Why Does Truth Matter?

“Truth yields life. If we are sailors lost at sea, we need true north. If we’re branches on tree hoping to bear fruit, which we are, we need connection to a true vine. Truth tells us where we are, who we are, to whom we belong, and the real story in which we can fully live. It seems to me that our American culture, in its present condition, is both lost and starving for truth, and therefore vulnerable to the deception of power politics, marketing schemes, and politically correct slogans of professors, politicians, and media that often lead to the death of the soul and the body. Lies lead to death and a culture of death, but the truth sets people free for life.”—Kelley Monroe Kullberg

See also, John 8:31-32

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Knowledge isn't that important...is it?

"People perish for lack of knowledge, because only knowledge permits assured access to reality; and reality does not adjust itself to accommodate our false beliefs, errors, or hesitations in action. Life demands a steady hand for good, and only knowledge supplies this. This is as true in the spiritual life as elsewhere." - Dallas Willard

Not only is it critical to be able to ask and argue if Christianity is true but even more important is whether it can be known to be true.

Here's a good place to start your search and learn how to make the case for the Christian worldview.

Why Intellectual Virtues Are Important

One of the ways that we can increase the chances of forming true beliefs and arriving at knowledge is by pursuing intellectual virtues. An intellectual virtue is “a characteristic of a person who acts in a praise-worthy manner in the process of forming beliefs.” For example, James Beilby and David Clark describe the intellectual virtues of honesty and courage: “Being intellectually honest means making a fair appraisal of the evidence at hand, dedicating effort to reach valid conclusions, admitting personal biases that affect beliefs, and seeking to reduce those biases. In an intellectual context, courage involves, among other things, being willing to take the minority position when the evidence points in that direction. It also means investigating personally held beliefs with rigor” (Why Bother With Truth?). These virtues do not happen by accident, they are the result of forming healthy intellectual habits over time.

But the goal of knowledge is not just to accumulate data. The acquisition of knowledge should help us along the path of becoming virtuous people and flourishing as followers of Jesus Christ. Knowledge, over time and with effort, becomes understanding. Understanding then describes the growing integration of our fragmented knowledge into an increasingly coherent picture of God and our world. And as we grow in understanding, we have the opportunity to grow in wisdom as well, which is the skillful application of knowledge and understanding to life.

Solomon speaks of the blessing that accompanies this dynamic pursuit: “Blessed is the man who finds wisdom, the man who gains understanding” (Prov. 3:13; cf. 2:6). Knowledge is the crucial first step in this process. And as Christ-followers, we should remember that our actions flow out of what we truly believe (cf. Rom. 12:1–2).

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What are FACEBOOK and GOOGLE hiding from the world?

Perhaps more than you think...The internet opens up the whole world of ideas to you right? Maybe not. This video underscores why you need to be aware of what doesn't show up in your Facebook feed and Google searches.

 "The first to present his case seems right, till another comes forward and questions him."--Prov.18:17

 

(H/T Kevin Perry)

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Is Science Our Only Source of Knowledge?

With the rise and success of modern science (and these advances have been beneficial in many ways), some people have unfortunately come to believe that science, and science alone, offers true knowledge of reality. Famous atheist Bertrand Russell put it this way: “Whatever knowledge is attainable, must be attained by scientific methods; and what science cannot discover, mankind cannot know.” Initially, this sounds sophisticated and intelligent. You will hear variations of this slogan all over the place, and it is implied in most documentaries you see on TV. The only problem is that if it is true, we couldn’t know it to be true. Why? Because the state-ment itself is not testable by the scientific method and is therefore by its own stan- dard unable to be known! It’s self-refuting. It’s a statement that commits suicide.

Contrary to what you may have been lead to believe, science is not capable of providing comprehensive knowledge of reality. It does great with bacteria, supernovas, genes, and gravity, but it falters when trying to discuss virtue and vice, souls, free will, moral responsibility, success, joy, love, forgiveness, wisdom, salvation, redemption, hope, purpose, meaning, and beauty (just to name a few!). The scientism espoused by Russell, which is hand in hand with naturalism, must be resisted by Christians if we are to engage our world with the good news of the kingdom of God. We don’t need to be bullied into thinking that if we can’t examine something with a microscope or telescope, then we can’t know it. For this is a self-evidently false statement. 

