Matthew Tingblad (apologist with Josh and Sean McDowell Ministries): Though I will not respond directly to your article [Never Believe an Eyewitness Claim When the Eyewitness Status of the Person Making the Claim is in Dispute], my Reliability of the Gospels series on YouTube provides a counter-perspective. In making that series, I tried to be conscious of the kind of arguments you put forth in that article, and so if you follow closely you may find that I am more nuanced than the arguments of your article’s imaginary apologist. It’s still very entry-level but it gets the general points across.
Gary: Do you perceive the presence of Jesus within you, Matthew? If you do, how certain are you? 100%?
Matthew Tingblad: [No response]
Gary: The topic makes you uncomfortable, doesn’t it? The belief in the inner presence of Jesus is the Achilles Heel of evangelical apologetics. It is truly a dagger to the heart. Your skeptic debate opponents and the general public are not going to take evangelical apologists seriously if they know that evangelical apologists believe that the ghost of Jesus of Nazareth, a man who lived and died 2,000 years ago, lives inside their bodies, communicating with them in an inaudible still, small voice.
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End of post.
Escaping Christian Fundamentalism 
It is ironic that so many are silent when asked this question in debate with skeptics, since those of us who are ex evangelicals, including non charismatic ones, know that talking about feeling Jesus/Holy Spirit’s presence -even if it’s a subtle one – plays an important role in many aspects of evangelical life, from church services to bible study to group retreats, etc. In fact, admitting that one has lately not been feeling God’s presence is a cause for concern and sympathy from fellow Christians, who will offer to pray in hopes the feeling will be restored. Even at the end of worship services, many churches will have an alter call – hoping ultimately that a non christian will come forward and convert – but the worship leader also makes it clear that Christians are also welcome to come forward and rededicate their lives to Jesus, and/or pray with others if they feel a need to reconnect with Jesus. Reconnect of course means feel God’s/Jesus’/Holy Spirit’s presence, in whatever form that takes depending on the type of church (charismatic or non).
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Exactly. This is the primary reason I left evangelicalism and became a Lutheran. I got tired of chasing the emotional high that was the litmus test for my status as a truly “saved” person.
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Yes, and lest anyone think emotional high means charismatic hands in the air, trance like behaviour or speaking in tongues, it should be noted many evangelical traditions frown on excess emotion, while still believing in the quiet reassurance, still, small voice of Jesus in the believer’s heart. I believe most Christian apologists come out of this latter tradition. There are exceptions, of course, Craig Keener is a Pentacostal.
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Keener is quite a character. If you read his two volume book, “Miracles”, he claims to have exorcised a demon/ghost:
“Nearly four years after my conversion from atheism and several years before I had reimbibed much academic skepticism, I was visiting a recently converted widow when I felt that God’s Spirit led me to a door, which I found then led me into a dark basement. As I descended the stairs, I felt that the widow’s husband’s “ghost” was behind another door in the basement, but according to the basic theology I had imbibed, this spirit could only really be a demon. Once I commanded it to leave in Jesus’s name, it departed; the widow then informed me that her husband’s belongings were stored in that room and that he had been involved with the occult. She also informed me that a year earlier she had dated a man who claimed to have psychic powers, who claimed that the ghost of her husband was in that room and tried to exorcise it; it chased him away instead.”
— Craig Keener, Professor of New Testament Studies, Asbury Theological Seminary in his book, “Miracles”, p. 853
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I would imagine it’s a fine line to walk for a Pentecostal in academia – an even finer line than a non charismatic evangelical. Of course that’s why they start their own colleges, so they can remain in the bubble.
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n fact, admitting that one has lately not been feeling God’s presence is a cause for concern …
Does it not make one wonder that -IF- the Christian God truly exists, why do believers need regular reassurance of this fact?
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It’s another example of why theologians are needed – to reassure Christians that the Bible doesn’t mean what it says
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Great statement!
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I’m stating the obvious I suppose, but it’s interesting to compare this reluctance by apologists to admit sensing the presence of Jesus when debating skeptics, with your average, non academic, non apologist Evangelical Christian, whose entire argument can sometimes be the presence of Jesus in their heart. If you asked them if they sense this presence, and they knew you were challenging their belief, they would say “Yes, of course I sense the presence of Jesus.” I’ve had this reaction with several evangelical friends over the years. One couple sheepishly admitted they’ve never read the whole Bible, just bits and pieces in the NT for devotional or Bible study purposes. They were raised Christian and know it’s true, and that the Bible is also true, because of Jesus’ presence in their hearts and lives. That smart people who are their pastors reinforce this every Sunday and tell them the Bible is without error and tell them what to read in it, only reinforces their sense that Jesus lives in their hearts. Once I asked them if there were no after life if they would still remain a Christian and they said yes because of their relationship with Jesus, which makes life worth living here on earth .
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Apologists know that admitting that they perceive the presence of a spirit (ghost) within them on a debate stage with an audience full of non-believers will illicit audible gasps and bursts of laughter.
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Ain’t got no ghost inside of me. Do you?
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Does the spirit of Jesus Christ dwell within you, Jr.? If so, is this an intellectual fact which you believe by faith or do you perceive this presence?
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