A Short Commentary on Atheism

Excellent questions were brought up in a recent debate I watched between Christopher Hitchens and Alister McGrath. The monologue between the two brilliant men was fascinating. I think apologetics is an absolutely fundamental necessity for anyone who claims to be a Christian. Asking questions isn't just for those who doubt- it's for everyone. We are a naturally questioning species, aren't we? An unanswered question is seen by most humans as false until proven true. Science has been both kind and unhelpful to people trying to prove the existence of God. Today there are still some questions we can't answer. Frankly, I enjoy believing in a God whose existence cannot be wholly proved by science.

I'm always trying to convince people to watch this British series that comes on PBS every Spring called, "Masterpiece Theatre." I am obsessed with it. Every Spring they air various classic stories by famous authors like Charles Dickens, Emily Bronte, Jane Austen, etc. But watching a British show about people in top hats and mutton chops just doesn't interest most people in 2012 unfortunately. From the outside, it looks like a weird show. And let's be honest- not everyone is going to get into it. I can make it sound as exciting as possible, but not until somebody actually sits down one Sunday night and watches it, are they going to believe me.

Belief in God is the same. I can wear myself out with science and history and logic and probability, but unless you go off and do your own research, my efforts are in vain.

That is why "arguments" for what you believe are most often harmful and unnecessary. If you want to argue your opinions through the written word, I highly recommend the comments section of YouTube videos! haha.

When I became a Christian in the fourth grade- I certainly didn't know anything about Christian apologetics. I had child-like faith. I believed because I wanted Jesus. I wanted the gift he was offering. Christians before science lived the same way. They believed because they experienced God. I'm so profoundly convinced there is a God, that even if it turns out he isn't real, I don't think I'd regret living like he was real. While atheists will say my belief in a god that created me and loves me is "wishful thinking," the same must also be said for unbelief.
May those who seek, find.

Bonhoeffer & my Failures

I just finished the brilliant biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer by Eric Metaxas. I have found this book to be one of few that I could boldly claim has changed my life. Dietrich Bonhoeffer was not a Billy Graham. He wasn't successful by the standards of his time, much less the present. I look back on my own life and am relieved to read about Bonhoeffer because, I too have a negligible level of success under my belt. Bonhoeffer's obedience to God, even under the very apparent umbrella of failure, pushes my own flighty heart forward to do the same.
How refreshing to me are Bonhoeffer's words about success in the eyes of God. He says,

" God's cause is not always the successful one...that we really could be 'unsuccessful,' and yet be on the right road. But this is where we find out whether we have begun in faith or in a burst of enthusiasm." 

It is extremely difficult for me to view this life as it is: momentary and fleeting. My mind can't quite grasp how our lives are so short in the spectrum of eternity. Just because I'm obeying the Lord, doesn't mean I will have success. The Lord will undoubtedly bless me, but not necessarily with my face on a magazine cover or an interview by Barbara Walters. Bonhoeffer had no idea he would be treasured as a prophet and martyr after his death. Most likely he believed his name would shrink into oblivion, because of his cheapened death at a concentration camp. He left, never getting to marry his fiance or have his own children. To me, this looks like a sad loss, but I know Bonhoeffer would disagree. He would say, "everything I count as loss, compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ," and the ability to sit at his feet in the splendor of eternity.


As I continue to fail, which I undoubtedly will continue to do, let me give thanks. These failures are merely a witness to my inability to act in any good way without the gift of grace. Surely I can embrace my biggest failures in life with loving arms, because I still win at the end of the day. Let me obey, though the road of obedience leads me outside the limelight of praise from men.