MBA 17: Discussing the Mama Bear Tagline – Isn’t “Demolishing Arguments” a Bit Harsh?

At Mama Bear Apologetics, our motto is “Mess with our kids, and we will demolish your arguments.” For those who have seen the carnage wrought by the battle of ideas, this tagline makes immediate sense. For others, the question becomes “Is that a Christian attitude? Isn’t demolishing things too aggressive for Christians?” The short answer to […]

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At Mama Bear Apologetics, our motto is “Mess with our kids, and we will demolish your arguments.” For those who have seen the carnage wrought by the battle of ideas, this tagline makes immediate sense. For others, the question becomes “Is that a Christian attitude? Isn’t demolishing things too aggressive for Christians?”

The short answer to this is, “No, it is not.” In fact, it is a Biblical mandate from 2 Corinthians 10:5! This passage (starting in verse 4) says, “The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”

We are never called to demolish people, but we are called to demolish arguments. Colossians 2:8 warns us not be “held captive through hollow and deceptive philosophies, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.” 2 Corinthians 10:5 calls us to take these thoughts captives to Christ. As much as people like to think they are “free thinkers,” it is really a matter of who or what we are captive to.

So how do we help free people who are held captive by bad ideas? That is an excellent question! Join Rebekah and me as we dig deep, and discuss what it means to demolish arguments while still loving the people who are held hostage by them.

We are called to demolish ideas, not people. #apologetics
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Dan Wallace – major contributor to NET Bible, and director of the Center for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts (csntm.org)
John Marriott – researcher who did his dissertation studying people who deconverted from Christianity. Here is his website and here is his dissertation on deconversion.
Completely heretical book called “The Secret.” STAY AWAY, unless you are reading it for research purposes. Just make sure to put your “heretical garbage” stamp in it first!
S. Lewis’ Apologist Evening Prayer’
Natasha Crain and her blog christianmomthoughts.com and her blog on teaching your children to ask questions
If your kid is coming to you with questions, and you need to know how important they are, I recommend going back to the podcast on “Core Truths vs. Peripheral Truths of Christianity, and the Importance of Knowing the Difference.”

Quotable quotes:

“The true soldier fights, not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.” – G. K. Chesteron
“There’s a false seed, a false kernel of Christianity that can hold people captive just as badly as any form of atheism out there.” Hillary Morgan Ferrer
“Theology is like a map. Merely learning and thinking about the Christian doctrine, if you stop there, is less real and less exciting… Doctrines are not God. They are only a kind of map. But that map is based on hundreds of experiences by people who really were in touch with God. Experiences compared, with which any thrills or pious feelings you and I are likely to get on our own are very elementary and very confused. And secondly, if you want to get any further, you must use the map. You see, what happened to the man in the desert may have been real, and was certainly exciting. But nothing comes of it. It leads nowhere. There is nothing to do about it. In fact, that is why a vague religion, all about feeling God and nature and so on is so attractive. It is all thrills and no work, like watching the waves from the beach. You will not get to Newfoundland by studying the Atlantic that way. You will not get eternal life by simply feeling the presence of God in flowers or music. Neither will you get anywhere by looking at maps without going to sea. Nor will you be very safe if you go to sea without a map.” CS Lewis in Mere Christianity on the value of Theology
“Apologetics is not just an intellectual issue; it is a relational issue for protecting the ones you love” – Rebekah Valerius

Hillary Morgan Ferrer

Hillary Morgan Ferrer is the founder of Mama Bear Apologetics. She is the chief author and editor of Mama Bear Apologetics: Empowering Your Kids to Challenge Cultural Lies and Mama Bear Apologetics Guide to Sexuality: Empowering Your Kids to Understand and Live Out God’s Design. Hillary has her masters in Biology and has been married to her husband, Dr. John D. Ferrer, for 15 years. Don’t let her cook for you. She’ll burn your house straight to the ground.

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