Month: January 2008

Alright. So I was busy all night last night and I didn’t even realize that I had missed a friend’s birthday. Brandon! Profuse apologies! I thank you for telling me about it. As is my tradition with many of my good friends, I choose to take such a day in my blog in order to honor them. You are no exception.

Brandon. You are a joy to be around. Your humor is quite contagious as you’re with me on teasing one of our especially smurfy friends. (Many of you might not understand that reference, but consider it an inside joke. There could be a number of them on here.) I can always count on you my friend for that.

I believe you have this secret about you that I wish others would realize. Jokes do not grow old. People grow old with jokes. For you, a tease is just as funny today as it was several years ago. Unfortunately, many of us have lost our wonder over the years, but you are not one to do so.

You are also far more familiar with the history of Middle-Earth in the Tolkien series than I ever will be or ever would hope to be. I know you will say I will go on endlessly when I trap you in a Socratic Dialogue as it were as you sometimes say “Darn philosophers”, but I don’t know anyone who knows the history of Middle-Earth like you do. I wouldn’t be surprised if you could quote verbatim the LOTR.

Yet if anyone gets the impression that you are simply jokes and Middle-Earth, they would be wrong. At some of my hardest times which you know about, you have been there. When I have suffered from the loss of love, you have been there. When I have worried about other matters in my life, you have been there.

It was times that I found myself quite amazed. I used to be one that would have thought that it was all teasing, but your serious side is just as serious as your humorous side, which is important. We should all realize that when we play, we are to play hard, but when we work, we are to work just as hard.

You do have a gift for counseling. You have keen insights into the way we approach life that can change the way I look at things at least. I know that if there is something troubling me, I can always go to you and you’ll listen. I wish you’d let that side of you out more. I think you’re denying the world the gift of yourself at times.

I also thank you for the favor you’ve been doing for me. It’s having someone like you nearby that keeps me walking the straight and narrow. I don’t want to let you down. I also thank you for your encouragement. You know I do not often believe in myself, and you are there every time.

Brandon. I thank you for your friendship. Aristotle said our closest friends were those who helped us grow in virtue. Sharing fun times together is important, but you help me grow in virtue you as well. I thank you for that my friend. Happy Birthday.

A reader last night had this line from my last blog stick in her mind. I’ll go on and say that this reader was one I had the pleasure of leading to Christ and there is nothing like that. I wasn’t there when it happened, but I had been dialoguing with her and she just woke up and knew it was true and that was that.

I never would have dreamed it would happen that day.

So today, my thoughts have flown around a few hundred places. I’ve also had a good conversation with a co-worker on matters relating to faith as he is a fellow Christian as well. For a surprise, I spent time with some friends. Readers wondering why my blog is late can rest assured I’m fine. I just had some friends up for some late night gaming and to watch an episode of Smallville.

And as I looked back, I could have done without work of course, but overall, the day was fine.

So did I lead someone to Christ? No. But it might happen tomorrow. I have no idea. I’m not sure if you’re like me, but when I think of the future, I have big dreams and hopes, but a lot of times, I see dread and terror and I worry about it. Isn’t that bizarre? Worrying about the future doesn’t change it. It only makes you the worser when it comes since you might not handle it as well.

The future, like death, is the great unknown. Rather than see it as an adventure to be lived, we so often see it as a dread to be avoided. It’s going to come either way. We won’t be able to do anything about it. We might as well enjoy it. Worrying never changes a situation. It only changes us and not for the better.

So I’m going to go on ahead to bed. I’m really tired as it’s past 2 AM as I write this. I need to get my rest. Who knows? Tomorrow, I might lead someone to Christ.

Alright. Tonight’s gonna be another night where my blog is going to be thinking out loud. I got home late last night and had to get up early for class this morning. I am not a happy camper when I know I have to get up early outside of schedule and I always end up getting up before my alarm clock wakes me up. Thus, I felt myself zoning in and out of reality in class today.

Well, we had an event afterwards that was about two hours later. I figured I’d stay and just read the whole time, which I pretty much did. We were to watch a movie pretty soon at it, but instead, we had problems getting everything set up. Thus, around 11:15, I have just walked in and I get up at 7:30 tomorrow morning for church.

Oh yes. After a week of vacation. I have to return tomorrow.

That thought is what’s on my mind at the moment. It’s been great to have a week off from a job I don’t like that doesn’t pay my bills enough. Instead, I have had more reading time and more time to just think. I’m not a socialite and my classmates have been enough social company for me. It’s been a week of getting to know new people and learn new things.

Tomorrow, I return again though. Granted I get the next two days off on the schedule and I have a class on Tuesday, but returning is not a pleasant thought.

However, as I ponder it, I am more developed now. Who knows what will happen? Maybe someone will ask me how my seminary training is going thus far. Maybe I will get to finally come to some conclusions based on what all was discussed in class. Those who know me know that I am a questioner and I have many questions raised as I seek to find the answers.

