Faith Interface Blogger Profile - Chris Reese

Faith Interface Blogger Profile - Chris Reese from Cloud of Witnesses blog.
 

FAITH INTERFACE: Chris, please tell us a little about yourself?

CHRIS REECE:  I work as an editor with Moody Publishers in Chicago, and run a blog some of your readers may be familiar with called Cloud of Witnesses.  I also work with the Evangelical Philosophical Society (EPS), organizing philosophy and apologetics conferences outside of the United States.  I’ve been married to my wife, Naomi, for 15 years, who is a native of Japan and working on a PhD in theology.  Besides those things, I enjoy movies, playing racquetball, and hanging out with friends.

      

FI: Please explain your roles with the Evangelical Philosophical Society and Moody Publishers.

CR:  At Moody, I’m a developmental editor, so I work with our authors to prepare their manuscripts for publication, which includes everything from grammar and punctuation to advising on style, content, and argument.  Every book and author is different, so each project is new and interesting.

As I briefly mentioned about the EPS, we are eager to partner with universities and churches globally to hold conferences in order to exchange ideas, dialogue, and form friendships.  We have a vision to share the philosophical riches of the Christian tradition with academic philosophers around the globe.

 

FI:  How did you become interested in apologetics? Are there any particular areas of apologetics that interest you more than others?

CR: About a year after I became a Christian, in junior high school, my pastor gave me two books by Josh McDowell and Don Stewart (Answers to Tough Questions and Reasons Skeptics Should Consider Christianity) and I was exposed to several questions and issues I hadn’t thought much about until then.  In high school I took some honors classes and was surrounded by a lot of intelligent young people and teachers who didn’t share my Christian commitment and tended to dismiss religion as intellectually irrelevant.  I found it hard to believe that what seemed so real and true to me was actually irrational, so I began to look into the evidence and arguments myself, and engage with my friends who challenged me.  That was the start of a decades-long interest in philosophy and apologetics that continues to this day.

The areas of apologetics and philosophy I’m most interested in are the traditional arguments for God’s existence – especially the moral argument, the resurrection of Jesus, the existence of the soul, religious experience, and the relationship between religion and science.

 

FI: Tell us more about the Cloud of Witnesses blog. What are your aims and objectives with this site? Who is your target audience?

CR: I’d say my two main purposes are to point Christians to good philosophical and apologetics resources online or in print, and also to dialogue with those who are skeptics of Christianity or who just want to know more about it.  Of course, it’s always a pleasure to hear from believers as well, and sometimes we have some friendly debates among ourselves.  I’m also keen to communicate to Christians that philosophy is a useful tool that can contribute to our understanding of the God and the world, and isn’t something we should fear or avoid.  I believe that all truth is God’s truth, and that philosophy is a useful means of arriving at truth (though certainly not the only means).

 

FI: What do you see as the role of apologetics in the life of the Christian? What is the value of apologetics to the Body of Christ? What are its limitations?

CR: Those are great questions, Roger, and the answers tend to be complex because we’re dealing with the challenging issue of the relationship between faith and reason.  I do believe apologetics plays a vital role in Christian faith.  Peter wrote that we should always be ready to give a reason for the hope of our faith (1 Peter 3:15) and Jude declared that we should earnestly contend for the faith (1:3).  I believe our faith is a rational one, and that rationality itself derives from God’s nature.  Thus, in telling the story of God’s redemption, we should aim to show that story doesn’t contradict what’s rational (which isn’t to say there aren’t mysteries that transcend our apprehension of rationality—e.g., the nature of the Trinity).

So, apologetics can provide good reasons for believing in Christianity, but it can also encourage Christians that our faith makes sense.  That latter aspect of apologetics is probably just as important as the former.  I admire the efforts of apologists who seek to equip Christians to have confidence in their beliefs and to share their beliefs confidently with others.

As you suggest, apologetics does have its limitations.  For one thing, we can’t directly bring about anyone’s conversion through anything we say or do.  That’s ultimately the role of the Holy Spirit (Rom. 8:16; 1 John 5:6-10).  Also, we have to be sensitive to the timing and manner of how we present arguments for our faith.  Peter said that this should always be with “gentleness and respect” (1 Peter 3:15).  Also, I think the apologist should try to discern whether someone is genuinely interested in Christianity, or if they just want to argue.  There are many, many people out there who engage in such debates presumably for their own entertainment, and in those cases trying to have a meaningful dialogue is usually a futile effort.  Finally, the apologist should be on guard against pride and arrogance.  As Paul wrote, “Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up” (1 Cor. 8:1).

 

FI: What are your plans and goals for the future in this area?

CR: I hope Cloud of Witnesses will be around for a long time and serve as a helpful resource and a positive venue for discussing theology, philosophy, apologetics, and related issues.  I want to continue hosting guest bloggers, so I welcome ideas for guest posts (c.l.reese7@gmail.com).  I hope maintaining the blog will also keep me engaged with people, books, and ideas that keep me thinking, learning, and growing.

 

FI: Thanks very much Chris for taking the time to answer my questions.

CR: It’s been a pleasure doing this interview with you, Roger, and I appreciate the excellent work you’re doing with Faith Interface.