Author Archives: D. L. Williams

Historiography

30 Thursday Mar 2017

Posted by in Campus Apologetics, Historiography, Podcasts, Reality Blog

≈ 2 Comments

The very title of Greg Koukl’s book (The Story of Reality) makes the claim that we are not talking about a ‘fairy tale’. We are talking about Reality. (If you are new to this series, check out the first post and the intervening posts to put this in context.)

“Here is the question I want you to consider. Do you want the right answers – that is, do you want to get clear on what actually happened that weekend in ancient Palestine – or do you merely want the right kind of answers, answers that fit your own agenda, regardless of evidence to the contrary? I think you can see the problem.

I recommend an open-minded approach. Shall we not let the facts speak for themselves? Remember, our task is uncovering reality. There are plenty of genuine obstacles to address already. Reality is challenging enough. Let us not stumble over obstacles of our own making that we arbitrarily place in our path.” Greg Koukl, The Story of Reality, p 147.

Greg is encouraging us to avoid looking back in history with a premise that supernatural events are off limits. Be open minded and look at the data.

How do we know the past? What method do we use to compile the most reasonable version of past events? Can we even agree that the past is knowable? If not, then arguing for a particular version of history is a waste of time.

Without taking a course in Historiography, it is difficult to get a concise treatment of the topic. I FOUND ONE FOR YOU, however. It was in a podcast interview with Dr. Mike Licona on www.apologetics315.com. I have included excerpts from the interview (with some paraphrasing for brevity) so you can become comfortable with the foundation of our treatment of past events.

Brian Auten (BA) is interviewing Mike Licona (ML) about ML’s book The Resurrection of Jesus: A New Historiographical Approach. In this interview, ML expands upon his historical method. My comments will be identified by DW.

BA: Well, let me ask you then a question about history. People will say, how can we really know what happened historically? Can we have, actually have, any historical certainty?

ML: Professional historians divide themselves pretty much into two camps. They’re either realists, who believe that there is a past that is knowable to some extent, or they’re postmodernists that say all of the past, any reconstruction of the past, is a narrative and its fiction. Towards the end of the 20th Century, like around 1997, you find some of the leading lights of the postmodernist historians, like Keith Jenkins, saying that pretty much, the postmodernists have lost! Now, that doesn’t mean that they’ve become realists, it just means that they concede that the overwhelming majority of professional historians today are realists. Again, this means that they believe that there is a past that can be knowable to some extent.

DW: This is where I stand. The past is knowable. This is where the Biblical authors stood as well. Otherwise, why would they argue for the actual occurrences of past prophecies, miracles, and the resurrection?

“13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised; 14 and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation is without foundation, and so is your faith.” [1 Corinthians 15:13-14 HCSB]

Paul is arguing for a FACT of history. Christ either rose from the dead or he did not.

Still, this was 2000 years ago. How certain can we be that it ACTUALLY happened? ML continues.

ML: So I like to think, Brian, of a spectrum of historical certainty represented by a staircase with steps labeled:

  • Certain
  • Very Probable
  • >>Quite Probable <<
  • More Probable than Not
  • Indeterminate
  • Somewhat Doubtful
  • Quite Doubtful
  • Very Doubtful
  • Certainly Not

Historians aren’t in complete agreement as to where in the steps a hypothesis has to stand before they will award historicity to that hypothesis. But many agree that it is somewhere around the “quite probable” step. A hypothesis is on that step, when it fulfils most of the criteria for the best explanation and it significantly outdistances competing hypotheses. To that extent, we can achieve a degree of historical certainty.

Bedrock Facts of the Resurrection

If you consider only those facts that are granted by virtually 100% of all scholars who have studied the subject, a very strong historical case for Jesus’ resurrection can be made’. Those kind of facts are called ‘bedrock’ because any responsible reconstruction [hypothesis] of the historical Jesus must use these facts as the foundation upon which that reconstruction is built.  Otherwise, it’s almost certainly mistaken.

In Chapter One of the book, I [ML] discuss criteria employed by professional historians for weighing the varying hypotheses. These criteria are:

  1. explanatory scope
  2. explanatory power
  3. plausibility
  4. less ad hoc
  5. illumination

A medical example.

Suppose there is a 15-year-old young man who is not feeling well. He goes to see his family physician. He describes his symptoms:

  • he is vomiting,
  • he has a fever,
  • he’s got pain in his lower abdomen.

So the physician asks three medical students what diagnosis they would give.

The first student suggests the flu since a fever is the most common symptom of the flu, but the experienced physician points out that the flu isn’t normally accompanied by vomiting and abdominal pain. So the flu diagnosis in that case would lackexplanatory scope because it can’t account for all of his symptoms.

The second student chimes in and says, ‘Hey, OK, so vomiting and abdominal pain aren’t common symptoms for the flu but it’s still possible, though rare, that they resulted from the flu, couldn’t it be?’ And the physician agrees but, he adds that if another diagnosis is available that more easily accommodates the symptoms, then the flu diagnosis would lack explanatory power because you’d be forcing the symptoms to fit the diagnosis. And then he adds that in all of his years practicing medicine that he has never run into a case of the flu in the professional literature that included the three symptoms possessed by the boy. So the attempt by the second student to salvage the flu diagnosis would also lack plausibility because it’s not in accordance with…in accord with other knowledge that is widely accepted.

So now the third student decides to use her imagination and suggests that the boy has the flu, as indicated by the fever, and since it is the middle of the flu season the plausibility factor would be increased. And then she says that there may be reasons for the other symptoms that are unrelated to the flu. Perhaps the boy is a martial artist and he decided to push through his fever and work out, go to his martial arts work out the prior evening and during a sparring session he got kicked in the lower right side of his abdomen and then after practice he went out with a few other students who were his friends for a bite to eat and he got food poisoning and that would explain the vomiting.

So the physician at that point, the experienced one, says I agree with you – these conditions do a good job of explaining the three symptoms without forcing any of them to fit, or without any ambiguity, but it doesn’t do so without a price. And that price is that it requires a lot of improvisation involving two non-evident assumptions. One, that the boy is a martial artist and that, you know, that he got kicked in the abdomen that bruised him during a sparring session. This is a non-evidenced assumption without that knowledge. Secondly that he got food poisoning from going out – also an non-evidenced assumption. This diagnosis has a lot of improvisation and is therefore ad hoc, based on non-evidenced assumptions.

