A Willingness to Listen Monson man makes his case for Christianity by letting others share their views

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C.S. Lewis was one.

So was the Apostle Paul.

The Rev. Daryl E. Witmer of Monson is one, too.

All three are Christian apologists. That doesn’t mean they make apologies for following Jesus Christ. In fact, apologists explain why they believe he is the son of God and accept him as their savior.

Witmer, 51, founded Areopagus II America or, for short, the AIIA Institute, in 1991 as a contemporary adaptation of the original forum in ancient Greece. Unlike the original Areopagus (pronounced ar-e-OP-a-gus), Witmer’s institute is distinctly Christian.

“We have adapted that ancient forum under Christian world views,” Witmer said in a recent interview. “Just as Paul visited the Areopagus and was given the opportunity to speak, we adapt our program from that idea.”

The Areopagus on Mars Hill was prominent in Athens long before the birth of Jesus. There, a highly respected judicial court and legislative council met.

Paul’s visit, recorded in the New Testament Book of Acts, looms large in early Christian history because it symbolizes early attempts to explain the Jesus movement to people outside Judaism.

“And they took him, and brought him unto Aeropagus, saying, May we know what this new doctrine, whereof thou speakest, is?” is the way Acts 17: 19 explains the episode.

Witmer says the story speaks powerfully to him.

“The vision for an Areopagus-type approach to contemporary evangelism grew out of a personal and devotional time that I had experienced in Acts 17 in the late 1970s,” his literature says. “But it was many years before circumstances allowed for the pursuit of that vision.”

The main tool of the institute’s work, he said, is a monthly thought letter distributed to more than 5,000 people and institutions throughout the United States and in 24 other countries.

“Each newsletter features a one-page piece that is a response to some current challenging questions about the Christian faith, such as what is a cult, what is relativism, what comes after life, how do we know the Bible is true,” Witmer said.

“We try to address these questions very, very simply in terms even high schoolers can understand.”

Such clarity was what helped Lewis, a British writer, gain international fame for his work, especially “The Screwtape Letters.”

Witmer, in addition to preparing a monthly newsletter, maintaining a Web site and making visits to churches, focuses his institute’s outreach on two public programs a year.

Over the past five years, interfaith and informational forums have included a debate between creationists and evolutionists, a round-table discussion with Bahais and Unitarian Universalists, a dinner dialogue with Muslims, and in the past year a question-and-answer session with Bangor’s Orthodox rabbi, Fred Nebel of Beth Abraham.

Such events help fulfill the organization’s mission statement, according to Witmer. He sees AIIA as a nonprofit organization with the mission “to persuade people from all walks of life of Christian truth, to assist the church in doing the same, and to promote understanding and good will between Christians and those espousing non-Christian worldviews.”

“What our mission statement means is that we strive for greater understanding and good will among those do not share our faith,” he said. “Before we can really communicate with anyone, we need to listen to what it is they believe. In our day and in our generation, there seems to be an increasing need to listen to one another and understand one another.

“We’re not an ecumenical organization. We’re not an interfaith group and we’re not looking for a common faith,” said Witmer, “but we do want to understand what people of other faiths believe.”

Witmer pointed to last fall’s forum with Nebel as an example of how his knowledge of Orthodox Judaism was expanded in the question-and answer session with the rabbi.

“My understanding of the Jewish Orthodox view of Satan and evil was certainly clarified,” he said. “I also heard him speak with great passion about how Christians failed to stand up at [the time of] the Holocaust. I think the value of such an exchange is that while I’d read about and heard about Orthodox Judaism, being able to look the rabbi in the eye and hear what he believes brought home those beliefs and made an impression on me in a valuable way.”

The institute’s spring program will feature archaeologist Bryant Wood of Harrisburg, Pa. He is scheduled to speak June 7 about new archaeological finds that relate to the people and sites described in biblical texts.

Ordained in the Evangelical Free Church of America, Witmer moved to Maine in 1975 and served as pastor of three rural churches for many years. In December 1984, he was diagnosed with Guillain-Barre syndrome, a neurological disorder that causes muscle paralysis and forced Witmer to begin using a wheelchair.

He credits his wife, Mary Witmer, with making his vision for a modern Areopagus a reality.

“The truth is, with my quadriparetic limitations, due to Guillain-Barre syndrome, without her, nothing that happens would happen at all,” he said. “She’s been my faithful companion and encourager for 30 years as of this coming October.”

Witmer continues to serve as pastor of the Monson Community Church and executive director of AIIA Institute.

For information on AIIA, see its Web site at www.ChristianAnswers.Net/AIIA or call Witmer at 997-3644.