God. Real. Right.

A Jerry Johnson Live broadcast from June 27, 2008: Pew Survey of American Religion indicates 21% of atheists believe in God; but most “Christians” do not believe Jesus is the only way to eternal life.
There is a post on this topic here.

The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life recently released results of another huge survey of American religious views. One of the more reported features of the survey (it’s on page three–five, as they number it–of the eighteen page summary) involves the claim that some twenty-one percent of those who call themselves atheists also say they believe in God! What’s more, about forty percent of agnostics say they are certain there is a God!
The Secular Coalition for America, a group which mistakenly associates secularism with freedom and which claims to promote the interests of atheists, agnostics, and humanists, tries to make the case that these odd statistics along with some converse statistics indicating that seven percent of protestants do not believe in God are evidence of how difficult it is for an atheist to “come out of the closet.” Clearly, the data is not in support of their claim. In fact, quite to the contrary Read the rest of this entry »

This post is intended to point to and explain the significance of the page “on God.”
There are strong, rational arguments in favor of God’s existence. However, the cause for which people do not believe in God (or do not commit to Him, as is more often the case) is not at its root rational. Rather, it is volitional. That is, whether a person’s mind tells him to believe in God is not the biggest question for his faith. It is, instead, whether he is willing to believe in God which is primary.
That said, the grounds, reasoning, and evidence for believing in God are still hugely important. It is arguably impossible Read the rest of this entry »

A few very bright students in one of my classes put together this response to a very popular atheistic video on youtube. Much of the humor hangs on imitation of the original video, but it is worth seeing in its own right as well.
Solid!

So, can God make a rock He can’t lift? Atheists, agnostics, and those who simply enjoy seeing theists squirm use this question to deny the possibility of God’s existence. Most theists avoid squirming by avoiding the question. Others just squirm. But there is another option. There is a simple way to answer the question. In fact, I believe adamantly that God can make a rock He can’t lift. Why?

Here’s the dilemma posed by the antagonist: If God can make that rock then He can’t lift it. If He can lift it, then He can’t make a rock He can’t lift. Either way, God is no longer omnipotent, and so no longer God.

So why would I claim that He can make such a rock? It’s very simple. Because I am a theist (more specifically, a Christian) I believe God is ultimate. (In fact, I believe the ontological argument leaves every person willing to be clear-headed about it with the the fact that there is a God and that He is ultimate–but that’s an issue for another day.) He is not subject to anything at all. So any time I have to choose between God and something else, I choose God. So how does this dilemma leave me with a choice between God and something else? It sounds like I am being given a choice between God and God. But I am not.

Here is the real choice, my reason for saying what I do, and the real issue: Whenever I am posed with the statement, “Can God X?” I answer, “Yes.” Certainly, some will say “X” must be something in order for the question to mean anything, and in this case “X” is no more something than in the case of “X” being “a round square,” or a “four sided triangle.” But such an answer will not do. The point of God’s omnipotence is not that He can do all things that are rational, or that He can do anything that can be done, but that He can do anything. In fact, it seems necessarily significant to me that God can do what is “impossible” to man, not just regarding salvation (as in Luke 18:27), but regarding anything at all.

So whether I think X is something or not, I still choose to believe God can do it. Where does that leave me? It leaves me saying God can make a rock He can’t lift. But doesn’t that statement leave me having to say that God can’t lift the rock He so made? Not at all. I also believe God can lift the rock. And there’s the rub for some, but the key for me. If I say God cannot make such a rock, I contradict God’s power. If I say God cannot lift it, I contradict God’s power. But if I say God can make it so that He cannot lift it, and that He can lift it, then I make statements which contradict each other, but neither of which contradicts God’s power. I am making statements that contradict reason, but not God. Does this mean I believe God and rationality are inconsistent? Not at all. But only one thing can be ultimate. And if I have not learned anything else in my years as a Christian and a student of the Word, I have learned that if I have to choose between what seems rational to me and God, I’d better always pick God.

So where does that leave God and rationality? Right where they ought to be: God first, reason subordinate. After all, God does say to those who are “not my people,” “you are my people.” God never contradicts Himself. God is not irrational; He is the author of reason. But He often does what reason says cannot be done. Reason works fine when it is seen in subjection to God. But it is nothing less than an assault (though feeble, of course) on God’s nature when it replaces God in the minds of its users. In that case, we find ourselves violating the idea behind passages like Isaiah 40:28: “there is no searching of His understanding.”

(I have not addressed the moral side of this question, but the answer “reasonably follows” this one! Neither have I dealt with the fact that my view of the supremacy of God is also why I believe libertarian free will is a viable concept. Subjects for other notes…)