I Don't Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist (5 page)

Third,
if
this line of reasoning is sound (and that’s a big “if” that this book will attempt to show), it necessarily disproves other religions where they differ from the Bible. (This sounds incredibly arrogant and presumptuous, but we’ll address that later.) This would
not
mean that all other religions are completely false or that they have no truth. Nearly all religions have some truth. We are simply saying that
if the Bible is
true,
then any specific claim that contradicts the Bible must be false. For example, if the Bible is true, and it says that there is a God beyond the universe who created and sustains the universe (theism), then any claim that denies theism (e.g., atheism) must be false. Likewise, if the Bible is true, and it claims that Jesus rose from the dead, then the Qur’anic denial of that fact must be false. (By the way, the reverse would also be true. If the evidence showed that the Qur’an was true, then the Bible would be false wherever it contradicted the Qur’an.)

Fourth, we give evidence for Christianity because we ought to live our lives based on truth. Socrates once said that the unexamined life is not worth living.
³
We believe that the unexamined faith is not worth believing. Furthermore, contrary to popular opinion, Christians are not supposed to “just have faith.” Christians are
commanded
to know what they believe and why they believe it. They are commanded to give answers to those who ask (1 Pet. 3:15), and to demolish arguments against the Christian faith (2 Cor. 10:4-5). Since God is reasonable (Isa. 1:18) and wants us to use our reason, Christians don’t get brownie points for being stupid. In fact, using reason is part of the greatest commandment which, according to Jesus, is to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your
mind”
(Matt. 22:37).
⁴

Finally, we are often asked, “If Christianity has so much evidence behind it, then why don’t more people believe it?” Our answer: Although we believe the evidence we’re about to present shows that the Bible is true beyond reasonable doubt, no amount of evidence can compel anyone to believe it. Belief requires assent not only of the mind but also of the will. While many non-Christians have honest intellectual questions, we have found that many more seem to have a volitional resistance to Christianity. In other words, it’s not that they don’t have evidence to believe, it’s that they don’t
want
to believe. The great atheist Friedrich Nietzsche exemplified this type of person. He wrote, “If one were to prove this God of the Christians to us, we should be even less able to believe in him”
⁵
; and “It is our preference that decides against Christianity, not arguments.”
⁶
Obviously, Nietzsche’s disbelief was based on his will, not just his intellect.

At this point a skeptic might reverse the argument by claiming that it’s the Christian who simply
wants
to believe. True, many Christians believe only because they want to, and cannot justify their belief with evidence. They simply have faith that the Bible is true. And merely wanting something to be true doesn’t make it so. However, what we are saying is that many non-Christians do the same thing: they take a “blind leap of faith” that their non-Christian beliefs are true simply because they
want
them to be true. In the ensuing chapters, we’ll take a hard look at the evidence to see who has to take the bigger leap.

The skeptic might then ask, “But why would anyone
want
Christianity to be false? Why would anyone not want the free gift of forgiveness?” Good question, but we think the answer lies in the volitional factors we touched on earlier. Namely, many believe that accepting the truth of Christianity would require them to change their thinking, friends, priorities, lifestyle, or morals, and they are not quite willing to give up control over their lives in order to make those changes. They believe that life would be easier and more fun without such changes. Perhaps they realize that while Christianity is all about forgiveness, it’s also about denying yourself and carrying your cross. Indeed, Christianity is free, but it can cost you your life.

There’s a difference between
proving
a proposition and
accepting
a proposition. We might be able to prove Christianity is true beyond reasonable doubt, but only
you
can choose to accept it. Please consider this question to see if you are open to acceptance: If someone could provide reasonable answers to the most significant questions and objections you have about Christianity—reasonable to the point that Christianity seems true beyond a reasonable doubt—would you then become a Christian? Think about that for a moment. If your
honest
answer is no, then your resistance to Christianity is emotional or volitional, not merely intellectual. No amount of evidence will convince you because evidence is not what’s in your way—
you
are. In the end, only you know if you are truly open to the evidence for Christianity.

One beauty of God’s creation is this: if you’re not willing to accept Christianity, then you’re free to reject it. This freedom to make choices—even the freedom to reject truth—is what makes us moral creatures and enables each of us to choose our ultimate destiny. This really hits at the heart of why we exist at all, and why God might not be as overt in revealing himself to us as some would like. For if the Bible is true, then God has provided each of us with the opportunity to make an eternal choice to either accept him or reject him. And in order to ensure that our choice is truly free, he puts us in an environment that is filled with evidence of his existence, but without his
direct
presence—a presence so powerful that it could overwhelm our freedom and thus negate our ability to reject him. In other words,
God has provided
enough evidence in this life to convince anyone willing to believe, yet
he has also left some ambiguity so as not to compel the unwilling.
In this way, God gives us the opportunity either to love him or to reject him without violating our freedom. In fact, the purpose of this life is to make that choice freely and without coercion. For love, by definition, must be freely given. It cannot be coerced. That’s why C. S. Lewis wrote, “the Irresistible and the Indisputable are the two weapons which the very nature of [God’s] scheme forbids Him to use. Merely to over-ride a human will (as His felt presence in any but the faintest and most mitigated degree would certainly do) would be for Him useless. He cannot ravish. He can only woo.”
⁷

We hope the evidence we present in this book will, in some small way, woo you to God. Keep in mind that it’s not our evidence, it’s
his.
We are simply compiling it in a logical order. By using real-world stories and illustrations as often as possible, we intend to make this book readable and its reasoning easily accessible.

