Theology / Apologetics

The Beautiful Brutality of the Cross

MicahLeave a comment

Well-known atheist and psychologist Steven Pinker published a book in 2011 titled “The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence has Declined.” The book focuses mainly on the philosophies of religion, asserting that religion (specifically Christianity) is one of the greatest contributors of violent acts and warfare.

If one groups together all religions into a single entity, the characteristics of the group as a whole will most certainly not fairly represent the characteristics of each individual religion. Certain religions preach peace and tolerance, while others teach punishment and submission. The assertion that Christianity is a source of evil and violence can be easily refuted by anyone who seeks to do so. However, I want to focus on a specific point that Pinker makes in his book. He spends a few pages talking about Jesus’ crucifixion, and how it is barbaric and disturbing that Christians see it as the most beautiful expression of love that God has ever shown.

To get a better idea of Pinker’s opinion on the subject, here is a paragraph from his book –

“More to the point, what was the lesson that the first Christians drew from the crucifixion? Today such a barbarity might galvanize people into opposing brutal regimes, or demanding that such torture never again be inflicted on a living creature. But those weren’t the lessons the early Christians drew at all. No, the execution of Jesus is The Good News, a necessary step in the most wonderful episode in history. In allowing the crucifixion to take place, God did the world an incalculable favor.” (p. 25)

Do Christians think that crucifixion is a brutal and barbaric method of execution? Of course they do. It is not as if Christians were advocating crucifixion as a good means of punishment for anyone. Rather, they saw it as the most brutal form of execution a man could endure. In this way, Jesus, both God and man, showed the extent of his love to his creation. Pinker seems to be making the false resolution that because Christians profess and value Jesus’ crucifixion, it means that Christians are heartless and barbaric monsters.

As happens with some secular or atheist philosophies, there is a grain of truth to be found in these assumptions. Are Christians barbarians? In a sense, yes. Because of our sinful nature, every human (Christian or otherwise) was and is born completely dead and void of any true love. Our natural opposition to God and his will is what warranted the ultimate sacrifice of Christ.  All mankind was conceived in sin, even to the point that we are all enemies of God. As David states in Psalm 14:3,

“They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt;
    there is none who does good,
 not even one.”

Do we take pride that it is our sin that held Christ to the cross? Certainly not. The crucifixion was necessary because of the sins of the human race. We are held to blame for all of the sins that Christ took on as he suffered. We believe the crucifixion to be both beautiful and disturbing at the same time. It’s disturbing in the sense that we all took part in crucifying Christ. It is beautiful in the sense that God showed the world the extent of His boundless love, giving Himself up to death for our sake. And furthermore, we know that the nails we personally used to hold him to that tree have been cast out of God’s sight, out of His memory, as if we had never done any wrong to our Savior. Jesus has taken the blame and pardoned us from our guilt, and as a result our consciences and souls are free.

Look at it this way: Christians don’t walk out of a Good Friday service smiling and chatting about the recent college basketball game. It’s usually one of the most emotional and shameful experiences that a Christian can go through. On Good Friday, we focus on the fact that our sin is to blame for Christ’s suffering. We walk out of the service in sorrowful introspection, realizing the extent of our sin.

Then, when Easter comes on the third day, the beauty of Christ’s death is found in the fact the he didn’t stay dead. If Christ had died for us and not risen, the cross would be seen as anything but “good.” If Christ had been punished for our iniquity, and not overcome death itself, the cross would be the shame of all mankind. However, God ensured it to be the opposite. Because Jesus rose from death, we know that he conquered death for us through his atonement. We do not boast about ourselves, as is we have anything to do with our own salvation. Rather, we boast in the cross of Christ, rejoicing in the hope that comes from Christ’s atonement. We heed the words of Paul in Galatians 6:14 – “But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” We lower ourselves before the cross, recognizing that God’s gift of salvation was given to us despite our shameful stance towards God.

We also know that through our baptism, we were “crucified with Christ,” that is, our sin and rebellion were put to death through Jesus’ sacrifice. When we rejoice in the cross, we celebrate our death as well. In the same way, when we rejoice in Christ’s resurrection, we take heart in the hope that he has also secured our resurrection. The beauty of the cross cannot be comprehended or understood by one who has not been brought to faith. To Steven Pinker, the message of the cross is foolishness because he is not in Christ (1 Corinthians 1:18). The death of Jesus Christ has absolutely no value to those who aren’t God’s children, and is absolute folly to the world.