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Christians are for Truth wherever it is found

All truth is God's truth. John Calvin provides us with a good reminder that engaging our minds matters because truth matters: "It is superstitious to refuse to make use of any secular authors. For since all truth is of God, if any ungodly man has said anything true, we should not reject it, for it has also come from God. Besides, since all things are from God, what could be wrong with employing to His glory everything that can be rightly used in that way?” Application: Think hard and think Christianly for the glory of God! (1 Cor. 14:20)

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Mind Your Faith by David Horner Is a GREAT Read!

Recently I was honored to have the opportunity to endorse a great new book by Dr. David Horner of Biola University. Here is what I wrote:

"Many Christians heading off to college are simply unprepared for the intellectual, spiritual and moral challenges that await them. Confronted with new ideas, strong desires and relational pressures, it's not surprising that so many drift away from their childhood faith. But it doesn't have to be this way! In this timely book, David Horner offers students a compelling vision of what it means to follow Jesus Christ with a mature faith during the college years and beyond. High school graduates need to read this book!" (Jonathan Morrow, author of Welcome to College and founder of www.thinkchristianly.org)

Dave Horner is a topnotch (Oxford trained) Christian thinker. I had the privilege to study under him at Talbot School of Theology while doing Master's work in Philosophy of Religion and I count myself lucky to call him a friend today. This is a GREAT book that will help you think and live well and flourish as a human being as God intended. My hope is that many adults will read it and then invest in the next generation.

Here is the book:

Here is an interview with Dave Horner on the Frank Pastore show in L.A.

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Does the Bible Encourage Blind Faith? - Jonathan Morrow (Video)

The short answer is no. In this video I talk more about why. Sincerity is not enough. A person's faith is only as good as the object in which its placed. Moreover, thinking is very important in the Christian life. Paul makes that abundantly clear: “Brothers and sisters, stop thinking like children. In regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking be adults” (1 Cor. 14:20).

Does the Bible Encourage Blind Faith? - Jonathan Morrow from Think Christianly on Vimeo.

I go into more detail here and here.

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Is Christianity True, False, or Other?

One of my favorite writers is Nancy Pearcey because she has a way of capturing the essence of big ideas in clear writing. In Total Truth she correctly observes that "When Christians are willing to reduce religion to noncognitive categories, unconnected to questions of truth or evidence, then we have already lost the battle." Please reread that last sentence.

You see, if Christianity does not rise to the level of being true or false then it has been removed completely from the cognitive realm. If something can't be false, then it can't be true either. And rational investigation or justification fly out the window too. If we in the American church don't get this and teach it to the next generation, then Christians will be increasingly marginalized in a secular culture. But worse still, this unbiblical notion will sap us of our confidence to live as if Christianity were actually true because confidence and knowledge go hand and hand. If you have not done so already, I highly recommend reading Total Truth by Nancy Pearcey.

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Recovering Christianity As A Knowledge Tradition Means Saving Minds As Well As Souls

As humans, we were designed to act on knowledge in everyday life. If you and I don’t think the Bible and other sources of knowledge about God, morality, and the spiritual life are possible and we are not growing in this knowledge; then following Jesus in everyday life will be next to impossible because we always default to what we know. Moreover, there appears no good reason to exclude the knowledge claims of Christianity simply because they are “religious.” If they do not hold up to scrutiny, that is one thing. But Christianity, which is rooted in history, makes many claims, some of which are empirically testable, while others are testable by non-empirical means. The crucial point to grasp is that Christianity rises to the level of being either true or false, and it can be known to be true or false (cf. Luke 1:1–4).

If Christianity is relegated to the realm of fairy tales, which may provide personal significance or meaning but not knowledge, then people will continue not taking the claims of Jesus or the Christian worldview very seriously. If, however, people are invited to consider the claims of Christianity as a knowledge tradition then chances are good that they might come to know the living God and live life according to the knowledge provided in His Word. Charles Malik summarizes this idea well: “The problem is not only to win souls but to save minds. If you win the whole world and lose the mind of the world, you will soon discover you have not won the world.”

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Does Scientific Naturalism Provide Safe Quarter for Christian Theology?

