What About the Good Atheist?
Written on 28 April 2008 by Raymond GoodlettA student at the University of Richmond recently asked me this question. Below is the response that I gave to her.
[Name], thank you so much for raising a question that bothers most of us if we are honest. I’ll give you my approach to this question because I think that it’s a lot more valuable than my simple answer. What is that simple answer? “Without faith, it is impossible to please God” (Hebrews 11:6).
Now for the approach…
Behind questions as good as yours, there are underlying assumptions. What we need to ask ourselves is whether or not all of those assumptions correspond to reality.
For instance, your question is concerned about justice. You rightly assume that justice should reward the good and punish the bad. How, then, can a good atheist, who lives an exemplary moral life, be punished eternally simply for not subscribing to the Christian idea of God? It’s a good question.
Perhaps, though, we should question the idea that our hypothetical atheist is good. This is what I do in my approach to these things. So, I ask myself questions like these:
What makes a person good?
By what standard am I measuring someone when I draw such a conclusion?
Is my standard of goodness, and my way of measuring goodness, the same as God’s?
Can people be considered good if they don’t even acknowledge or honor the One who gave them life?
When I ask these sorts of questions, they help me to understand how a person can be “good” in my eyes (on the basis of what I use to measure their goodness) but yet “not good” in God’s eyes.
A Better Angle.
Now, what if we approach the whole issue from another angle? Look at this question: How important is our relationship with God when it comes to determining how “good” we really are?
What would you think of me if I lived an exemplary moral life in many regards, treated my daughter extremely well, but barely even acknowledged my wife’s presence? What if, when I bothered to acknowledge her in public, I spoke about her in a way that completely belittled and demeaned her? Would you think that I was a good person? Probably not.
Why, then, are atheists able to be considered “good people” when they refuse to acknowledge and honor the One who should have first place in their lives?
Am I Any Better?
Now, this is important as well. If the extent to which we love and honor God is the standard of goodness, then I don’t think that I can be considered a “good” person either. I don’t think any of us can, except Jesus.
The Bible’s message is that all of us who have failed to love and honor God appropriately (both me and the atheist) still have the chance to be forgiven and accepted by him through faith in his Son Jesus Christ, our perfect substitute and sacrifice. We can now honor the Father by honoring his Son. That’s my two cents. I hope it helps a little bit.
The Danger of Secular Philosophy (3 of 7)
Written on 28 April 2008 by Raymond GoodlettQ: What does Naturalism teach?
A: Naturalism teaches that there is no supernatural cause for any of the things that we observe or experience in this life.Q: What does the Bible teach?
A: The Bible teaches that the first cause for everything which exists is a supernatural being called God. Everything in the natural realm has a supernatural origin.
Some supporting Bible passages:
Genesis 1:1; Hebrews 11:3
The problem with Naturalism.
Naturalism is, at best, irrational and, at worst, hypocritical. Let me explain what I mean.
1. Naturalism is irrational.
Can we prove, by proper use of our reason, that there is no supernatural cause for the various things that we observe in this life? We have certainly come a long in way in our ability to identify the natural causes for the things that we observe, but, even after we have done so, how can we be certain that there is no supernatural cause which works either prior to or alongside of the natural causes that we have identified? We can’t prove that rationally. We have to believe it…by faith.
For example, we have identified the natural causes and processes by which rain comes down to water the earth (evaporation, condensation, precipitation). But does that mean that Jesus was incorrect when he said, “[Our Father in heaven] makes his sun rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust” (Matthew 5:45)? No…both statements accurately reflect reality. Rain falls as a result of both natural and supernatural causes. The same is true for everything that we experience, and you cannot prove otherwise by rational means alone.
2. Naturalism is hypocritical.
Naturalism is hypocritical because it tries to pass itself off as pure science. However, naturalism is actually pure philosophy. As I have already argued, there is no way to prove the claims of naturalism with reason alone. The idea that there is no supernatural cause for the things that we experience is strictly a matter of faith. In spite of all of the evidence which points us toward the fact of “design with purpose” when we observe our world, naturalists are often even more dogmatic and stubborn about their beliefs than are religious fundamentalists.
