Monthly archives: May 2007

Predestination

By | Published 05/22/2007

Drew,

I take your point about a God who can create the world from nothing can do astonishing things like see how many animals will fit into a boat and make animals talk. The only time I heard an animal talk was the old goat of a history teacher we had at school and it was a miracle we all passed our exams. These miracles in the Bible happened centuries ago. Do miracles happen today? Have you ever witnessed a miracle, apart from the beauty of creation etc?

The book sounds interesting. I shall look out for it. I have heard some fanatical atheists who spend much time and energy trying to prove that God doesn’t exist and tearing apart religion as though they had some compulsion driving them on. They didn’t convince me. But I don’t seem to be able to believe in God like you and others do. Drew, what’s wrong with me? I heard someone talk once about predestination. Maybe I just wasn’t predestined to believe? Do you think there are some people who are not meant to believe?

Jack

By way of introduction, let’s jump right in. First, I would agree that there are some who are not meant to believe. Who are those people? Those people are everyone. Everyone without the help and inworking of God will not believe on Jesus for the forgiveness of sins. God draws people to Jesus and works in them. Without this work of God in our hearts, no one would believe. We would not believe because we are content in our sins. We like being in control. We like being our own masters.

Just yesterday I was at Wrightsville Beach in North Carolina with my wife Emily and my sister-in-law Hannah. I’ve never been a huge fan of going to the beach. I mean, the idea of going to the beach sounds good; maybe because it’s rather hyped up. So, we were at the beach and we sunbathed for the first hour we were there, just reading and eating Xplosive Pizza flavored Goldfish. Anyways, the time came when we three wanted to get into the water (it was real hot). And as you approach the water the first feeling of the ocean you get is the waves at your feet. And let me you: it was cold. Real cold. And just the thought of having that real cold all over my body made it hard to breath. Nonetheless, gradually and slowly I made my way into the water until I was swimming in it, having a gay ol’ time.

I tell you all this to say that becoming a Christian is a lot like getting into the ocean when the water is at a substantially lower temperature than your body. How is it like it? Getting into the water is like getting saved in that at first your not too sure if you really want to. It requires change and feels different big time. Also, they are similar because once you are in, you have loads of fun. Of course not everything’s easier or perfect–you have to keep swimming–but it’s fun and feels right. The analogy of course breaks down because you eventually have to get out of the water, but the main point is there: it’s a little awkward at first, but once you’re in, you love it.

Now, meanwhile back at Predestination Ranch. We are content in our sins and unless something happens in our hearts we will not believe. In fact, you asked if miracles happened today. The answer to that is a definitive yes. The very act of salvation in the hearts of sinners is a miracle. It is a miracle that anyone is saved at all. Salvation is wholly dependent on God’s mercy and grace, both of which he was/is no obligation to give to us, rebellious sinners.

So what should you do if you feel like you cannot believe? Pray and read the Bible. The Apostle sent a letter to the church in Rome about 2,000 years ago telling them that “faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17). The Spirit of God works through the word(s) of Christ–the Gospels, the Bible–to bring about faith. For this reason, I would encourage you to read the Bible, specifically start by reading the Gospel of John. Check out what John says to us, his readers, in the 20th chapter of his book:

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

The very words contained in the Bible were written so that you and I would believe that Jesus is indeed more than just a man and that he rose from the dead, proving to be God. Faith comes from hearing the words of Christ. These eye-witness accounts were written so that we might believe.

Secondly, I would encourage you to pray. Prayer, like we talked about, is talking to God. Ask God to work in your heart. Recognize your inability. Luckily for us, the only requirements for becoming a Christian are repentance and faith; not understanding every single facet of the Christian faith; because truly if we believe it to be the following of God, then, because God is mysterious and beyond are complete comprehension, so too, will there be mystery in our faith.

A favorite passage of mine in the Bible is where one guy confesses that he has a problem with unbelief, something I can readily identify with. The story is found in Mark 9 and goes a little something like this: there’s a little debacle going on with this father of a son who was possessed by a spirit and had bad seizures. Some of the followers of Jesus had tried to “drive out the spirit, but they could not.” Jesus’ reply? “‘O unbelieving generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy to me.’” He seems a little bit peeved by their unbelief.