Yet I don’t know what the future holds. Why live as if I do? Tomorrow’s work, but who knows what could happen? I could have one of the most interesting Sundays of all in church. I could meet the girl I’ll marry someday. I could meet someone who will get me a new job.

I could even say something that will lead someone to Christ.

Sometimes, a lot of how we feel on circumstances is based on our approach and I hope my friends will remind me of this. Our emotions can cloud our interpretations of what goes on around us. Going back to my family for Christmas was an odd experience for me. Nothing really changed objectively, but my attitude changed. I’ve seen the same world through that attitude and it does look totally different.

What’s the secret? To learn to not be swayed by our emotions. To realize that this is God’s world. We are living in the world he has created and we should enjoy it. To not enjoy what has been given to us I think is a sin. It is an insult to the creator when we make his world boring in our eyes.

So I am wrapping things up here, but hey. I just heard the timer go off for my evening dinner and I need to get to bed. You enjoy yourself tomorrow. I’ll try to do the same.

It’s not a secret that I like answering questions about Christianity. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be in this field and I would not be putting my thoughts out regularly for readers to critique. I will state that I enjoy far more the philosophical and theological questions more than any other kind.

However, that being said, in my position. One sees many different types of questions. It is amazing that people who are brilliant thinkers in other areas make intellectual blunders when it comes to theology and philosophy. Richard Dawkins I’m sure is a brilliant scientist, for instance. However, he is not a philosopher or a theologian and too often, he wants to act like he is.

Thus, there are some questions that I really do show some desire to know the truth. On the other hand, there are some questions that are given with the intent to try to embarrass the faith. I will answer both, but rest assured, I much more prefer the former. If the latter, I will sometimes call a spade a spade. Let’s be clear friends. Idiots exist out there and people are going to ask questions thinking they’ve raised a point no one has considered for 2,000 years.

If they think such, I have some seaside property in Montana I’d like to sell them….

The question I have before me today though does not seem to be such a question. There are some questions that do seem to want to find answers. There is nothing wrong with raising the questions after all. It is the attitude with which they are raised.

The question relates to the mercy of God and the fear of the afterlife. Wouldn’t it be great if instead, God had mercy on everyone and no one had to go to Hell? When we hear a question like that, it does get at us emotionally. “Yeah. I like that. That would be good. Why doesn’t God do that?”

And that is the first error we must avoid.

We cannot make this decision based solely on emotions. If something strikes us as odd on an emotional level, we must ask if there is a reason for such on the deeper level of reason. It does not follow to say “I would like everyone to go to Heaven. Therefore, God must like it also and it will happen.”

Now this is not a simple question really and I will not be able to give an exhaustive answer I don’t think. There are many fine works on Christian apologetics that a reader can go to. One is “Beyond Death” by Gary Habermas and J.P. Moreland. (It has also been put out in another edition called “Immortality.”) Another interesting one is “Hell Under Fire.” The editor of that one escapes me at the time.

Now I’m going to take a stance that in a question dealing with the attributes of God, that it might just be best to start with God. Also, since this is a question relating to the Christian paradigm, it is legitimate of me to assume the Christian concept of God and all things in relation to him and see how the question fits in.

In the Christian worldview, I believe it inaccurate to say that God possesses wisdom or beauty or goodness as if these were things outside of himself. Instead, God is wisdom, beauty, goodness, etc. It will also be added in that God is truth. Whatever that is truly good in virtue is found in perfection in God. (I also see this as including the relational virtues as God is a Trinity.)

So what sayeth Scripture? We are told in Scripture that if we seek, we will find. Hebrews 11:6 tells us that anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek after him. Christianity says that God has already extended the invitation. I refer to these as the four Words of Christianity.

In passages like Romans 1 and Psalm 19, we read of the creation testifying that there is a creator. This is Word #1. It is general and goes out to all. You can know he exists and a few things about him, but you cannot know, for instance, that he is a Trinity solely from the creation.

There is also mentioned in Romans 2 and presupposed throughout the whole of Scripture, the law written on our hearts. This is the law whereby we know that some acts are evil and some acts are good. We may not be able to explain why they are so, but we just know that they are. This is a testimony to the lawgiver. Again, this is general and given to all, but it cannot tell you what specific revelation can. This is word #2

Word #3 is the one in John 1. The Word became flesh. The Word that was with God and was God. This is, of course, Christ. This is an incredibly specific revelation, though it was limited to a time and place. (I can grant exceptions to people in often Eastern religions who upon seeing a vision of Christ have become Christians. I am speaking on a more permanent basis.) This was a Word that was specific and could give us detailed information about this God. Evidence of this can be found in the resurrection, which is open for all skeptics of Christianity to investigate.

Word #4 is the Word of God in Scripture. This is specific as well, but limited to those who have it, and if some do not have it, we only need to look at the Christian church in not doing our job with the Great Commission. The account though is specific in the information it gives about God including information that we could not find on our own.

