Gyms are interesting places.  The equipment is interesting, the variety of people — and their workout routines — are interesting, and the music is interesting.  I’ve used my share of the equipment, I’ve observed several very unique workout regimens, but I’ve only recently thought very seriously about the music.  Most gyms play guitar-induced rock anthems that get the adrenaline flowing and keep you focused on your workout via their monotonous rhythm.  The gym I go to is no exception.  It’s odd in that downstairs in the locker rooms one hears all those gushy songs about love, life, and all that good stuff, but when you migrate upstairs to the weight systems, the mood quickly changes.  Guitars start crunching, drums start throbbing, and the occasional scream is elicited from the pulsing speakers.  Even though I can’t understand the words to most of the songs, there are a few that are intelligible enough to grasp something of a meaning from them.  And it just so happens that those few songs are also some of the most catchy.

Some songs are just destined to be catchy.  I don’t know what the formula is, but those exceptionally well-crafted pieces of music that conquer it can be mighty hard to get out of your head.  Sometimes that’s a good thing, but all too often it isn’t.  For a time I never really thought about the potential impact of the songs playing around me as I worked out, but when I would catch myself humming them later, I began to realize just how powerful the influence of a finely made song truly is.  Some songs are so well produced that they can enter your mind and embed themselves to the point that you sing them without realizing it.  However, therein lies a problem: just what are the songs we sing and listen to telling us?  Are we ingesting truth, or are we gulping down lies?  Be that as it may, songs are not the only area where this subconscious ingestion takes place.  What about movies, TV shows, speeches, books, or information taught in a classroom?  Just how often do we step back and take a look at the information that is flying at us and test it against Biblical truth?  Just how often do we, as Christians, choose to think critically about the messages around us?

Critical thinking is not an easy task, but it needs to be a very integral part of every Christian’s life.  2 Corinthians 10:5 instructs us to “take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”  While this truly is a tall order, it is of extreme importance if we are to lead our lives as obedient and effective Christians.  If our minds are not in order, we can hardly expect our lives to be any better.  Learning to take control of our thoughts in order to bring them under Christ’s control will drastically improve our focus and set our eyes more fixedly on Him.  Test your thoughts about a particular situation, person, etc.  Do they line up with Biblical truth?  Test the music you listen to, the movies you watch, the literature you read.  Are you allowing it to influence you negatively?  Or, even worse, is it something that should be influencing you in the first place?

I have already written one post that provides a basic definition of critical thinking (LINK).  This one isn’t written as a sequel to it, but more so as an accent mark. Critical thinking is a highly valuable pursuit that everyone — Christian or not — should cultivate in their lives.  However, we will never reap the benefits without first implementing the process.  I will be one of the first to say that I have a great deal of improvement to make in this area.  Disciplining yourself to stop and analyze all the messages that bombard you every day is indeed a challenge, but, like so many other disciplines in the Christian life, it is a challenge worth pursuing.

This post is the second in a series on the reliability of the Bible. Follow this link to read the previous entry.

Internal Consistency

 The internal consistency and unity of the Bible is truly an amazing testimony to its divine authorship.  The forty men that God inspired in writing the Scriptures came from several different walks of life.  For example, Matthew was a tax collector, Peter was a fisherman, David and Solomon were kings, and Amos was a shepherd.1  Despite the different occupations, locations, and circumstances surrounding these men, the writings come together and give a solid, coherent book that maintains internal agreement throughout its pages.  Considering that the Bible was written over fifteen hundred years2, the fact that it is internally consistent becomes even more compelling!

 Many critics of the Scriptures claim that the Bible contradicts itself.  However, claims of  “contradictions” are oftentimes the result of a desire to believe that the Bible is false, not as the product of careful research.  This link provides an example of an apparent contradiction and its very rational solution.  Many of the supposed contradictions are results not of an author’s mistake, but rather of a misunderstanding or a confusing translation from a manuscript’s original language into another.  Consider also that different Biblical authors wrote with different styles.  The four Gospels — Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John — are all written with different stylistic techniques.  Much of the information provided in the different accounts on particular miracles and events doesn’t point to contradictions, but rather to the author’s decision to include specific information relevant to his telling of the Gospel.  After all, if all four Gospel accounts were identical, it would be easy to assume that corroboration was involved in their writing.

