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The Place of Historical Reasoning 277
1:19; 2:9; Phil. 2:5–11) and his saving work; and claims that his own
teachings have the authority of God (1 Cor. 14:37–38; 1 Cor. 2:13).
My point here is that this kind of apologetic argument is in line with
what Paul had begun in Galatians 1:10–24. It takes facts seriously. It
reasons. It infers. And in Paul’s mind, this kind of reasoning, on the
basis of observation and inference, is valid. Such observation and reasoning
is the same pathway we take whether we hope to find rational
validation or spiritual illumination. We pray for God’s help in both
cases, and we are dependent, in both cases, on the Spirit both for the
right use of reason and for the gift of spiritual sight.
The Path of Apologetics May, or May Not, Yield a Sight of Glory
But if we take this pathway and arrive only at a valid inference that
Paul is a true spokesman of the risen Christ, what do we have? We have
a conclusion that heightens our accountability to believe in Christ. We
have a pattern of argumentation that may overcome numerous objections
that unbelievers raise to the truth of Scripture. And we have a
valid narrative of God’s work in Paul’s transformation.
But we do not yet have saving faith or a glimpse of the “light of the
knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Cor. 4:6).
We do not have more than what the Devil has. He knows that Paul was
genuinely converted by the risen Christ. He knows this with greater
certainty than any historian who has ever lived.
But we have not wasted our time. For it is precisely through this
“valid narrative of God’s work in Paul’s transformation” that the peculiar
glory of God can break forth. In the previous chapter, we saw
that not all the good deeds of believers cause people to give glory to
God. But sometimes people see through the transformed lives of believers,
behold the glory of God, and give glory to our Father in heaven
(Matt. 5:16).
It is similar with Paul’s divinely transformed life. The capstone of
his argument in Galatians was this: “And they glorified God because of
me” (Gal. 1:24). Not all did. He was hated and persecuted all his life.
But some did. Some looked at the new man, Paul, or heard the story
he told, or read something he wrote, and they saw the peculiar glory
of God. Paul had beheld the glory of God in the risen Christ and was