Three Basics of Gnosticism

Gnosticism gets its name from the Greek word gnosis (γνωσις), which means knowledge. Knowledge in this context refers not to the idea of propositional knowledge but something more akin to the Eastern concept of enlightenment. There are three basic premises of Gnosticism:

1. Dualism of Matter and Soul

Like Christianity, Gnosticism teaches that reality is both material and spiritual. Unlike Christianity, it teaches that spiritual reality is inherently good, while material things are inherently evil. Human souls are holy, but they are trapped inside a corrupt body. Through accessing secret knowledge, one can free oneself from the limitations of matter and bring out one’s own capacity for divinity.

2. A Transcendent God vs. an Ignorant Creator

The Gnostics believed in an unknowable, transcendent God who is the Father of Jesus, but they did not equate Him with the Old Testament Creator. They saw the creator-god of the Old Testament as inept and hateful, and they blamed him for creating a flawed physical universe. The Gospel of Phillip goes so far as to say, "the world came about through a mistake. For he who created it wanted to create it imperishable and immortal. He fell short of attaining his desire.” Certainly, this view of God is not just unorthodox, but blasphemous.

3. Christ as Immaterial Teacher

Since the Gnostics rejected the idea that God was knowable and that God could take physical form, their idea of who Jesus was and why He came was very different than that of the first Christians. Rather than being the incarnation of God who came to redeem mankind from sin and make the Father known, they believed He was an apparition who taught mystical secret knowledge to His followers to help them free themselves from ignorance. He did not actually suffer and die, but only appeared to do so. The Gospel of Thomas removes 114 sayings attributed to Jesus from any narrative or space-time context and includes vague, metaphysical statements not recorded in the canonical gospels.

Clearly, the fundamentals of Gnosticism are at odds with the basics of historical Christianity. The Gnostic gospels do not paint an accurate picture of God, Jesus’s nature and purpose, and the meaning of redemption. Next week, we’ll examine the Gnostic gospels themselves: are they gospels at all?

Works consulted/ For more information

Introduction to the History of Christianity, ed. Tim Dowley

“Gnosticism and the Gnostic Jesus,” and “The Gnostic Gospels: Are They Authentic?” by Douglas Groothius

Giving an Answer for Hope

When you first heard someone explain apologetics, you probably heard 1 Peter 3:15. It’s something of a theme verse for apologists:

“But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect”. 

Giving an answer includes dozens of topics, from the historical accuracy of the Bible, to science manifesting design, to the nature of Christ. And not only are these many topics worth understanding and communicating, they all are part of giving an answer—not for why someone else is wrong or even just why faith in Jesus is logical, but why we have hope.

You see, the world outside the Way desperately wants hope. People search for it, and many even claim to have found it. Science will unlock the future. A political movement will finally bring prosperity and justice. An educated and enlightened human nature will overcome our baser instincts. Messiah will restore Israel. The Twelfth Imam will rule a peaceful Muslim empire. We will escape the painful cycle of birth, life, and death. The Overman will lead humanity to transcend itself.

Every worldview I’ve ever come into contact with believes that something is wrong, that things are not as they should be. And almost every worldview believes that there is a way for things to get better and wrongs to be rectified.

So why is the Christian explanation of the worlds’ problems and solution more worth buying into than the explanation anyone else offers? This is one of the best questions we can ask ourselves before sharing our faith.

Now, I could just offer an answer, but we’re all critical thinkers here, and every Christian should have the privilege of taking ownership of their belief system. I will tell you that I’ve found 1 Corinthians 15 an excellent place to start. It explains the gospel and its reality in space-time history, explains what exactly we’re hoping for, points out what life would be like if we didn’t have hope, and directs us in what to do when we know we have hope. 

Here are more questions to consider:

• How is the Biblical explanation of the fall and sin a more reasonable explanation of reality than that of other world religions?

• Some people believe that humans are basically good and that society will improve as we progress as a species. What evidence might they use as support? What evidence does not support this claim?

• How would your life be different if tomorrow archaeologists discovered what they confirmed to be the body of Jesus? Would you try to find or create the meaning of your life?

• What sins and grey-area activities would you indulge in if you knew there was no God? Do you think that lifestyle would make you happy, if you knew all guilt was fake?

• Does having hope mean that you will always be optimistic about the future?  Is it sinful to feel hopeless, or is it an understandable human emotion even for a believer?

• How do most people in your community regard death? Is this a reasonable attitude based upon the prevalent ideas?

• What great things would you attempt for God if you knew you would succeed? Is this the same as “knowing in the Lord your labor is not in vain”? 

Francis Schaeffer: Redefining Apologetics

"We have a responsibility to communicate the gospel to our generation.

