One consistent theme that runs through my writing, my teaching, and my pastoral work is my love of New Testament Apologetics. A lot of folks are unfamiliar with the term, so I thought I'd spend a little time explaining what apologetics are, and why I find the field so fascinating.
First of all, "Apologetics" doesn't mean that I am somehow apologizing for the contents of the New Testament. That's a much more modern usage of the word. In this context, "Apologetics" refers to the field of study in Christian scholarship that focuses on defending the historical accuracy, authority, and inspiration of the Scriptures. Given the wholesale assault on the Bible waged in pop culture, academia, and the media for the last century or more, it's a field that has more and more relevance as young Christians demand to know: How much of what I was taught to believe is really true?
I discovered apologetics right out of high school, when I read some of Josh McDowell's early works. I've heard Josh speak twice in person and even got to have a short conversation with him once, years ago, and he was and is a most impressive and eloquent man. His personal story is very compelling: the son of an abusive, alcoholic father whom he despised, McDowell was an angry young man who bitterly resented religion in general and Christianity in particular. After debating some students who were involved with Campus Crusade for Christ, Josh set out write a book demolishing the historical claims of the Bible once and for all and proving Christianity to be an outright fraud. But, the more research he did, the more he found the evidence leading him in the opposite direction. In the end, his book, EVIDENCE THAT DEMANDS A VERDICT, showcased the many, compelling arguments in favor of the Bible's accuracy. Since then, McDowell has authored many books and spoken and debated all over the world in defense of the faith. I've read many of his books and they are all remarkable. He has been an enormous intellectual and spiritual inspiration to me.
Another writer who deeply influenced me is Lee Strobel. Like McDowell, Lee was a former atheist - a journalist of some repute, serving as chief legal correspondent for the Boston Globe at one point - who decided to investigate the claims of the New Testament after his wife became a Christian (an event that irritated him a great deal at the time). The more he studied, the more experts he interviewed, the more he became convinced that the New Testament did indeed accurately preserve the words and deeds of Jesus and His apostles. So Lee also became a noted author and speaker in the field of apologetics. I own four of his books that I have read over and over - THE CASE FOR CHRIST, THE CASE FOR FAITH, THE CASE FOR A CREATOR, and THE CASE FOR THE REAL JESUS. One thing I love about Lee's books is that while he keeps his narrative on a very easy to follow level for the layman, he also references scholarly works that back up his summaries with years of research by scientists, scholars, and archeologists. I would challenge anyone who believes that life on earth evolved by pure chance to read THE CASE FOR A CREATOR. Unlike Dr. McDowell, I have never had the privilege of meeting Lee Strobel - but I certainly hope to some day!
These two, and many other authors have inspired a passion for apologetics in me, but at the same time, what can I offer on this subject that other, more qualified men have not already done? I don't have the expertise in Greek, Hebrew, and Syriac to research the primary source documents, I don't have the budget to travel to the Middle East for extended visits to research and look for new clues to the Gospel narrative. I wanted to strike a blow for the authenticity of Scripture - but how?
Well, there is one thing I can do, and that is tell stories. So in 2012, I sat down and began writing THE TESTIMONIUM - a tale of faith, archeology, romance, and terrorism. But in the narrative of the exciting dig on Capri and the discovery of Pontius Pilate's long-lost report to Rome about the crucifixion of Jesus, I wove into the dialogue many of the arguments on apologetics that I had absorbed and engaged in over the years. My hope was that many people who might not pick up a non-fiction work purporting to defend Christianity might instead pick up a thrilling story about a team of archeologists making an earth-shattering discovery and winding up in the crosshairs of an Al Qaeda assassin. And when they do, maybe the will find the apologetics dialogue between my characters intriguing enough to make them want to do a little digging of their own . . .
Did I succeed? Read for yourself and find out!
http://www.amazon.com/The-Testimonium-Lewis-Ben-Smith/dp/1632130440/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1411331078&sr=8-1&keywords=THE+TESTIMONIUM
Tuesday, January 26, 2016
Monday, January 18, 2016
Why the fascination with archeology?