The Christian answer is that God’s existence is not hidden. He has made it known. Even the problem of evil shows it as it presupposes two things. First, it presupposes that this world ought to be a certain way and it is not. As soon as it is said that it ought to be a way though, it implies a design that the world has fallen short of. If you imply a design, it implies a designer. Incidentally, Christianity would agree. This world has fallen short so this can hardly be an argument against Christianity.

Secondly though, it presupposes a moral standard. The only way you can recognize good and evil is to have there be some distinction between the two whereas evil is not good and good is not evil. If there is no distinction, then what Mother Teresa did on the streets of India or what the 9/11 attackers did is neither good or evil. It simply is. If there is a moral law though, there is a moral lawgiver. This is what we mean by God.

Now we have some parameters set. Naturally, there are other religions out there, but the question is, do those truly reveal God as he is? I could say why I think the Christian one the true one now, but that is not the point. The point is not to show whether the Christian system is true per se but rather if it is consistent. Of course though, if it contains a logical contradiction at its core, it is not true.

So let us go back to the first point. What is God? He is goodness, beauty, truth, etc. What does it mean to not accept him as he has revealed himself? It means a rejection of beauty, truth, goodness, etc. If one is truly seeking good things, then one will eventually find God. If one is settling though, one will not.

G.K. Chesterton once said that a man who knocks on the door of a brothel is looking for God. Why? Most people would say “I know what a man is looking for if he is knocking on the door of a brothel, and it isn’t God.” Chesterton would disagree. He’s not the only one. I’d disagree also.

The man knocking is looking for pleasure, no doubt, but he is not looking for any pleasure. He wants what he deems the highest pleasure. He wants to find a transcendent pleasure. He wants it to be so powerful that he can escape who he is. This could be the height of true sexual experience. We get so caught up in the joy of the other that we lose sight of our own joy, in which case, we truly find joy.  That may be hard to follow, but anyone who has ever truly been in love I think will understand it.

But what if this man settles for this pleasure instead? This pleasure is designed to remind him of God, but he does not follow it. Instead, he treats it as the highest good. In the Christian system, the highest good is God and to treat anything as a higher good is idolatry. It is making sex an idol.

This doesn’t just happen with sex though. It can happen with anything, even morality. It can happen when we look at the good people in the world and think “They’re not Christians, but surely they must go to Heaven!” Why? “Because they’re so moral?” So? As if God simply wants us all to play by the rules indifferent to his own existence? What does it say of a man who does love his neighbor, but shows no regard to God, who is love. He is treating morality as an idol. Sex and morality are good things both, but let us not treat them as the highest good.

In this case then, the unbeliever is the one who is treating God as less than he is. Since he is disregarding God, he is in turn disregarding beauty, goodness, truth, wisdom, etc. The Christian view is that if he was truly seeking these things and in doing so went back all the way, he would find God at the end.  If they do not find him, they were not really seeking. If they were not really seeking, they do not really love those things.  They might love what those things do for them, but they don’t love those things themselves. The person may value beauty for the pleasure it brings him, but does he love beauty itself?

What is God to do? These people have sinned against him. God must treat himself as the highest good. Why? Because he is, and God cannot deny truth. If he decides, “Your sins don’t matter. I’m just going to forget them,” then he is not treating himself seriously. He is allowing his glory and goodness to be lessened for the good of the creation. In essence, it would be turning God into an idolater.

This is where Christ comes in. Christ is the way whereby that price has been made as he has accepted the penalty of sin on our behalf. In doing so, we are allowed to have his suffering count for us and he gives us in exchange his perfect life that he lived. God no longer sees our sins that are paid for, but rather sees Christ’s righteousness.

If we do not accept that, then we have snubbed God and are back in the same position. Now consider the person who truly does not love truth, beauty, goodness, etc. What if this person was stuck for all eternity in the very presence of one who is truth, beauty, goodness, etc. For such a person, even Heaven could be Hell.

For people who simply want to live their life without the interference of God, he gives them what they want. He leaves them alone. Now my view of Hell is not one of fiery flames. It is not a torture chamber. The flames are a figure of speech. Instead, it is a view of an eternal quarantine as it were. I am open though to the view found in C.S. Lewis’s “The Great Divorce,” which I recommend to the reader. To the more skeptical reader, I definitely recommend his work “Mere Christianity.”

Now what about the happy pagan who is seeking but never finds before he dies? God knows of that. Scripture tells us repeatedly that the judge of all the Earth will do right. No one on the last day will be able to say that it wasn’t fair. Do I have a certain answer? No. I have a biblical one though. Trust God.

Also, if you know that those inside the circle are safe and you do not know for certain about those outside the circle, Lewis will tell you there’s only one rational thing to do. Come inside the circle. We may not know about the pagan who’s never heard, but we do know about the pagan in L.A., New York City, Tokyo, London, etc. who has heard.