Christian apologetics is not like living in a castle with the drawbridge up and occasionally tossing a stone over the walls. It is not to be based on a citadel mentality -- sitting inside and saying, "You cannot reach me here." If the Christian adopts this attitude, either in theory or practice, his contacts with those who have accepted twentieth-century thought [the postmodern division between reason and faith] will stop. Apologetics should not merely be an academic subject, a new kind of scholasticism. it should be thought out and practiced in the rough and tumble of living contact with the present generation...

No one can become a Christian unless he understands what Christianity is saying. Many pastors, missionaries and Christian teachers seem to be helpless as they try to speak to the educated people and the mass of people about them. They do not seem to face the fact that it is our task to speak to our generation; the past has gone, the future is not yet here. So the positive side of apologetics is the communication of the gospel to the present generation in terms that they can understand.

The purpose of 'apologetics'  is not just to win an argument or a discussion, but that the people with whom we are in contact may become Christians and then live under the Lordship of Christ in the whole spectrum of life."

(Francis Schaeffer, The God Who Is There. 1968. Italics in original.)

By this argument, the traditional definition of apologetics as "defending the faith" is inadequate. Is this idea closer to the Biblical idea of advancing the Kingdom, rather than merely protecting the church from our spiritual enemies and the corrupted world? Or should we keep the familiar definition and give this process a new name?

Historical Records of Jesus

Dr. Craig S. Keener, professor of New Testament Studies at Ashbury Theological Seminary, wrote an informative article about historical records of Jesus and published it in the religion section of the Huffington Post’s blog. It looks like a great place to start looking for original sources about the historical existence of Jesus, and it’s an outside source in its own right. I can't vouch for all of his theology, but this article is pretty solid.

Happy researching!

Craig S.Keener: Jesus Existed

#YOLO

If you’ve been on facebook much or on Twitter at all this summer, you’ve probably become familiar with the #YOLO trend. YOLO stands for You Only Live Once, and it’s usually tacked onto the end of a statement about the poster doing something unusual, risky, or just plain silly.

While staying fun and casual, #YOLO is quite a metaphysical claim. Several worldviews have something to say about that.

#YOLOATSE: You Only Live Once And Then Stop Existing

If there is no God and no supernatural, humans are stuck in a world void of purpose and moral obligations. This gives us two options: either we’re basically animals subject to an impersonal universe and our own biology, or we’re capable of creating our own meaning, destiny, and identity.

The first option is naturalism. If it’s true, “let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die,” and we might as well find sensual pleasure in the material world before we plunge into oblivion. Our desires and choices come from our DNA and our environment; we don’t really have control over our lives.

The second option is secular existentialism. Existentialism means that you exist before you know who you are and what life is really all about. In SE, you have no inherent purpose or destiny, so you make them up. You authenticate your existence by acts of the will, choices that make you who you are. If there is no God, you take the place of God in your own life.

If SE is true, #YOLO is the perfect response. The more choices and experiences you create, the more meaningful your existence is.

#YOLOAOAO: You Only Live Over And Over And Over

Eastern religions hold to pantheism, a belief system in which reality is primarily spiritual and everything is part of a divine Universal. Hinduism and Buddhism teach that human souls are reborn many times into different bodies as they progress towards unification with the Universal. This way of thinking was resurrected (reincarnated?) in 19^th-century Romanticism and the recent New Age movement.

To become one with the Universal, which in modern versions often includes discovering that you are Divine yourself, pantheism encourages meditation, becoming more “in touch” with nature, treating animals and humans with kindness (Hinduism makes an exception for "untouchables", sadly), and various spiritual rituals.

#YOLOF: You Only Live Once—Forever

Theism teaches that human souls live on after death and are either rewarded or punished based on actions done in the body. The only way to avoid a sucky eternity is to find favor with God or the gods.

Notice that I’m not to Christianity just yet. Theism has been dominant for most of human history. The Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, and Norsemen tried to please their gods with sacrifice, displays of courage, and good works; Muslims try to keep the Five Pillars to please Allah; and Jews have tried to please God by keeping the Mosaic Law and traditional regulations and by celebrating holy days. Theists tend to take #YOLOF pretty seriously.

As Christians, we believe that we find favor with God by faith; believing God means taking on His righteousness. This is possible because God’s Son, Jesus, found favor with His Father while taking on a human nature. In Jesus’ substitutionary death, God attributed human sin to Jesus and attributed Jesus’ righteousness and favor to anyone who believes.

While faith determines where you spend eternity, God has commanded us to spread the good news and to do good works in the short mortal lives we have now. Believers will not face condemnation, but we will be judged nonetheless.

#YOLOF, but for now, #YOLO. Make it count! 

Stand Out with Memorable Scripture

Some Bible verses come up almost every speech in a round, depending on the category and region. Soon the speeches all start to sound alike (especially in Category IV). Most of us memorized these familiar passages in AWANA or Sunday School, and you know your judges have heard them before. 