A recurring theme in my books - especially THE TESTIMONIUM and MATTHEW'S AUTOGRAPH - is archeology. In these books I deal with Biblical archeology in particular, but all my literary characters are fascinated with bits of the past. Joshua Parker is probably the closest of all of them to a literary alter ego for me, and his fascination with history and archeology mirrors my own - as does much of his back story. I suppose I should go ahead and say I am not an archeologist by training, but I am fascinated by the science and most of all by what archeology enables us to do. Who knows? If I had followed my fascination and majored in archeology, I might have had a career like Joshua's!
My dad collected Indian arrowheads when I was little, and when I was five years old I found my first point - a Yarbrough style dart point from the Middle Archaic period, some 3,000-4,000 years old, in a pile of fill dirt in my neighbor's yard. Of course, I didn't know any of that at the time. I just knew that it was an arrowhead, and that Indians had made it. As I grew older and started collecting on my own, these little sharpened bits of stone came to fascinate me more and more. After I learned how fantastically old some of these points are (I have found three Clovis points during my years of collecting, and they date back around 12,000 years!) it really got my imagination going. All of recorded human history has elapsed since some of my finds were created by the primitive hunters who crafted them.
I am a historian by training, and the thought that every single person I have ever read about or taught about was born, lived, achieved notoriety, and died since most of the points in my collection were made is a source of endless wonder. When the pyramids were built around 4500 years ago, my Clovis points were already over six thousand years old! Archeology is the science that tries to connect these points to the people who made them, and as such this scientific discipline has my respect and ongoing interest.
Biblical archeology is a whole different ball game, though. The thought of excavating places and artifacts connected with the narrative of the Old and New Testaments absolutely fascinates me. So many places and names from the Bible have been confirmed by the work of archeologists in the Middle East over the last century, it has gone a long way towards confirming the historical accuracy of our Biblical accounts. There are still holes and gaps in our knowledge, especially surrounding the events of the Exodus, but it's amazing how much information we have been able to recover. People (like the Hittites) and places (like the pool of Bethesda) long thought to be mythical have been confirmed. Individuals like Pontius Pilate, Caiaphas, and Simon Peter have been confirmed as historical through archeological discoveries.
And there is so much waiting to be found! Every year new discoveries are made, ancient manuscripts unearthed, and more is learned about the world that Jesus and His disciples lived in. While the discoveries made in my novels are fictitious - for now! - they represent things that may very well be waiting out there to be found. And, like Josh and Father MacDonald, I firmly believe that, when carefully weighed, the archeological and historical evidence will prove that the narrative contained in the Bible is historically accurate and correct in its details.
If you would like to read more about my characters and the remarkable discoveries they've made, and the adventures they've had along the way, you can start by reading my first novel, THE TESTIMONIUM, where Isabella Sforza, Joshua Parker, Giuseppe Rossini, and Father MacDonald find a unique Biblical treasure on the Isle of Capri: the original report filed to Rome by Pontius Pilate about the trial and crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth! You can buy THE TESTIMONIUM here:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Testimonium-Lewis-Ben-Smith/dp/1632130440/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1411331078&sr=8-1&keywords=THE+TESTIMONIUM
My dad collected Indian arrowheads when I was little, and when I was five years old I found my first point - a Yarbrough style dart point from the Middle Archaic period, some 3,000-4,000 years old, in a pile of fill dirt in my neighbor's yard. Of course, I didn't know any of that at the time. I just knew that it was an arrowhead, and that Indians had made it. As I grew older and started collecting on my own, these little sharpened bits of stone came to fascinate me more and more. After I learned how fantastically old some of these points are (I have found three Clovis points during my years of collecting, and they date back around 12,000 years!) it really got my imagination going. All of recorded human history has elapsed since some of my finds were created by the primitive hunters who crafted them.
I am a historian by training, and the thought that every single person I have ever read about or taught about was born, lived, achieved notoriety, and died since most of the points in my collection were made is a source of endless wonder. When the pyramids were built around 4500 years ago, my Clovis points were already over six thousand years old! Archeology is the science that tries to connect these points to the people who made them, and as such this scientific discipline has my respect and ongoing interest.
Biblical archeology is a whole different ball game, though. The thought of excavating places and artifacts connected with the narrative of the Old and New Testaments absolutely fascinates me. So many places and names from the Bible have been confirmed by the work of archeologists in the Middle East over the last century, it has gone a long way towards confirming the historical accuracy of our Biblical accounts. There are still holes and gaps in our knowledge, especially surrounding the events of the Exodus, but it's amazing how much information we have been able to recover. People (like the Hittites) and places (like the pool of Bethesda) long thought to be mythical have been confirmed. Individuals like Pontius Pilate, Caiaphas, and Simon Peter have been confirmed as historical through archeological discoveries.
