St. John Studies

“I would say right now, the most offensive claim of Christians is that Jesus is the only way of salvation. This is characterized as intolerant, as arrogant, as narrow-minded.  I mean there is a host of vices that go along with this claim [Greg Koukl author of Relativism: Feet Firmly Planted in Mid-Air].

Read this statement closely.

What is this author saying?

“Thomas [the Disciple] said to Him [Jesus], ‘Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me’” [John 14].

What Koukl is really saying is that he objects to words from Jesus as found in these famous scriptures above. He refuses to believe that Jesus is the “only way.”

He is not the only one. I have had acquaintances, coworkers and even friends and family members who have indicated that they think Christians are intolerant, arrogant and narrow-minded.  It seems that the more educated and travelled a person, the more prone they are to cast aspersions on Christians.

Why is this?

Maybe it is because they have encountered other good people in this world, good people who have different belief systems and don’t mean any harm and they seem to “have it all together.”

Maybe it is because they have seen the world and have a broader perspective of humanity and they are more tolerant and accepting.

Maybe like Greg Koukl, they just refuse to buy into the idea that there is only one way; truth is relative or “truth depends” on the religion base that expresses it. Jesus could not claim to be the only way.  Christianity is not an exclusive religion.  Other religions have it right also.

Chapter 12 in Adam Hamilton’s book is entitled “Will there be Hindu’s in Heaven?” Mr. Koukl says Christians are going to say NO!

This all boils down to a “black or white” debate.

At one position are Christian Exclusivists who say that Jesus is the only way.

At another position are Christian Inclusivists who say that Heaven will be peopled with people from many faiths. If you think Christians are the only ones who will be there, think again.

Let’s take this further. Which side do you think conservative Christians are on?  Exclusivism.  That leaves inclusivism for the liberal Christians.

Anyone who has read this blog will know that I reference John R. W. Stott quite a lot. He is one of my favorite authors and over the years his books and his explanations of the Christian faith have meant quite a lot to me.

Here is an admission.

I have struggled with this issue.

I know what the Bible says about Jesus “is the only way.” I have read those words and others over and over and over.   I understand the implications of a rigid application of those words.   The people who don’t believe in Jesus are not going to make it into heaven.  I know what it means to say there are many ways to God.  What becomes of the God and His Son we believe in when we say that?

Another admission.

At times in my life I thought there were many ways. I did not think it all out.  I just practiced tolerance and in my mind, I opened the gates to heaven to all, even though the gate is a “narrow gate” as we read in Matthew 7.

John R. W. Stott struggled as you can see in these words: “I have never been able to conjure up (as some great Evangelical missionaries have) the appalling vision of the millions who are not only perishing but will inevitably perish [the exclusivist position].  On the other hand… I am not and cannot be a universalist.  Between these extremes I cherish and hope that the majority of the human race will be saved.”

Stop and think about the position that English Christian leader expresses. Stott was an Anglican cleric who was noted as a leader of the worldwide Evangelical movement.   Needless to say, he has brought many people to Christ, including me.

I will never forget my experience as a “new Christian” nineteen years ago. I fell in love with God and His son Jesus Christ and I was on fire for the New Testament.  I hungered for the word and I read the New Testament like every page had a message for me.  In those early days, I also read Basic Christianity by John R. W. Stott.

In those days, I had no idea I was buying into a faith that was intolerant, arrogant, and narrow-minded.

Today, I don’t believe I have.   This will be a good chapter for me.  Maybe it will be for you as we explore who to include and who to exclude and the implications for how we view the world.

“Is Your Jesus too Small?”

This topic has been tough to write about. As I have tried to express ideas about how Christians chip off part of the Gospel and use it for their own agenda, I know I risk offending people.  But these ideas are too important to ignore.  What Adam Hamilton is really saying in this chapter is that people really don’t have a deep understanding of what Christianity stands for and I would agree.