Nothing is wrong with these verses; they're just overused. Standing out from the competition is crucial to moving up in the ranks, so why use the same scripture as everyone else? At the same time, you have to support your points with Biblical evidence. 

I invite you to get creative with what Bible passages you cite, and I’ve made a list to get you started. I haven’t included the verse texts because it’s up to you what version you wish to use.

Category IV

Instead of John 3:16 and Romans 6:23, try 1 John 4:9-10.

Instead of Ephesians 2:8-9, try Galatians 2:16, Titus 3:5 (or verses 3-7 in context), or 2 Timothy 1:9-10.

Instead of Romans 5:8, try 1 Peter 3:18.

Also consider Galatians 4:3-5 and Acts 10:38-43.

Category V

Instead of John 14:6, try 1 John 5:11-12 and 20.

Also consider 1 Corinthians 1:30 and Hebrews 2:14 & 17.

Category II

Instead of 2 Timothy 3:16, try Proverbs 30:6.

Also consider Isaiah 45:19 and Numbers 23:19.

Category III

Instead of Romans 3:23, try Romans 5:12, Psalms 14:2-3, or Ecclesiastes 7:20.

Is there another overused verse in your region that you think should be substituted? Found a helpful passage you’d like to share? Post a comment!

5 Launching Pads for Stellar Content

Do you ever feel like you’re having a hard time getting your research off the ground? Here are five starting points for content that’s out of this world.

1. Yourself

If you’re a Christian, you certainly know the gospel, and probably much more if you grew up in church.  

As the light of the world, Christians ought to have internalized enough of our faith to understand and explain it in our own words while conversing with an unbeliever. As professional, credible speakers, we hold to higher standards of academic integrity than we do in everyday conversations, of course. An informal, working knowledge may not be enough, but it’s a great start.

You’re also your own launching pad because you have unique life experiences and stories that no other speaker could contribute. Perhaps you used to believe one of the statements for analysis, and then God corrected your thinking. Maybe learning the meaning of a term was a breakthrough for you in understanding the gospel. It’s your speech, so make it truly yours.

2. Books

Books are fantastic, and since theology doesn’t change, you don’t have to worry about your sources being outdated. Church libraries are the best; you can also borrow books from club members and friends. Wait to buy a book until you know it’s the one you want.

A. Systematic Theologies

Most of these are really thick books, and some can feel dry and dense. Keep reading, though—they tend to be solid and very beneficial. This year I discovered Foundations of the Christian Faith by James Montgomery Boice, and I wish I had had it during my time in NCFCA.

B. Bible Dictionaries and Encyclopedias

Okay, we know that explaining the meaning and significance of something is way more than just defining it. Still, reading a definition in a speech improves credibility and clarity, and it earns you points for outside sources. Bible dictionaries and encyclopedias are also beneficial in expanding and crystalizing your own knowledge base.

C. Books Specifically for Apologetics

Lucky for us, real-life apologists write books to persuade unbelievers or equip Christians to do so. My favorite is C.S. Lewis’ classic Mere Christianity; two other excellent examples are Lee Strobel’s The Case for Christ and Josh McDowell’s Evidence that Demands a Verdict. These cover a variety of topics and are interesting.

D. Books on Specific Topics

Apologists, theologians, pastors, and philosophers have written hundreds of books dealing with subjects relevant to our speech topics. Just make sure you know the author’s positions before you believe or cite him. I like The Knowledge of the Holy by A.W Tozer for Category I and W.A. Criswell’s Why I Preach that the Bible is Literally True for Category II. Ravi Zacharias has several helpful gems dealing with other worldviews.

3. Pastors and Church Leaders

Seriously, what pastor or youth pastor wouldn’t want to talk with a curious student about a specific Bible-related question? Be courteous and schedule a meeting (with a time limit) in advance. Remember to ask where to find more information, since you need outside sources. If you’re really polite, you might score a killer speech AND a community judge!

4. The Internet

No matter how instinctive it is to pull up Google whenever we need information, researching on the internet isn’t your best option. The most important tip is to know what makes the author a trustworthy expert. As in debate, the only excuses for being on Wikipedia are mining it for real sources or checking an author’s bio.

Still, there is a lot of helpful information, if you’re willing to search for it. You can also use the internet to read from non-Christian sources for free. For instance, you may not want to support Richard Dawkins by paying for one of his books, but you can access his website to learn about atheism and naturalism from the perspective of their proponents.

5. Unexpected Places

Everyday life is full of tidbits to incorporate. Listening to a sermon? Take good notes! Having your quiet time? Ask God to teach you as you read, and you’re certain to run into something for competition as you seek God in His Word. Reading the news? Listening to music? Watching a movie? Guess which worldviews are at play. Reading literature? Look for analogies and illustrations.

