|
Durandal7777777
|
read my profile
sign my guestbook
Name: Durandal7777777
Country: United States
State: California
Metro: Berkeley
Gender: Male
Interests: Theology, Apologetics, Cryptography, Theoretical computer science, Computer security, Random insanity
Occupation: Software Engineer
Industry: Computers (Software)
Message: message me
Member Since:
2/27/2005
|
|
| Why I BelieveThe question was posed to me recently as to why I believe in Christianity. Why Christianity in the first place, and why also it over anything else. It's a good question to ask, and one that we all should consider.
When I was first thinking of this question, the challenge wasn't to come up with reasons, but to figure out which reasons would be best to respond with. A lot of them came into my mind, though a lot of them were probably not good reasons to believe in themselves. I've spent some time thinking about it, and here I'm going to explain a few of the reasons.
The first reason is the doctrine of justification by grace through faith. This is distinctive to Christianity. All other religions depend on a person's good works or own efforts. However, having thought incorrectly that salvation was largely works-based in the past, I wouldn't want to live by any such system. In such a system, I'd constantly be worried if I were reaching the minimum at every moment. I can always pray more, give more to charity, or fast for another second longer than I do in my own efforts. And just knowing that was an enormous burden. I was being good, but not perfect, and it seemed like there was no way in hell that I could get to that ideal. Christianity is the only religion which says it's ok, and that our own strength just isn't enough.
The second is more subjective. Through Christianity, my life has changed more than what I could have expected to have done myself. Things have changed for the better, and I can't say that it was just me trying. Since college and really becoming a Christian, the strongholds of sin in my life have been increasingly under fire. I'd wished to be free of some of these before, and tried really hard, but I'd always fall down. Somehow, with Christ, those fortresses don't stand so tall anymore. I've also gained positive character attributes over the years, and I look back and wonder how it is that came to be. I remember being up until 2 AM once helping someone for a class I wasn't even in, and wondering why I was able to do that joyfully. A couple of years prior, I'd probably have buried the guy under a barrage of profanity and signed off of AIM long before.
Now we bring in the apologetics that I've been reading the past however long. The accuracy and trustworthiness of the Bible, especially the New Testament, and the weight of evidence pointing towards the Resurrection has convinced me that Christianity is a logical conclusion, more so than others. If you want to read about this ad nauseam, check out Evidence that Demands a Verdict, by Josh McDowell. And don't just read that, but start checking out the footnotes he has and the sources he cites. You'll be drowning in no time. This point probably deserves a longer post about philosophical naturalism, axioms and faith to address the first points that atheists reading this might direct my way. Hopefully, that will be forthcoming.
Finally (for the purposes of this post), the message of the Gospel is one that I can rejoice in. Again, another very subjective point, but I think it's one worth looking at. I find myself agreeing wholeheartedly with my need for a Savior and my lack of ability to save myself. I find myself desiring God, heaven, sanctification, and the spread of the gospel. Now, to be sure, there are days when other things crowd that out or the fire doesn't burn as brightly, but I can't see myself saying the same thing about other world views or religions. If, for example, I were convinced that Islam was the only correct religion, I don't think I'd be able to rejoice in the same way. Under Islam, all of the works-based pressure I described above applies. Even the most devout Muslims are not promised admission to heaven (only martyrs are). On the contrary, admission to heaven (for a non-martyr) is completely based on whether Allah judges you worthy or not, which is completely dependent on whatever arbitrary standard and cutoff point he decides to set. Conveniently enough, that cutoff point isn't really specified either. I'd be tearing my hair out stressing over whether I was in or not, even worse than my stressing over whether I had an A in a class or not in college. And for those who saw me in my college years, you know how bad it could get.
So here's four reasons in summary: I like the way it isn't dependent on my power, it's changed my life, it's a logical conclusion, and I can be happy in it. There's more than this, and of course a lot more to be said on these points. Maybe all of these should really be full length posts at some point.
We'll see when I get around to that.
-Durandal
| | |
| The Importance of AccountabilityAt Crossroads, we tend to emphasize how members can find strong community and support. That's a reason why many people (including myself) have decided to stay with the fellowship over the years. I hope and pray that we can provide that for everyone who decides to come and remain here. Here's one metric I like to use to gauge how well we're doing in reaching out to individual people.
Each person in the fellowship should have at least one brother or sister (depending on gender) who they can trust completely. When I say "trust completely", I mean that everyone should have someone they can talk to about anything and everything going on in their life. Someone they are comfortable with showing their deepest and innermost struggles and flaws. Someone they trust to assist them, pray for them, and come alongside them to bear their burdens.