But he gets right in there. So, they bring him the kid. The kid goes crazy with convulsions and foaming at the mouth (maybe he had rabies, too). The father, not really thinking Jesus could do much, says, “if you can do anything, help us and kick out this spirit.” Jesus repeats what the dad had said, semi-scoffingly, “‘If I can do anything?’” [Of course, Jesus can do something, he's God.] Here’s word-for-word Mark’s account of what was said and happened next:

[Jesus talking] “Everything is possible for him who believes.”

Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”

When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked the evil spirit. “You deaf and mute spirit,” he said, “I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.”

This father needed help from Jesus to believe. You can throw me in the same boat. Don’t be afraid to be in the boat with us.

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Obvious Titles

By | Published 05/22/2007

I love books that you can gather the whole thrust of the work simply by reading the title. Not only this but the title alone speaks volumes. Right now, I know of only two examples:

  • The Death of Death in the Death of Christ by John Owen [Link]
  • God is the Gospel by John Piper [Link]

If I encounter more, I’ll be sure to add them to this list.

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World of Miracles

By | Published 05/16/2007

Drew,

Don’t talk to me about puny. I know all about puny. I guess our brains are just not big enough to comprehend the truth of creation yet. Scientists seem very confident when they say it all started from a “big bang”, but how did the elements that caused the big bang come into existence? As far as I can see the jury’s still out on that one?

You mention the Bible, Drew. Well, I’ve been reading a bit – Genesis, to be exact. You mentioned in an earlier email that you believed this version of creation. It tells us some pretty unbelievable things, in my opinion. Are we expected to believe that the world was actually created in 6 days and a man, a woman and the world were created fully formed “just like that”? What about dinosaurs, neolithic man etc? How could Noah get all those animals in one boat? Are we expected to believe all this actually happened? Can you be a Christian without totally believing these things?

Jack Be Nimble,

You can certainly claim to be a Christian and not believe the incredible miracles in the Bible, but I would respond that your god is too small. If God spoke the world into existence ex nihilo (from nothing), is it too much for him to put animals on a boat or speak through a donkey (as found in the story of Balaam)?

I have a book entitled I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist and it gives the interesting argument that it takes more faith and more believing on the part of the atheist/naturalist to claim that all that you see came from an explosion millions of years ago; that life has no purpose, rhyme or reason and the universe is one big cosmic accident; and that everything you see just happened randomly overtime without any intelligent being behind any of it.

Can you be a Christian without totally believing these miracles and things? Yeh, sure, but you’re not going to like it because the very act of salvation is a miracle. And, isn’t the act (miracle) of salvation by faith and grace alone the crux of Christianity? Indeed it is. I personally find it hard to believe that a perfect, holy, content God would take the time to rescue us rebellious people, but that doesn’t make it any less true that he did just the thing. I also find it hard to believe that we’ve been to the moon and that I came from my mother’s womb. The world is full of miracles.

Keep asking,
Drew

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Who Created God

By | Published 05/14/2007

Drew,

I guess Man doesn’t know enough to be able to explain his origins definitively, yet? But there is one question I have to ask as it really blows my mind. If God created the world, who created God? Any thoughts?

Jack

Jack,

Let me admit that it blows my finite mind, too, that God is immortal and uncreated and infinite. I have a favorite “document” (I guess you could call it) of the Christian church. It’s the Westminster Catechism. I like it because, in a simple, accessible question-and-answer format, it seeks to present fundamental truths. Consider the fifth question of the shorter version of the Westminster Catechism:

Q: What is God?
A: God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth.

I told you it was simple and accessible, didn’t I? The hardest problem is understanding what all the words mean. To answer your question about who created God, note in particular the word “eternal”. Eternal can be defined as having no beginning or end, and this characteristic of God is essential to understanding him and answering your question.

The short answer is no one created God because he is eternal (without beginning or end) and uncreated. He is and was and will be. In fact, the very personal name of God, Yahweh, comes from the Hebrew verb “to be”. Thus, sometimes you may hear God referred to as “I AM.” This name shows his timeless, eternal nature. So, perhaps in closing we can craft our own catechism:

Q: Who created God?
A: God is uncreated and therefore eternal. He is.

While it may be easy to reduce the topic of the existence and nature of God to “He is”, it’s important to understand that we cannot wholly comprehend all that God is because he is limitless and we are puny brains are indeed limited–I’m a good example of this. =)

Fortunately for us, he has showed us little snippets of himself in the Bible and Jesus.

