This article was first published in the December 2006 ABR Electronic Newsletter.
Throughout the history of the Church, Christian apologists have worked diligently to respond to heresies within the Church and attacks from outside the Church. Creeds based on the teachings of Scripture, such as the Westminster Confession of Faith, were developed in response to false teaching about the person of Christ and other serious doctrinal errors that were infiltrating the Church. Apologists down through the centuries such as Thomas Aquinas, C.S. Lewis and Cornelius van Til developed arguments and systems to respond to the issues of their day.
Since the mid-1800's, the Bible has been under unmitigated assault regarding its historical reliability. The anti-God philosophies of Marx, Freud, Darwin and Wellhausen planted the seeds of destruction in Western Europe, which came to fuller fruition after World War II. Christianity is withering on the vine in Western Europe today.
In the United States the effect has been slower, but devastating nonetheless. America is much more secular than it ever was, and the once great institutions of education and government have lost many of their Biblical underpinnings espoused by the Founders. We see the results in the culture of death, pornography, moral ambiguity, and general disrespect toward authority.
Recently, Scott Lanser and I attended a church network meeting where three parachurch ministries shared the tremendous stories about the impact they are having in the community. One ministry specializes in dealing with crisis pregnancies, preventing abortions and counseling women who are dealing with an abortion in their past. Their ministry is making a profound impact. Compared to this, doing work in Biblical archaeology doesn't seem to be that important. Or, does it?
That ministry believes that God created human life, beginning at conception, and it should not be ended by abortion. But why? Based on what? One man's or woman's opinion? NO! Their belief is based on what is clearly and plainly taught in the Bible (Psalm 139, Psalm 51, Luke 2, Job 10, Genesis 1:26-27, Mark 10:6)! God has spoken in Scripture, and when God speaks, His words carry an absolute and perfect authority. Everything God says is true, and His words are final.
The whole basis for Christian ministry—whether it is a ministry to the homeless, or a crisis pregnancy center, or running a church, or feeding the hungry—is ultimately rooted in what God has stated, declared or commanded in Scripture. When skeptics and liberal theologians impugn the Word of God, they are undermining every Christian ministry that exists!
We dig up artifacts, publish Bible and Spade, post articles to our website, and present evidence from archaeology to the public. Do we feed the homeless, counsel the single mom, prevent abortions, evangelize the lost, and disciple new Christians? Not exactly…but we defend the very basis for those Christian vocations: the absolute, inerrant and infallible word of the Lord.
This makes the ministry of ABR absolutely necessary in this post-modern age of skepticism, secularism and liberal theology. When ABR conducts research in the field of Biblical archaeology and defends God's Word, we are providing a line of defense for every Christian ministry that accepts the absolute authority of Scripture.
This past year [2006], we have worked diligently to press forward in our mission: demonstrating the historical reliability of the Bible through archaeological research and related apologetic investigation. We sincerely hope that you, the reader, see the important and vital role ABR plays in the body of Christ. We ask for your financial support as you are able to give, and most importantly, your prayers.
Enjoy this holiday season as you celebrate the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.
Recommended Resources for Further Study
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