place (a lie). THIS is what "Presuppositional Apologetics" is all about. May I recommend to you a couple of excellent books on this subject:
1) Aways Ready: Directions for Defending the Faith, by Greg Bahnsen; see brief review here.
2) Apologetics to the Glory of God, by John Frame.
As a side note, Pilgrim, over this summer I've been reading van Til's Apologetic by Bahnsen. I think I could use the words "life changing" with little exaggeration.
Hi there, I am also South African. Recently I came across the Living waters website, etc. One thing is for sure, these guys are working hard. It is an encouragement to see people doing all that they possibly can to obey the call. Maybe some do not fully agree with their views/doctrine/theology, but perhaps they are sincerely obeying the light they have received. Open-air preaching is something I am really starting to consider. I am before the Lord about it. The world needs the gospel as never before. I know when the Salvation Army was still on fire they did lots of Open-air preaching. If I'm not mistaken there is a scripture that says that we should go out in the streets to call the lost. Our Master Himself did Open-air on the sermon on the mount, "the sermon" of all times. Please mail (Private Message) me on this issue: xxxxxxxxx perhaps we can be an encouragement for each other.
In Christ, Joseph
EDIT: Removed e-mail address so as to not feed the spammers!