Apologetics, Autism, and Important Lessons

Two of my greatest interests are autism and apologetics. When both topics come together, I’m in my happy place.

One of the podcasts that I listen to is Christianity on the Spectrum, a podcast that looks at autistic people, both Christian and ex-Christian.

One of their recent episodes was called Autism and Apologetics. This episode looked at why many autistic Christians are initially drawn to apologetics and why many are eventually disillusioned with it. I agree with the conclusions.

Even if you are not interested in autism, but are interested in apologetics, I would recommend that you consider this.

One of the attractions of Christian apologetics, for autistic and non-autistic folk alike, is it offers an opportunity to use their minds in their experience of faith. Some of the emotional and community aspects of Christianity are more difficult for some people. To have an intellectual side can be very inclusive.

The nature of Christian apologetics is such that it is easy for people, especially autistic people, to throw themselves right into it. It lends itself to become a special interest and it also allows people to have an authority that they might not normally have.

This rings true to my own experience in embracing Christian apologetics.

The problem is that Christian apologetics promises more than it can deliver. This will probably frustrate many of my apologetics colleagues but it is true.

The narrative that you will hear is that the “proof” for Christianity is so strong that no one intelligent enough or open-minded enough could deny it.

For many Christians, the claims of the apologists are enough, and if they are confident then we should be confident as well.

But autistic people tend to not go with the flow. They follow the evidence where it leads and not just as far as it supports the party line.

So autistics might conclude that you cannot prove that Christianity is true and the apologetics industry complex is seeking to keep itself going more than it is trying to seek the truth. We know this is true because we see apologists getting cancelled if they come to the “wrong” conclusions.

One of the things I appreciated about the podcast episode is that it was not completely condemning of apologetics. There is a healthy and reasonable apologetics.

There is a kind of apologetics that acts as a fact checker for skeptical claims about Christianity. Many of the skeptical criticisms are based on false ideas and exposing these with actual historical evidence is a good thing.

This is better than kind of apologetics that claims to have all the answers and to have the ability to silence every criticism.

I seek to apply an apologetics that has much humbler goals. I just want to see Christianity to have a seat at the table and to expose false ideas about the faith.

The host of Christianity on the Spectrum has much more to say on this and I recommend you listen to the episode.

What he says is true for autistic people but there are lessons that are important for all Christians interested in apologetics.

I think some bad apologetics has influenced the deconstruction trend as people have discovered that the evidence for some claims has not always been as strong as people hoped for.

If you are interested in learning more about autism, please check out my website, Disability Comes to Church.