Book Comment: The God You Thought You Knew

 

In his book, The God You Thought You Knew, Alex McFarland responds to ten common secular objections to Christianity.

Some of the objections discussed in this book include:

1.     Christianity is judgemental and intolerant.

2.     Evil and suffering exist and a real God would not allow that.

3.     Christianity is totally made up and not based on any facts.

4.     Modern science disproves Christianity.

5.     Religion is not for the educated.

6.     The whole thing is boring and a waste of my time.

7.     Since I do not like it, it cannot be true.

8.     The Bible is full of errors.

9.     Dead people cannot come back to life.

10.  A loving God would not send anyone to Hell.

As with most books such as this, what you get from the book depends on what you bring with you. You may not agree with everything the author says. Luke (see below) advises to think for yourself.

Information you will need to search for this book: McFarland, Alex, The God You Thought You Knew. Exposing the 10 Biggest Myths About Christianity (Minneapolis: Bethany House Publishers, 2015)

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A general caution: books may give you wonderful new insights and explanations of subjects, but you should never base your Christian beliefs on any one book or the teachings of one person, no matter who they are. All teachings must be consistent with scripture. Read as the Bereans did, with discernment. “… for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.” Acts 17:11 NASB

Any doctrines must be consistent with the historical full body of Christian thought. Doctrines or teachings inconsistent with scripture in any way must be rejected. You would not eat cheese which had a fuzzy fungus growing on it.

Ramones

The Ramones were, like Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground, a rock music band of enormous musical influence but extremely limited commercial success. (At the Ramones first major concert, ten people showed up.) To be clear, there is nothing Christian about either band but they are reflections of the worldview of many millions of people. 

The music of the Ramones is minimalist to almost absurd levels. Their songs often use only a few chords, a hard driving beat, and almost all the songs check in at under three minutes in length. The songs are very fast and very short. Many of their concerts lasted only seventeen minutes. Who were these guys?

The band was begun in 1974 by four totally unrelated men who all took the surname Ramone, wore long black straight hair with long bangs, black leather jackets, and usually wore sunglasses regardless of the weather or time of day. They basically acted as if they were nihilistic and were bored out of their minds.  As band members cane and went, they too, all became Ramones. Even women who married the band members became Ramones. Rolling Stone Magazine lists the Ramones as number 26 on their list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time." The VH1 music television network names the Ramones as number 17 in their list  of the "100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock." The original four members (Johnny Ramone, Dee Dee Ramone, Joey Ramone, and Tommy Ramone) and later drummer, Marky Ramone, have all been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Much of this was a stage persona. Some of the band members were progressive in their views while others were much more conservative. The band was in constant inner turmoil with arguments, jealousies, resignations, firings, and hostilities which occasionally erupted into violence. Some of the disputes resulted in legal actions.

All of the original four founding members of the Ramones are now dead so we may never know for certain whether or not they were consciously satirizing the modern relativist culture or were merely reflecting that they were part of it.  Or both.

Their music perfectly reflects the vapid meaninglessness of modern relativistic society. The songs take vicious jabs at the facades and hypocrisy of many elements of modern western culture, exhibiting a total lack of respect for any forms of authority or societal norms, including the family. An example is the song, We're A Happy Family.

"We're a happy family

We're a happy family

We're a happy family

Me mom and daddy

Siting here in Queens

Eating refried beans

We're in all the magazines

Gulping down thorazines

We ain't got no friends

Our troubles never end

No Christmas cards to send

Daddy likes men

Daddy's telling lies

Baby's eating flies

Mommy's on pills

Baby's got the chills

I'm friends with the President

I'm friends with the Pope

We're all making a fortune

Selling Daddy's dope"

Other songs reflect the cultural acceptance of violence which can result from the dehumanizing effects of relativism. To me, Beat on the Brat With a Baseball Bat brings to mind the horrors of child abuse and the casual murders committed by the for profit abortion industry.

