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Big Questions

 

We can’t be reasoned into having faith, but it’s important to know that faith is reasonable. Atheism is fashionable these days, and it’s easy to assume that the discoveries of science have removed any reason for believing in God. But there are many scientists who would disagree. For example, Dr.Francis Collins, the head of the Human Genome Project, became convinced of the truth of God because of his research into DNA. In his book, “The language of God”, he begins by telling how (reluctantly) he came from atheism to belief.   

 

C.S.Lewis, the author of the Narnia stories, was another reluctant believer. In “Surprised by Joy”, he describes how, aged 30, he “gave in and finally admitted that God was God, and knelt and prayed: perhaps that night, the most dejected and reluctant convert in all England.” It’s easy to see why we might prefer not to believe in God – if God is God then he has made me for a purpose and has a claim on my life. And yet, as Lewis’s book title emphasises, the surprising outcome of that is to discover Joy.

 

Both atheism and belief in God are based on convictions which rely on faith of one kind or another. In an excellent book by Tim Keller called, “The Reason for God”, he writes,

“Just as believers should learn to look for reasons behind their faith, sceptics must learn to look for a type of faith hidden within their reasoning. All doubts, however cynical they may seem, are really a set of alternative beliefs.”

 

Doubt is ‘faith in two minds’, not the opposite of faith. (Faith’s opposite is ‘unbelief’, meaning a wilful refusal to believe or to consider believing.) There are many difficult questions which cause believers to doubt and unbelievers to avoid thinking about God. Keller’s book deals first with seven of those big questions. Click on the links on this page to read a short summary about each of them.

 

On a personal note, there have been plenty of times since I became a Christian when I’ve wondered whether I’m just kidding myself. At those times, there are three things in particular that have reassured me that what the Bible says about God and about Jesus is true:

 

1) The wonder of creation, from the vastness of the universe down to the amazing complexities of our human bodies (DNA included!) As the Bible says, “we are fearfully and wonderfully made”. I can’t believe that it all happened (and happens) by chance.

 

2) Jesus himself, his life, his death, and particularly his resurrection. From the earliest days of Christianity, it was the resurrection that confirmed that Jesus was who he had claimed to be. His first followers were convinced of it enough to give their lives for his cause.

 

3) The presence of Jesus with me each day, through his Holy Spirit. This is more subjective and, yes, there are times when God does seem far away. But his Spirit is a real presence in the life of a Christian, always there to help us and lead us as we follow the Jesus Way.

 

Big questions
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