The great thing about apologetics is that it deals with real-life questions about real-life issues. Ideas are everywhere people are. We know that competitive apol is supposed to help with real apologetics, but can I tell you a secret?

It works the other way, too.

Some of my best speeches used stories of actual people with whom I’ve shared the gospel or talked about spiritual matters. Seriously, go interact with unbelievers and have the courage and compassion to bring up the best news you could ever give them.

With these five launching pads, you’ll be well on your way to speaking with stellar content. Take to the sky, and remember to have a blast along the way. 

When Mountains Make a Splash: What is Faith? Pt. 4

[Continued from Part Three. Start the series with Part One.] 

H: Holds Great Power

While we’ve already seen that faith isn’t a magic formula, faith that is grounded in God’s character holds tremendous power. Jesus told many people He healed that their faith had healed them (Mark 5:34, for instance). He also said directly that faith was a catalyst for miracles:

“Have faith in God. Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” (Mark 11:22-24) 

As cool as it sounds, this is really hard to do. Sure I think God can throw mountains into the sea, but if I saw it happen, I would be surprised and amazed. I might even have a hard time believing my eyes. Note too that this promise isn’t a blank check for those who ask for the wrong reasons. 

This opportunity also comes with a warning: with faith, all things are possible; without faith, God will limit His activity and we may miss out on some blessings. This happened during Jesus’ ministry when He travelled to His hometown. The Nazarenes still saw Jesus as just an ordinary person and didn’t think He could do much. Unfortunately for all but a few people, while He was there, He fulfilled their low expectations. 

Faith holds great power because God holds all power. Yet how easy it is to forget this! Think of the last time you shared prayer requests in a group. I’m guessing you heard of a few relatives in the hospital, some people in rough situations like breakups or unemployment, and maybe the infamous imagination-sparking “unspoken”. When you prayed, how confident was the group that the next time you met, those people would be healed and those situations miraculously resolved? I want to inspire you to talk to God to change lives, not to go through motions or prove to yourself that you care. And after you pray, take practical action (like we talked about in Pt. 3) and let God use you to answer your own request.

So, what is faith? We’ve seen that it’s a decision to believe truth about God, not an excuse for avoiding facts. We’ve also seen that faith is

Focused on God,

Always Reasonable,

Involves Action,

Takes Courage, and

Holds Great Power.

Believer, take confidence in the God who has the authority and power to do anything He wants. Be bold in asking and even expecting Him to use this power—He’s already promised it! And don’t be surprised when He moves mountains.  

4-Point Refutation in Apologetics

When starting out, it's easy to fill a speech with assertions, conclusions, and support willy-nilly. Things get more complicated when you address claims you don't believe. However, there is an orderly way to refute an idea with which you disagree. Debaters should recognize this format, and even non-debaters will find it simple to understand and use.

Point 1: Identify. While you won’t hear “Contention 3” or “Disadvantage 24”, most General Questions and Statements hide assumptions that you can expose to the judges. For instance, topic III.B.7, “Why would a loving God create hell?” implies that God must not be loving because condemning anyone to hell is cruel. Identifying the assumption behind the question increases your credibility and clarifies your speech.

Point 2: Tag. A “tag” is a summary of your point, short enough for the judge to quickly write down. Fortunately, writing space on an IE ballot is way bigger than those tiny columns on a debate flow! Still, keep it concise and very clear. A tag might be something like, “Hell is a just punishment for sin,” or “God loves by giving sinners what they want.”

Point 3: Support. Don’t just make claims; give the judges a reason to prefer your point over your opponent’s, even theoretical ones. Debaters are rated on their use of evidence or support, and guess what? So are you! In fact, that’s the first thing the judges rate you on after stating and adhering to the topic. (You can download an NCFCA Apologetics ballot here.) It is crucial to include scripture and outside sources, and even more crucial that your support actually strengthens your claims.

Furthermore, speakers too often neglect to cite sources. If you read a statistic, state the year the study was done and what organization performed the research, at the very least. There’s no rule requiring it, but it shows credibility and academic integrity, as well as helping the audience find the information later to share with unbelievers.

Be specific with quotations. Instead of saying, “the Bible says that,” or “as the apostle Paul wrote,” cite the reference if you can. And instead of “C.S. Lewis once said something like,” try “C.S. Lewis wrote in chapter 5 of Mere Christianity,” and read the quotation verbatim.

You don’t have an opponent across the table now, but be ready to dialogue with the many people who disagree with Christianity. Document your support just as carefully as you would for a debate round.

Point 4: Impact. Impacting is showing why your point matters to the judge. Often overlooked, this step can make your speech more personal and memorable. This is different from explaining the meaning and significance of a term in that it focuses on the significance of a particular point you’ve introduced, not an entire theological concept chosen for you to explain.