Ultimately though, God will give you what you want. As Lewis again says, There are some people who say to God “Thy will be done” and there are people to whom God will say “Thy will be done.” He also reminds us that John and Judas both served their role in the plan of God. One did so knowingly and one unknowingly. Whatever you do, your actions will serve the glory of God. Why not do so in a way that you can partake of the joy of God as well?

My roommate and I had lunch today with one of our heroes along with a few others from our Seminary. During the meal, while we were aware of who we were with, there was also the awareness that he was just being a guy like the rest of us. The conversation was entirely approachable and the ride back to the Seminary had some conversations going on. (It wasn’t just us there.)

It reminded me of the misconceptions that we often give to people. The first one is in the intellectual life. We get the view that all these people do is spend their time reading and studying and that they never do anything else. Yet as much as I hold to this misconception, I have yet to find anyone who really fits it.

Instead, they are going through the questions in the same way and what we need to remember at times is that no one was born with this knowledge. They had to learn it just as we all do. I’m still learning much. There is much that I’d say I know, but I find out more and more that there is much that I don’t and that makes it all the more fascinating. The ideas that I understand today, there was a time when they didn’t make much sense. It was a progression.

Why bring myself up? Because I’ve had people say the same things about me before. If one were to visit my place, while you would find several books, you’d find several other things as well. You’d find several DVDs and you’d find several video games for instance. I’m not a sports fan, but I’ve got other things I enjoy like everyone else.

Another area I think we misrepresent people is in the area of holiness. Sorry people, but we all still struggle with personal holiness. I would not describe myself at this point as having a rich and abundant prayer life. It’s often seen at this point as a duty that I have to do. I wish I could tell you that I walk away from every reading of the Scriptures with great and new insights. Heck. I wish I could tell you that I look forward to approaching the Scriptures every day. I could tell you that, but it would just be a lie.

I would also like to tell you that I don’t have struggles in my thought life and I don’t wrestle with personal issues. That would be a lie as well. Do I do ministry and try to teach the truth? Yes. However, I am just like anyone else. If I am cut, I will bleed the same way that anyone else bleeds.

My heroes are like that as well. None of us are perfect. No matter where you are in this life, you need someone to come alongside you at times. Maybe that’s part of our problem today. We’ve got this idea of the normal Christian life. The normal things are always seen as good things though. Maybe we should admit the normal thing we all have in common. We’re all fallen and we’re all recovering.

Now I do have heroes, but keep in mind with your heroes as I try with mine that they are people and not gods. They can make mistakes and they have struggles just as you do. In that, you should pray for them. If I’m one on your list, I assure you I definitely need your prayers.

After all, I bleed too.

I know I have friends who love this topic, but this is not a blog on eschatology. I might do that sometime, but I just don’t really like to get into secondary issues. If it’s a heretical opinion, that’s one thing, but other than that, I like to comment on the issues that unite us all and we can work out the secondary details together.

I’d like to imagine you’re riding in a car with a friend one day who stops at a department store to buy some things. You go in with him and you see him buy a hammer and a DVD. You head back to his house with him thinking that he’s going to do some basic repairs and then watch a movie.

You are surprised as you see him get home and he uses the hammer as a paperweight to hold the page open on the book that he’s reading. He then gets the DVD out of the package. You hope for some sanity then but instead, he puts it on the table nearby and then sets his drink on top of it.

You’re looking at him stunned and he just says “What? I wanted to hold my book open and I wanted a new coaster.”

“But that’s not what a hammer and DVD are for.”

“That’s what I’m using them for though.”

Now granted, you could use both for such things. My cell phone has often been used, for instance, to hold a page down on a book and a nearby object (Though not a DVD yet!) has been used as a coaster before. The point is though that you would not think of going out and buying those things simply to use in that way?

Why? Because of the final causes. What’s a final cause? A final cause is the means for which a thing is made. The final cause is a baseball bat is to hit baseballs. (As Ron Nash says as well as a good friend of mine, the Kansas City Royals have yet to discover that.) The final cause of my chair is a place to sit. The final cause of my TV is to show images.

Thus, when we get to a hammer, the final cause of the hammer is to hit objects, which are usually nails. The final cause of a DVD is to be played on a DVD player and shown on a TV to provide entertainment or educational benefit depending on whatever is contained on the DVD itself.

What is the final cause of all that is?

When we view the biblical account, we see that all things are good. (Except man being alone! AMEN AMEN!) Why were they good though? For what purpose were they made? The answer is that they are good because they show the glory of God and the purpose for which they are is to give glory to God.

Yet what if we use something in the creation and we do not use it to give glory to God? What if we use it purely for ourselves? Are we not violating in that case, the final cause of creation? Are we not as crazy as the person who uses a hammer as a paperweight or a DVD as a coaster?

This is, in essence, idolatry, and it happens frequently in our world. The purpose of money is to be used in trade for the purchasing of goods. When money is made the end in itself though, then money is being misused. We cannot treat money as the highest good for it itself has a good higher than it that it is the means towards.

A big one in our world today is sexuality. How many people do you really think are against the idea of God because he puts a hamper on their sex lives? If sex was the highest good, then let us go out and get all that we can. What if it isn’t though? The biblical view is that the sexual system is designed for the continuance of the species. Pleasure and intimacy are more accidents. They are not the main reason for the act, although they do result from the act. We eat to get nourishment, but most of us don’t complain about the pleasure that results as well.

Here’s an interesting one. Morality. This is one of the problems in discussing those who’ve never heard. “But they’re such good people!” That would count if that was the goal of God. If God wanted to just make “Good people,” then maybe we could have some grounds for pluralism. God doesn’t want to make good people though. He wants to make us into gods as it were. (Not in the sense that we become deity, but in that we reflect him.)

One is not good simply for the sake of being good. One is good so that one may draw near to God and find happiness in him. If you become good, but you do not draw near to God, then your goodness doesn’t count for anything. Your righteousness at that point is indeed filthy rags. For Christians, the goal is Mt. Zion. It is not Mt. Sinai. Morality is a means. It is not the end.

Today then, I urge you to see what you do and what you have and what you see around you. Realize that what you see are signs. Each of them is pointing you to that beyond itself. Let us not violate what is warned of in Romans 1 where we worship the creation rather than the creator. It’s all about him.

Our church recently had a session on Mormonism largely in response to Mitt Romney’s candidacy for president and Joel O’Steen’s remarks. This isn’t about whether you should vote for Romney or not. My thoughts are that Romney is not a Christian since he is a Mormon, but the values that the Mormons do practice are more often Christian values.

However, my main concern is Joel O’Steen’s ignorance on this topic, especially since he’s seen as an evangelical leader. Joel O’Steen is the author of a number of popular books right now such as “Become A Better You” and “Your Best Life Now.” Unfortunately, he’s more of a health and wealth teacher whose Christianity seems largely about psychological help and making sure you have money in your wallet.

He was recently interviewed at the following link by Mike Wallace.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,318054,00.html

WALLACE: And what about Mitt Romney? And I’ve got to ask you the question, because it is a question whether it should be or not in this campaign, is a Mormon a true Christian?

OSTEEN: Well, in my mind they are. Mitt Romney has said that he believes in Christ as his savior, and that’s what I believe, so, you know, I’m not the one to judge the little details of it. So I believe they are.

And so, you know, Mitt Romney seems like a man of character and integrity to me, and I don’t think he would — anything would stop me from voting for him if that’s what I felt like.

Yes Mr. O’Steen. Let’s not judge the little details which I’ll be getting into soon. Please note this people. Saying Jesus is not enough. I could just as well say the Muslims believe in God. The problem is that word has no meaning until we understand the context it’s used in.

WALLACE: So, for instance, when people start talking about Joseph Smith, the founder of the church, and the golden tablets in upstate New York, and God assumes the shape of a man, do you not get hung up in those theological issues?

Apparently, Chris Wallace did his homework. This is only scratching the surface of Mormon doctrine though. Let’s see what O’Steen said in reply.

OSTEEN: I probably don’t get hung up in them because I haven’t really studied them or thought about them. And you know, I just try to let God be the judge of that. I mean, I don’t know.

I certainly can’t say that I agree with everything that I’ve heard about it, but from what I’ve heard from Mitt, when he says that Christ is his savior, to me that’s a common bond.

Here’s a little tip O’Steen. If you didn’t know, say you didn’t know. It would have gone a lot better. Unfortunately, you spoke where you were ignorant and we as Christians who know what we’re talking about will have to pick up the pieces where you blew it. Let’s see what Mormonism teaches though and I am getting this from Mormon.org straight from the LDS website. This is a source recognized by Mormons. These are all doctrines we disagree with:

God has a body that looks like yours, though His body is immortal, perfected, and has a glory beyond description.

The divine truths your Heavenly Father desires you to know have been restored by God for the final time—never to be removed from the earth again—through the latter-day prophet Joseph Smith.  As Moses and other biblical prophets received revelation from God, so Joseph Smith saw God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ and was chosen to testify of Them and to restore the gospel and His Church.

The Holy Bible contains a record of Jesus Christ’s dealings with and ministry to the people in the Holy Land.  The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ is a record of Christ’s dealings with and His appearance to the people of ancient America.  Both books teach about our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, and of Their love for us.

Your life did not begin at birth, nor will it end at death.  You have a spirit body (sometimes called the soul) and a physical body.  Heavenly Father created your spirit, and you lived with Him as a spirit before you received your physical body and were born on earth.  This period is called pre-earth life? or premortal life.?

Throughout your pre-earth life, you were taught the principles and commandments? that would lead to happiness, with freedom to choose to grow in intelligence and love of the truth, or not.  During this pre-earth life, Jesus Christ, then known as Jehovah was chosen as the Savior and you learned that, through Him, you would be able to overcome the effects of any wrong choices.