"Beat on the brat 
Beat on the brat 
Beat on the brat with a baseball bat
Oh yeah, oh yeah, uh-oh

Beat on the brat 
Beat on the brat 
Beat on the brat with a baseball bat
Oh yeah, oh yeah, uh-oh 
Oh yeah, oh yeah, uh-oh

What can you do? 
What can you do?
With a brat like that always on your back 
What can you (lose?)

What can you do? 
What can you do?
With a brat like that always on your back 
What can you (lose?) lose?"

One response to the utter anti-intellectual emptiness produced by the relativist philosophy is to become totally passive and uninvolved, as in I Want To Be Sedated.

"Twenty-twenty-twenty four hours to go I wanna be sedated

Nothin' to do and no where to go-o-oh I wanna be sedated

Just get me to the airport put me on a plane

Hurry hurry hurry before I go insane

I can't control my fingers I can't control my brain

Oh no no no no no

Twenty-twenty-twenty four hours to go....

Just put me in a wheelchair, get me on a plane

Hurry hurry hurry before I go insane

I can't control my fingers I can't control my brain

Oh no no no no no

Twenty-twenty-twenty four hours to go I wanna be sedated

Nothin' to do and no where to go-o-o I wanna be sedated

Just put me in a wheelchair get me to the show

Hurry hurry hurry before I go loco

I can't control my fingers I can't control my toes

Oh no no no no no

Twenty-twenty-twenty four hours to go...

Just put me in a wheelchair...

Ba-ba-bamp-ba ba-ba-ba-bamp-ba I wanna be sedated

Ba-ba-bamp-ba ba-ba-ba-bamp-ba I wanna be sedated

Ba-ba-bamp-ba ba-ba-ba-bamp-ba I wanna be sedated

Ba-ba-bamp-ba ba-ba-ba-bamp-ba I wanna be sedated"

Another response seen in modern culture is boredom and the inability to form meaningful relationships. People drift from situation to situation, from person to person, and from one drug of abuse to another. Other people are seen as useful to relieve the pain. The anomy and emptiness can often devolve into lawlessness and violence.  I Just Want To Have Something To Do!

"Hanging out of Second Avenue

Eating chicken vindaloo

I just want to be with you

I just want to have something to do

Tonight, tonight, tonight,tonight,tonight,tonight

Well allright.

Tonight, tonight, tonight,tonight,tonight,tonight

Wait-Now

Wait-Now

Hanging out all by myself

Cause I don't want to be with anybody else

I just want to be with you 

I just want to have something to do

Tonight"


The answer is the total rejection of the relativist ideology. There are NOT many different relative truths. Truth is NOT determined by societal consensus. There is such a thing as absolute truth and it is, to an extent, knowable and intelligible to the human intellect. We could not have found this absolute truth on our own but we were created in such a way that we are completely capable of perceiving it. the unknowable has been made knowable.

The unknowable God has made Himself knowable to us by first preparing us through His progressive revelation of His nature to the Jewish people. He is one. He is our creator. He is all-powerful and all-knowing. He knows each of us as individuals. He is holy and expects us to be holy. He is not impressed by our political power, our wealth, or our knowledge.  He expects us to understand that we belong only to Him. He intends to bless the entire world.

After this preparation through the Jewish people, God's final perfect revelation of Himself came through the Messiah, Jesus of nazareth, who was, is, and always will be fully human and fully divine. We are to become conformed to Him.

Book Comment: The Rise of Benedict XVI

The full title of this 2005 John L. Allen book is The Rise of Benedict XVI. The Inside Story of How the Pope Was Elected and Where He Will Take the Catholic Church. I am not a Catholic and so have no standing one way or the other on this. I do not wish to offend. But, speaking as an outsider, as one of the “separated brethren,” I personally think the tragedy of this book is that Benedict did not ultimately complete the promise of his election. He did speak about the problem on numerous occasions. Then, he resigned eight years into his papacy.

I am sure that I am not alone as one who was thrilled at the thought that a champion of the faith had arisen. Joseph Ratzinger, elected as Benedict XVI, had identified relativism as the “gravest problem of our time.” 