Jesus refers to Himself as “the light”, “the living water,”, “the way”, the “good shepherd”, “the vine”, “the bread”, “the door” and “the gate”.  What do these images mean?  How many Christians really dedicate themselves to Bible study and have a serious commitment to finding their own answers in the Gospel accounts?

I wish I could say we all do, but do we?

What do most people do instead? They take what they are fed by others and that is what they believe.

The Bible is there for all of us to learn on our own but people say it is too hard to read or maybe in reality, we are too busy to put in the time to read it or the effort to understand it.

What is the result? Most of us don’t really know firsthand what Jesus and His Father advocate.

This week I have tried to write about the social justice Christianity of the liberals, the democrats. I have tried to write about the personal relationship Christianity of the conservatives, the republicans.

Just chips off the Gospel message.

What did Jesus do in His ministry here on earth? He challenged the religious leaders of His time for their hypocrisy.  He was a devout Jew, a rabbi, yet He took on the Essenes and their refusal to participate in the world.  He took on the Sadducees and their compromises with the world and He took on the Pharisees and their overemphasis on legalism.

He called Himself Lord. This not only put Him at odds with the religious leaders of his day but also Rome.  This was a title that was claimed by Caesar.  He called people to repent of their sins and submit to the reign of God.  His focus was on how people were living in this world and He called us to sacrifice ourselves so others with less can have their needs met.

His message is a message of balance, not extremism. He advocates a worship that is much bigger and broader than most of us can comprehend.

I wrote on June 23^rd that Jesus would probably not be that comfortable in our churches today.  For some, that is probably an offensive thought, but it leads to the question, where would Jesus be ministering today?  Where would He be comfortable?

Pastor Hamilton has an idea: “I think Jesus would find Himself most comfortable sitting outside a homeless shelter or a gay bar, telling stories about prodigal children and the fathers who long for them to come home. I can see Him smiling as He tells about the shepherds who won’t stop looking for the sheep that wandered away.  I can even picture Him in the foyer (or food court?) of our contemporary temples or the shopping malls saying things like, ‘don’t worry about what you will eat or drink or what you will wear…but seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.’”

Is Adam Hamilton crazy to picture a Jesus like this?

How will we really know if we don’t open our Bibles and find out for ourselves? Yes, the message of God in our Bible is hard to understand.  Yes, the role model of Jesus Christ is a tough role model to emulate because Jesus was so devout but the most important question we all face as Christians is what must we do to be the best Christians we can be?

We must read the Bible, weigh the evidence and think about what is in God’s Book. As Christians we must naturally focus on the Gospel; weigh the claims of Jesus and think about what He advocates.

Don’t take anyone’s word for it.

It is best to find out for yourself…

Bypass the people who would have you adopt their viewpoint, for their viewpoint is not the one that God intends for you. Dare to have the discipline to discover your own way to God by reading His Scriptures.

This is a big reward: “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears My Word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life” [John 5: 24].

Folks, I don’t have to tell you.

That is not a chip off the Gospel.

That’s the biggest goal for Christian living.

Could the world of politics in this country get more out-of-control?

As I write this, one presumptive nominee of one party is calling another nominee “lacking intelligence” with no ideas. The other presumptive nominee is calling the other nominee “liar.”  And the House of Representatives has had a “sit in” because the minority party desires a gun control bill and they cannot get a vote on it.

As a person who has studied communication all my life, I cringe at all the divisive language.

As a Christian I ask myself where is the ability to be peaceful, accommodating and understanding.

Pastor Adam Hamilton imagines Jesus in Chapter 11 of Seeing Gray in A World of Black and White; “I can picture Him [Jesus] entering the Oval Office, or the halls of Congress, to meet with all in power who claim to be His followers, and saying, ‘Let’s talk about what I meant when I told you to love your enemy.’”

I knew the political election season was going to be hard to write about. I knew that some would read my writing and be upset [even though that is not my intended purpose], I knew that the political situation in this country was “uncivil” [I am trying to be kind here].