God’s purpose—His work and His glory—is to bring to pass the immortality (resurrection) and eternal life (life with God) of His children.  He desires every one of His children to find peace in this life and a fulness of joy in His presence after this life.  Heavenly Father knew that you could only progress to a certain point without the experience of mortality.  In order to become more like Him, you would need to:

• Receive a physical body.

Thus, God our Father is the creator of our spirits, and we are created in His likeness physically.

• Gain experience from overcoming trials and temptations.
• Learn to walk by faith.
• Learn to choose between good and evil.

Thus, your Heavenly Father instituted His plan to help you reach your divine potential.

Note: The section on where your life began is all one section. I urge anyone to go to the Mormon website and look at the doctrines. More coming.

Modern-day revelation confirms these teachings from the Bible?. God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, appeared to Joseph Smith in the spring of 1820. Joseph revealed that the Father and the Son each have a “body of flesh and bones as tangible as man’s” ( D&C 130:22) .  The Major difference is the Father and the Son have glorified, resurrected, immortal bodies.

The following is from LDS.org and a quote from the fifth Mormon president, Lorenzo Snow:

“As man now is, God once was; as God is now man may be.”
( The Teachings of Lorenzo Snow, ed. Clyde J. Williams [1984], 1.)

This is the teaching of eternal progression whereby man becomes God for God was once a man.

Friends. This is again only scratching the surface. I could write much more on the different things Mormons believe but rest assured, Joel O’Steen is wrong and the church is suffering for it. Now let him go off and make that error. I fear he will do so again. Don’t you make the same one though.

When the Mormons knock on your door, be ready. If you wish to learn what they believe, by all means go to their websites and read their materials. Check it out and see if it holds up. Compare it, however, to the evidence for orthodox Christianity. (A little example, the NT has much archaeological confirmation, while the Book of Mormon has none.)

We can’t afford more ignorance in the church.

There’s a debate you can watch online of the Christian Dinesh D’Souza arguing against the atheistic writer Christopher Hitchens on the existence of God. Now I’ve heard many of these same kinds of debates and every time, I keep seeing the same thing happen. It comes from those who proclaim to be the champions of reason.

I heard a lot of arguments from D’Souza on what Christianity has done for the world and how that can be traced back. When we got to Hitchens though, it was emotion. Now don’t misunderstand me. The arguments have the appearance of reasonable arguments, but they are at their core emotional arguments.

Take the argument about all the immorality done in the name of religion. D’Souza does a great job of dismantling that as well as showing the problems of evil done as a logical outworking of the doctrines of atheism. However, the argument from evil is simply a smokescreen from what I see.

Consider the central claim of Christianity. That is that God raised Jesus from the dead. If that happened, then there is an answer to evil. We may not understand it, but it is there. If God raised Jesus from the dead, then there is no atheism. There is, instead, Christianity.

Why is this usually emotional? It’s stemming from that if we can’t see a good reason for why X is allowed to happen, well there must not be a good reason. If someone is debating with me and I cannot tell them why God allowed X to happen, what does that prove? It proves there is no good reason? No. It proves I don’t know a good reason. Now if your only point in the debate was to prove that I’m not God and don’t know everything, then well done, but I would have been glad to concede that.

I also notice that there is never a moral standard given in these debates. Evil is simply taken as a brute fact that must be explained. It is interesting that the same is never said about the good. Augustine said the question both sides can raise. If there is a God, why evil? If there is no God, why good? I would say if there is no God, the question doesn’t even make sense.

There is also a piece of advice I’ve given to others on this. If they are in ministry someday and a mother comes in whose son has died in a car accident and she says “Why did God allow this to happen?” my warning to them is that they’d better not be a philosopher or an apologist at that moment. They’d better be a counselor, a pastor, and a friend.

Now when the emotional shock has worn off, sure. Go into the problem of evil some. (By the way, we Christians need to have an answer for the problem of evil prior to events happening so that we will not be caught off guard and shaken to our core by them. We are better prepared to handle them if we have a place for them in our worldview.)

However, as I look at the end of the debate, one scene leaps out. At the end, D’Souza is talking about Mother Teresa and how she was hugging a leper one time and someone came to her and said “I wouldn’t do that for all the money in the world.” Mother Teresa replied “Neither would I. I do it for the love of Christ.”

It was then that Hitchens immediately gave a “Blech!” and a “Gag me with a spoon!” I’m not kidding. He literally said that and I found that an incredibly revealing moment. It also brings to mind another point I make on the Problem of Evil. Anyone can complain about the Problem of Evil but we must learn something before we complain against it.

We ARE the Problem of Evil.

We don’t like the evil in the world? What are we doing about it? Are we helping to stop it or contributing to it? What about the evil in our own hearts? Are we secretly fostering that while we cry out that God doesn’t clean up the rest of the world. We Christians should be especially aware of this as Peter tells us that judgment starts with the house of God.

My final position is that if this is the best the new atheists have to offer, I believe the new apologists are more than equipped to handle it.