And there is so much waiting to be found! Every year new discoveries are made, ancient manuscripts unearthed, and more is learned about the world that Jesus and His disciples lived in. While the discoveries made in my novels are fictitious - for now! - they represent things that may very well be waiting out there to be found. And, like Josh and Father MacDonald, I firmly believe that, when carefully weighed, the archeological and historical evidence will prove that the narrative contained in the Bible is historically accurate and correct in its details.
If you would like to read more about my characters and the remarkable discoveries they've made, and the adventures they've had along the way, you can start by reading my first novel, THE TESTIMONIUM, where Isabella Sforza, Joshua Parker, Giuseppe Rossini, and Father MacDonald find a unique Biblical treasure on the Isle of Capri: the original report filed to Rome by Pontius Pilate about the trial and crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth! You can buy THE TESTIMONIUM here:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Testimonium-Lewis-Ben-Smith/dp/1632130440/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1411331078&sr=8-1&keywords=THE+TESTIMONIUM
Monday, January 11, 2016
ALL BOOKS LEAD TO ROME . . . But Why??
Why do so many of the books I write have to do with Rome? Right now I have three books in print, and another one finished, and I am working on number five. All of them have some connection to the Roman Empire: my Capri Team adventures focus around discoveries from the Roman era, and both THE REDEMPTION OF PONTIUS PILATE and the yet-unpublished LOVER OF GOD are set in the First Century AD - the first in the reigns of Augustus, Tiberius, and Caligula, and the last during the reigns of Claudius and Nero. Why am I so obsessed with the world of two thousand years ago?
There are two reasons, one of which is very obvious: my stories all deal with the early years of the Christian faith, and Christianity was born during the first century of the Roman Empire. Jesus and all of His disciples were born, lived, and died as subjects of Rome. It's one of the things that makes Christianity unique: our faith is inextricably linked to an actual moment in history, the middle part of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, to a real historical figure, Jesus of Nazareth, and to that incredible three year period when that man preached, taught, healed, was betrayed, arrested, killed, and then rose again. Unlike the teachings of Buddha or Muhammad, the truth of Jesus' words rests with the facts of His life: If He did indeed rise from the dead, as is claimed for Him, then he had to be the Son of God, and all the things He claimed for Himself were true. On the other hand, if He was crucified and His body was stolen, hidden, or simply rotted away in the ground somewhere, then He is just another dead philosopher, and all the claims of Christianity are built on "a throne of lies." I believe that the verdict of history and archeology, when carefully and reasonably considered, point us directly to one conclusion: the most logical explanation for the entire Resurrection story is that Jesus, did, in fact, rise from the dead. And all of that history and archeology that proves the case for my faith is centered in the first century of the Roman Empire.
There is another reason that I love to write about Rome, however, beyond the Biblical and religious connections I feel with the world of the Caesars: the Romans were amazing! This city-state on the Italian peninsula came to rule a quarter or the world's population in a remarkably brief period of time. By the First Century AD, you could travel from London to Libya and never be out of Caesar's jurisdiction. Remarkably advanced, the Romans built roads and buildings that still stand today. They sculpted statues that are as good (if not better) than anything any modern artist can create. They practiced banking, voting, taxation, administration, and all the burdens of governing with incredible efficiency. In the Second Century AD, they came within a cat's whisker of inventing the steam engine! They were the most advanced people of the ancient world, and the government they created endured for five hundred years as a Republic, five hundred years as an Empire, and then packed up, relocated to Constantinople, and endured for another thousand years as the Byzantine Empire. No other government in the world has enjoyed that kind of stability and longevity!
And yet . . . the Romans were as brutal and barbaric as any people that have ever lived. They watched gladiators slaughter one another for the amusement of the crowd. They killed hundreds of thousands of Gauls, Britons, and Germans in their wars of conquest. They practiced slavery on the widest scale ever seen until modern times. They brought peace in the wake of the sword - most of the lands they conquered became, over time, more prosperous and stable than before the Romans conquered them - but the price in blood was very high indeed. In short, the Romans, in all their savagery and splendor, in all their impressive civilization and horrific barbarism, were a microcosm of humanity. They were the best of us and the worst of us, boiled down to the most basic elements. For that reason, they fascinate me like no other ancient culture ever has.
