A few years back a young university student contacted me about some interaction he was having with a professor at his school. Upon finding out that the student was a Christian, the professor implied that this young person’s beliefs were biased, whereas his own opinions were objective. Attempting to persuade the student to surrender his prejudices and approach life from a neutral position, the professor criticized the Bible and the God of Scripture as being offensive to his sensibilities.
The following responses were written to help the student maintain a biblical perspective when confronting the attitudes of unbelievers.
I offer them here to remind us all of the Scripture’s outlook towards the fallen wisdom of this dark world as we interact with those ideas, philosophies and opinions.
I. The unbelieving mind is in a state of rebellion toward God
The human mind, as created by God, is an amazing “machine”. However, unbelievers will always use it to oppose their Creator because they are in a state of rebellion and depravity. Consequently they often make compelling arguments for their positions and present ethical and philosophical dilemmas that have the intent of neutralizing faith. As noted in the following two passages, the Bible is well aware of the workings of an unregenerate mind.
- Psalm 14:1-4 makes the observation that unbelief is nothing but foolishness. Consequently, unbelievers do nothing good (in the ultimate sense of goodness), are corrupt and maintain no true knowledge of God. Which is why they will not call on Him.
- Rom.1:18-32 declares that the truth of God is clearly presented in creation but that human beings are in such a state of rebellion that they suppress the truth and will not acknowledge God or be thankful. Therefore, they have become fools (v.21-23). Consequently they sink deeper into sin (v.24-25) and God surrenders them to their sin (v.26-27) and gives them up to a depraved way of thinking (v.28).
Because of this no amount of evidence or rational argumentation will correct the fallen reasoning process of unbelievers (students, professors or the man on the street) apart from the working of the Holy Spirit through the word of God. (Which, of course, is why people should go to church and sit under the preaching of the word … “Faith comes by hearing … the word of Christ” – Rom.10:17)
II. There is no such thing as arguing objectively – everyone has a bias
If your professor is an unbeliever, he is not trying to objectively teach you or help you to understand your own beliefs anymore than an evangelist is trying to be “objective” when he preaches the gospel.
If a person is a non-believer his/her entire thought process is guided by fallen presuppositions (See 1Cor.2:14). If, on the other hand, a person is a believer, his/her thought process will be guided by “regenerate” presuppositions (See 1Cor.2:15-16). (Of course, even the minds of Christians are affected by the corruption of their own sinfulness which is why they will sometimes act inconsistently with their own beliefs.)
Nevertheless, everything a non-Christian believes is guided by his/her fallen nature. The concept of objective or neutral reasoning is a fallacy perpetrated by an unbelieving world in order to convince itself that it is being rational when it rejects God. However, unbelief (no matter how nicely it is couched or how intellectually it is argued) is a totally irrational position. Without a purposeful God, neither our existence or our endeavors have any transcendent meaning or make any sense.
The Bible is certainly not neutral or unbiased concerning the existence and absolute sovereignty of God. Consider these passages:
- Genesis 1:1 – The Bible opens with a very strong presupposition that God exists … “In the beginning God.” There is nothing neutral about that statement. Moses does not try to reason the existence of God through a rational view of the evidence in the created order. He simply presupposes that God is.
- Exodus 3:14 – The eternal name of God presupposes His eternal existence … “I AM Who I AM”. This indicates that God is the self-existent One that has always been. He is dependent on no one and subject to no influence outside of Himself.
- Psalm 14:1 – This passage clearly states, “The fool says in his heart ‘There is no God.’” Here the Biblical presupposition that God exists is considered such a self-evident truth that to say otherwise is considered foolishness that stems from a corrupt heart.
III.Because of the fallen state of their mind and their rebellion toward God, unbelievers will always be offended by the sovereign decrees, word and works of God
There is no question that the things of God offend the sensibilities of fallen human beings. Since we are sinful creatures, God will offend us because, in our lost state, we hate Him.
The question that every person must grapple with is, “Will I bow the knee to God, acknowledging Him as King and accept His decrees over me?” However, no one can truly accept the King’s decrees unless their will is turned by the grace of God. As that happens, human beings, by the mercies of God, can receive His remedy in Christ, understand and enjoy the precepts of a Holy God. But without a conversion to Christ, people will always find fault with the Bible, with Jesus and with the sovereign will of God. (1Cor.2:14)
IV. If Christians are to be effective when talking to the lost they must have a complete reliance on the Spirit of God
As Christians in a dark world, we must remember our calling to have compassion on the lost. Every opportunity to share with others must be bathed in prayer for the gracious working of the Holy Spirit and for the strengthening of our faith in the face of opposition. Since he works through the word (Ro.10:17), we must bring the Gospel to bear on the lives of those around us. It alone is the power of God unto salvation for all those that believe (Ro.1:16).
*** I recommend consulting the works of Francis Schaeffer or Cornelius Van Til for further study concerning these issues.
For those of us living in a culture where the word “Puritan” conjures up all sorts of negative ideas, Worldly Saints is a refreshing look at those men and women who had a profound impact, not only on English and American Protestant Christianity, but on both of these cultures as well. In this volume, Leland Ryken brings to light the positive aspects of the Puritan movement as it impacted the modern work ethic, family life, worship, education and social action. Nevertheless, the author does not simply paint a glowing account of earlier Christians, while ignoring the negative aspects of this important group, but balances their strengths and achievements with their inadequacies and failures.
If you are a parent who has struggled with teaching your children from the Westminster Shorter Catechism or if you have given up on such a “daunting” task or if you are not sure of the importance of it at all, Starr Meade has written a very good resource that teaches one question of the catechism per week. Divined into six days of the week, each question is approached from a different perspective every day. Sunday is left open so that the family can review the questions they had been learning previously.