So the experienced physician then goes on to inform his three students that the symptoms that the boy has described are a classic case of appendicitis and an inflamed appendix would explain all three symptoms without any strain or ambiguity, in fact because it’s a textbook case of appendicitis, it possesses plausibility, and because it doesn’t require any non-evidenced assumptions it avoids any hint of being ad hoc, so appendicitis is clearly the best explanation of the symptoms since it fulfils the criteria far better than any other diagnosis. So based on this the physician will strongly recommend that the boy have his appendix removed.

Now, I’d want to add that it’s very worth noting that none of these other diagnoses can be ruled out as impossible. They’re all possible! But the physician is going to treat the symptoms according to the diagnosis that is most likely correct and that is determined by which diagnosis fits, or fulfills, the important criteria best.

DW: To quote J. Warner Wallace, “Anything is POSSIBLE, but not everything is REASONABLE.”

In the next post, you will find that a historical approach to the minimal facts surrounding Jesus life, death, and subsequent behavior of the apostles makes the miraculous resurrection a most REASONABLE conclusion.

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The Cross

23 Thursday Mar 2017

Posted by in Campus Apologetics, Grief, Death, and Dying, Ratio Christi, Reality Blog

≈ 1 Comment

The Cross of Jesus is discussed in Chapters 19-21 of Greg Koukl’s book (The Story of Reality). (If you are new to this series, check out the first post and the intervening posts to put this in context.)

Read Chapter 19 before going further. It walks through the footsteps of Jesus’ life and sets the stage for the following Bible passages.

During his life Jesus mentioned the cross often. His death on the cross was not unexpected by him. In fact, he made it obvious that self-sacrifice is expected by all of his followers.

440px-Texas_sparky

But put yourself in the disciples’ sandals for a moment. If your spiritual leader kept referring to the electric chair wouldn’t it make you uneasy? Being in Huntsville, we are very familiar with “Old Sparky” – the electric chair that was used in the Huntsville (Walls) Unit from 1924 to 1964 to execute 361 individuals. If the electric chair makes you queasy, then the cross should make you faint.

Jesus points his disciples to the cross

34 And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. [Mark 8:34 ESV]

23 And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. [Luke 9:23 ESV]

24 Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. [Matthew 16:24 ESV]

38 And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. [Matthew 10:38 ESV]

27 Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. [Luke 14:27 ESV]

After three years in ministry tension grows in Jerusalem. Ignoring his disciples’ pleas to avoid Jerusalem, Jesus “set his face” toward what was in front of him. (Luke 9:51)

Jesus dies on the cross

17 and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called The Place of a Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. … 19 Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.”  [John 19:17, 19  ESV]

39 And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads 40 and saying, “You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” … 42 “He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. [Matthew 27:39-40, 42 ESV]

30 save yourself, and come down from the cross!” … 32 Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may see and believe.” Those who were crucified with him also reviled him. [Mark 15:30, 32 ESV]

31 Since it was the day of Preparation, and so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away. 32 So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who had been crucified with him. 33 But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. 34 But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water. … 36 For these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken.” 37 And again another Scripture says, “They will look on him whom they have pierced.” [John 19:31-34, 36-37 ESV]

Read more here about the gruesome torture of crucifixion.  Even Cicero recoiled at the thought.

But the executioner, the veiling of heads, and the very word ‘cross,’ let them all be far removed from not only the bodies of Roman citizens but even from their thoughts, their eyes, and their ears. [Cicero, 106-43BC, Pro Rabirio Postump]

And today, the cross is a piece of jewelry. Amazing.

What would you think of a bunch of people who wore silver and gold electric chair charms on necklaces, or had electric chairs emblazoned on t-shirts and hats with catchy Bible verses? That would be so strange and weird. Right? Yet we seem to rejoice in the disgusting, horrific, and agonizing cross.

Why?

The work of the cross

The cross is offensive to the Jewish leaders who demanded obedience to rules and ordinances.

“But if I, brothers, still preach circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been removed.” [Galatians 5:11 ESV]

Christ sent Paul:

“to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” [1 Corinthians 1:17-18 ESV]

Paul boasted exclusively in the cross of Jesus! What?!

But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. [Galatians 6:14 ESV]

He himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. [Ephesians 2:14-16 ESV]

5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. [Philippians 2:5-8 ESV]

19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. 21 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, … [Colossians 1:19-22 ESV]

13 And you, who were dead in your trespasses …, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. [Colossians 2:13-14 ESV]

1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. [Hebrews 12:1-2 ESV]

The Scripture suggests that something significant happened on the cross.

  • Reconciliation
  • Cancelling of debt
  • Restoration of peace
  • New way for us to become holy, blameless, and beyond reproach

Nowhere else in history do Evil, Justice, Love, and Forgiveness converge but on the cross of Jesus Christ. [Ravi Zacharias]

The Evil we have done and the Evil done to innocent Jesus;

The perfect Justice pronounced by the Father;

The unparalleled Love Jesus displayed by drinking that cup willingly;

The unbelievable Forgiveness that is offered to us;

These converge on the cross – the horrific and beautiful cross.

 

Love to you all,

Darren

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Jesus

10 Friday Mar 2017

Posted by in Campus Apologetics, Ratio Christi, Reality Blog

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We are now covering a description of the person and work of Jesus of Nazareth which is in Chapters 16-18 of Greg Koukl’s book (The Story of Reality). (If you are new to this series, check out the first post and the intervening posts to put this in context.)

Did Jesus Actually Exist?

Pretend for a second that you had never heard of Jesus. For some reason you were drawn to the ancient history of Rome. Pulling the thread through your redistilled and repackaged college or high school history books you stumble upon the idea that it would be cool to look at original sources. These letters and ancient accounts of events in the first century are readily available in today’s Internet-connected society. No doubt you would come across the following influential Romans: Thallus (52 AD), Tacitus (56-120 AD), Mara Bar-Serapion (70 AD), Phlegon (80-140 AD), Pliny the Younger (61-113 AD), Suetonius (69-140 AD), Lucian of Samosata (115-200 AD), and Celsus (175 AD). You would also find some Jewish historians and writings that cover the history of the first century: Josephus (37-101 AD), the Jewish Talmud (400-700 AD), and the Toledot Yeshu (1000 AD).

