The Dawn Treader

"No, if you’re a Christian you shouldn’t run, whine, scream, or have a religious tantrum. Instead, you should be thanking the Discovery Channel for giving you the chance to step up to the plate and knock this soft ball out of the park."

Greg Koukl, Townhall columnist

For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised.  And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.

Paul the Apostle

Has Christianity been disproven?  Falsified?  Debunked?

I had an interesting conversation with a close friend yesterday.

This is a repost of an old article I wrote.  With all of the golf comments here, and since it is the U.S. Open Week, I felt inspired to pull it out and repost it.

Golfing is one of my hobbies. As a golfer, you learn how to make tactical decisions all the time. Certain shots require certain clubs. Certain ball positions (called "lies") require different technique. Certain wind conditions can completely alter how you swing the club. It is a dynamic game, and unbelievably hard to master.

My belief is that apologetics is a lot like golf.

To steal a line from my favorite pastor-blogger, my blog could easily be renamed "Hat Tip: STR".  Melinda at STR tipped me off to a Breakpoint essay of interest.  In fact, it is concerning.  I have the greatest admiration in the world for Chuck Colson.  Not that we are close buddies or anything, but I have met him and learned from him in the Centurions program.  Chuck Colson writes,

"It wasn’t so much a crisis of faith as one of understanding. I had gained so much knowledge about the strength of the biblical worldview that I figured I could rationally answer every question. But of course, I couldn’t—no one can.

This bothered me for a few weeks until I realized the problem. Pride, which was my original obstacle to becoming a Christian, was in the way again. I knew so much, but faith, you see, is beyond the intellect. You have to have doubts; otherwise, it couldn’t be faith.

My friend’s problem was the same. I told him so, and, you’ll be pleased to know, later he returned to his faith. Now, remember, we need to understand everything we can about the world and about theology, but at some point, we have to realize that Jesus wants only our childlike faith. That’s the only way we can really love God. Otherwise, He’s simply another object to figure out. Only through faith can we learn dependence on Him."