If there
are no tirades against Christianity during the days surrounding the Christian
holy events – Christmas and Easter, we may as well wonder what’s happening in
the opposite camp. However, these melodramatic rants against Christianity will
gradually lose its impact, because it is old wine in a new bottle.
So we have a
similar tirade against Christianity. This in the form of an 8,487 word article
discrediting the Bible, ‘The Bible: So
Misunderstood It's a Sin’ by Kurt Eichenwald and published by Newsweek, on
December 23rd 2014.1
Realizing God’s
Beauty During Assaults against Christianity
When Newsweek’s
article was published, a specific group of our non-Christian friends joyfully
propagated the article in social media. Consider this please, why do they seize
the liberty to joyfully discredit the Bible, while they, by the same token, do not
allow the world to criticize their holy book?
Isn’t this
an interesting hypocrisy? This is akin to maligning our reputation at their will
and pleasure but preventing others to examine their credentials despite it
being in a questionable state altogether.
Whatever
the case may be, this is a wonderful opportunity to realize the beauty of the
God of the Bible.
If God has
offered freewill to man, then by the same token, man could abuse God using that
very freewill. In this context, it’s valid that God be at the receiving end of
man’s disbelief and criticisms. Disbelief and abuse of the Creator God are the
ramifications of man’s freewill especially in the context of a world inundated
in evil and sin.
God by
virtue of granting freewill to man would necessarily invite abuses upon HIMSELF
and would graciously understand the abuse. If God is loving and just, then HE would
not prohibit the unbelieving man use his freewill to abuse HIM. (Prohibiting
man to employ his freewill is a negation of freewill.)
This is how
God’s beauty is revealed. God would not obstruct man’s freewill, since salvation
is predicated on man’s freewill. While man employs his freewill to abuse God, it
is by the same freewill man could repent of his sins and believe in God.
Therefore, if
God silences man from abusing HIM, HE cannot be loving, just and salvific in
this context. God, who prevents man from abusing HIM, albeit for a finite
period of time, cannot be God. Instead, that god could only be a mere illusory
figure concocted by man.
Motive Behind Assaults
Against Christianity
Newsweek’s allegations
against Christianity are unscrupulously the same old. These so-called
allegations have been adequately and reasonably answered a jillion times over
and again by eminent Christian scholars.
However, there
is no scarcity of Christian response to Newsweek’s tirade against Christianity.
Eichenwald’s allegations have been systematically debunked.2 Although
the most appropriate response would be that of Billy Madison’s:
The motive of
these assaults against Christianity is to rattle the faith of an immature
Christian.
The
antagonist desires to prove the Bible as a fairytale. If the Bible is proven as
corrupt and inherently false, then the Christian has nothing to anchor his
faith on.
If there is
no Bible, then there is no triune God or the Lord Jesus, whom the Bible
reveals. If there is no Jesus, there is no salvation through HIS sacrifice.
Hence those who lose faith in Christ remain clueless; clueless as to their
origin, purpose and destiny.
Any
Christian who has studied the Bible and the other theistic worldviews would
conclusively assert the utmost coherency of the Christian worldview. In
comparison, the other monotheistic and pantheistic worldviews remain largely
incoherent, especially from within the realms of God & salvation, man’s origin,
purpose and destiny.
So if one
were to depart from faith in Christ, he would wallow under the weight of the
incoherency of the other worldviews that he would be artificially incubated in
an apparently peaceful situation that even a feeble impairment to his wellness
would destroy his inner peace completely and thus his soul (Cf. Isaiah 48: 22).
If one were
to disbelieve the Bible, do we really think we can earn or work our way to our
salvation? Do we think that chanting [sacred texts] and/or charity would fetch
us heaven? No.
Our sins in
thoughts, words, and deeds far outweigh our potential and maximal goodness.
Thus no amount of good works would fetch us heaven. That good works would fetch
us salvation is an untenable state or a mere illusion.
So if it’s
not Jesus then its despair. Despair / hopelessness or illusion would be the
mainstay of a person without Christ. This is precisely where the adverse
propagandas against Christianity intend to drive the faltering Christians to.
But the
fact remains that outside of Christianity there is no truth, especially a
coherent one at that.
Target Audience Behind
The Assaults Against Christianity
Who’s more
likely to be rattled by such adverse propagandas against Christianity?
