This issue explains how to use “The Four Deadly Questions” against your opponent.

SINCE YOU ASKED
We’ve all been it a situation where we’ve been trying to make a point and someone attacks your ideas with a statement that seems to come out of nowhere. Sometimes it catches us so off guard that we are incapable of responding. Here’s a simple technique that works anywhere from a coffee break to a college classroom. It will instantly disarm your opponent and reveal the shortcomings of his idea. The technique utilizes four deadly questions that reveal the shallowness of any idea that has not been thought through.
 
Question 1: What do you mean by that?
 
The true weakness of an argument can often be seen in the fuzzy definitions of the terms used. When someone makes a truth claim, begin with this question.
 
Question 2: How do you know that is true?
 
In our postmodern world of relativism, many people have chosen to believe something for which there is absolutely no evidence. Try this question on someone with strong opinions and get ready for a lively discussion as he tries to defend his weak position.
 
Question 3: Where do you get your information?
 
When someone makes a radical claim, this simple question will show how they came to know what they claim to know. Before long, he will come to the end of his “knowledge” and you will be on even terms in the discussion, ready to ask the final and most deadly question.
 
Question 4: What if you are wrong?
 
It’s one thing to claim a belief, but it’s quite another to stake your life on it. The most important questions we will ever be asked are, “Where will you go when you die?” and “What happens if you are wrong?”

AS I SEE IT
The purpose of this technique is not to win an argument. Winning an argument seldom changes anything. The purpose is to disarm him by showing that his argument is baseless. If we have maintained a friendly attitude, throughout the “discussion,” we will be in a position to continue the discussion based on a reevaluation of his position. We must, of course, be prepared to answer the same questions regarding our position. If your position is based on something other than the Bible, good luck. You’re going to need all the help you can get. If, however, it is scripturally based, you’re on solid ground, but you must be able to defend the reliability and inerrancy of the Bible, which is a discussion for another time.
 
There are great answers for all the questions that have been leveled at the Bible over the years. If you’d like for me to write an article on a specific topic, please let me know. We’re running out of time. We’ve got to make sure we’re on solid ground with our beliefs and we must be prepared to explain not only what we believe, but why be believe it.

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ON THE LIGHTER SIDE
The nice think about being senile is that you can hide your own Easter eggs.