I’ve recently been in a debate on my city’s website over religious pluralism. After all, there are people in other religions who are very devout and good people. What kind of God would exclude them from salvation just because they don’t happen to believe in Jesus? Please note that when I address this, I am not speaking about the problem of the person who has never heard. I am speaking of the person who rejects the light that they have.

I also think of the bumper sticker that I saw today as I was driving with the word “Coexist” except each letter was being represented by a different religious symbol. Can’t all the religions just co-exist together? If you mean if they can all exist, well we’re showing that they can. If you mean can they all be true, that’s another issue. If it’s if they can all be true, then no.

I also happen to go to personals websites. I know some people might look down on that, but I am a single guy and I am open to most any option that I can to try to meet someone. As I’m checking recently, I see a girl who has something on her religious faith along the lines of “They all believe in God so they’re pretty much the same. That’s easy to see isn’t it?” There’s one way to see all religions aren’t the same easily.

Look at them.

To make this point clear, let’s list some contrasts.

In Christianity, God is essentially triune. The Trinity is essential to our faith. In Islam, this is the sin of shirk and it’s the worst blasphemy of all.

In Judaism, Jesus is not the Messiah. In Islam, he is. In Christianity, he is.

In Hinduism, the Vedas and the caste system have authority. Buddhism rejects both of these.

In Judaism, God exists. In the original form of Buddhism, the question of God doesn’t matter.

In Christianity, God created the world. In Hinduism, God is the world.

In Islam, the goal is paradise. In Hinduism, the goal is Nirvana.

In Judaism, God revealed himself in the law. In Buddhism, there is no one to do any revealing.

And these are just five major world religions. We could take more.

Every religion at its core has some fundamental claims that set it apart from every other religion. You will not be a Christian if you deny that Jesus fully possesses the nature of God. You also will not be a Muslim if you affirm that he does. All Muslims affirm that there is no god but Allah and Muhammad is his prophet. No other religion would affirm this.

This is why people should hold to a religion in fact. They should hold to it because they believe it does give an accurate description of the world and of God. If Hinduism isn’t true, there is no reason to be a Hindu. If Buddhism isn’t true, there’s no reason to be a Buddhist. If Christianity isn’t true, there’s no reason to be a Christian.

The idea of pluralism even assumes that these claims don’t matter. They somehow don’t apply to God in one case or that they are all basically the same and religion doesn’t make any claims of truth about the external world but is simply about how you live and what kind of person you are.

Now Christianity is concerned with how you live and what kind of person you are, but that isn’t all it deals with! Christianity believes in a triune God who revealed himself in space and time in Jesus of Nazareth and raised him from the dead after dying for our sins. It believes that this God has also revealed himself in the Bible. It believes that the universe was created at a point in time.

Those are not moral statements. They should effect how you live morally, but they are not moral statements themselves.

If someone wants to say all religions are the same, you can be sure of one thing. They haven’t read them. I would have no problem telling someone if they wanted to know if all religions were different to just read them. Read the Bible and the Qu’ran for instance. See if you notice any major differences.

An argument used to support pluralism though is the story of the blind man and the elephant. Each one grabs a different part of the elephant and says that the elephant is a different thing. They are each supposed to have a part of the truth. God is supposed to be the elephant and each blind man is a world religion.

A few problems.

First off, none of them had the truth. They had a part of the elephant, but they got that part wrong!

Secondly, there is an elephant there. The only way you can know that all religions have a piece of the truth is if you know what that great truth is. The only way you could know that no one has the truth is to know what that truth is that no one has and what everyone else knows so that you know they don’t know what it is they should know.

Hope no one got lost there.

Thirdly, while there is some truth in each world religion, the question is not if there is some truth, but if there is the truth.

Religious pluralism is becoming more and more common today as we are to be accepting and tolerant of each religion. (Excluding evangelical Christianity. Funny how it’s okay to always pick on that one.) There is just one problem with this pluralism. It isn’t true. As said earlier, if it isn’t true, there’s no sense in holding to it.

I wrote recently on the drive that men have in sexuality. When I’ve discussed valuing the women in our lives with Christian men, I seem to get one reply often. When the topic is discussed between Christian men and women, this same point seems to come up too often and it honestly concerns me.

Christian men will tell me what makes a lady beautiful is on the inside and it is not in the physical appearance. Christian women will complain that men will only want to date beautiful women. Isn’t it what is on the inside that really matters? The physical will fade after all.

Now we all know the physical isn’t everything, but we as Christians must admit that it is important. I will say this as a guy. I know some people, and I think perhaps women most on this, will hate it as soon as I say it, but I just happen to think that some women are more attractive than others and I find that important in selecting a lady to be my wife.

Please note also that I did not say it is the only thing. We have to realize though that this is what people notice first about us and we need to be taking proper care of our bodies in presenting qualities that a mate will prefer. This doesn’t mean going anorexic or something. Too many women are beautiful and deny it and we men can’t stand it when they do such.

What is my main concern? My main concern is that we are being gnostics in our approach to the body. The body is not everything, but it is something. It is part of the creation of God and he made it to be good. The way a woman’s body is designed was meant to be attractive to the male and vice-versa. Let’s look at some Scriptural passages.

