Questions on Christianity

Recently I finished reading a book by Eric Metaxas entitled Is Atheism Dead?.  I had read another book by Metaxas about Bonhoeffer.  Metaxas is a good writer so when I heard about this book it was a given I would read it.

Metaxas’ thesis is that the current findings in science point to a creator.  One example is The Big Bang theory which states the universe began as a single point and has been expanding ever since so it had a beginning there must have been a creator.  A second example is that science shows that we live in a Goldilocks universe.  For example, if the earth was any smaller, the magnetic field of the earth would be weaker which means the solar wind would strip away the earth’s atmosphere.  If the earth was any larger, it would have a more powerful gravity which means water, methane, and carbon dioxide could not escape our atmosphere which means our atmosphere would be so thick we could not breathe.  Metaxas gives many other examples of our universe and solar system being so fine-tuned that the possibility of our universe happening by chance is extremely remote. [1]

The problem with relying on science to prove the validity of God’s existence is that science can change.  The scientific method of developing a hypothesis, testing that hypothesis, revising the hypothesis based upon test results, and then repeating the process means that even well established “scientific facts” can be in error if new data contradicts.  For example, astronomers find the oldest stars have only a third as much lithium as the Big Bang theory predicts. [2]   Now maybe astronomers will figure out why this discrepancy exists within the framework of the Big Bang theory or maybe they will need to develop an entirely new theory for the existence of our universe.

It will be interesting over the next few years to see if science continues to develop evidence for a creator God without realizing it.

_____________________________

[1]   Eric Metaxas.  Is Atheism Dead?.  Washington, D.C.:  Salem Books, 2021.

[2]   Ken  Croswell.  “The Lithium Problem”.  Sky and Telescope, May 2022, p. 21-25.

I just keeping running across what the Bible says about wisdom and understanding.  In previous blogs we have discussed passages from Proverbs and Job.  The latest is from the prophet Isaiah in which he describes the attributes of the Messiah.

And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.  (Isaiah 11:1 ESV)

In addition to the attributes of wisdom, understanding, knowledge, and the fear of the Lord (which we have discussed in previous blogs), this passage adds counsel and might.  The Spirit gives advice and the strength to do what needs to be done.

This same Spirit from God which Isaiah describes is the same Spirit that Jesus promised to send us (John 16:5-15).  So we have access to all the attributes of God’s Spirit.

Christianity is not just an emotional based religion.  God is concerned with our entire being, our entire soul—our intellect as well as our emotions.  God is fact based.  God focuses on reality.  We have access to an intelligence that is beyond our comprehension.  So why would we not utilize this resource?

Job 28 is a very interesting and poetic chapter.  It describes the technology and effort humans utilized during Job’s time to find, mine, and refine silver, gold, iron, copper, and precious stones.

In Job 28, Job contrasts the human search for material wealth with their search for wisdom and understanding.  Most humans do not know or understand the value of wisdom and understanding nor do they  know where to find them.  Wisdom and understanding are far superior in value to silver and gold but any entity living or dead can only say “We have heard a rumor of it with our ears” (Job 28:22 ESV)

But God knows because he created our world and he simply tells us:

And he said to man, “Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding.” (Job 28:16 ESV)

“Fear of the Lord” does not mean we are to be in terror of God but our attitude should be of awe, reverence, devotion.  Everyone understands what evil is because the Holy Spirit convicts the world of righteousness (John 16:8)

Some might consider the Christian worldview to be anti-intellectual.  Why?  Because according to the dictionary definition an anti-intellectual is someone who “is opposed to or hostile toward intellectuals” and  the modern theories associated with them.  An anti-intellectual also “believes that intellect and reason are less important than actions and emotion in solving practical problems and understanding reality”.

Now Christians do oppose certain modern worldviews and theories but by no means do they oppose them all.  Also, Christians do emphasize faith as opposed to reason and logic in determining what is true.  I Corinthians 2:5 states our beliefs do not rest in the wisdom of men.  Hebrews 11:1 defines faith as the “assurance of things hoped for the conviction of things not seen”.

However, one can argue Christians are not anti-intellectual because the Bible constantly teaches we are to get understanding and wisdom. (Proverbs 3:13, 5:1, 8:1, 16:16).