Fulfilled Prophecies

 As the Biblical authors wrote their respective books, they made hundreds of prophecies.  All of these prophecies — minus a few regarding Christ’s impending return — have come true.3  No other religious book can claim anything near the number of prophecies fulfilled in the Biblical Scriptures.  Consider these examples.

 In Ezekiel 26 — which was written in 587 B.C. — a prophecy was given about the destruction of the city of Tyre.  The city was divided into a land-based section and an island extension.  Ezekiel prophesied that God would “bring many nations against” Tyre (v.3), specifically stating that King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon would “ravage your settlements on the mainland with the sword” (v. 8).  Ezekiel also prophesied that “They will plunder your wealth and loot your merchandise; they will break down your walls and demolish your fine houses and throw your stones, timber and rubble into the sea.” (v. 12)  He further stated that God said He would make Tyre “a bare rock, and you will become a place to spread fishnets.” (v. 14)  Let’s take a look at what happened, shall we?

 Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the mainland city of Tyre in 573 B.C.  Refugees from the devastated city fled to the island extension.  However, their escape from disaster proved only temporary.  240 years later in the year 333 B.C., Alexander the Great besieged Tyre.  In order to reach the island city, rubble from the demolished mainland portion was thrown into the sea to form a causeway.  Able to cross over to the island, Alexander and his troops finished the job, and Tyre was completely annihilated.  Over 2,000 years after these astonishing events, the once mighty city of Tyre is now nothing more than a small fishing town where fishing boats spread their nets.4

 In addition to prophecies concerning cities and nations, there are nearly one hundred prophecies about Jesus throughout the Old Testament.  For example, in Micah 5:2, Bethlehem is prophesied to be the city in which the Messiah will be born.  Jesus was born in Bethlehem (Luke 2:4-7).  In Zechariah 11:12,13, there it is prophesied that the Messiah will be betrayed for thirty pieces of silver.  Judas betrayed Jesus for thirty pieces of silver (Matthew 26:15).  In Psalm 22, details are given about the Messiah’s crucifixion.  (This is especially fascinating, since this Psalm was written 800 years before crucifixion was ever employed as a means of execution.)5  It is stated that the Messiah will be pierced in His hands and feet (v. 16), that his garments will be divided among those who crucify Him, and that lots will be cast for His clothing (v. 18).  Matthew 27:35 affirms that, “When they had crucified him, they divided up his clothes by casting lots.”

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 When all the evidence for the veracity of the Bible is laid on the table, it truly conveys a compelling case.  The Bible is a God-inspired book with insight into the human condition unlike any other piece of literature.  Not only does the Bible provide astounding insight, but it also conveys the most hope-filled message of all time.  While the Bible clearly states that man is sinful, it outlines the steps a person needs to take to be free of his or her sin.  Those steps are found in Romans 10:9.

“That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

 Saved from what?  From our sin.  Many people believe that simply being a good person is enough to get into heaven.  Going to church, giving money to charity, volunteering for a cause, etc. are all good, but they don’t ensure eternal salvation.  The Bible gives a list of things a person must do — perfectly.  That list is the Ten Commandments. (Exodus 20: 1-17)  If a person breaks just one of them, they are unfit to enter heaven.  Sin has hideously blemished them.  However, there is hope.  Because it is impossible for man to live his life perfectly, he is in desperate need of a savior.  That Savior is Jesus Christ.  God sent His only Son, Jesus, to die a horrible, bloody, and tortuous death on a cross for the sin of the world — past, present, and future.  Three days later, God raised Him from the dead.  Because Jesus died and shed His blood for us, we can be eternally cleansed from our sin.  What one needs to do is “confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead”.  And then you will be saved.

