Chapter 2 of Defending Your Faith continues along the lines of the purpose of apologetics, specifically laying out its role in leading people to salvation.
As stated in the previous post, apologetics by itself has no ability to save people. However, as Dr. Sproul lays out in this chapter, it does have a role in leading people down the road to salvation.
What's the difference, you ask? As Sproul states:
The thinkers of the sixteenth century distinguished among several actual nuances or levels or elements of faith that together comprise saving faith. The three main levels of faith, they said, were notitia (sometimes called the notei), assensus, and fiducia.
This idea of different levels of faith could also be illustrated by the people in the parable of the sower. A man sows seed (the Word of God). That seed falls on four places: the path, where birds snatch it up; rocky soil, where a plant with a shallow root instantly sprouts but is scorched; among thorns, which choke the plant that tries to grow; and in good soil, where it produces much fruit.
Notitia
Notitia basically means a knowledge of something. This knowledge, while it can lead to saving faith, doesn't always do so. This could be the guy who studies Christianity out of an academic interest, but doesn't really believe any of what he's researching to be true. Maybe there's a god of some kind, this man might say, but certainly not this God.
This man can be represented by the path. The path is a person with a hard heart that Satan snatches the Word out of before it can grow.
Assensus
Assensus is an assent to the truth. This person believes the Word he has heard to be true, but doesn't necessarily respond with saving faith and trust. You can't have this level of faith without the first one, but you can have it without the third one.
In the parable, this could be represented by either the shallow or the thorny soil. The shallow soil is someone who hears the Word and seems to accept it with joy, but falls away from the faith after some kind of trial. The thorny soil is someone who hears and seems to accept, but is caught up in worldly things and ultimately proves unsaved.
I knew a guy who told me he believed in the Christian God and Satan, but wasn't a follower of either. He would fall into this category as well.
Fiducia
Lastly, we have fiducia. Fiducia is personal trust and reliance. It's the response of loving God after hearing the Word (notitia) and accepting it to be true (assensus). Essentially, this is the response of saving faith to the Gospel that comes by the work of the Holy Spirit. and you can't have it without the first two levels of faith.
The good soil represents this person. This person hears the Gospel, accepts, is renewed, and produces fruit.
The task of apologetics is to produce the first two levels of faith, hearing and accepting the Word of God to be true. But it must be noted that the third level of faith - trust, reliance, submission - cannot be brought out by apologetics unless the Holy Spirit changes a person's heart and mind.
In the end, I suppose that's similar to all preaching. Human effort can cause someone to hear the Word, and even lead them to believe it to be true. But only the Holy Spirit can bring them to real, saving faith.
No comments:
Post a Comment