Theistic metaphysics seems more reasonable to me, on balance, than its competitors. Although its difficulties are well known, the problems with alternatives seem greater.
–William J. Wainwright, “Skepticism, Romanticism, and Faith” in God and the Philosophers, ed. Thomas V. Morris (New York: Oxford University Press, 1994), 79.
Posted in Apologetics, Critical Thinking, Logic, Quote of the Week, Reason, Theism
Historic Christianity contains numerous beliefs that are theologically and philosophically volatile (in the best sense of the term). These powerful truth-claims have transformed the church and even turned the world upside down. My new book, 7 Truths that Changed the World, explores seven of historic Christianity’s dangerous ideas. The following 10 points give a brief overview of what I consider to be the Christian faith’s most dangerous idea.
The Resurrection of Jesus Christ
This list conveys essential theological information about the resurrection of Christ meant to help people think through the most important elements of the doctrine, especially its implications about the deity of Christ.
1. The Resurrection confirms Jesus Christ’s identity as the divine Messiah, Savior, and Lord (Romans 1:3–4; 14:9). It proves Jesus to be who He said He was. In His resurrection, Jesus Christ permanently identified with humanity and became the God-man forever.
2. By the Resurrection, God the Father vindicates Jesus Christ’s redemptive mission and message (Matthew 16:21; 28:6). Jesus’ resurrection confirms His words as true.
3. Jesus’ resurrection from the dead (Acts 2:24; 3:15) involved all three members of the Trinity: Father (Romans 6:4; 1 Corinthians 6:14; Galatians 1:1; Ephesians 1:20), Son (John 10:17–18; 11:25), and Holy Spirit (Romans 8:11).
4. The Resurrection designates Jesus Christ as the ever-living Head of the Christian church (Ephesians 1:19–22).
5. Christ’s resurrection power generates and ensures the believer’s salvation (Romans 4:25; 10:9–10; Ephesians 2:5–6; Philippians 3:10).
6. Christ’s resurrection power enables all believers to live lives of gratitude to God (Romans 6:12–13).
7. Christ’s resurrection supplies the pledge and paradigm for the future bodily resurrection of all believers (1 Corinthians 6:14; 15:20, 2 Corinthians 9:14; Colossians 1;18; 1 Thessalonians 4:14).
8. Christ’s resurrection answers mankind’s greatest predicament, the inevitability of death. The Resurrection provides hope, purpose, meaning, and confidence in the presence of death (John 11:25–26; Romans 14:7–8).
9. The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is the major theme of the apostles’ original preaching and teaching (Acts 1:22; 2:31; 4:2, 33; 17:18) and the principle doctrinal tenet of the New Testament as a whole.
10. The truth or falsity of the Christian message rests squarely upon the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:14–18).
Get the full-length article by visiting reasons.org/articles/if-christ-has-not-been-raised-reasoning-through-the-resurrection.
Human beings are the only animals who know that they must die, and thus the only animals who try to hide from themselves the fact that they must die.
– Stephen T. Davis, Risen Indeed: Making Sense of the Resurrection (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1993), 203.
Posted in Death, Quote of the Week, Salvation
Excerpted from “If Christ Has Not Been Raised: Reasoning through the Resurrection”
Jesus Christ’s bodily resurrection from the dead three days after His execution pumps the heart of the Christian gospel (doctrine) and is Christianity’s central supporting fact (apologetics). The truth of Christianity uniquely stands or falls on Christ’s resurrection. Because of this, the New Testament accounts of Christ’s resurrection warrant careful analysis and reflection.
The writers of these accounts not only report the Resurrection as a factual event but also provide a theological context for and explanation of its overall significance to God’s historical redemptive plan. Christian apologists through the centuries have appealed to five basic strands of evidence as support for the historical and factual nature of the resurrection of Jesus. 1
The Empty Tomb
One of the most fully substantiated facts surrounding Jesus’ resurrection is the empty tomb. Most New Testament scholars, even some liberal scholars, agree that solid historical fact stands behind the gospel claim that witnesses found Jesus’ tomb empty on that first Easter morning. Far from being a myth or legend, the report of the empty tomb has a very early date, fits well with what is known of the times archaeologically (concerning burial customs and tombs), and was never challenged, let alone refuted, by the contemporary enemies and critics of Christianity.
