Compelling Arguments

Recently, one of the blogs I follow wrote about “compelling arguments”. The gist of the post was that one person or party would make an argument using facts, ration, and logic, and the opposing person or party would just say “No” and not present any meaningful opposition. At the end he stated, “You know, I really begin to wonder exactly what a ‘compelling argument’ really looks like.” I sarcastically left the comment that we see “compelling arguments” all the time, in the form of emotionally driven arguments. He then proceeded to contradict me (just go read the post and you’ll get it).

Originally I thought his response was serious, and so it got me thinking. How do you define a compelling argument? From one point of view, a compelling argument would appear one way, and from the opposite point of view, it would appear a different way. From the point of view of a person wanting an argument (as opposed to just automatic gainsaying), the most compelling argument would be factual, logical, reasonable, and consistent. As long as both sides are using reason and truth to debate, they should both have compelling arguments. On the other hand, if you view the argument from the result, rather than the content, then a compelling argument is merely the argument that causes change. The former is harder to see and is not often thought of because when we think of “compelling” we often think of the outcome, not the substance. The latter may not be based on logic, reason, or truth, but because it was the more emotional, it compelled people to side with it. Both lead to a change, ideally, but one looks at the content, and one looks at the result.

My suggestion would to not define a compelling argument based on its result. Emotions are fickle beasts, swaying with the tide. Truth, reason, and consistency will hold out in the long haul. That is why Christianity has survived as long as it has and remained true to its origins. 

Eternality

Eternality is a difficult concept to truly wrap one’s head around. We are bound by time. We have a beginning, we travel along the course of time, and we have an end, sort of. Biblically we are everlasting, we have a beginning, but no end, but we are still bound by time. After Christ’s return time will have less significance, but we will still travel through it.

But God is eternal. He had no beginning, has no end, and is not bound by time. As time-locked beings, this is truly difficult to really understand. We can grasp the concept, but we must continually remind ourselves that it is beyond us. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit have always existed. Jesus was there in eternity with the Father. So, to ask when Jesus came on the scene, I mean, He didn’t need a body before creation…and that’s where we see our understanding of eternal break down. For Him, there was no “before creation”. God wasn’t floating along through nothingness and decided to come up with this idea of creation. There was no time for Him. As beings that can only understand time, we often get confused by “no time”.

His eternality is just one of the many attributes that are just so foreign to us that we can’t fully comprehend. We can kind of grasp everlasting, it still has a time component, but eternal is like trying to explain the vastness of the universe to an ant. Don’t let yourself get fooled when someone asks what Jesus and the Holy Spirit did before creation; for them, there was no before creation.

Innovation?

What has happened to innovation? We seem to have hit a plateau when it comes to innovation. Sure, we still have new inventions coming around, but those tend to be rehashings of what we already have. In 1903, fixed-wing, self-propelled flight was obtained. Sixty-six years later we were able to put men on the moon. The imagination of those times thought we’d all be in flying cars, or have jetpacks, or be exploring space with manned missions by now. Forty-four years after the moon, and we have faster planes and faster cars, but we’re still burning fossil fuels, NASA is all but shut down, and computers are more sophisticated. We’ve basically been working on improving the wheel all this time.

Are we merely in a lull, or is this it? Scientists and science fictionists tell us that one day we’ll explore the stars, colonize other planets, and leave our solar system. They tell us we need to do this before we exhaust the Earth. Honestly, I don’t see us reaching beyond the moon in my lifetime. It is going to take innovators like the men and women of 150 years ago. We need people that are going to dream big and make it happen. Personally I see us going the way of the movie Idiocracy. People seem to be becoming dumbed down. Entertainment seems to be the driving force behind people’s actions. Even a cursory glance at Twitter or Facebook will show how rampant stupidity is. Common knowledge, history, grammar, and even current events seem to be a mystery.

I unfortunately didn’t figure out until after high school that I enjoy learning. History has become interesting to me. Higher math could be of more use at times. Science is fascinating. Where was that eagerness when my only responsibility was to learn? I look around and see kids not caring about learning, but about hanging out with their friends or just doing nothing.

They say we’ll make it to the stars, but we’ll be lucky to make it another 50 years unless something changes. 

A Revelation In Revelation

I am currently making my way through Revelation. I was reticent because of all the imagery and prophecy, but according to John, it is just as important as the rest of Scripture. After working through the letters to the churches, John is shown a vision of the throne room. Aside from the 24 elders, it is quite similar to the account in Ezekiel except that it seems to be from a different perspective. In Ezekiel it seems to be looking up toward the throne, while John seems to be level with the throne.

