Gregory Koukl's Blog, page 91

When Belief "That" Becomes Belief "In"

On Tuesday while hosting the Stand to Reason radio show, a caller asked about how we can know Christianity is true. While there are many ways to approach this topic (i.e. by examining the reliability of the Gospel eyewitness accounts). I wanted to take a minute to talk about a more experiential approach. I’ve written in the past about the difference between belief “that” and belief “in”. It’s one thing to believe “that” something is true, but it’s another thing to trust “in” this truth when push comes to shove. I believe that my ballistic vest can stop a bullet, but when I eventually have to trust the vest to do its job, I will move from belief that to belief in. The facts related to the vest may give me certainty related to its ability, but it’s not until I’m at a point of need that I’ll be forced to make the decision to trust.

In a recent interview with John Stonestreet for the BreakPoint weekly radio program, I was asked about the difference between belief “that” and belief “in.” John and I were discussing the limits of evidentialism, and I was quick to admit the boundaries of my own investigation related to the historicity of Jesus and the reliability of the gospel accounts. While my lengthy examination of Jesus led me to believe “that” the New Testament was reliable, it did not bring me to a trusting faith “in” Jesus (as my Savior).

I remember talking one night with my wife, Susie, about my conclusions related to the gospels. I told her I was confident the accounts were reliable, but I still had an important question. I was hoping Susie would be able to answer it for me, given her cultural familiarity with Catholicism as a child. Why did Jesus have to die that way? What was the cross all about anyway? Although I had confidence the gospels were reliable and true, I still didn’t understand the Gospel of Salvation. My investigation had been so completely focused on the person of Jesus in the gospels, I hadn’t yet seen myself anywhere in the text.

So I returned to the New Testament authors. This time around I was less interested in what they said about Jesus than I was in what they said about me. As I read through the text once again, I saw myself clearly; it was as though the authors were writing about me specifically. I heard the words of Jesus as He described my condition accurately in the Sermon on the Mount. Paul’s letters only extended the description. As I came to recognize the bad news of my own condition, the good news of the Gospel began to make sense. Just as with my ballistic vest, the facts related to Jesus brought me to belief “that,” but the truth related to my own need moved me to belief “in.”

This second step, from belief “that” to belief “in,” is what many of us call “saving faith.” It is not blind, as it is rooted in the evidence related to the reliability of the New Testament. But it is clearly more than mere intellectual assent; it is a confident trust in response to a recognized need. True investigators of Christianity move from belief “that” to belief “in” when they focus not only on what they can know about Jesus (based on what is described in the New Testament), but also on what they can know about themselves as fallen humans in need of a Savior.

Challenge Response: Jesus Was Only Dead for Three Days

Here is my answer to this week's challenge: 

 

Since the audio turned out so poorly, here is a brief sketch of my answer: 

THE CHALLENGE

A = length of sinner’s death

B = length of redeemer’s death

A = B?

THE ALLEGED PROBLEM

Since punishment for one is eternal, should punishment for the other be eternal? If not, is justice satisfied? Was Jesus' death insufficient?

THE ANSWER

#1 – No, A does not equal B. 

There is a similarity in talking about length of death for “sinners” (A) and the “redeemer” (B), but that's as far as the similarity goes
But there are two huge differences between A and B:


The nature of the being
The moral status of the being

#2 – The duration of a punishment does not determine its degree of severity. 

Example: Parent who spanks vs. time-out
Example: Criminal who is given 15 years vs. death penalty
The death of Jesus—God incarnate, holy and innocent—seems to be an event that far outweighs our eternal punishment.

# 3 – But moreover, what satisfies God? 

Propitiation = appeasement by an offering
He is the Moral Law Giver and the Just Judge.  He gets to set the terms.
It’s not the offering that is most important, it’s the Offerer.  Only God can satisfy His own wrath and justice.  And He does so out of His great love for broken and corrupt creatures like you and me!

Father of Modern Taxonomy

You've seen plants referred to by their scientific names, such as Rosa rubiginosa. That form of naming plants and other living things was introduced by a Christian who was a scientist named Carolus Linnaeus. He was born in Sweden in 1707 to a Lutheran pastor. He showed interest in nature from his childhood, and eventually pursued science at the University of Uppsala. His interest was motivated by a theme that keeps popping up among Christian scientists featured on this blog: They believed the world was created by God, and therefore orderly, and able and worthy to be studied. This is the principle that generated tremendous scientific investigation.

