A Study in Christian Evidences

Class is based on the book Surveying the Evidence by Wayne Jackson, Eric Lyons, and Kyle Butt (Montgomery, Ala.: Apologetics Press, 2008).

We will be using other sources as well.

This is not new: 3,000 years ago, Pharaoh, king of Egypt, declared to

Moses in response to the LORD’s declaration: “Who is the LORD that I should heed Him and let Israel go? I

do not know the LORD, nor will I let Israel go.” (Exod. 5.1-2)(Tanakh The Holy Scriptures: The New Jerusalem Publication

Society Translation [NJPS])

Disbelief is often boasted over: In the extremely popular TV show Bones, Dr.

Temperance Brennan, is fond of ridiculing the idea of faith in an invisible God.

Others, though not as extreme as Pharaoh, feel that faith can not be, at least to a certain degree, provable.

The Purpose of our Studies in Christian Evidences: “God does exist, and has not asked us to gamble our

eternity upon a set of non-provable assertions! In these studies, we intend to show that there is ample evidence to demonstrate that God is, and that He rewards those who seek after Him.”

Hebrews 11.6: Without faith it is impossible to be pleasing to God, for he

who comes to God must believe that he is, and that he rewards those who search for him.

(Hugo McCord, The Everlasting Gospel [FHV4])

The world of unbelief is complex; unbelievers come in different varieties:

Basic Kinds of Unbelief Philosophies: The Atheist (from a, “not” and theos, “God”) adamantly

asserts: “There is no God!”

The Skeptic, not so brazen, simply doubts the existence of a Supreme Being.

The Agnostic argues that there is not sufficient evidence to establish a reasonable case for God.

The Deist theoretically accepts “God”, but believes that he has no interest in, or contact with man.

The atheist, skeptic, agnostic, and deist accept views because they have, for various reasons, forcedthe evidence for God’s existence from their minds.

Romans 1.28: “Because they refused to have God in their

knowledge, he gave them up to a corrupt mind, to practice evil things” (FHV4).

The reality is that unbelief is not natural. Rather, it forces reason aside to capture the mind.

When preaching to the great philosophical city of Athens, the apostle Paul declared that God is the foundation of all existence. “We live and move and have our being in him, as your

poets have said, ‘We are also his offspring’” (Acts 17.28 FHV4)

If God is the foundation of all existence, and if He is the Source of our personal being, it is reasonable to conclude that humanity would have a basic need to believe in Him.

Man is curiously awed by a sense of the divine.

That man has always possessed an ineradicable sense of the divine rests on evidence which in its cumulative effect is simply overwhelming. The records and relics of the past, the researches of anthropologists into the beliefs and customs of primitive people, all testify to the universality of this urge.

Murdo Macdonald (1959)

The Need to Believe (London: Fontana) 57

Why Do People Turn to Atheism?1. A failure by parents to instill within their children a

wholesome respect for authority. Basically, a lack of respect for authority figures.

“Disbelief in life, skepticism about humanity, the denial of God – all sink their roots in the soil of emotion long before exposure to courses in philosophy and science”.

Joshua Liebman (1946)

Peace of Mind (New York, NY: Simon & Schuster) 147-48

Why Do People Turn to Atheism? (cont.)2. A overactive feeling of pride allows for the roots of

atheism to grow. Too much pride rejects a need for God.

Man “is his own master. He can and must decide his own destiny”.

~ Evolutionist George G. Simpson

“If there were gods, how could I endure it to be no god?”

~ Atheistic Philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche

Why Do People Turn to Atheism? (cont.)3. Men reject belief in God in order to be free of moral

responsibility.

Aldous Huxley argued that belief in God, and viewing the world as having meaning, were hindrances to “sexual freedom”.

Jean Paul Sartre wrote: “Everything is indeed permitted if God does not exist”.

The Bible affirms, “Fools say in their hearts, ‘There is no god.’ They are destroyers. Their work is abhorrent. They do nothing that is good.” (Psa. 14.1 FHV4)

Scriptures: Rom. 1.28-30, 8.7; Col. 1.21; Psa. 14.1; Matt. 13.15

Why Do People Turn to Atheism? (cont.)4. Because faith in someone who professes to be a

devout believer in God has been shattered.

Proverbs 25.19: “Depending on a traitor in a time of trouble is like chewing with a broken tooth or walking on a wobbly foot.”

Psalm 118.8: “It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust any human being.”

Scriptures: Tit. 1.16, 2.11-12; Phil. 2.15-16; Matt. 5.16; Ezra 7.10; Rom. 2.21-24.

Why Do People Turn to Atheism? (cont.)5. Because many are turned off by religious division.

They do not like the religious division they see in the world.

They do not like to see the religious division that occurs between brethren in the church.

Scriptures: John 17.20-21; 1 Cor. 1.10.

David Lipe (2000), Notes on Christian Evidences (Henderson, Tenn.: Freed-Hardeman University) chart CE2B.

Why Do People Turn to Atheism? (cont.)

6. Because many accept a secular (anti-religion) philosophy of living.

There is an emphasis on the natural instead of the supernatural.

There is an emphasis on the horizontal instead of the vertical.

Scriptures: Col. 3.1-2; 2 Cor. 4.18-19.

David Lipe (2000), Notes on Christian Evidences (Henderson, Tenn.: Freed-Hardeman University) CE2B.

Why Do People Turn to Atheism? (cont.)7. Because of the challenges brought by the pluralism and

relativism of our culture.

Pluralism/Relativism challenges the claims of Christianity: “A relativist believes that absolutists are wrong. The religious

pluralist believes that the exclusivist views of Christianity are wrong.

Theses attacks can be answered: “Although many of these mythical slogans [for example: “true for

you, but not for me”] tend to be conversation-stoppers, they don’t have to leave Christians speechless”.

Paul Copan (1998), True for You, But Not for Me (Minneapolis, Minn.: Harvest), “Introduction”.

Let’s Summarize What We have Covered so far:

1. Unbelief is not a new response to God, it is quite old.

1. Unbelief exists in a number of ways: (1) atheism, (2) skepticism, (3) agnosticism, and (4)deism.

1. Unbelief is chosen for a number of reasons: (1) lack of respect for authority, (2) high levels of pride, (3) to be free of moral responsibility, (4) religious hypocrisy, (5) religious division, (6) secular society, and (7) accepted the claims of pluralism and relativism.

Deaver, Roy. 1995. “Pondering the Case of Jeff Dahmer.” Biblical Notes 24.3 (May/June): 4-6.

Jackson, Wayne. 1974. Fortify Your Faith in an Age of Doubt. Montgomery, Ala.: Apologetics Press.

_____. 1984. “The Impotency of Unbelief.” Firm Foundation 101.30 (July 24): 1, 3.

_____. 1997. “The Folly of Atheism.” Christian Courier 32.11 (March): 43.

Sayers, Stanley E. 1989. An Autopsy on Atheism. Winona, Miss.: Choate Publications.

South, Tommy. 2008. “Help My Unbelief.” Gospel Advocate 150.11 (November): 32-33.

Strickland, James A. 2011. “Evidence of the Unseen.” Kaio 4.2 (March/April): 22-23.

Sztanyo, Dick. 1988. “Dealing with Skepticism and Unbelief in College-Aged Students.” Christian Bible Teacher 32.6 (June): 259-60.