Questions on Christianity

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

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

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

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

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

[2]   Chalmers, p. 100.

[3]   Chalmers, p. 140.

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

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

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

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

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

[2]   Chalmers, p. 126.

[3]   Chalmers, p. 117.

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

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

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

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

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

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

[2]   Chalmers, p. 11.

[3]   Chalmers, pp. 53-54.

[4]   Chalmers, p. 26.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Surveys taken over the past several years reveal that over two thirds of Christians/church goers never read their Bibles. [1]  Now there are people who do not know how to read and throughout history many depended upon the clerics of their church to read and interpret the Bible for them.  However, that is not the case today for the vast majority of people.

We do not seem to realize all the great benefits our technologically advanced society has given us and one of which is the ability to read.  A T-shirt I have quotes Mark Twain as saying (and I paraphrase):  A person who does not read good books has no advantage over a person who does not know how to read.  And the Bible is a good book.  So why do not we read it?

In Luke 12 Jesus gives his disciples a parable in which a servant is instructed to be ready for his master’s return and part of being ready is to fully utilize the talents and abilities he has been given.  The point of the parable is that:  “. . .Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more” (Luke 12:48).  We have been given so much materially and spiritually.  Are we using these gifts rightly?

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[1]   Ken Staley.  “Illiteracy in the Church”, Tulsa Beacon, October 20, 2022, p. 3B.

I read Pilgrim’s Progress a very long ago and really don’t remember the details of the story.  What prompted me to read it again was reading the version from “the minds behind ‘The Babylon Bee’” titled The Postmodern Pilgrim’s Progress.  I highly recommend both.

I guess you could say these books are dark; they mainly talk about the problems Christian faces.  When faced with problems such as times when it seems that God is so far away or when we realize that we do not have answers to the problems we are facing, then the advice given several times in Mann and Berry’s book is very appropriate:  “Sometimes, all you can do is move forward.” [1]

If we have decided our goal  is the Celestial City, the Golden City, if we have put on the whole armor of God, if we have decided the type of person we want to be, then there is nothing else to do but to  move forward toward our goal, regardless of the circumstances.  It is in these dark times that we live by faith (Habakkuk 2:4, Hebrews 10:38).

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[1]   Kyle Mann and Joel Berry.  The Postmodern Pilgrim’s Progress.  Washington, DC:  Salem Books, 2022, p. 63.