Good Morning!
We have a new brood of laying chickens to go with our new chicken coop. There are only a couple that are of the same breed, so we have quite the variety. They are a late batch, so they are just now becoming adult birds. They are all hen, except one. This young rooster is now finding his vocal chords. Apparently, he has something to crow about, because we are hearing a teen-aged voice coming out of this rooster. It’s comical to listen to him struggle to crow like he feels he should. His voice cracks and you can imagine him gulp and wince as he tries and tries. He’s getting better each day. There is a problem, though. I heard a new crow today; one that I had not heard before. This one was crisp and clear and sounded how we all know a rooster should sound. That means trouble, because roosters are very dominant. They don’t share the hens. It is very likely one won’t back down. This could get ugly. That means the farmer might have a choice to make\
We left off yesterday with the introduction of an interesting article by GotQuestions.org entitled “With all of the different religions, how can I know which one is correct?” It is one of the longer answers they have to the countless questions this website answers. If you aren’t familiar with this site, I recommend it. It is biblically-based, and so far I haven’t found any inconsistencies. For this question, they concluded that such a complex question can only be answered using a multi-faceted analysis, akin to looking at a map. The basic “rules” are that the answer must be logical, reflect reality, and be relevant to life. Fair enough. I’m going to take liberty and paraphrase my conclusions of the article without specific page references or other formalities. Know simply that this is the article I am referencing.
The article strives to answer basic questions of life – Origin, Ethics, Meaning, and Destiny. It then goes on to ask specific questions, the first being whether or not absolute truth exists. They used the same argument as Ravi Zacharais that we discussed yesterday as well as the simple 2 + 2 = 4 exercise. In a nutshell, if something is true, it is true. A lie can’t be true, no matter how sincerely it is delivered. Therefore, they conclude this eliminates the following world views: agnosticism, postmodernism, relativism, and skepticism. That makes sense to me given how straight-forward all of the universe is. It seems to me that, for some reason we will explore later, mankind is bent on lying to itself.
The next test is another of reason and logic – Can one truth contradict another truth? For example, when we apply this to Judaism, Islam, and Christianity, we find that all claim to be true. But, if one is true, that means the others are false. Either they all are false or only one can be true. This eliminates the approaches of “true for you but not for me” or “all roads lead to heaven” mentality. This is pluralism.
The article then goes on to examine whether or not God exists by looking at the origin of the world as we see it. In order for it to exist, it had to come from somewhere and had to have a beginning. Something had to create it. That something would have to be eternal in nature, beyond space and time. Atheists would claim that the universe itself is eternal, but all of science points to a “beginning” (Big Bang). Pantheists believe that the universe and god are one. So, if the universe had a beginning, that would mean that god did, too. All this eliminates these two world views (atheisms and pantheism) including traditional African, Native American, and Eastern religions (Hindu, Buddhism, etc.). That leaves the big three: Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. I will address the truth of Christianity myself later. Therefore, we will assume for now that the other two are out.
I asked yesterday whether or not each world view had its own seeds of destruction. It would seem so, logically. Our conclusion that absolute truth will be one of the Big Three. It has to be. But does that mean that any of the others are unworkable? Does that mean that Christianity would be the “best” if we were allowed to choose? Well, let’s step back for a moment and look at the condition of the human race. First, we are bent on war on all levels, from nations down to the family structure itself. We seem determined to destroy. We have severe poverty and chronic famine. The world is rich beyond imagination yet we refuse to fix the problem of poverty. We have countless political systems and religions (ways of organizing humanity), yet we can’t point to a society that has “gotten it right”. I started examining different religions to see if I could find the “weak link” in each. The fact of the matter is any religion, in its entirety, is a weak link, with the exception of Christianity.
But, that doesn’t answer the question that started this whole journey out: What about the people who have never heard of Jesus?
To be continued.
Father, guide us through your word. Reason with us. Amen.
Copyright © 2017 Scott Powers