Want to know more? Go to Amazon and buy my book, THE REDEMPTION OF PONTIUS PILATE. There you will see the birth of Christianity laid side by side with the formative years of this mighty Empire that ruled the world Jesus lived in . . . . and I promise, you will enjoy the story!
(If you don't believe me, scroll through and read the reviews from previous readers!)
http://www.amazon.com/Redemption-Pontius-Pilate-Lewis-Smith/dp/1632131404/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1431997963&sr=8-1&keywords=THE+REDEMPTION+OF+PONTIUS+PILATE
There are two reasons, one of which is very obvious: my stories all deal with the early years of the Christian faith, and Christianity was born during the first century of the Roman Empire. Jesus and all of His disciples were born, lived, and died as subjects of Rome. It's one of the things that makes Christianity unique: our faith is inextricably linked to an actual moment in history, the middle part of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, to a real historical figure, Jesus of Nazareth, and to that incredible three year period when that man preached, taught, healed, was betrayed, arrested, killed, and then rose again. Unlike the teachings of Buddha or Muhammad, the truth of Jesus' words rests with the facts of His life: If He did indeed rise from the dead, as is claimed for Him, then he had to be the Son of God, and all the things He claimed for Himself were true. On the other hand, if He was crucified and His body was stolen, hidden, or simply rotted away in the ground somewhere, then He is just another dead philosopher, and all the claims of Christianity are built on "a throne of lies." I believe that the verdict of history and archeology, when carefully and reasonably considered, point us directly to one conclusion: the most logical explanation for the entire Resurrection story is that Jesus, did, in fact, rise from the dead. And all of that history and archeology that proves the case for my faith is centered in the first century of the Roman Empire.
There is another reason that I love to write about Rome, however, beyond the Biblical and religious connections I feel with the world of the Caesars: the Romans were amazing! This city-state on the Italian peninsula came to rule a quarter or the world's population in a remarkably brief period of time. By the First Century AD, you could travel from London to Libya and never be out of Caesar's jurisdiction. Remarkably advanced, the Romans built roads and buildings that still stand today. They sculpted statues that are as good (if not better) than anything any modern artist can create. They practiced banking, voting, taxation, administration, and all the burdens of governing with incredible efficiency. In the Second Century AD, they came within a cat's whisker of inventing the steam engine! They were the most advanced people of the ancient world, and the government they created endured for five hundred years as a Republic, five hundred years as an Empire, and then packed up, relocated to Constantinople, and endured for another thousand years as the Byzantine Empire. No other government in the world has enjoyed that kind of stability and longevity!
And yet . . . the Romans were as brutal and barbaric as any people that have ever lived. They watched gladiators slaughter one another for the amusement of the crowd. They killed hundreds of thousands of Gauls, Britons, and Germans in their wars of conquest. They practiced slavery on the widest scale ever seen until modern times. They brought peace in the wake of the sword - most of the lands they conquered became, over time, more prosperous and stable than before the Romans conquered them - but the price in blood was very high indeed. In short, the Romans, in all their savagery and splendor, in all their impressive civilization and horrific barbarism, were a microcosm of humanity. They were the best of us and the worst of us, boiled down to the most basic elements. For that reason, they fascinate me like no other ancient culture ever has.
Want to know more? Go to Amazon and buy my book, THE REDEMPTION OF PONTIUS PILATE. There you will see the birth of Christianity laid side by side with the formative years of this mighty Empire that ruled the world Jesus lived in . . . . and I promise, you will enjoy the story!
(If you don't believe me, scroll through and read the reviews from previous readers!)
http://www.amazon.com/Redemption-Pontius-Pilate-Lewis-Smith/dp/1632131404/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1431997963&sr=8-1&keywords=THE+REDEMPTION+OF+PONTIUS+PILATE
Monday, January 4, 2016
Looking Backward, Looking Forward . . .
2015 was a pretty good year for me and mine.
My lovely wife of 31 years finished her Master's Degree this summer - which means next year we can actually enjoy time off together, since she won't be in summer school! (Of course, the downside of that is her bizarre love for home improvement projects, but that's another story . . . I've pretty much gotten a pass the last three summers, so I guess I can't complain!)
