As long as the church keep wildin' out, I can
justify all my foolish deeds. – Lecrae, “Church Clothes”
An Ad Hominem, (Latin for “to the person”), is attacking an
opponent’s character or personal traits in an attempt to undermine their
argument. Ad hominem attacks can take the form of overtly attacking
somebody, or casting doubt on their character. Ad hom attacks try to
subtly undermine the person without actually engaging with the substance of
their argument.
Examples of Ad hominem attacks against The
Bible and Christianity are:
“The Bible has caused more deaths than the
Koran”.
“Look at the Crusades, (military expeditions
by European Christians to retake the Holy Land from Muslims), centuries ago.”
“What about the Inquisition, or the Salem
Witch Trials?”
“Christians are just a bunch of Bigots and
homophobes”
Etc.
Atheistic sceptics are not the only ones who
try to sidestep the truth with ad hom tactics. Any time you hear people
say the reason they’re not in church is because of the megarich pastors,
backstabbing members, scandal-ridden ministries, fake men of God, etc. you’re
facing an ad hom.
It’s not new. Even the Samaritan woman at the
well tried the tactic on Jesus. When He told her that she’s had 5 husbands and
that she was not married to the man with whom she was currently with, she
immediately attacked Jesus’ Jewishness and the Jews’ bigotry in condemning the
Samaritans’ style of worship! (Read John 4:1-30 again, she was totally trying
to change the topic, but our Lord wisely kept the conversation in focus).
The aim of ad homs is sidestepping the
issue in question. Knowing this will help us be more effective in our
witnessing an also in understanding attacks on our faith.
AMEN.
More Blessings await you today; you’ll not
miss them in Jesus’ Name.
GREG ELKAN
No comments:
Post a Comment