Un-Apologetics
Therefore, since we are the descendants of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by human skill and thought. Acts 17:29 NASB
Formed by human skill and thought – What is apologetics? Answer: apologetics (from Greek ἀπολογία, “speaking in defense”) is the religious discipline of defending religious doctrines through systematic argumentation and discourse. Expositors often point to this passage in Acts as an example. Paul is defending the faith. We should follow suit, right? Accordingly, we think Paul is arguing against the Greek idols, those representations of deities in wood and stone. Everyone knows how foolish it is to believe that gods could be constructed by human hands, so we think we can easily overcome this stupidity, just like Paul.
But what if this isn’t what Paul is doing? Consider the words of Soloveitchik:
“The religious sensibility does not offer decisive proofs, draw inferences, or make deductions. It ‘senses’ and experiences God in its innermost ontological consciousness.”[1]
Let’s apply these words to Paul’s procedure. First, notice that Paul isn’t defending doctrines. He’s attempting to make a connection between what the Greeks commonly understood and what he wants to explain. Then notice that he starts with “we are all descendants of God.” He’s not appealing to some arguable position. He’s beginning with a commonly held position. Men did not create themselves. There’s a god behind it all. And on that basis, Paul appeals to common experience, not rational proofs. Soloveitchik elaborates:
“If the experience of God in man’s confrontation with reality is expressed not by demonstrations based on the complexities of the act of abstraction, but rather by a feeling of the sudden revelation of a direct, unmediated fact within our consciousness of being, then perception of the world itself becomes perception of God, and all the demonstrations resurface in a new form. A demonstration now means the experience of the creature yearning for the Creator. There are hints in the world that turn man’s mind toward Heaven.”[2]
“Hints.” Yes, that’s right. Intimations, feelings, clues—not deductive arguments, empirical proofs, logical conclusions. Perhaps that’s why the Bible never bothers with attempts to prove God’s existence. In the biblical world, anyone who thought differently was certainly insane. What matters in an approach to God is not logically compelling syllogisms. It’s questions!
“Man meets God through questions about the nature of reality, not through abstract logical proofs.”[3]
In fact, if we really want to apply Paul’s approach to our modern world, we might suggest that “formed by human skill and thought” is idolatry even if it is in “apologetic” form. Aren’t our attempts to make God fit our rationality precisely that—formed by human skill and thought?
If you really want to defend your faith, perhaps you should concentrate on how you feel.
Topical Index: apologetics, human skill and thought, Acts 17:29
[1] Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, And From There You Shall Seek, trans. Naomi Goldblum (Ktav Publishing House, 2008), p. 13.
[2] Ibid., p. 14.
[3] Ibid., p. 16.
