Blogging apologetics

A few months ago,  Marc Alpine put up an online survey looking for input from religious bloggers.

He has finished his paper for a course out of an evangelical university in California that hosted the Godblogcon. His findings will be useful to ministers, theologicans, professional evangelical organizations and apologists.

I haven’t asked permission to post this, I’m sure Marc will speak up if he objects, I appreciate him passing this on. Marc is 51, and a grad student in Christian apologetics at Biola University.
His paper is titled: God Blogging: A Tool for Cultural Apologetics? and his survey questions were posted at WhyGodBlog?

He used the people that attended the conference, some sites that sign up to a website called Top Christian 1000 ( US evangelical). He found the demographics similar to my findings in 2004, especially in the US evangelical sector, which is the group he focused on in this paper. 
Marc’s interviews are with US evangelical academics, with the exception of Dr. Adrian Warnock out of the UK.

 

Our world is changing every day. New technologies, new products, and new philosophies of life surface with astounding regularity. And, these changes are often either preceded or followed by changes in the culture. My question is this: is the “Christian church,” perhaps loosely defined as self-identified followers of the biblical Jesus Christ, pressing our collective finger on the pulse of our surrounding culture? In the discipline of Christian apologetics, I think the answer might be “no,” or at least, not as often as we ought. As Christian apologists, do we find ourselves regularly answering questions that the culture is no longer asking? Do we continue to employ methods of apologetics that are outdated and do not resonate with our current culture?

As Dr. John Mark Reynolds discussed these issues in Cultural Apologetics, he regularly referred to the practice of God Blogging. At first, I wasn’t sure what he was describing. As he continued, his point became clear to me. If Christian apologists intend to convey the message of Christ with a sense of relevance to our culture, we must embrace the technology of the World Wide Web. The blog, or web log, is a growing way in which our culture communicates with one another. Blogs take many shapes, but this paper will focus only on blogs whose purposes are to communicate ideas of our beliefs to others; in other words, apologetic God Blogs.

It is the premise of this paper that, while God Blogging has incredible potential in the arena of Christian apologetics, God Blogs are not yet, by and large, being used as an effective apologetic tool. I must further qualify this hypothesis. For the purpose of this essay, I am adopting the description of Christian apologetics utilized by the Christian Apologetics Department at Biola University:

“Christian apologetics is an essential interdisciplinary field of study

that has as its goal the defense of the great truths of the Christian faith.

Indeed, the Apostle Peter thought it important enough to exhort all

believers to be prepared always to give a defense (apologian) to

everyone who asks about the hope we have within Christ (1 Peter 3:15).”

Adapting the stated goals of the Christian Apologetics program to the God Blog, then, a God Blog, when being used as an apologetics tool, should: help others to understand the Christian faith; answer perennial arguments offered to discredit the Christian faith; correct misconceptions about historical Christianity; and, confidently make the case that it is reasonable to place one’s faith in Christ. It is not my contention that any blog that does not meet some or all of the above criteria is not useful in expanding knowledge of the Christian faith. However, my goal in this paper is to examine the current context of God Blogging, evaluate its effectiveness as a tool for Christian apologetics, and offer suggestions on how God Blogging can be utilized to fulfill these stated goals of Christian apologetics.

There is not a great deal of primary research available on this subject. For this essay I have employed a few different research methodologies. I conducted personal interviews with five individuals (or organizations) that are influential in the blogosphere. I developed a personal blog (whygodblog.typepad.com) containing 21 questions relating to why people chose to God Blog; this is attached as an Appendix. I contacted in excess of 150 individuals – all persons who either attended or registered for the GodBlogCon held at Biola University last October, and the top 50 Christian bloggers as identified by Top Christian 1000 – with the request to view my blog and answer the questions contained thereon. And, I read Hugh Hewitt’s treatise on blogging – “Blog: Understanding the Information Reformation That’s Changing the World,” as well as numerous articles of God Blogging.

It is widely felt that blogging in general and God Blogging specifically has incredible potential to reach unnumbered people with their message.