Newsweek
provides us the answer, “…Their lack of
knowledge about the Bible is well established. A Pew Research poll in 2010
found that evangelicals ranked only a smidgen higher than atheists in
familiarity with the New Testament and Jesus’s teachings. “Americans revere the
Bible—but, by and large, they don’t read it,’’ wrote George Gallup Jr. and Jim
Castelli, pollsters and researchers whose work focused on religion in the
United States.”C
We should
be aware of the aesthetic Christians. These Christians do not expend time or
energy to wrestle with the biblical text to unravel and assimilate the timeless
truths of the Bible. Their prayer is but a selfish rant meticulously devoid of
listening to God. Instead they love to attend the church regularly in their
best attire, so much so their focus is more on the regularity of attendance and
in beautifying themselves for a mass acceptance than attending the church to
increase their love for God by worshipping HIM in spirit and in truth.
This group
would indeed be rattled.
But then
there is a quantum of solace for this group. That quantum of solace is
predicated on the age of the Christian belonging to this group.
Are these
adverse propagandas aimed against the older Christians (e.g. in the age group
of 50++ years)? I don’t think so. Majority of these older Christians wouldn’t possibly
read these articles.
Even if
they read, they would discard these articles because their faith in historic
Christianity is predicated upon fear and reverence for God. In other words,
they would dare not question the Bible.
These assaults
then are aimed against the younger Christians. This group thinks through their
heart and not their head. This is the feeling
culture and not the thinking culture
per se.
The younger
Christian is more likely to be impacted by the adverse propagandas against
Christianity unless the contemporary Christian leadership offers reasonable
answers to the questions of this age-group.
Answers
refuting these so-called allegations are available in the public domain, but
the younger Christians either don’t believe in extensive reading and
understanding or they read and strive to understand, but have questions for
which they desire personal answers.
Is The Local Church
Ready To Engage Objections Against Christianity?
A few germane
questions should be asked:
A. Is [the
leadership of] the local church able to answer the questions disputing
Christianity?
B. Is [the
leadership of] the local church aware of the sources that debunk such adverse
propagandas so to refer them to the seeking / questioning Christian? (It’s not
to shoo away the questioning Christian to these public domains as if to release
themselves from the responsibility or burden of answering these questions. But [the
leadership of] the local church should handhold the seeking or questioning
Christian through the process of solidifying his belief in Christ and in the
Bible.)
C. Would [the
leadership of] the local church encourage questions about Christianity / Bible
from their worshippers?
It’s OK to
question the Bible albeit honestly so to earnestly seek God. In fact,
Christians should utilize these assaults against Christianity to help motivate
the younger generation Christians to be deeply rooted in Christ and the Bible.
Perfect
peace is only possible when a person is in Christ. Each day will have its
troubles, and often these troubles appear in the guise of these assaults
against Christianity.
These
attacks, as emphasized before, should motivate Christians to rely more on
Christ, for it is only in Christ there is salvation and accompanying that salvation
is the true, unhindered and everlasting peace. This is precisely what the Lord
Jesus said, “…so that in me you may have peace. In this world
you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John
16: 33, NIV, Emphasis Mine).
It’s only
in Christ we have salvation and true peace. So allow these assaults against
Christianity to get you closer to the Lord Jesus and to God’s words in the
Bible. The Spirit of Jesus will draw you closer to HIM, but only if you believe,
love and follow HIM. I pray that Jesus would have HIS way in you. Amen.
Endnotes:
1 http://www.newsweek.com/2015/01/02/thats-not-what-bible-says-294018.html
2 Debunking Newsweek’s article:
Please read these Christian responses that debunk Newsweek’s article:
http://danielbwallace.com/2014/12/28/predictable-christmas-fare-newsweeks-tirade-against-the-bible/
http://www.albertmohler.com/2014/12/29/newsweek-on-the-bible-so-misrepresented-its-a-sin/
http://michaeljkruger.com/a-christmas-present-from-the-mainstream-media-newsweek-takes-a-desperate-swipe-at-the-integrity-of-the-bible-part-1/
http://michaeljkruger.com/a-christmas-gift-from-the-mainstream-media-newsweek-takes-a-desperate-swipe-at-the-integrity-of-the-bible-part-2/
26 Mistakes in Newsweek's Article About the Bible: http://onyxkylix.blogspot.in/2015/01/the-bible-so-mispresented-its-sin-26.html
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