1. – Patrick Zukeran, “Authority of the Bible,” Probe Ministries, (2005), http://www.probe.org/site/c.fdKEIMNsEoG/b.4227389/k.6202/Authority_of_the_Bible.htm (accessed February 5, 2010).
2. – Ibid.
3. – Mark Cahill, One Thing You Can’t Do In Heaven (Rockwall, TX: Biblical Discipleship Publishers, 2007), 157.
4. – Zukeran, op. cit.
5. – Cahill, op. cit., 157-158

Throughout the centuries, men have sought to undermine the Bible and disprove it as what it claims to be: the inspired Word of God (2 Timothy 3:16-17, 2 Peter 1:20-21).  Countless objections have been raised toward its accuracy and authenticity.  How can we be sure that we hold the actual Scriptures in our hands today?  Haven’t they been distorted and chopped up throughout the years?  Doesn’t the Bible contradict itself? Wasn’t the Bible written down years after the events described in it took place?
 
 For every question, there is an answer.  Hopefully, in this post, many of those questions will indeed be answered.  In exploring the reliability and authenticity of the Scriptures, four main points are going to be covered: 1) the textual validity the Bible, 2) the archaeological evidence that supports it, 3) the internal consistency of the Bible, and 4) the veracity and magnitude of the prophecies fulfilled in the Scriptures.  We will cover the first two topics in this post and the remaining two in a post just a few days out.  Let’s get started.

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Textual Validity

 Before any evidence is given for the Bible’s authenticity, one very important point needs to be thoroughly clarified.  The Bible is a product of Divine inspiration.  The authors of the various books of the Bible were inspired by God, Who guided the writers in their work. (2 Peter 1:21, 2 Timothy 3:16)  It is only after this fundamental truth is grasped that the Bible’s content is fully understood for what it is: the Word of God.

 Understanding the textual validity of the Bible is of paramount importance.  Many Biblical critics deny that the Bible was written over several hundred years by numerous authors, claiming instead that it was written up as some sort of a highly imaginative book sometime after the events described in it would have taken place.  Furthermore, even if the Bible was written over a long span of time by numerous authors, surely translation mistakes riddle it and totally destroy its original authenticity.  Such misunderstandings may be attributed to a lack of study on the dating of Biblical manuscripts, as well as the precision of Biblical scribes in copying Scripture.

 One of the most excellent examples of the Bible’s textual authenticity can be found in the discovery of the “Dead Sea Scrolls” in 1947.  These scrolls — discovered by a young shepherd boy in caves near the valley of the Dead Sea — included numerous pieces of Biblical literature.  Among the books represented were a complete copy of the book of Isaiah and fragments of almost every book in the Old Testament.1  The materials in this phenomenal find are dated around 100 B.C.2  However, what makes this discovery so fascinating is the history behind the writing of the scrolls.

 The Dead Sea Scrolls were copied down in the Massoretic tradition, a method of copying that was exceedingly precise.  Massorete scribes would copy manuscripts in all capital letters, with no punctuation or paragraphs.  When they were finished copying a particular book, they would total up the letters and find the middle letter of the book.  If it wasn’t the same, they made a new copy.  This meticulous attention to accuracy was highly evident in the Dead Sea Scrolls.  When the copy of the book of Isaiah was compared with a more recent Massoretic Hebrew text dating from the tenth century A.D., the manuscripts were found to be in remarkable harmony with only a few minor differences.3

 The evidence for the validity of the New Testament is extremely compelling.  At this time, there are over 4,000 different ancient Greek manuscripts that contain all or portions of the New Testament.  In addition, there are more than 1,000 copies and fragments of the New Testament in Syriac, Coptic, Armenian, Gothic, and Ethiopic.  There are also 8,000 copies of the Latin Vulgate.4,5  Numerous quotations from the New Testament Scriptures can be found in the writings of the early Church fathers.  These quotations are so numerous that it would be possible to gather them and reconstruct the entire New Testament, minus only fifteen to twenty verses!6  Considering just how many manuscripts Bible translators have at their fingertips, it is stunning just how much evidence there is for the validity of the New Testament.  To further support this claim, there is astounding evidence for the specific timing of the New Testament writings.  Check out this chart (near the end of the article) from Probe Ministries for further information.
 
