God in a box

As usual, we’re going to take a walk through logic–only this time, we’ll look at the logic of a bibical worldview itself.

Some people, who call themselves Christians, when describing their own theology, show that they would really rather not land on anything very specific. They agree that Jesus rose from the dead, but they believe the Bible is only partially true, much of it symbolic or figurative language. The universe could not possibly have been created in six days. And there are many paths to heaven, depending on your beliefs.

Let’s start with the very basic, foundational belief, which allows us to walk down a logical road: the belief that Christ died on a cross and rose again from the dead. This would imply something supernatural. Indeed, it implies that Christ is God.

If Christ is God, how did He communicate to mankind? He chose to communicate through His word, the Bible. The Gospel of John says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being by Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men” (John 1:1-4). Of course, if you deny that the Bible is the Word of God, your train of logical thought stops there.

However, if you agree that Christ rose from the dead, you must somehow take a logical misstep to deny that the Bible, His Word, is true. It is either all true or not at all. If it is not at all true, then Christ did not rise from the dead; it’s just myth. Which do you believe?

Let’s take this logical train in reverse now. If you believe that Christ rose from the dead, but that the Bible, His word, is not completely true, then how can you believe that Christ is God? If His word is not true, then He is a liar. Then He cannot be God.

Some would like to choose which parts of the Bible they can agree with. Some of it is just too hard. That Adam and Eve story, for instance. Just myth, don’t you think? And how about the flood? Sure, it probably did flood, but not worldwide. Not really.

However, nothing in God’s character would show that He is only partly true. He keeps His word; He fulfills His promises. The Old Testament is replete with prophecies, some of which came true within a generation or two, and others which took centuries to fulfill. Some will be fulfilled at the end of time. Jesus Christ, walking the earth, healing the sick and the lame, being crucified and rising again, fulfilled hundreds of prophecies to the letter. Partly true, or fully true?

Christ is not the only way to heaven? Depends on what you believe? Again, the Bible says that He is the only way to the Father. Going back down that logical train, you would indeed have to believe that Christ, who was raised from the dead, is God, and that His Word is true, in order to believe that He is the only way to heaven. The question gets begged, why would you want to go to a heaven whose God you do not believe anyway?

As for creation in six days or countless millennia, to say that God could not have created the universe in six days is to limit Him, to put Him in a box. Could He create the universe? “Yes, but not in six days.” Really? So He can create anything, but not on His terms–just on yours? I’m not willing to limit His power according to my own limited perspective. I’m willing to believe that the God who raised Christ from the dead in order to save me from the penalty of my sins could create the universe and all within it, to look exactly as it does today, in the amount of days He chose.

Finally, I must encourage my readers to understand that to define faith based on your own perspective is dangerous. I believe in Christ alone, through faith alone, by grace alone, communicated by His Word alone. Anything else is to create a new religion. Any single part of the Christian faith, taken alone and expanded, added to, or misshapen, is a new religion. We are warned not to trust any warping, reshaping, adding to, or redefining that pure Word of God.

I tremble at the idea of redefining my faith, my God, or His action on the cross to atone for sins. He purchased me with His blood, that I might be His own, to the glory of His name. Though I cannot fully understand it all, nor can I fathom the mind of God, I will not try to redefine it so that it is more palatable or “relevant.”

“See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ. For in Christ all the fulness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority.” Colossians 2:8-9