Christianity's Most Dangerous Idea (Ebook Shorts) , livre ebook

Baker Publishing Group - Richard Samples Kenneth

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29 pages

English

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Ideas have consequences, sometimes far-reaching and world-changing. The Christian faith contains many volatile truths that challenged--and continue to challenge--the cultural and religious status quo of the world. None of these have been so world-changing as the assertion that Christ was raised from the dead.In a world where Christian belief and practice are increasingly under fire, this short ebook will give you the confidence to impact the world for Christ--for good

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Christian theology

Philosophie et théologie

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Publié par	Baker Publishing Group
Date de parution	01 mai 2013
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781441241436
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0086€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

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© 2012 by Kenneth Samples
Published by Baker Books
a division of Baker Publishing Group
P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287
www.bakerbooks.com
Ebook short excerpted from 7 Truths That Changed the World , published in 2012.
Ebook edition created 2013
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means for example, electronic, photocopy, recording without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
ISBN 978-1-4412-4143-6
Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com
The internet addresses, email addresses, and phone numbers in this book are accurate at the time of publication. They are provided as a resource. Baker Publishing Group does not endorse them or vouch for their content or permanence.
Contents
Cover 1
Title Page 3
Copyright Page 4
1. Easter Hope 7
2. Objections Examined 24
Notes 39
About the Author 41
Back Ads 43
Back Cover 44
1 Easter Hope
For the religious believer [theist], the last word lies not with death but with God.
John Polkinghorne, “God and Physics”
M ost people feel uncomfortable talking about their own mortality. Research in the field of thanatology (the study of death and dying) indicates that some individuals even believe if they don’t think about death, it may not happen to them. [1] But, as Walter Martin, original host of The Bible Answer Man , often said, “The real death rate is one per person.” [2]
A dangerous thinking in its own right, this denial of one’s mortality constitutes a serious departure from reality. Given that for the last couple of centuries secularism has gained influence within the Western world (especially in the universities), let’s explore how that worldview conceptualizes death.
Welcome to the Worldview of Naturalism: Life’s One-Way Ticket
Assume the reductionistic worldview of naturalism for a moment. This is the secular view that the material, physical cosmos is the sole reality. Therefore, the infinite, eternal, tripersonal, spiritual God of Christian theism does not exist. In fact, there simply are no spiritual realities such as gods, angels, or immaterial human souls. And no supernatural realm such as heaven exists.
Life a fortunate accident emerged on Earth somehow through the purely natural forces of physics and chemistry. [3] Humankind evolved from the lower primates and now stands atop the amazing evolutionary ladder. Now the one referred to as the naked ape or Homo sapiens sapiens recognizes his chance origin and must contemplate his personal destiny. From a naturalistic perspective, human beings, unlike the impersonal cosmos itself, possess an evolved consciousness and are able to ask the why questions. (Strangely enough, the impersonal and nonrational forces of naturalistic evolution have produced a creature that is both personal and rational and thus capable of reflection.) [4]
As they reflect, humans realize both the fragility and brevity of life the unequivocal existential dilemma. The grave is the final end of each person’s collective life, existence, and consciousness. After death a person will never think again. Never experience again. Never love again. Only oblivion awaits. And nothing more.
The Naturalist’s Existential Predicament
The naturalist faces a fourfold existential predicament: I will die. I will die soon. I will die alone. I will remain dead forever.
Some might characterize the human condition as being stalked by death. Death is a constant companion. It’s not a matter of if but only when . Each new day is fortuitous but also ominous. It’s one day closer to that which is even more certain than taxes: the final end .
Humans may be called cosmic orphans . They are doomed to die, yet they have the inherent capacity to ask the big, existential questions. This melancholy naturalistic scenario leads some to angst and despair. Others feel a sense of urgency to live every moment to the hilt before relinquishing the precious life force within them. Yet even if convinced of a secular view toward life, most people seem unable or unwilling to seriously consider this bleak eventuality. Fear, or in some cases inner terror, keeps people from seriously contemplating death and all that it entails.
