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Doubting the Evidence?
By David
Kuhtenia Talking about God with somebody you work with or go to college with can get a bit predictable. If you are a member of the more-or-less “professional” demographic, or have spent any time at an institute of “higher” (cost) learning, chances are you have come across the following response from your peers, “Well, that’s nice, and we are really glad that you have this deeply held personal belief about Jesus and all. But, really, Christianity is about as good as any other sort of system that makes you behave and play nice. Besides, there are umpteen sorts of churches out there, so what makes your opinion any better than those scary looking people we see on religious cable channels?” Along with the skeptical view, there is also a
corollary question for those on the inside. This view represents personal
anxieties about the whole God-thing, “Am I just going down this path mostly
because of external influences and an emotional choice made in a formative time
of my life, or can I refer back to a reliable, verifiable test to assuage the
occasional doubts that creep in?” One response to
these questions may be rather ordinary, but it returns the proverbial “prove
it” monkey off our collective backs. What constitutes proof? In some arenas, as long as something is collectively
established as being “beyond a reasonable doubt,” then it has been proved.
The obvious example is criminal trials, where the guilt of an accused
person is in question. Note that this does not imply that zero doubt exists, but that whatever is being tried has been proven
to a sufficient degree that real, large-consequence actions can be implemented. In other arenas, proof is established by the
consensus of the collective conventional wisdom. This is often the case in “scientific” areas where direct
experiments can not readily be performed to obtain supporting data.
Example of this include fields such as astrophysics (sort of hard to go
out to the nearest galaxy and take a star dust sample) and determining the
origins of life (recreating billions of years of time is not something easily
done in the lab, eh?). A lack of data, however, sometimes does not prevent certain
ideas from becoming thought of as bed-rock, proven facts¾Is it not clearly true that species on earth
have, in-fact, progressively evolved into higher and more sophisticated
creatures from an initial random combination of events? Speaking of fuzzy situations, what if there was
a test that could be applied to see if something as important as love could be
established beyond a reasonable doubt? For
example, what if your middle toenail would develop a particular offensive odor,
or your ears would get pointy like Mr. Spock’s when you were truly in love? Imagine the social norms that would develop around these
situations! As far as we know, of
course, no such tests exist. When it comes to spiritual matters, the concept of
“proof” often tends to be self-defined and personal. Some people point to personal, seemingly mystical experiences
to prove that there is some sort of higher power out there.
The current level of belief in angels may have some basis in this
realization that some things really do seem real, but can not readily be
explained. To prove that God exists, people often point to
nature, and say “See!” Scriptures
such as “The heavens declare the glory
of God; and the firmament sheweth his handiwork.” (Psalm 19:1, KJV) and “For
since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities-- his eternal power
and divine nature-- have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been
made, so that men are without excuse.” (Romans 1:20, NIV) certainly
validate this attitude. While these “proofs” might work for an
individual, they often do not work for anyone else.
To the non-believer, for example, the Bible validating the views of a
Christian does not exactly prove much of anything. So then, the question of “How do you know for a fact that
what you believe is really the truth?” is still there. What if there existed a testable proof of spiritual
truth that was personal and undeniable, and also applied equally to all humans?
If such a test existed, it would be a relatively simple matter to say to
the unbeliever, “Try this; if it is not true, then you have no reason to
believe what I am telling you. If
it is true, you will know that what I am saying is true.” Fortunately for all of us, Jesus himself provided a
proof¾the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Think about it, the Holy Spirit is: ·
A
Distinct Promise
- “On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a
loud voice, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.
Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living
water will flow from within him."
By this he meant the Spirit, whom
those who believed in him were later to receive.
Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet
been glorified.” (John 7:37-39, NIV). ·
Promised
to Everyone
- “The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far
off-- for all whom the Lord our God will call." (Acts 2:39, NIV). ·
Unmistakable
– “While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them
which heard the word. And they of
the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter,
because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost.
For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God.” (Acts
10:44-46, KJV). ·
Testable
– “If ye love me, keep my commandments.
And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that
he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot
receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he
dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.” (John 14:15-17, KJV). So then, we have a real proof that Jesus Christ is true and very real. For the unbeliever, we can say “Put your faith in Jesus Christ, and see if this promise is, in-fact, for you.” For those of us who occasionally doubt if this is all real, the same experience can be refreshed and proven anew. How cool is that? ninetyandnine.com Ó
2000, David Kuhtenia -------- David
Kuhtenia is
the North American Coordinator for Campus Ministry International part of the
time, and is a consulting engineer to the nuclear power industry the other part
of the time. He and his wife,
Michelle, live in the Columbus, Ohio area with their mutt Jasmine, who seems to
have aged almost seven years since they got her last summer. |
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