PART I: APOLOGETIC PRELIMINARIES
1. Introduction: Hope, Despair and Knowing Reality
I am convinced that a solid and compelling case can be made that what matters most for everyone in this life and beyond is one’s orientation to Jesus of Nazareth, the incarnation of God. Hope here finds its goal–in the truth that satisfies and liberates. Finding one’s way to this discovery may take many routes This book carves out a path of intellectual investigation and argument. It is a work of apologetics: the ancient and ongoing discipline of defending and advocating Christian theism. This book is applicable to both unbelievers and those believers who seek a stronger reason for their hope. to this end we will explore the core claims of Christianity in light of the counterclaims of its major rivals in the contemporary world. I do not pretend to be neutral on this score; I am a professing Christian who believes the Christian worldview to be true, rationally compelling, existentially engaging and socially, globally, and perennially pertinent. However, the book will appeal to rational and factual considerations that any thinking and concerned person should be able to appreciate.
Chapter 6: Truth Defined and Defended
Truth, especially spiritual truth, is now widely taken to be a matter of perspective, a mere social or personal construction. Truth no longer concerns the nature of things nor is it subject to intellectual analysis.
Yet Scripture repreatedly affirms that faith must be factual, that believing means connecting with reality.
Christians who are attracted to postmodernism change the very concept of truth itself and then apply their new concept of truth to the Scriptures. The Bible is thus relieved of the pressure to exhaustively conform to an objective and given reality outside the perspectives of its readers. The Bible is now “true” in the sense that it is found meaningful by the believing community, that it gives us great narratives and that it inspires us spiritually. Perfect agreement with fact is no longer an issue.
Christians of all people, must strongly affirm the notion that truth is what corresponds to reality–and must do so unswervingly, whatever the postmodern (or other) winds of doctrine may be blowing in our faces.
Chapter 14: Evidence for Intelligent Design
The argument for design in biology claims that “the molecular structure of life” cannot be explained on the basis of chance or necessity (natural law). The argument form is essentially the same one I used to argue for cosmic fine-tuning in chapter twelve:
- Molecular machines evidence specified complexity (i.e., they are contingent, complex and specified).
- Specified complexity cannot be explained on the basis of chance or necessity, or the combination of chance and necessity.
- intelligent agency is a known cause which produces specified complexity.
- Therefore, the best explanation of the origin of specified complexity in molecular machines is intelligent design.
Naturalistic attempts to explain the information-rich, information-bearing aspects of DNA must appeal to unknown and unverified natural processes-a kind of naturalism (chance and/or necessity) of the gaps. Naturalists must resort to some version of abiogenesis to explain how life arose on earth without intelligent design, but their task has been daunting and unsuccessful.
Chapter 15: The Moral Argument for God
To offer a moral argument for the existence of God, we must (1) establish the existence of objective moral reality and (2) sow that a personal and moral God is the best explanation for the existence and knowledge of objective moral reality. That is the task of this chapter.
Cultural relativism leads to individual relativism, and the autonomous self becomes the moral legislator. There is no rational basis for moral agreement or moral disagreement, since the self is supreme.
The basic argument from goodness to deity is fairly simple.
- If a personal God does not exist, then objective moral values do not exist.
- Objective moral values do exist.
- Therefore, a personal God exists.
Moral obligations make sense if understood as duties imposed by God, but if there is no “higher-than-human lawgiver,” the very concept of moral obligation becomes unintelligible. This makes a simple modus tollens argument:
- If God does not exist, there are no moral obligations.
- There are moral obligations to parents, to children, to fellow citizens, to the truth itself and so on, which are more than socially constructed (relativism).
- Therefore, God exists as the source of moral obligations.
Chapter 20: The Claims, Credentials and Achievements of Jesus Christ
The evidence for the uniqueness and supremacy of Jesus presented in this chapter is far from complete. However, the cumulative evidence singles Jesus out from all other religious figures. He entered the world supernaturally, a credited himself with unparalleled signs and wonders, possessed an impeccable character, made claims only befitting God himself, and died with the purpose of redeeming humanity. The best account of the historical facts is that he was who he said he was. If this is so, we should respond to him on his terms.