Yet, God put it on my heart to comment on a book about divisive issues in the Christian world today. Maybe He wants me to try to grapple with my view of the core of the problem.

Here is my take. It takes time.

Ask my wife, I am not known as a speedy guy. I move slowly and I spend a lot of time thinking about my next move.  People who really know me probably are very irritated by how much I stop and think about what to do next.

But for me, it helps.

Since I place a high value on peace, being able to accommodate and making an effort to understand, I want to figure out how to avoid strife, inflexibility and lack of understanding.

When problems occur between people, I spend a lot of time trying to figure out what has happened. For example, in my church, we have communication problems from time to time like any church.  It’s regrettable but it happens.  One thing I have experienced over and over again is the lack of honesty that people have toward each other and the quick conclusions that they come to.  Lack of honesty occurs when a person has a “beef” with someone and they don’t go to that person and talk it out.  They just hold their hurt inside or maybe share their negative feelings with others [which can really cause damage].

Jumping to conclusions about people is so common in our fast-paced world. Rather than getting hurt and spreading damaging information about someone else, ask why the other person inflicted “hurt” on you. What caused them to say something or do something that you deem inappropriate?  Don’t just jump to a quick conclusion that is probably wrong but it is quick.  [We have to have quick today, don’t we?]

I have found over the years that people are complex creatures.   All of us have problems and our problems have a tremendous impact on our behavior.   Words are said that we really don’t mean.  Actions are taken that we wish we could take back.

Another thing I have learned over the years…”when it is out there, it is out there.” Once you say it or do it, it is gone.  You cannot put the genie back in the bottle.

What do we need?

Time…

In our world, we hear a small bit of news on the television and we think we have the whole story. We read a headline in a paper and we think we understand.  We turn to one of the  biased cable news networks and we hear their “slant” on the world and we buy into that.

It is not that easy; it is not that quick.

Slow down and take the time to come to a conclusion that is based on some solid information. Explore various varied sources.  If you truly believe in God, ask your Lord how to approach situations and listen to His urgings that come through your Holy Spirit.  My God is not a God of quick, instant answers.  I have worked hard over the years to get to know Him.  Over the years He has slowly revealed some very helpful information to me.  I have so much more to learn.

He has the answers for the choices we have to make in life and another thing I have learned: life is all about the choices we make.  The choices reveal how we truly believe about our Lord and Savior.

Take the time to decide what to do.   Take the time to ponder your choices.  When Jesus said “love your enemies” I really think He meant that.

Figuring out how to do that.

It takes time.

“So the last will be first, and the first will be last.” Matthew 20: 16

“Anyone who has been forgiven for only a little will show only a little love.” Luke 7: 47

“I am here to give sight to the blind and to make blind everyone who can see.” John 10: 39

Words from Jesus.

Words that are not easy to understand sometimes.

Words which can be twisted and utilized for selfish purposes.

Some people who read the Bible love to think they know what Jesus intended with His words. However, there is a possibility they may not know His every intention.

Intentional fallacy is a term used in 20th-century literary criticism to describe the problem inherent in trying to judge a work of art by assuming the intent or purpose of the artist who created it.

Does the intentional fallacy apply to the Bible?

Are we willing to admit that it does?

People who need Jesus to be on their side make bold statements about His intentions. In a post on June 17^th, I wrote that liberal democrats see Jesus as a revolutionary.  Conservative republicans see Jesus as a personal Savior who has come to save the world from sin.

But who is right? What was Jesus’ purpose for coming to earth?

Pastor Adam Hamilton feels that “Jesus preached one gospel that has, unfortunately, been split by the church into two: the social gospel and the personal evangelical gospel” [Seeing Gray in A World of Black and White].

And after it was split, it was high-jacked by competing political parties.

Do you think Jesus intended to pit Christian against Christian?