Conclusion.
The first ten words in the Bible will always be the best and the most concise refutation of naturalism. “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”
Songs That I Teach Keira (2 of 2)
Written on 14 April 2008 by Raymond GoodlettTo the melody of “My Country ‘Tis of Thee.”
My Jesus ’tis of thee
Author of liberty
Of thee I sing
O precious sacrifice
Blood that has purified
Me in the Father’s eyes
And keeps me clean.
See where he hung for me
My sins upon the tree
At Calvary
I will never forget
The blood that paid my debt
The ransom price he met
To set me free.
Songs That I Teach Keira (1 of 2)
Written on 14 April 2008 by Raymond GoodlettAs a father, I believe that it is primarily my responsibility to plant the gospel in my daughter Keira’s heart in ways that are appropriate for a toddler. One of the ways that I try to do that is through songs. I like to either add verses to a popular song or substitute gospel-centered lyrics for the words of a popular song while keeping the melody.
For example, I have added two verses to the song “Jesus Loves Me, This I Know.”
Jesus loves me, this I know
For the Bible tells me so
Little ones to him belong
They are weak but he is strong
God finds guilty the whole world
Even little boys and girls
But righteousness is ours by grace
Through Jesus Christ who took our place.
Jesus loves me so he died
To cleanse my sin and melt my pride
On the cross he took my place
I cannot wait to see his face.
Refrain:
Yes, Jesus loves me (3x)
The Bible tells me so.
The Danger of Secular Philosophy (2 of 7)
Written on 12 February 2008 by Raymond GoodlettColossians 2:8
See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition…and not according to Christ.
Q: What does Skepticism teach?
A: Skepticism teaches that certainty of knowledge about anything in this life is perhaps approachable, but never attainable. Therefore, we should doubt everything, especially those things that we think we know with certainty.
Q: What does the Bible teach?
A: While the Bible teaches that certainty of knowledge regarding some things is unattainable in this life, it does not teach this about all things. We can have certainty regarding things like the existence of God, the nature of God, and the truth of the gospel. However, this certainty does not come to us by means of mere human reason, but rather by means of divine revelation.
A few supporting biblical passages.
That certainty of knowledge regarding some things remains unattainable.
Acts 1:6-7; 1 Corinthians 7:16; 1 Corinthians 13:9-12.
That certainty of knowledge regarding other things is possible.
Matthew 13:10-11; 1 Corinthians 2:9-10; 2 Peter 1:16-21.
The Empty Deceit of Skepticism.
While I often encourage people to be reasonably skeptical about new ideas, I have two major problems with skepticism: First, it is hypocritical. Second, it is irrational.
1. Skepticism is hypocritical.
While skepticism tells us to doubt everything, there is one thing that it forbids us to doubt: skepticism. Why shouldn’t we doubt our doubts? I usually tell skeptics to be real skeptics. “Doubt your doubts and be skeptical about skepticism.”
2. Skepticism is irrational.
During the spring semester of 2004, I was at UCLA completing a training program for campus ministers. One day, I ran into two of the football players, Edward and Reiley. As I shared the gospel with them, it became obvious that Reiley was quite a skeptic.
“Reiley,” I said, “Is there anything that we can know for certain in this life?” After a brief pause, he said, “No.” Of course, my next question to him was, “Do you know that for certain?”
Edward and I had a good laugh, and before long, Reiley joined us and said, “You got me.” Full-blown skepticism is an irrational and self-defeating philosophy. Some things can be known with absolute certainty in this life, and here is the most important thing that fits into that category:
Acts 2:36-38
Therefore, let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you have crucified…Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins…
We had better be certain about who Jesus is, what we have done to him through our sins, how that affects our relationship with God, and what God demands from us as a result. We can be certain about these things and we must be certain about them.
The Danger of Secular Philosophy (1 of 7)
Written on 12 February 2008 by Raymond GoodlettColossians 2:8
See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition…and not according to Christ.