Many thought that he would marshall the resources of the Catholic Church to battle what he called  the “dictatorship of relativism.” Many conservative Evangelicals understood this phenomenon by a different terminology, the “war on Christianity”

Exactly what is relativism? It is the idea that objective truth does not exist or that, if it does exist, it is not attainable by the human mind. Truth is defined as it is determined by the community. Sometimes the community is as small as one person. That is how one can hear the absurd statement, “Well, that is your truth. That is not my truth.”

Proponents of relativism talk about tolerance, pluralism, avoidance of imperialism and colonialism, and of non-interference in other cultures. All of these things are good but the relativists go even further. 

They utterly deny and even condemn the possibility of any absolute truth which is valid for all people in all cultures and for any time in history. This is a direct hostile frontal challenge to Christianity which is based on an absolute truth claim. The claim is this: God has revealed the Truth about Himself and about humanity in the revelation presented in Jesus Christ. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Light. As Jesus said, “No man comes to the Father except through me.”

Relativism attacks Christianity in several ways.

1. It denies the exceptionality, the exclusivity, and the universality of Christianity. It sees Christianity as just one religion among many, all of which are equally valid.

2. It declares evangelism and missions to be imperialistic and colonialistic. It sees them as an attempt to force our beliefs and culture upon others.

3. In its zeal to be “tolerant” relativism seeks to punish and suppress those whom it defines as intolerant; such as those who wish to not be involved in cooperation with same-sex marriage.

4. Relativism can lead to totalitarianism because it removes any legitimate basis for moral judgement over the limits of state power used to enforce "tolerance."

5. Relativism’s removal of moral limits has caused a cheapening of human life. This has led to the abortion and human cloning controversies. Human rights are seen as being determined by social convention rather than by any absolute intrinsic human value.

As Benedict XVI said, “All ideologies of power justify themselves in exactly this way. They justify the destruction of whatever would stand in the way of progress and the liberation of humanity. God, who became a lamb, tells us that the world is saved by the crucified, not by those who crucify. Pray for me that I may not flee for fear of the wolves.”

Pray for all of us that we may not flee for fear of the wolves!

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Back to the book.

The Rise of Benedict XVI is a fascinating unfolding of the history of the events and politics which swirled around the last days of John Paul II, the various factions, the leading papabili (papal candidates), a discussion about how Joseph Ratzinger was viewed before his election, why smoke is used to signal the populace of Rome about the progress of the conclave, the meaning of various rituals and declarations, why three sets of robes are prepared for the incoming pope, and why the Cardinals are locked into the conclave rather than other people being locked out. There is also speculation about what Benedict might do as pope.

Back to the concern which began and ended this post. Why did Pope Benedict resign and who  are the wolves he referenced? Benedict XVI was the first pope to resign in 600 years, citing waning physical and mental powers. This flew in the face of the adage, "The Pope is not sick until he is dead."

John L. Allen, the writer of the book being discussed, was present at the papal announcement and says that as soon as Cardinal Jorge Medina Estevez stepped onto the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica and said the name "Ratzinger," several of the monsignors from the Secretariat of State turned around and went inside the building.  Benedict's butler, Palo Gabriele, leaked documents which exposed numerous Vatican power struggles. Benedict's successor, Pope Francis, has declared that "the court is the leprosy of the papacy." Cardinal Carlo-Maria Martini is quoted as having told Pope Benedict, "The curia is not going to change, you must go ..."

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A general caution: books may give you wonderful new insights and explanations of subjects, but you should never base your Christian beliefs on any one book or the teachings of one person, no matter who they are. All teachings must be consistent with scripture. Read as the Bereans did, with discernment. “… for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.” Acts 17:11 NASB

Any doctrines must be consistent with the historical full body of Christian thought. Doctrines or teachings inconsistent with scripture in any way must be rejected. You would not eat cheese which had a fuzzy fungus growing on it.

"Labels" vs "Search This Blog"

To search for specific subjects on this blog, you will find the Labels listing to be much more useful than the Search This Blog Gadget.  The labels are listed at the end of the page.  Messianic prophecies shows 16 posts, light bulb jokes, 38, and moral relativism, 8.