All these authors and documents have two important things in common:

  1. They all mention Jesus of Nazareth or his followers.
  2. They all are NOT a part of Jesus’s following. They would be what forensic investigators call Hostile Witnesses. They have no reason to embellish the historical record to make Jesus “look good”.

This material comes from J. Warner Wallace’s blog ColdCaseChristianity.com. Read this and this for more depth on what these ancient sources say. (Read his book Cold Case Christianity for a forensic analysis of the Christian Faith. He was an atheistic cold case investigator when he turned his investigation skills on the Bible to specifically prove it wrong. Following the evidence, he became a Christian.)

 

Here is his summary from Wallace’s blog of what these non-Christian sources have to say about Jesus.

Jesus was born and lived in Palestine. He was born, supposedly, to a virgin and had an earthly father who was a carpenter. He was a teacher who taught that through repentance and belief, all followers would become brothers and sisters. He led the Jews away from their beliefs. He was a wise man who claimed to be God and the Messiah. He had unusual magical powers and performed miraculous deeds. He healed the lame. He accurately predicted the future. He was persecuted by the Jews for what He said, betrayed by Judah Iskarioto. He was beaten with rods, forced to drink vinegar and wear a crown of thorns. He was crucified on the eve of the Passover and this crucifixion occurred under the direction of Pontius Pilate, during the time of Tiberius. On the day of His crucifixion, the sky grew dark and there was an earthquake. Afterward, He was buried in a tomb and the tomb was later found to be empty. He appeared to His disciples resurrected from the grave and showed them His wounds. These disciples then told others Jesus was resurrected and ascended into heaven. Jesus’ disciples and followers upheld a high moral code. One of them was named Matthai. The disciples were also persecuted for their faith but were martyred without changing their claims. They met regularly to worship Jesus, even after His death.

Amazing.

In Greg Koukl’s book the Story of Reality, he takes on the so-called Jesus mythers – people who claim that Jesus was a recycled version of ancient polytheistic myths with virgin births and resurrections. This claim needs to be addressed because it is implied in nearly every social studies class in high school (confirmed by my son – a high school freshman). This tale was also promulgated in the internet film Zeitgeist. It was also completely and clearly debunked by Chris White.

What is sad is the lack of historical knowledge behind this claim. The hostile sources above are describing near term events in the first century that confirm Biblical claims about Jesus.

It is also sad to think of the tortured logic behind the Jesus-is-a-myth claim. How would devout Jews like Peter and Paul be enticed away from the Jewish religion and all-encompassing Jewish culture to follow some cobbled-together collection of Zoroastrian and other myths?

Finally, if the virgin birth and resurrection claims were made up in the late 3rd century, why do the hostile sources near the first century already have the so-called made up facts as part of their reports? Why do we have records of early Christians going to their deaths over the truth of these claims?

Greg summarizes,

“The recycled-redeemer crowd asks why we should consider the stories of Mithras, Horus, Attis, and other pagan mystery saviors as fables, yet treat as factual (what they think is) a similar story told of a Jewish carpenter. The answer is simple: There is no good historical evidence for any of the ancient mythological characters and their deeds, but there is an abundance of reliable historical evidence for Jesus. … Jesus of Nazareth was a man of history, who made a profound impact on history.”

Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul, and Peter did not write about Jesus as if they were making up “once upon a time” stories. They claimed that what they observed was observable by anyone present at the events they describe.

1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life– 2 the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you … [1 John 1:1-2]

3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared

  • to Cephas, then
  • to the twelve. 6 Then he appeared
  • to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared
  • to James, then
  • to all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also
  • to me.

9 For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. [1 Corinthians 15:3-9 ESV]

OK, so if we stipulate that Christ was an actual person in the first century who was a miracle worker and who is claimed to have risen from the dead. So what? Why is that significant?

The Person of Christ

This is so important to discuss and so timely with the recent opening of the movie The Shack – a fictional story that is full of distorted views on God and Christianity. The book was a New York Times Bestseller, and the movie is sure to attract many. And even though it is fiction, it will have a negative impact on those who do not know what the Bible actually teaches on the nature of God – the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

(For a two part series on the Trinity see Greg Koukl’s Solid Ground Articles Part 1 and Part 2.)

The power of entertainment to shape a people’s thinking was eloquently captured by a Scottish writer in 1703. Andrew Fletcher said,

“if a man were permitted to make all the ballads he need not care who should make the laws”

I’m not an isolationist. See movies. Read books. But realize that fiction is not fact. Don’t let Dan Brown’s fiction in the Da Vinci Code, or William Young’s The Shack be your source for knowledge about the teachings of Christianity or for knowledge about REALITY.

Jesus was truly a human, a man. He was born like us (although the Bible tells us his conception was special). He grew up like us. He had a job like us (a carpenter). He hungered, thirsted, and wept like us. He fretted about death just like us. We see that he even suffered, bled, and died like us. He was one of us.

But Jesus also made divine claims. He predicted that his death and resurrection would be a sign that his claims were true. Jesus was truly God, according to his own claims.

Saying these outrageous things often prompted the Jews to pick up stones to put him to death for claiming to be God.

30 I and the Father are one.”

31 The Jews picked up stones again to stone him.

32 Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?”

33 The Jews answered him, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God.” [John 10:30-33 ESV]

Greg summarizes,

And now we begin to see why the “Who is Jesus?” question is so important. If Jesus is not who he claimed to be, ignore him as a mad man or (if he knew his claims were false) an imbecile, since he played his charade right to its gruesome end. If his claim is true, however, that changes everything. “Aut Deus, aut malus homo,” the ancients wrote. “Either God, or a bad man.” There is no middle ground.

The Work of Christ

I cannot say it any better than Paul in his letter to the Romans:

6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person–though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die– 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. [Romans 5:6-8 ESV]

19 For as by the one man’s disobedience [Adam] the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience [Jesus] the many will be made righteous. [Romans 5:19 ESV]

23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. [Romans 6:23 ESV]

5 For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death. … 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!  [Romans 7:5, 24-25a ESV]

1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. … 11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. [Romans 8:1, 11 ESV]

35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. [Romans 8:35-39 ESV]

Therefore, in line with Andrew Fletcher’s comment that ballads have an outsized impact, let’s end with a hymn from Martin Luther about the Person and Work of Christ:

1 Now praise we Christ, the Holy One,
The blessed virgin Mary’s Son.
From east to west, from shore to shore
Let earth its Lord and King adore.

