Tools of Apologetics 1.20.5
Formulating Leading Questions
How To Frame Leading Questions
Now that the importance of asking Leading Questions has been established, our next concern is: how to frame Leading Questions. The question arises because any intelligent person recognizes that most questions asked in a discussion are meaningless. This is so because framing and asking Leading Questions are not easy. Else all those who wish to defend truth would have done so. There are several things to be understood before one can begin framing effective Leading Questions, and they are summarized below:
1-Only Experience And Insight Will Help: Conversation and eliciting information through language is not only a science, but also an art. Anything that is an art has to be learnt and then has to be improved by practice. The same is true of asking Leading Questions. In the points that follow we explain some of the scientific aspects essential to formulating Leading Questions. However, experience and insight should be added to them for better results. The more one learns and reflects upon a subject, the greater is the insight gained. Also, observing others doing it and learning from their insight adds to one’s effectiveness. Thus every Apologist and Christian Communicator interested in defending the truth should make it a lifelong commitment to learn how to ask appropriate Leading Questions.
2-Biblical World-view And Norms/Standards Are Necessary: Even the wisest humans (even believers) cannot by themselves think correctly on issues of life and death. There is a vast gulf between God’s thoughts and ours. Thus no Apologists can hope to ask the right kind of questions using their human wisdom or outlook. Answers to questions dealing with holiness, righteousness, personal responsibility, choices and consequences, personal discipline, personal obligation, etc. look totally different to a person who looks at them humanly and to another who looks at them with Biblical insight. Since a believer’s mind is not changed instantly and automatically into a new one at the moment of salvation, even believers tend to look at life from human points of view instead of from the divine point of view. For example, many believers find it difficult to think why David was a man after "God’s own heart". They only see his fallen side and evaluate the whole man on the basis of that.
This is the reason why Romans 12:1, 2 reminds believers to be "transformed through the RENEWING of their minds". Only this transformation will guarantee that the believer thinks rightly and only a right-thinking believer can lead another person to truth. Thus the minimum that people need is acceptance of the Biblical World-View and Biblical Norms/Standards before they can begin to do it at all.
The Biblical World-View refers to that collection of Biblical standards and outlooks which is used to evaluate all conduct in life. Obviously, this World-View comes only with much study and growth. Thus, to become a person expert at framing Leading Questions, the Apologist or Communicator must be a dedicated student of the Bible.
3-Study Human Nature (In The Light Of Bible): Human Nature and Human Behaviour are complex subjects. They cannot be studied and understood as though one is studying the functioning of a machine. Since human nature plays a significant part in creating problems and since this nature prevents people from accepting or appreciating truth, an understanding of the basics of human nature is essential for leading anyone to truth. However, a mere psychological understanding of human nature is not sufficient. This is because psychology can tell us only superficial things about human behaviour. Only Scripture can give an in depth and realistic account of human nature and behaviour.
The Bible contains a large amount of information about human nature and behaviour. All this should form the basic framework against which human nature is studied. Such a study is made easy by the Bible itself. Both the Old as well as the New Testaments give numerous character accounts, along with partial analysis of many of these characters and their behaviour. This partial analysis of some of these human narratives provides us with much information about how to analyze human nature in the light of a Biblical framework.
4-Learn To See Below The Surface And Attempt To Bring It Into The Light: Many of us tend to evaluate thoughts, actions and events as they are seen outwardly. However, many of them have deeper roots in human nature, attitudes and expectations. Thus to make proper sense out of these matters it is essential for Apologists to go below the surface and bring out the underlying reality.
For example, when discussing the problem of abortion, many people raise the question of population-explosion as a supporting argument. However, that is only a ploy to hide human selfishness (and unwillingness to bring up a child) because the same people show utter neglect when it comes to other things that affect world population. Only probing questions can bring hidden motives to light, but Apologists must have an advance understanding of these things if they have to expose the undercurrents. The Bible is a believer’s most authoritative guide to understanding things as they are. Only Scripture will help Apologists to peer below the surface and bring all error to light.
5-Understand Cultural/Linguistic Peculiarities: Even in a geographically small country like India there are tens of thousands of different cultures. Each cultural and linguistic group has its own peculiarities. Not only that, often a small linguistic group (say, the Malayalam-speaking Keralites) will have wide variations in their manner of speech, expression and expectation. Thus what is seen as normal by one person in this group might be seen as offensive by another person who hails from another region of the same small state. Thus Apologists should be careful when they speak to a person who is from even as lightly differing group because the cultural and linguistic peculiarities might often hide much information. A sensitivity to these differences will enable a person to ask more accurate leading questions.
Sensitivity to cultural and linguistic peculiarities is particularly important to Christian communicators and counselors. Personal problems are expressed differently in different areas of the same country or region. For example, recently there was the story of a counselor who was approached by a lady asking for a remedy to the problem of "hurting bed". The counselor thoughtlessly answered that "changing the hurting bed" would be best, which was a totally erroneous counsel in this case.
Fortunately, a counseling assistant stepped in, and explained to the counselor that in some local regions the expression "bed" is also the equivalent of sexual relationship. Thus the linguistic and cultural meaning of the question posed was totally different from its apparent meaning. Of course this is not a common occurrence, but there are times when an awareness of cultural and linguistic differences helps Christians to minister better to others.
6-Ask The Person Questioned Or Counseled To State Conclusions And Evaluations: People hate to accept the truth, specially when it is contrary to the stand they take. Thus in a losing debate many respondents would prefer to remain silent rather than accept that they were wrong. However, if at all possible, the Christian Apologist should try to elicit a verbal response from the respondent. A verbal response from respondents offer several advantages. First, they cannot, at a later stage, claim disagreement or lack of understanding. Second, Apologists can know for sure whether their leading questions have led the discussion in the right direction. And finally, such an oral response puts the burden of taking action (upon the truth discovered) totally upon the respondent.
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