There are two things that struck me while reading the two accounts. One is that there is a separation between the four angels and God, but the elders are around God. This seems to indicate a place of authority of believers over even the angels. The second realization was what the four angels represent. They appear as a man, lion, ox, and eagle, and they worship God for all eternity. The notes in my Bible indicate they represent the “kings” of their field, lions over the wild animals, oxen over the domesticated animals, and eagles over the birds, and of course man over creation. I was trying to understand, “Why four animals as angels?” Then it hit me; all of creation glorifies God. Not just Man, but all the animals as well. All of creation is the manifestation of His glory, and all of it must worship Him.

A sub-note that I realized while writing this, believers will have a position not only above angels, but also above non-believers. However, even believers will bow before God and praise Him, acknowledging that even their righteousness comes from Him. It seems that when the Bible says that, “…every knee will bow and every tongue confess…”, it is not only in reference to human knees and tongues, but all creation.

Reasonable Faith

Somehow, faith has become a bad word these days. Somehow, faith has been divorced from logic these days. Somehow, faith rules the heart but reason rules the mind these days. When did this happen?

It used to be that faith and reason walked hand in hand. Faith led to scientific discovery. Faith formed nations. Faith changed people. Faith without reason was fantasy. Not so today. Somewhere during the Renaissance, faith left its rational roots and became some sort of hocus pocus.

Earlier I said that I grew up in a Christian home. My faith defines me, but my faith is not irrational. My faith must remain consistent with reason otherwise it is fancy. If my faith were not rational, I would be a fool for holding to it. Faith without reason leads to all sorts of craziness. My faith is so rational that without it, my world would crumble. If my faith proved false (not the logical order) then my faith would be useless, and I would be the most pitiful fool. Anyone that holds to irrational faith is just asking for ridicule. Apologetics is all about the reason for faith. Yes, faith has a supernatural quality to it, but if it doesn’t make sense it will guide you to places you shouldn’t go. Be ready to give reason for your faith, not to defend it against others to convince them, but to keep it steady in your life.

Totally Biased

I grew up in a Christian home, with Christian parents, with Christian stories. I accepted Christ at a young age. I have been a Christian for about twenty-four years. So I must admit bias. But is that bias wrong? Is it wrong to be biased? How would we function if we weren’t biased?

We all have our biases. They are part of our worldview. Some biases are harmful, to us and to others, while some are neutral, and others are helpful. Without them it would be difficult to comprehend our world. Unfortunately, in terms of spirituality, it seems Christian biases are the only ones perceived as bad. An Atheist is biased against God, so any evidence presented that indicates God would be immediately dismissed, and this would be a good thing. A Christian with the bias that human life is sacred and thus abortion is wrong? Oh, you silly Christians, we know better now.

You and I cannot function without our biases. Biases should only become wrong when they prevent us from accepting the truth. But our biases must be rational. They help us to weed out bad information or faulty logic. They keep us from blowing on the wind of every new idea. Without them, we would not have the technology we have today. They guide us in our daily lives as our default mode of thinking. They can lead to stagnation, true enough, but without them we cannot progress. Hold to your biases, but not so tightly that you shut your eyes to everything else. Compare the new ideas to your bias, and if they make more sense, make new biases. 

Jesus, One Among Many

There are many out there that claim that Jesus is just one savior among a host of other saviors. There are many cultures before Jesus’ time that had similar persons that showed up claiming deity, being born of a virgin, having disciples, performing miracles, and saving mankind. Admittedly, I had never heard about these others until I started looking into the opposition, so I was a little taken aback at first.

Then I engaged my brain. How many of those “saviors” fulfilled over 200 prophecies written as much as a millennium before His arrival? How many have changed the lives of millions of people? How many started a religion that has lasted over 2000 years?

The logical train of thought would be that, if He were just one among many, He should have followed suit along with them. What makes Him different, beyond the Christian belief that He was God? For one, He was real. Many of the “saviors” were merely mythical, stories told as tales. He was a real person in time. For another, He was consistent. He preached the same message from the beginning of His ministry until His ascension into Heaven. I’m sure there are a few more, but these are sufficient for my point.

When you come down to it though, He is the one true Savior because He has stood the test of time. From an earthly perspective, that just does not make any sense. He should have followed in the footsteps of His predecessors, but He did not. Ultimately, the reason He hasn’t faded into the obscurity of history and myth is because the Holy Spirit is active in keeping His followers true. Without some sort of external force, Jesus would have been a footnote in the history of failed religions. He is singular in His ministry, His life, His death, His resurrection, and His ascension. He is the Lord on high, and in the end, EVERY knee will bow and EVERY tongue will confess that He is Lord and Savior.