“What is really going on is an information reformation similar in

consequence to the Reformation that split Christianity in the

sixteenth century. The key to that Reformation was the wide

dissemination of Scripture among an increasingly literate laity.”

Hewitt continues, “The sixteenth and twenty-first centuries share a dramatic element in common – the birth of a revolution in communication technology. Just as the invention of the printing press revolutionized the availability of information to the masses, the internet has made access to information instantly available to much of the world.

A well-known and respected God Blogger, Joe Carter, the author of evangelicaloutpost.com, went a step further than Hewitt in his assessment of the opportunities of God Blogging. He commented, “It’s like putting 95 blogs out there”

obviously referencing Martin Luther’s posting of the 95 Theses on door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, launching the Protestant Reformation nearly 500 years earlier. I don’t think that either Hewitt or Carter is overstating the potential impact of the blogosphere on our culture. Because of the magnitude of this opportunity, it is important to fully understand the implications and applications of God Blogging.

There are cultural aspects of God Blogging that must be considered. When I first began my research for this essay, I viewed cultural apologetics as a method to reach our younger generations (high school, college, Generation Y) through employing the use of technology. But culture crosses generational lines; the culture of technology affects all generations. Therefore, it is important to utilize every tool available for apologetic purposes. Will God Bloggers become the next generation of great apologists? It depends in large part on how seriously we accept the challenge of apologetic God Blogging. Will apologetic God Blogging replace the more traditional means employed in apologetics? Dr. Tod Bolsinger, Senior Pastor of the San Clemente Presbyterian Church in San Clemente, CA, and the author of the well-read God Blog “It Takes a Church” offers a unique observation. Dr. Bolsinger compared the advent of the microwave oven to the likely future of apologetic God Blogs: “The microwave won’t replace the oven, but everyone will have one.” Blogging is becoming an important thread in the fabric of culture; we must learn to both embrace the craft of blogging and take full advantage of the world-wide stage that lies before us.

What is a God Blog? There are likely many answers to this rather broad question. It is crucial for this paper to distinguish between a God Blog and an apologetic God Blog. While there are literally thousands of God Blogs – blogs whose content is primarily of a religious or spiritual nature – there seem to be far fewer specifically apologetic God blogs. A popular search engine for God Blogs, Blogs4God.com, lists more than 1,200 Christian blogs. Of these, a mere 45 are classified as apologetic God Blogs. For the purpose of this paper I will define an apologetic God Blog as a blog with an intentional theme that includes the components of apologetics as defined the Biola Christian Apologetics Department, described earlier in this paper.

My involvement in the topic of God Blogging began about a year ago. As a class assignment, I was required to actively participate in an on-line discussion of theological significance. This experience drew me to a conclusion: those who participated in these on-line discussions (I wasn’t then familiar with the concept of God Blogging) were more interested in being right than showing kindness, and were more interested in articulating their own opinion then in civilized discourse. Many times, a moderator had to intervene and quash unruly discussions. This experience framed some of my pre-conceptions of bloggers, and served as motivation to more fully research the subject. This experience has influenced my observations and recommendations in how God Blogging can become an intentional force in cultural apologetics.

What does a God Blogger look like? Although the results of my on-line survey may lack in statistical significance – only 14% of the 150+ bloggers contacted responded – the results paint an interesting portrait of God Bloggers. The typical God Blogger, according to my survey, is male, 40 years of age, with all but two holding at least undergraduate degrees. Almost half of this group holds a Masters Degree, with five holding a Ph.D. Only 15% of my sample surveys of God Bloggers are female. This group have been active bloggers for an average of 19 months, and they blog for an average of nine hours per week. In addition to researching and writing their own blogs, they regularly read an average of 19 blogs on a daily basis. About one half of the group identify themselves as being in professional, full time ministry.