Archaeological Evidence

 When it comes to providing solid historical evidence for the Bible, archaeology has proved the Bible’s reliability time and again.  In fact, the current number of archaeological finds that relate to the Bible reach into the hundreds of thousands!7  Archaeology has uncovered several civilizations, cities, ancient sites, etc. that are mentioned in the Scriptures.  One excellent such example is the Hittite civilization.

 For many years, critics had attacked the Bible’s references to the Hittites, whom It stated were a powerful people in the Middle East from 1750 to 1200 B.C. (Genesis 15:20, 1 Kings 10:29).  During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, archaeologists discovered evidence that permanently silenced critics of the Hittites’ existence.  A Hittite city — which was soon understood to be the empire’s capital — was discovered in Turkey.  This city also housed a library of thousands of tablets, providing additional insight to the Hittite language and culture.8

Check back soon for part II!

1. – Williams, James F., “Are the Biblical Documents Reliable?,” Probe Ministries, (1995), http://www.probe.org/site/c.fdKEIMNsEoG/b.4227393/k.3AE2/Are_the_Biblical_Documents_Reliable.htm (accessed February 4, 2010).
2. – Ibid.
3. – Ibid.
4. – Ibid.
5. – The Latin Vulgate is a Latin Translation of the Bible completed in A.D. 405 by Saint Jerome.
6. – Williams, op. cit.
7. – Zukeran, Patrick, “Authority of the Bible,” Probe Ministries, (2005), http://www.probe.org/site/c.fdKEIMNsEoG/b.4227389/k.6202/Authority_of_the_Bible.htm (accessed February 4, 2010).
8. – Ibid.

The other day while I was in a store, I happened to hear some of an interesting yet sobering conversation between a cashier and a customer.  Because I was walking by the checkout counters and not in line, I was only able to catch a piece of the dialogue.  As the cashier was totaling up the customer’s order, the customer ventured to ask him where he went to church.  The young man named a local place of worship that happened to be a Pseudo-Christian cult (for more on Pseudo-Christian cults, click here.)  A somewhat puzzled expression momentarily passed over the customer’s face, but it didn’t stop him from asking a follow-up question: “Uh, are you saved?”

Before I write anything else, I want to commend the customer for taking the initiative to try and share his faith.  It takes guts to do that, and it’s especially challenging to do it with a stranger.  Although I was unable to understand all the aspects and circumstances surrounding the customer’s witness, he did not appear to be very knowledgeable of the beliefs the cashier’s religion holds to.  Although he very likely knew what he believed about being “saved”, I don’t know if he had an understanding of what members of the particular cult believe.  He didn’t need to know every tenet of the cult’s doctrine; he just needed to know a few of their basic beliefs, including their view of salvation, which is very different from that of Christianity. 

Although it can be very helpful to know and understand the positions of other religions and belief systems, please understand that I am not suggesting one go out and conduct a highly intensive search on every philosophy that crosses their path.  Before any research on another belief system is made, Christians need to be sure that they know what they believe and that their beliefs line up with Scripture.  After this crucial foundation has been laid, research can be conducted on other beliefs.  This extra- curricular research is entirely optional and definitely not mandatory.  However, it can be extremely valuable when entering a witnessing opportunity or in understanding a particular cultural viewpoint. 

Here’s an illustration.  Suppose an army needs to know what obstacles they may face in a particular tract of land before they launch an assault.  Because they may not get another shot at taking this extremely valuable territory, they need to know what they are going up against before they go all in.  Obviously, the wisest move would be to scout out the land.  Once the scouts return with the necessary information — what the layout appears to be, where the opposition is weakest, etc. — the advance can proceed with a much greater amount of confidence and likelihood of success. 