2 He who himself all things did make
A servant’s form agreed to take,
That he as man mankind might win
And save his creatures from their sin.

3 The grace and pow’r of God the Lord
Upon the mother was outpoured;
A virgin pure and undefiled
In wondrous way conceived a child.

4 The noble mother bore a Son —
For so did Gabriel’s promise run —
Whom John confessed and leaped with joy
Before the mother knew her boy.

5 Upon a manger filled with hay
In poverty content he lay;
With milk was fed the Lord of all,
Who feeds the ravens when they call.

6 The heav’nly choirs rejoice and raise
Their voice to God in songs of praise.
To humble shepherds is proclaimed
The Shepherd who the world has framed.

7 All honor unto Christ the Lord,
Eternal and incarnate Word,
With Father and with Holy Ghost,
Till time in endless time be lost.

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Evil and Wrath

02 Thursday Mar 2017

Posted by in Campus Apologetics, Reality Blog

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Greg Koukl admits in these two chapters (14 and 15) of his latest book (The Story of Reality) that the issue of evil is a thorny one.

(If you are new to this series, check out the first post and the intervening posts to put this in context.)

We discussed the problem of evil in an earlier post. In this post, I’d like to branch out from Koukl’s material slightly to focus on the definition of evil and the place of wrath.

How would you define the term “evil”?
Can you define it without referring to examples of evil?

What IS evil?

J. P. Moreland has noted, “Evil is a lack of goodness. It is goodness spoiled. You can have good without evil, but you cannot have evil without good.”

Greg Koukl has said, “Human freedom was used in such a way as to diminish goodness in the world, and that diminution, that lack of goodness, that is what we call evil.”

This idea that evil is a lack of good solves a great many problems philosophically, theologically, and emotionally.

This answers the challenging claim that God created evil, for evil is not a thing. It is a lack of good.

This also informs our false intuition that mankind is basically good. I think we recognize the beauty of the image of God in mankind, but intentionally blind ourselves to the evil in the human soul. Stating that the human soul is evil is very controversial because we grade on a curve. If we are not a mass murderer, then we are “good”. But that is not true. If evil is a lack of goodness, then we are in deep trouble.

We lack a LOT.

We are not righteous. We are not perfectly good, and therefore we are evil.

[Matthew 19:16-17 ESV] 16 And behold, a man came up to Jesus, saying, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?”

17 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments.”

Jesus corrected the young man, and pointed out that “good” was a WHO not a WHAT.

Then Jesus discusses ways to follow “the Good”. He begins with the commandments. He ups the ante next by telling the young man to rid himself from his earthly attachments. Then he hits the main point:

[Matthew 19: 21 ESV] 21 Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect,… come, follow me.”

Here’s a little quiz.

Which was the main point in Jesus advice?

a. Follow the 10 Commandments perfectly.
b. Give away everything you own to the poor.
c. Follow Jesus.

I suggest that the main point was to c. Follow Jesus. Keeping His commands and loving others is how we show we love Him. Jesus is “the good” not the deeds.

[John 14:15 ESV] 15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”

Lack of obedience is evil, but the main evil is identified as a lack of belief.

Jesus was teaching his disciples and comforting them on their last night together when he said,

[John 16:7-11 ESV] 7 Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. 8 And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment:
-9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in me;
-10 concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer;
-11 concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.

This Helper is what the Bible calls the Holy Spirit. It is what causes your conscience to scream at you when you consider your lack.

What is it that you lack?

Here are some attributes or fruits of the Holy Spirit:

[Galatians 5:22-23 ESV] 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

Is your conscience not convicted by your lack of love and all these other holy and good attributes of God? Mine is. My weight is evidence of my lack of self-control. My temper is evidence of my lack of patience, gentleness, peace, and kindness. My intentional acts of disobedience are evidence of my lack of faithfulness.

But are these “evil”? If evil is a lack of goodness, yes. If God is good, then my lack will make me as incompatible with Him as darkness is incompatible with light.

I can no more withstand his presence than can darkness withstand the presence of a single candle flame. Darkness is a lack of light, and when light comes, darkness retreats.

This stark elimination of evil by God’s holiness is the proper understanding of wrath. There is no way darkness can resist light and no way evil can successfully resist God’s goodness and holiness.

Does this match what we see in the “real world” around us?

Ultimately it is not our lack of good deeds that will be our undoing. Notice that Jesus ended with “follow me” as the key to goodness. Notice that the Helper is not coming to convict us of sinful deeds, but of a “sinful lack of belief in Jesus”.

What a bold thing for Jesus to say!

  • Goodness and eternal life are tied to following him.
  • Sin is a lack of belief in him.

These are not the teachings of merely a “good moral teacher”. These are divine claims. It took the resurrection and the Holy Spirit to prove it to the disciples.

Is your conscience pricked by this? Don’t ignore it. Pray,

“God, if your Holy Spirit is truly behind my troubled conscience, please give me the wisdom to seek you. Reveal yourself even more in my conscience, my exploration of the Bible, and my feeble attempts to follow Jesus wherever He may lead. -Amen”

[Mark 9:24 ESV] … “I believe; help my unbelief!”

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Beautiful and Broken

28 Tuesday Feb 2017

Posted by in Campus Apologetics, Reality Blog

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Chapters 11-13 in Greg Koukl’s The Story of Reality are focused on the beauty and the brokenness of humanity. These are so close to our personal experience that we need no long discourse. But rather, we can ponder these things and marvel at the heights and depths of our state.

(If you are new to this series, check out the first post and the intervening posts to put this in context.)

Marvel at

  • Our intricate design
  • Ravishing beauty
  • Creative souls
  • Range of emotions
  • Range of abilities
  • Art, music, literature, film
  • Engineering, chemistry, physics, math, biology
  • Psychology, sociology, counseling, education

To see the beauty of humanity is to bask in the beauty of God’s image stamped upon his image bearers.