Beware of Secular Philosophy.
You’ve heard the stories. It wasn’t so long ago that European slave traders ventured into African territory with one purpose in mind: stealing people. They came with weapons and chains, ready to take captive any who were caught off guard. Now, how do you suppose the hunted Africans responded to the sight of their potential captors? How do you suppose they prepared for the possibility of such a dreadful day?
Did you know that secular philosophy is like a slave trader that comes to steal your life? Are you prepared with a way of escape when it comes? Are you armed with gospel weapons as you evaluate ideas that are not based upon Christ?
Why I have written this series.
This series is my attempt to help you develop a gospel arsenal against the empty, yet dangerous, philosophies to which we are subject on a daily basis. In it, we will take a look at the unbiblical, irrational, and hypocritical nature of five secular philosophies: Skepticism, Rationalism, Naturalism, Relativism, and Humanism. I like to combine them all in a term that I call Skepti-rational Naturelative Humanism. To be sure, there’s a little bit of this stuff in all of us, but by God’s grace, the gospel will flush it out. In the next entry, I’ll take a look at the empty deciet resident in full-blown skepticism.
Keira’s 1st Birthday!
Written on 10 February 2008 by Raymond GoodlettKeira was born on February 8, 2007, so she turned one a couple of days ago. Yesterday, both sets of grandparents came down from Maryland and Pennsylvania to help us celebrate. Cousins, aunts, and uncles made themselves small and crammed in to our little living room to watch Keira play with balloons and all of the other toys that she now owns.
Keira had fun, but let’s face it…last night meant more to us than it did to her. She won’t even remember last night. As significant as that milestone is to us, it’s probably already a distant memory to her. In the same way, I am sure that God gets much more joy than we do out of our salvation and the progress that we make in this Christian life.
Did Keira bring herself to this point? Can she even possibly understand what it took to get her here? As she continues to grow, we are hoping that, one day, she will look back upon God and upon us with understanding and say, “Thank you.” It makes you wonder, “Is God still waiting to hear that from me?”
On Faith and Politics
Written on 7 January 2008 by Raymond GoodlettIn response to an article about Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee, one of my favorite students asked me the following question:
Q: How can we profess our faith in Jesus without alienating others?
Here’s was my quick answer to her question:
A: I don’t think we can profess our faith in Jesus without alienating other people to some extent.
1 Peter 1:1
Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ to God’s elect, strangers (aliens) in the world…
1. For the present time, Christians are aliens in this world…
As Christians, we are aliens to everyone else by God’s design. If we live truly Christian lives, which includes our honest and full profession of faith, we will, to some extent, alienate others. I don’t think that we can avoid that.
The key, however, is to remember that we are the aliens in this world. So, whenever we find ourselves in the majority, we should be sympathetic toward those unbelievers in our midst, who now find themselves in the position of being the “alien.” We should treat them the way that God treated us when we were alienated from him.
Colossians 1:21-22
Once you were alienated from God…But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight…
2… who are called to extend an offer of God’s grace to others.
With gentleness and respect (1 Peter 3:15), we need to boldly declare the gospel with our words as we faithfully demonstrate the gospel with our lives. And this is true even of Christians who choose a career as a politician.
For whatever it’s worth, that’s my answer. Preach the gospel, and don’t be surprised when you alienate a few people because of your message, even if you present that message with gentleness and respect.
On “Proving” the Christian Faith (4 of 4)
Written on 21 December 2007 by Raymond GoodlettQ: How should we approach a conversation with skeptics who ask us to prove the claims of the Christian faith to them?
Principle #3:
We cannot improve upon the message of the cross as the means by which God persuades skeptics to believe in him.
Once again, I get this principle straight from our text.
1 Corinthians 1:22-25
For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified…For the foolishness of God is wiser than [the wisdom of] men, and the weakness of God is stronger than [the strength of] men.”
An Interview with the apostle Paul.
If you’ll allow me a little bit of creativity, I would like to explain the above verses through a mock interview with the apostle Paul about his evangelistic strategy among the Jewish and Gentile skeptics.
