La Vega, Tajuna, Spain (photo from trekearth.com)
In my previous article on apologetics, in the comments section, I stated that I had been dealing with someone this past weekend that is likely a member of a pseudo-Christian cult, who found this site via another blog. This person would not deal with a contextual evaluation of Scripture and related theology. I spent two hours plus preparing apologetics related emails in reply to his strongly worded criticisms of my theological views, for which he simply breezed over without seriously dealing with the material I presented. He moved on to quoting his next Biblical texts out of context or without full context, and then attempted to change the topic and attack my theology on another point. I put his email address on the blocked senders list, and his latest email went into the 'Deleted Items' folder. I guess he would not accept it when I stated that since he would not deal with the scholarly, Biblical and theological material presented, it was not worthwhile emailing anymore. I sent him a blocked sender email, just in case Outlook Express did not do it automatically. I had email dialogue with the owner of the other blog I mentioned, and found out that the person that I had blocked had been in this kind of dialogue with Christians previously with the results being the same.
This person that I blocked on Outlook Express, as far as I know has never commented on this blog, but I do allow anonymous comments, so in reality at times, I am not aware of who comments on this blog. Quite often when I am challenged it is through the email address I provide with this blog and not through the comments. One can speculate why this is so, but I suppose some persons prefer the confidentiality of email. As ministry, and in the spirit of open-mindedness, if I have the time, I will work on dialoguing with a person of any philosophy on a blog or related topic if the person is open-minded. However, if one is simply in defend and attack mode, it is a waste of my time. My mind will not be changed without the significant use of reason, and as many of you have probably experienced in your own life, dealing with someone over a prolonged period who is closed-minded concerning a issue, is a waste of time since the person does not adequately deal with material and/or information provided that may contrast his/her viewpoint. I have changed my mind in the past on issues, and with God’s help remain open-minded.
I reason that God predestines those who shall follow Christ as in Ephesians 1:4-12, and that God makes the choice to regenerate a certain individual and moulds a person through the work of the Holy Spirit to freely believe. Following Christ is not a human choice primarily, but I do not believe persons follow Christ through compulsion. Calvin (1543)(1996: 68). God must persuade an individual through the work of the Holy Spirit to understand what true Biblical religion entails. Accepting this theology, I reason that many persons are closed-minded regarding religion, including some Christians, and others are closed-minded while holding non-religious views. Some persons have a devotion to belief systems that would be quite subjective in manner. This type of devotion is opposed to being tested intellectually. I do not have the knowledge to judge any human heart, but some persons seem so closed-minded in their approach to religion and/or philosophy that it can deduced that no amount of reason and evidence will persuade he/she to believe otherwise. For these persons apologetics seems useless. Without the moulding and persuasive work of the Holy Spirit, if a person wants to hold to a certain religious and/or philosophical perspective, in many cases nothing will change the mind, because seemingly a person wants to believe what he/she believes. For some, nothing contrary to a personal belief system can be seriously considered.
The late Walter Martin wrote that the belief systems of cults are characterized by closed-mindedness. Martin (1985: 26). These groups are not interested in rational cognitive evaluation of facts. Martin (1985: 26). He writes that such systems are in isolation, and never shift to logical consistency, and the mind of the cultist is almost impossible to penetrate because of a commitment to the thought pattern of his/her organization. Martin (1985: 26). I agree with Martin’s reasoning, and deduce that the closed-minded approach is not only taken by cultists, but by many persons who hold to religious and non-religious philosophical views that do not want to be intellectually challenged. If a person is really pursuing the truth, there must be enough of an emotional detachment from views held to at least consider perspectives that may be contrary to a personal belief system.
CALVIN, JOHN (1543)(1996) The Bondage and Liberation of the Will, Translated by G.I. Davies, Grand Rapids, Baker Book House.
MARTIN, WALTER (1985) The Kingdom of The Cults, Minneapolis, Bethany House Publishers.
