“If we ignore or will not appeal to the Bible as our authority, we have no basis for absolute morality and can no longer authoritatively stand for what’s right and wrong. Many of the people with whom we speak reject this foundation for our worldview, but if we as Christians abandon it, we’ve lost the battle!”
(Ken Ham – Answers In Genesis) Popular Roman Catholic blogger Matt Walsh (who we’ve covered before) recently wrote: “I have gotten into trouble with some Christians for several of the opinions I expressed during my interview with Ben Shapiro on the Sunday Special.” He writes that during this interview he “contend[ed] that Christians should not appeal to the Bible when arguing with unbelievers about political and cultural topics.” Is he right about this?
Walsh went on to write,
There is no need to quote Scripture when trying to explain, for example, why it’s wrong to kill babies. You don’t need to pull out Genesis to convince someone that a man in a dress isn’t a woman. It’s not necessary to mine the Epistles in order to advocate for free speech rights. And if your interlocutor doesn’t believe in the Bible, then this appeal to authority is not only unnecessary but counterproductive. You have now turned a conversation about logic, reason, or science, into a theological debate with a person who rejects the entire premise of your theology . . .
I believe that the Bible is an authority. But if the person I am addressing does not share that conviction, then, if I want to prove my point by referencing it, I must first convince him that it is an authority. That is an entirely different subject, and a difficult one, and not one you are likely to settle with one conversation. Why go off on that track if you can make your case honestly and persuasively and without having to wait for your opponent to get baptized?
Here’s what I would say to that argument. The Bible, God’s infallible Word, is the absolute authority and, for Christians, it’s the foundation for a truly biblical worldview. Without this basis, fallible man (like me, Matt Walsh, and anyone else) doesn’t have an absolute basis for morality. Therefore, we could only argue based on subjective opinions.