-drew

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Snake to Sasquatch

By | Published 05/09/2007

Hey Drew,

No, I don’t find you dogmatic. I am glad to hear you confident in your beliefs. It comes as a refreshing change when I’m so confused about what to believe. I find your replies fascinating but when you give one answer another one pops into my head. I hope you don’t think I bring up complications for the sake of it. I am trying to get things sorted in my head and you are truly helping. I envy people who have the certainty of God’s existence and your answers seem plausible in the most part and deserve further thought.
You say that creation shouts the existence of God. What about evolution and those old fossils that are being discovered every day? What about Darwin and all those eminent scientists who claim that life evolved? Were they all wrong? Do you believe that God created the world in six days as it says in Genesis? Evolution and “creation” can’t both be true, can they?

You say that Peter and the other disciples claimed that Jesus was “the Christ, the Son of the Living God”. I can understand they thought he was ” the Christ”, the “chosen one”. But what do you mean by “the Son of God”. Does God have children like humans do? Is this a silly question? I just want to know what being the “Son of God” means.

Looking forward to hearing from you,

Jack

Creation and evolution is a huge undertaking, and from my limited understanding, I don’t want to inaccurately represent the whole belief system that comes with evolution, lest I be tackling a false notion. People devout their whole lives to these kind of things and they’re called scientists, and a scientist I am not nor claim to be. Nonetheless, let’s carry on. =)

For my pea-sized brain, I think it is helpful to distinguish between two types of evolution, one that is undeniable and one that is speculative and unprovable. The first type of evolution is microevolution, micro = small. This type of evolution is undeniable and verifiable (a requirement of science). What microevolution means is that small variations/changes occur within species, such as mutations and natural selection (the weak die). Examples of microevolution are legion. For example, Charles Darwin noticed differences in the beaks and feathers of some finches that lived from separated each other. Also, consider the many varieties of dogs, horses, cows, cats, etc. This is microevolution, changes within a species. A Dachshund is still a dog like a Yorkshire Terrier is a dog. I see no problem with microevolution. A problem arises though whenever you observe something undergoing microevolution (like a breed of dog) and then conclude that this is where humans came from. This was the problem of Charles Darwin. He noticed the small changes in beaks of birds and turtles and concluded that this is how life originated. This is called macroevolution because it says big changes occur across species. A lizard turns into a bird. An ape turns into a human. Macroevolution argues that if you just give something enough time it will evolve into something new and better. Macroevolution is what most people are referring to when they say “evolution.”

There are a couple things wrong with macroevolution that a sasquatch like me can point out. The main thing for me that I would like to point out is that even if macroevolution happens, where did the first things that evolved come from? There’s a funny story about God and a scientist–tell me you haven’t heard this one. A scientist challenges God to a contest to create a human. God consents and says that they’ll go about it just like back when God made Adam. The scientists says, “Sure, let’s go” and reaches down for some dirt to get to work. God stops him: “You gotta make your own dirt first.” This example is of course reducing evolution to a simpler form than it really is, but the purpose of examples like this is to point out one big idea, and that idea here hints at the idea of first cause. Something first had to cause there to be little tiny bacteria in order for that little bacterium to evolve. Christianity, and what’s known as Creationism, teaches that that first cause is God and that God spoke things into existence, they didn’t macro-ly evolve. Everything was made by an intelligent being, thus what’s known as Intelligent Design. There are tons of websites and books on Creationism and Intelligent Design that do the topic far more justice than I can.

In conclusion here, I do believe God created the world and everything in it according to how it’s described in Genesis. I find Naturalistic Darwinism (= evolution and that all things have a natural cause; i.e. atheism + evolution) incompatible with God, Christianity and the Bible; and therefore reject it. There are more scientific reasons for rejecting it (lack of evidence, unobservable, unreproducible), but those are beyond both my present scope and the scope of our emails; but do please research and read. =)

Now, meanwhile back at the ranch, Jesus being referred to as the “Son of God.” This is not a silly question. There are stupid questions and this isn’t one of them. [Haha.] God does not have children like humans do because God does not have a body like humans do and therefore does not have reproductive organs. “God is spirit” (John 4:24). God is referred to as “the Father” and Jesus is referred to as “the Son.” The term of “Son of God” is actually a Jewish term and predates Christianity. Before Christianity, the term just meant people that were obedient to God, or it sometimes referred to angels. It is not used to imply that God has offspring or physical children like your mom and dad had you. The title “Son of God” later came to be used mostly for Jesus. When applied to Jesus, the title speaks of his divinity, that he is the exact representation of God in human bodily form. Thus, sometimes Jesus is referred to as the “God-man” because he is both fully God and fully human. Understanding this really shows what all Peter meant in his declaration and what Jesus was claiming about himself.

