FAQs Mondays: "If a Tree Falls in the Forest . . ."

I want to look at a familiar question this week, and how it relates to apologetics. The question is:

If a tree falls in a forest, and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?

Let me say a couple of things up front. First, this question, in and of itself, has nothing to do with apologetics. Second, this is the kind of question that it meant to drive the mind to meditate on nothingness.

However, the question helps us to understand the necessity of apologetics, and some of the inherent difficulties of the process. For the record, apologetics is the process of giving a reasoned defense of one's believes.

I know a lot of people who are terrified of the thought of sharing the message of Jesus with another person. Most are scared because they think they will be asked a question they don't know the answer to. Some are afraid they will be asked a question that will cause their faith to unravel. Questions like the one above, remind us that their are questions lurking in the wings, and many of them are difficult to answer (But none of them are fatal to Christianity--the lack of an answer isn't proof that Christianity isn't true. It simply means we don't have all the information we need to answer the question at this time.)

I have discussed the question with several people through the years, and heard other peoples' opinions on it. I would have to say most of the ones I know, are frustrated by the question. Most never take the questions intent into consideration. They assume the question wants a logical answer. However, the question wants to push the mind beyond logic into the realm of nothingness. Whether you want to view this kind of meditation as a uniting with nothing or a uniting with everything doesn't matter. The question is designed to shake logic.

In this way, the question can teach us the necessity of apologetics because we sense the frustration question generates. We are rational beings, and we were designed to be such. There is a reason that most cultures look down on irrationality. Most attacks against God and the faith are really attacks on logic and reason. There is a press to redefine what is rational and logical.

But the question also teaches us the difficulties of apologetics. How does one answer a question like this? No matter what answer you give, the immediate response is: "How do you know?". Now, the person answering the question is caught in the questioners trap. The initial question we must ask when dealing with someone who questions the faith is, "What sort of evidence are you willing to consider?"

Would it answer the question to suggest placing listening equipment in the forest to capture the sound of the falling tree? The equipment, while not a person, would function as a surrogate ear, thus "hearing" the tree. If you turn to the laws of physics, and suggest that a tree falling in the woods would disrupt the air around it as it fell and struck the ground sending sound waves rippling through the forest, then it could be countered that we only know that to be factual in cases where there has been an ear to observe it.

Do you see how logical implications can be skirted by willful refuse to weigh the evidence? Some people have legitimate questions about God, Jesus, and the Bible. Other people are trying to push their minds beyond the logical implications of the gospel. They don't want to live in a world in which they are obligated to honor God with their life. They don't want to live in a world where they deserve death and hell because of their rebellion against God. They don't want to live in a world where they can't save themselves.

When pressed with a biblical truth, they will respond with, "How do you know your right?". If you press further, with legitimate, logical reasons, they will push back with a similar response. Defending our faith is important because we are called to do it (see 1 Pet. 3:15), but apart from the work of the Holy Spirit in a person's heart--it will never open the eyes of the spiritually blind.

Experience teaches us that a tree that falls in the forest, when a person is there to hear it, makes a sound. Evidence, both logical and empirical, can be given to explain why this happens. Yet, no evidence can be given to explain why it wouldn't still happen in the absence of a hearing ear. Likewise, evidence can be given to support the existence of color. Color does not cease to exist because an eye cannot perceive it. Spiritual truth cannot be so easily dismissed just because one does not have an ear to hear or an eye to see.