Faith Well Grounded

I was over at "Stand to Reason" today (the link is on my blog roll), and they have a very well-written response to the NewsWeek discussion hosting Rick Warren and Sam Harris. Melinda points out many specific instances where Mr. Harris misrepresents Christianity in his evaluation of it. Now, we all know how easy it is to beat up on the "straw man", and in my opinion the need to build such a straw man is an indication of a weak position. Unfortunately, this seems a fairly common practice, either intentionally or due just to a lack of familliarity with core Christian doctrine.

I would invite the atheists out there to truly get to know Christianity before trying to debunk it. Learn it as a whole and not just as bits and pieces that seem to fit into your criticisms. Read the testimony of scripture in its entirity before seeking to use it as a weapon. Trust me, if you use the latter approach of study, you'll beat yourself with it.

For instance, I saw at a skeptic's site a criticism of Jesus that He was against family because of Luke 14:36. When you understand that the Greek miseo was used to mean "love less", you understand the intent was for God to be the center of our lives. When you see the full testimony of scripture, that Jesus called us to love everyone (much less our father and mother, whom we are to honor) as much as ourselves, you begin to see how rediculous this mode of attack truly is.

The Bible is a witness to God. If you are trying to use this witness against Him, it is your duty to find out exactly what that witness has to say. You can't selectively pick and choose the details to suit your means. You either accept the witness in its entirity, or leave it out altogether. The Bible, when taken as a whole, is in no need of defense. It has been around longer than you or I, Mr. Skeptic. And it will be around a lot longer than us too.

Technorati Tags: Faith Reasons to believe

• ‹ previous
• 12 of 56
• next ›