The Christian approach to witnessing and understanding other worldviews is somewhat similar to that army’s scouting procedure.  We don’t need to go into a witnessing opportunity with a militant attitude, but we do need to obtain any information necessary to conducting a successful mission.  Understandably, a Christian can’t know every belief about every worldview he encounters, but a basic knowledge of the fundamental beliefs of several major belief systems will give him a distinct advantage not only in witnessing, but also in understanding events and opinions throughout our culture.  If Christians are to be ready to “give a reason for the hope that we have” (1Peter 3:15) as well as being on guard to “take every thought captive” (2 Corinthians 10:5) that the culture throws our way, we need to take time and understand the different worldviews that challenge the Christian worldview.  If we can learn to do this minimal amount of foundational work consistently, we will be able to enter witnessing opportunities and interaction with the culture with greater confidence, focus, and effectiveness.

If you would like to learn more about the beliefs of several prominent religions and belief systems, check out these links:

Chart depicting six major worldviews and their beliefs on a variety of topics

Essays on several religions and belief systems

Essays covering topics that different worldviews address

 Why should Christian be concerned about these cults in the first place?  Consider it this way: Christians need not be concerned about Mormonism and the Jehovah’s Witnesses because they are so different from Biblical Christianity.  Rather, Christians should be wary of these cults because they appear on the surface to be extremely similar to Christianity.  If you entered into a conversation with a Jehovah’s Witness or a Mormon about matters of religion, you may not quickly detect an obvious difference in your positions.  That is exactly what makes these cults so dangerous.  Christians who are not firmly grounded in the Bible — the true Bible, that is — may be easily swayed by a teaching on a few points of doctrine they are not familiar with.  As a result, they may be persuaded to accept the cult’s entire belief system, not realizing the conspicuous contradictions they hold toward Biblical Christianity.

 Because of the great extent of material a blog post would have to cover in order to take an in-depth look at particular Pseudo-Christian cults, I’ll have to wrap this one up by adding a few links to some resources.  As stated before, the great danger of these cults lies not in how different they are from Christianity, but how similar to it they appear on the surface.  Christians therefore need to understand these differences so they are not swayed by non-Biblical teachings.  Knowing what other religions and belief systems accept as truth is an invaluable step toward becoming an informed Christian.  More on that topic coming up in the next post.

List of articles concerning cults

Article about discerning cults

Fact sheet on Pseudo-Christian cults

He is Lord of Lords, but He came to earth as a peasant.  He is King of Kings, but He arrived in a stable, not a palace.  The same God who spoke the world into existence was visited on the night of His birth not by kings and princes, but by some humble shepherds from a nearby field.  He was given gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh by wise men, having left the eternal riches and majesty of heaven to dwell upon this temporal earth with its material wealth.  He who is eternally adored by angels was mocked, beaten, spat upon, and crucified by the people He came to save.  Although He has legions of angels at His disposal, He surrendered His life with perfect meekness.

 His life-giving message was so radical and contrary to popular opinion that He was disdained by the religious leaders of His day.  Those same leaders, who had so fervently awaited the coming of a Messiah, would not accept Him when He arrived.  He who is so worthy of our highest praise taught and modeled humility, even to the point of washing His disciples’ feet.  He loved unconditionally those who denied and refused Him.  He lived not for His own pleasure, but instead ever sought to serve and love others.  His coming to this earth did not signal the beginning of His life, but rather initiated the beginning of His walk toward Calvary.  He came not to live, but to die as the perfect sacrifice for a world utterly lost in darkness.

In our present time, this same Savior is all too often treated with shameful indifference.  Christmas Day, the date on which His birth is celebrated, has been gradually watered down to the point of a mere reflection of the honor and reverence it should receive.  Even the name has been replaced by more “tolerant” greetings: Happy Holidays, Season’s Greetings, etc.  Nevertheless, no matter how much Christmas is diluted with distractions, no matter how much this Savior’s name is defiled and misused, His impact on our fallen world will be forever present, forever known, and forever honored by those who accept His gift of life.