If you’ve never used 4-point refutation in apologetics, give it a try! Practice using it in your debate rounds, too, if you don’t already. Whenever you’re refuting an idea, this simple format is a recipe for clarity, organization, and solid communication. 

Best Wishes!

Wow! Nationals is finally here! Are you ready?

I'm guessing that if you're competing this week, you probably don't feel ready. That's okay. There's always more you "coulda, woulda, shoulda done" to prepare. Your job now is to go in and give the best speech you can with what you have.

Before you start competing, I invite you to take a moment and consider, What do I want to remember after this week is over? Ask God how you can use the week for His glory. Spend some meaningful time in prayer.

I know it's cliche for me as an alum to tell you to be a great friend and focus on people more than trophies, but we alumni say that because it's true. You can make memories with your friends and meet new people while you aren't competing and still excel when you walk in front of the judges. You can't ignore everyone else to obsess over competition and still expect to make memories worth reminiscing about. (That doesn't mean you can stay out all night partying while you're still in the running or be late for a speech because you get into a fun conversation, of course!)

If you're at Nationals but didn't make it in Apologetics this year, why not take advantage of the opportunity and watch a round or two? Take notes and use what you observe to improve your own speaking.

Even if you're somewhere else this week, you probably have friends and fellow club members competing in various events. Take a moment and pray for them, and send encouraging messages. If you aren't sure what to pray about, think of what you would want someone else to ask God if you were the one competing. I can say from experience that it means a lot to know that the rest of the region back home is supporting you.

Love God, love people, keep priorities straight, and no matter where you are, have a great week!

Keep the 10 Commandments? In Your Dreams!

Over spring break my freshman year, I went with my youth group on a missions trip to the Dominican Republic. Many Dominicans hold to a form of Catholicism centered on ritual, religious tradition, and family heritage. There we met a woman who insisted she didn’t need salvation because she had kept the 10 Commandments. She told us that Jesus had appeared to her in a dream and revealed that this was why she would be welcomed into Heaven.

When a leader told her that no one can keep the 10 Commandments, she pointed to Mark 10:17-21—

And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’” And he said to him, “Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.” And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”

But was Jesus really saying that this man had kept all the commandments? Was the implication that he had gained all the righteousness he needed except for one little thing?

This conversation in the DR  prompted me to research the topics on becoming right with God by keeping the 10 Commandments and why man needs salvation. I realized that although I knew the answers, I wasn’t prepared to explain them to someone who disagreed.

The Bible makes it clear that salvation is impossible except by faith in Jesus’ death and resurrection. Galatians 2:16 & 22 reads,

“yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified… I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.”

Other relevant scripture (horribly overused in NCFCA apol) includes Romans 3:23, Isaiah 64:6 and Ephesians 2:8-9, though Romans 3:20-28 as a whole (long!) passage could work in competition. No one can be justified (made right with God) by keeping commandments, and even if they could, no one can keep the commandments anyway. 

The real Jesus, the God of the Bible, might speak tongue-in-cheek to a self-righteous snob, but He would never tell someone that they had earned Heaven. Breaking any law set by an infinitely holy God means an infinite debt. No finite good works can make it up. Instead, we need a transfer of infinite righteousness. The only one who can give that is God Himself. Aren’t you thankful He offers it? 

How to Print Index Cards

Why handwrite your apologetics cards when you can just type and print them? Here’s how. 

Pictures were taken with Windows' snipping tool and a Nikon Coolpix S6000 and show Microsoft Office Word 2010, 3x5 cards (no longer permitted for NCFCA competition), and a Lexmark Pinnacle Pro901.

1. Format Your Document. Open Microsoft Word and click on the “Page Layout” tab. Set your paper size to 4x6. Adjust the margins if necessary. If you like, you can also change the orientation from portrait to landscape, turning it sideways. When you’re ready, type the content of your card.

2. Prepare Your Printer. Open your printer’s paper tray and remove any letter-size paper. Place two or three index cards in it, with the narrow ends facing the printer’s paper feed. Look for the adjustable arm in the paper tray and slide it towards the cards until it is just touching them. How this looks will vary among printers; this Lexmark is symmetrical, but other printers may have one arm that slides the cards to one side.

3. Verify Print Settings. When you’re ready to print, make sure that the printer is on the settings you want and that the print preview looks correct. You also might want to print a practice card first; that way you can make sure the alignment is correct and you’re printing on the blank side of the cards instead of the lined side.

4. Print and Enjoy! I assume you aren’t doing this as your parents throw your suitcase in the family homeschool bus and drag you out the door (because none of us have ever waited until minutes before we left for a tournament to print scripts, submission forms, cases and briefs, or anything like that, right?). If that’s the case, this would be a great time to practice the speech(es) you just prepared. Why wait? Grab a Bible and timepiece, and have fun persuading imaginary judges and kicking imaginary competitors’ butts… in a loving, Christian way, of course.  

