Appendix 1 : Lessons for the Church

 

I believe we should thank Richard for the wake-up call that he's given to the church. He probably doesn't realise it and it certainly wasn't his goal, but I believe that is what it is! This is a page for Christians. Here are some of the obvious things which I believe arise out of this book.

    

   

A. Defensive Christianity?

 

Working through The God Delusion has reminded me that we have no need to feel defensive. If you will take the trouble to check this book out, page by page as I have, you will realise that:

a) Richard is skating around on incredibly thin ice and is really proclaiming the poverty of atheism, and

b) as we think about the Christian answers, we realise we have very firm ground beneath our feet.

 

We have no need to act or speak defensively. We are the ones with the answers that aren't just wild speculation; they are well founded and can stand careful scrutiny! Defensiveness is so often a sign of a weak faith. If we can face up to some of the challenges that come with this book, then we may find ourselves with a stronger faith and feel more confident and thus can become more graceful.

   

"I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes" (Rom 1:16)

 

B. Knowledgeable Christians?

 

A number of times Richard berates Christians who don't know their Bibles or what they are supposed to believe. This is a good challenge! In the West at least, we live in a day of unprecedented affluence and affluence tends to make us lazy. I'm not expecting all Christians to go to Bible School, but it would be good if a lot more Christians really did read and study their Bible on a regular basis.

 

In the back half of Chapter 3 and a large part of Chapter 7, Richard lambastes the Bible. The test for whether you know your Bible well is, when you read those chapters, do you get frustrated by Richard's total misunderstanding in the light of your knowledge of the Bible. If you don't, it suggests that you have a lot of studying to do!

 

If The God Delusion shakes you, it means two things:

 

1. You haven't really thought through exactly what is being said and have not noted the incredible amount of speculation and assumptions that are there, and have not distinguished between scientific fact and theoretical, philosophic wonderings.

 

2. You don't know the basics of your Faith and of the Bible, and have not realised that virtually all of what is said in this book about the Bible, is bad misrepresentation.

    

"I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints" (Eph 1:17,18)

    

   

C. People of Integrity?

 

I would like to link integrity here with the ability to think. It seems to me that there are a lot of people in the church, especially in America who take a stand on a particular issue or a particular teaching but when you are discussing it, it becomes clear that they have based their stand on sound bites, and have really not thought through the issues from a Biblical Christian point of view. I apologise to my American colleagues about my comments about the States but that is how it so often comes over – but perhaps it's because it is such a big country and makes more noise than we placid Brits. For a much bigger explanation as to the 'American phenomenon', please read chapters 6 to 11 of Nancy Pearcey's book, Total Truth, which seeks to explain something of the characteristics and history of the church in the USA.

 

In recent years, I have challenged those I know in America, to think honestly. I challenged the premise that The Passion of Christ or The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe would bring revival. I have challenged the fear of Harry Potter, which comes largely in those who have never opened one of the books. But it's not solely on that side of the Atlantic. On that issue, a colleague in this country suggested to me, following the sell-out of the seventh Harry Potter book, that a pact had been made with the devil to get the sales. As I pondered this evangelical assessment, I was put in mind of Jesus' responses when his enemies said he was of the devil. Having recently finished reading the last book, I wonder if Satan is behind books that extol friendships, heroism, courage, valour, truth, loyalty, goodness and the downfall of evil?

 

While on the matter of integrity, I have commented within the notes that because of the nature of the church, again (sorry) in America especially, there are times when the rest of us cringe with embarrassment at the antics of Christian individuals, quite often on TV. Some of the stuff said from pulpits and from TV studios does not stand up to scrutiny. Our problem so often is that the people in question sometimes have ‘big ministries' (a description that does not conform to Scriptural pattern) and because most of what they say is good, when they speak off the rails we tolerate it. There needs to be some form of accountability, but for the life of me I don't know how we can bring it about.

 

Still on the matter of integrity, how long will the Roman Catholic church hang on to its add-on beliefs that are tantamount to pure superstition. A number of times Richard derides these things and it simply leaves the rest of us thoroughly embarrassed, regretfully having to say, “Well, yes, you have a point.” Am I in faith that this part of the church will exclude all historical add-on bits and only go with what is clearly seen in the Bible? Sadly, no.

 

"It gave me great joy to have some brothers come and tell about your faithfulness to the truth and how you continue to walk in the truth" (3 John 1:3).

   

D. A People of Grace?

 

The history of the church in the past century seems to be littered with examples of voices of people of God who are speaking with far less than the grace of God. I remember Francis Schaeffer writing about the nature of schism in the early half of the last century. He pointed out that disagreement should not be accompanied by hostility. Some of the quotes that Richard uses of those who have disagreed with the world's views, leave me almost weeping. Yes, we may say, he is picking out extremist individuals, but they do still come in the name of the Christian Church.

 

As strongly as we may disagree with the ways of the world, and the behaviour of the rest of the world, if we are abusive we are no different from them. It is as simple as that. We will not make our point any stronger by being abusive. God is the judge of all men, not you and me. Tragically, the way some people have disagreed with the world, has meant that many people have actually been turned away from the Gospel. When we can show that we love this world while avidly disagreeing with them, then we may find people taking more notice of us. I am convinced that many people are turned off by the antics of the church, but if they saw something of the love, grace and acceptance of Christ in us, I am also convinced that many more people would turn, listen, consider and come to see the Truth.

"The wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere." (James 3:17)   

   

E. An Imperfect People

 

Richard sometimes takes us to task quite unfairly, simply because he does not understand the nature of people and the nature of Christian people. In the paragraph above on Integrity, I have raised a number of issues where we fall short of the glory of God.

 

I have been forced by Richard's writing to consider this whole subject at length, for when I look around the world there are so many weird and wonderful things that go on in the name of the Christian Church that, at times, it almost makes me want to give up. Yet the truth is that this side of heaven the church comprises imperfect redeemed sinners. We get it wrong, all of us. We wish we didn't, but we do. Expecting the Church to be perfect in all it says and does is unrealistic, yet that is what we should be constantly aiming for.

 

This awareness of our own imperfection should produce humility within us. When we are told that divorce rates in some parts of the church are as bad as in the world, we know we've got a lot of work to do. When we find our teenagers behaving the same as those in the world, we know we have a lot of work to do. When we find Christian business men using the same questionable ethics as the world uses, we know we have a lot of work to do. When we find large numbers confessing to looking at Internet pornography, we know we have a lot of work to do. We could carry on endlessly.

 

However, at the end of all this, the truth is, as I've commented a number of times in the notes, merely because human beings very often make a mess of their (Christian) lives, that does not annul the Gospel; it simply confirms the need of it.

 

"I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense--Jesus Christ, the Righteous One." (1 John 2:1)

And So?

 

These are just some of the more obvious things that I believe come as challenges to us who are Christians, things we need to face and to deal with. No doubt as I reread the book and the notes on these pages, I may find more and add to them. For the time being, I simply ask that if you are a Christian reading these pages, you give some reasonable thought to these things. God speaks to His Church in a variety of ways. Perhaps Richard is one of them. In my Introductory Page I apologise if I have communicated ungraciously. If I have done so here, I reiterate that apology.