If the Jews or Romans had produced the body of Jesus, Christianity would have been disproved immediately. Therefore, the disciples could not have proclaimed a bodily resurrection unless Jesus’ tomb was indeed empty. In ancient Judaism, the concept of resurrection was considered only bodily in nature, not spiritual. The empty tomb requires an adequate explanation. For 2,000 years, Christians have argued that the only consistent explanation for the empty tomb is Jesus’ bodily resurrection from the dead.
Jesus’ Post-crucifixion Appearances
As mentioned above, it was recorded that numerous people had intimate, empirical encounters with Jesus Christ after His death on the cross. A variety of people interacted with Him at various times and places. Witnesses of the Resurrection claimed to have seen, heard, and touched the resurrected Christ. The same person whom they saw executed three days before was now alive and in their midst. These “in time and in space” physical appearances were reported soon after the actual encounter and cannot reasonably be dismissed as mythical or psychological in nature.
The Apostles’ Transformation
The Book of Acts describes a dramatic and enduring transformation of eleven men from terrified, defeated cowards after Jesus’ crucifixion (as revealed in the Gospels) into courageous preachers and, eventually, martyrs. These men became bold enough to stand against the hostile Jews and Romans in the face of torture and death. Such radical and extensive change deserves an adequate explanation, for human character and conduct do not transform easily or often.
Considering that the apostles fled and even denied knowing Jesus following His initial arrest makes their courage in the face of persecution and execution even more astounding. The apostles attributed the strength of their newfound character to their direct personal encounter with the resurrected Christ. In Christ’s resurrection, the apostles found their unshakable reason to live and die.
Emergence of the Christian Church
What specifically caused the historical emergence of the Christian church? Amazingly, within 400 years Christianity dominated the entire Roman Empire and, over the course of two millennia, the entire Western civilization. Christianity developed a distinct cultural and theological identity apart from traditional Judaism in a short period of time. According to the New Testament, the unique Christian faith came into being directly because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. According to the New Testament, the apostles “turned the world upside down” with the truth of the Resurrection, and the extraordinary, enduring Christian church emerged.
Sunday as a Day of Worship
The Jews worshiped on the Sabbath, which is the seventh day of the week (sundown Friday to sundown Saturday). However, the early Christian church gradually changed the day of their worship from the seventh day of the week to the first (Sunday: “the Lord’s Day,” Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 16:2).2 For the early Christian church, Sunday commemorated Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. His being raised to eternal life transformed worship and distinguished the Christian faith from traditional Judaism. Apart from the Resurrection, no reason existed for early followers of Jesus to view Sunday as having any enduring theological or ceremonial significance.
Get the full-length article by visiting reasons.org/articles/if-christ-has-not-been-raised-reasoning-through-the-resurrection.
Notes:
The evidence for the Christian case is very strong. Though incapable of compelling faith, it is quite sufficient to warrant it.
–Michael Green, Runaway World (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1976), 36.
Posted in Apologetics, Evidence for Christianity, Quote of the Week
Tagged case for Christianity, evidence, Michael Green
Christians often talk about what it means to live well but seldom do they discuss what it means to die well. So what is a “good death”? In the context of hospice, the concept of a good death involves the easing of a dying person’s suffering. But in the broader scope of life, what constitutes a good death?
Personal experience
To speak personally, since childhood I have found death both intriguing and puzzling. As a youth, I was always more fascinated by funerals than by weddings. Just how and why a person could be alive one day and dead the next struck me as one of life’s greatest enigmas. Of course, I came to understand that biological systems break down, but still death remained mysterious.
My father and I had a number of candid discussions about the subject. As a frontline combat soldier in history’s bloodiest war, he had seen more than his share of death. (An estimated 60 to 70 million people died in World War II.) While he found it difficult to talk about his feelings, he conveyed to me that life is short and death inevitable. He also shared with me his deep conviction concerning immortality borne of his historic Christian belief of anticipating an afterlife in the presence of his risen Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Two of my close childhood friends, Paul Goff and Scott Claud, both died in automobile accidents when they were young adults. Though it has been many years, I still think of my friends and remember the pain their families and I experienced. It is especially difficult to see your friends die when you and they are only of high school or college age. They were literally here one day and gone the next.
