Questions on Christianity

I have been reading John Hick’s book Evil and the God of Love.  It is one of the better books I have read on the subject of human free will vs. God’s sovereignty and how a loving God can permit evil to exist.  However, I do have one problem with his book.  He states the fall of man as described in Genesis is “untenable in the light of modern science”. [1]  Why does modern science take precedence over the Bible?

Now I’ll be the first to admit that when it attempts to explain our natural world, Christianity has not always proved to be a reliable guide.  I agree with Christians that the Bible is accurate in the science it describes but the problem is in how we interpret what the Bible says when it discusses scientific issues.  The prime example of this is the argument that erupted between Galileo and the Christian faith when he proposed the theory that the earth revolves around the sun instead of the sun revolving around the earth.  At that time, Martin Luther stated:  “The fool will turn the whole science of Astronomy upside down.  But as Holy Writ [Joshua 10:12-13] declares, it was the Sun and not the Earth which Joshua commanded to stand still”  [2]  Luther was right in what the Bible said, but by interpreting what the Bible said to fit in with his limited scientific knowledge, he provided generations of critics of Christianity an opportunity to condemn it for its backward thinking.  Luther was not alone in his thinking; the Catholic Church also used its heavy hand to stifle this new scientific revolution.

Science does have has impressive credentials in explaining our natural world.  However, science is a human institution and like all human institutions, it is fallible.  One of the limitations of science is that it is a process of discovering how our physical world functions; it is not a set of facts.  Anyone who has studied science in college is taught this basic tenant of science.  This assertion is valid because the definition of inductive logic, upon which most of science is based, includes “certainty is attainable only if all possible instances have been examined”.  Scientists have not examined all possible instances in the past or future so they cannot be certain of our current scientific “facts”.  Also, if scientists believe science is an accumulation of facts, they close their mind to information that might challenge those facts.  The history of science teaches us the wisdom of this tenant of science because scientists once believed in all manner of ideas that we consider foolish today and undoubtedly future generations will look at some of our current scientific “facts” as humorous.  Scientists once believed that space was filled with ether.  Now we believe space to be a vacuum.  Scientists once believed that catastrophes had no part in shaping our earth (uniformitarianism).  Now scientists believe that meteorite impacts have caused the extinction of various species of animals at various points in time.  In the 1700s, scientist scoffed at the rural folks who told them that rocks fell from the sky and denied what we now know as meteorites existed.  Now scientists go to great lengths to find meteorites and study them.  If you read any science periodical, you will constantly find research that challenges what we know and understand.  Science, for the foreseeable future, will be constantly revising its beliefs as it discovers new evidence.  This is the way science works.  It is a fact that the further science goes from our current space and time, the less certain science is.

History teaches us both Christianity and science have not been a totally reliable guide to what is true in terms of our knowledge of events that occurred in the past.  The problem is we humans are finite and we make mistakes in interpreting the Bible and in interpreting the scientific evidence we have accumulated.  So I have learned to be more reserved in asserting one side or the other has the correct interpretation of a particular set of observations and data.

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[1]   John Hick.  Evil and the God of Love.  New York:  Palgrave-Macmillan, 2010, p. 222.

[2]   Colin A. Ronan.  Galileo.  New York:  G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1974, p. 29.

Back in June we wrote about the book Killers of the Flower Moon which details the murders of several Osage Indians in order to concentrate and control the wealth of the Osage Indians.  The FBI only convicted one person of these murders but the book’s last chapter details multiple suspicious deaths of the Osages. [1] It appears obvious that many in the community of that time were involved in these murders.

All of which got me thinking.  We tend to blame one or a few individuals for the horrific events that occur in our world.  Examples are Hitler, Stalin, Mao, and Pol Pot who killed millions in the 20^th century.  But did these individuals commit all these murders themselves?  Obviously not.  So who did?

There were thousands of people who helped Hitler carry out the Holocaust from those who forced their victims from their homes, to those who transported them to the concentration camps, to those who maintained the camps, and to those who actually did the killing.  And then there were the millions who supported Hitler and ignored what it did with what he considered the undesirables.  These were just ordinary people who were earning a living and did not object to the travesty that was occurring around them.

All of this just illustrates that it not just a few highly placed individuals who perpetuate the evil in our world; it is all of us.  If the company or organization for which we work perpetuates a fraud, do we remain silent, participate in that fraud, or do we refuse?  Yes, refusing to participate in a fraud might cost us a promotion or even our job but does not Jesus ask us:  For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life? (Matthew 16:26 ESV).  What is most important to us:  our material wealth or our soul?