Do you think Jesus intended to champion one political party’s claims and not another’s?

I think not. I think the title of Chapter Eleven is very appropriate, “Is Your Jesus Too Small?”

Yes people are making Him too small.

I guess it was inevitable. We are after all, only human.  We are limited in our intelligence.  Couple that with our out-of-control sense of pride and you have a dangerous combination.

Twisting and utilizing Scripture for selfish purposes.

Jesus did not really give any indication that He was a big social reformer. Yes, He had a place for women in His ministry but He did not speak specifically about women’s rights.  Jesus called on us to care for the hungry, sick and naked but He did not specifically wage war on poverty.

What did He do?

He gave us words that implied we should tackle issues like caring for others regardless of their skin color or social background, or avoiding the use of violence or maybe even helping the homeless by building shelters or helping the sick by building hospitals.

I believe the nature of Jesus’s words were inspirational.

Have you ever spent time with a visionary? Visionaries hate to be pinned down.  They hate to be pinned down with a question like “how are you going to do that” or “this is a very real problem that you need to address.”  I see Jesus as a visionary who wants us to act on His words but He did not come to spend time with us, giving us all the details.

We will address the details as we submit to the reign of God and allow the Holy Spirit to work within us, leading us to do the work of God, Jesus and the church.

I wonder what Jesus would think of a liberal or a conservative, claiming that He was on their side. I wonder what Jesus would think of a social justice democrat, claiming that He was a revolutionary or a personal relationship republican, claiming that He was here just to forgive our sins.

I sing in the choir at my church. I am a “newbie”.  I have heard choir members talk about their view from the loft for years and did not make a big deal about it.  But now that I am in the choir, my perspective of church is really different.  I see people looking at the pastor, the choir, and “other things”.

I was in the choir last Sunday and I saw a strange man come in the back entrance of the church. He looked like he had just come in off the street.  He was a good fifty yards away from me so I did not get a close look at him.  He looked like he may have been a person of color and he was not dressed in his “Sunday” best.  Immediately I wanted an usher to approach him and give him an information packet about our church but I did not see that happen.

The choir had to sing our “special” for the service and I focused my attention on the music and the choir director.

When we were through, I sat back down and looked at the back of the church.

He was gone.

I know this sounds crazy but what if that man was Jesus? What if He came to church and saw what we have done to His life-giving message and left…disappointed.

He found out His words were twisted and utilized for selfish purposes.

Generalization: a wide-sweeping statement or conclusion drawn from specific cases.

What can we say about generalizations?

We don’t agree with them sometimes because we have specific experiences that differ from the generalization.

When generalizations result in labels we don’t like, they can make us mad.

We all use them because we like “wide-sweeping” statements that don’t get into details, which can 1.drive you crazy 2.bore you to death.

Let me make a generalization: it is tough to take individual people with individual life experiences and put them into a box, stick a label on them and basically say this label fits them all.

But that is the nature of politics.

People who run political campaigns try to get out ahead of large groups of people with generalizations.

It basically works like this. For thirty-six years, I taught my speech students this all the time. What is the core of your message?  Boil it down to a few words that reflect how you really feel about your topic.  If you speak to an audience and put on an act, they will know it.  If you speak from the heart, they will also know that.

Next and most importantly, how will that message resonate in your audience? Will they hate it?  Will they love it?  Will they respond somewhere in between hate or love?

This is important. How close to hate will their response be?

How close to love?

If you are speaking on something they hate, you have to make tough choices: toss the subject out completely or change your message to make it more positive. Remember it needs to reflect who you really are or it is just an act and the audience will know it.  Sometimes how we feel about a topic cannot be changed.  A speaker [or politician] is on the wrong side of a topic with an audience and they know it.  Avoiding the topic altogether is the best policy.

Or if you are forced to comment on the tough subject…use “political speak.”

