SR Blog

I often notice a principle at work whenever I hear people delving into apologetics.  The principle shows itself quickly on both sides of the debate and is completely destructive to any promising outcome.  The principle can be described in several ways:  anger is inversely proportional to the knowledge one has of a subject area, or sarcasm is inversely proportional to . . . ,  or arrogance is inversely proportional to. . .,  etc.  The essence is this: the more knowledge you have, the less likely you are to digress into pith, whit, or anger.  Inversely, the less knowledgeable you are, the more likely you are to do the latter.

I unfortunately saw this principle at work in myself when I debated an atheist on line with a significant audience ‘tuned in’.  My opponent was very knowledgeable of the arguments and as ‘scientific’ as you might expect coming fresh out of today’s university.  I was forced to engage him on an equally intellectual level.  But this takes time, and an emotional energy that is not always easy to conjure up.  That’s when I slip and naturally quicken what I sometimes consider my "spiritual gift" of sarcasm.  It’s a lot easier, and, let’s face it, a whole lot more fun – especially when you have an audience.

But an honest argument deserves an honest rebuttal.  Whit, sarcasm, and quippy answers will only come across as genuine arrogance.  Those who don’t have the afore mentioned ‘gift’ will often default to anger, which is defeat by default.   But the challenge is not to win by whit; it is to bring the other opponent to the end of his knowledge.  When you do so, you will see the same principle at work in him as he resorts to sarcasm, whit, and anger himself.

You can use this principle to your advantage.  When you feel the urge to get pithy and short, or worse case, angry, stop and realize that it might be time to buckle down and hit this thing head on at an intellectual level that challenges you further than you were initially ready to go.  Even conceding a point is much more effective than quipping out what only you might think is funny.  And take heart when you notice your opponent resorting to pith and sarcasm.  It probably means you have tapped into areas that are at the far edges of his knowledge base.  That may be precisely where you need to hover for a while.  But do it with gentleness and respect.  Don’t beat him with arrogance.  Address him with patience, love, and knowledge.  Maybe he will concede that there just might be areas of knowledge where he is lacking and needs further study.  Our goal is to help the person willingly take off his blindness and walk into the light of Truth.

Jack Sluiter
www.sampilot.com