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION

As we have seen, many religious truth claims can be investigated and their plausibility determined. Since all conclusions about such claims are based on probability rather than absolute certainty, they all—including atheistic claims—require some amount of faith. As we look at the evidence in the ensuing chapters, we’ll see that conclusions such as “God exists” and “the Bible is true” are certain beyond reasonable doubt.
Therefore, it takes a lot more faith to be a non-Christian than it does to
be a Christian.

However, we have also acknowledged that evidence alone cannot convince someone to become a Christian. Some atheists and nonChristians may reject Christianity not because the evidence is inadequate but because they don’t
want
to accept it. Some people choose to suppress the truth rather than live by it.
In fact, we humans have a fatal tendency
to try to adjust the truth to fit our desires rather than adjusting our
desires to fit the truth.

But wait. Isn’t there a third alternative? What about remaining agnostic like the Old Testament professor at the beginning of this chapter? He said he didn’t know if God exists. Some may think that such a person is open-minded. Perhaps. But there’s a big difference between being
open-minded
and being
empty-minded.
In light of the evidence, we think agnosticism is a decision to be empty-minded. After all, isn’t the reason we should be open-minded so that we can recognize truth when we see it? Yes. So what are we to do when there’s enough evidence to point us to the truth? For example, what should we do when we see evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that George Washington was the first president of the United States? Should we remain “open-minded” as to who the first president was? No, that would be
empty
-minded. Some questions are closed. As we’ll see, there’s enough evidence regarding Christianity to draw a reasonably certain conclusion.

As Mortimer Adler observed, our conclusion about God impacts every area of our lives. It is the key to finding unity and diversity and ultimate meaning in life. It is literally the most important question for every human being to address. Fortunately, if our reasoning is correct, we will discover the box top to life’s puzzle at the end of our journey. So let’s take the first step on that journey. It begins with the question of truth.

Chapters 1–2
will cover:

1. Truth about reality is knowable.
.

2. The opposite of true is false.

3. It is true that the theistic God exists. This is evidenced by the:

a. Beginning of the universe (Cosmological Argument)

b. Design of the universe (Teleological Argument/ Anthropic Principle)

c. Design of life (Teleological Argument)

d. Moral Law (Moral Argument)

4. If God exists, then miracles are possible.

5. Miracles can be used to confirm a message from God (i.e., as acts of God to confirm a word from God).

6. The New Testament is historically reliable. This is evidenced by:

a. Early testimony

b. Eyewitness testimony

c. Uninvented (authentic) testimony

d. Eyewitnesses who were not deceived

7. The New Testament says Jesus claimed to be God.

8. Jesus’ claim to be God was miraculously confirmed by:

a. His fulfillment of many prophecies about himself;

b. His sinless life and miraculous deeds;

c. His prediction and accomplishment of his resurrection.

9. Therefore, Jesus is God.

10. Whatever Jesus (who is God) teaches is true.

11. Jesus taught that the Bible is the Word of God.

12. Therefore, it is true that the Bible is the Word of God (and anything opposed to it is false).

1

Can We Handle the Truth?

“Men stumble over the truth from time to time, but most
pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing happened.”

—WINSTON CHURCHILL

IN THE MOVIE
A Few Good Men,
Tom Cruise plays a Navy lawyer who questions a Marine colonel, played by Jack Nicholson, about the murder of one of Nicholson’s men. The dramatic courtroom scene turns into a shouting match as Cruise accuses Nicholson of being complicit in the murder:

Cruise: “Colonel, did you order the Code Red!”
Judge: “You don’t have to answer that question!”
Nicholson: “I’ll answer the question . . . you want answers?”
Cruise: “I think I’m entitled to them.”
Nicholson: “You want answers!”
Cruise: “I want the truth!”
Nicholson: “You can’t handle the truth!”

Nicholson might as well have been yelling at all of America rather than Cruise because it seems that many in our country can’t handle the truth. On one hand, we demand truth in virtually every area of our lives.

For example; we demand the truth from:

loved ones (no one wants lies from a spouse or a child)

doctors (we want the right medicine prescribed and the right operations performed)

stock brokers (we demand that they tell us the truth about companies they recommend)