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[1]   David Grann, Killers of the Flower Moon, New York:  Doubleday, 2017, pp. 280-291.

I recently read a book about the World War II battle for Okinawa.  Now books about World War II are not uncommon but what was different about this book was that it was written by a Japanese officer who was the senior staff officer of the Japanese army on Okinawa.  In the introduction, Frank B. Gibney, who was an American Intelligence Specialist who interrogated many Japanese prisoners of war, gives the reason why the Americans were able to relatively easily obtain military intelligence from these POWs.

“The good treatment given a prisoner was in itself surprising.  It was completely different from the death and torture that his superiors promised would await captives of the Americans.  He had been deceived.  Added to this is a sense of disillusionment in Japan’s military invincibility and awe at American strength, and you had a numbing sense of loss. . .” [1]

For these Japanese POWs, when reality did not match what they believed, they had a profound sense of loss.  Any of us would experience the same because if our world view, how we make sense of our world, has been proven to be in error we no longer have something to guide us; we no longer have structure in our lives.

The sense of loss experienced by the Japanese POWs struck a chord with me because I felt the same way about Christianity.  I was brought up believing that the Christian world view was the only correct one but when I began to question this world view I found that it was deficient.  What was particularly devastating was that few were asking the questions I was asking and even fewer were trying to find a solution.  Although I have found some answers to the questions I raised and am no longer disillusioned with Christianity, it is still very disappointing to find so few Christians who are willing to face the contradictions within the current main stream Christian doctrine.

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[1]   Colonel Hiromichi Yahara,  Introduction and Commentary by Frank B. Gibney.  Translated by Roger Pineau and Masatoshi Uehara.  The Battle for Okinawa.  New York:  John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1995, xxii-xxiii.

So why do we continue to ask questions of God in this blog?

First, the Bible instructs us to ask questions.  The writer of Hebrews states:  “. . .whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.”  (Hebrews 11:6 ESV).   How can we seek God if we ask no questions?  Even after Job learned his lesson about how little he really knew, he still states:  “I will question you, and you make it known to me.” (Job 42:4 ESV).  God does has answers to the questions we have and he will provide them if we ask.  Paul commands us to “Test everything. Hold on to the good” (I Thessalonians 5:21).  How can we test our Christian faith unless we ask questions about it?  Peter instructs us to “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.” (I Peter 3:15).  How can we know our reasons are valid unless we ask questions about them?  The Bible holds the Bereans up as an example to follow when they examined the Scriptures every day to ensure what Paul said was true (Acts 17:11).

Second, children learn so much so quickly because they are not afraid to ask questions.  God calls himself our Father for a reason.  So why are we Christians so afraid to ask questions of our Father?  Is it that we are afraid we might learn something?

Third, since we are finite, it is highly likely some of our ideas of God are in error.  C. S. Lewis states:  “My idea of God is not a divine idea.  It has to be shattered time after time.” [1]  How does God shatter our ideas of him?  He does it when our experience does not match our theology; he does it when we discover contradictions in our beliefs; he does it when we encounter “difficult” passages in the Bible.  And these are the times when we must ask questions.

Asking question about God and how he relates to us does not necessarily mean we do not trust God.  There is a balance we must have between asking questions of God and trusting in God.  This balance will be different for each of us.

I have trust in God.  I believe God will do what he promises and he promises to reward us if we diligently seek him.

A little over a year ago, I wrote about a book, Batavia’s Graveyard, and talked about how disturbing it was to read.  It disturbed me because it was incredible how those who claimed to be Christians could distort the teaching of Jesus to justify doing any action including murder.  I recently read a similar book that once again proved Jeremiah’s point—“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?”  (Jeremiah 17:9 ESV).  The title of the book is Killers of the Flower Moon.

In the late 1800’s the Osage Indians were removed from their land in Kansas to land in Indian Territory (Oklahoma) which most white people regarded as “broken rocky, sterile, and utterly unfit for cultivation”. [1]  The Osage wisely negotiated to keep the mineral rights for the Osage Nation.  Each member of the tribe received a headright which was a share in the tribe’s mineral trust which no one could buy or sell; it could only be inherited. [2]

Trouble began when oil was discovered on Osage land.  The federal government, in their infinite wisdom, decided that certain Indians must have a financial guardian.  There were plenty of people who wanted the guardian position in order to fleece the Osage.  Fleecing the Osage did not stop at charging them exorbitant prices.  Soon a rash of murders attracted the attention of many.  Financial guardians were murdering certain Osage in order to concentrate the Osage wealth in a few hands which would make it easier to control the wealth.  Local and state governmental officials apparently were involved as the only convictions for these murders were obtained by the FBI.  But even the FBI solved only a fraction of the cases.

