The Principal Advantage of Socially Networking among Apologists

I have to thank Greg West of the Poached Egg blogsite (www.thepoachedegg.net). for admitting me into the Apologetics Bloggers Alliance on Facebook.https://www.facebook.com/groups/ApologeticsBloggers/


Being able to access more information that's already been validated is a really good thing - not having to cross check everything all the time, considering that the pages that are being referred to are being written by scholars.


Just like other informal groupings of apologists, theologians and Christian scholars, the group is also a mixture of people with varying theological orientations and preferences, and well considered opinions that they can very well defend.  But that doesn't matter so much as the fact that they all are unanimous on taking their faith seriously enough to want to learn more about it and talk sensibly about it to anyone who'd care enough to listen.


The sad thing is, the majority of those who say that they follow the Lord Jesus think that they know enough about the faith that they profess that they feel that investigating these matters thoroughly is the equivalent of theological nitpicking.  And they predictibly lapse into the usual contention to suggest that "Why don't you just be practical and teach things like improving your marriage, learning to live responsibly and helping the less privileged so we can have a better world? Go out and serve!"


The fact is there is no shortage of these well meaning people, but the only thing is that they completely miss the point as their immediate objective, it seems, is to repair the world that we live in, as if it was the domain that we are going to inhabit for all eternity.


When we inevitably get diverted to the matter of discussing what the Lord Jesus first proclaimed about the "Kingdom of the Heavens" that had "come near", we finally get the glimpse of the true message that God's Kingdom seeks to "retake territory" and that we should inform everyone else that this is so. And that the Lord Jesus is now the ruler of this invisible territory that must be asserted over the fallen domain that's long been "grabbed" by the evil deceiver.


It is facets of this message that becomes available when you get the glimpses of insight when reading the work of these individuals that have thought these things through and made them available for everyone to consider for integration into their worldview.


And that, by itself is a good thing.


We no longer have to content ourselves with the popularized "Christian" message writers that continue to be sold in bookstores and now become aware of the more credible material that's available and have become resources to draw on by most of these gifted writers.


What it also does is make your reading wish list grow even longer.  


I am privileged to have been included among these rigorous thinkers and prolific writers and my only regret is that we live too far away, to be able to meet up for coffee and a long chat to discuss and compare views.  The consolation is that we are able to do so in snippets when we are able to post our views on matters that we consider worthwhile to "like" or present another viewpoint that would not have been raised altogether.


My thanks to Greg West for putting that Facebook group together. And for according me the privilege of being counted among you great thinkers.