Much is made among Christians about focusing on the “real meaning of Christmas”.  Obviously, this would be understood as a call to realize that this day honors Christ’s birth.  However, this Christmas, I want to ask you to remember and seek to realize the sheer awesomeness of this event.  This isn’t simply about a baby being born; this is about God Himself coming down to this world in order to die for mankind.  Consider the weight of this love and mercy.  Consider the humility, meekness, abounding grace and unconditional love Christ had to show at His coming.  Jesus’ physical arrival on our planet wasn’t simply a momentous occasion.  It initiated the most important sequence of events in the history of the world: His ministry, death, and victorious resurrection.

Merry Christmas

Let’s say you go see a movie.  You get to the theater, buy your ticket, and grab a seat, maybe after a quick stop by the concession stand for an $8 bag of popcorn.  The previews drag on for about ten minutes, and then the movie finally starts.  You sit on the edge of your seat throughout the whole showing, totally engrossed in the story that flashes in front of you on the silver screen.  After about an hour and a half the film comes to an end, the credits start rolling, and you make a beeline for the nearest restroom.  Then you head home.  However, what you may not have realized is that for the entire hour and a half that you sat in a sedentary daze, a philosophy about life was being drilled into your mind.  What’s more, it may have been absorbed without even being challenged.  That is, unless you were thinking critically.

When a person thinks critically about something, he doesn’t just take it at face value.  The goal isn’t to swallow it in one bite, but to break it down and analyze it, making careful judgments about everything that is said and done.  For Christians, critical thinking is, well, quite critical to their faith.  No matter who says something, no matter where it was seen, every message that is heard must be dissected and carefully examined in order to distinguish truth from lies.  According to Scripture, Christians are called to “take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5), as well as being “transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2).  How can this be accomplished if we turn our minds off to what we read, watch, and listen to?  To be honest, we’re never really immune to the messages.  Whether we realize it or not, we absorb them without a challenge when we fail to think critically and take them captive for Christ.  When this happens, our worldview is gradually overtaken not by the truth of God’s word, but by the lies we fail to detect and destroy.

Let’s take a second to address the issue of worldview and how it relates to critical thinking.  (If you don’t know what a worldview is, check out a previous post on this topic by clicking here.)  In essence, your worldview is the lens through which you view all of reality.  If your worldview “lens” is blurry, you will likewise view reality in a blurry and misinformed way.  The Christian’s job is to always be examining and “touching up” his worldview, feeding himself with the truth of Scripture. As he does so, he will be able to see reality in an increasingly clearer light.  This clearer vision will enable him to become more effective at locating messages that are contrary to or in correspondence with reality.  As he learns to apply this vision in all areas of his life and carefully examines them, he becomes a better critical thinker.

 That’s a quick look at the importance of critical thinking.  Critical thinking, like many other worthy pursuits, is not an easy thing to do.  However, when it is faithfully and methodically employed in our thoughts and reasoning, our minds — and judgments — will become increasingly stronger and prudent.  This post is just a brief overview of the value of critical thinking.  If you would like to learn more about critical thinking in general and how to develop and apply it to your life, you can check out this link from Summit Ministries here.

   The other day while I was at the gym, I had a thought cross my mind.  In fact, the thought was about my mind. As I lifted __ pounds of iron without hardly breaking a sweat, I got to thinking  about how our minds are kind of like our muscles.  When we work them out, exercise them, and challenge them, they develop and grow stronger and we are better off for it.  On the flip side, if we let them take it easy all the time and only tackle what’s within — or below — our comfort zone, they remain weak and progress becomes stagnant.  If we feed them a balanced, nutritional diet with only an occasional allowance for something less healthy, they are given the dietary support they need in order to complement our exercise program.  If all they get is junk, they return the favor and make us think and feel like junk.  So what’s a body (or mind) to do?