I am not a politician but maybe I am. At times my wife would put that label on me.  She is a person who likes direct communication and fewer words rather than more words.   When she asks me a question, she would like for me to “say what I mean and mean what I say”.  She would like for me to use ten words in my reply instead of one hundred and fifty.

Instead I use “political speak” too much.

She asks, “what are you doing in the back yard” and I say, “I am busy.” Did I answer her question?  Not really.  “What are you doing in the back yard” and I say “I am so busy with the seasonal needs of the composition of our two acres; they require so much of my time and attention and on top of that several costly trips to the store to maintain the soils and upgrade the area.”  Now I have not answered her question and I have used a large number of vague words to obfuscate my message.  How did you like that one…obfuscate?

If I was a real politician, I would repeat a lot.

When politicians face tough questions they tend to rely on what are called “talking points”. Talking points are phrases that politicians memorize and then use when they are confronted by issues that are hard to address.  We see it all the time in television interviews.  An interviewer asks the question and the politician responds with a talking point.  The interviewer knows that that yields little information because it may be so vague or it could be “canned.”  That answer is the same answer that all the people in that person’s political party are giving on the subject.  So the interviewer asks again.  Here comes the same talking point with a little different phrasing but basically it is the same answer.

If I was a real politician I would use euphemisms.   Euphemisms are mild or indirect words or expressions substituted for one considered to be too harsh or blunt when referring to something unpleasant or embarrassing.  When they are used, you just shake your head and say “What does that mean?”

Here are some great examples based on one of the most negative messages we will ever hear. “You are fired” can become early retirement opportunity, employee transition, personnel realignment, staff reduction or workforce balance correction.  You get the point.  Clear communication becomes very unclear communication.

Let’s end this post with this thought.

Say you are a Christian.

A candidate for political office is going to speak to you. What is your Christian core, your view of the world?  What would you want that person to say to get your vote?  What are the key issues that really mean a lot to you?

We all know that Christianity and politics are “strange bedfellows” but there is very little in the Bible that would support the idea that we should turn our backs on our governmental processes and ignore our right to vote.

A prime example about Jesus’ attitude toward government is the episode in Mark 12 when the Pharisees try to trick Him into making an insurrectionist statement: “They came and said to Him, “Teacher, we know that You are truthful and defer to no one; for You are not partial to any, but teach the way of God in truth. Is it lawful to pay a poll-tax to Caesar, or not?   “Shall we pay or shall we not pay?” But He, knowing their hypocrisy, said to them, “Why are you testing Me? Bring Me a denarius to look at.”   They brought one. And He said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” And they said to Him, “Caesar’s.”   And Jesus said to them, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”

The politician generalizes about you. You are a Christian.  What can I say to win this person’s vote?

The Christian generalizes about the politician. What do they have to say to win my vote?

Somewhere the two individuals need to intersect and American government happens.

“In God We Trust”…our national motto.

How does it feel being “used”?

You know, manipulated for someone else’s benefit.

I am thinking that most of us don’t like this but this is how some Christians intersect with politics.

They feel used.

It does not sound very good as politicians talk about “rounding up” the evangelical vote. It sounds like we are just a prize that a politician wants, a demographic they need to appeal to and if they say the right thing, propose the right ideas, we automatically reward them with our vote.

Why is it so tough to figure out our place in today’s political world?

Let’s lay aside not being able to relate due to candidate behaviors and beliefs and let’s try to discuss this on a higher plane.

Evan Koons explores this idea in a lighthearted way in his film “For the Life of the World.” As a Christian he agonizes about where he fits in.  He does not see a place for his Christian belief in a world that divides itself into red states and blue states and pro this and anti that.

And yet we see Jesus making statements like this in Matthew 5: “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”

That hardly sounds like we are supposed to go “underground” with our faith but that is what some Christians do. They build walls and work hard to shut the world out.  Rather than thinking about what to do, they would rather ignore the world and not make the choices that require a lot of thinking, like how we are to intersect with the world of politics.

