The mission of this podcast is to highlight the beauty and diversity of God’s Church – both in Chattanooga and the Church at large.
Is Scripture or philosophy (reasoning) more useful in defending the faith? For both Athanasius and twenty-first century Christians, the answer is, “it depends.” In this episode, the group looks at Athanasius’ use of philosophy in On the Incarnation and discusses why we should use the same approach today. Along the way, they discuss philosophy’s place in Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant doctrine.
Although Athanasius uses Scripture aggressively in the portion of the book addressed to the Jews, On the Incarnation starts out with more philosophical arguments. There is some discussion about whether or not Athanasius is doing this on purpose, but David quotes directly from the text to show how the author is intentionally referencing Greek philosophy to appeal to a non-Christian audience. The group agrees that reasoning from Scripture is useful only if the audience knows and adheres to Scripture, but because our culture is largely “biblically illiterate,” philosophical reasoning is more appropriate and more convincing. The Catholic church in particular has formally embraced the use of philosophy in apologetics.
Listen in to this conversation to hear more about Catholic and Protestant takes on philosophy and how Scripture itself promotes this form of reasoning.
About Adam Whitescarver
Adam is passionate about seeing God’s people possess vibrant prayer lives to help them make a difference in the sphere of influence God has given them. In ministry since 2001, Adam enjoys his family, teaching, singing, and reading a myriad of subjects. He and his wife, Stephanie, live in North GA with their four children.
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