Gregory Koukl's Blog, page 7

Challenge Response: Jesus Wasn't a Very Nice Guy

Here's my response to this week's challenge:

 

Links Mentioned on the 7/13/16 Show

The following is a rundown of today's podcast, annotated with links that were either mentioned on the show or inspired by it:

Commentary: Where Your Feet Hit the Ground (0:00) / Two Things You Can Take with You to Heaven (0:18)

Christian Heritage London
The book Greg has been working on:  The Story of Reality: How the World Began, How It Ends, and Everything Important That Happens In Between
All Souls Church

Questions:

��� Announcements:

reTHINK Student Apologetics Conferences (California, Texas, Alabama)

1. What's your view: six short days of creation or a long period of time? (0:23)

Have Grace for Fellow Christians on the Age of the Earth by Amy Hall
How Old Is the Earth? (Video of R.C. Sproul explaining how he approaches this question)
Hugh Ross of Reasons to Believe
The Ambassador's Guide to Understanding Homosexuality by Alan Shlemon

2. How do you reconcile God's sovereignty and man's freedom? (0:45)

Listen to today's show or download any archived show for free. (Find links from past shows here.)

To take part in the Twitter conversation during the live show (Tuesdays 4:00���6:00 p.m. PT), follow @STRtweets and use the hashtag #STRtalk.

Challenge: Jesus Wasn���t a Very Nice Guy

This week���s challenge comes from ���10 Reasons Why Christianity Makes No Sense���:

Jesus wasn���t a very nice guy. American Christians talk a lot about so-called family values, but that concept doesn���t have much, if any, basis in the actual story of Christ. Jesus demanded that his disciples abandon their families and save all of their devotion for him and him alone ��� a rather narcissistic and not particularly family-centric expectation���seeming to be in direct contradiction to the commandment about honoring thy mother and father.

To be fair, I think churches often do put more emphasis on ���family-centric expectations��� than on the person of Jesus, so I can appreciate her confusion at trying to match up the Jesus of the Gospels with what she���s heard in churches. But on top of that, I think she may be importing an atheist���s view of Jesus into the Gospels, and surprise! The story doesn���t make sense with a human-only Jesus. That���s because the story isn���t about a human-only Jesus, and it can only possibly make sense as a story if we try to understand it on its own terms. (For more on the problem with atheists doing this, see here.)

All that having been said, how would you answer this challenge? Leave your comments below, and then come back here on Thursday to hear Brett���s response.

[Explore past challenges here and here.]

What Is Second Chance Theology and Is It Biblical?

Greg responds to the idea that people get a "second chance" after death. 

Talk with Greg Tuesday

Greg is hosting the podcast live Tuesday 4-6 p.m. PT.  All open calls for two hours.

Ask your question. Share a piece of your mind. Call with your question or comment at (855) 243-9975, outside the U.S. (562) 424-8229. The broadcast is live Tuesday 4-6 p.m. P.T. ��� commentary and your calls. Streaming live online.

Listen live online. Join us on Twitter during the program @STRtweets.

The program is two hours now, and one hour podcast episodes are posted on Wednesday and Friday.

How Can We Answer People Who Say We���re Intolerant?

These days, many people mistake insults for debate, and the insult ���You���re intolerant!��� can be enough to shut down a conversation. But it doesn���t have to! In this video from the One Minute Apologist, Greg explains how you can ask some simple questions in order to get past this roadblock and move on to discussing substantive arguments. (For another helpful question to ask in order to prevent the intolerance accusation before it happens, see here.)

Pray to the God of Grace Today

Our country is in trouble today, this week, this year, and I've just realized that my prayers have been less like the God who runs in love to the prodigal son who treated Him with contempt, and more like the elder brother. Assuming that we're seeing our deserved judgment, I have prayed little and hoped less.

This is wrong.

Pray to the God who calls into being that which does not exist. Pray to the God who gives life to the dead. Pray to the God who, because of His glorious grace, gave His Son, who died willingly for us while we were His enemies. In repentance, pray to Him with hope for His grace. Pray to Him.

Our country deserves nothing but judgment. But oh, see His grace and love on the cross! And dare to pray to Him for what we don't deserve.