   Obviously, the most comfortable way is the easy way.  Just stay in your comfort zone and hit the automatic button for an everyday, predictable routine.  No challenges, no pain – and no growth.  This approach might appear to be comfortable, but in the end it actually bites back.  You feel sluggish, rotten, and possibly depressed.  Eventually, you might get to the point where you decide to bite the bullet and start making changes.  I can remember the days leading up to my purchasing a gym membership.  I had been dissatisfied with how out of shape I was, and sporadic workouts weren’t getting the job done.  I knew that if I wanted to get results, something had to change.  So I joined a local gym and got a workout routine going.  The results didn’t come as fast as I would have liked, but they eventually did come.  Now I wouldn’t even consider trading them for the previous condition I had simply accepted for so long.

   Our minds clearly can’t get physical exercise, but there are other ways that they can be exerted.  Turn off the TV, take a vacation from the computer, and unplug the iPod.  Granted, there are certain programs, internet articles, music, etc. that do succeed in engaging the mind on a challenging level, but they aren’t very common.  Try to get into a reading routine, especially with books that are above your reading level.  A particularly refreshing and challenging pursuit can be found in studying and memorizing Biblical passages.  Read some of the works by the early church fathers and other authoritative Christian authors (St. Augustine, Thomas à Kempis, William Wilberforce, C.S. Lewis, etc.)  Good literature can often be the equivalent of a full body workout for the mind.  But don’t just stop with literature.  Though they may not be in the majority, there are some examples in the electronic realm of music, websites, and videos that are also capable of exercising the mind.  Don’t just settle for post-digested content that you only have to absorb.  Search out stuff that requires you to work before you can understand the message.  If music, look for complex (and definitely morally sound) lyrics that cause you to think about the message the artist is trying to convey.  If websites, don’t waste a lot of time surfing through trivial information that won’t matter in a couple of hours.  Look for some blogs or resources where you can be intellectually encouraged in your Christian walk.  If videos/movies, challenge yourself to determine the message that a director is embedding in his film or, if you want to be really unorthodox, watch (or listen to) some quality lectures or sermons on a particular topic that interests you.

   Exercising and challenging your mind is not an easy thing to do, especially with discipline.  I’ll be the first to say that I fall short in consistently applying myself toward mental workouts.  Physical and mental fitness, as good as they are, can’t be purchased cheap.  The price is steep and the work is intense, but the rewards surpass the exertion.  I may not be anywhere near the level of mental fitness that I want to be, but the compensation I’ve received for what little work I have put forward has been encouraging.  I’m more able to identify underlying agendas in media and literature, more appreciative of difficult books and teaching, and more aware of how my Christian faith applies to the world around me.  Exercising my mind has not been especially easy and there have been times when I haven’t considered it as important as it truly is, but just like with my experience with the gym, I wouldn’t even consider tolerating what I had before.  Working out our minds is an awesome privilege that God has given us, and we need to be sure to take advantage of all the opportunities we have to develop it for His glory.

OK, let’s check out the next two inconsistencies in atheism that Dr. Bahnsen addressed.  First, we covered the problem of inductive inference, detailing how Atheists cannot rely on past occurrences/information to draw conclusions about the future, since they believe all processes are governed by random chance.  Next we touched on their inability to employ logic and concepts in reasoning.  Considering that atheism holds that all reality consists only of matter, the consistent atheist is unable to accept the existence of non-material concepts and ideas like humanity, justice, and the laws of logic.  In this post, we’re going to conclude with two more stumbling blocks in atheism: the problem of the mind and the problem of moral absolutes.

3. The Problem of the Mind

To an atheist, the mind is essentially an arbitrary concept that is, as far as he is concerned,nonexistent.  Because atheism reduces all of reality down to material things, the closest thing to the mind would be the brain.  As a result, thought, speech, and all other actions that the brain initiates are simply the result of electrical synapses going off at random.  No one can help what they say or do because their brain just spews out the information.  In that case, whatever the brain produces doesn’t really have any purpose, and therefore shouldn’t even be deemed worthy of consideration.  If there is no mind, no ability to even think about actions, words, or ideas, then all you are left with is a brain that produces a bunch of random information.  If atheism were correct on this point there really wouldn’t be any reason to debate if atheism were true or not, since you would be unable to prove it true.  If all I had was a brain that processed information haphazardly, there would be no way for me to bring order and meaning to the words in this sentence, much less defend my worldview.  You can’t reason by using your brain alone.  A mind, something that can access ideas, concepts, etc. must be present.

