Pushing the Button--Part Three

Are you a skeptic? Do you believe that the Christian faith is nothing more than “pushing a button... just in case it is true?” I enjoy listening to Bill O’Reilly on Fox News. When I see the cast of characters running for president of the USA, sometimes I wonder whether or not a man like O’Reilly or even someone like Lou Dobbs (I am not familiar with his social positions, but I like his business mind and his logic), would be a better president then the politicians currently in the race. I like O’Reilly’s honesty. Many times I wonder why politicians don't just answer the questions they are asked straightforwardly and honestly...I am sure there is a political reason for their round-about-ness.

Recently, he interviewed what I will call a “hyper-atheist.” The new atheism of the 21st century not only suggests there is no God, but they now are proclaiming that if the story is not true, then those who formed the story (Moses, Abraham, David, the Prophets, Jesus, the disciples, the apostles, the Church, etc.) are not only wrong, but they are evil. In some ways, this is nothing new. In fact, I have heard my Dad, the senior pastor of GRPC, state many times that Jesus was either God or he was the greatest lunatic, liar, and impostor ever to walk the earth. It is true—if Jesus is not who He said He was, then Christians are fools and deceived.

In the interview with the hyper-atheist, O’Reilly concluded at the end by saying something like, “I think it takes more faith to be like you, an atheist, then like me, a believer, simply because of nature. I just don’t think we could have lucked out to have the tides come in, the tides go out, the sun go up, the sun go down…I don’t think it could have happened (by chance)…Jesus was a real guy, I can see him and I know what he did. I’m not positive that Jesus was God but I’m throwing in with Jesus rather than with you guys (the atheists) because you guys can’t tell me how it all got here.” The atheist replied, “We are working on it.” O Reilly, “when you get it, then maybe I will listen.”

The Hebrew and Christian faiths have always provided chalk lines within which the skeptical and questioning spirit of man could have a place to lament and inquire. The fact that Ecclesiastes stands within the canonical circle of the Bible is a virtual witness to that truth! I am grateful that the circle of the Hebrew faith was wide enough to include Job and Ecclesiastes, aren’t you? Today, we live in a time of great skepticism about absolute truth. Even those in evangelical circles are starting to "bend" (more on that another day). In a day of great skepticism, we can offer the skeptic a starting point in the book of Ecclesiastes. Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, who saw the work of Yahweh in mighty tangible ways, was a skeptic who found satisfying and eternal answers.





I would love your feedback and interactions--either post here or email me privately at clbetters@grpc.org. More tomorrow.