"The 'new atheists' have had their day, says Ravi Zacharias.
Speaking to Christian Today, the author and speaker who chairs the Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics (OCCA) said that "the tide is turning" for Christians."
Prominent atheists such as Richard Dawkins and Daniel Dennett have "overplayed their hand", he said.
He accused comedians who mocked the Judeo-Christian worldview of "intellectual cowardice", saying: "They would never mock Islam, for obvious reasons,..."
Atheist campaigners "have had their day", he said, adding: "It's ironic that people have minted millions on arguing for God's non-existence. They have a religious and evangelical fervour of their own, but their time has peaked."
He said that four or five years ago there would be many disciples of Richard Dawkins in OCCA audiences. "Now, though, they want to raise personal questions of meaning," he said. "You see them here and there, but there is nowhere near the volume that there was."
Zacharias spoke of the need for apologetics – the intellectual defence of Christian truth – in removing obstacles to faith. "Apologetics is at once the most needed discipline, and the most easily abused," he said. "If it is a process of destroying your opponent, it is not biblical apologetics – it's just another power grab."
"It is about clarifying the truth and pointing to the relationship of a saved walk with God."
He said that the question of suffering, was one of the most frequently raised by questioners.
Zacharias said realising that such a question needed answering was itself a pointer to faith. "Is it a legitimate question if there is no moral first cause? What becomes of moral reasoning? In that case there is no such thing as good or evil." ChristianToday
Speaking to Christian Today, the author and speaker who chairs the Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics (OCCA) said that "the tide is turning" for Christians."
Prominent atheists such as Richard Dawkins and Daniel Dennett have "overplayed their hand", he said.
He accused comedians who mocked the Judeo-Christian worldview of "intellectual cowardice", saying: "They would never mock Islam, for obvious reasons,..."
He said that four or five years ago there would be many disciples of Richard Dawkins in OCCA audiences. "Now, though, they want to raise personal questions of meaning," he said. "You see them here and there, but there is nowhere near the volume that there was."
Zacharias spoke of the need for apologetics – the intellectual defence of Christian truth – in removing obstacles to faith. "Apologetics is at once the most needed discipline, and the most easily abused," he said. "If it is a process of destroying your opponent, it is not biblical apologetics – it's just another power grab."
"It is about clarifying the truth and pointing to the relationship of a saved walk with God."
He said that the question of suffering, was one of the most frequently raised by questioners.
Zacharias said realising that such a question needed answering was itself a pointer to faith. "Is it a legitimate question if there is no moral first cause? What becomes of moral reasoning? In that case there is no such thing as good or evil." ChristianToday
.....knowing that I am set for the defence of the gospel.
Philippians 1:17