When Christians look at the cross, we should call to mind both law and gospel. Our disobedience to the law was the very thing for which Christ suffered, but Christ suffered because of his perfect love and grace towards the world. Why would anyone worship a God who was humiliated enough to die such a barbaric death? We worship the humble Christ because God is love  –

“Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13)

 

Don’t Dull the Sword’s Edge

Micah1 Comment

Whenever I hear of a new church that I don’t know much about, I usually look up their website to find out what they believe. Whether it’s non-denominational, Baptist, Presbyterian, Lutheran, or any part of the spectrum, the primary points of confession on their websites are almost always the same. Briefly, it usually goes like this:

•We believe in the triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, who created all things.
•We believe that Jesus Christ was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin, led a perfect life, died an atoning death, rose from the dead, sits at the right hand of the Father, and will come to judge the living and the dead.
•We believe that the Holy Spirit dwells in each Christian, giving them faith, and allowing them to lead a godly life.
•We believe that the Bible is the inspired and inerrant Word of God, being the sole authority of the Church.

The beliefs of each specific church usually starts to diverge after these primary points. Some of them believe that Christians having the ability to speak in tongues and prophesy. Some of them claim that their church is filled with miraculous healings and revivals. Some of them talk about the turning point when a Christian “makes a decision for Jesus.”

Even if you dig deeper in their official teachings, many churches tend to fill their public confessions with vague statements that have some wiggle room for interpretation. American churches tend to be afraid of commitment to any specific doctrine, because they want to be all-inclusive and facilitate everyone’s opinions. It is not necessarily a terrible thing when churches are vague or very general in their summary of beliefs. Sometimes it is necessary to be concise when giving a brief overview of what a church confesses. However, a vague and weak statement of confession, both when written or publicly proclaimed, is an indication that a church is avoiding that harsh realities of Scripture. A confession of beliefs that is void of any controversial teachings tends to be the most attractive. The ambiguity of doctrine and the preaching of “feel good gospel” is what makes non-denominational churches so attractive to many.

This lies in stark contrast to the reality of Scripture. The harsh truth that so many Christians fail to admit is that everyone is a sinner who is intrinsically opposed to what God has to say. Contrary to what members of the church growth movement have to say, unbelievers don’t resist the Church because it’s stale or old-fashioned or hypocritical. In reality, unbelievers resist the Church because they are enemies of God by nature. Even Christians, before they are brought to faith, were bound to sin and unbelief under the law. As Paul tells us in Ephesians 2 –

“You were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.”

 

We live in a world that makes every effort it can to resist the harsh truths of God’s Word. Popular music, hip pastors, and a softer message can’t make people a part of the Church. That power is reserved solely for God’s Word. The Word of God is the only thing that can renew a sinful heart and plant the seed of faith. Romans 10:17 reaffirms this truth – “Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” The Word is the only means by which the Spirit works faith – and that Word must be taught and proclaimed in its entirety, including the truths that stand completely opposed to our society.

To be fair, some churches must do a better job of applying the gospel. The law cannot soothe a guilt-stricken heart. It only multiplies the guilt ten-fold. Only the gospel of Jesus Christ can give the guilty conscience peace and reassurance. This doesn’t mean that the law has no place in our churches. The law must be proclaimed from our pulpits and our confessions so that it may fulfill its purpose – to kill the sinful nature in order that Christ may raise it again, blameless and holy in God’s sight. “We were once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and we died” (Romans 7:9).

There is no gospel without the law. If humanity is not dead in sin, then there is no reason for forgiveness. The law has to be upheld in its entirety – if not, the gospel has lost its meaning. And in proclaiming even the harshest convictions of the law, the gospel becomes that much more beautiful. If the world is convicted of more sins, including the ones that are held highly in society, then the grace of God abounds all the more for the forgiveness of these sins.