Dog is Good

Modern culture seems to have absolutely lost the understanding that words and concepts have meaning.  I believe that this is a result of the relativism which is rapidly becoming the prevalent world view.

I recently saw a bumper sticker on a car.  The bumper sticker had a cartoon of a dog wearing a halo and the caption “Dog is Good.”  While I definitely agree with the sentiment, something about this bothered me greatly.

The halo is an almost universally recognized symbol for sainthood.  The phrase “Dog is Good” is an English language play (*) on the words “God is Good.”  The sainthood reference made me itchy.  The “good” reference concerned me greatly.  While I am absolutely convinced that there is no intent here to do so, the “good” reference could be viewed as sacrilegious.  This is a word that people, in their obsession to not offend anyone, shy away from now, but it is still pertinent.  People in the modern Church seem to have lost their understanding of the Holiness of God.

Jesus responded very quickly when He was called “good” by a loving follower.

“And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God.”  Mark 10:17-18

“Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.” 1 Peter 1:16 (This references Leviticus 11:44)

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(*) :  For non-English speaking readers of this blog:  In English, the words G_O_D and D_O_G contain the same letters and at a quick glance, can appear to be the same word.

Book Comment: The Challenge of Postmodernism

The Challenge of Postmodernism.  An Evangelical Engagement, edited by David S. Dockery, 2001

The modernist philosophy, the prevailing worldview of the 19^th, 20^th , and early 21^st  centuries, holds that there is a truth to be known and that it is knowable by the scientific method.  In its most developed form, it holds that everything which can be known is knowable only from measurable and observable phenomena.  There is an absolute denial of the supernatural and a denigration of knowledge derived in other ways than the scientific.

A new worldview is replacing the scientific/modernist philosophy.  Postmodernism has been building since the early 20^th century.  It rejects the idea of a knowable single absolute truth and stresses the idea of pluralism.  There are many truths.  Community is favored over individualism.  Truth is mediated through social relations, true because it is accepted with a particular community.  In effect, anything can be true because it is accepted by a particular community.  The truth of one community is just as true as the truth of another community, even if the truths are incompatible.  Since there is no absolute truth,  truth becomes subjective and relative to the situation and community in which It is believed.

Meaning is defined by how one feels.  Your truth may not be my truth,  but all truths are equally valid.  Reality becomes a social construct.

To a postmodernist, truth, if it exists at all, is a social relation.  It is what a particular group declares that it is.  To assert truth is to assert domination over other groups that define truth differently.  Absolute truth claims are seen as oppressive and imperialist.  Those who uphold traditional orthodox Christianity are derided.  Pope Benedict XVI has called it “the dictatorship of relativism.”

Postmodernist H. Tristam Engelhardt has said, “Insofar as individual do not share in the consensusof a common religious belief, including the divine roots of state authority, appeals to religious consideration will appear to those without faith or with a different faith as an appeal simply to force in order to support private interests.”

Obviously, then, postmodernism is a direct and hostile challenge to Christianity because Christianity declares that  “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”  Acts 4:12

The point of The Challenge of Postmodernism is that Christians must not be caught unaware.  Postmodernist philosophy is all around us; perhaps you have heard it expressed by someone you know.  Postmodern thought can even be found in many Christian churches, especially those which pride themselves on their inclusiveness and those which accept Christianity as merely one religion among many.  

The Challenge of Postmodernism discusses the background information Which Christians need to know in order to understand postmoderism so that they may counter it intellectually and successfully evangelize the new culture.

I would strongly recommend this book to pastors, theologians, and those others who are not intimidated by a bit of “heavy” reading.  It is good to be aware of the bear before he attempts to eat you.

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I bought a trade paperback copy of The Challenge of Postmodernism at 2^nd and Charles, a used bookstore.  When I got it home, I realized that it was a signed copy.  The inscription reads, “Soli Deo Gloria, David S. Dockery.”

