Posted on Tuesday,

Newsboys, the New Atheism, and the Evidence for God

By now you have no doubt heard that Newsboys co-founder, George Perdikis, is now an atheist. This story is personal to me because the very first Christian CD I was given after becoming a Christian (I share my story here) was Newsboys – Going Public. It was helpful and encouraging to me on my own faith journey.

Turns out that famous atheist Richard Dawkins played a role in George’s de-conversion story. Here is how he summarizes his lack-of-faith journey in a guest post at Patheos:

I always felt uncomfortable with the strict rules imposed by Christianity. All I wanted to do was create and play rock and roll… and yet most of the attention I received was focused on how well I maintained the impossible standards of religion. I wanted my life to be measured by my music, not by my ability to resist temptation.

I left the band in 1990 and went back to Adelaide. There, I got married, taught guitar, played pubs and clubs, built homes, and had two beautiful daughters.

As I carved out a life for myself away from the church, I began my own voyage of inquiry into what I believed. My perceptions started to transform when I became interested in cosmology in 1992. I soon found myself fascinated by the works of Carl Sagan, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Lawrence Krauss, Brian Cox, and Richard Dawkins. I learned so much and was blown away by all the amazing scientific discoveries and facts. When my marriage dissolved in 2003, I turned my attention to human psychology. By 2007, I renounced Christianity once and for all and declared myself an atheist. (read the rest of the story here)

As I have shared before, belief is a complex web of personal, social, and intellectual issues. I don’t presume to know all of the factors involved or the hypocrisy he may have witnessed from Christians or the hurt involved in a marital relationship. I don’t know which rules he is talking about or if he truly heard someone explain the sweetness of the Gospel to him and that Christianity is not about “performing” so God would love and accept you. What makes me especially sad about this story is that George Perdikis didn’t have to choose between science and fascination with cosmology on the one hand and Christianity on the other.

I wonder if George also read prominent Oxford philosopher of science John Lennox (who happens to be a Christian theist)? Or explored how the scientific evidence points in the direction of God and the objections of the New Atheists have been responded to. To be sure, there are some well intended Christians who hold to a “God of the Gaps” approach–if we can’t explain it, God did it. But by no means does this represent the thoughtful, reasoned, and nuanced positions of many Christian philosophers and scientists today.

I wonder if George is aware that science is much more “at home” in the Christian worldview than it is in Atheism / Naturalism. In fact, here is how prominent Arizona State physicist Paul Davies put it:

“Science is based on the assumption that the universe is thoroughly rational and logical at all levels. Atheists claim that the laws [of nature] exist reasonlessly and that the universe is ultimately absurd. As a scientist, I find this hard to accept. There must be an unchanging rational ground in which the logical, orderly nature of the universe is rooted.”

When I hear of people who walk away from their faith it breaks my heart. I do not want to demonize George. I respect him as a person whom I believe is made in the image of God and for whom Jesus of Nazareth died on the cross and was raised again.

I hope George eventually discovers that his biggest questions are best explained with God rather than without him.

And that he can always come home to God in Jesus Christ. God’s invitation stands.

That’s good news.

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Posted on Tuesday,

The Sweetness of Doctrine (Adoption)

Sometimes theology and doctrine get a bad rap. And sometimes for good reason! Cold, long, dry lectures on theology as if someone were attempting to solve a particularly tricky geometry problem. Ugh. But doctrine does not exist for us to “solve” God. We are called to know God.

“Thus says the Lord, “Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things,” declares the Lord.” – Jer. 9:23-24

Knowing God means learning about him (who he has revealed himself to be) and experiencing relationship with him. Both are vital.

Sometimes in our heart of hearts we wonder…could this really be true? Is God really this good? This wonderful? Am I really this loved and accepted?

The sweetness of doctrine says yes. And it is the sweetness of this understanding that allows us to press more deeply into God and experience his love. Trusting that he is who he says he is. That is walking by faith in the every day of life. Because of God’s past faithfulness, we can trust him for an unseen future.

Recently as I have been walking through circumstances that are painful and sad I have been reminded again and again of God’s goodness.

No matter what happens, I am an adopted son. And my heavenly Father loves me more than I could ever know. My status as an adopted son is the basis for and the lens through which I should view my relationship with him.

“Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” – Hebrews 4:14-16

Theologian J.I. Packer captures the heart of adoption this way:

“Justification is the basic blessing, on which adoption is founded; adoption is the crowning blessing, to which justification clears the way. Adopted status belongs to all who receive Christ (John 1:12). The adopted status of believers means that in and through Christ God loves them as he loves his only-begotten Son and will share with them all the glory that is Christ’s now (Rom. 8:17, 38–39).” (emphasis mine)

Wow. That is sweet. Knowing God in Christ is essential for thinking Christianly and walking in wisdom.

If you enjoyed this post, you would enjoy this podcast episode on the importance of doctrine.

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Posted on Tuesday,

How to Walk in Wisdom

Who wants to be foolish? I don’t. I suspect you don’t either. Recently I was reading in the Psalms and came across some encouraging and challenging words I wanted to share with you. This is a prayer of David that we can all learn from.

