At the end of the day unbelievers will be responsible for their unbelief, and they will be without excuse at God’s judgment seat. But you are right to note the role Christian can play in all of this. Since I have been reading a lot of Tozer recently, let me mention a few lines from one of his articles: He speaks of the “glaring disparity between theology and practice among professing Christians. . . . Certainly the non-Christian is not too much to be blamed if he turns disgustedly away from the invitation of the Gospel after he has been exposed for a while to the inconsistencies of those of his acquaintance who profess to follow Christ. The deadening effect of religious make-believe on the human mind is beyond all describing.”

Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch

But again, I must side with Brennan Manning who said, “The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians, who acknowledge Jesus with their lips and walk out the door, and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.”

Caleb Childers, USA

Being genuinely open seems to be the key hear. (And openness is not at all the same as gullibility.) Your remarks do not express much openness at all. They certainly do not seem to indicate serious inquiry or diligent searching. They seem to indicate a mind that is already made up, in which any case further searching will not be very fruitful.

You “laboured through most of the John gospel”??? I would not have thought that 21 brief chapters of text would not call for much labour. And given that the very one thing that sets Christianity apart from every other religion and philosophy in the world – the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ – comes at the end of the gospel, a section you may not even have made it to, then you have missed the very heart of the story.

And of course there are 65 other books in the Bible. So you won’t win any rewards here for diligence or perseverance. You might as well say that you have read a few chapters of Das Capital or The God Delusion, and cannot accept what they have to say, based on those few minutes of reading.

And you have spoken before of ‘evidence’. Just what do you mean by that, or by the term ‘proof’? I hope you realise that perhaps 99% of what we do in life is not based on solid evidence or 100% proof. You don’t even have 100% proof that the chair you are sitting on will continue to support your weight for the rest of the day. All we have in most of life are stronger or weaker probabilities.

And again, an open mind reading the entire gospel of John would have been hit by the strongest evidence possible: here was a man who died, but came back to life again. How does one account for this, assuming the gospels are historically accurate and trustworthy? God would be the most sensible hypothesis to account for the empty tomb.

But of course if you rule out the miraculous ahead of time (as you scoff at the water into wine episode), then no amount of ‘evidence’ will ever convince you. If you own child died, and then came back to life three days later, if you rule out the miraculous ahead of time, then you will spend the rest of your life trying to explain away what just has happened. That sounds like gullibility to me.

And your disparaging words about being educated also need to be challenged. Many of the most brilliant and educated people of all time – doctors, lawyers, philosophers, scientists, educators, and so on – have been convinced by the evidence of Christianity’s truth claims. Were committed Christians like Augustine, Aquinas, C.S. Lewis and Francis Collins, head of the Human Genome Project, to name just a few, uneducated? It takes a lot of arrogance to make those sorts of claims.

And you evidentially did not read very carefully. Jesus’ treatment of women – as recorded in the four gospels – was revolutionary for his time. Unlike the surrounding culture, he treated women seriously and with utmost respect. He was centuries ahead of his time on this.

But as I say, it all boils down to how open one is. If one has already made up one’s mind ahead of time, then nothing can be said or done to convince a person otherwise. But I will continue to keep you in my prayers, and hopefully one day you may again explore the most important questions which any of us can deal with: Is there a God and an afterlife? If so, what is this God like, and what does he expect of me?

However, thanks for writing.

Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch

I laboured through most of the John gospel.
As you point out, your ‘rules’ are for short comments (and as such aren’t geared to deep philosophical discuss) – so here are a few bullets:
1. Yes – I am open to all philosophies, but not to the point of gullibility.
2. What a discursive read. It might resonate with the less educated people of the time, but not me.
3. Miracles: water to wine ? no further comment.
4. Morals: a couple of time a point was made, however he places women as inferior – 50% of the world population ! Sort of undid it for me.
5. Haven’t even looked at provenance of the docs in question, but don’t have the compulsion to investigate further based on what I read.

Bill – I’ll leave you and yours to enjoy life in whatever manner you chose. But I have seen no evidence to convince me to change my philosophies.

Mike Sloane

My questions are somewhat off topic. I like and enjoy Theodore Dalrymple’s bright little essays but so far I have not seen him question gay activism or the current fad for Western governments to promote this particular irrationality. Have I missed such a critique? Anyone here know why Dalrymple leaves these irrationalists unscathed?

John Snowden

But remember that all sites and sources will ultimately be biased to some degree. Wiki is far from a fount of objectivity and neutrality, let alone scholarly inquiry. And it all depends on which unis you seek out. Most secular unis of course in their humanities departments would be quite hostile to religious beliefs, so again care is needed in where you go to for info. While it is quite easy to come across sites and sources that are critical of Christian belief and the Bible, a bit more attention is needed to find those which give it a good run. Again, let me know if you want me to suggest a few for you.

Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch

I’m in the middle of work right now as I have a tender to release mid week, but hopefully then I should be able to make a start. These discussions have been a welcome interlude from the legalise )

Mike Sloan

But you miss my point. At this time I am not asking you to commit to anything, simply to read the gospels with an open and unbiased mind. But if you trawl the usual sceptics and atheist websites first, you will hardly be in a position to have an open and unprejudiced mind. As I said, certainly you can and should read critically as you go along, and afterwards you can do all the extra reading you want. But don’t prejudge the case first – that’s all I’m saying.

But if you must, then to be fair, for every hostile website you turn to, you should also read one that argues for the reliability and historicity of the gospel accounts. If you have trouble locating those, just let me know. Or if you prefer books, I can recommend those as well.

It is only after you have read the gospels, and you know what is involved, that the opportunity for commitment arises, one way or another. And then yes, it will be far more important than simply buying a car, and proper research and important decision making will be called for.

But as I say, if this is a mere intellectual exercise, with no desire of actually being open to having your thinking – and life – turned around, then it will be a fairly useless exercise. Again, it is all up to you.

Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch

Read what you just wrote – you are asking me to do just what you accused “those skeptics” of. Why it should worry you is odd. I’m sure I’ll see both religious and non-religious bias but I have a logical brain between my ears.

Bill – you are a believer. Surely you understand the nature of research. When buying a car, I still have it looked at by an independent mechanic – I don’t take honest-John-the-car-delaers word for it.

I spent many years in meteorological research (the agricultural sector) – I understand research. I understand the nature of evidence, and can spot bias 100km away.
I’m an independent thinker, old boy.

Mike Sloan

A genuine seeker will first simply read these gospels, and along the way one can make critical assessments. But if you go into reading these with an antagonistic mind to begin with, then you will not get very far. Then the exercise will be a complete waste of time, and you will simply have arrived at the place you wanted to arrive at.

Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch