10/02/13

Remember when it was assumed we were
incestuous cannibals? Things are getting more civil.

I'm a theist. Lots of intelligent people disagree with me 100%. Does that bother me? Not at all. Atheism is a justifiable belief. It makes sense of the data and does so in a coherent manner. I'm a theist because theism, I think, makes more sense of the data, and is far more coherent. Am I biased? Absolutely. I claim Jesus as Lord, after all, so I'm pretty biased. Everyone's biased, so we might as well be honest, because our biases affect the way we perceive and interpret reality. Bias doesn't automatically invalidate our beliefs and assumptions, nor our intelligence; and as an intelligent being I've wrestled with my own beliefs, explored the beliefs and arguments of others, and I've come to my own conclusion, and it's that theism makes more sense.

Why in a universe so cold, dark, and lonesome are there living, intelligent, creative, and moral creatures? Why does humanity have such a pervasive conviction that there is a standard to which we must strive? Why does injustice matter? Why this humanitarian conviction that we are more than the sum of our parts? Why do such intangible things as love, hope, inspiration, conscience, and hurt exist? Why is the universe not just functional, even life-permitting, but beautiful? 

Now, being a theist doesn't mean I believe God's at all involved in our world (though I do believe just that). I could easily be a deist (and have tiptoed on that ground a time or two), and a lot of theists are. We can make sense of the data by explaining that God gave us a moral code, left us on our own, and we've made the place a muddled mess. It could very well be that God set things running and the course of our lives, and the history of our world, run along a path set by chance, our own actions, and the actions of others. What differentiates me from a deist is throwing a fourth factor in there: divine intervention.

I don't necessarily mean miracles, which in the New Testament times outside of Christ were still pretty rare. I simply mean that I believe that God is involved, or involves himself in, our world, from the level of natural events to our own petty lives. The exact extent of his involvement, the scope of that involvement, and the frequency of such involvement are issues I wrestle with. I am at heart skeptical, as I think we should be, and there yet remains events and occurences in my life that either (a) can't be explained by natural factors or (b) can be explained by natural factors, but in a much more convoluted manner than saying, "God involved himself here." (This [B] refers, of course, to coincidences, but coincidences on a grand scale) Additionally, if we are patterned after a deist God, then why do we love? Why do we care? Why do we fight against injustice? And why are we, albeit rarely at times, altruistic?

I'm a Christian specifically because the resurrection of Jesus is an historically plausible event, I grew up Christian and experienced God in my life, and I think Christianity makes coherent sense of our world. 

I'm not ashamed to be a Christian. Most people my age don't like Christians. (We haven't been liked since 33 AD, it comes with the territory.) If mockery and being made fun of by Bill Maher is as bad as we've got it, we've got it pretty good. Being Christian is uncool, unintelligent, and backwards. I get it. What I believe doesn't make a lot of sense, at least to people with different persuasions. I know it sounds ludicrous, naive, ignorant, steeped in wishful thinking more than anything else. DUDE, I KNOW. But the more I study, pray, and ponder, the more sense it makes. For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.