Then there are those that just condemn everything that does not fit their “Christian worldview.” These Christians feel like they are supposed to dig in on their positions and never budge.  They are the types of folks who can be very extreme in their positions and they wind up angering so many people due to their constant evaluation of others’ points of view.

The third group goes the opposite direction. They work hard to fit in, so hard that they compromise on any issue in order to be a part of whatever is popular at the time.  At times it seems like their Christian values don’t exist because they have blended in so well.

In the Old Testament, God repeatedly told the Israelites to set themselves apart from the world. Have different eating restrictions, don’t intermarry, avoid the influence of worshipping other gods etc.  God had a different agenda for these people as they were supposed to be His “chosen people.”

Then we have Jesus and things get a little more murky.

What Jesus says in Matthew 5 does not sound like disengagement does it?

Many in Jesus’ day would have liked Him to be a major political leader to take on Roman domination of their land and restore it to Hebrew autonomy but He seemed to have little interest in a direct confrontation of the Roman occupying army. When the Pharisees asked Him the tricky question about taxes [hoping He would advocate non-payment], He said “Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s” [Mark 12:17].

These don’t sound like words from a man who is intent on changing the political climate.

This still leaves us mired in our problem. As Christians how do we participate in politics today without feeling we have literally cast aside all our convictions?

Let’s go to an even higher plane.

Psalm 24:1 “The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.”

That is a perspective that may help us with our dilemma. What we offer to God by how we live our lives is our gift to Him. We can offer our gifts to Him in everything we do and every thought we express.  We don’t have to avoid the world just because people in the world behave in ways that we find abhorrent.  I firmly believe my job is to be here right now and do what I can do to make things better.  I do this through God’s grace as He takes a very imperfect person like me and tries to work through me.

Yes, there will always be people who don’t want to relate to you on any level other than what you can do for them. It is sad that the world is full of manipulators.  But it is.  The political world is truly a poor fit for many Christians but don’t go underground, get so sour that people don’t want to be around you or toss aside your values just to fit it.

Give some attention to what is going on in politics even though the issues are so very ephemeral at times. Engage. Be a light.

Think of your intelligent engagement as your gift…your effort to make the world a better place.

Have you ever seen kids fighting over something they all desire?

Maybe they want to be on the “best” ball team and sides are being chosen. One side is much better than the other and everyone knows it.  Of course everyone wants to be on the “best” team.

Maybe one group of kids seems to know something that the other kids don’t and the kids in the know are not going to tell anyone their secrets. Everyone wants to know the secrets.

Maybe one kid has something special, the best bike, the fanciest toy, the most exciting game and the other kids want that game too. Some can afford the best but some cannot.  Some are members of the in-crowd and some are not.

Well, today it seems like this is what is happening with Christianity. Everyone wants to have Jesus on their side.  Here are the sides.

You have the liberals and their Jesus.

You have the conservatives and their Jesus.

We are getting ready to plunge headlong into generalizations; for that I must apologize, but hang on; there is a point in all of this.

For you see, the liberal Jesus and the conservative Jesus don’t seem to be the same person.

Really…

In Pastor Hamilton’s book, this is the key point in why we have a lack of understanding in our culture today. It is a black and white issue so we think, but is it really?  Maybe this could be a gray area.  Pastor Hamilton addresses this division in his chapter entitled “Is Your Jesus Too Small.”

How do liberals see Jesus? He was a revolutionary.  He came to earth to upend the social order.  He wanted to lead people to justice and had a very radical idea of obedience to the will of God.  His prime focus was helping those who were poor; those who were in need.  When Jesus washed the feet of His Disciples, He was demonstrating radical servanthood.  Liberals acknowledge Jesus as someone who sought to love others and in doing so He challenged society’s idea of racism and classism.    Jesus went out of His way to associate with the outcasts of society.  He invited women into His ministry which was a radical notion in His time.  Liberals say He calls us to fight our sin of apathy, materialism and bigotry.  Pastor Hamilton says what lots of liberals believe:  “Of our two political parties in the United States today, Jesus would be most inclined to be a democrat” [Seeing Gray in a World of Black and White, 90].

