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CARDBOARD CUTOUTS
Dear Professor Theophilus:
After reading, with some amusement, the hilarious parody of the species Atheistum typicalus ("Crisis of Faithlessness"), I am left, sides aching with laughter, with Herr [Theophilus's] view of Atheists and the dark yearnings within them that remain unspoken.... It comes down to a test of integrity. If you call yourself a dragon-slayer, go find one, and stop wrestling with the cardboard cutouts.
Reply:
They say that life is stranger than fiction, and I've noticed that critics are more likely to protest my characters when they are taken from actual conversation — as this one was — than when I make them up. The greater the realism, the sharper the protests. Hmmm.
With all good will,
PROFESSOR THEOPHILUS
NOT JUST ON THE WAGON, ON THE ROAD
Dear Professor Theophilus:
Hi, I'm a Christian returning to his faith. I have had problems with drugs in the past — alcoholism as well — but through the grace of God I am beginning to overcome my addictions. I found your article "Crisis of Faithlessness" truthful and inspiring for all intellectuals of all levels of faith, as well as for all people at any stage of denial. I am a college Freshmen, but not of the typical kind. I'm 25, I live on my own, and work to support myself through school. I am looking for guidance during the long road ahead of me, and it is extremely refreshing to know that Boundless Webzine exists. God bless you all.
Reply:
Thanks for your letter. I'm glad that you found the article helpful, but even more glad to hear of your return to the Christian faith. I'm a returnee too, and like you I worked my way through school. May the Spirit of our Lord Jesus Christ grant you every virtue, as well as good companions on the road. Stay in Christian fellowship, brother. There are no solitary Christians.
Grace and peace,
PROFESSOR THEOPHILUS
DOES IT DO ANY GOOD TO PRAY?
Dear Professor Theophilus:
What is the purpose of prayer? Can it change God's mind or influence His actions? It seems from the actions of Moses that this is possible. I guess I was wondering more specifically about prayer for unbelievers. I have searched the entire New Testament and have found only one instance of Jesus asking us to pray for our enemies. And in John 17:9 Jesus said that He doesn't pray for the world but for those who will believe in Him. What's your viewpoint on this? Should I pray for my unbelieving friends? Or should I pray just for those who are appointed to salvation? What effect do my prayers have on a God who sees the choices that people with free will make?
Reply:
Good questions. God teaches us to pray; even Jesus prayed, though He was perfectly united with the Father. Surely God takes our prayers into account. After all, why would He instruct us to do something useless? It's true that from the depths of his bitterness, Job once wondered whether prayers have any point, but he later confessed that he hadn't realized what he was talking about (Job 21:15, 42:1-6). Besides, Scripture is full of instances in which God adjusted His plans in accordance with human requests — not just the requests of Moses, but the requests of other biblical figures too. I'd like you to notice that many of these prayers were offered on behalf of other people, including nonbelievers. For example, when Agrippa said to Paul, his prisoner, "Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?", Paul replied, "Short time or long — I pray God that not only you but all who are listening to me today may become what I am, except for these chains" (Acts 26:28-29, emphasis added).
Yes, I understand that you have found only one command from Jesus to pray for our enemies. By the way, it's recorded in two places, Matthew 5:44 and Luke 6:28. But how many times does Jesus have to say it? Three? Thirty? The Son of God Himself is speaking; isn't once enough? And how could we pray just for those whom God knows will be saved? He hasn't told us who they are.
You end with a good question — how could our prayers affect a God who sees the choices people make with free will? There are various theories about this, but one point may help. Yes, God's knowledge is eternal — but remember, He eternally knows more than one thing. From eternity He knows how nonbelievers respond to His actions toward them — but from eternity He also knows what prayers their Christian friends offer on their behalf. There is no reason why He cannot, from eternity, adjust His actions toward nonbelievers according to the prayers which He accepts. Does that help?
Of course, we don't know from experience what that's like, because we know things successively — moment by moment, rather than all at once, like Him. But we don't have to know what that's like to know that He can do it.
Grace and peace,
PROFESSOR THEOPHILUS
IS IT BAD TO REASON?
Dear Professor Theophilus:
Is philosophical reasoning intrinsically good or bad? As a college student I often hear that reasoning is the best way to understand life. Well, I know that God makes sense, that He works by certain principles, and that we are supposed to know the reasons that we believe and not just go through life "blind." Does this mean that we can reach Christianity through reasoning alone? How do we go about reaching someone who does believe in reasoning alone? P.S. — I read your book The Revenge of Conscience and really liked it.
Reply:
Thank you for your kind words about the book; I'm glad it's been helpful. Let's see if I can answer your questions.
Reasoning is good in itself. God created our powers of reasoning along with everything else, and at the end of His creation he pronounced what He had made good (Genesis 1:31). Jesus teaches that we are to love the Lord our God not only with all our heart and all our soul and all our strength, but with all our mind (Mark 12:30, Luke 10:27). In Isaiah 1:18, where God desires to teach His wayward people how desperate their condition is, He says "Come, let us reason together." At another place in Isaiah, He challenges those who have departed from His ways to vie with Him in reasoning (43:26). When King Nebuchadnezzar's madness ended and his reason returned to him, he praised God (Daniel 4:36-37). The author of the book of Ecclesiastes is commended because he "weighed" the traditional sayings or proverbs, and weighing is an exercise of reason (Ecclesiastes 12:9). In 1 Corinthians 10:15, Paul challenges the Christians of Corinth to test his words by reasoning: "I speak as to sensible men; judge for yourselves what I say." Peter instructs those who deal with seekers to reason gently with them: "Always be prepared to make a defense to any one who calls you to account for the hope that is in you, yet do it with gentleness and reverence" (1 Peter 3:15). When Paul was summoned by Felix, the Roman governor, he reasoned so persuasively about justice, self-control and future judgment that Felix was unnerved (Acts 24:25). To demonstrate from the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ, Paul used reasoned arguments (Acts 17:2, 18:4, and 18:19). Even apart from the Bible, by reasoning from the Creation, man recognizes that there is an eternal and powerful Creator (Romans 1:20).