Why do bloggers blog? According to Hewitt, “Two reasons: to persuade; and, to leave a record of having been there.” Mark D. Roberts, Ph.D., is the Senior Pastor of the Irvine Presbyterian Church in Irvine, CA; he is also a prolific blogger, authoring the popular MarkDRoberts.com blog. Dr. Roberts became a blogger primarily because his friend, Hugh Hewitt, encouraged him to start blogging because “the blogosphere needs strong Christian voices.” For many God Bloggers, their blog serves as an emotional outlet; a way to express their feelings. But for Dr. Roberts and Dr. Bolsinger, two of an ever expanding cadre of blogging pastors, their blogs were initially another way in which to connect with their congregations. Their respective blogs contain apologetic components, but are not intended to be strictly apologetic God Blogs. Dr. Roberts often uses his blog to “work through issues; to help to synthesize thoughts.” Dr. Roberts views his blog as an adjunct teaching tool. Dr. Bolsinger expands on that approach; he sees his blog as a public forum for his teaching ministry. Dr. Bolsinger describes his blog as “distinct from but reflective of his ministry.” His blog often serves as a “rough draft for his vision for his church; it allows me to take my message ideas to the public.” Dr. Bolsinger continues, “Blogging allows us to be far more effective at communicating Christian truth in depth, and responding to challenges to the faith effectively, broadly, and without delay.” These dedicated men – their well researched, well thought out blogs are regularly completed on a daily basis – and many others like them perform an irreplaceable service to the blogosphere. But, it is my opinion that the blogosphere would greatly benefit if there were many other serious bloggers whose primary purpose in blogging was apologetic in nature; that is to say, blogging with the stated intent of “offering a reason for the hope that is within us.”

There are currently a growing number of overtly apologetic God Blogs, or apologetic-centered on-line discussion sites. One such ministry is Stand To Reason (STR), founded by Greg Koukl for the purpose of “training Christians to think more clearly about their faith and to make an even-handed, incisive, yet gracious defense for classical Christianity and classical Christian values in the public square.” This wide-ranging apologetics ministry began apologetic God Blogging only ten months ago. Melinda Penner is the Director of Operations for the ministry, and is STR’s designated God Blogger. Although others on the staff contribute to the blogging ministry, Penner is the primary author of their daily blogs. According to Penner, she “can’t just blog about anything; our blogs must be in tune with the mission of the ministry.” Much of their daily blogging is of an apologetic nature, providing information and answers for difficult subjects such as “Life’s Big Questions”, and “Answer the Atheist.” Before launching their daily blog, the ministry would often have to wait for time on their weekly radio show to voice an opinion about a particular topic or event. Now, their blog allows them to stay literally up-to-the-minute when weighing in on a relevant issue of the day. The daily interaction of their blog allows STR to remain current and fresh, which is steadily increasing the number of readers and responders to their blog.

Another ministry whose primary purpose is Christian apologetics is Apologetics.com. This is a totally volunteer ministry headed by Harry Edwards. Their mission statement is “Challenging believers to think, and thinkers to believe.” After reading literally hundreds of God Blogs, it has become obvious to me that, to be measurably effective, an apologetic God Blog needs a focused statement of purpose. Both Stand To Reason and Apologetics.com fit this criteria, and both are seeing results in their intended ministry direction. Of the respondents to my survey, only three or four could articulate a targeted purpose for their blogs. In fairness, very few of these bloggers consider their blogs to primarily apologetic in purpose.

Not only does Apologetics.com have a specific mission statement, they have defined the focus of their ministry to be towards spiritual seekers and skeptics. Their ministry is intended to be “a resource for Christians, with the hope of helping seekers and skeptics find the truth.” Another interesting finding in my survey was that the majority of these bloggers had a specific target audience in mind. While this can, and often does, serve well for God Blogging in general, I think that an apologetic God Blog needs to have a specific target audience in mind. The better one knows ones audience, the more likely the blogger will write to achieve the mission of their blog.