For the liberal democrat, having this social justice Jesus on your side makes all the difference. As they read the Bible, they see Jesus quoting Luke 4:18 where He refers to Isaiah: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim the release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free.”  Clearly the liberal pounces on the words “poor,” “release the captives,”  “recovery of sight to the blind,” and “the oppressed go free.”

How do conservatives see Jesus? For them He is a personal Savior.  He came to seek and save lost people, to die for the sins of the world.  He offered His life that we might be forgiven and made right with God.  They tend to focus on Jesus’ teaching that we must be “born again.”  For conservative Christians, being a Christian starts with having a personal relationship with Jesus, a relationship that changes our hearts.  While the liberal focuses almost exclusively on societal ills, the conservative [especially white conservative] worries about sexual sins, sexual purity, abortion, homosexuality and pornography.  Especially since the 1980’s a large number of conservative Christians have believed that if Jesus was a registered voter in America today, He would be a republican.

Conservative Christians look at the Scripture from Matthew 11: 28-30: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.   For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

I think it is very unusual that people in this country all read the same Bible and they come to two very different conclusions.

But who is Jesus?

Is He the liberal champion of the downtrodden, the upholder of social justice?

Is He the Christ who came to earth to save our souls from sexual sin, abortion, homosexuality and pornography?

Well, in the next series of posts we will explore who has Jesus on their side; the liberal democrats or the conservative republicans.

Or just maybe all the kids have got it wrong…

Adam Hamilton entitles chapter ten of his book Seeing Gray in a World of Black and White “Apes, Evolution and Adam and Eve.” I would imagine he is trying to show the problems associated with this controversial idea of how we evolved.

For the evolutionists, we are descended from apes; for the Christian, we are descended from Adam and Eve.

In the post “One Christian Response to Evolution”, we explored the idea of scientific creationism and say that it is based on a young earth [10,000 years old], a literal interpretation of the Bible, and the idea that Scripture is history.

Now let’s look at “Another Christian Response to Evolution”: intelligent design.

Christians who believe in intelligent design agree with scientific creationists that whole-hearted acceptance of Darwinian evolution is not viable. However, they don’t throw Darwin away completely. They admit that some of Darwin’s ideas may be correct.  On the intelligent design website it states “through the study and analysis of a system’s components, a design theorist is able to determine whether various natural structures are the product of chance, natural law, intelligent design, or some combination thereof.”  Some structures may have evolved by chance but not all.   Unlike scientific creationists, they do not argue that the earth is only ten thousand years old; they admit it is much older.  Also they are not trying to fit the idea of creation into a literal reading of the Book of Genesis.  They see the complexity of this world and don’t think it can be explained totally by evolution.

Richard Dawkins, who is an English ethologist, evolutionary biologist, author, and an emeritus fellow of New College, Oxford, has a famous quote about intelligent design: “The likelihood of [evolution explaining the creation of the earth] was akin to a tornado blowing through a metal scrap yard, and leaving behind a perfectly formed Boeing jet in its wake.”

In other words, an intelligent Creator has to be behind it all. Unlike evolutionists who are convinced there is no God and human life is simply the result of random mutations with no purpose, intelligent design believers place God firmly within the evolutionary process. Unlike scientific creationists who start with the Bible and end up by explaining creation within a strict Biblical framework, intelligent designers start with nature and conclude that the complexity of nature cannot always be explained by randomness.

Intelligent design believers feel there is a purpose for God. On the “God Questions.org website”, it states that “while the Intelligent Design Theory does not presume to identify the source of intelligence (whether it be God or UFOs or something else), the vast majority of Intelligent Design theorists are theists. They see the appearance of design which pervades the biological world as evidence for the existence of God.”