Toodles,
Drew

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Why Christianity

By | Published 05/07/2007

Hey Drew,

I appreciate the way you put things, Drew, but I’m not sure I always understand them. I am willing to concede that that’s my fault, not yours.

I agree that either God exists or he doesn’t. I think that truth is true. There are no shades of truth. If it is not true it is not truth. It is false. How can I be sure that God exists, though. The betting analogy is good. If I were a betting man I would put my shirt on the existence of God. But wouldn’t God, if he existed, know that it was just an “insurance policy” and not true belief? There is part of me that wants to believe in God because it sounds like a good thing, but the rest of me is saying, “don’t be a sucker”, “you are being taken for a ride and the world always laughs at the gullible”,”they only want your money”. If you could definitively prove that God exists then I would believe in him like a shot. As you say, Martin Buber asks “can you be sure there is no God”. I cannot, but that leaves me stranded in the middle, sitting on the fence. I think they call it being an “agnostic”? Not sure one way or the other.

Yeah, I buy that bit about God not being Santa Claus. I never believed in Santa anyway, well not after I saw him fall into the Christmas tree with a bottle of brandy in his hand.

I suppose I have two questions: can you prove that God exists, and, if so, which one should I believe in? The Christian God, the muslims’ God, Hindu gods, Buddah etc? There are so many of them. It’s like going into a shop and not knowing which bag of candy to buy. Do you see my problem?

Jack

Jack,

Can I prove that God exists? No, but I think he can and does gives convincing proof that he exists. The Bible in the book of Psalms says that “the heavens declare the glory of God and the sky above proclaims his handiwork” (Psalm 19). What this is saying is that the world around us–the creation, the heavens and the sky above–declare how awesome God is. Notice the presupposing of God. The beauty of creation shows that there is a great mastermind creator behind it all. The sky screams, “I was made beautiful. I didn’t just happen.” I once made a wooden box to put random junk in. I consider this handiwork (it’s about the best I can do). But does my rinky-dink wooden box compare to the handiwork that is the stars and the sky? In the match up of sunset and my wooden box, the wooden box is knocked out in the first round I’m afraid. My “handiwork” is a joke compared to nature and insects and watermelons and salmon. I think you get the point: creation shows creator.

Can I prove that God exists? If I could, would I have to say where he is? Because he’s immaterial and everywhere at once (omnipresent). Lucky, for us, God has made himself directly visible to us in history and that was through Jesus Christ. The whole of Christianity hinges on this Jesus. This Jesus divides time: B.C. (Before Christ) and A.D. (anno domini = the year of the Lord (Jesus)). I think a little survey of Jesus will help answer the question, Which religion should I believe in?

Jesus once asked the people that hung out with him, “Who do people say that I am?” One of the guys present, Peter, told him, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” John the Baptist, Elijah, and Jeremiah were all Jewish prophets that the Jews were familiar with. People thought that Jesus was possibly just another Jewish prophet. Jesus next asked Peter who he says that he is and Peter responded with a stunning declaration: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” “The Christ” means “chosen one” (the Jews were expecting a “chosen one” from God). And Jesus’ response to Peter after his declaration is equally as stunning, “Blessed are you Peter because you didn’t learn this from people but from God.” [This dialogue is found in Matthew 16].

You see, Jack, what is so stunning about this dialogue is that Peter had hung out with Jesus a lot and knew from all his miracles that there was no way he was just another man, or even just another prophet. You see, Jesus made claims about himself that make him one of three things: a liar, a lunatic, or lord. With the statements like he made, it’s not possible for him to just be another “good teacher” or merely a prophet because, if what he said didn’t come true, than he’s just another liar (or a lunatic because he thought he was God). He predicted his death and resurrection. He made claims to deity. He performed outstanding miracles over and over again. But aren’t there tons of stories like these about other people, too? There might be, but has anyone else backed up what was said by it actually coming true? I believe not. I think Jesus stands unique in history not because of his claims but because what he claimed and predicted actually came true. His friends, who, at first, weren’t too sure if Jesus knew what he was talking about, later wrote that everything he said and predicted actually came true. Even people that weren’t in Jesus’ little posse admitted that there was something to this Jesus.