This is important because you are going to need it. We're not perfect, and in our four years of college, we are all going to struggle with various problems, be they spiritual, emotional, or physical. And when these troubles come up, you are going to need support. Ecclesiastes speaks of two critical things that we can find in these relationships: help in fighting our battles, and restoration if we should fall (4:9-10, 4:12). We're human, and we do screw up at times. But when that happens, we are told to find someone and confess that sin to receive healing (James 5:16). That doesn't happen unless you have someone to talk to first. In Galatians 6:1-2, it instructs those who are spiritually mature to restore those who sin and bear their burdens. Even if we are capable and willing to do so, we need to have that trust between us and another in order to talk about it and help them find peace. Forced accountability and confession with an unwilling guilty party is not a blessing, but indeed a curse.
And you're not going to find this sort of help anywhere else but with Christian brothers and sisters. We've all sinned and have stuff in our life that we're not proud of. And if we really understand what Christ has done for us in forgiving our sins, we should understand how to receive a confession and restore that person in love, since that's exactly what Christ has done for us.
I would hope that if I ask any Crossroader "do you have someone you can talk to about any problem in your life?" that the answer would be an immediate, unqualified yes. If that's not the case for you, I challenge you to examine yourself and your relationships with your brothers and sisters and figure out why. I can think of several reasons as to why you might not have someone you can depend on in the fellowship.
1: You're new to the fellowship. Well, that's understandable. Trust takes awhile to build. But I would hope that you would have someone to talk to after a semester or so, and a year at most. So your task is to go and seek out such a relationship.
2: You haven't made enough of an effort to get to know someone on a deeper level. These kind of relationships do take time and effort to build, but they're worth it. Find the person you're most comfortable around and closest to in the fellowship and try to develop that relationship some more. If you feel that you know a lot of people in the fellowship, but on a very shallow level, then ask yourself what you talk about around them. If you're being really superficial all the time, or don't like honestly answering questions along the lines of "how is your walk with God going?" then don't be that surprised when you don't talk about deeper, more important stuff.
3: You have an inherent distrust of people. It's a little scary to start up a relationship like this. You and the other person will be sharing a lot of really personal things you wouldn't want broadcasted to the whole world. But at some point, you're going to need that kind of support, so you should be ready for that. Also, I would hope that you can trust God and would be willing to tell Him everything that's going on in your life. He knows anyway, so you might as well. Then, however, realize that sometimes God uses other humans to speak truth and comfort to us. Christians, especially those who have experienced just how necessary and good this kind of relationship is, should be ready to help in the same way that they have been helped in the past.
4: You've tried to build bridges with some people, but they're just not reaching back. If this happens, this is a signal for Crossroaders to check themselves. This should not happen.
Crossroaders, fellowship leaders especially, the goal in fostering this sort of community is to assist people who fall into cases 2 and 3, and prevent case 4 from happening at all. Check in with some people, especially newcomers or less involved members, and see if they're doing ok. If someone opens up to you, the worst thing you can do is ignore them. There is a limit to how many people you can support at once without overburdening yourself (for example, PK can't be every Crossroader's accountability partner), but at least show that you care and help them in what ways you can. If you can't devote the necessary time to them, try to find someone else that they trust who can support them.
Bear one another's burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ (Galatians 6:2).
-Durandal
REFERENCED VERSES
Ecclesiastes 4: 9-10: Two are better than one because they have good return for their labor. For if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. But woe to the one who falls when there is not another to lift him up.
Ecclesiastes 4: 12: And if one can overpower him who is alone, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart.
Galatians 6: 1: Brethren, even if anyone is caught in any spiritual trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted.
Galatians 6: 2: Bear one another's burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ.
James 5: 16: Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.
| | |
| Christ the Only Way"If I don't believe that Jesus Christ is God, will I go to hell?"
A common question that we as Christians get in this day and age. The answer to that question is clear. Yes, if you do not believe that Christ is God and trust in Him for your salvation, you will go to hell. But it's certainly not a popular answer today in the United States. If we were to respond that way, we'd get a lot of people looking at us really funny and condemning us for our "intolerance" and "narrow-mindedness". We'd be grouped in that category of religious fundamentalists who want to make everyone in the world see the way they do and aren't hesitant to kill anyone who gets in their way.
But there's more to the question and the answer than that, and in this document, I hope to explain that in a logical and rational way, both for non-Christians to understand and for Christians, so that we might be better equipped to answer that question when challenged. Indeed, a simple response of "yes" to that question often does much more harm than good, and we Christians should recognize that.
The root of the Christian claim of exclusivity lies with a fundamental problem with humanity, according to the Christian world view. And that is the assertion that all humanity is sinful and deserves God's judgment. All humans have sinned and transgressed God's law (Psalm 14:3, Ecclesiastes 7:20, Romans 3:23). When Romans 3:23 says that we have "fallen short of the glory of God", it means that we are imperfect. We have impure thoughts and do evil deeds, and in doing so, fall short of perfection. Because of that imperfection, we cannot stand before a perfect and holy (which literally means "set apart", i.e. from sin) God. As Romans 6:23 so eloquently puts it, the wages of that sin we carry is death. Sin naturally leads to death (James 1:14-15).
And it gets worse. Christians assert that no matter how hard we try or what we might do, our own effort is insufficient to purify ourselves and cover those sins. This idea even shows up in the Jewish faith, in the Old Testament (Proverbs 20:9). But as Galatians 2:16 explains, "works of the Law", or our own efforts, cannot save us alone.
But even in this hopeless state, God decided to offer man a way out. Christians believe that the purpose of Christ's death on the cross was to pay for those sins. Colossians 2:13-14 shows how Christ was our sacrifice; that He took the penalty that should have fallen on us. Over and over again, the Bible says that it is this single event that takes away sin (John 1:29, Ephesians 1:7 and 2:13, Hebrews 10:10 and 1 Peter 3:18 among others). But even though this happened in the past, we must recognize and believe that it is true in order for it to apply to us (John 3:16). Someone can tell you that you have won a million dollars in some contest, but if you steadfastly refuse to believe it is true and accept the prize, then it won't benefit you.
And this is the reason why Jesus is the only way to heaven. Christianity claims that there is a fundamental problem with you and me: that we have sin and it needs to be dealt with. Only Jesus Christ claims to remove that sin. Moses, Mohammed, Buddha, and every other founder of a faith did not claim to take away their followers sins. Some other religions simply don't agree that sin exists (atheism, agnosticism). At best, they claim that sin can be dealt with through a person's effort, or good works (Judaism, Islam). The Bible lays out its declaration that this is insufficient (Galatians 2:21). So in the eyes of Christianity, while these religions may have good things about them, none of them address the problem that must be resolved.
That is why Christianity may seem "narrow minded" to people, though it is really not. If you have cancer, is it narrow minded to say that morphine just won't do? It may make things a little nicer, but it doesn't go after the tumor, which, if left untreated, will kill you. If a professor asks for a proof of a theorem on an exam, it doesn't matter if you resolve the Riemann hypothesis (a very important unsolved mathematical problem) instead. If you don't address the problem at hand, you'll get the question wrong.
For non-Christians reading this, I hope that you will come to a better understanding of why Christians think the way that they do. We don't hate you or want to kill you, we are simply concerned that your plan to deal with sin isn't up to spec. If you disagree with us, let's talk about the validity of the underlying problem or your solution to it. For Christians, I hope that you will gain encouragement and confidence in responding to those who may ask you about this question. People need to understand why we believe what we do, and that is just as important as the answer itself.
Christ alone.
-Durandal
REFERENCED VERSES
Psalm 14:3: They have all turned aside, together they have become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.
Ecclesiastes 7: 20: Indeed, there is not a righteous man on earth who continually does good and who never sins.
Romans 3: 23: For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God
Romans 6: 23: For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
James 1: 14-15: But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.
Proverbs 20: 9: Who can say, "I have cleansed my heart, I am pure from my sin"?
Galatians 2: 16: Nevertheless, knowing that a man is not justified by works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not works of the Law; since by works of the Law no flesh will be justified
Colossians 2: 13-14: When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.
John 1: 29: The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!
Ephesians 1: 7: In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace
Ephesians 2: 13: But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
Hebrews 10: 10: By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
1 Peter 3: 18: For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit;
John 3: 16: For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
Galatians 2: 21: I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly
| | |
| Prayer Brings ResolutionWhen I was in high school, life wasn't always great. I had a lot of emotions, anger and bitterness that went unresolved. As a result, throughout the four years, I was in and out of counseling for depression. When I went to the therapist for the sessions, I always felt things got a little better when I was in the chair. It was good to be able to talk about what I was going through and feel like someone actually listened and cared. But the minute the session ended, and I stepped back outside into the world, the satisfaction died. Just talking about my problems did nothing to change the fact that when I left the office, they were still there. School still loaded on the work and the pressure, my parents expectations of me were no different, things I had to take care of still needed doing, and interpersonal tensions remained.