Found this helpful? Share it with other NCFCA speakers and coaches! 

World War 0: Resentment and Reconciliation

We Christians seem ready to acknowledge that when we were saved, we became part of a spiritual war. But did you know that we were part of a spiritual war before we were justified? The Bible teaches that before salvation we were enemies of God (Romans 5:10)  and that we were not only alienated but also hostile (Colossians 1:21-22).

Despite the persistent myth that everyone has a longing for God deep down inside, fallen humanity hates God and is at war with Him. In the context of the holiness and wrath of God, modern theologian R.C. Sproul observes:

“By nature, our attitude towards God is… a posture of malice… God is our mortal enemy. He represents the highest possible threat to our sinful desires. His repugnance to us is absolute, knowing no lesser degrees. No amount of persuasion from philosophers or theologians can induce us to love God.” (R.C. Sproul, The Holiness of God, 180-1; Emphasis in original.)

As evidence, he points to the way that humanity did treat God when He appeared in the person of Jesus, whom he calls “the supreme curve buster.” (Sproul 61). Imperfect people tend to resent those who are perfect, like the lonely student who gets the only A on the impossibly hard exam that the rest of the class failed, and God is the ultimate target of morally flawed humanity’s resentment.

Still, don’t all cultures reveal an innate impulse to worship something? God is indeed the One who “satisfies [the soul’s] desires with good things” (Psalm 103:5),but what we really long for are the benefits He gives. We want to have our guilt taken away, to feel accepted by someone greater than ourselves, to somehow escape death, etc. Yet we want those desires met without having to stand before the Judge of All the Earth whom we have offended and in whose presence we are undone.

If none desire God, how are we saved? The good news is that even though people do not desire God, God has desired people. Ephesians says of Jesus,

“For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility… that he might… reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.” (Ephesians 2:14-16)

Jesus Christ made it possible for humanity to be reconciled to His Father, and the Father draws us to His Son. A.W. Tozer wrote,

“We pursue God because, and only because, He has first put an urge within us that spurs us to the pursuit. ‘No man can come to me,’ said our Lord, ‘except the Father which hath sent me draw him,’ and it is by this prevenient drawing that God takes from us every vestige of credit for the act of coming. The impulse to pursue God originates with God.” (A.W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God, 11-2. Emphasis in original.)

God is winning the war by making peace with His enemies. Someday He will come in full force to end the war, but in the meantime, “let us draw near” to God “by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us,” “all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” (Hebrews 10:19-25) 

Eighteen Inches: Pascal's Wager and the Goodness of God

Repentance and faith aren’t just an act of the intellect; they’re an act of the will. Someone may run out of intellectual arguments against Christianity yet refuse to accept the gospel. As one pastor said, if Christianity is in your head but not your heart, you’ll miss heaven by just eighteen inches! As an apologist, what do you do next?

One useful (and overlooked) art is dialogue. Asking key questions is just as crucial as crafting arguments. Gently ask your friend what keeps them from committing to belief in God. Simply blaming stubbornness or pride isn’t helpful; it’s redundant, since asserting that someone refuses to believe because they are acting stubborn is equivalent to saying that they refuse to believe because they refuse.

One excuse may be that sin is fun and giving up everything they enjoy to obey commands and do boring “church-y” work isn’t worth it. I’ll admit that I’ve seen Christians with this attitude, too.

Not only is it illogical, it reveals a distorted view of God. Its illogic is that those seeking happiness should care more about an eternal, infinite happiness or suffering than about the temporary. In 1660, Blaise Pascal wrote an argument now known as Pascal’s Wager:

“Let us then examine this point, and say, "God is, or He is not." … A game is being played at the extremity of this infinite distance where heads or tails will turn up. What will you wager?... you must of necessity choose. This is one point settled. But your happiness? Let us weigh the gain and the loss in wagering that God is. Let us estimate these two chances. If you gain, you gain all; if you lose, you lose nothing. Wager, then, without hesitation that He is.” (Blaise Pascal, Pensees, section 1, paragraghs 233-241) 

In contrast, if you live like the God of the Bible does not exist, you may gain limited pleasure if He doesn't, but you may also suffer infinite pain in Hell if He does. Note that this only works for those who are already intellectually accepting of the gospel. Don't use it to be a super-villain to those who reject the possibility out of hand. 

The belief that earthly pleasure is a reason to reject the gospel also reveals a false view of God.  Jesus told his disciples in the Sermon on the Mount that 

“[E]veryone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” (Matthew 7:8-11) 

God is a generous father, not a grumpy kill-joy looking to steal our fun. God help us to recognize that good pleasure is the kind that doesn’t lead to emptiness and self-destruction. Moreover, great pleasure is knowing God Himself. If that doesn’t seem exciting, you have no idea what you’re missing! 

“Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!” (Psalm 34:8) 

Big Beliefs Mean Bold Action: What Is Faith? Pt. 3

[Continued from Part 2]

I: Involves Action

In the last two articles in this series, we’ve established that faith isn't a feeling or a sense of optimism. The Bible clearly teaches justification by faith and not works (Ephesians 2:8-9). Still, we all know that ideas have consequences. Beliefs determine behavior. If you believe that you can please God with your own righteousness, you’ll try to get into heaven by doing good works. If you truly believe that Jesus is Lord, God’s promised Messiah raised from the dead, you will begin to act in accordance with His lordship over your life.

This principle is how Scripture can say both that “one is justified by faith apart from works” and that “faith apart from works is dead.” (Romans3:28, James 2:26) One version of the law of non-contradiction states that “It is impossible for the same thing to belong and not to belong at the same time to the same thing and in the same respect.” (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, emphasis mine) Since Paul and James are talking about different kinds of works, there is no contradiction.

The passage in James mentions Rahab, the prostitute who helped the Israelite spies when they came to Jericho. (Read the story in Joshua 2!) She told the men that the entire city had heard about the Lord’s miracles and was afraid. So why was she saved when the rest of the city was destroyed? Her actions proved that she believed that God would follow through with His promise to give the Israelites the land. Her faith was not an abstract fantasy; it involved taking bold action.

T: Takes Courage

Not only does faith require action; it sometimes requires bold, risky action. Hebrews 10 pits fear and faith as opposites: “But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.” (Hebrews 10:39) 

The next chapter tells of saints who did outrageous and even impossible things through faith. For some, God came through with impossible miracles in their lifetime, such as Noah, Moses’ parents, and Rahab. Yet many of them, as both verses 13-6 and 35-40 point out, actually suffered for their courageous faith and weren’t rewarded—at least not yet.

It takes courage to give everything for an unseen future. Martyred missionary Jim Eliot is often quoted as saying, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” When God makes promises, He keeps them. God does reward those who seek Him, and He has prepared a much better city for us. Yet that doesn't exempt believers from suffering in the meantime.

So believer, don’t be afraid to take action based on God's truth and promises. Whether you see people raised from death or you face death yourself, know that you were created for an eternal country of glory, and keep “looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith.” (Hebrews 12:2)

And the plot thickens... take a shortcut to the conclusion in Part Four!

Being a Winner

When you think of winning in apologetics, what comes to mind?

Maybe you’re focused on winning in competition. You have your eyes set on the medals and trophies at the end of the tournament, and you’re dead set on dominating the competition, one round at a time.

Or maybe you’re focused on winning the argument. Whatever ungodly worldview the other person throws out at you, you know your stuff and can shoot it down, leaving that heathen floundering for a response.

Trophies and good arguments are great, but (you guessed it) the attitudes I’ve just described are obviously wrong. Consider what the Bible says about winning:

The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise. (Proverbs 11:30, NIV1984)

When we do apologetics, it’s easy to focus on the wrong type of winning. Think about it: how much effort do you put into winning souls to God? Trophies will collect dust, rankings will be forgotten, and even knowledge will pass away. Souls last forever.

Always remember, the point of speaking truth is to persuade another person—a valuable human precious to God and made in His image—not just to be right! Make the most of each opportunity to speak the truth.

Be wise: win souls, and you’ll always be a winner!

Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men… For Christ’s love compels us…  So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them.
 And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.
 We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. (2 Corinthians 5:11, 14, 16-20) 

Word Up! Divine Revelation, Pt. 2

When God reveals Himself, He often uses words. Part one discussed revelation through creation and conscience.  Part two explains the words of special revelation.

3. His Inspired [or Prophetic] Word: Scripture

God has revealed Himself through His Inspired Word. He breathed out words to the prophetic authors, both spoken to their generations and recorded, and these writings are scripture. The Greek word “scripture”, graphe, literally means “writing”. Scripture tells all about God’s character and historical actions. Unlike creation and conscience, it conveys God’s message of redemption.

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets (Hebrews 1:1)
 

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17) [*Note: Everyone should memorize this. No one should quote it in a Category II round. It’s a great passage that’s over-overused.]

4. His Living Word: Jesus Christ

Jesus is the Word of God. He is God, and he spoke and acted on earth as God. He revealed the Father, being His exact representation for anyone to see.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth… No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known. (John 1:1, 14, 18)

 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high (Hebrews 1:2-3)
 

[Jesus said] If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him… Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. (See John 14:6-9a) 

God reveals Himself using words. He spoke creation into being, wrote His law into human hearts, inspired holy writings, and lived on earth as a human. Although God (being infinite) is not fully comprehendible, He certainly has made Himself knowable to humanity.