“Soli Deo Gloria” is Latin and translates as “glory only to God” or “glory to God alone.”  Some have translated it as “glory to the only God.”

Film Comment: Un Chien Andalou

I have written before about the modern relativistic idea that there is no absolute truth, that even the idea of truth itself is meaningless.  This anti-intellectual philosophy is rapidly becoming the predominant view in much of modern Western civilization.  The statement that all philosophies are true actually means that none are true.  There is no basis for determining what is right or wrong.  What you declare to be evil, another person might declare to be good, and you both have no valid reason for your claim.  Everything is subjective, based only on opinion.  There is no universal logic, There is no universal sense.  There are no universal ethics. There is no universal meaning.

This idea has begun to become mainstream, but it is not new. “Pilate said unto him, What is truth?”  John 18:38

In the most studied short film in history, Un chien Andalou (An Andalusian Dog, 1928), director Luis Bunuel (1900, Spain – 1983) and surrealistic painter Salvador Dali  (1904, Spain – 1989) collaborated in coming up with totally unrelated scenes that they patched together in no particular order.  Their intent was to offend the society they despised.   Bunuel said, “No idea or image that might lend itself to a rational explanation of any kind would be accepted. … Nothing, in the film, symbolizes anything.”

Bunuel and Dali wrote the film together, with Bunuel directing.  There is no plot or continuity of ideas, just one shocking image after another.  The image almost universally recognized as the most shocking is the one in which a woman’s eyeball is sliced with a shaving razor.  Many have tried to interpret the film along preconceived philosophical lines, but all have ultimately failed because the message is that there is no meaning.

Christians utterly reject this world view because we know that absolute truth does exist.  Jesus is The Truth.

“And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” John 8:32

“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” John 14:6

What Americans Believe

"America's religion is broad but not deep.  It's not that Americans don't believe anything.  They believe everything." George Gallop Jr (1930-2011)

As relativism becomes more and more the prevailing world philosophy, religion becomes so "personal" that there are multitudes of individual religions with each person picking and choosing bits and pieces from here and there and declaring themselves to be "spiritual."  If there is no absolute knowable truth, as the relativists insist,  this is the ultimate result.

Relativism vs Acts 4:12

"The theory of the limited, incomplete, or imperfect character of the revelation of Jesus Christ, which would be complementary to that found in other religions, is contrary to the Church's faith." Article 6, Dominus Iesus (2000) issued by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith of the Roman Catholic Church.


The "other religions" would include those "mainstream" denominations which assert that Christianity is merely one religion among many.  The exclusive nature of the Christian claim is part of the "offense of the gospel."


"Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved."  Acts 4:12

Film Comment: Rubber

Rubber (2010) is a film only a true film geek (like me) could appreciate.  It is an absurdist horror film about a serial killer who is a rubber automobile tire.  This sounds silly, and would lead one to expect something similar to the inspired insanity of the comedic cult classic, Attack of the Killer Tomatoes.  Rubber is not a comedy.


Robert (the tire) rises up from the desert sand one day and stands up on his tread.  Then he starts to roll.  Along his randomly meandering way he learns that he can, by intense concentration, cause things (tin cans, birds, rabbits) to explode.  It is only one small step up from rabbits to people.  The killings are depicted in all the gore and visual nastiness of the most extreme horror films.


Killing randomly as he goes, Robert becomes obsessed with, and begins to follow, a young woman who is driving alone on the desert highway.


Robert, of course, is not real, he is a character in a film which is being observed by a group of people, the audience, standing in the desert sand, using binoculars to observe the events as they progress.


The audience is totally helpless, exposed to the elements and the desert, so engrossed in watching the action that they fail to take care of their own needs.  No one even thinks to eat.  Late that night they all fall asleep on the desert sand.  When the members of the audience wake up, they are very hungry and selfishly fight among themselves for their share when their desert guide throws a cooked turkey into the sand.  The guide doesn't tell them that he has loaded the turkey with poison and they all die a painful death.  Only an old man in a wheelchair survives, because he was suspicious and refused to eat the turkey.