Teach me how to live, O Lord.
Lead me along the right path,
for my enemies are waiting for me. – Ps. 27:11

Three Observations to Help Us Walk in Wisdom

(1) We must invite God to teach us how to live. This makes the obvious and sometimes uncomfortable assumption that we need to learn–we don’t know everything. Ouch.

Recently our dishwasher started leaking. That’s a problem because if something breaks around the house, I’m not the guy you want fixing it! But in this case I was the best (and only) solution and our budget agreed. So I recognized very quickly that I needed to learn something about how dishwashers worked. Thankfully dishwasher experts left a trail of YouTube videos for me to follow and my ignorance on this particular problem evaporated. You will be happy to know that we are no longer hand washing all the dishes!

(2) We need a reliable guide. This observation is equally humbling. We don’t always know where we are going. In fact, truth be told, we often don’t know where we are going. We’re too stubborn to ask for directions when we know (and everyone else around us knows) that we’re truly lost. We think we are on the right path because it feels good to us. But this approach can be very dangerous. As the book of Proverbs reminds us:

“There is a path before each person that seems right, but it ends in death” (14:12)

Ps. 27:11 clearly teaches that there is a “right” path and by definition this also means there is a wrong path. Whether we happen to believe it or not, there are paths that are spiritual dead ends, morally and relationally toxic, physically harmful, and intellectually dangerous.

Because God loves us he doesn’t want us to take those paths. We need someone who has been there and knows the paths and can coach us in navigating harmful and helpful paths. “When people do not accept divine guidance, they run wild. But whoever obeys the law is joyful” (Prov. 29:18). We need someone who can give us knowledge of how to truly live.

(3) We have real enemies that are trying to harm us. It is easy to forget this truth. Sometimes we are too busy to notice or we are naive when it comes to knowing our own hearts. But there are enemies we need to be aware of waiting to attack from within and from without. God’s Word is clear on this:

“Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.” (1 John 2:15-17)

And

“Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8)

What we watch, listen to, think about. How we spend our time. Who we spend our time with. Who we invite to teach us. What we say yes and no to–all are leading us toward life or death. And we need to remember that we have an enemy that is actively trying to destroy us. We don’t need to walk in fear, but we do need to be alert so that we don’t blindly step into traps.

One of the first steps to walking in wisdom is to take the truths contained in David’s prayer recorded in Psalm 27:11 seriously. Pray them and apply them. We need to invite God to teach and guide us while we are on the look out for the enemies that seek to destroy us.

Wisdom for Students (Read)

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Posted on Tuesday,

How to Have a Conversation About Bible Contradictions

Tis the season for skepticism about the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth and the Bible. Are you ready?

Imagine that you’re meeting with a couple who is exploring Christianity at your local coffee shop and they raise the objection, “How can you trust the Gospels when they are full of contradictions?” What would you say? Here’s a simple game plan for navigating this opportunity.

First, ask them to give you a specific example of a contradiction. And if they list one, ask them why they think it is a real contradiction. Most people have just heard this slogan and repeat it . . . make them do some work here.

Next, respond to their objection. As you do, share that we must be careful not to impose twenty-first-century historical standards on a first-century text. Explain the important distinction between accuracy and precision. We live in the age of scientific precision and digital everything. The practice of first century biographers was to record an accurate summary based on eyewitness testimony.

In fact, there were no quotation marks in the Greek language. Capturing “the gist” of something was completely acceptable. The bottom line is that the earliest biographers of Jesus could be historically accurate without being as precise as we might like them to be. It’s also important to point out that differences don’t necessarily equal errors because of various perspectives at work.

Finally, ask them if (1) they have understood your answer and (2) if they are satisfied with your explanation. Again, wait for a response here. If so, great. If not, why not?

It might seem at some point that they’re not really interested in an answer—it may be worth asking them what would satisfy them in this case. It could be that they have an unrealistic standard they are applying to the biographical writings contained in the Bible—especially the Gospels.

If you have offered a reasonable or plausible solution to the apparent contradiction, then it’s up to them at that point. Remember, just because they may not be convinced on the spot, doesn’t mean your conclusions are not reasonable.

Sometimes we get nervous when people raise objections to our faith. But having a game plan gives us confidence to engage. After all, we don’t need to worry because we have the truth on our side. We just need to be ready.

READ: Newsweek Attacks the Bible…

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Posted on Wednesday,

Newsweek Attacks the Bible…Are You Ready to Respond?

It would be hard to find a more timely article showing why I wrote my new book Questioning the Bible: 11 Major Challenges to the Bible’s Authority than the one recently published by Newsweek. It is filled with claims–that unless explored and cross examine–will seem persuasive to many readers. It also is written with a good deal of emotion and anger it seems. Here is just a taste to get a feel for the tone of the article:

“They are God’s frauds, cafeteria Christians who pick and choose which Bible verses they heed with less care than they exercise in selecting side orders for lunch. They are joined by religious rationalizers—fundamentalists who, unable to find Scripture supporting their biases and beliefs, twist phrases and modify translations to prove they are honoring the Bible’s words….”

So am I mad this was written? No, it’s a free country. Let the best ideas win.

Am I surprised? No. This happens every Christmas and Easter now.

How Should We Respond?

This is yet another opportunity presented by our culture to calmly, gently, and rationally explain why we believe and expose some of the slogans and misunderstandings that get applied to Christians and Christianity (1 Peter 3:15).