Modern Christian Apologetics

I am attempting to wrap my head around modern Christian apologetics. I am certain that I've only been exposed to a small fraction of a great body of intellectual thought.

I am having a bit of difficulty expressing how I feel about what I've read thus far. On the surface, the arguments appear to be consistently petty, questionably articulated, and egregiously biased. I have to admit that much of what I've read is disturbing. It's not that there are well-meaning Christians out there who are doing their best to lend meaning to their faith. It's that they seem to be intent on invalidating other systems of belief as a way to lend credibility to their own.

This is where I find a huge disconnect. What is the real argument? Does the existence of God and the message of Christ depend on all other beliefs being wrong? If so, that's a pretty weak foundation. Personally, I don't believe this to be true at all. The strength of a given idea comes from the degree of certainty we have in it.

If I wished to communicate a different idea to someone, I would focus on outlining the benefits of that idea first. I would then invite an objective evaluation of that idea. Ultimately, we must find ideas that work for us. If an idea is really that good, it'll have impact and staying power.

There's actually a pretty decent article at Answersingenesis.org concerning effective apologetic debate for Christians. The writer encourages that presuppositions be established prior to entering into a debate. This is an awesome idea, but one I've not seen used very much. While there are a number of minor, petty statements I disagree with, I found the article actually encouraged its reader to explore an opposing view as way to develop a better argument.

Hrm.

You know... I've willingly identified myself as being a Christian in many respects. However, I am loathe to be associated with any faith foolish enough to insist that its holy book has all the answers. Worse still, I'm not sure I am ready to read the Bible as cold, hard fact. I know a metaphor when I see it. I just can't voluntarily regress my intellect to the point where the statement that reads, "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God." actually means that rich men cannot go to Heaven.

In my opinion, it is better to focus on espousing the best of what the Bible has to offer so that these ideas can immediately take root and start working in someone's life. I believe it to be a better use of the limited time we have in this planet to get acquainted with spirituality.