Grieve at

the extent of the brokenness of mankind – a curving of man’s nature back onto itself

  • Our intricate design manipulated against its will and the will of the designer
  • Ravishing beauty twisted into profit-making tools of lust
  • Creative souls working to desecrate out of rebellion
  • Range of emotions diminished so much that little is left but fear, anger, and hatred
  • Range of abilities used to serve self with no other considerations
  • Art, music, literature, film to rebell, isolate, and exclude any mention of divine purpose
  • Engineering, chemistry, physics, math, biology used against humanity rather than for it
  • Psychology, sociology, counseling, education used to indoctrinate in evil

Ponder these deeply. Ponder not in the abstract. Ponder your own depths of brokenness.

And flee to the Father who has made a way for your restoration in Jesus Christ.

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Mind AND Matter

16 Thursday Feb 2017

Posted by in Campus Apologetics, Ratio Christi, Reality Blog

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Chapters 8-10 in Greg Koukl’s The Story of Reality cover some broad territory as he discusses the nature of Nature and God. Greg has some unique names for these concepts:

  • Chapter 8: Matter-ism
  • Chapter 9: Mind-ism
  • Chapter 10: Options

(If you are new to this series, check out the first post and the intervening posts to put this in context.)

Brief Road Map

clip-min-matter-reality

  1. Look at the Venn diagram of overlapping circles representing Mind and Matter.
  2. Matter-ism ignores non-physical realities of the mind, objective moral duties, love, evil.
  3. Mind-ism ignores physical realities of the body. The material world is Maya (illusion).
  4. Christianity acknowledges the reality of BOTH mind and matter.

 

Matterism

Some call it materialism or physicalism. It is the view that space time matter and energy are all that exist. Koukl points out that this is the story that most atheists, most “skeptics”, most humanists, and most Marxists believe is true.

On this view, we are ONLY co-located atoms, bags of meat and bones. Humanists might allow that we are special creatures due to our high level of function. But even this is increasingly seen as “speciesism”.

Talking about human rights and animal rights sounds very nice, but on Matterism, THERE ARE NO RIGHTS. There are only atoms. Any scheme of rights is merely one social system’s opinion of the way they want things to be.

(I was very careful to avoid using the phrase “the way things ought to be” because on Matterism, there are no OBJECTIVE oughts.)

There is also no overarching Purpose if we are merely a collection of atoms.

Our own frustration that the “world is not how it SHOULD be” is evidence that Matterism is leaving something REAL out of its vision of reality. There must be more to reality than just matter in motion.

 

Mindism

In Mindism, an all-encompassing mind is the ultimate reality. This is not the personal God of Christianity but rather some unknowable Divine Mind. It is in everything and everything is in it. You are somewhat familiar with this view as The Force in Star Wars.

Ben Obi-Wan Kenobi: The Force is what gives a Jedi his power. It’s an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us. It binds the galaxy together.

This view is present in Hinduism and Buddhism. A common phrase is:

“All is One; Brahman [God] is Atman [self], and Atman is Brahman.”

According to many schools of Hinduism, the world is an illusion, a play of the supreme consciousness of God. It is a projection of things and forms that are temporarily phenomenal and sustain the illusion of oneness and permanence. The illusion of phenomenal world is created and sustained by standalone objects thrown together either by an act of randomness or through the deliberate choice of conscious will.

Our scriptures declare that creation is the play of consciousness. It differentiates itself into diverse things and in the end withdraws everything into itself for no apparent and specific reason because God does nothing with any particular aim or desire. – Says the Yoga Vashista

Notice how in Mindism, either we become the mind and are god, or we are completely lost as we are absorbed into the mind of god. Either way, this is a distorted picture of the way we intuitively see the world, see ourselves, and see our moral obligations to each other in the present and in the future.

Mind AND Matter

Christianity operates in the overlap – the way things actually are. God is non-material, but he created a real material world with knowable and useable physics and mathematics.

We being made in His image are rational thinkers in physical bodies. God is a personal being, and we are personal beings.

[Genesis 2:7 ESV] 7 then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground [material] and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life [spiritual], and the man became a living creature.

[1 Corinthians 6:19 ESV] 19 … do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own,

As you come across the claims of your friends, Internet celebrities, TED Talk lecturers, even your professors, listen carefully to what they say about reality. If they are telling you things like “There’s no such thing as free will”, “Life is an illusion or Maya”, or even “God is in all. All is in God, and You are in fact God.” Then you know they are not describing reality.

This deep knowledge of right and wrong, this bedrock intuition that there is a purpose to life, and this wonder at the interplay between mind and matter makes it clear that reality is greater than the reductionists claim.

To participate in this discussion, comment below.

Or if you are on the SHSU campus this spring (2017), come discuss this book with our Ratio Christi at SHSU chapter that meets Fridays at Noon in LSC 307. Bring your lunch and feed your soul.

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God and Miracles – Chapters 6 – 7

07 Tuesday Feb 2017

Posted by in Campus Apologetics, Ratio Christi, Reality Blog

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“In the beginning God…” – Genesis 1:1

The Story of Reality begins with God. God is the main character, not us. We come later.

In fact, the flow of the actual events (and of Greg’s book) follow a simple five-point outline: God, Man, Jesus, Cross, and Resurrection. We begin Part 1: God, today.

(If you are new to this series, check out the first post and the intervening posts to put this in context.)

God is the “unmoved mover (of Aristotle)”, the “greatest conceivable being (of Anselm)”, the uncreated creator, the original originator, etc.

“For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.” Romans 11:36

Objections and Misunderstandings

We can learn a lot by looking at common objections because most objections stem from a misunderstanding of the true nature of things.

Who Created God?

Many have smugly asked, “If God created everything, then who or what created God?”. It is shocking that this would stump a Christian. (Sadly, it does because we don’t teach our youth any apologetics. RC College Prep is trying to change that.)

Can you see the silliness in the question? Neither Christians, Jews, Muslims, nor ancient Greek polytheists like Aristotle conceive of God as a created being. The seemingly infinite regress of created things has an end, and that prior originator is what is meant philosophically and theologically by the word God. Watch these short videos of Leibniz’ Contingency Argument and Anselm’s Ontological Argument  to understand what is meant by Christians when they speak of God.

