God's Not Dead: Evidence for God in an Age of Uncertainty (18 page)

You are a unique entity, a human being with a unique set of fingerprints and
DNA
. You are able to think objectively about your existence and uniqueness. Animals can be owned without any
moral
implications, but persons cannot be owned. In addition, we have the unique abilities to refer to ourselves as
self
and to make free decisions.

Besides wanting and choosing and being moved
to do
this or that, [humans] may also want to have (or not to have) certain desires and motives. They are capable of wanting to be different, in their preferences and purposes, from what they are. Many animals appear to have the capacity for what I shall call “first-order desires” or “desires of the first order,” which are simply desires to do or not to do one thing or another. No animal other than man, however, appears to have the capacity for reflective self-evaluation that is manifested in the formation of second-order desires.
³⁷

When societies deny
personhood
as an intrinsic quality of humans, they commonly digress into injustice and dehumanize portions of their populations.

8. C
ULTURE

Only humans have the capacity to develop complex cultures that advance over time. Michael Tomasello, codirector of the Max
Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, asked “How Are Humans Unique?” in a piece for the
New York Times
.

When you look at apes and
children
in situations requiring them to put their heads together, a subtle but significant difference emerges. We have observed that children, but not chimpanzees, expect and even demand that others who have committed themselves to a joint activity stay involved and not shirk their duties. When children want to opt out of an activity, they recognize the existence of an obligation to help the group—they know that they must, in their own way, “take leave” to make amends. Humans structure their collaborative actions with joint goals and shared commitments.
³⁸

This is a point that philosopher Merlin Donald also made very well in his work
A Mind So Rare: The Evolution of Human Consciousness.
As Donald wrote in the prologue, “This book proposes that the human mind is unlike any other on this planet, not because of its biology, which is not qualitatively unique, but because of its ability to generate and assimilate culture. The human mind is thus a ‘hybrid’ product of biology and culture.”
³⁹

9. B
EYOND THE
P
HYSICAL

Naturalists reduce consciousness to merely the firing of neurons within the brain. We are not, however, merely brains, but we have brains. There is an eternal dimension we possess that lasts beyond physical life. The mystery of this immaterial dimension in humans gives a glimpse of the immaterial
personhood
and existence of the God in whose image we are made. Evidence for the soul comes from several different sources.
⁴⁰

In addition the brain operates in ways that seem to defy the limitations of computational machines. Most notably, we seem to have the capacity for
free will
.
⁴¹

10. S
PIRITUAL
H
UNGER

The existence of the soul, which is a spiritual or nonmaterial component of our existence, explains the phenomenon of “
spiritual hunger
.” Longing for the eternal is evidence that God has made humanity in His image and has set “eternity in their hearts” (Ecclesiastes 3:11). The fact that over 90 percent of human beings believe there is a God and a life after death points to this reality. This spiritual hunger is just as real as physical hunger, and the experience of hunger always points to something that can truly fulfill that longing. As Saint Augustine wrote, “You have made us for yourself and our hearts find no peace until they rest in you.”
⁴²

S
UMMARY

A pointless beginning points to a pointless existence. A purposeful beginning proves life has real purpose and meaning. Humanity’s universal need for purpose and meaning in life points to the existence of God. If there were no God, then there would be no such thing as ultimate meaning and purpose. But these things do exist. We are created in the image of God, on purpose and for a purpose. When this meaning and purpose is denied, the results can be catastrophic on the human soul. It’s as necessary to our survival as the air we breathe.

Man is not just another animal. There is a wide chasm of distinction including the ability to think about our thinking, as well
as the existence of an immaterial soul that is beyond the physical brain. This eternal dimension in mankind gives us another glimpse into the reality of an immaterial, eternal God. In essence, Sagan was partially right. There is intelligent life beyond human life that, when discovered, will bring an extraordinary sense of cohesion to us as the people of the earth. That life has indeed reached us in Christ and offers a real and enduring hope.

7
JESUS AND THE
RESURRECTION

That a few simple men should in one generation have invented so powerful and appealing a personality, so lofty an ethic, and so inspiring a vision of human brotherhood, would be a miracle far more incredible than any recorded in the Gospels.

—J
OSH
M
C
D
OWELL
,
M
ORE
T
HAN A
C
ARPENTER
¹

Jesus existed, and those vocal persons who deny it do so not because they have considered the evidence with the dispassionate eye of the historian, but because they have some other agenda that this denial serves.

—B
ART
E
HRMAN
,
D
ID
J
ESUS
E
XIST?
²

IT WAS A GREAT PRIVILEGE TO LIVE IN JERUSALEM. EVEN though it was only for a few months, it was a life-altering experience. Unlike the many short trips I’ve taken to Israel with my family, friends, and coworkers, this visit allowed me to experience
the profound impact of living in the land of the Bible. Israel is indeed a historic place where the Bible can serve as a map for the many tours and excursions you can take. Even a few days in this amazing country will convince you that the stories told in the Book are far from fairy tales and legends.

During our extended stay a few years ago, I met a young man from Nigeria in one of the local parks who asked me, “Can you tell me where Jesus was crucified?” After a few moments, I was able to point him to the place where this event would have happened. He related to me that he was actually a Buddhist and was visiting Israel in hopes of marrying a Jewish girl.

After asking him several questions about his stay in the city and some of the challenges he had faced, I took the step to ask him, “Do you know why Jesus was crucified?” He paused to think for a moment and then responded that he wasn’t quite sure. I was able to explain that Christ had actually died for the sins of the world—including his sins and mine. I gave him directions to the place where Jesus died, but also told him the meaning of that event and prayed for him to receive Christ as his savior.