Linnaeus developed the modern taxonomy system. Though it's been changed over time, it is the basis for categorizing and naming living things.

For Linnaeus, species of organisms were real entities, which could be grouped into higher categories called genera (singular, genus). By itself, this was nothing new; since Aristotle, biologists had used the word genus for a group of similar organisms, and then sought to define the differentio specifica – the specific difference of each type of organism. But opinion varied on how genera should be grouped. Naturalists of the day often used arbitrary criteria to group organisms, placing all domestic animals or all water animals together. Part of Linnaeus' innovation was the grouping of genera into higher taxa that were also based on shared similarities. In Linnaeus's original system, genera were grouped into orders, orders into classes, and classes into kingdoms. Thus the kingdom Animalia contained the class Vertebrata, which contained the order Primates, which contained the genus Homo with the species sapiens – humanity. Later biologists added additional ranks between these to express additional levels of similarity.

Linnaeus based plant classification on their reproduction, which was considered rather scandalous at the time. "[O]ne opponent, botanist Johann Siegesbeck, called it 'loathsome harlotry'. (Linnaeus had his revenge, however; he named a small, useless European weed Siegesbeckia.)"

Linnaeus experimented with hybridization of plants and animals. But he rejected the notion of evolution, which was already introduced at his time long before Darwin popularized it. He believed that there was a limitation in the changes a species could undergo, being set in its creation. The potential for change was present at God's creation.

The concept of open-ended evolution, not necessarily governed by a Divine Plan and with no predetermined goal, never occurred to Linnaeus; the idea would have shocked him. Nevertheless, Linnaeus's hierarchical classification and binomial nomenclature, much modified, have remained standard for over 200 years. His writings have been studied by every generation of naturalists.

You Really Can Memorize Whole Books of the Bible

I completely agree with Andrew Davis’s recommendation that we work toward memorizing whole books of the Bible. From Joe Carter’s interview with Davis at the Gospel Coalition:

The Word of God comes to us, for the most part, in paragraphs—developed trains of thought that tell a story (narrative, Gospels), unfold a law (Pentateuch), make a doctrinal argument (epistles), make a case against God's people and their sins or reveal the future of God's people (prophets), or describe in complex imagery an apocalyptic vision of the future (Revelation). Individual verses do not capture the train of thought and therefore are more likely to be taken out of context.

The fuller the section of Scripture we can memorize, the better. Also, Jesus said, "Man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God" (Matt. 4:4). Memorizing individual verses usually gravitates to the more "famous" verses and likely misses some precious truths hidden in less familiar verses. Memorizing whole books gives people a sense of the perfection of every word of God. It is a continual learning experience, a journey of discovery in which details come alive with incredible power. I am in awe of the majesty of every word of Scripture, and that has come in great part from 30 years of memorizing less famous verses and seeing the wisdom of God in every letter.

The interview explains more about the method Davis developed for doing this, or you can get his e-book for a full explanation (it’s only $0.99 right now).

I haven’t read his book yet, but it sounds like a good place for you to start, and eventually you’ll figure out the method that works best for you (e.g., I’ve found that memorizing while I’m walking increases my retention exponentially). Sometimes all it takes to get started memorizing a book of the Bible is just knowing that such a thing is possible.

It’s worth your time and effort. For me, reading a book of the Bible James Gray style for a month, coupled with extensive memorization in that book, has been life-changing. (I alternate every other month with reading straight through the Bible, picking up where I left off and reading as far as I can, so that I continue to get a regular dose of the big picture, as well.)

Links Mentioned on the 5/20/14 Show

The following are links that were either mentioned on this week's show or inspired by it, as posted live on the @STRtweets Twitter feed:

Teaching Muslims the Identity of Jesus...from the Qur'an by Alan Shlemon
End of Life Ethics: A Primer by Melinda Penner
The Ambassador's Guide to Understanding Homosexuality by Alan Shlemon
Alex Chediak's website
Thriving at College by Alex Chediak
Preparing Your Teens for College by Alex Chediak
Grads and Dads Catalogue

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

To follow the Twitter conversation during the live show (Tuesdays 4:00–7:00 p.m. PT), use the hashtag #STRtalk.