The ramifications of this are HUGE. One can intuitively grasp the observation that “If you make it, it’s yours.”

This is the basis of our Intellectual Property laws. It is also what makes people uneasy about God’s existence. If God made us we are not our own.

“16 And they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are true and teach the way of God truthfully, and you do not care about anyone’s opinion, for you are not swayed by appearances. 17 Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?”

18 But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why put me to the test, you hypocrites? 19 Show me the coin for the tax.”

And they brought him a denarius. 20 And Jesus said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?”

21 They said, “Caesar’s.”

Then he said to them, “Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” – Matthew 22:16-21, ESV

Here we see the ramifications of the teaching that we are made in the image of God.

“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” – Genesis 1:27, ESV

If God made you, then YOU are God’s. You are not your own. Your body and your mind are not yours to abuse or destroy or fill with drugs.

The best way to know the purpose and meaning of some invention is to ask the inventor. God has something to say about life’s purpose, meaning, and function.

The ramifications of this are immense, and they are not lost on thinking atheists.

“I had motives for not wanting the world to have a meaning; and consequently assumed that it had none, and was able without any difficulty to find satisfying reasons for this assumption. The philosopher who finds no meaning in the world is not concerned exclusively with a problem in pure metaphysics. He is also concerned to prove that there is no valid reason why he personally should not do as he wants to do. For myself, as no doubt for most of my friends, the philosophy of meaninglessness was essentially an instrument of liberation from a certain system of morality. We objected to the morality because it interfered with our sexual freedom. The supporters of this system claimed that it embodied the meaning – the Christian meaning, they insisted – of the world. There was one admirably simple method of confuting these people and justifying ourselves in our erotic revolt: we would deny that the world had any meaning whatever.” ― Aldous Huxley, Ends and Means, 1937

The problem with reality is that it catches up to you, eventually. You can jump off a building and experience a thrill, but the reality of gravity will bring the thrill to an end. Denying any meaning to life will work exactly the same way.

The next objection discussed in Greg’s book relates to miracles.

Miracles

Haven’t science and philosophy proven that miracles are impossible?

“no testimony is sufficient to establish a miracle” – David Hume, Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, 1748

“When we run over libraries, persuaded of these principles, what havoc must we make? If we take in our hand any volume; of divinity or school metaphysics, for instance; let us ask, Does it contain any abstract reasoning concerning quantity or number? No. Does it contain any experimental reasoning concerning matter of fact and existence? No. Commit it then to the flames: For it can contain nothing but sophistry and illusion.” – Ibid. (italics added)

Scientists and philosophers have attacked miracles, for sure, but they haven’t proven that they are impossible because this would entail proving a negative.

Also, philosophers like Hume making the claim that only quantitative and experimental reasoning yield truth is odd since the sum of their work is non-empirical. Hume’s volumes would go into the flames, too. That can’t be right.

Arguing over miracles misses an important point. And it is a point you should not miss.

How did The Story begin?

“In the beginning God…” – Genesis 1:1

If you disagree with the 4th word of the Bible, then it is fruitless to argue over a virgin birth, a man swallowed by a fish, adults and children rising from the dead, healings, prophecies, angels, and demons. It also fruitless to argue over creation, meaning, sin, holiness, judgement, heaven, and hell.

But if the 4th word is true, and the rest of the phrase “created the heavens and the earth” is true, then there is nothing impossible about any of the other miracles or non-physical realities.

You may be skeptical of miracles. Fine. I’m also skeptical because I think there are many more con artists than miracle workers. But IF there is an all-powerful creator, then there REALLY is a miracle worker. How often God intervenes is up for debate, but interventions are not impossible a priori.

So let us at least look at the largest miracle ever studied.  We have LOTS of scientific evidence for it.

Let’s finish Hume’s earlier quote:

“no testimony is sufficient to establish a miracle, unless the testimony be of such a kind, that its falsehood would be more miraculous, than the fact, which it endeavors to establish.”– David Hume, Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, 1748

Believing the universe came from nothing, or that there is a finely-tuned undetectable universe generator are both more miraculous than the simple exercise of an all-powerful non-contingent being, i.e. God.

The Point of Miracles

Lastly, if you look at the miracles of the Bible, they were not just magic tricks. They had a context and there was a point to be made or affirmed with the miracle. Here is the best example of a miracle with a point.

“2 Just then some men brought to Him a paralytic lying on a mat. Seeing their faith, Jesus told the paralytic, “Have courage, son, your sins are forgiven.”

3 At this, some of the scribes said among themselves, “He’s blaspheming! ”

4 But perceiving their thoughts, Jesus said, “Why are you thinking evil things in your hearts? 5 For which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? 6 But so you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” — then He told the paralytic, “Get up, pick up your mat, and go home.”

7 And he got up and went home.” – Matthew 9:2-7, HCSB

THAT’s a mic-drop moment.

To participate in this discussion, comment below.

Or if you are on the SHSU campus this spring (2017), come discuss this book with our Ratio Christi at SHSU chapter that meets Fridays at Noon in LSC 307. Bring your lunch and feed your soul.

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A Non-objective Objection – Chapter 4

30 Monday Jan 2017

Posted by in Campus Apologetics, Reality Blog

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Most agree the world is not as (we think) it should be. Something is broken. If God exists, was he powerless to keep it from being broken?

Greg uses a concise illustration.

“When the trains are running on schedule, it’s likely because the person at the switchboard is doing his job. But when things consistently go awry, it’s reasonable to ask if anyone is minding the controls at all.” P 35.

I like this analogy because I have seen the Fort Worth Train Yard.

clip-ftworthtrainyard

Fort Worth Train Yard by Linda Ungar (http://fineartamerica.com/featured/fort-worth-trainyards-linda-unger.html )

But maybe trains are far from your experience. So let’s use another analogy.

“When the Texas Longhorn Football Team is undefeated and in the running for a National Championship, it’s likely because the Head Coach is doing his job. But when things consistently go awry with the typically excellent players recruited by The University, it’s reasonable to ask if anyone is minding the playbook, organizing the practices, or preparing the team at all.

