Table Talks: Unanswered Questions

By Phineas G. Tuffle

Christian Apologetics directed at the Millennial generation. Questions taken at meetings where people were encouraged to ask questions about Christianity. The questions were researched and answered one at a time, with no discussion until the end, so that the person who asked the question would know that a serious effort was made to give them the most sincere and complete answer possible. Because not all questions were answered in a meeting, this first book is an attempt to address those unanswered. It is anticipated that more books will be published with questions that were answered in a meeting, and that the books themselves will generate questions as well. It is felt that these books will be suitable for individual or group study.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Phineas G. Tuffle
• Release date: Dec 15, 2015
• ISBN: 9781310615610

Book preview

Table Talks

Unanswered Questions

by

Rev Dr J D Bartlett

Cover Illustration by

Laura McKenzie Atkins

Samshwords Edition

© 2015 by John Bartlett

The author reserves all rights to himself

Table of Contents

Introduction

Are Creation and Evolution Mutually Exclusive?

Were The Crusades Religiously Sanctioned Genocide?

Can A Christian Lose Their Salvation?

What Do The Salem Witch Trials Say About Christians?

What Is Grace?

Are There Dinosaurs In The Bible?

What Is Meant By Separation Of Church And State?

Does God Endorse Hate Groups?

To Those Contemplating Suicide

Introduction

But even if you should suffer for righteousness sake, you are blessed. And do not be afraid of their threats nor be troubled. But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear; having a good conscience that when they defame you as evil doers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed. (1 Peter 3;14-16)

AND YOU SHALL BE WITNESSES. The following is a conclusion based on a great many dialogues with young Americans.

If there is one thing for certain, it is this. The tide has turned against Christianity in much of the world. This is not final. The tide has turned against it many times in its history, even in this country. There are several reasons for it. Here is the one that bothers me the most. It is mostly our fault as Christians.

That needs to be said again. The current turning away from Christianity, especially by Millenials, is mostly our fault. Obviously, I am speaking now to Christians.

DO UNTO OTHERS AS YOU WOULD HAVE THEM DO UNTO YOU. If we want to be heard, we have to first demonstrate a willingness to hear what is being said to us. A great many Millenials have questions about Christianity. They have not been properly addressed by the Church as a whole.

To be fair, some of the questions that they have, they don't ask. Usually, that is from some vague notion that we would not approve of the question itself. That seems to be because of some of the things that have been said by Christians , like Westborough Baptist Church, which the rest of us have let go unchallenged. On the other hand, many church leaders have been strenuously avoiding the really difficult questions that have been asked.

A large part of the American church has been teaching Christianity quite badly. A lot of these people were home schooled by Fundamentalist Christian parents. Many of them know their dogma very well, but not the reasons behind the Dogma of the Church.

Many of the things we do and say sound less realistic and interesting to Millenials than some role playing game. In fact, very often Millenials who call themselves Christians get more stimulation out of playing their favorite game box on Sunday morning than they get out of coming to church.

Lots of Millenials are not interested in religion, just like lots of Baby Boomers were disinterested unbelievers back in the day. My graduating class, too, was once decried as a wicked and godless generation turning away from the truth. In the 1970s, the term Post Christian Society was being mentioned as often as it is today. What we have today is not some great falling away from the faith. At least, not any more than we Boomers were. But we Boomers are proof that the decline of Christianity is not final or inevitable. Remember the Jesus People.

The Church in this country has grown soft and silly. We accuse the government here of waging some kind of war on Christianity, when in fact Christianity in America is suffering from official protection. History shows that Christianity flourishes in environments where the local government is openly hostile to it.

So, we Christians are not suffering because our Gay neighbors can now get married and sometimes call us names. That could be so much worse that it isn't even funny. A few weeks with ISIS or Boko Harum members for neighbors and even the most Conservative among us would be asking for the Gay couple back. There are issues going on that the Church of Jesus Christ needs to speak to, but not as just another voice in the world. So we need to get over ourselves. We are at war. We lose battles when souls go into Eternity without knowing Jesus Christ as Savior.

FAITH WITHOUT WORKS IS DEAD. I learned a long time ago that people can and do say that they believe all kinds of things, and I usually dismiss them. Christianity is not a merit system, and it is not logical in a philosophical way. So neither is it about what can be empirically proven. Hence you can say what you like about what you believe. It's what you do when you are really, really scared that says what you truly believe. Hence some surprising people have no doubt turned out to be atheists in foxhole situations, but, historically, many many more have turned out to be believers, making the statement there are no atheists in foxholes only a slight exaggeration. What people say they believe is for Facebook and dog tags. Christianity is about what you do, which is why baptism is so important. A generation seems to have gone uneducated in that fact here in this country, while the Church has sought to entertain and speak to all the wrong issues. The Gospel has been squeezed out of the pulpit by politics and social issues, and our own particular phobias as well. Meanwhile peoples' questions about their immortal souls have gone unanswered.

WORK OUT YOUR SALVATION WITH FEAR AND TREMBLING.. So, we all have to begin somewhere and this is where I did. The following chapters are answers to a series of questions asked of me by young people I encountered in the work place. These questions usually came as a result of discussions I had with people from just about all walks of life, mostly Millenials. I have never claimed to be a guru or an answer man. I did not tell anyone what to think. During ministry meetings, which were called Table Talks, I took a series of questions relating to the Bible, Christianity or Church History. I did not take questions from sharpshooters. In fact, I took deliberate actions to discourage them. I took sincere questions, researched them, and gave back the most sincere answers I could, one question at a time. Always stressing that the hearers had to find their own answers. Every living person must decide for themselves what they believe about God, and what they are going to do about it. No one can stand before the living God at the end of their days on Earth and blame you, me or anyone but themselves for what they have done or not