3/16/15

Sam Harris, Christ’s Resurrection, and the Nature of Belief by Kyle Butt, M.A.

http://apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=10&article=2770

Sam Harris, Christ’s Resurrection, and the Nature of Belief

by Kyle Butt, M.A.

Sam Harris has helped lead the new brigade of militant atheists in their charge against God. His bestseller, The End of Faith, attempts to persuade the reader that all religions, including Christianity, are not only useless, but often quite harmful. In truth, he does an outstanding job showing some of the problems with false religions like Islam, and he also effectively repudiates perversions of Christian doctrine that attempt to pass themselves off as authentic. What he fails to do, however, is accurately assess true, New Testament Christianity, a fault that lies at the heart of much modern, atheistic writing.
As a case in point, Harris asked the question: “What should we believe?” He answered:
We believe most of what we believe about the world because others have told us to.... In fact, the more educated we become, the more our beliefs come to us second hand. A person who believes only those propositions for which he can provide full sensory or theoretical justification will know almost nothing about the world (2004).
Harris then proceeded to discuss how to assess the validity of what we should or should not believe that other people tell us. He gave three sources of information and analyzed the validity of each. First, he proposed the scenario of an anchorman on the evening news claiming that a fire in Colorado had burned 100,000 acres. Second, he listed as a source of information numerous biologists who claim that DNA is the “molecular basis for sexual reproduction.” And the third source of information he listed was the Pope, who claims that Jesus is the Son of God, was born of a virgin, and was resurrected bodily after death.
After some discussion, Harris concluded that the first and second sources of information are reliable and should be trusted, but the third, the Pope, is not. What is interesting about Harris’ discussion is why he concluded that the story about the fire on the evening news is trustworthy. He elaborated:
Given our beliefs about the human mind, the success of our widespread collaboration with other human beings, and the degree to which we all rely on the news, it is scarcely conceivable that a respected television network and a highly paid anchorman are perpetrating a hoax, or that thousands of firefighters, newsmen, and terrified homeowners have mistaken Texas for Colorado. Implicit in such commonsense judgments lurks an understanding of the causal connections between various processes in the world, the likelihood of different outcomes, and the vested interests or lack thereof, of those whose testimony we are considering. What would a professional news anchor stand to gain from lying about a fire in Colorado? We need not go into the details here, if the anchor on the evening news says that there is a fire in Colorado and then shows us images of burning trees, we can be reasonably sure that there really is a fire in Colorado (2004).
It is not surprising that Harris follows this explanation with his statement about mistrusting the words of the Pope pertaining to the resurrection of Christ. In this regard, he is right: the Pope’s “word” on the resurrection is no more authoritative than the word of Sam Harris. But notice the straw man Harris has built. He rightly attacks the false belief of the Pope’s infallibility, but he does not address the real evidence that validates Jesus’ resurrection. Were we to put the evidence for the resurrection beside that of the news story, the resurrection would have unquestionably more “commonsense judgments” to commend it, making it much more “reasonably sure” than a modern news story.
Analyzing the resurrection of Christ in light of Harris’ filter of evidence, it is “scarcely conceivable” that several hundred eyewitnesses (1 Corinthians 15:6) of the resurrected Christ simply concocted the story to further their agenda. What would ordinary fishermen, farmers, or businessmen and women stand to gain from perpetuating such a hoax? The reward for their testimony was that many of them were stoned, killed with the sword, tortured, or imprisoned for nothing more than saying that they knew Jesus came back to life. Thousands of their peers listened with interest to their evidence, assessed the value of the witnesses and other information, such as the empty tomb of Christ, and were forced to conclude that the resurrection had, indeed, occurred (Acts 2:41). Many among the most educated classes, including the priests, who would have had numerous reasons to deny the validity of the evidence, were convinced of the truth of Christ’s resurrection (Acts 6:7). The many “infallible proofs” (Acts 1:3) offered for the resurrection are recorded in the most reliable documents ever to come down to modern man from any historical repository (see Butt, 2004). In fact, so powerful are the various evidences for the resurrection (see Butt, 2002), that, knowing what we know “about the casual connections between various processes” and humanity’s “success of our widespread collaboration with other human beings,” it is inconceivable that the resurrection of Christ is a hoax. The Pope is an easy target. The real evidence for the resurrection is not.

REFERENCES

Butt, Kyle (2002), “Jesus Christ—Dead or Alive?” Reason & Revelation, [On-line], URL:http://www.apologeticspress.org/articles/121.
Butt, Kyle (2004), “Archaeology and the New Testament,” Reason & Revelation, [On-line], URL:http://www.apologeticspress.org/articles/2591.
Harris, Sam (2004), The End of Faith (New York: W.W. Norton).

From Mark Copeland... "CHALLENGES CONFRONTING THE CHURCH" Secularism


                  "CHALLENGES CONFRONTING THE CHURCH"

                               Secularism

INTRODUCTION

1. In previous lessons, we examined the challenges of...
   a. Denominationalism
   b. Sectarianism
   c. Factionalism
   d. Traditionalism

2. Each contribute toward changing the church...
   a. Into something very different than Jesus intended
   b. Churches that are carnal, fleshly, more of the world than of 
      God

[A similar challenge confronting churches is the trend toward secularism...]