Of course, none of this makes any sense.  That's the entire point of the film.  In the first scene, one of the main characters tells us, "The film you are about to see is an homage to "no reason," that most powerful element of style."


The internet is buzzing with discussions about this film.  Most say that this is not about the tire at all, but is about the relationship between movies and their audiences, more specifically, how skilled directors can draw their audiences in and cause them to become involved in the film, in some cases becoming part of the film.  I see something deeper, I see "no reason."


We all have underlying world-views, presuppositions we use to make sense of the world around us.  In the case of this film. "no reason" is the real message of this film.  Life is meaningless. There is no purpose.  There is no absolute truth.  The only constant is randomness.  Whatever happens, happens for no reason.  Whatever one believes or does is acceptable and no one has any basis for questioning the actions or beliefs of anyone else.  Does this sound familiar?  It is the aggressively and rapidly growing worldview known as post-modernism, the logical and inevitable end result of secular humanism.  Though it grew out of naturalism, rationalism, and humanism, it declares all religious, philosophical, and political paths to be equally valid, even when their truth claims are mutually exclusive.  In its declaration that all "truths"are true, it in effect declares that there is no such thing as truth, there are multiple truths.  Your truth might not be my truth.  Nonsense rules.  Logic and rational thought are rejected.


The Bible has an answer to this nonsense:

"And as they spake unto the people, the priests, and the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees, came upon them,  Being grieved that they taught the people, and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead.  And they laid hands on them, and put them in hold unto the next day: for it was now eventide. Howbeit many of them which heard the word believed; and the number of the men was about five thousand.
 And it came to pass on the morrow, that their rulers, and elders, and scribes,  And Annas the high priest, and Caiaphas, and John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the kindred of the high priest, were gathered together at Jerusalem.  And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, By what power, or by what name, have ye done this?  Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people, and elders of Israel,  If we this day be examined of the good deed done to the impotent man, by what means he is made whole;  Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole.   This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner.  Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.  Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus"
Acts 4:1-13.


 

Relativism

"Relativism has become, in effect, the fundamental problem in our day."  Pope Benedict XVI

Book Comment: Think

Think.  The Life of the Mind and the Love of God (2010), by John Piper, is a book which challenges Christians to use their minds.  "My goal is to encourage you to make serious thinking an important part of the way you pursue the knowledge of God." In the book Piper opposes prideful intellectualism, Christian anti-intellectualism, and the poison that is relativism.

Relativism, the philosophy that there is no universal external standard for judging the truth or falsehood of any statement, is seen by many Christians as a cancer on the world.  Piper goes further, he declares relativism to be evil (2 Timothy 4:3-4) and a treason against God.  Piper attacks the relativist philosophy, showing its gaping logical inconsistencies and exposes it for what it really is, a glorification of the self in opposition to God, which is what all sin ultimately reduces to.

Pastor Piper is no kinder to Christian anti-intellectualism.  One subchapter heading is Not Thinking Is No Solution for Thinking Arrogantly. "I we abandon thinking, we abandon the Bible, and if we abandon the Bible we abandon God."  Rather than being suspicious of deep thinking, we need to learn a humble way of thinking deeply.

"... the main reason God has given us minds is that we might seek out and find all the reasons that exist for treasuring him in all things and above all things.  He created the world so that through it and above it we might treasure him."

Book Comment: The Rise of Benedict XVI

     Allen, John L., Jr., The Rise of Benedict XVI.  The Inside Story of How the Pope Was Elected and Where He Will Take the Catholic Church (New York: Doubleday, 2005)

     John Allen is a correspondent for the National Catholic Reporter and is the Vatican analyst for the Cable News Network and for National Public Radio.  His book details, almost minute by minute, the events leading up to the death of Pope John Paul II and the subsequent election of Joseph Ratzinger as the 265th Pope, Benedict XVI.

     Allen believes that the main thrust of Benedict's papacy will be directed against the "dictatorship of relativism," the belief that objective truth does not exist.  Benedict has declared relativism to be "the greatest problem of our time."

     Benedict is not alone in this belief.