When I was just out of high school, my older brother Frank took his own life after a long battle with drugs, alcohol, and mental health challenges. At the time, I was not a Christian and was embarrassed by my brother’s reckless lifestyle and horrified by his final desperate act. Upon reflection, however, I realized that, just like my brother, I myself was looking for meaning, purpose, and hope in life. To paraphrase the great Christian philosopher Søren Kierkegaard (1813–1855), I was looking for “a reason to live and a reason to die.” Through my brother’s premature death, I was forced to come to grips with death and all of its scary implications. By God’s grace, I discovered Jesus Christ and His extraordinary life, death, and resurrection. I came to believe that because He rose then I will also rise from the dead on the last day.
Dying Grace
For many people, dying well is greatly complicated by the fact that the aging process takes a heavy toll on the human body and mind. As the Bible presents it, human beings are a union of body and soul (the material and the immaterial, Genesis 2:7; Matthew 10:28; 2 Corinthians 7:1). Thus, the body’s decline severely limits the expression of mental and spiritual faculties. Weakness, along with physical and emotional suffering, can make the dying process very challenging.
Yet in spite of the difficulties, many Christians have exhibited a “good death.” It was said of many martyrs in church history that they “died well.” They faced death with faith, hope, courage, and resolve because of their deep belief concerning Jesus Christ’s bodily return from the grave. They were convinced that Jesus’ resurrection had defeated death and the fear it wields (1 Corinthians 15:54–55).
The good news for those of us who don’t have faith quite like the martyrs’ is that God always provides exactly what we need to face trying times (2 Corinthians 12:9). In this case He grants us what many have called “dying grace,” helping believers face death with the deep assurance of Jesus Christ’s historic, bodily resurrection from the grave.
For more on a Christian response to death in light Christ’s resurrection, see chapters 1 and 2 of my forthcoming book 7 Truths That Changed the World (May 2012).
Posted in Christian Life, Death, Doctrine, Pain and Suffering, Problem of Evil, Salvation
Tagged Christian death, death, dying grace, resurrection
We often define ourselves by our actions. In a way, we are what we do, but perhaps more than we realize, we are what we think.
– Gary R. Kirby and Jeffery R. Goodpaster, Thinking (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1995), xiii.
Posted in Critical Thinking, Quote of the Week, Worldview
Tagged actions, defining ourselves, thinking
Courage is a virtue that I’ve always admired and respected. Growing up I was deeply impressed and proud of my father’s strength and valor as a frontline combat soldier in World War II. By extension, I appreciate and respect all people—such as noble police officers, firefighters, and soldiers—who willingly put their life on the line for others.
Another Kind of Courage
When I experienced a dangerous illness several years ago, I learned just how much courage it takes to be a patient facing physical suffering. Many people struggle day-to-day, month-to-month, and year-to-year with various health concerns but seldom see themselves as being “courageous.” Yet it takes real strength and fortitude to deal with the pain, fatigue, and uncertainty that often accompany chronic illness. Facing down physical ailments and coming to grips with suffering is definitely not for cowards.
Another thing that I learned is how a major health crisis impacts the entire person. The struggle extends beyond the physical to the mental, emotional, and spiritual areas of life. Illness isn’t just something that happens to the body. As Christian theology teaches, human beings are a union of the physical and the nonphysical (body and soul-spirit; Genesis 2:7).
Hitting the Wall of Suffering
Hospitalized for almost a month with a raging infection in my lungs and brain, I thought that, for the most part, I was very strong in facing this trial. Previously, I had spent a lot of time in my life thinking, praying, and preparing for challenges that I knew would one day come my way. Coming to grips with one’s mortality from a Christian perspective involves building up spiritual resources that will allow one to face suffering and ultimately death itself.
It was after being released from the hospital that I hit a wall. At that point I felt that I had used up all my resources in combating my sickness. I literally felt drained physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. The greatest difficulty at that point was not the physical aspects but rather the uncertainty of not knowing whether I would ever fully recover. Would I be able to go back to work and resume my career? Would I be able to support my family? The uncertainty of it all was agonizing.
The Support of Others
My wife and children were an enormous help to me during that time. They did all they could to assist and encourage me. And they taught me that suffering never happens to just one person. To a degree, everyone who cares for another person during a trial suffers with that person. And that is especially true of family members.