A note of caution: in the first speech I gave with this outline, I didn’t mention General and Special Revelation.  A parent judge wrote multiple constructive comments (and marked me down several ranks relative to both other judges) about needing the traditional categorization.  He wrote that he liked my outline but still seemed to think I missed the “right” answer.  So be sure to mention it if you use this pattern. 

A Leap into the Light: What is Faith, Pt. 2

[Continued from Part 1] 

Anything is possible if you believe it, even if it makes no sense! Right?

Wrong. That idea is repeated throughout our culture, but a biblical understanding of faith is different. There are several notable truths about faith, illustrated with an acronym FAITH:

F: Focused on God.

In the Bible, it isn’t enough to just believe in anything. Nor is it enough to “believe” in nothing in particular; “faith” without an object (or faith in faith itself) is just optimism, a useless fuzzy feeling. Effective faith is belief in truth about God: “And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.” (Hebrews 11:6, ESV) I notice that it’s easy to confuse believing that with just believing in. There is no believing in God without believing that—that He exists, a good place to start; that He is faithful; that His promises are true; and so on. Otherwise, you may have positive feelings about the idea of God, but you have no faith.

The simplest description of faith comes from God’s covenant with Abraham: “And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.” (Genesis 15:6) Having faith meant taking God at His word. This is a good idea only if God is true to His word. Otherwise it would have been deception, not faith. The only reason Abraham’s faith was effective in justifying him was because God was able to justify him, not because Abraham “just believed” hard enough. Faith must have God as its object to be effective.

A: Always Reasonable.

God may call us to believe something hard to accept, but it will always be reasonable—in the sense that it fits with what we already know about Him. For instance, the virgin birth is a miracle that is humanly impossible, but considering that God made a whole man at creation, it was perfectly reasonable for Mary to believe that God could conceive within her the human body of her Lord. Faith is never a leap into the dark; how can that be when God is light? On the contrary, “The unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple.” (Psalm 119:130) 

In one of the Old Testament’s greatest examples of faith, Abraham prepared to sacrifice his son Isaac in obedience to God, even though God had promised to make a nation of his descendants. When I've heard this story taught, the emphasis is usually on the unreasonableness of God’s initial command, and I admit that it would have been hard to obey. However, the Bible teaches that Abraham was logical to obey, in that “Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead”. (Hebrews 11:19, NIV1984; emphasis mine) Abraham knew that God would keep His promise, and from the Genesis story, he seemed confident that both he and Isaac would come back alive. (Genesis 22:5) He acted based on what he knew about God, an act of both faith and reason.

My suspicion is that faith is so hard for us because we would rather figure life out on our own. It’s more comfortable (at first) to go with what we think makes sense. The idea of trusting God, Someone Whom we can’t figure out, is scary and means giving up control. Yet consider this: is it more reasonable to go through life making decisions based on our own limited understanding and limited experience, or to leave ourselves in the hands of the God Who knows everything, can do anything He wants to do, and passionately loves us?

So believer, don’t let this world redefine your confidence as an illogical fuzzy feeling. Focus on God and truth about Him, and believe in accordance with that truth. Know that the word of the Lord is true, and everything He does is worthy of your trust (See Psalms 33:4). 

What is faith? is continued in Part Three! 

Wow, Look at That Idea!: Jesus as the Word of God

Consider this: are words physical or conceptual things?

On the one hand, words are empirical; they can be heard aloud or seen when written. The letters or characters on a page can be measured and touched, and with the right instruments, sound waves can be measured according to size and frequency. They are made with one’s mouth and hands, certainly physical things.

On the other hand, we know that words aren’t just squiggles or vibrations. The Declaration of Independence isn’t important as a piece of paper with ink, but because the ideas it contains were central to the founding of our country. Telegraphs in Morse code existed because the buzz of dots and dashes contained a message from someone far away, not because people were still waiting for dubstep to be invented. Words mean things. If they didn’t contain an idea, they wouldn’t be words.

In other meaningful squiggles, it’s a trick question: words are both physical and conceptual. Words communicate thoughts and ideas between people by being concrete, empirical units. They convey the invisible by being visible.

The apostle John called Jesus the Word of God in his gospel and first epistle: 

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God… And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:1, 14)
 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— the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us— that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. (1 John 1:1-3) 

 I've heard explanations of the Greek term “logos” as meaning some sort of mystical force of reason in the universe, and while the ideas of the ancient Greek philosophers are fascinating, I'm not persuaded that the context supports this claim. (That's not saying it can't have a double meaning, of course.) Both passages describe Jesus as the eternal God who took on physical human form to reveal God more fully. Jesus Christ Himself is the communication of the Father to humanity. He conveys the invisible by being visible. He is The Word of God.  

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation… For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily (Colossians 1:15, 2:9)