And sometimes this can be an excuse that we use when we don't feel like praying. It might make us feel better for a little bit, we reason, but what's going to change about it? But, that's really not a valid excuse. And here's why. In short, prayer brings resolution. Unlike with a therapist, things happen when you pray to God.
A great example of this is found in Daniel 9. In Daniel 9:1-19, he's praying for the nation of Israel as a whole and asking that they turn back to God and that He bless them. After he's been praying for some time, the archangel Gabriel appears to him to give a response. But what's interesting to note is in Daniel 9:23. Gabriel says that as soon as Daniel started praying, he was heard and that things were set in motion for a reply. It's also worth noting that the response to this prayer is the Prophecy of Seventy Weeks (Daniel 9:24-27), which pinpoints with remarkable accuracy the date of Christ's sacrifice for our sins. So in Daniel's case, since he was praying for Israel, the completion of the answer to his prayer comes some 500 years later with the Incarnation. We can learn from this example and see things that are applicable to our situation. The minute we pray, God hears. We may not receive the response immediately, but things start to happen, leading towards the response.
But there is also an immediate benefit to praying. Philippians 4:6-7 exhorts us to not be anxious, but instead pray. And it says that when we do, the peace of Christ will guard our hearts. The word for "guard" there is a military word. A good image is that of angels coming down to protect and defend. And that's not just an image to think about, but that actually, really happens sometimes. When we pray and feel better about our situations, it's not just a fleeting feeling. It's the peace of Christ within us. There's a big difference between that and the passing feel-good effect from sitting in the counselor's office.
And in case it wasn't already clear, I'm only talking about Christian prayer here. And this shows why. It's the peace of Christ that makes the difference. Without Christ, there is nothing. In Luke 18:7-8, it says that God hears the prayers of "His elect" and moves to answer them quickly.
It's fitting to end this piece by looking at the most effective prayer warrior ever. And of course, I mean Jesus. Luke 22:39-46 details His actions in the garden of Gethsemane, right before He's going to be arrested and eventually crucified. And what does He do? He's praying. And we can see the progression here in the several hours of prayer (See Matthew's account, Matthew 26:36-46). At first, His prayers seem somewhat more tentative, asking God the Father to "remove this cup" if possible. But at the same time, He is willing to go with whatever is placed before Him ("yet not My will, but Yours be done"). We also get a visual image of the peace that comes to his heart through this time. When He prayed, an angel came down to Him and assisted Him. And this can happen when we pray as well. Contrast the beginning of His prayers with the end, as they are coming to arrest Him (Matthew 26:46). He addresses His disciples, ordering them to get up, and saying that it is time for the Son of Man to be handed over. Here, He sounds confident, prepared, and ready to face what He knows is coming. This is the result of a couple hours of intense, agonizing prayer, in which He found enough peace to take Him to the cross like a lamb to the slaughter.
It worked for Jesus.
-Durandal
REFERENCED VERSES
Daniel 9:23: At the beginning of your supplications the command was issued, and I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed; so give heed to the message and gain understanding of the vision.
Philippians 4:6-7: Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Luke 22:39-46:
39 And He came out and proceeded as was His custom to the Mount of Olives; and the disciples also followed Him.
40 When He arrived at the place, He said to them, "Pray that you may not enter into temptation."
41 And He withdrew from them about a stone's throw, and He knelt down and began to pray,
42 saying, "Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done."
43 Now an angel from heaven appeared to Him, strengthening Him.
44 And being in agony He was praying very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground.
45 When He rose from prayer, He came to the disciples and found them sleeping from sorrow,
46 and said to them, "Why are you sleeping? Get up and pray that you may not enter into temptation."
Matthew 26:46: Get up, let us be going; behold, the one who betrays Me is at hand!
Luke 18:7-8: Now, will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry to Him day and night, and will He delay long over them? I tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?
| | |
| Gnosticism from a Christian Perspective, Part IVThis will be the last entry in the series, covering the dating of the Gospel of Judas and an overview of the Gospel of Thomas. Hopefully I'll continue to post as frequently, with more interesting and less academic material =P.