It’s disappointing when churches don’t understand this reality of Scripture. So many churches believe that by watering down the law they can draw in more people. This might even work at first. But if we don’t fully realize our sinfulness, how can we know the gospel? It’s simple – by preaching the fulness of the law, we can administer the fulness of the gospel. There is no sin that the gospel cannot overcome.

“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”

Ephesians 2:4-6 (ESV)

Christianity’s Greatest Proof: The Resurrection

MicahLeave a comment

It’s astonishing and slightly disheartening how little the Resurrection is used in modern Christian apologetics. I’ve only rarely heard people cite the Resurrection of Christ when making a case for the truth of Christianity. One argument is tossed around in debate and conversation that stands out from the others: “I believe in Christianity (or Jesus) because the Bible says so” (or some variation of this argument.) As Christians, we do ultimately believe in Jesus because of what the Scriptures have to say about Him. This is because we believe the Bible to be the inspired and inerrant Word of God. However, this is one of the least helpful or effective arguments to make to an atheist or a skeptic. In order for this argument to hold any water, one must come into the conversation with a presupposition: the Bible is inerrant. This statement on the authority of the Bible only means something if the person already believes in inerrancy. Without the belief of inerrancy, it is a circular argument. In other words, “the Bible is true because the Bible says so.”

This statement on its own doesn’t prove a point or hold any logic from the perspective of an unbeliever. There must be a presupposition in order for this argument to make any sense. A logical case must first be made to prove the inerrancy of Scripture. How do you prove this supernatural concept to someone who doesn’t believe in the supernatural?

Making the Case
People who grow up in an inerrancy-believing church will for the most part accept inerrancy because it’s what they’ve always been taught. They learned from a young age that God doesn’t lie or make mistakes. Sadly, when some of these Christians attempt to logically validate the inerrancy of Scripture, they don’t know where to turn. If they happen to mention their doubt in conversation, they’re often told, “You just need to believe. Have faith.” However, faith is not something that exists apart from logic or reason. Faith is founded on a reasonable claim, more specifically, the belief that Christ suffered and died, was buried, and rose from the dead on the third day. In short, the supernatural claims of Christianity are founded on the natural things that God has used, such as a fully human savior, normal bread and wine, and drinking water.

How does this relate to something like the inerrancy of Scripture? Basically, a logical proof must be presented that correlates to the doctrine of inerrancy. Christians sometimes have difficulty coming up with reasons for some of their more miraculous beliefs. In reality, the logical and historical proof to present in simple: Christ died. He was buried in a tomb. He didn’t stay dead.”

Christians who have believed in the Resurrection from childhood usually accept this fact on account of their belief in the Bible. However, even to a skeptic, the Resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth is a well-supported historical event. This is what sets Christianity apart from other world religions. It’s a historical religion. Mormonism and Islam’s holy texts were written in a corner without any historical proof of their claims. Christianity, on the other hand, has Scriptures that span across thousands of years, citing and relating to historical events, prophesying about and mentioning people who the secular world actually recognizes as historical realities. Think about this for a moment: Christianity’s earliest and most well-known creed, the Apostles’ Creed, contains a seemingly trivial reference to an obscure Roman governor who lived in the first century. This actual, historical person is part of the evidence that attests to the Truth of Jesus.

Examining the Proof [1]
Atheists and secular historians have offered various rationalistic explanations for Jesus’ resurrection. None of them, however, actually present a reasonable and natural explanation, as we will soon see. From a secular perspective, there are essentially three different arguments that have arisen. There are additional arguments from people who believe in Christ, yet don’t believe in a physical resurrection, but those can be examined another time. The three main theories are as follows:

The Swoon Theory
This theory suggests that Jesus did not actually die on the cross. He was merely unconscious or not “completely” dead, and He was revived or resuscitated after His burial. Basically, there wasn’t a real resurrection from death to life.

The Theft Theory
After Jesus’ death, the Pharisees were worried that the disciples would steal Jesus’ body to make it seem as if He had come back to life. They were so paranoid that they had the tomb closed off with a heavy stone and guarded by Roman soldiers (Matthew 27:63). Supposedly, the disciples of Jesus gained access to the tomb and carried off His body, hiding it somewhere safe.

The Mass Hallucination Theory
This is probably the most desperate and comical theory. It is suggested that Jesus did not actually rise from the dead, but His disciples and the other 500 who saw Jesus (1 Corinthians 15:6) all had a simultaneous, identical hallucination that caused them to see Jesus appear, when, in fact, it was all in their heads.

Debunking these Claims
I’m sure most people would immediately be able to spot the flaws in these explanations, but I want to lay them out here for clarity.

The Swoon Theory – Anyone with a basic understanding of human anatomy can see how ridiculous this claim is. Jesus was crucified on a cross, bleeding from every square inch of His body. On top of that, the Roman soldiers pierced His side with a spear, causing blood loss that no person could withstand (John 19:34). (Side note – John mentions the specific detail of both water and blood flowing from Jesus’ body. Christians can appreciate the image given by these details – Christ’s body and blood given in Communion, along with water used in Baptism, are portrayed.) The Romans would have made absolutely certain that Jesus was dead before burying Him. All promoters of the “Swoon Theory” most likely don’t believe Jesus was anything more than human. If He was somehow placed in the tomb while still living, He would have had to roll away the massive stone and fight of the Roman soldiers guarding His body. (Which, admittedly, would be a pretty cool to see.)

The Theft Theory
This theory has its fair share of problems as well. Not only would have stealing the body from under the nose of Roman soldiers been a difficult feat to accomplish, the Bible presents clearly how astonished all of the disciples were about the Resurrection. It would have proved near impossible for them to lie about the Resurrection and falsify all the widespread belief that followed. Unless the body was hidden extremely well, one would expect Jesus’ opponents to discover it eventually to prove He was a fraud.

The Hallucination Theory
I think most of the flaws of this theory are glaringly obvious. First of all, the disciples and everyone else following the events of Jesus’ death were skeptical to believe in the first place. It would have taken some exceedingly realistic hallucinations to change their minds. From what we know of psychology, hallucinations are isolated events that happen inside an individual’s mind. They aren’t contagious or consistent between different people. We also know that even minor hallucinations are very rare occurrences, much less ones as major as this theory would require.

General Refutation of These Theories
If all of the apostles were not completely certain that the Resurrection happened, would they have continued confessing Christ until the grave, facing brutal torturous deaths? How did these disloyal and cowardly disciples (Mark 14:50-52) suddenly transform into the most dedicated, determined, fearless missionaries the world has ever seen? How did Paul of Tarsus, one of the most fundamentally anti-Christian individuals in history, become the greatest most most effective missionary of the Christian faith? How did a religion founded by an obscure and insignificant Jewish man – which would become outlawed – spread like wildfire throughout the world at such a phenomenal rate? How does it still stand as the largest religion humanity has known? As Christians, we can answer these questions. Jesus did rise from the dead. He proved Himself to be God. He breathed out His Spirit on the apostles, driving and compelling them to become courageous evangelists and martyrs. Christ blessed the growth of His Church and continues to preserve it today – and will preserve it for all time (Matthew 16:18, 28:20).

Back to Inerrancy
By stating this evidence and importance of the Resurrection, I’ve tried to make a point – Once someone realizes the Resurrection was a real historical event, the only conclusion they can come to is that Jesus is more than just a man. No mere human could have overcome death. Once Jesus is seen as the true God, His words and teachings suddenly become invaluable. Jesus and His sent apostles testify to the power and inerrancy of Scripture. Ultimately, only the Holy Spirit can create faith through the proclaiming of God’s Word. By explaining these things to the skeptics, the message of Christ will carry the seed of faith through the Spirit.

I hope that the certainty of Christ’s resurrection will affirm all Christians in the Faith. I also hope that Christians would understand the apologetic and logical value that the Resurrection provides. As we live as witnesses of Christ, we seek to teach others to treasure and keep the things Jesus has taught us (Matthew 28:20).

(For a interesting perspective of an atheist’s view of the Resurrection, you should check out Gary Habermas’s “Did the Resurrection Happen?” In the book, Habermas discusses the historical proof of the Resurrection with atheist Antony Flew. Flew basically admits the historical evidence does affirm that the Resurrection actually happened, but he refuses to believe it because of its supernatural circumstances.)

[1]Information on the Resurrection theories gathered from this bible.org article.