Me: Paul, why, over and against the demands of the Jews for powerful signs, did you simply preach Christ crucified to them?
Paul: Well, to be honest, while I certainly didn’t give in to their demands, I actually did give them a display of power by preaching Christ crucified to them. To some of the Jews, the message of the cross was nothing but a stumbling block, but “to those who [were] called” (v.24), Christ crucified was “the power of God” (v.24).
You see, “the weakness of God is stronger than [the strength of] men” (v.25). On the surface, Christ seemed to be at his weakest on the cross, but that was the catch. It was there on the cross that God’s power was most fully on display through Jesus’ life. The Jews wanted power and I had nothing more powerful than the message of the cross to give them.
Me: Was it the same with the Gentiles (Greeks)?
Paul: Yes, the only difference there was the fact that they seemed to be more persuaded by eloquent reasoning and rhetoric. They wanted a display of what they considered to be wisdom. Again, the message of the cross was nothing but foolishness to some, but “to those who [were] called” (v.24), Christ crucified was the very “wisdom of God” (v.24). You see, “the foolishness of God is wiser than [the wisdom of] men” (v.25).
God wants us to learn from Paul.
In your efforts to see skeptics brought to Christ, where do you place your confidence? Do you believe in the power of your carefully crafted arguments? Do you think that if people could just see a miracle they would automatically believe? Resist the lie that God has placed something in our arsenal with greater wisdom or power than the simple message of the cross. “To us who are being saved, it is the power of God” (v.18).
On “Proving” the Christian Faith (3 of 4)
Written on 20 December 2007 by Raymond GoodlettQ: How should we approach a conversation with skeptics who ask us to prove the claims of the Christian faith to them?
Principle #2:
If we want skeptics to be saved, then we must eventually preach the message of the cross to them.
Again, I get this principle right from our text. Let’s slowly unpack
1 Corinthians 1:21-24 together.
1 Corinthians 1:21
For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through [its] wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.
If you really understand this verse, it should destroy any confidence that you might have had in the power of your philosophical arguments to convince skeptics of the truth of the Christian faith.
God, in his wisdom, has set things up so that the people of this world would not come to know him through their wisdom! Instead, it has pleased God to save the people of this world through what Paul calls “the folly of what we preach.” From the context of our passage, it is clear that this “folly” is nothing other than the message of the cross (v.18, 24).
Q: How does this worldly wisdom described here in verse 21 adversely affect the world’s ability to discover the truth about God? The next verse gives us some help.
1 Corinthians 1:22
For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom…
This kind of worldly wisdom causes us to foolishly narrow the category of “valid evidence” to the point where we will only accept as proof those things which we highly esteem. For the Jews, that meant miraculous signs. For the Greeks, that meant rational arguments and eloquent rhetoric. For the skeptics that you and I encounter today, it probably means some strange combination of the two. Either way, many people have no room in their belief system for the kind of proof that God offers to them through Christians like Paul in verse 23.
1 Corinthians 1:23
…but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles…
As far as God is concerned, the message of Christ crucified is proof, and even in a crowd of skeptics, there are those who come to recognize this through God’s grace.
1 Corinthians 1:24
…but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
Here in verse 24, such people are referred to as “those who are called.” In verse 18, they are referred to as “those who are being saved.” Because such people were undoubtedly present in Paul’s audiences, he preached the message of the cross to all of his skeptics. He knew that those who were called and being saved would respond appropriately one day.
What about you?
Are you like Paul? Do you preach the message of the cross to those who ask you to prove the claims of the Christian faith to them? Without forcing the issue, I always do my best to bring my skeptics to the foot of the cross with my questions and answers. I don’t always get there during the first few conversations, but eventually, my goal is to show them the conclusive evidence of Christ crucified in their place for their sins.
We must give skeptics the proof that they need, not simply the proof that they demand.
Next time, I’ll take up Principle #3: We cannot improve upon the message of the cross as the means by which God persuades skeptics to believe in him.
