Atheism and the Clarity of Scripture

Last night, I taught the doctrine of the Clarity of Scripture at our youth fellowship. I spoke briefly as an introduction, then the youth split up into their small groups for Scripture reading and discussion. Most of what I used for the teaching is from Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theology, which is in itself an excellent example of the clarity of Scripture — deep truths written in an understandable language. So the doctrine of the Clarity of Scripture simply means that Scripture is plain and clear and is able to be rightly understood by common man, especially that which must be known for the salvation of man.

However, even though Scripture is clear, that doesn’t mean it is easy to understand. And, though all men and women everywhere can understand Scripture, it takes the Spirit of God to open the eyes of their hearts. In fact, as Grudem says, it is impossible to understand Scripture rightly if you are not seeking God and willing to submit to the teachings of his Word. Enter Sam Harris and his band of New Atheists.

Harris has promoted “Project Reason” (which, as you’ll soon find out, is quite an ironic name), which, according to their website, is “a 501(c)(3) nonprofit foundation devoted to spreading scientific knowledge and secular values in society. The foundation draws on the talents of prominent and creative thinkers in a wide range of disciplines to encourage critical thinking and erode the influence of dogmatism, superstition, and bigotry* in our world.” I inserted the asterisk after the word “bigotry”, because they should have added, “Except, of course, bigotry toward Bible-believing Christians.”

Project Reason recently released an infographic called “Contradictions in the Bible.” While the infographic is attractive to the eyes (and many commenters on the site have gotten very excited about printing high resolution posters), Project Reason has (and this is where the irony kicks in) done very little thinking in promoting this infographic.

As Matt Perman and Douglas Wilson have already pointed out, this infographic on errors in the Bible is (more irony) full of errors! Not only are there duplicated “contradictions”, but many of the alleged contradictions aren’t even close to how one would define a contradiction. In fact, as any expositor of the Bible will know, you must consider the context of each verse and passage in Scripture. Otherwise, you could take any verse in the Bible and make up your own form of thinking or even your own religion or cult (oh wait … some people have already done that).

An example of a “contradiction” in the infographic is from the book of Genesis, where God tells Abraham to sacrifice his “one and only son”, Isaac. Is this a contradiction to the text that narrates the birth and life of Ishmael, Abraham’s other son? If Harris and his Project Reason crew had done just a small amount of research in Genesis (isn’t that what critical thinkers do — research?), they would know that Ishmael was born to Hagar, his wife’s maidservant. Then they would be able to deduce that the text is implying that Isaac is Abraham’s one and only biological son, because God had promised Abraham offspring as numerous as the stars through his wife, Sarah.

This brings us back to the doctrine of the Clarity of Scripture. When men and women read God’s Word with doubt (James 1:5-6), trying to support their own unbelief, they will never be able to rightly understand the message. Their hearts will always be veiled. (2 Corinthians 3:13-18). This is why I have always said we must not get caught up in debates with atheists or other doubters who are just looking for a fight, because they will not be able to see or hear the truth (Isaiah 6:9-10).

If this is what we can expect from Sam Harris, Project Reason, and the New Atheists, we are in for a world of humor. Appropriately, I have dropped this post in the “humor” category, because … well … it’s just silly!

Lessons from Santa Claus

As the youth worker at our church, I am responsible for a children’s sermon each Sunday. I have mixed feelings about these sermons. On one hand, it is incredibly difficult to plan something so short. After all, I am used to doing youth talks that go from 15-25 minutes. I have also done sermons for worship services that can go on for up to 40 minutes. But how do you plan for something that is only 5 minutes long, easy for children to understand, but at the same time have the depth of youth or worship service sermons?

On the other hand, children’s sermons can be quite encouraging – for children and for adults. They make lessons of the Christian faith very understandable and easy to remember. It may be hard to remember everything from a 40-minute, three-point sermon. But it’s quite easy to remember the children’s sermon.

With all that said, I was pleased with my children’s sermon today. Not because I am a great mastermind of children’s sermons (I usually get my ideas from a trusty friend), but because of the implications of it.