There were also many people from work and church that called, visited, sent cards and letters, and brought food for my family. Their expressions of love and concern comforted me, especially during times of doubt and uncertainty. My boss, Hugh Ross, called me and reassured me that my job at Reasons To Believe would be waiting for me when I recovered.
Opportunities to Express Empathy and Impart Hope
The suffering of others gives each of us unique opportunities to express our genuine concern and empathy. We can also impart the hope of the Gospel to people who are suffering (Romans 5:1–5).
While no one of good will wants to suffer or see others endure it, suffering is nonetheless a powerful instrument that God uses to bring forth his sovereign and good purposes (Romans 8:28).
For more on the Christian response to suffering, see chapters 13 and 14 of my upcoming book 7 Truths That Changed the World (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2012).
Posted in Christian Life, Pain and Suffering, Problem of Evil
Tagged comfort, courage, empathy, encouragement, family, hope, illness, support, theodicy, virtue
Whether it was losing a loved one, becoming the victim of a violent crime, or facing a life-threatening illness, my immediate reaction to experiences of genuine suffering has been a profound feeling of being alone in that condition. I don’t know if other people react that way to sorrow. For me, suffering is a deeply personal issue that I don’t often discuss with other people. But I recently heard Christian psychologist Jim Wilder state that people who undergo trauma often lose a sense of relationship for a time—thus feeling personally detached and numb.
How does the Christian faith inform the personal existential experiences of those believers visited by sorrow? And how can Christians help those who experience such trials and difficulties?
The Gospel and the Power of Empathy
At its core, historic Christianity is a religion of suffering and comfort. This is one of my faith’s most existentially satisfying features. Allow me to offer three specific points to help believers who find themselves in the throes of a struggle.
First, believers need to know that they never suffer alone. God is acquainted with suffering. Jesus Christ came into the world as a man and suffered with and for human beings. Of all the world’s religions, only in Christianity does God himself enter into the painful and ugly mix! His suffering on Earth and especially on the cross can transform the individual suffering of his people. Even now, in his role as the great High Priest, Jesus intercedes for believers during their great adversities (Hebrews 4:14–16). Jesus is not aloof or indifferent to human distress; he suffered as a real man.
Second, Scripture calls all believers to live with faith (confidence and trust) in God’s goodness and sovereignty despite the presence of evil and suffering. The Bible points to the powerful examples of Abraham, Moses, Job, and Paul as examples of people who held onto this kind of faith throughout intense trials. To paraphrase a hymn, we don’t know what tomorrow holds, but we know who holds tomorrow. Faith is trusting in God’s character when circumstances are painful and confusing. Christians can trust God in the midst of suffering because they are aware of his character and his promises (Romans 8:35–39).
Third, evil and suffering are not merely logical or philosophical problems—they are intensely personal. When people suffer they need comfort and reassurance. By comforting those afflicted by evil and easing the pain of people around them, Christians can confront evil and suffering in a powerfully practical way. The church, as Christ’s hands and feet in a needy world, exists to extend loving care and concern for its members who are wounded by evil and suffering.
Being able to empathize with another person’s pain frequently depends on sharing some common experience of sorrow. All of us can sympathize with the trials that others endure. But in order to empathize genuinely it seems we must have traveled some similar road of difficulty. The statement “I feel your pain” can indeed carry a deep bond of compassion and understanding, and often brings the greatest source of encouragement to the sufferer.
When we reach out to others who are experiencing a sorrow we have also undergone, we can truthfully tell them—in light of Christ’s Incarnation—that we and God feel their pain!
For more on the Christian response to theodicy (the problem of pain and suffering), see chapters 13 and 14 of my soon to be released book 7 Truths That Changed the World (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2012).
Posted in Christian Life, Death, Faith, Problem of Evil, Reflections
Tagged comfort in suffering, death, empathy, Gospel, problem of evil, sorrow, suffering, theodicy
Augustine on the creation days of Genesis:
What kind of days these are is difficult or even impossible for us to imagine, to say nothing of describing them.
– Augustine, City of God, trans. Henry Bettenson (New York: Penguin Classics, 1984), book 11, chapter 6, 436.
Posted in Augustine, Creation & Genesis, Quote of the Week
Tagged Augustine, creation days, genesis
My hope is that this blog will help and challenge Christians to think carefully about the implications of their worldview.
-Kenneth Richard Samples
Straight Thinking I Didn’t Know That!
