New Developments in Moral Apologetics, Part 5

T. J. shares a passion for the moral argument(s) and brings much to his new post. He is, in his own words, a “mere Christian with genuine fascination and awe for the breadth and depth of God’s gracious kingdom.” He became a Christian in 1978, and began pastoral ministry in 1984. He has worked as a youth pastor, senior pastor, church planter, church-based seminary professor, and as a chaplain assistant in the Army Chaplain Corps. A southern Illinois native, T. J. is a graduate of Southern Illinois University-Carbondale with a BA in Political Science; Liberty University with an MAR in Church Ministries, an MDiv in Chaplaincy, and a ThM in Theology; and Piedmont International University with a DMin in Pastoral Counseling. T. J. is currently pursuing a PhD in Theology and Apologetics at Liberty, hoping to write his dissertation on some aspect of the intersection of moral apologetics and the pastorate. He is the author of God Help Us: Encouragement for Evangelism, and Thinking of Worship: A Liturgical Miscellany, as well as the forthcoming Evangel-ogetics: Apologetics for the Sake of the Lost. T. J. has published articles on liturgics, pastoral counseling, and church-based counseling ministries. He lives in Carterville, Illinois with his wife and five children, where he pastors an independent evangelical church, directs a Christian counseling ministry, and serves as a Brigade Chaplain for the Army National Guard.

Four areas of recent work on the moral argument are of note in T. J.’s work.

First, as part of his dissertation for the PhD in Theology at North-West University in Potchefstroom, South Africa, he developed the DEUS Challenge as a model for engaging Mormons in dialogue around the following concerns. The D is for the Deity Question, and asks: Are the Christian and Mormon Gods the same?  The response: The Mormon God is not the Christian God.  Evidence is presented for the response based on discussion of the doctrine of God.  The E is for the Ethics Question, and asks: What is the Mormon account of morality?  The response: Mormon morality derives from moral standards outside God.  The evidence for this response focuses on moral realism.  The U is for the Uprightness Question, and asks: Does Mormon morality conduce to a moral argument for the Mormon God’s existence?  The response: Mormon morality does not conduce to a moral argument foe the Mormon God’s existence.  The evidence at this point investigates moral apologetics.  The S is for the Subjectivity Question, and asks: Is the “burning in the bosom” reliable evidence for Mormon claims?  The response: Mormon affective claims contradict rational claims for Mormon doctrine.  The evidence considers passional reason.  Additionally, each of the four questions includes a practical application of the gist of the relative arguments, presented in the form of an imagined dialogue between a Mormon missionary and a Christian.

Second, his forthcoming thesis for the MA in Philosophy at Holy Apostles College and Seminary in Cromwell, CT, is entitled “The Moral Way: An Enquiry into the Relationship between Aquinas’s Fourth way and the Moral Argument for God’s Existence.” As the introductory paragraph explains, “In discussion of the philosophical and apologetical nuance within the moral argument for God’s existence, there is an opportunity for a substantive consideration of Aquinas’s fourth way, the argument for God’s existence from gradation of being/perfection, as a cohort and possible expression of the moral argument. In so doing, Aquinas’s insights can be carefully examined and further developed as a means to understanding the relationship between how reason and conscience offer an innately and discursively developed segue to evidence for God’s existence and his goodness, vis-à-vis his perfections and as a maximal being. By giving Aquinas a more robust exploration of this type, the moral apologetic enterprise receives the help of the Angelic Doctor whose bellow continues to echo wherever matters of philosophy, theology, apologetics, and evangelism are discussed.”

Third, his forthcoming article for the philosophical journal Studia Gilsoniana, “Human Dignity, Self-determination, and the Gospel: An Enquiry into St. John Paul II’s Personalism and its Implications for Evangelization” develops themes of a moral apologetic nature, especially touching on philosophical anthropology and its application to evangelism. In the article, personalism is explored along the following lines of enquiry: What is personalism vis-à-vis JP II? What is the significance of human dignity and self-determination in JP II’s personalism? How might JP II’s personalism serve evangelization? Findings suggest that JP II’s philosophical personalism, especially at the nexus of its understanding of human dignity and self-determination, provides a robust and faithfully Christian anthropology that can effectively inform efforts in evangelizing all person, as all persons are image bearers of God that are necessarily self-determining and possessed of profound dignity and worth.

Fourth, T. J’s recent book published by Wipf and Stock, Pulpit Apologist: The Vital Link between Preaching and Apologetics, explores ways to integrate apologetics into preaching for both discipleship and evangelism. Focused consideration is given to the relationship between moral apologetics and preaching, specifically considering how moral apologetics aids the preacher by emphasizing the moral nature of God and humanity; helping center evangelistic preaching on sin, righteousness, and redemption; and by engaging passional reason.