Men have an amazing ability to compartmentalize, which is helpful in many ways. With spaghetti, you cannot pull one noodle, without affecting allllllll the other noodles around it. There is truth in the phrase “Men are waffles, women are spaghetti.” Waffles are made of a bunch of little compartments that don’t touch. However, they often approach it differently. Women may not necessarily have something new or different to say about apologetics.
Click To Tweet 3) Women can help make apologetics more practicalĪ common complaint I’ve heard from churches is that apologetics isn’t practical. When they say “practical,” what they usually mean is “I don’t see how this will promote new converts to Christianity or put more people in the pews.” Personally, I think the practicality issue could be addressed by adding more female voices to the mix. A woman’s ability to sense distress and diffuse it during an apologetics conversation is a powerful weapon in a world going mad. This physiological response is accompanied by an activation of the amygdala (the emotional center) and literally competes (and often turns off) the pre-frontal cortex, the part of our brain that thinks logically. You cannot reason with a person in fight-or-flight. When a person enters fight-or-flight, you have already lost ground. We are not out to win arguments we are out to win people. There has been a fundamental change in our society’s ability to handle conflict and we can’t ignore it or wish it away. We may balk at the idea of “trigger warnings” and “safe spaces,” but put the pieces together friends. , A phenomenon that I have seen emerge within the last 10 years (and especially the last 5 years) is the number of people who are in a perpetual state of fight-or-flight. Our ability to recognize facial expressions and social cues is much higher than men’s. There is a reason why females dominate the caretaking industry. Difficult truths must be applied gently, with compassion, and with mercy-all qualities for which women are better known. For some of our amazing, warrior, pioneering men, this quickly becomes a bull in a china shop scenario.
While truth itself must be fortified without compromise, the manner in which we express these truths requires sensitivity to the individual with whom we are speaking. I have noticed many online conversations between skeptic and believer that have been less than civil. But what happens when a field remains predominantly male for too long? You get something that looks similar to the Wild West. They are the pioneers, and the ones who take pleasure in conquering uncharted territory. Men have traditionally been the trail-blazers.
MAMA BEARS HAND MADE EYESHADOW FULL
Jokes are made at bachelor parties about the “end of wild times,” and the bachelor-pad transforms from a purely functional assortment of free and hand-me-down furniture to a home full of lovely smells, pictures on the wall, and too many pillows for a man to understand. It has long been recognized that women have a… shall we say, civilizing influence on men. That’s my official disclaimer before we dive into why apologetics needs women. We are looking at trends, and every trend has an outlier. Let’s all embark on this conversation acknowledging that generalities are not absolutes.
I acknowledge that there are men and women who defy their gender stereotypes. When I talk about the different qualities of men and women, I am of course speaking in generalities.
However, there is a lesser talked about issue, and that is the one we will discuss today: why apologetics needs women!įor the record, whenever we include gender in a conversation, there are people who are ready to stand up and declare their non-conformity to gender norms. And it’s true, we do! The mandate to love the Lord our God with all our hearts, souls, MINDS and strengths is a universal command. Whenever you hear people talk about “women in apologetics,” they are usually focusing on why we need to reach women with apologetics. 2 Corinthians 10:5 says that we are to “demolish arguments that set themselves up against the knowledge of God.” Now with words like “defense” and “demolish,” it is not surprising that the field of apologetics has been dominated by men in recent years.Īpologetics is important for all Christians, including women, but that’s actually not what we’re here to talk about today. (Originally posted at January 5, 2018)ġ Peter 3:15 says that we are to give a ready defense for anyone who asks for the hope that is within.
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