Ruth 3:

1 One day Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, “My daughter, should I not try to find a home  for you, where you will be well provided for? 2 Is not Boaz, with whose servant girls you have been, a kinsman of ours? Tonight he will be winnowing barley on the threshing floor. 3 Wash and perfume yourself, and put on your best clothes. Then go down to the threshing floor, but don’t let him know you are there until he has finished eating and drinking.

Notice what Ruth is told to do? Be as attractive as possible and go see Boaz. Now nothing immoral happened that night, but the beauty was noted.

1 Samuel 25:

1 Now Samuel died, and all Israel assembled and mourned for him; and they buried him at his home in Ramah.
Then David moved down into the Desert of Maon.  2 A certain man in Maon, who had property there at Carmel, was very wealthy. He had a thousand goats and three thousand sheep, which he was shearing in Carmel. 3 His name was Nabal and his wife’s name was Abigail. She was an intelligent and beautiful woman, but her husband, a Calebite, was surly and mean in his dealings.

Note how Abigail is described. Intelligent and beautiful. (The same is said of Job’s daughters. No women more beautiful than they were found. Apparently, the Bible saw it as a blessing to have beautiful daughters.)

Proverbs 5:18-19

18 May your fountain be blessed,
and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth.  19 A loving doe, a graceful deer—
may her breasts satisfy you always,
may you ever be captivated by her love

A passage on the joy of romantic love in marriage as opposed to adultery. Physical pleasure is seen as a benefit.

Song of Songs 4

1 How beautiful you are, my darling!
Oh, how beautiful!
Your eyes behind your veil are doves.
Your hair is like a flock of goats
descending from Mount Gilead. 2 Your teeth are like a flock of sheep just shorn,
coming up from the washing.
Each has its twin;
not one of them is alone.

3 Your lips are like a scarlet ribbon;
your mouth is lovely.
Your temples behind your veil
are like the halves of a pomegranate.

4 Your neck is like the tower of David,
built with elegance  ;
on it hang a thousand shields,
all of them shields of warriors.

5 Your two breasts are like two fawns,
like twin fawns of a gazelle
that browse among the lilies.

6 Until the day breaks
and the shadows flee,
I will go to the mountain of myrrh
and to the hill of incense.

7 All beautiful you are, my darling;
there is no flaw in you.

8 Come with me from Lebanon, my bride,
come with me from Lebanon.
Descend from the crest of Amana,
from the top of Senir, the summit of Hermon,
from the lions’ dens
and the mountain haunts of the leopards.

9 You have stolen my heart, my sister, my bride;
you have stolen my heart
with one glance of your eyes,
with one jewel of your necklace.

10 How delightful is your love, my sister, my bride!
How much more pleasing is your love than wine,
and the fragrance of your perfume than any spice!

11 Your lips drop sweetness as the honeycomb, my bride;
milk and honey are under your tongue.
The fragrance of your garments is like that of Lebanon.

12 You are a garden locked up, my sister, my bride;
you are a spring enclosed, a sealed fountain.

13 Your plants are an orchard of pomegranates
with choice fruits,
with henna and nard,

14 nard and saffron,
calamus and cinnamon,
with every kind of incense tree,
with myrrh and aloes
and all the finest spices.

15 You are a garden fountain,
a well of flowing water
streaming down from Lebanon.

The man here has no hesitancy in extolling the physical features of his beloved.

And the same is said in Song of Songs 7:
1 How beautiful your sandaled feet,
O prince’s daughter!
Your graceful legs are like jewels,
the work of a craftsman’s hands.

2 Your navel is a rounded goblet
that never lacks blended wine.
Your waist is a mound of wheat
encircled by lilies.

3 Your breasts are like two fawns,
twins of a gazelle.

4 Your neck is like an ivory tower.
Your eyes are the pools of Heshbon
by the gate of Bath Rabbim.
Your nose is like the tower of Lebanon
looking toward Damascus.

5 Your head crowns you like Mount Carmel.
Your hair is like royal tapestry;
the king is held captive by its tresses.

6 How beautiful you are and how pleasing,
O love, with your delights!

7 Your stature is like that of the palm,
and your breasts like clusters of fruit.

8 I said, “I will climb the palm tree;
I will take hold of its fruit.”
May your breasts be like the clusters of the vine,
the fragrance of your breath like apples,

9 and your mouth like the best wine.

What’s my point?

My point simply is that the physical does matter and physical beauty is a gift. It is not everything, but it is something. If we say “It doesn’t matter” then we are not having a Christian view of the body. We are having a gnostic view of the body. The body is good and was designed in such a way to attract the opposite sex and the bodies were designed in such a way to bring joy to themselves and each other in the marriage relationship.

My advice then? Don’t place everything on the physical, but don’t place nothing on it either. The person you marry will be the first face you see everyday. Make sure it’s one you want to see.