Liar, lunatic or lord. I think the historical evidence shows that Jesus was God and way more than just a prophet or good teacher; therefore Lord. Jesus made a claim to being not just “a truth” but “the truth” and I think its a fair assessment to say that anyone that makes such claims and then backs them up, deserves honest consideration. After honest consideration–believe me, I’ve wrestled with this in a world of “truths”–after honest consideration, I believe Jesus shows himself to be God and therefore should be taken seriously and that entails following him.

Thanks for you ongoing emails, Jack. Hopefully, I don’t come across overly dogmatic in what I say, but I feel confident in my beliefs and whole-heartedly commend you to The Christ. =)

–drew

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That Something Else

By | Published 05/01/2007

Hey Drew,

Thank you for such a prompt reply. I found it helpful and I take the point that feeling out of place is not just a Christian thing. As a child I once went to a ballroom dancing class and all the other children were girls, giggling and whispering, you know, the way girls do, and boy, was I outaplace. I just hope the experience hasn’t scarred me for life.

But to go back to the conference – I just felt that the others “had” something I didn’t have. It’s difficult to explain, but they were so “joyous”. I just wish I could feel the same.

I was interested to hear what you said about God. First of all, how do you know there is a God? I bet you’ve never seen him? As a child I was given the impression that he was a kindly old man with a bushy white beard and a big smile. If he exists at all is he really like this?

Jack

Howdy back Jack,

I am interested to hear that you now have questions about God. First out of the docks, I think it is of utmost importance in our present zeitgeist to state flatly, as did Blaise Pascal (French philosopher/theologian), that “either God is or he is not.” There is no middle ground for logic teaches us that something cannot both be and not be at the same time–law of noncontradiction. In other words, it makes no sense to say that God is and God isn’t, and expect for both to be true right now. Why is this declaration important? Because there are those that assert a “what’s true for you, is true for you” mentality (in the name of “tolerance”); thus a Christian and atheist can both be right. But I say, What about what’s true? Truth matters, and because it matters we should head out on a truth hunt. And on this hunt I hope if you won’t mind if two chaps accompany us: Blaise Pascal and Martin Buber (Jewish philosopher that rocked a sweet beard).

When mining the quarry of arguments for the existence of God (20ish), one finds gold nuggets that, in my opinion, sparkle more so than others. One nugget worthy of an engagement ring–if you’re thinking of getting married, wink wink–is what’s known as Pascal’s Wager. We know what a wager is. It’s more or less a bet. You can bet on a horse race, cards, boxing, but everyone bets on the existence of God. You can either bet that he exists, in which case you live like he does exist (theism) or you can bet that he doesn’t and live like he doesn’t (atheism). Our French friend Pascal gives some good gambling advice when it comes to throwing in your chips on the side of God. His argument goes something like this:

If you bet that God exists and it turns out he does, then you win everything.
If you bet that God exists and it turns out he doesn’t, then you lose nothing.

But…

If you bet that God doesn’t exist and he does, then you lose everything.
If you bet that God doesn’t exist and he doesn’t, then you win nothing.

Pascal summarizes saying, “Let us assess the two cases: if you win, you win everything; if you lose, you lose nothing. Do not hesitate then: wager that he does exist.”

I agree. And it seems as though you’re throwing in your chips with us on the side of God’s existence in saying that there was something else to the crowd at the concert, that they had something else.

In closing, there’s a story told of Martin Buber, that an atheist once approached him demanding proof for God’s existence or he would continue in his disbelief. Buber’s response? “No.” The atheist, of course enraged, got up to leave. As he was about to make his exit, Buber called out to him, “But can you be sure there is no God?” Now that’s a haunting question.

I know this really only begins to address your first question in your letter, How do we know there is a God. To your second question, I can offer an emphatic “no” because the god you described (and that many people picture) seems more like Santa Claus than the ruler and creator of abso-bloomin-lutely everything. The main difference between the two is–besides God existing and Santa Claus not–that God doesn’t exist for the sole purpose of being our personal butlers. He’s not a magic genie that can be commanded around, but rather greatly to be praised.

Wagering,
Drew

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