“Understanding” is to perceive, to become aware of, to identify by means of the senses, to grasp, to comprehend the meaning of.  Proverbs is telling us to seek out knowledge and to make sure we fully grasp the implications of that knowledge.

“Wisdom” is to have the ability of discernment and the ability to judge what is true or right.  The Hebrew word also implies being skillful at a particular task..

Should not our definition of intellectual apply to anyone seeking knowledge about the reality of our existence and the ability to distinguish between truth and falsehood in what we learn.  Does it matter if we different methods and arrive at different conclusions.  Should not we appreciate a diversity of ideas?  We all are finite which means our current knowledge is not complete and at times it is in error.  As a result, we need assistance in our search for truth.  As Christians we turn to God.

A question that is often asked about the fall of Adam and Eve is:  Why was God’s punishment so severe when they ate of the tree of knowledge of good and evil?  For the simple act of eating of the fruit of one particular tree, they were exiled from the garden of Eden and as their descendants we are condemned to a lifetime of evil and suffering.  That seems like excessive punishment.

Chalmers answers this question by stating the act of crossing the line of right and wrong is what is important not by how much the line has been crossed.  It is in the act of crossing that line that we surrender our principles.  [1]

Chalmers illustrates this point by using Jesus’ parable of the dishonest manager in Luke 16 where Jesus summarizes the parable by saying:  “One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much.” (Luke 16:10 ESV).  [1]  In other words, no sin is small. [2]

This explains the passage in James.  “For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it.” (James 2:10 ESV)  Chalmers notes that disobedience in one point of the law might be more indicative of the state of one’s character than if he kept the rest of the law. [3]

___________________________________________

[1]   ]   Thomas Chalmers.  The Application of Christianity to the Commercial and Ordinary Affairs of Life.  Hartford:  Oliver D. Cooke, 1821.  Reprinted by Sagwan Press, p.86.

[2]   Chalmers, p. 100.

[3]   Chalmers, p. 140.

Another sermon Chalmers gave concerned what we call the Golden Rule which is:   “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.”  (Matthew. 7:12 ESV)

Chalmers asserts that the Golden Rule gives direction to our giving as well as to what we should expect from others when we are in need. [1]

The vast majority of us will not be the poorest and most destitute person in the world so most of us will be in a position to give to others.  Chalmers asserts that even the poor are able to contribute to the cause of charity.  And if we can contribute, we should for Jesus has stated: ”It is more blessed to give than to receive.” (Acts 20:35 ESV) [2]

How much should we give?   The Golden Rule says the more selfish and unbounded our desires are when we are in need, the greater are the obligations the Golden Rule places upon us when we are in a position to give. [3]  However much we give should determine how much we can expect from others when we are in need.

___________________________________________

[1]   Thomas Chalmers.  The Application of Christianity to the Commercial and Ordinary Affairs of Life.  Hartford:  Oliver D. Cooke, 1821.  Reprinted by Sagwan Press. p. 117.

[2]   Chalmers, p. 126.

[3]   Chalmers, p. 117.

As mentioned in the last blog, we are evaluating several sermons given by Thomas Chalmers who lived 200 years ago.

Chalmers states that certain virtues mentioned by Paul in Philippians 4:8 (things that are true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, and commendable) Paul does not define.  Rather he assumes his readers know what they already are and this includes the non-Christians who not only knew them but practiced them.  [1]  Chalmers asks how does that square with the Bible’s view of the depravity of humans? [2]

What Chalmers asserts is that much good is done with the expectation of a return. [3] Does a businessman who is honest exhibits that trait because his soul is honest or because he has found out through experience that the only way he can become wealthy is to be honest.  Is he honest because that is what he is at his core or because he must be so in order to get what he wants?  Would he be honest if he faced the loss of his business?

If a person is honest solely to enable him to become wealthy, then as Jesus says, that is its own reward.  “Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.”  (Matthew 6:2 ESV) [4] A businessman cannot expect that God will look favorably on him in the last judgment just because he was honest if the reason was solely for selfish reasons.

God wants a relationship with us that involves our entire being, our entire soul, not just part of our soul.

____________________________________________

[1]   Thomas Chalmers.  The Application of Christianity to the Commercial and Ordinary Affairs of Life.  Hartford:  Oliver D. Cooke, 1821.  Reprinted by Sagwan Press, p.7

[2]   Chalmers, p. 11.

[3]   Chalmers, pp. 53-54.