Some people succumb to the irrational state wherein they subconsciously entertain the idea that they can successfully avoid death. Philosopher Stephen T. Davis notes, “Human beings are the only animals who know that they must die, and thus the only animals who try to hide from themselves the fact that they must die.” [5]
Death: Knocking at My Back Door
Given such a stark naturalistic fate, the temptation to deny the reality of death runs strong. Yet without faith in God, this amounts to little more than irrational escapism. But it’s not only the naturalist who dodges even the mention of the word death . What is it about death that frightens people so much? Davis offers six reasons for humankind’s fear of death: Death is inevitable. Death is mysterious. Death must be faced alone. Death separates us from our loved ones. Death puts an end to our hopes and aims. Death ends in oblivion. [6]
Everyone has some natural fear of the unknown, including death. But Davis’s six reasons are amplified when one adopts a naturalistic worldview. Why? Because from a naturalistic perspective this life is everything! And this unexpected and accidental life is inevitably slipping away; it can’t be held on to. And it will never return again.
It gets worse. The big picture reveals a devastating outcome for all life and the energy and configuration of the cosmos itself. The inevitable outcomes according to the naturalistic worldview include the following: The individual dies. Humanity collectively goes extinct. All life on Earth goes extinct. Earth, its solar system, and the Milky Way galaxy literally come apart as humankind’s once-hospitable location in the universe disperses. Finally, the entire grand cosmos itself inevitably grows lifeless and cold due to a universal heat death. The physics law of entropy will have the last say on the matter.
Thus the fate of each individual, humanity as a whole, and the universe will inevitably be the same regardless of what any person thinks, says, or does. The outcome of the naturalistic view is utter hopelessness. Ironically, many naturalists have failed to reflect sufficiently on their worldview perspective and blind themselves to this desperate predicament.
Danger Ahead
Yet it is at this very point of naturalism’s projection of ultimate gloom and doom for humanity that historic Christianity’s most dangerous idea comes to bear. Its dangerous proclamation is that, though Jesus Christ was condemned by Pontius Pilate and publicly executed through crucifixion, he nevertheless rose bodily from the dead three days later on the first Easter morning.
The absolutely astounding claim of primitive Christianity is that one man in history died but didn’t stay dead! In light of human experience and uniform human testimony, this declaration of a literal bodily resurrection from the dead is an utterly incredible claim. If true, there is no more important message for humankind to hear and heed. The resurrection of Jesus Christ would be the ultimate of all dangerous ideas!
Historic Christianity’s Most Dangerous Idea: The Resurrection of Jesus Christ
From a historic Christian perspective, both the nature and truth of Christianity uniquely rest on Jesus Christ’s bodily resurrection from the dead. [7] The claim that Jesus Christ was raised to life three days after he was executed resides at the heart of the Christian gospel (doctrine) and is Christianity’s central supporting fact (apologetics). According to the apostle Paul, historic Christianity’s greatest advocate, the truth of Christianity stands or falls on Christ’s resurrection. In his own words, “If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. . . . If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins” (1 Cor. 15:14, 17).
Because the truth-claims of Christianity hinge so closely on the resurrection, the New Testament accounts of Christ’s resurrection warrant careful analysis and reflection. Not only do the New Testament writers report the resurrection as a factual event, but they also place it within a theological context and explain its overall significance in God’s historical redemptive plan.
Let’s first summarize the Christian story of Jesus’s resurrection; then we’ll examine the evidence that supports it and respond to naturalistic alternatives and objections. Later we will return to the amazing implications that the resurrection of Jesus Christ holds for humanity in light of our deadly dilemma.
The New Testament Resurrection Scenario
The four New Testament Gospels and various New Testament Epistles reveal the following historic Christian narrative concerning Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection [8] (see Matt. 26:47–28:20; Mark 14:43–16:8; Luke 22:47–24:53; John 18:1–21:25; Acts 9:1–19; 1 Cor. 15:1–58).
Jesus of Nazareth was arrested and tried for blasphemy by the Jewish religious leaders (chief priests and elders).