In fact, this thought can be generalized:

When _something “good” happens_, it’s likely because _the person in charge_ is doing what I think should be done. But when _something “bad” happens_, it’s reasonable to ask _if anyone’s in charge, or if someone’s in charge, why they don’t care_?

This is one place where skeptics know some Christian doctrine. They know that the Bible teaches that God is good. They also know that the Bible teaches that God is omnipotent (all powerful). They often claim the existence of moral and natural evil (a broken world) exposes an inconsistency:

  • A good God would not allow the world “to break”.
  • A powerful God could stop the breaking of His world.

What is interesting in this objection is the fact that upon atheism, there is no objective definition of “good”, “evil”, “broken” or “unbroken” worlds. The world just “IS”.

“The total amount of suffering per year in the natural world is beyond all decent contemplation. During the minute that it takes me to compose this sentence, thousands of animals are being eaten alive, many others are running for their lives, whimpering with fear, others are slowly being devoured from within by rasping parasites, thousands of all kinds are dying of starvation, thirst, and disease. It must be so. If there ever is a time of plenty, this very fact will automatically lead to an increase in the population until the natural state of starvation and misery is restored. In a universe of electrons and selfish genes, blind physical forces and genetic replication, some people are going to get hurt, other people are going to get lucky, and you won’t find any rhyme or reason in it, nor any justice. The universe that we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil, no good, nothing but pitiless indifference.”― Richard Dawkins, River Out of Eden: A Darwinian View of Life

If there is no suffering, no fear, no reason, no justice, no design, no purpose, no evil,  and no good, then there is absolutely nothing to complain about.

In atheism, these categories have no true meaning if we are just bags of bones and chemicals.

However, we know deep down that suffering exists, that things really ARE broken, and that things really SHOULD be different, better, and “fixed”. The Christian story of reality contains reasons for this state of affairs without eliminating God’s goodness or limiting His power.

The Christian story tells how WE rebelled. WE and our ancestors consistently rejected the proper order for our own selfish goals. What a mess it has made.

You see, God is not responsible for the evil in the world. We are.

We also complain about God not doing anything about it. But He has. We will learn about His solution as we proceed through the book.

For a short version of God’s solution watch this excellent video. Is God good?

clip-isgodgood

To participate in this discussion, comment below.

Or if you are on the SHSU campus this spring (2017), come discuss this book with our Ratio Christi at SHSU chapter that meets Fridays at Noon in LSC 307. Bring your lunch and feed your soul.

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Time, Distance, Shielding

21 Saturday Jan 2017

Posted by in Grief, Death, and Dying

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[copied from Rallyhood 1/21/2017 – on the passing of Kenneth Brown]

When working with nuclear weapons, nuclear reactors, or even medical X-rays, there is a guiding principle that will keep you alive. You are to keep your exposure “As Low As Reasonably Achievable (ALARA) with three tools:

  • Time – Spend as little time as possible with the radiation source.
  • Distance – Keep your distance from the source of radiation.
  • Shielding – Protect yourself with a shield.

We have spent most of the last year interacting with each other on this Rallyhood site dedicated to the wonderful life of Ken Brown. We have encouraged Patti and have received encouragement from Patti, Ken, and each other.

Many have mentioned their amazement at Patti and Ken’s strength in all of this. However, when you compliment their strength to them, they seem to demur. Why?

I’m not privy to their inner thoughts, but it is likely because they see their inner struggles. But I also know that they are aware of this important fact:

Their strength stems from their shielding, not from their self-made inner fortitude.

[Ephesians 6:16 ESV] 16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one;

Today is the celebration service for Ken in Austin. I am looking forward to meeting more of his colleagues in the UT Business School, his neighbors, and many of you face to face rather than over the Internet.

We will share great stories and memories and it will be wonderful and subtly melancholy. I have one story though that I want to share in writing so that all may read it and gain comfort by it.

I had the privilege of visiting with Ken a day or two before he and Patti entered hospice care.

Without going into too many medical details, Ken had lost the ability to speak and swallow. Antibiotics were keeping pneumonia at bay. Without the ability to speak we were worried that Ken would not be able to communicate any worries to us if we made the decision to enter hospice care.

It was decided that I would visit with Ken. I was to explain to him what was going on with his swallowing. I wanted to walk him through the next steps. And I wanted very much for him to communicate back to me that he understood.

Using all the information from Dr. Annapureddi, Patti, and the nurses, I let Ken know that he would become more and more sleepy as his breathing became less and less efficient. I let him know that this was not going to be painful or distressful. And then knowing Ken’s faith, I said that in a few days he was going to go to sleep and wake up with Jesus.

Words can’t contain the emotional impact of staring your brother in the eye while you say these things.

I still needed to know if he understood, and most importantly for Patti and all of us, if he was ready.

So I said, “If you are ready, please squeeze my hand”.

I was worried that I would confuse a tremor for a squeeze. I did not want to pass on to Patti a tentative signal, and I did not want to be tempted to say it was a clear signal when it wasn’t.

Ken left no doubt. I was holding his left hand, and he reached over with his right hand. He grabbed my arm and squeezed as hard as he could.

We blinked a knowing blink at each other, and then we hugged for a long time.

Ken’s “shield of faith” was strong and we are right to have hope.

We saw a similar faith and hope on display when King David lost a child.

[2 Samuel 12:21-23 HCSB] 21 His servants asked him, “What did you just do? While the baby was alive, you fasted and wept, but when he died, you got up and ate food.”  22 He answered, “While the baby was alive, I fasted and wept because I thought, ‘Who knows? The LORD may be gracious to me and let him live.’ 23 But now that he is dead, why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I’ll go to him, but he will never return to me.”

“I will go to him” – that is the hope we have in Christ.

Teaching on a secular campus, I am sensitive to the discomfort that “Bible talk” can cause. To use the radiation analogy, some people spend as little time with it and like to keep their distance from it if possible.

(If this is you, please keep reading out of curiosity if nothing else.)

The Bible can be confusing, especially if one has a culturally-confused view of God as a grumpy tyrant watching your every move in order to kill you if you step out of line.

Let me ask you to place a different vision in your mind – one where God’s holiness shines like the sun.

The Sun is a furnace of nuclear fusion. You can’t get near it without suffering a lethal dose of radiation.