The Gospel of Judas -- Dating and Reliability
Even though we have seen that the true message of the Gospel of Judas might indeed be quite hostile to Judas himself, one question to ask is whether it should be trusted in the first place. Judas could not have been written until late 2nd century AD, as it contains references to Gnostic theology which did not develop until then. It also assumes that the reader is familiar with the four canonical gospels found in the New Testament, which were written in the 1st century AD. Its first reference at all in history was by Irenaeus in his writings against heresies in the 2nd century AD, and it's not clear that this was the same document, as there may have been multiple independent manuscripts bearing the name "the Gospel of Judas" at the time. This puts it on a less trustworthy level than the four canonical gospels, which are all dated earlier, and thus closer to the events described.
The only copy of the Gospel of Judas that we have is in Codex Tchacos, which is a 4th century AD document written in Coptic. Proponents argue that it was perhaps written in the 2nd century AD in Greek by Gnostics. This immediately raises the question as to how they managed to get such detail of personal conversation between Judas and Jesus. The Gnostics were not eyewitnesses like Matthew and John were, and could not have consulted Judas in person or other people who were alive at the time, as Mark and Luke did. Further, in contrast to the canonical gospels, this would be a 100 year time gap at least between its original writing and the first existing manuscript. With the four canonical gospels, we have manuscripts of them dating to a few decades from their completion.
Overall, this means the historical record for the Gospel of Judas is much more fragile than the four canonical gospels. If Judas is to be considered anywhere close to trustworthy, the four canonical ones should be far and away considered so.
The Gospel of Thomas
The Gospel of Thomas is a collection of 114 sayings supposedly said by Jesus and recorded by Thomas the Apostle. Many of the sayings closely resemble verses found in the canonical New Testament, but slightly modified. In recent years, it has been suggested that this gospel was one that was censored and erased from the Bible during the time of the early church. Most of the proponents argue that it must have therefore been written sometime in the first century AD.
However, examining the text itself shows that it could not have been written so early in history. As mentioned before, it bears many similarities to canonical books of the Bible, especially the four canonical gospels. The parable of the sower found in all three synoptic gospels is mirrored (with some minor changes) in saying #9 of Thomas. Matthew, Luke and John all have material which is unique to their gospels, and Thomas references or alludes to passages found in each of these three sets. This brings up a problem with the dating, as there is no early Christian writing which references so much of the New Testament before 150 AD. To date Thomas to the first century would make it the sole exception to this trend. In response to those who would say that Thomas existed before the four canonical gospels, it should be noted that Thomas' references to material shared by multiple gospels is closer to the later ones. Since Mark was written first, and then Matthew and Luke were written after and polished and edited some of Mark's grammar, the presence of strong grammatical links to Matthew and Luke rather than Mark indicate Thomas was written after them, not before Mark.
Further, and more importantly, Thomas is strongly linked to the Syrian church and the Diatessaron, or the harmony of the four gospels, written in 175 AD. In the Diatessaron, the text of the four gospels was slightly altered to polish them and present a single cohesive document. The characteristics of several of these altered phrases in the Diatessaron appear in Thomas. It also seems that the writer of Thomas was familiar with the ordering of the Diatessaron. There are also further links to the Syrian church, which suggests a late date of writing. The name used for Thomas, Judas Thomas, is found only in the Syrian church. Since the Syrian church was an expansion of the original church formed in Jerusalem, it is strange that Thomas is called by this unique name if it were actually written by him. There are several other distinctive traits and emphases which point to Syrian origin, such as asceticism and mysticism. Finally, when translated into Syriac (from the Greek fragments found at Oxyrynchus or the Coptic at Nag Hammadi), we find 500 catchwords used as a mnemonic device embedded in the text.
All this evidence suggests that Thomas was written later, and thus could not have been written by the apostle himself. But it is also worth looking through the message and authority to understand its flaws. First, no ancient reference we have found has regarded it as canonical. Hippolytus and Origen (~230 AD) both denounced it as falsehood. Perhaps the most incendiary saying in the work is the last one, saying 114, which states that "women are not worthy of life" and that "every woman who makes herself male shall enter the kingdom of heaven". There is no such statement found at all in the canonical Bible.
There are further sayings which have a strongly unorthodox flavor. Saying 12 indicates that the earth was created for the sake of one "Jacob the Righteous". Various suggestions have been made that this refers to either the biblical Jacob or James, the half brother of Jesus. However, there is no such precedent in any other literature for such a statement. Saying 14 claims that fasting, praying and giving to the poor is actually sinful, in direct contrast to the four canonical gospels. On reading Thomas, it becomes clear that its thesis is that salvation comes from secret knowledge and the power within, as opposed to the orthodox view of salvation by grace through faith. No wonder, then, that Origen and Hippolytus wrote against it
| | |
|
