{"id":5314,"date":"2009-03-06T13:13:31","date_gmt":"2009-03-06T18:13:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/community\/jesuscreed\/2009\/03\/06\/the-inner-apologetic\/"},"modified":"2009-03-06T13:13:31","modified_gmt":"2009-03-06T18:13:31","slug":"the-inner-apologetic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2009\/03\/06\/the-inner-apologetic\/","title":{"rendered":"The Inner Apologetic"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

St. Augustine famously said, \u201cfor You have formed us for Yourself, and our hearts are restless till they find rest in You\u201d (Confessions<\/i> 1.1.1). Though I\u2019ve never seen a full-scale discussion of the Bible\u2019s presentation of the \u201cinner apologetic,\u201d how the soul is designed to yearn for God, one finds glimmers of such at least in these verses in the Bible:<\/p>\n

Delight yourself in the Lord<\/span><\/p>\n

and he will give you the desires of your heart (Ps 37:4).<\/p>\n

Glory in his holy name;
let the hearts of those who seek the Lord<\/span> rejoice (Ps 105:3).<\/p>\n

My soul yearns for you in the night;
in the morning my spirit longs for you (Isa 26:9).<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n<\/p>

\"Erwin.jpg\"<\/span>Erwin McManus<\/a> has a recent book that is full-scale, readable exploration of this very theme. The book is called Soul Cravings<\/a>\"\"
\n<\/strong><\/em>. He says this in a hundred ways: \u201cIf God is real and you are created by him, your soul already knows it.\u201d<\/p>\n

I really enjoyed this book because I kept asking a question I\u2019m hoping it\u2019s a question you\u2019ve asked and pondered: <\/p>\n

How far can we go with this inner apologetic? How far will the inner apologetic lead us? Is there something written into the fabric of every human being that God exists and that we can only find genuine rest\/happiness in that God?<\/b><\/p>\n

McManus explores the inner apologetic through three themes:\u00a0 love<\/b> (intimacy), destiny<\/b>, and meaning<\/b>.<\/p>\n


\nErwin is creative, in fact very creative, and this book shows it: there are no (yougottabekiddin\u2019 me!) page numbers. There are entries, 68 of them. About equally divided among the three themes. The book is filled with stories, some of them hilarious and always witty, and these stories are drawn upon to reveal that each human has soul cravings for God. Those cravings can only be satisfied with God, and those cravings show up in our quest for intimacy, destiny, and meaning. The book could be used in an anthropology class.<\/p>\n

What I liked most about this book, other than the constant searching it did within me about how far this inner apologetic can go, was the deadly serious observations about life and wisdom and our purpose in this life. Like this one: \u201cIf you try to ignore [your craving for love], if you think that you can live your life without love, you\u2019re even in worse shape than the person who\u2019s desperate to find it.\u201d Or this: \u201cIf God is love, those who love God best would love people most.\u201d And this: \u201cWhen we stop dreaming, we start dying.\u201d And this: \u201cWe have to believe in tomorrow to function well today.\u201d<\/p>\n

What about this one? \u201cJesus,\u201d when he said he<\/b> was the way, the truth, and the life, \u201cmoves truth from impersonal to personal. He moved it from rational to relational. He was telling his disciples the truth isn\u2019t an answer; it is a person.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

St. Augustine famously said, \u201cfor You have formed us for Yourself, and our hearts are restless till they find rest in You\u201d (Confessions 1.1.1). Though I\u2019ve never seen a full-scale discussion of the Bible\u2019s presentation of the \u201cinner apologetic,\u201d how the soul is designed to yearn for God, one finds glimmers of such at least […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":197,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[476],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5314","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-books"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Inner Apologetic<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"St. Augustine famously said, "for You have formed us for Yourself, and our hearts are restless till they find rest in You" (Confessions 1.1.1). 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