My focus was on Santa Claus and specifically on his “naughty or nice” list. As the legend goes, Mr. Claus keeps a list of children (and adults!) who have been naughty and nice throughout the year. Those who have been mostly nice will receive presents on Christmas Day, and those who have been naughty will receive a lump of coal in their stockings.

Unfortunately, many think this is what God is like. God is seated high above the earth with a checklist of those who have done wrong and right. And if you have done mostly good things in your life, you get to go to heaven when you die. If you’ve been naughty for most of your life, then you go to hell. Now, many people will not say it’s as simple as this, but how many religions and faiths around the world are based on achieving heaven through good works? (I’ll give you a hint: all of them but one)

The miracle of Christmas is that God became man. He entered the world the same way we all do – as a baby. And through his perfect, holy life, his shameful death upon a cross, and his resurrection from the dead, he has given us life in abundance. But this life isn’t allocated to those who make God’s “nice” list. It is for those who put their faith and trust in Jesus, those who make him Lord of their life. See there is a greater list, one the Bible calls the Lamb’s Book of Life. And those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life are not those who have lived a better life than the next guy. Those are the names of men and women who have put their trust in Jesus to achieve eternal life.

And so I conclude this post the same way I conclude my children’s sermons:

The next time Christmas comes around and you are worried about whether your name is on the naughty or nice list, think of that greater list – the Lamb’s Book of Life – and take joy in the fact that your name is written down by the blood of Jesus and not your own efforts.

Church Shopping

Our friends over at The Sacred Sandwich have humored me with a recent spoof of “church shopping”. Now, I want to be clear that there are two different ways to go about church shopping. One is right and the other isn’t. Let me give you an example.

Say, for instance, that you have just recently moved, for whatever reason, from Ft. Lauderdale to Washington, D.C. You want to get plugged in right away with a local church. So you Google churches in your area, look at your preferred denominational website, or just drive around the neighborhoods scouting out parishes. Maybe you even call up a few churches to ask them about their beliefs, practices, ministries, etc. Then you visit a few, one each Sunday or Wednesday, to see where you fit in. This is church shopping (and in college it is sometimes “campus ministry shopping”), but there is nothing inherently wrong with this.

The criteria for a church, as we find in the New Testament, is that it (1) teaches the Word with sound doctrine, proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ and (2) participates in the sacraments, baptism and communion. The problems come about when we try to find a church that caters to our every need instead of good, biblical teaching and observance of the sacraments. We look for the church that has a climbing wall for its youth group or maybe offers a computer ministry – like church is some kind of buffet table where we gather everything we need to fill us up.

Now, I’ve never been in any church that will completely satisfy me physically or emotionally. Why? Because (a) I’m a sinner and (b) the church is made up of sinners. I will never be able to satisfy my selfish wants, not to mention it is not the duty of the church to satisfy physical and emotional needs.

For the past two years, I worked at a United Methodist church… and I was miserable. Was it because I didn’t have any friends? Nope, had quite a few friends, and still love them to this day. Was it because they didn’t have a rockin’ praise band? Nope, they had a very talented band (though I didn’t care for the choice of music… but again, my selfish wants). It was because the teaching was shallow. It was all fluff. I’m not saying the Bible wasn’t read, but in my opinion (for the most part) it wasn’t used in the context of sound doctrine and was therefore useless. It’s not selfish to want to be completely satisfied spiritually. (Note: By satisfied, I don’t mean “content” or “complacent”, I mean fulfilled.)

I need a church where biblically sound doctrine is taught. I am no longer a baby Christian. I have learned, by the grace of God, to feed myself. But I need a church that will give me food I can chew on. Food that will nourish me – a nice, juicy steak, not a glass of milk.

And if you have been a Christian for some time, I believe this should also be your desire. You should be learning to feed yourself instead of seeking a church that will cater to your every need.

The wrong question: Does this church have everything I need to satisfy my physical and emotional needs?

The right question: Does this church preach and teach sound doctrine and observe the sacraments?