All one has to do is ponder the wonderful complexity of this world and see that random chance is probably not going to account for the amazing types of life forms we have in the world today. Dr. Bill Harris, Professor of Metabolism and Vascular Research at the University of Missouri states that “We [intelligent designers] believe that there is evidence in biology, cosmology, in the natural world for the interaction with an Intelligence, both for its origin and its development and there are some pieces of the creation that call out for a Creator.”

Intelligent design is not evolutionary science; intelligent design is not scientific creationism and if you would like to find out more, I refer you to http://www.intelligentdesign.org/. There you will find more details about this Christian response to evolution.

There, you can begin to determine if this response to evolution is one that you can believe.

I am not a scientist. Anyone who knows me knows that.  In college, I avoided science as much as possible on my way to getting degrees in non-science majors.

That’s ok I guess.

We all have our gifts. Understanding science is not my gift.

However, I am aware of science and its impact on religion, especially the theory of evolution and the Genesis Scriptures. Evolution can cut God out of creation.

For some scientists, the theory of evolution disproves the role of God in creation. Pastor Adam Hamilton in his book Seeing Gray in a World of Black and White says that evolutionary scientists “suggest that creation has occurred without supervision and it was an impersonal process that excluded God in creation….If this is what the scientist is asking people of faith to believe, I cannot accept this, and this statement cannot be reconciled with the Bible or Christian Theology.”

It is important to get Hamilton’s point here. Evolutionary scientists are going beyond science when they says things like “No species, ours included, possesses a purpose beyond the imperatives created by its genetic history” [Edward Wilson].  “Man is the result of a purposeless and natural process that did not have him in mind” [George G. Simpson].  The universe “has no purpose, no evil and no good, nothing but blind, pitiless indifference” [Richard Dawkins].

All three statements take God out of the mix when they say “no purpose.”

You see I believe and Pastor Hamilton believes that God has a purpose for man in this world. God is at work in life, supervising and injecting Himself into life at His will.

How do Christians respond to these ideas?

One way is the theory of creation science [sometimes referred to as Scientific Creationism].

Here are the key words for creation scientists: young earth, literal interpretation of Scripture, Scripture as history.

These Christians believe that the Genesis Scriptures are chronological and creation occurred in six twenty-four hour periods. By focusing on these time periods, they postulate that the earth is ten thousand years old and the flood that destroyed the earth was five thousand years ago.

With these time frames in place, they seek to develop theories as to how nature can fit into this ten thousand year parameter.

You may be thinking that “real scientists” do not belong to this group but it depends on how you define “real scientist.” The Institute of Creation Research has a current staff which includes Ph.D.s in physics, engineering science, nuclear physics, geology, genetics and astronomy.

How can they believe the way they do? They start with their faith and they have spent their lives trying to reconcile geology and biology to the Genesis story of creation.

I can imagine that other scientists regard them as unprofessional. They may say that their Christian agenda drives their research too much.  Science is science, facts are facts, and these Scientific Creationists are taking science to places where it should not go.

I have written about a good friend and colleague who was a scientific creationist. This person is very intelligent in her field which was botany but she was a believer first and a botanist second.  I had personal conversations with other scientists who thought that her focus on scientific creationism was not science at all.  They did not have high regard for her views as a scientist.

Was God a part in the process of the creation of man? You bet He was.  Scientific creationists think the Bible is a history book and the Word of God is literal [in other words, the Bible means what It says and says what It means].

Pastor Hamilton says of Scientific Creationism “The theories they have proposed are quite interesting, though I find them unconvincing” [Seeing, 84].

What about you? Go to the Institute for Creation Research at http://www.icr.org/.

Are you comfortable with their conceptions about how our world came about? They do put God in the creation process.  They believe that the earth is a young planet.  They think the Bible is a historical document.

Can you be a Scientific Creationist?