4. Moral Absolutes

Let’s say I’m arguing about something with an atheist.  I’m getting tired of trying to prove my point, so I want to end the debate quickly and efficiently.  So, I decide to knock him out.  Now, what’s going to happen when I share my plan with him?  Well, he’s obviously not going to be too keen about it, and he would be sure to tell me that I would be wrong to slug him.  Notice that word “wrong”.  According to atheism, there is no way of telling if something is right or wrong.  Morality is simply a matter of opinion, and no one can refer to an objective standard of morality.  Therefore, he can’t tell me that I’m “wrong” to end the argument by punching him.  If there is no way to tell whether something is wrong or not, then there is no issue!  The only way that the atheist can tell me that I am wrong to punch him is if he accepts that there is a transcendent source for morality that is outside the physical universe.  You can be sure that that is the last thing he wants to admit, but the truth is that he lives as if he believes it, whether his words are in agreement with his beliefs or not.

So there you have it.  Four inconsistencies in the materialistic atheist worldview that are practically fatal to its philosophy.  Hopefully you are able to see just how weak this worldview truly is.  Despite the horrendous holes that riddle it, many prominent and extremely intelligent people ardently cling to atheism and proclaim it with the utmost fervor.  But why? Why would so many people accept such a system of belief?  Romans 1:18-20 provides the answer:

“The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.  For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what had been made, so that men are without excuse.”

The reason that so many people, not just atheists, don’t want to accept that there is a God is because they are suppressing the truth by their wickedness.  People naturally don’t want to hear that they are sinful, and they don’t want to hear that they are going to be held responsible for their sins by a holy, righteous God.  Keep this in mind.  When a person’s worldview is cast down in a heap of mangled ruin, they aren’t often going to be very open to the opposition’s viewpoint.  Simply destroying someone’s worldview is rarely going to encourage them to become a Christian.  Once the inconsistencies are brought into the light, only the Holy Spirit can work in the unbeliever’s heart to draw he or she to the Father.  The Christian’s job is to simply be the vessel God uses to reach the unbeliever.

1. The Problem of Inductive Inference
 
The title “inductive inference” is essentially just a fancy way of describing the process of drawing conclusions from past information.  For example, I use inductive inference when I pour a glass of milk.  Based on my past experiences of milk-pouring, I can assume that the milk will remain in the glass once it leaves the bottle.  However, as strange as it seems, the consistent atheist would be unable to share in this belief.  Atheism holds that there is no order in the universe, and therefore all events are simply results of random chance.  As a result, the atheist would be unable to accept that something that happened yesterday will happen the same way today.  Consequently, the atheist cannot be consistent with what he claims to believe and say that the milk will remain in the glass when you pour it again.  For all he knows, it might shoot across the room when you tip the bottle.  If random chance governs everything, you can’t accept past information about a specific event as relevant to the present.

2. Inability to Employ Logic and Concepts in Reasoning
 
According to atheism, matter is all that exists.  No spiritual realm or anything of that sort, just things that are made entirely out of matter.  However, this belief can cause a lot of problems when considering ideas and concepts like humanity, justice, and even the laws of logic.  So what’s so difficult about those sort of things?  Consider the fact that you can’t really touch,smell, see, hear, or taste any concept or idea.  Obviously, then, they’re not material.  Because concepts and ideas are immaterial, the consistent atheist cannot let them into his worldview.   He believes that matter is all that constitutes reality, and is therefore forced to reject anything he can’t interact with using his five senses.   Accordingly, even something as fundamental as logic has to be chunked.  The consistent atheist, therefore, is essentially unable to use reason, the very thing his worldview prides itself on embracing.

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Check back October 9th for part two…