Questions on Christianity

How should Christians handle those with whom they disagree? In the past, Christians have killed those they considered to be heretics (e.g. the Inquisition). While we no longer resort to such barbaric practices, we still resort to character assassination by calling into question the motivation and intelligence of those with whom we disagree.

Martin Luther had higher aspirations for Christianity. He argued:

. . . the path to progress is through change in ideas and beliefs, rather than through forced social revolution or reaction. In Luther’s thought, the most significant warfare was ideological, not material, so he emphasized dissemination of ideas through publication and opposed attempts to destroy opposing ideas through burning either books or authors. “Heretics,” he said, “should be vanquished with books, not with burnings.” Luther wanted an exchange of views, not sword thrusts. He described printing as “God’s highest and extremest act of grace, whereby the business of the Gospel is driven forward.” [1]

However, if Christianity is to compete is this arena of ideas as Martin Luther suggests, then we must deal with any contradictions within our beliefs. If we do not, then we should not be surprised if our ideas are rejected. In this blog, we have identified three contradictions within our beliefs, specifically within the doctrine of salvation. Will we deal with these contradictions or ignore them?

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[1]   http://www.worldmag.com/2015/10/a_theological_and_journalistic_reformation

What is it about us humans that we think everyone should think and believe as we do? We see it in religion—every religion thinks it is the one true religion. We see it in science—if you don’t believe global warming is caused by humans than you are unscientific and are a (gasp) denier or a crook or a kook.

History is full of examples of people who used political correctness to deal with their opponents. An example is the faculty of the Catholic University of Louvain in the late 1600’s who used “the machinery of censorship to silence a dissident colleague”, a professor who questioned the Copernican system (the earth revolved around the sun). [1] It is a well-known fact that people who supported the Copernican system were also silenced or had their thinking “corrected” (e.g. Galileo).

It is unfortunate but political correctness is as old as the human race. I see two reasons for this. First, our position is short on facts and brow beating someone into submitting to our way of thinking is all we’ve got. Or second, we have the facts but it will take time to explain those facts to someone and we are in too much of a hurry to spend the time.

Using political correctness as a method of persuasion just illustrates how weak our position really is.  It also illustrates our ignorance of the human condition–we are all finite and not infallible.

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[1]   J. L. Heilbron, The Sun in the Church, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1999, p. 217.

John R. Erickson, the author of the Hank the Cowdog book series, recounts his struggles with reconciling his Christian faith with what he was taught at a secular college. He states that typically Christians responded to the assertions of the secular world by turning:

. . . inward, looked for guidance in the Scriptures, focused on personal salvation, and made few attempts to engage the wider culture.”

That might have solved the problem for pastors and church leaders, but it didn’t solve mine. To me and a number of other young people who were coming of age in the early 1960s, it appeared that Christians were talking only to themselves, and were sending their children off to college poorly prepared to defend their faith against students and professors who considered the Bible a book of fairy tales. [1]

Things had not changed much in the 1970’s because John’s experience was essentially the same as mine. Today Christians are much better at responding to the assertions of the secular world as is evidenced by, for example, the courses in apologetics offered by Biola University (see my blog of February 27, 2013).

However, there are still questions about Christianity which the Christian community has ignored and an example is the questions we have raised in this blog. Why? Is our faith so fragile we cannot deal with these questions? Or are we so content with our current life and belief system that we are not interested in resolving any questions that arise?

Questions and contradictions within our belief system are simply a signal that we do not fully understand who God is and how he relates to us. Should not that motivate us to address these questions?

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[1]   http://www.worldmag.com/2015/10/mugged_by_nietzsche

Politics has such a bad name these days that it is common for people to say they are not political or that they do not do politics. I wish it was that easy to avoid politics but it is not unless we are willing to let others, whose ideas might be directly opposite to ours, determine how we organize the society in which we live.

Webster’s definition of politics is about obtaining power and control but says little concerning the end of that power and control which is to structure a society in a particular manner.

We ordinarily do not think of Jesus as political but his entire ministry was political because it dealt with how a society should be organized, how we are to view and treat our fellow citizens, and how we are to live our lives [1]. Jesus’ involvement in politics was not, as Webster’s indicates, to gain power or control but to change people’s lives. When people’s lives are changed, then society will change.

Jesus wanted people to do more than have a correct belief system; he wanted them to change to be a new creation. Christianity has a limited influence on our culture because we are so focused on a correct belief system instead of the new life God wants us to live.

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[1]   Mindy Belz, “A policy of engagement”, World, July 12, 2014, p. 32.

Pope Francis’ recent speech to the US Congress included an admonition for a “renewal of that spirit of cooperation which has accomplished so much good throughout the history of the United States”. [1]

While I am a fan of Pope Francis, he is asking Congress to something that Christianity has not been able to accomplish. Look at all the different Christian religions and denominations. Do all these divisions show Christians have exhibited a “spirit of cooperation” or do they show a spirit of divisiveness? Jesus’ prayer to God was for his followers to be as one just like Jesus and God are one. The reason for this unity was so that the world would know that God has sent Jesus to our world and that God loves the world (John 17:11-23).

Has Christianity fulfilled this God-given task? The answer is obvious. Why not?

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[1]   Chris Casteel, “A call for unity”, Tulsa World, September 25, 2015, p. A1.