First of all, I must say that I have been pleasantly surprised by the amount of discussion that has been generated by my first blog post on the subject of homosexuality. I've really enjoyed debating whether or not homosexuality is a sin. However, as I have been increasingly frustrated over the past few weeks on the lack of progress either side is making, I've turned to others to help me figure out this problem. This includes some excellent mentors, and some amazing resources. I've realized that no progress will ever be made in this discussion unless some common ground is discovered. That common ground has to be God.
If we are arguing this topic between two Christians, the only possible right answer would be that homosexuality is wrong, because we understand that God has condemned homosexuality in His Word which provides the ultimate authority for our lives. His perfect world included a man and a woman. There really can be no discussion as to if Christians should accept homosexuality.
However, remove God from the picture, and have two non-Christians argue the topic, and the results completely flip around. What are the grounds for an argument against homosexuality without God explicitly condemning the sin? Ultimately, if we have a moral compass that isn't in sync with a higher power, then for those that deny gay rights, it comes down to a matter of prejudice.
So you see, this is why Christians and non-Christians can't debate the issue! Non-Christians cannot understand that we follow what God says, and therefore by not accepting any form of sexual impurity, we are obeying God's Words. I've come to the realization that each debate about homosexuality ultimately turns into a discussion of if God exists. This seems to be the turning point in this argument. If you believe in God, you don't accept homosexuality. If you don't believe in God, you accept homosexuality.
But using homosexuality as the starting point for an argument for the existence of God does not produce the best results. By results, I'm stating that a proper case for God is not built because as soon as you introduce God stating that homosexuality is wrong, it's like non-Christians have a mechanism that clicks on and automatically makes them turn away from any other comments about God's character. There lies the issue. The character of God being loving, pure, holy, and just has to be built before people can understand why God would tell His people that homosexuality is wrong. The picture of God has to be painted perfectly before the debate even begins!
I've been approaching this issue in the worst way. I've been trying to prove to those who don't believe in God that homosexuality is a sin. I've been so sidetracked by the fact that I have to prove myself right, that I've lost my true purpose, which is to reveal God to these people. In one of my university courses, a major point was that apologetics, while being extremely useful in certain cases, cannot be the overruling method we use to talk about God with non-Christians. I've been so caught up debating an issue about God's character, that I've forgotten to simply describe and prove what God's character is about!
Moving back to the debate between Christians, I've also discovered some more ideas. Sure, we may believe that the Bible is God's authoritative work, and we must obey it if we believe in God, and we may never know why God says something is wrong, and this is where faith steps in. But at some point, we need to stop relying upon this argument. God is a logical God, and He does have a reason behind all of His commands. Almost all of the time, it requires research, and questioning to find part of His true purpose. Again, as I stated previously, I do believe we will never truly understand exactly why God commands certain things (one aspect of heaven that I am looking forward to is complete understanding of every aspect of the Bible), but I believe that He has left tidbits for every one of His commandments.
Borrowing from a friend who I discussed the issue with, homosexuality comes down to an identity crisis. As C.S. Lewis states in his book Mere Christianity, the root of all sin is putting one's self first. This is the basis for all sin. It's rejecting God, and putting yourself as the only God. As my friend stated, this culture is stuck in a rut, full of people searching for their own unique identity. And by putting this search above all else, they turn to methods such as homosexuality to craft their own self purpose in this lost world. I don't think the issue is so much that God wants to restrict people but He wants to remove as many distractions as possible so you can concentrate on what truly matters; and that's your relationship with God. God wants people to turn away from matters such as homosexuality which may help you feel satisfied for a short time, but quickly run dry, and then you are on to the next thing. Instead, He wants you to feel your true self-worth in Him, to feel His love washing over you, to feel His presence beside you at all times, to find who you are in Him. This is what truly matters, where you truly feel that you are loved. Whatever this world offers is empty compared to what God has in store for you.
So, as Christians, we do not want to condemn homosexuality; that is God's job. Rather, we want to try and guide EVERYONE (not just those who have committed homosexuality) from their self-search to the search for God. The most frustrating thing for me over the past few weeks has been trying to get other people to understand this principle. We do not hate others, we love them in a Godly manner. We strive to have everyone find Jesus, and for everyone's lives to be led and consumed by passion for God, instead of passion for worldly things.
Wednesday 27 August 2014
Wednesday 13 August 2014
The Case for Christianity: Part One, The Case for a God
With the amazing interest that was generated by my last post, I've decided to start a series of posts building the case for Christianity. I hope to gear these posts towards two purposes; to strengthen Christian's perspectives of their religion, and to shed some light to non-Christians as to what our religion stands for.
This first post will start with building a case for a God. This is not specifically the Christian's God, but rather just the case for a higher power. I will then continue in later posts to build a case for the Christian's God specifically, and then for Jesus, and the Bible, and so on.
I believe that undeniably there is a God, and I believe that this is one argument that can be won. Even if you don't agree that the Christian God is true, or even that the term God is correct, subconsciously everyone knows that there is a higher power that was and is still at work amongst us. As of 2009, according to the LA Times, 95% of American adults accepted the fact that there was a higher power. Surprisingly, more than half of American scientists also believed in a higher power.
Those that deny a higher power usually have an interesting story behind their choice. It may be turmoil, previous abuse, e.t.c. that influences this decision to stubbornly turn away from the evidence. Most times, after much intense discussion, the truth is revealed, but the person will continue to deny the facts. For those who would like a good view of this scenario, or documented situations where scientists have openly admitted God is a plausible explanation for the universe, check out Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed starring Ben Stein.
Anyways, moving on to those facts; I believe that building a case for a God has to begin at the start, which is creation. No matter how you want to explain how our world came into being, there is still a massive void that needs to be filled. Whether it be the Big Bang Theory, or the Multi-Verse Theory, the odds for any explainable possibility are so astronomically low that it is mind boggling. Now that doesn't necessarily state that the theories are impossible (although I can definitely produce facts that do argue against the theories), rather it simply states the need for something else. There had to be a catalyst, or an original simulation that sparked this creation process. The only plausible explanation would be an eternal, almighty, intelligent power.
Not only do the mathematics point to a power, but the design of our world would also point to an intelligent creation. Again, the odds of such a perfect environment that seems to be designed specifically for our race are crazy low! Our position in the solar system, how perfectly we are placed away from the sun, our specific tilt and spin as a planet, our atmospheric chemistry, and the amount of resources that thrive on Earth aren't just a random 1 in a billion (scientifically even more that that) occurrence.
And that's not even bringing up our intricate design! How could we randomly come into existence? Our bodies that contain so many cells that weave together to create an interdependent structural system, created by accident? Is that even possible? Even if you do follow the train of thought that we evolved (which is a theory that can be disproven, but is still interesting to explore), how can you explain the starting point of this evolution process? How did the perfect conditions just happen to come together just once for this single cell? And what provided the catalyst for the process?
Perhaps my favourite argument is contained in C.S. Lewis' book Mere Christianity. He argues that our intelligence is the largest piece of evidence supporting a power. There is absolutely no way that such a developed intelligence could simply randomly appear out of nowhere. We must be based off of a model, or an idea, or something. And our moral intelligence is perhaps the best demonstration of this. We all just seem to have ideas of what is right and wrong. But how originally did we gain this perspective? Expand the situation for a second, and go beyond society, beyond your family, to the beginning. How did the first human decide what is right and wrong? Again, the only explanation is a higher power who dictated how His creation should function.
This is only the beginning of an extremely large discussion. Next, we argue for the Christian God, then the Christian creation, and continuing to the Christian's current beliefs. But ignore that for a second, and just see if you can wrap your mind around a simple higher power who created or even just started the creation process?
I'm extremely interested to see if anyone doesn't believe in a higher power, so let me know what your beliefs are! I'm looking forward to another intense discussion!
This first post will start with building a case for a God. This is not specifically the Christian's God, but rather just the case for a higher power. I will then continue in later posts to build a case for the Christian's God specifically, and then for Jesus, and the Bible, and so on.
I believe that undeniably there is a God, and I believe that this is one argument that can be won. Even if you don't agree that the Christian God is true, or even that the term God is correct, subconsciously everyone knows that there is a higher power that was and is still at work amongst us. As of 2009, according to the LA Times, 95% of American adults accepted the fact that there was a higher power. Surprisingly, more than half of American scientists also believed in a higher power.
Those that deny a higher power usually have an interesting story behind their choice. It may be turmoil, previous abuse, e.t.c. that influences this decision to stubbornly turn away from the evidence. Most times, after much intense discussion, the truth is revealed, but the person will continue to deny the facts. For those who would like a good view of this scenario, or documented situations where scientists have openly admitted God is a plausible explanation for the universe, check out Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed starring Ben Stein.
Anyways, moving on to those facts; I believe that building a case for a God has to begin at the start, which is creation. No matter how you want to explain how our world came into being, there is still a massive void that needs to be filled. Whether it be the Big Bang Theory, or the Multi-Verse Theory, the odds for any explainable possibility are so astronomically low that it is mind boggling. Now that doesn't necessarily state that the theories are impossible (although I can definitely produce facts that do argue against the theories), rather it simply states the need for something else. There had to be a catalyst, or an original simulation that sparked this creation process. The only plausible explanation would be an eternal, almighty, intelligent power.
Not only do the mathematics point to a power, but the design of our world would also point to an intelligent creation. Again, the odds of such a perfect environment that seems to be designed specifically for our race are crazy low! Our position in the solar system, how perfectly we are placed away from the sun, our specific tilt and spin as a planet, our atmospheric chemistry, and the amount of resources that thrive on Earth aren't just a random 1 in a billion (scientifically even more that that) occurrence.
And that's not even bringing up our intricate design! How could we randomly come into existence? Our bodies that contain so many cells that weave together to create an interdependent structural system, created by accident? Is that even possible? Even if you do follow the train of thought that we evolved (which is a theory that can be disproven, but is still interesting to explore), how can you explain the starting point of this evolution process? How did the perfect conditions just happen to come together just once for this single cell? And what provided the catalyst for the process?
Perhaps my favourite argument is contained in C.S. Lewis' book Mere Christianity. He argues that our intelligence is the largest piece of evidence supporting a power. There is absolutely no way that such a developed intelligence could simply randomly appear out of nowhere. We must be based off of a model, or an idea, or something. And our moral intelligence is perhaps the best demonstration of this. We all just seem to have ideas of what is right and wrong. But how originally did we gain this perspective? Expand the situation for a second, and go beyond society, beyond your family, to the beginning. How did the first human decide what is right and wrong? Again, the only explanation is a higher power who dictated how His creation should function.
This is only the beginning of an extremely large discussion. Next, we argue for the Christian God, then the Christian creation, and continuing to the Christian's current beliefs. But ignore that for a second, and just see if you can wrap your mind around a simple higher power who created or even just started the creation process?
I'm extremely interested to see if anyone doesn't believe in a higher power, so let me know what your beliefs are! I'm looking forward to another intense discussion!
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