Against Apologetics

Father Amphilochios was known on Patmos as a man of great charity and compassion. But he had an inflexible core.

Soon after we met, I had a chance to talk to him about Orthodox Christianity.... Since he had experience as a missionary, spreading the Christian message among the tribal people of West Africa, it seemed fair to ask him about his techniques for enlightening unbelievers. I was one of them, and I was tackling him on behalf of liberal humanism.

I explained to him that I was a member of an enormous modern tribe that rejected the Christian message. This was not because we knew too little but because we knew too much..... For the past three hundred years leading intellectuals of our tribe had examined the philosophical proofs for the existence of God and found them wanting. Our scholars had looked at the linguistic and archeological evidence for biblical truths and pronounced them flawed. Our biologists accepted a version of the story of life on earth that needed no external directing hand. So, we had abandoned Christainity after long and careful consideration of its claims and with much regret.... "If you came, "I said, "as a missionary to my tribe today, what would you say to us?" I sat back, conscious that I had put him on the spot. He looked at me with a smile and said simply: "I would not say anything to you. I would simply live with you. And I would love you."

-from Peter France's A Place of Healing for the Soul: Patmos pgs. 80-82