Hearing from God and Hearing from God's Word

I recently had a conversation with a man about hearing from God. He referenced Dallas Willard���s book, Hearing God: Developing a Conversational Relationship With God. I���ve benefited greatly from some of Willard���s teaching, but this is one of his books that causes me serious concern. It���s certainly a more thoughtful book on the topic, so if you���re interested in looking at all sides, definitely read it. But here is my primary objection: Willard���s biblical case for the normative discipline of hearing the voice of God is very weak. Now let me just make something very explicit. I certainly think people can experience hearing God���s voice. However, my concern is with the teaching that such experiences should be a regular, normal part of the Christian life, and that your walk with Christ is somehow defective if they are not. So let���s look at some of Willard���s biblical case for this.

First, Willard appeals to the ���ministry of Eli,��� referencing I Samuel 3:8���9, that he was offered by various Christian writers of the past, stating, ���They helped me to identify and respond to experiences of God���s speaking, just as Eli helped Samuel in the biblical story��� (p. 17). But this seems to be a misuse of the text. Here a few quick observations:

Willard assumes that Eli had developed the skill of hearing God and was able to teach others.
A reading of the first four chapters of I Samuel indicate Eli may have not even been a believer and that Samuel ���did not know God.���
Eli does not even recognize the fact God is speaking to Samuel the first two times.
Eli does not teach Samuel any skills of recognition, just how Samuel should respond.

The biblical text simply does not support the idea that Eli was someone who had developed the skill of hearing God's voice and was able to help others recognize it too.

Second, Willard offers the idea that the experiences of those in the Bible are not meant to be exceptional (p. 18); rather, we must assume they are the kinds of experiences we should expect today (p. 35). This seems to be a difficult position to justify, without further argument, in light of the historical context of those events and their unique place in the historical narrative of God���s plan to bless the peoples of the world. And does this apply to every single experience recorded in scripture? For example, given this line of reasoning, should I also expect God to regularly communicate to me through a donkey, like Balaam experienced (Numbers 22:21-29)? If not, why not? Just because the biblical narrative describes particular experiences with God, why should we assume they are prescribed for us today and should be a normative part of our Christian experience?

Third, Willard points to I Kings 19:11-12 to support the idea of God���s ���still small voice.��� However, this is the only reference in the entire Bible where you will find this phrase. If God���s ���still small voice��� is to play a central role in our daily walk with Him, wouldn���t you expect more than a single Old Testament passage? In addition, even biblical translators seem to be unclear on how to translate the Hebrew here. A check of different translations renders the King James version of ���still small voice��� very differently:

Revised Standard Version: ���sound of sheer silence���
New American Standard Version: ���sound of gentle blowing���
New International Version: ���a gentle whisper���

And again, I cannot see how this passage commends the discipline of hearing God in a normative sense.

This is a good reminder that we must always go back to the objective word of God to see how various ideas, whether they are related to spiritual formation, or philosophy, or any topic, comport with the Scriptures.

The Disciples Loved Jesus

I���m reading John 13���14 and thinking about the disciples��� love for Jesus. For some reason, when I think of their following Jesus, I usually think only of their wanting a Messiah to save them and lead Israel, but that���s not the picture John paints here. At the end of John 13, after Jesus washes His disciples��� feet (a profound act of humility and servanthood for the God of the universe), Jesus tells the disciples He���s going away, and when they���re upset by this, Jesus gives them these words of comfort:

Do not let your heart be troubled: believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father���s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.

The way Jesus chooses to address their distress over His leaving reveals the nature of their distress. His focus isn���t on assuring them that He���ll come back to save them (either as a nation or as individuals), or that they will still go to Paradise. Rather, He says He���ll come back to bring them to Himself. The emphasis is on being with Jesus. That was their concern. He was leaving, and that���s why they were upset. They wanted to be with Him because they loved Him, not because of what they hoped He would do for them.

Contemplating this really affects me. It personalizes their love for Jesus. It makes their following Him about their love for Him. It centers everything on Jesus as a Person. It moves Christianity away from a system of salvation and towards personal worship of a Person. As it should be.

Links Mentioned on the 7/06/16 Show

The following is a rundown of today's podcast, annotated with links that were either mentioned on the show or inspired by it:

Guest Host: Alan Shlemon

Guest: Jayson Graves (0:00)

Jayson Graves
Healing for the Soul ��� Jayson's ministry
Restored Hope Network
Homosexuality to Holiness by Alan Shlemon

Listen to today's show or download any archived show for free. (Find links from past shows here.)

To take part in the Twitter conversation during the live show (Tuesdays 4:00���6:00 p.m. PT), follow @STRtweets and use the hashtag #STRtalk.