Over the last decade of ministry, I have had numerous people walk into my office wanting to talk about discrepancies in the exploration of their spiritual journey. The conversations often take the same road. They begin by quoting authors they have stumbled across. It’s amazing how many books have been written about the proof of or against God. I actually kind of like those conversations. I find it quite exhilarating to explore authors and their ideas.
While jogging the other day, something dawned on me I had never thought about. Honestly I don’t know why, as it is so apparent. I was listening to a debate from Cambridge University on the existence of God. Back and forth the conversation went like they always do, new authors rewording old ideas. It’s like a tree of thought. Someone comes up with an argument for or against a designer. Like the teleological proof (the extreme order and laws that are required for life) one author is absolutely certain God isn’t necessary, and another absolutely certain a designer is, so they slap lipstick and rouge on an old idea, toss it out there and sell a bunch of books. One by one, after the overarching ideas in the debate had been laid out, people came to the microphone at the university and started quoting authors and the endless chain of rebuttals for and against God began again.
All right, I am going to be really transparent for a moment. I feel like all of us, those who believe in a creator and those who don’t, are masters of professor bombing. We hide behind authors and quote endless streams of conversations that are taking place in the highest echelons of our education system. Sometimes I want to just say, “Ok, I get it! There are a bunch of really smart people who are on both sides of the fence.” Now, in new conversations I allow a little professor bombing just for posterity and to prove we have all read a lot of books, but people need to at some point wrestle with what they personally think. To quote Aragorn form Lord of the Rings, “What say you?”
I challenge you to take a few moments, sit down and ask yourself, “Do I believe?” Or maybe even ask yourself, “Do I want to believe?” If you want to find more books and authors for or against God, I promise there is an endless list you can read through and a constant flow to keep you searching. Don’t hear me wrong–it isn’t bad to keep exploring. I know I am. But the real question is this: what say you
Luke 9:20
Then he said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” And Peter answered, “The Christ of God.”