This essay is the 1st part of an extended answer to a request from Matt, a fellow blogger. “I have a topic request. If you have the time and the inspiration, would you please write about ”Why I Believe.” I know you’ve probably covered this idea in fragments on most of your blogs, but I would like to hear a complete position on why you believe that God exists, the bible is His Word and that Christ is His Son ect… Thanks.”
Well, Matt you are correct that many of my essays either allude to the answer or assume that the answer is self-evident.First, I should fill in some of the “etc” and also give you some clarification and background for my opinions.
Some of my faith opinions are still in flux. In other words there is some circumstantial data that is in harmony with my “fringe” opinions, but my conclusions are, to some degree, a willing “leap of faith”. This is true for just a few of my beliefs.Nevertheless, all opinions are a mixture of bias and knowledge (this includes OU is better than Texas). Just kidding (Matt is a Longhorn), but the point about bias is real. And this is no less true for faith issues, than it is for collegiate football.
Also, there is so much to my belief, that I will not be able to include everything; otherwise it would be a very long and boring autobiography.
These are the questions that I will address.
- A. Why do I believe in a Creator of the universe?
- B. Why do I believe that Jesus is the Messiah and the actively creative power of this Creator?
- C. Why do I believe that this Creator is the inspiration behind the scriptures?
- D. And, why do I believe that the Church is the body and Bride of Jesus the Creator?
I have focused the question by the modifications above. I think that our answers become more apparent, when our questions become less ambiguous.
ANSWER FOR ITEM “A”
The issue of “Does God Exist?” was a problematic one, in my early adult life, i.e. Age 18 to Age 21. There were some ancillary issues (which are of a personal nature that I won’t include here) that affected my ability to accept “belief.” I have used the term “belief” and not “belief in God”, with intent, which you will see as this answer develops in a later post.
Things that I began to observe in the world, appeared to be out-of-step with what I had been taught by my parents, bible teachers, preachers, etc. And it finally culminated in my 1st freshmen year at Oklahoma Christian College, in the fall and spring of 1983-84. I was in a class that challenged me on my “Belief in God.”
“Genesis”, which was taught by a respected Bible professor and PHD at OC, ironically, challenged my belief in God. Very quickly into the course, the 2nd week, as I recall, we got to Genesis 3. This is the fall of Adam and Eve.
I raised my hand and asked the professor the question, “Did God create the devil?” I thought it was a valid question. Incidentally, I still think it is valid, but I now have the answer that is sufficient to me. (I will give my answer to this at a later date. I believe that this answer is a part of Matt’s “etc.” from his question quoted above.)
We had studied the “creation” episode in the preceding week. But, in Genesis 3:1, we were looking “eye-to-eye” with a talking serpent. The professor gave only a very cursory answer, that I will paraphrase from recollection; ‘Yes, God created all things…, but I don’t have time to go off on “a wild goose-chase.”’
It was my opinion, at that moment, that he had perceived my question as an insolent attempt to divert the focus of his lecture.
And, now that I am 23 years removed from my passions of that morning, I must admit that I was, indeed, a very cheeky college student. And, that I may have, in-fact, been acting mischievous by asking the question to him, in the fashion that I did.
What self-respecting college student wouldn’t take an opportunity to ask an “honest and legitimate” question, which has as an added benefit of pinning the shoulders of an “Ivory Tower” professor to the floor?
I could even feign an indignant offense and by doing so, take the desired excuse for abandoning my faith.
After all there was a “fun” social function coming up in a couple of weeks with a sister club. Hey, if Dr. Blah,Blah can’t answer a simple question about the origin of the devil, then the answer is obvious, right? God, doesn’t exist? And “Come on guys, let’ parrrrrrty!”
It was a very useful Ad Hominem and it opened up my social calendar quite well.
I subsequently dropped out of college that semester, so that I could fully devote myself to hedonism, which had become my new religion.
However, I had not truly abandoned all my knowledge of the bible, which was something that always caused an irritation to my moral conscience, even as I went about my apostate ways.
I won’t go into the dark period of half-life. But, suffice it to say that I awakened one day.
I think it happened when I found my bible in the trunk of my car. There was a lot of symbolism in this storage of what had been a High School graduation gift from the congregation where I’d grown up. The symbolism did not go unnoticed by me. It was a cold shower and demanded that I take a decision on where I was headed. I should either throw away this moldy old book and get on with my life, such as it was, or I should take some serious time restoring the book to a readable condition.
I decided to go the restoration route. The bible had slipped into the lowest part of the trunk, in the fender well. There it got wet from water that seeped up from the drain plug that was in that low area. Each and every page had fused to its neighboring pages. So, the effort to get the pages open was quite time consuming.
But, the pragmatic answer of just disposing of the book and getting a new one, begged the question; Why get a new one? If I don’t care enough about this one that was a gift. I managed to open the bible and I keep it on a prominent bookcase in my living room. It is still misshapen and most of the pages are discolored by mold and water stains. But, it still has the power of life for a seeking heart. And it reminds me of where I have been.
Following my apostasy, a phase that lasted two years, I went back to college and enrolled in a course that had the opposite affect. This course too, was a profound irony. “Cellular Biology” truly acted as an anchor to my belief in God.
God loves teaching us through and by means that are topsy-turvy, upside down and backwards. This fact is among my personal favorites, for an individual rationale to belief in all of the above questions. The way that God does things is “foolish” to carnal thinking. But, yet it is logical and orderly in an inexplicable way. Who hasn’t heard the cliché, “God works in mysterious ways.”? This phrase is a testimony to the fact that there is this “ethereal order” to life that refuses to comport to standard conventions (a.k.a. common sense). Don’t tell me that God expects his people to use “common sense.” God not only doesn’t expect this but he has commanded us to not use “common sense.” Which of these is “common sense?” TO BE CONTINUED… God bless, DSM
It is one of those ‘paradoxes/paradice’ that this blog highlights.
I will give more detail on this point as we get down through my story.
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