Christianity started in the city of
Jerusalem
three days after Jesus’ death when His body was reported missing from the tomb where He had been buried. Even more mysterious were immediate reports of men and women seeing Him alive again. It is the story that has divided history and divides hearts to this day. There is no doubt that the land of Israel is the perfect backdrop to the stories of God in history. I love to take people there and witness the profound impact that environment has on them.

T
HE
U
PSET OF THE
C
ENTURY

The debate between Richard Dawkins and John Lennox in Birmingham, Alabama, in 2007 on the subject “Is God a Delusion?” was called a revelation by the
Wall Street Journal
.
³
Throughout the evening Lennox was on the offensive, pointing out the numerous fallacies in Dawkins’s book
The God Delusion
, as well as making a compelling case for an intelligent Creator. If this had been a heavyweight fight, it could have been called the upset of the century because of Lennox’s success in the face of the overwhelmingly critical mind-set fostered by a large segment of the academic community.

The clear, compelling evidence for God presented by Lennox was astonishing to those who seriously underestimated the case for a Creator. It is rumored that Dawkins is normally so overconfident he barely reads the opponent’s writings prior to such events. After the opening statements at the debate from this gracious, intelligent
mathematician
, Dawkins undoubtedly realized that this was a worthy opponent.

In his closing remarks, Lennox said something that almost brought Dawkins out of his chair. He boldly declared that he, as a scientist, believed that Jesus Christ was indeed God’s Son and was raised from the dead. Dawkins appeared stunned by this admission. “Well there you have it. Just when you think Professor Lennox is making a case for an intelligent designer, he brings up the resurrection of Jesus. It’s so petty; it’s so parochial; it’s so beneath the universe.”
⁴

Lennox would later meet with Dawkins at Oxford for a discussion moderated by Larry Taunton. Dawkins seemed shocked that
Lennox, a brilliant scientist, could actually believe in something as incredible as the resurrection of Christ. Lennox responded that it is not a mismatch to hold to the scientific evidence for the existence of God and to the ability of that Creator to feed a new event into the system, whether it be the virgin birth of Christ or His resurrection from the dead.
⁵
By the end of the debate, the fact that he was a brilliant scientist who also possessed faith in a miraculous God dispelled the myth that those two positions were mutually exclusive.

J
ESUS:
N
OT A
M
YTH

We have come to the heart of the multifaceted case that proves God is not dead: the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The evidence we have presented so far points overwhelmingly to the existence of God. There is no better explanation for the beginning of space and time, the fine-tuning of the universe from its very beginning and our planetary system, the complexity of life that could not have arisen from natural processes, the reality of objective moral laws, the inborn need in every man and woman for meaning and purpose, and the distinctions between humans and the animals. “God is not dead” is certainly a logical, rational, provable statement both scientifically and philosophically.

Now we turn our attention to the evidence for God in a historical sense. God gave the ultimate evidence for His existence by entering His own creation as a human. In this
chapter
we don’t just offer another proof for God’s existence, but we behold this God as He stepped into space and time through Jesus Christ.
This is the anchor of our hope and faith. The life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ demonstrated that God exists and give a vivid picture of His nature and character. Jesus said, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:9).

J
ESUS:
M
AN OF
H
ISTORY

It is important to start with the simple fact that Jesus Christ actually lived. The evidence of the historical Jesus is beyond dispute, though critics have written works such as
The Quest of the Historical Jesus
attempting to disprove it. Others have argued that even if Jesus did live, we could never know what He was really like or what He really said. The importance of His life cannot be overstated. It was the fact of His resurrection that launched the Christian faith three days after Jesus had died a cruel death on a Roman cross.

Bart Ehrman is arguably the most influential Bible critic of our day. He frequently debates Christian scholars about the reliability of the New Testament
gospels
from a historical standpoint. While he is a skeptic in terms of the overall truth of the Christian faith, he is not skeptical about the existence of a real Jesus. To Ehrman and countless other scholars, such a denial is not founded on the evidence. Ehrman has emphasized that the fact of Jesus being a man of history is incontrovertible. I quote him because he is not a Christian. As more or less a hostile witness against the Christian faith, he finds himself actually helping the cause of Christ by underscoring the truth of His earthly existence. Once that existence is accepted, it becomes a rather straightforward investigation about His impact.

I am not a Christian, and I have no interest in promoting a Christian cause or a Christian agenda. I am an agnostic with atheist leanings, and my life and views of the world would be approximately the same whether or not Jesus existed. . . . But as a historian I think evidence matters. And the past matters. And for anyone to whom both evidence and the past matter, a dispassionate consideration of the case makes it quite plain: Jesus did exist.
⁶

N
ONBIBLICAL
S
OURCES

Contrary to the claims of some skeptics, the life of Jesus is attested to by a variety of non-Christian historical sources. Here are a few examples:

The Roman historian
Tacitus
in AD 115 wrote about the persecution of the Christians under
Nero
and referenced Jesus’ crucifixion:

Consequently, to get rid of the report, Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations, called ‘Christians’ by the populace. Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilatus, and a most mischievous superstition, thus checked for the moment, again broke out not only in Judaea, the first source of the evil, but even in
Rome
, where all things hideous and shameful from every part of the world find their centre and become popular. Accordingly, an arrest
was first made of all who pleaded guilty; then, upon their information, an immense multitude was convicted, not so much of the crime of firing the city, as of hatred against mankind. Mockery of every sort was added to their deaths. Covered with the skins of beasts, they were torn by dogs and perished, or were nailed to crosses, or were doomed to the flames and burnt, to serve as a nightly illumination, when daylight had expired.
⁷