Rusty Benson
AFA Journal associate editor
September 2010 – Christian apologetics* and the Beach Boys – now there are two things rarely heard in the same sentence. However, to Alex McFarland, these seemingly disparate subjects have something profound in common: Both produce beautiful harmonies that reflect the mind of an orderly and reasonable God.
McFarland is the host of Sound Rezn (www.soundrezn.com) on the American Family Radio Talk Network. Sound Rezn is a daily call-in talk show aimed at instructing Christians how to offer a rational defense of their faith, as well as leading skeptics to Christ. McFarland, whose gracious manner and quality content have garnered a significant audience on AFR Talk, is also an expert on the music and history of the singing group whose signature harmonies have been revered by music lovers for over four decades.
In a recent interview McFarland, whose main job is president of Southern Evangelical Seminary in North Carolina, discussed the role of apologetics in the believer’s life, the ministry of Sound Rezn and the need for Christians to connect with their rich history.
AFA Journal: How does apologetics advance Christ’s kingdom?
Alex McFarland: The value of apologetics is three-fold. First, the Christian who learns how to better understand and present the faith is obeying the mandate of Scriptures like 1 Peter 3:16 or Jude 3.
Second, apologetics can contribute to the persuasion of the lost. It can remove intellectual barriers to the Gospel.
Third, apologetics deepens the life and heart of the believer. As we study the great evidences for the faith, we begin to see that the Christian worldview uniquely hangs together among the world’s belief systems. Christianity is proven to be not only cohesive and reasonable, but it’s also corroborated by outside evidence.
Ultimately, apologetics can become a worship experience. Many times in my own research, witness and walk, I have been moved to pull aside and say, “God, I give You glory, for You are the God who is, the God who has revealed Yourself and the God of grace who has patiently waited on fallen, stubborn, willfully ignorant humans. You have not only sovereignly preserved your revelation, but also the evidence that corroborates it.”
AFAJ: What issues on Sound Rezn illicit the most listener response?
AM: The emotion issues, especially the question of why a loving God allows pain and suffering – the problem of evil.
In apologetics, the big five issues are: truth, God, the Bible, Jesus and the problem of pain. But I’ve learned that intellectual skepticism is always preceded by emotional pain. Early in the history of the show, a caller challenged me about that statement. He said that was not the case with his skepticism. I said, “Tell me about yourself.” He told me his parents had divorced when he was a child and that his father was an alcoholic and abused his mother. The thing that was such a conundrum was that his dad was this deacon in the church.
And I said, “So you’re saying that as a child, this double life and the fact that you were the recipient of this pain didn’t harden you against the church?” On live radio he said, “Yeah, now that you mention it, I guess it was that painful upbringing that started my whole animosity against God.”
On the other hand, we had a couple on the show who lost their four-year-old son to cancer. At the time they were in seminary preparing for ministry. I said to them: “You’ve given your life to ministry, and God allowed your son to die. Does that mean that God is evil?”
Their response was a testimony of how God had walked with them through this crucible of pain. That show generated more correspondence than any other.
AFAJ: You wrote a book titled Stand: Core Truths You Must Know for an Unshakable Faith. It’s basically about the Apostles Creed. Of what value are these old creeds to the church today?
AM: The great historical creeds, like the Apostles Creed and the Nicene Creed, all affirmed six foundational doctrines: inspiration of Scripture, the virgin birth, the deity of Christ, the atonement, the resurrection and the literal return of Christ. All three streams of Christianity – Protestant, Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox – embrace these doctrines.
The notion among many Christians today is that we are joined to Christ only as individuals. We don’t appreciate our connection to those who have gone before us or even to each other. We need to once again learn to think Christianly in common.
We’re not trying to make people into high church ritualists. We’re simply saying that we can learn together from these creeds and from our rich tapestry of church history. 
*apologetics – The discipline which deals with a rational defense of Christianity; giving a reason or justification of one’s beliefs; use of evidences and sound reasoning to reach individuals for Christ.