Chapter 22: The Resurrection of Jesus
The resurrection of Jesus is at the center of the Christian worldview and Christian devotion. The Gospels do not end with the death of Jesus but speak of an empty tomb, of his appearances and of a commission by the risen Jesus. Without Easter there is no Christianity.
If Christ has not been raised (1) Christian preaching is useless; (2) Christian faith is useless; (3) Christians are false witnesses about God; (4) Christian faith is futile; (5) Christians are unforgiven and left in their sins; (6) those who have died in Christian hope are lost; and (7) those who hope in Christ are supremely pitiable, since their hope ends with this life. In other words, Christianity without a risen Christ is pointless.
We shall find that even though a majority of critical New Testament scholars agree on several basic facts that are best explained by the resurrection, they typically pull back from affirming the resurrection. This is not because the evidence is weak but because of a precommitment to methodological naturalism in historical explanation–that is, the position that historians qua historians must never admit a supernatural explanation for anything. Yet, if theism is well established philosophically and scientifically, then this conceptual discrimination is uncalled for.
Part Three: Objections to Christian Theism
Chapter 23 – Religious Pluralism: Many Religions, One Truth
It is a daunting task to commend the Christian worldview as the one thing that matters most. To esteem Jesus as the unique and supreme revelation of God is taken by many to be theological chauvinism. The most powerful apologetic for Christianity will be ignored by anyone who simply–and probably ignorantly–accepts all religions as equally spiritual.
I will compare the teachings of Christianity, nondualistic Hinduism and Buddhism concerning (1) ultimate reality, (2) the nature of humanity and (3) spiritual liberation. My point is to show that these world religions are not united in their basic truth claims.
Although Christianity cannot be reduced to a common core that it shares with other religions, it can still find some common ground with respect to the individual beliefs held by other religions. Other religions are not completely false, even though their teachings cannot offer salvation and even though they must be rejected as inadequate religious systems or worldviews. This issue is richly explored in Winfried Corduan’s study A Tapestry of Faiths. The Christian must not cavalierly dismiss other religions, saying they contain no truth.
Chapter 24: Apologetics and the Challenge of Islam
This chapter will challenge the Muslim claim that Islam has replaced and usurped Christianity as the only legitimate monotheistic religion. We will consider five specific charges leveled by Muslims against Christianity.
Claim 1: The original holy book has been distorted. Muslims charge that the original revelation to the Jewish and Christian prophets (who were all prophets of Allah) has been altered and distorted.
Claim 2: Jesus was not crucified. The Qur’an states that Jesus was not crucified.
Claim 3: Jesus was not divine. Muslims are repulsed by the confession of Jesus as divine.
Claim 4: God is not triune. Islam denies that God is triune, affirming that Allah is absolutely one, without son or partner. Any other doctrine is abominated as polytheism.
Claim 5: Jesus was a prophet of Islam. Islam teaches that Jesus’ “gospel” was no different from the teaching of Old Testament prophets: one must worship Allah and obey his law.
Chapter 25: The Problem of Evil: Dead Ends and the Christian Answer
The problem of evil is often flashed before Christians as a trump card. There is evil; therefore, there is no God. But there is much more to be said.
The problem of evil is not limited to the Christian scheme of things. Any worldview worth is salt must give an account of evil and how to cope with it wisely.
The most effective strategy for defending and commending Christianity is to argue that it best explains what matters most. Accordingly, I take up several reasons why God indeed has morally sufficient reasons for the amount of evil that he has permitted in his creation.
The cross of Christ is the focal point for God’s absolute sovereignty, God’s incomparable goodness and human responsibility for evil.
Conclusion
Christians need a confident, courageous, contagious, compelling conviction that Christianity is the flaming truth the world needs to hear, that it can withstand rational testing and that the God of truth sponsors our humble apologetic efforts. Christians also need tenacity in the face of the spiritual warfare that always accompanies Christian outreach (see Acts 13:1-12). We need to put on the full armor of God and go into the battle for hearts and minds (Ephesians 6:10-18) because everything is at stake.