What was disturbing to me was all the individuals—from family members, to prominent citizens, to local officials, to county officials, to state officials—all who participated in or turned a blind eye to these events.  Nelson DeMelle, writing of his experiences in the war in Vietnam, summarizes what these individuals must have been like:  “I’ve seen the most inhuman and brutal behavior you can possibly imagine from normal guys. . .it changes you forever because you went to that dark place in your soul, the place most people know exists but have never been to, but you’ve been there for a long time and didn’t find it so terrible, nor do you feel an ounce of guilt, and that itself becomes the fear. . .”[3]

Human nature has not changed in the thousands of years since Jeremiah gave us this assessment of the human heart and it is frightful.

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[1]   David Grann, Killers of the Flower Moon, New York:  Doubleday, 2017, p. 40.

[2]  Ibid., p. 53.

[3]   Nelson DeMelle, Up Country, New York:  Warner Books, 2000, pp. 500-501.

In the last blog, we made mention of the fact that Christians will disagree on what are our essentials of our faith.  Since the Bible is the source of our doctrine, we should pay attention to it says about this topic.  One of the earliest confessions of the Christian faith is given to us by Paul.  [1] He reminded the Corinthians of what the gospel was and what was of first importance.

Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand,  and by whichiyou are being saved, if you  hold fast to the word I preached to you— unless you believed in vain.

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day. . . (1 Corinthians 15:1-4 ESV)

This simple statement is a far cry from most of our doctrinal statements.  Why do we need to make our faith so complicated?  Why do we Christians emphasize our differences and not what we have in common?  Daniel Geraci, founder and executive director of an organization that coordinates churches in disaster relief efforts illustrates the ideal of Christian unity for which we should aim when he states:  “We don’t ask each other what church we attend.  Our focus is on Jesus and the work He’s asked us to do.” [2]  Maybe we should pay more attention to becoming like Jesus and less in arguing about the finer points of our doctrine.

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[1]   Lee Strobel.  The Case for Christ.  Grand Rapids, MI:  Zondervan Publishing House, 1998, pp.229-231.

[2]   Marvin Olasky. “Compassion on call”. World Magazine, March 17, 2018, p. 24.

In the past couple of blogs we have asked why our Christian community is so fractious when Jesus prayed that we should be as one.  The first question we must ask is:  What does Christian unity mean?  Does it require all Christians need to have exactly the same beliefs; are we to adhere to exactly the same doctrinal statement?

There are two reasons why all Christians do not need to have the same beliefs.  First, in this blog we have repeatedly emphasized that while everyone agrees we are finite, most do not consider the implications of that belief.  One implication is that it is highly likely that some of our beliefs (doctrines) are in error.  Christians with differing theological viewpoints can both point to scripture which supports their position.  For example, those who do not believe in the doctrine of the trinity have some valid Biblical arguments [1].  So we must recognize that until we get to heaven, there will be differences of opinion about our doctrine because of our incomplete knowledge.  God recognizes that we are finite and he will judge us according the light we have and not some standard of knowledge that some Christians establish (Luke 12:47-48 and John 15:22-24).

Second, the apostle Paul recognized that Christians will have differences of opinion and gave advice on how we are to handle those disagreements.  Paul, in Romans 14:1-12 tells us that we each are to be convinced in our own minds the doctrines we believe.  However, he also tells us not to quarrel with or pass judgment on those who believe differently than we because each of us will eventually give an account of our lives before God.  We do not give an account of ourselves to other Christians. [2]  It appears many Christians ignore Paul’s sound advice.

Now this is not to say people do not error in their doctrine.  We will differ on what are the essentials of our faith.  So a discussion about our beliefs is healthy and necessary.  The point I am making is that we fail to follow the teachings of the Bible when we become so very judgmental of those whose beliefs are different than ours.  We need to recognize God can use people who have different doctrinal beliefs.  And maybe we should spend more time evaluating our own beliefs instead the beliefs of others.

We will continue this discussion on the next blog.

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[1]   Anthony F. Buzzard and Charles F. Hunting.  The Doctrine of the Trinity.  Lanham, MD:  International Scholars Publications, 1998.

[2]   Romans 14:1-12 ESV

As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables.  Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him.   Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.

One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God.  For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s.  For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.

Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; for it is written,

 “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.”

So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.