[4]   Chalmers, p. 26.

I recently purchased a book based solely on the title.  The title is:  The Application of Christianity to the Commercial and Ordinary Affairs of Life and it is a series of sermons given by Thomas Chalmers back in the early 1800;s. [1]  The reason for the purchase is because the current state of Christianity, both in churches and at publishers, is more focused on “feel good” theology than it is on the more difficult topics of what the Bible says about how we are to live our lives.  I wanted to see if someone from another time period would actually address the issues of ordinary and business life.

The reason why I wrote my book, The Renovation of Our Soul is because I saw that Christianity is ignoring the Biblical teaching on the new life we are to live and on the change of our soul so it is like God.  Chalmers’ book shows this was a problem in his day as well.

So, for the next few Sundays, track what the sermons at the church you attend are about.  Can you take what is said and apply it to your job?  Does what is said help you improve your relationships with friends and family?  Does it challenge you to make changes in your life?   And in the next few blogs we will see what Chalmers has to say.

________________________________________________

[1]   Thomas Chalmers.  The Application of Christianity to the Commercial and Ordinary Affairs of Life.  Hartford:  Oliver D. Cooke, 1821.  Reprinted by Sagwan Press.

In my readings, I recently came across a reference to Plato’s four virtues which are:  moderation, justice, wisdom, and courage.  I want to discuss courage which is defined as “the quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty, danger, or pain without fear.”  Fear is defined as “a distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil, pain.”

One blogger comments that:  “While it is easier to find examples of physical courage, moral courage is difficult to find in contemporary society.” [1]  Why is this so?

“Moral” is defined as:  “Pertaining to or concerned with the principles or rules of right conduct or the distinction between right and wrong.”  So moral courage is the willingness to face difficulty when we make decisions on what is right and wrong.  It seems that we are afraid of making difficult moral choices.  Why?  What is it about these moral choices that produces such a lack of courage within us?  I can see a couple of reasons.

First, we are social creatures and we tend to go along with the norms of the society in which we live.  If we do not, then society is able to employ very effective means to ensure our compliance—we are ostracized.  The fear of being excluded from our group is very effective so we allow our culture to make our moral choices for us.

Second, our own selfish interests drive our moral choices.  Money, position, or fame are more important to us and if right conduct gets in the way of obtaining these, then goodbye right conduct.  However, the Bible tells us:  “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.”  (1Timothy. 6:10 ESV).  It appears we are willing to sell our soul to gain what we want on this earth (Mark 8:36).  Is that really what we want?

These days moral courage is in short supply.  Will the moral choices each of us make add to or subtract from that supply?

____________________________________________

[1]   https://blog.uvm.edu/pstanden/2012/03/13/the-4-virtues/

The Christian organization called the European Leadership Form is debating the reasons why Europe “has the world’s highest percentage of atheists and agnostics”. [1]  From what I read, they do not have an answer.  However, another article I read has what I believe is the best explanation.  It was articulated by Bart Barber, the new president of the Southern Baptist Conference.

I think we’ve done a great job at heeding Biblical commands regarding what we should believe and teach.  But we’ve done less admirably in obeying God’s commands about how we should treat one another. [2]

As I say in my book, The Renovation of Our Soul:  “If the world is not interested in what Christianity has to offer, it is because our soul is not like God.  Mahatma Gandhi was an admirer of Christ and applied many of the principles taught by Christ but he refused to become a Christian because so many Christians were so unlike Christ”.  [3]

It is very necessary that Christians have a Biblical based theology, a valid belief system.  However, the Bible also teaches we must also follow Jesus’ teachings.  And how are we to treat our fellow Christians?

^“By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:35 ESV)

Do we Christians exhibit love for one another as is spelled out in I Corinthians 13?  There are plenty of examples that indicate we do not.  If not, can we honestly wonder why people do not seek Christ?

“And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments.  Whoever says “I know him but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him,”  (1John 2:3-4 ESV)

____________________________________________________

[1]   Jenny Lind Schmitt.  “Treating Disease at Its Source”.  World, July 16, 2022, p. 79.

[2]   Mary Jackson.  “A New Leader for the SBC”.  World, July 16, 2022, p. 14.

[3]   Dibin Samuel, “Mahatma Gandhi and Christianity”, Christianity Today, http://inchristiantoday.com/articledir/print.html?id=2837.