Challenge: Jesus Was Only Dead for Three Days

Here's a challenge someone directed me to on Facebook:

A: Length of sinner's death

B: Length of redeemer's death

A = B?

Is there an injustice here? Jesus was only dead three days, whereas people are in Hell for eternity. Did He fail to pay for our sins? How would you explain this? Tell us in the comments below, then we'll hear Brett's thoughts on Thursday.

Purposeless but Not Random?

Greg responds to this claim: Just because evolution isn't purposeful doesn't mean it's random.

Free Audiobook: Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God

On the podcast this week, a caller questioned Greg about how a Calvinist view of God’s grace and salvation would affect the message we give when evangelizing. Greg recommended J.I. Packer’s book Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God, and the audio version is free right now until the end of May at ChristianAudio.com (the running time is only 3.25 hours). Here’s an excerpt:

1. The gospel is a message about God. It tells us who He is, what His character is, what His standards are, and what He requires of us, His creatures. It tells us that we owe our very existence to Him, that for good or ill we are always in His hands and under His eye, and that He made us to worship and serve Him, to show forth His praise and to live for His glory….

2. The gospel is a message about sin. It tells us how we have fallen short of God’s standard; how we have become guilty, filthy, and helpless in sin, and now stand under the wrath of God. It tells us that the reason why we sin continually is that we are sinners by nature, and that nothing we do, or try to do, for ourselves can put us right, or bring us back into God’s favour….

3. The gospel is a message about Christ—Christ the Son of God incarnate; Christ the Lamb of God, dying for sin; Christ the risen Lord; Christ the perfect Saviour….

The question of the designed extent of the atonement does not come into the story at all. The fact is that the New Testament never calls on any man to repent on the ground that Christ died specifically and particularly for him. The basis on which the New Testament invites sinners to put faith in Christ is simply that they need Him, and that He offers Himself to them, and that those who receive Him are promised all the benefits that His death secured for His people. What is universal and all-inclusive in the New Testament is the invitation to faith, and the promise of salvation to all who believe….

4. The gospel is a summons to faith and repentance. All who hear the gospel are summoned by God to repent and believe….

Some fear that a doctrine of eternal election and reprobation involves the possibility that Christ will not receive some of those who desire to receive Him, because they are not elect. The ‘comfortable words’ of the gospel promises, however, absolutely exclude this possibility. As our Lord elsewhere affirmed, in emphatic and categorical terms: ‘Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out’ (pp. 58-70, 102).

Speaking Truth in Love to Mormons | The Right Question about Evolution

Brett’s and Alan’s May newsletters are now posted on the website:

Speaking the Truth in Love to Mormons by Brett Kunkle: “Mormons often take offense at any suggestion they are not Christians. But according to official LDS teaching, this is exactly their view of us. Mormons believe we are part of an “abominable” church founded by Satan (I Nephi 22:13 & I Nephi 13:5-6). So when they take offense, I ask them why. When they respond with some version of, “You think we are wrong,” I gently remind them this is precisely the view they have of me. And I quickly add I am not in the least bit offended. Why not? Because I want the truth. If my views about God and the Gospel are wrong, I want to know.” (Read more.)


Ask the Right Question about Evolution by Alan Shlemon: “Evolution can be overwhelming. It draws upon evidence from multiple disciplines: geology, paleontology, genetics, chemistry, and others. It’s hard to know where to begin. That’s why I suggest using an easy, yet powerful tactic to help handle this issue.” (Read more.)

You can subscribe to their newsletters here.

Science, Purpose, and Design

William Harvey was a physician and scientist in the 16th and 17th centuries who was the first to demonstrate how the circulatory system worked. He described how the arteries, veins, valves, lungs, and heart worked to circulate blood – and he was amazed at God's design and purpose in the systems of the body. He enjoyed studying how God had made things to work.

Harvey considered science a godly vocation and was motivated by the idea that the Creator had made things in an orderly way that could be understood and studied.  

Harvey’s primary achievement, the explanation of the circulation of the blood, was occasioned in part “by asking why God put so many valves in the veins and none in the arteries.” He believed that nature does nothing “in vain.”

He was physician to King James 1 and King Charles. He was also the first to propose that humans and mammals reproduced by a sperm fertilizing an egg.