“For if Darwinism is true, then religion and morality are nothing more than irrational, upper-story beliefs inhabiting the realm of value rather than fact. We are sometimes reassured that this is not a bad thing, because after all the subjectivity of the value realm renders it immune to rational scrutiny. The marketing pitch can be quite seductive: Scientific naturalists say they will acknowledge that there are certain moral and religious feelings that science cannot account for—if, in return, theology will agree not to intrude into realms investigated by science. In other words, if Christians would just relinquish all claims to objective truth, then they would be granted an arena where their beliefs are secure from criticism.” – Nancy Pearcey

That’s not a good deal at all and we should reject it—precisely because we are Christians who stand in a knowledge tradition. So I am with Peter on this one: “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen” (2 Peter 3:18).

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Archaeologist sees proof for Bible in ancient wall

"JERUSALEM – An Israeli archaeologist said Monday that ancient fortifications recently excavated in Jerusalem date back 3,000 years to the time of King Solomon and support the biblical narrative about the era.

If the age of the wall is correct, the finding would be an indication that Jerusalem was home to a strong central government that had the resources and manpower needed to build massive fortifications in the 10th century B.C.

That's a key point of dispute among scholars, because it would match the Bible's account that the Hebrew kings David and Solomon ruled from Jerusalem around that time.
While some Holy Land archaeologists support that version of history — including the archaeologist behind the dig, Eilat Mazar — others posit that David's monarchy was largely mythical and that there was no strong government to speak of in that era.

Speaking to reporters at the site Monday, Mazar, from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, called her find "the most significant construction we have from First Temple days in Israel."
"It means that at that time, the 10th century, in Jerusalem there was a regime capable of carrying out such construction," she said.

Based on what she believes to be the age of the fortifications and their location, she suggested it was built by Solomon, David's son, and mentioned in the Book of Kings.

The fortifications, including a monumental gatehouse and a 77-yard (70-meter) long section of an ancient wall, are located just outside the present-day walls of Jerusalem's Old City, next to the holy compound known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary. According to the Old Testament, it was Solomon who built the first Jewish Temple on the site.
That temple was destroyed by Babylonians, rebuilt, renovated by King Herod 2,000 years ago and then destroyed again by Roman legions in 70 A.D. The compound... (more)

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Is Knowledge of God Possible?

Humans were designed to act on knowledge in everyday life. If you and I don’t think the Bible and other sources of knowledge about God, morality, and the spiritual life are possible and we are not growing in this knowledge; then following Jesus in everyday life will be next to impossible because we always default to what we know.

Here is a podcast where I explore this in more detail, listen here.

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What is Emotional Doubt?

Os Guinness perceptively puts to words what man y of us feel adn then mistake for intellectual objections or doubts to faith: “The problem is not that reason attacks faith but that emotions overwhelm reason as well as faith, and it is impossible for reason to dissuade them….[this kind of] doubt comes just at the point where the believer’s emotions (vivid imagination, changing moods, erratic feelings, intense reactions) rise up and overpower the understanding of faith. Out-voted, out gunned, faith is pressed back and hemmed in by the unruly mob of raging emotions that only a while earlier were quiet, orderly citizens of the personality. Reason is cut down, obedience is thrown out, and for a while the rule of emotions is as sovereign as it is violent. The coup d’etat is complete."

The best book on doubt I know of is God in the dark by Os Guinness (it is well worth your time!)

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Does Richard Dawkins Exist?

OK. I came across this video on YouTube and it is brilliantly done (even down to sounding like Dawkins)...if you are familiar with Richard Dawkins and his book the God Delusion. A very witty parody and subtle "turn about is fair play" of employment of Dawkins own arguments on whether Dawkins actually exists.

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Is Christian Faith Blind and Irrational?

On the Christian worldview, faith is not opposed to reason. It cooperates with reason. “Faith is trusting in what we have reason to believe is true.” (synonyms for faith = trust, confidence, reliance, God-confidence).

Put another way, "Faith is a readiness to act as if something were so" (cf. Dallas Willard). It is important to notice that this is the same faith we employ when we get on airplane or decide that forgiveness is really better than bitterness and Jesus was right about that.