The problem with reasoning isn't that reason is bad, but that fallen creatures reason badly. Yes, reason alone teaches us that there is a Creator, but from time immemorial people have suppressed this knowledge (Romans 1:18-19). What the world calls "wisdom" is not true wisdom, and the wisdom of the Gospel seems folly to the world (1 Corinthians 1:18-29, 2:4-8). Therefore, so-called human "wisdom" is not sufficient to teach the Gospel — our minds need God's grace (2 Corinthians 2:14-15). In fact, all too often human "wisdom" is nothing but a craving for novelty — an itching to hear something new (Acts 17:21). Against this kind of "philosophy" Paul sternly warns (Colossians 2:8, 1 Timothy 6:20). If we Christians are to practice philosophy — and I believe that we are — then we must practice it in a different way, "for the weapons of our warfare are not worldly but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every proud obstacle to the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ" (2 Corinthians 4-5, NIV). Our charter, as Christian thinkers, is Paul's command in Romans 12:2 (NIV), "Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may prove" — that means test — "what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect."
Now: How can we go about reaching people who say they believe in reasoning "alone"? One thing I often do is point out to them that there is no such thing as reasoning "alone." Consider: Could a person prove, by reasoning, that reasoning works? Of course not; any such "proof" would be circular, and as everyone knows, circular reasoning proves nothing. Then how does the reasoner get his confidence in reasoning? He certainly doesn't get it by reasoning "alone"; he takes the reliability of reasoning on faith. What this shows is that faith is not the opposite of reasoning, as silly people often think; rather, faith is necessary to the act of reasoning itself. No one can choose whether or not to have faith; the only choice open to him is where his faith should be placed.
Suppose someone answers this by saying, "Okay, I admit that I have faith in reasoning. But I refuse to have faith in anything else; reasoning is the only thing in which I'll place my faith." There are two problems with this way of reasoning about reasoning. First, it's arbitrary. Once a person admits that one act of faith is reasonable, on what grounds can he argue that all other acts of faith are unreasonable? Second, it's shortsighted. The first thing that any honest person learns about his reasoning powers is how limited they are. He can find out some things with them, but he cannot find out the most important things with them. God, who created human reason, must have known this. Therefore, it is reasonable to believe that if God wants us to know more about Him than just that He exists, He would have given our reasoning extra help to know the things that it couldn't reach by itself. That's why He has given us biblical revelation.
You see, to know the limits of sight is not to be blind; true blindness lies in refusing extra light when it is offered.
Does this help? May God bless your reasoning; may He illuminate your intellect; may He, by the power of the Spirit, so renew your mind that you will indeed be transformed; may He grant you a spirit not only to "prove," but to abide in, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
Grace and peace,
PROFESSOR THEOPHILUS
DOES GOD STILL DO THIS STUFF?
Dear Professor Theophilus:
I was wondering what you think about being baptized by the Holy Spirit (speaking in tongues, having divine power to heal people, and so forth). I joined a Christian group on campus which believes in that stuff, but I'm not sure what to think.
Reply:
All Christians believe that the Holy Spirit continues to grant "ministry" gifts, including our talents. As to "manifestation" gifts, such as tongues, opinions vary. Some Christians are "charismatics," meaning they believe that the manifestation gifts have continued right through today. Apparently your group is charismatic. Other Christians are "cessationists," meaning they believe that the manifestation gifts ended once they were no longer needed — after the Church was founded and the canon of Scripture was complete. The cessationist view would imply that most of the alleged manifestation gifts we see today are not authentic; that they result, for example, from emotion rather than from the Holy Spirit.
So far as God's power is concerned, He could still give someone a manifestation gift like healing, tongues or prophecy; this is up to Him, not up to us. No doubt He even does still give such gifts upon occasion. The disagreement concerns whether that is one of His usual ways of working in the present age. Arguments are given both ways. I think this is an issue about which Christians should be able to debate without dividing.
Whichever view is true, however, two things ought to be accepted by both sides. The first is that even if an alleged present-day manifestation gift is authentic, it should be used only in accord with God's own regulations, for example the ones stated in 1 Corinthians 14:27-28 (no speaking in tongues without an interpreter, never more than one at a time, and no more than two or three altogether). The second is that every alleged manifestation gift should be tested for authenticity. Testing is not unfaithful, for God Himself commands it; as Paul said, "Test everything" (1 Thessalonians 5:21). Quite a few tests are mentioned in Holy Scripture. For example, do the alleged manifestation gifts conform to God's word as revealed in scripture, rather than conforming to the outlook of the world? Do they exalt God? Do they specifically exalt Christ as incarnate Lord? Do they make prophecies that fail to come true? (Notice that the test is not whether their prophecies did come true — this could have happened by chance.) Do they bear good fruits? (Many Christians seem to think this is the only test, but all the tests must be passed.) Do those who oversee the congregation, or who have mature spiritual discernment, confirm their authenticity? Are they compatible with good order in worship? Do they edify the congregation — build it up? Do they avoid evil, and even the appearance of evil?
Both God's tests and His regulations are crucial. Unfortunately, though some Christians honor them, other Christians ignore them.
Grace and peace,
PROFESSOR THEOPHILUS
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