As my interview with Edwards drew to a close, I asked a question: Do bloggers bear any responsibility for the contents of their blogs? I think this is a very important subject. Edwards thought about his answer and responded with a quote from an influential source – Spiderman’s uncle. He said: “With great power comes great responsibility.” In many respects a blog is a “forever” addition to the World Wide Web. This is a positive reality in that what we post in our blogs is subject to evaluation, affirmation, criticism, and correction. Melinda Penner made a salient point: “Non-Christians will jump on any mistake [contained in a blog] and blame it on God. Blogging makes one a public person; consequently, we must think carefully [about what we blog].” Mark Roberts commented that he often eagerly anticipates feedback on his blogs. He cited a few instances in which elements of a blog was challenged (usually by another biblical scholar), in a kind and appropriate manner, that resulted in a change to his post. I found Dr. Robert’s response to correction as both refreshing and as a good example to others; better to correct a mistake than to perpetuate it on the Web forever.

Dr. Tim Muelhoff, Associate Professor of Communications Studies at Biola University led a discussion session at a conference held for God Bloggers this past October that was entitled “When Non-Christians Read Your Blog.” In that session, Dr. Muelhoff opined that God Blogging “has the potential to be a train wreck because, done wrong, it can reinforce stereotypes of evangelical Christians as angry and closed-minded ‘pit bulls of the culture wars’.” In a telephone interview, Dr. Muelhoff explained his comment. “God Blogging has no natural filtering process. For example, when publishing a book or an article there is an editor, or filter, involved.” Dr. Muelhoff’s field of expertise is communications. In his opinion, communicators should have some qualification in the topic they are communicating. He warns that when a person is engaged in God Blogging, “he is representing the Christian world view; [so] speak on what you can speak on.” By this, Dr. Muelhoff’s message is that a God Blogger should have an understanding of the topic being discussed. Dr. Muelhoff concluded our interview with an interesting analogy. He described blogging as similar to open mike night in a comedy club; there is no filtering process, and both the blogger and comedian receive immediate feedback from their “performance.” His analogy continued that the owner of the comedy club serves as the filter in the process of communication. If the performer is well received, he will be invited back. The more preparation the performer puts into their communication, the better received they will be. He concluded, “If you want to be a headliner, you must first pay your dues.” I think all apologetic God Bloggers would be well served to heed this wise advice.

A natural follow-on topic from a discussion of the inherent responsibility of apologetic God Blogging could be the necessity for certain unwritten rules of deportment for apologetic God Bloggers. I was turned off God Blogging after my initial experience because of the incivility I discovered in the “Christian” blogosphere. As I stated earlier in this essay, too many times contributors to apologetic discussions lost the spirit of discussion in order to establish a “winner” of the debate. More than a few times a moderator felt the necessity to step in and end a discussion, often resulting in the banning of an unkind contributor. I would like to offer what I found to be very wise advice from Adrian Warnock, the author of the popular “Adrian’s Blog”:

“First of all, we have to remember what the blogosphere is not. It isn’t

a church. It isn’t a doctrinal exam. There is no official censorship. We

cannot stop people from saying what they want.” For these reasons, we

should measure any response, because “respond[ing] to them in any way

that smacks of or even implies to them our hatred of them is not of our

Lord.”

“It is up to us at times to show other people that they are wrong, but we

MUST do so in a gracious and kind way. We must learn to speak the

truth in love as the Bible puts it.”

“Those of us who blog also need to realize that other peoples opinions

are not as important as the opinion of the audience of One before Whom

we will all have to give an account one day for idle word said or blogged.”

“Finally, and most importantly, by all means bang out a quick witted

response, but before you hit SEND, save a draft, go have a cup or glass

of your favorite beverage, talk to your wife if you have one, and

PRAY before sending it.”

Mr. Warnock is on the right track with his sage advice. I think that God Bloggers should be well aware of and adhere to a “code of conduct.” Mark Roberts has also offered excellent insight into the issue of attitude when God Blogging: “Believers on all sides of issues sometimes blast away as if their true battle was not against the powers of darkness, but rather against fellow Christians with whom they disagree about some matter of theology.” Apologetic God Bloggers must lose the “win at all cost” attitude when engaged in discussions over core issues of the Christian faith.

Another result of God Blogging, whether intended or untended, is the establishment of a sense of community within each individual bloggers sphere of influence. “Nearly every blogger links to similar bloggers, who link to other bloggers, who all link back to the first site, until the circle closes and something emerges that does, in fact, look like a community.” There was near unanimous agreement among those participating in my survey that a strong sense of community existed within their personal blogospheres. In fact, a few of the God Bloggers who responded to the survey felt more of a sense of community with their responders/readers than they did with their own church. I was disheartened to discover that one respondent, a pastor, felt more community from his God Blog than he did with his congregation.

Why is this important? It isn’t often that an apologetic effort bears its ultimate fruit immediately. Many effective forms of Christian apologetics have a strong basis in the building of relationships over time, often resulting in the concurrent building of trust. Mark Roberts agrees, and believes that “blogs are all about trust and values.” An apologetic God Blogger must be willing to invest time in the building of these “virtual relationships.” It is then that the apologetic God blogosphere can expect to see some of the fruits of their labor. Tod Bolsinger takes a different approach when discussing the idea of the community within the blogosphere. Dr. Bolsinger sees an inherent danger – the formation, whether by design or by circumstance, of a “virtual church.” Dr. Bolsinger warns us that too much dependence upon community found in the blogosphere “has the opportunity to lead us the opposite way of the Gospel.” We should at least be cognizant of the opportunity and/or danger of the virtual church of the blogosphere replacing the local church in terms of the development of interpersonal relationships and dependencies. But, I continue to believe that the building of intentional relationships in apologetic God Blogs is indeed a necessary ingredient to its measurable success. John Mark Reynolds, Ph.D., Founder and Director of the Torrey Honors Institute at Biola University sums up the problem of relying on virtual community eloquently: “Kneeling, on a kneeler made of oak, in front of a priest with trembling hands handing you the very Body and Blood of Christ which you taste and smell is different than mouse-clicking your way through reality . . . Is [the Internet] real fellowship? No, I don’t think so. I view it more as co-laboring.”

I opened this essay with a brief discussion of the technology available through the World Wide Web that makes the medium of apologetic God Blogging possible. There are also available micro-technologies available allow us to use the Web to greater advantage. Mark Roberts has discovered that his blogging software allows him to include very intentional, specific titles with his blogs. For example, Dr. Roberts entitled one of his blogs “Was Jesus Married?” This seemingly minor effort has resulted in a major increase in response to his blogs. Because of his emphasis on targeted titles, his blogs will often be found in the top ten places of a Google search on that particular subject. Dr. Roberts feels strongly that the titles of his blogs are critical to maintaining his usually high Google ranking. Apologetic God Bloggers should take advantage of this technology by strategically titling their individual posts in an effort to intentionally “invite” those with specific spiritual questions to your site for relevant answers, which is a stated goal of apologetic God Blogging.

This essay has intended to discuss the differences between God Blogging and apologetic God Blogging. I am very much in favor of any kind of well thought out, articulate blogs of a religious and/or theological nature. However, my stated purpose was to illuminate the differences between a “stream-of-consciousness” God Blog and a God Blog with an intentional, targeted, and apologetic purpose. Answering the question contained in the title of this essay, I believe that God Blogging can, and must, be used as a tool in cultural apologetics. But, God Bloggers can be only as effective in their apologetic blogging as their focus allows. I challenge those in the God blogosphere, myself included, to blog with a purpose – to defend the great truths of the Christian faith; to answer perennial arguments offered to discredit the Christian faith; to correct misconceptions about historical Christianity; to build an intellectual framework useful for responding to future challenges; and, to confidently make the case that it is reasonable to place one’s faith in Christ. And above all, we must speak the truth in love.

themcs at sbcglobal dot net

Update:  I’d be interested in hearing what people at Resonate, Signposts and connexions have to say.
I’m curious about what none academic bloggers think, as well as long time internet watchers Tim Bednar, Andrew Careaga, DJ. Chuang, Jordon Cooper, Andrew Jones and Robert Duncan.

And I’d really be interested in hearing what female bloggers have to say about Marc’s observations as well as mainstream protestants and Catholic bloggers.:^)