A challenging aspect of this understanding is also that "what we we believe is what we actually act as if it were true." (ouch)

Finally, it is important to recognize that faith doesn't make anything true or false...whether airplanes are safe, forgiveness really is better than bitterness, or that Jesus rose from the grave. Sincerity doesn't make something true or false. Faith is only as good as the object in which it is placed.

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Understanding the Bible...where do you begin?

“All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.” – 2 Timothy 3:16-17 (NLT)

Christianity teaches that God has spoken in the Bible. And yet, it remains a very intimidating book and this intimidation keeps people from reading it...and therefore being transformed by it (Romans 12:2).

Over at the main think Christianly website (this blog is just one of the things we do to try to encourage you in your daily adventure with God), you will find resource pages in our (always growing) Card Catalog to help you on your faith journey. To learn how to start understanding the Bible for yourself, click here.

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Has the Church lost her mind?

“Has the Church lost her mind?” That is a question that many within the evangelical world are rightly asking. After much study of this question, historian Mark Noll concluded that “The scandal of the evangelical mind is that there is not much of an evangelical mind.”[2] Os Guinness laments “Anti-intellectualism is a disposition to discount the importance of truth and the life of the mind. Living in a sensuous culture and an increasingly emotional democracy, American evangelicals in the last generation have simultaneously toned up their bodies and dumbed down their minds.”[3] Guinness even begins his book by including a humorous cartoon illustrating this sad state of affairs with one character saying to the other “Buns of Steel—Brains of Silly Putty!”[4] Evangelical Philosopher and Theologian William Lane Craig observes that “Our churches are filled with people who are spiritually born again, but who still think like non-Christians.”[5] Is this an accurate portrait?

Unfortunately, in many circles it is. But it shouldn't be; it doesn't have to be....

That is why Think Christianly exists. (Luke 10:27)

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[2] Mark A. Noll, The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1994), 3.

[3] Os Guinness, Fit Bodies, Fat Minds: Why Evangelicals Don't Think and What to Do About It (Grand Rapids: Hourglass Books, 1994), 9-10.

[4] Ibid., 8.

[5] William Lane Craig, Hard Questions, Real Answers (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2003), 13.

God Has Spoken

It is sometimes said that God has written two books: creation and the Bible. God has first revealed Himself through and in what He has made. This is His general revelation to all people, in that everyone has equal access to it simply by watching a sunset at the beach, standing on a mountain top, or observing the night sky.

But God has also spoken through people in history and this is known as special revelation. In special revelation, God reveals information that could not have been discovered any other way (e.g., people can’t deduce from a sunset that Jesus Christ has provided salvation for any who would place their trust in Him). As they were led by the Holy Spirit, the authors of Scripture communicated God’s words to His people (from 1405 bc to ad 95). The books we possess, from Genesis to Revelation, are God’s final and authoritative revelation to the world. No clearer word is needed and no higher authority can be appealed to.

An important corollary to this discussion is the Bible’s status of being “without error,” known as the doctrine of inerrancy. Because of God’s perfect character and the fact that He cannot lie, it follows that His revelation to us would be without error. But, you might ask, didn’t flawed and sinful human beings pen Scripture? Yes. But that is why the Holy Spirit guarded the original writings from error.

Theologian David Dockery offers a good summary of this doctrine, “When all the facts are known, the Bible (in its original writings) properly interpreted in light of which culture and communication means had developed by the time of its composition will be shown to be completely true (and therefore not false) in all that it affirms, to the degree of precision intended by the author, in all matters relating to God and his creation.” And even though none of the original manuscripts exist today, biblical scholars have sufficiently demonstrated that the Bible has been accurately and reliably preserved for us. Therefore, the Bible you can buy today is essentially the Word of God. Indeed, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:16–17).

Passages to explore: Psalm 19:1–4; Matthew 5:18; John 10:35; 17:17; Romans 1:18–25; 2:14–16; 1 Thessalonians 2:13; Titus 1:2; Hebrews 1:1–2; 6:18; 2 Peter 1:16–21.

On Knowledge and Virtue

Peter has some encouraging and instructive words for us. Notice the role that effort plays in the cultivation of virtue and maturity. It is all fueled by grace and the power of the Holy Spirit of course...but we must be intentional about it if we are to mature.

3His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

5For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. 8For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.

10Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, 11and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.