Forums on faith

Michele Marr

Since the earliest of New Testament times, Christians have been

called on to defend their faith and to consider what it means in

terms of how they should live.

Peter taught early Christians to “be ready at all times to answer

anyone who asks you to explain the hope you have in you, but do it

with gentleness and respect.”

James instructed those in the church to take care of widows and

orphans who were otherwise often left without a source for food or

shelter.

It is in that tradition that Calvary Baptist Church and

Evangelical Free Church of Huntington Beach are presenting seven

weeks of lectures and discussions called “Give Me An Answer Summer

Series 2003.”

The series, which is designed to help Christians become educated,

articulate and gracious when explaining and defending their faith and

worldview, also offers non-Christians a forum where they can, if they

want to, ask questions and get thoughtful, well-reasoned answers.

“The information presented at these lectures was like a light bulb

for me,” said Tina Thompson, a member of Evangelical Free Church,

who, with James Lucas of Calvary Baptist Church, organized the

lecture series.

“Philosophical, historical and scientific evidences that make the

case for the claims of Christianity will be addressed during the

series,” she said. “The way the material is presented, graciously and

logically, is usually surprising and challenging to non-Christians.

[It] gives them plenty to think about.”

A few years ago, Lucas started going to church because of a sports

league he wanted to be a part of, but he wound up accepting the faith

and marrying the daughter of a pastor. So he’s seen the faith and its

worldview from both sides of the fence.

“As an engineer I’m drawn to strong, logical arguments,” he said.

“‘Give Me An Answer’ brings in speakers who know the issues.”

Seven scholars, theologians and apologists are scheduled to speak

on topics and issues that include the reliability of the Bible; the

deity and humanity of Jesus Christ; the nature of faith, evidence and

miracles; the evidence for the physical resurrection of Jesus; and

contemporary issues of bio-ethics.

Scott Rae, professor of biblical studies and ethics at the Talbot

School of Theology in La Mirada, will present a lecture titled,

“Bio-ethics: Where are the Moral Lines.”

Rae is the author of six books on ethics, the most recent, “Body

and Soul: Human Nature and the Crisis in Ethics.” He holds a PhD. in

social ethics from the University of Southern California.

“Without belief in God and the notion of the image of God, there

is no ultimate basis for believing that human beings are of worth or

significance,” he said.

He points to the respect for human dignity as the common moral

thread that runs through many of our culture’s thorniest social

issues, such as genetic technologies, stem cell research, human

cloning and assisted suicide.

“I want this [lecture] to be a wake-up call to people to pay

attention to these issues and to think hard about them,” Rae said.

“Some are black and white but some are very gray.”

Regarding how our culture thinks about and values human fetuses

and embryos, he has found the recent coverage of the murder of the

pregnant Laci Peterson interesting.

“There are a host of states that have fetal homicide statutes and

California is one of them,” Rae said. “[Scott Peterson, Laci’s

husband] has been charged with double murder.”

“With ultrasound and all the technology we have to look into the

womb, it’s getting harder and harder to deny that [the fetus] is a

person,” he said.

Steve Wagner agrees. He is a summa cum laude graduate of the

University of Southern California, a student of author and ethicist,

Scott Klusendorf, and a lecturer for Stand to Reason, an organization

devoted to teaching Christian apologetics.

He will present a lecture during the series titled, “Who’s Waiting

for You?”

He will contend against three main ideas: there is no truth about

religion or morals; Jesus did not rise from the dead, he is not the

Son of God and is not the only way to salvation; and human beings are

only valuable if thy have certain abilities.

“No quality, not rationality or self-awareness or pain sensation

or size or level of development or independence, can justify equal

treatment. Only our human nature, which we all have equally, can

ground our idea of human rights,” he said.

* MICHELE MARR is a freelance writer from Huntington Beach. She

can be reached at michele@soulfoodfiles.com.