All of the troubling verses and the great themes of the Bible make sense in light of this analogy. God is holy. You are not, and you know it. That is why you protect yourself with ALARA. Remember:

  • Time – Spend as little time as possible with God – the source of holiness
  • Distance – Keep your distance from God
  • Shielding – Protect yourself with a shield.

Notice shielding is the only way to get close to a radiation source, and it is the only way to get close to God. But what is shielding in this spiritual context?

 

We don’t have to keep our DISTANCE from God’s holiness, or minimize our TIME interacting with a holy God, because Jesus Christ is our SHIELDING, protecting us in the presence of holiness.

[Galatians 3:27 ESV] 27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

Like a lead blanket in the dentist’s chair.

[Romans 13:12-14 ESV] 12 The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. 13 Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. 14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

Who is this Jesus? (External evidence for his life.)

[John 1:1-14 ESV] 9 The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. … 16 … from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

In the context of our analogy, this grace John speaks of is the shielding. Christ’s holiness surrounds us, protects us, and over time changes us – covering our sin and making us holy. We may now spend all our TIME at zero DISTANCE from God thanks to the SHIELDING holiness of Christ.

Ken has this shielding, and he is experiencing the indescribable holiness of God. It is my deepest desire that we (including you) would join him.

By God’s grace,

Darren

My thoughts on the impact of Ken’s life and death: Double Bounce

Reality Blog – Cemented Faith (Chapters 3 and 5)

04 Wednesday Jan 2017

Posted by in Campus Apologetics, Reality Blog

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7882810002_large

My sweet ride in 1984.

Regarding Stories – True or False – Fact or Fantasy

Out of school early with my own driver’s license and a car. Sure, I was headed to a doctor’s appointment for my sprained ankle, but the point was the sense of freedom I felt driving myself around. Two months of solo driving and the thrill had not worn off.

Safety was always a big deal with me. I thought of taking Long Ave, but the turn onto 199 was not a protected left. So I stayed on River Oaks Blvd. It was a big and safe intersection with two protected left turn lanes. I was in the leftmost one in the front of the line.

Green arrow, let’s go. I pulled out at a moderate pace and noticed an enormous cement truck crossing the white line in the oncoming lane. I slammed the brake pedal to the floor causing my car to quickly stop. Then, I realized that stopping wasn’t going to help. I was in his path, and he was still headed my way.

Notice, the beginning of this story.

I didn’t start it with “Once upon a time” or “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…”. No, I am writing this story in a deliberate manner to convey that it is a real life, true, and actual occurrence in my life. It is fact, not fantasy. It happened in November 1984. I can’t remember the exact day, but I bet my mom and dad can.

Stories can be true or false, fact or fantasy. This is an ongoing blog series on Greg Koukl’s book, “The Story of Reality”. Get the book. Begin at Part 1. And participate in the discussion by posting comments on the various posts.

When you first read Greg’s title, “The Story of Reality”, what did you think of it? Did you automatically put it in the category of fiction or fantasy? Answer below in the comments so we can discuss it. (Remember, this is asynchronous interaction, so don’t worry about being late to the party. These internet discussions do not have any preset time limit.)

Back to my 1973 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme.

I knew I was stopped. I knew the cement truck was not. I knew it was massive. I knew this was the end.

So I relaxed.

What? How could someone relax in a situation like that?

I simply thought, “Hey, I’m outta here. I’m dead, and now I’m free, headed heavenward. No more basketball practice with Coach John Doe*. Jesus, here I come.”

I didn’t feel anything. I’m sure I got bounced around violently. I had a rectangular knot on my forehead from the rearview mirror, and my hip bent the gearshift. But after the car stopped spinning around, I opened my eyes to smoke, steam, and a destroyed windshield. The cement truck had crushed my car from the right-front headlight to the driver’s side door.

Funny, my first thought was “Crud, I’m still here.” Even funnier was my second thought, “Hey I better get out of this wreck before it blows up.” I was imagining a Hollywood style conflagration.

The door opened and dragged against the pavement. I hobbled over to the curb to sit down. Sadness ensued as I looked at my car all destroyed and smoking. I was sparkling Edward-Cullen-style with pulverized glass from the windshield.

Hours and seventeen X-rays later it was determined that I did not have a single broken bone or laceration. To play it safe, the doctors told mom to wake me every two hours because of a possible concussion. It didn’t sink in how severe the wreck was until I overheard mom reading police reports from eyewitnesses.

The woman in a car immediately behind me said, “After the explosion, I got out of my car to pull the body from the wreckage.”

The body! She thought I was “a dead body”.

Strangely, it was then that I started crying. I sobbed. It was her perspective that alerted me to the severity of the wreck that I survived.

All because I relaxed.

What are my intentions in telling you this true story?

It is NOT to brag about strong faith. I didn’t have to exert any strength or psych up extra courage.

It is NOT to make a claim that my experience proves God is real, heaven is real, or fear of death makes one weak.

My intentions are:

  1. To get you to consider how life-changing a TRUE story can be.
  2. To illustrate how being convinced is actually effortless.

Being raised in the church (specifically Saint Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Fort Worth, TX), there were ample opportunities to “make my faith my own.” I did that in 5th grade when I read the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), and thought to myself, “uh-oh. I don’t stack up too well. Jesus forgive me.” That conviction was a gift, and being convinced of my lack took no effort on my part. (John 16:8-11)

Life has ups and downs and so does behavior. I was not an angel. I am deeply sorry for the horrible ways I treated some of my classmates and teachers. (If you remember, please forgive me.)

Back to the cement truck story.

It is a FACT that I relaxed. It is a FACT that my first thought was one of relief when considering my eternal destiny. This TRUE story affects me even today.

I do still fear airplane crashes, head-on collisions, and other painful ways of leaving this material world behind. But I still remember the crash of 1984. It wasn’t painful. It wasn’t scary. It was in FACT a hopeful experience.

What kind of God gives REAL peace? A REAL God?

[John 14:27 HCSB] 27 “Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Your heart must not be troubled or fearful.”

Could it be that a REAL God exists? Could it be that Jesus was unique in all of history, and that his claims were TRUE?

A REAL God requires a TRUE story.

Greg is telling that TRUE story in his book.

I hope you will read it, discuss it, and be transformed by its message.

-Darren

*I changed the name so as to not hurt the actual coach.

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