among wolves

By Diogenes ( articles ) | Dec 11, 2006

"But all I did was mention the Bible!"

"That was your mistake. There are lots of times to mention the Bible, but that classroom wasn't one of them. Naturally you were accused of 'imposing' your biblical morality on everyone else."

Mark stared at me as though he couldn't believe his eyes. "But you're a fellow Christian. How could you be telling me not to rely on the Bible?"

"That's not what I'm suggesting at all. I'm suggesting that you rely on the Bible more. Let's rely on it right now. What does it say about how to talk to nonbelievers? Does the Bible tell us to spout Scripture to everyone in sight?"

"No, but it doesn't tell us not to."

"Are you sure? One of Jesus' 'hard sayings' is 'Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces.' Does that ring any bells for you?"

Nice bit of Socratic midwifery by J. Budziszewski coaching a Christian student not to paint himself in a corner. The whole dialogue is worth a read. Tip to the Web Elves.