I. DEFINING SECULAR AND SECULARISM

   A. SECULAR...
      1. Worldly rather than spiritual - American Heritage Dictionary
      2. Of or relating to worldly things as distinguished from things
         relating to church and religion; not sacred or religious;
         temporal; worldly - YourDictionary.com

   B. SECULARISM...
      1. Indifference to or rejection or exclusion of religion and
         religious considerations - Merriam-Webster
      2. Worldly spirit, views, or the like; esp., a system of doctrines
         and practices that disregards or rejects any form of religious
         faith and worship - YourDictionary.com

[One would think that by definition churches would be religious,
spiritual, sacred, in nature.  Yet many have noted that in too many churches, there are...]

II. MANIFESTATIONS OF SECULARISM

   A. THE CHURCH AS A BUSINESS INSTUTITION...
      1. In the Bible, the church is a spiritual institution
         a. The body of Christ, the kingdom of God - 1Co 12:27; Col 1:13
         b. The bride of Christ, the temple of the Holy Spirit - 2Co 11:2; 1Co 3:16
         c. With elders served as shepherds, feeding and guiding the flock of God - Ac 20:28
         d. Deacons met physical needs, but so others could focus on spiritual needs - Ac 6:1-7
         e. Preachers were devoted to the Word, serving as evangelists - 1Ti 4:16; 2Ti 4:5
      2. Today, many churches function more like a business
         a. Elders are more like board members, directors, corporate managers
         b. Preachers have become staff managers, counselors, figure heads
         c. Members divided into committees, departments, with chairpersons, superintendents
         d. Evangelism has turned into marketing, public relations

   B. THE CHURCH AS A SOCIAL INSTITUTION...
      1. Today, many churches have become social clubs
         a. Building gymnasiums, eating ("fellowship") halls
         b. Offering mental counseling, babysitting services
         c. Providing entertainment for children and even adults
      2. Whereas in the Bible the church focused on the spiritual
         a. They assembled to worship, edify one another - Ac 20:7; He 10:24-25
         b. Trends leading to make the focus social or secular were addressed - 1Co 11:17-34
         c. The assembly was their "fellowship hall", the Lord’s Supper their "fellowship dinner"
         d. Families were expected to take care of their social needs,
            lest the church become burdened and unable to fulfill its primary duties - e.g., 1Ti 5:16

[Turning the church from a spiritual institution into a secular one does
not occur overnight.  Changes that appear innocent and harmless may be
the "gateway drug" to secularism.  A few thoughts for...]

III. AVOIDING SECULARISM

   A. DISTINGUISH BETWEEN SACRED AND SECULAR...
      1. Let the church fulfill its role as a spiritual institution, focused on:
         a. Teaching the Word of God, praising God
         b. Providing opportunities to fulfill spiritual duties (e.g.,Lord’s Supper, assembling)
         c. Equipping the saints for ministry, much of which will occur outside the church
      2. Let family and society fulfill their roles
         a. Parents and friends providing entertainment, physical needs
         b. Professionals providing medical and counseling needs
         c. Individuals joining together in charitable organizations to serve others

   B. ADOPT BIBLICAL GUIDELINES...
      1. The church should focus on providing spiritual needs - 1Co 11:34
         a. Many churches struggle as to when and where to draw the line
         b. Paul does so in this passage; can it not be a guide for us today?
      2. As a church, be careful not to take on unnecessary burdens - 1Ti 5:16
         a. Many churches are burdened with social concerns, neglecting spiritual ones
         b. Paul warns against this in this passage; can it not be a guide as well?
      3. Let the organization of the church be patterned after the New
         Testament, not modern day businesses with their titles and organizations - e.g., Php 1:1

CONCLUSION

1. The Lord’s church is a wonderful institution; but God has other institutions as well...
   a. Such as family, government, etc.
   b. Each uniquely designed and qualified to fulfill their respective roles

2. The Lord’s church is likewise uniquely designed and qualified to fulfill a role...
   a. One that is spiritual and sacred
   b. One that can easily be neglected or burdened

Even with the best of intentions, the Lord’s church can easily be
transformed from a spiritual institution into a secular one.  That is the danger of secularism...!


Executable Outlines, Copyright © Mark A. Copeland, 2011

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From Gary... Problems, politicians and priorities


The federal government is out of control. Drunk with power and the acquisition of personal wealth, they have lost touch with those who elected them. We need to remove all of them, install term limits and spending limits- and do it now.  A constitutional convention needs to be convened to make these things happen!!!!  Having said my peace about the current state of affairs in Washington, I encourage every Christian to read the following...

Romans, Chapter 13 (WEB)
  1 Let every soul be in subjection to the higher authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those who exist are ordained by God.  2 Therefore he who resists the authority, withstands the ordinance of God; and those who withstand will receive to themselves judgment.  3 For rulers are not a terror to the good work, but to the evil. Do you desire to have no fear of the authority? Do that which is good, and you will have praise from the same,  4 for he is a servant of God to you for good. But if you do that which is evil, be afraid, for he doesn’t bear the sword in vain; for he is a servant of God, an avenger for wrath to him who does evil.  5 Therefore you need to be in subjection, not only because of the wrath, but also for conscience’ sake.  6 For this reason you also pay taxes, for they are servants of God’s service, attending continually on this very thing.  7 Give therefore to everyone what you owe: taxes to whom taxes are due; customs to whom customs; respect to whom respect; honor to whom honor.

If we follow God first, we will naturally be model citizens and therefore do the best we can within any system of government- even corrupt and ungodly ones.  In the meantime, I encourage you to investigate the following...