My daughters are wrapping up their time in community college and preparing to enter the workforce. There comes a point, I am told, at which they move out of the house and we get to have money again. But I am pretty sure that is an urban legend.
I saw two of my books published this year, THE REDEMPTION OF PONTIUS PILATE in the spring and MATTHEW'S AUTOGRAPH in December. I finished my fourth book, LOVER OF GOD, and started another, which I am calling THE GNOSTIC LIBRARY. Little by little, I am becoming prolific!
In terms of amusement, I watched 219 movies (yes, I have a serious problem!) and read 71 books, and I added 101 artifacts to my collection (93 personal finds, 8 gifts). I also wasted a good many hours playing SKYRIM and other video games I love. But despite all that, I also found time to teach classes night and day, spend every Sunday in the pulpit, and have a lot of quality time with my family.
I'm blessed to have three siblings that I all get along with quite well, and my Mom and Dad are both still living and mean more to me than I can say. I have a job that I love (well, actually four of them - writing, pastoring, teaching by day at GCS, and nights at PJC!), and my health continues to be remarkably good for a fat guy who doesn't eat like he should.
So yes, 2015 was a good year for me!
Now, what will 2016 hold?
While the future is always in God's lap, I do have some plans for this year. By midsummer, I hope to be done with THE GNOSTIC LIBRARY. It's another adventure for the "Capri Team" - a group of archeologists that I created in THE TESTIMONIUM and have enjoyed following on the adventures I send them on. I rarely go more than a few months without working on something, so before the year is out I may begin my next book.
My biggest adventure this year - or at least the biggest one I have scheduled - is my upcoming trip to Israel in March. I will be leaving on the 9th, after school, for Austin, TX. From there I will fly out via New York to Tel Aviv, to begin a ten day scholarly tour which will take me to about thirty different archeological sites dating from two thousand to four thousand years of age - from the time of Abraham to the time of Christ! I'll even get to spend a day assisting on a dig at a 3,000 year old Jewish village that is mentioned in the Old Testament. I can't wait!
As for the rest? I'll continue to teach, read, watch horrible B-movies (and a few good ones to balance them out), hunt arrowheads when I can, raise goats, and enjoy walking through life with my one true love, my beautiful daughters, my wonderful church family, and the many good friends God has blessed me with. And all of you are invited along for the ride, whether you encounter me here on this page or somewhere out in the wide world.
As the very last Calvin and Hobbes comic strip once said:
"It's a magical world . . . let's go exploring!"
My lovely wife of 31 years finished her Master's Degree this summer - which means next year we can actually enjoy time off together, since she won't be in summer school! (Of course, the downside of that is her bizarre love for home improvement projects, but that's another story . . . I've pretty much gotten a pass the last three summers, so I guess I can't complain!)
My daughters are wrapping up their time in community college and preparing to enter the workforce. There comes a point, I am told, at which they move out of the house and we get to have money again. But I am pretty sure that is an urban legend.
I saw two of my books published this year, THE REDEMPTION OF PONTIUS PILATE in the spring and MATTHEW'S AUTOGRAPH in December. I finished my fourth book, LOVER OF GOD, and started another, which I am calling THE GNOSTIC LIBRARY. Little by little, I am becoming prolific!
In terms of amusement, I watched 219 movies (yes, I have a serious problem!) and read 71 books, and I added 101 artifacts to my collection (93 personal finds, 8 gifts). I also wasted a good many hours playing SKYRIM and other video games I love. But despite all that, I also found time to teach classes night and day, spend every Sunday in the pulpit, and have a lot of quality time with my family.
I'm blessed to have three siblings that I all get along with quite well, and my Mom and Dad are both still living and mean more to me than I can say. I have a job that I love (well, actually four of them - writing, pastoring, teaching by day at GCS, and nights at PJC!), and my health continues to be remarkably good for a fat guy who doesn't eat like he should.
So yes, 2015 was a good year for me!
Now, what will 2016 hold?
While the future is always in God's lap, I do have some plans for this year. By midsummer, I hope to be done with THE GNOSTIC LIBRARY. It's another adventure for the "Capri Team" - a group of archeologists that I created in THE TESTIMONIUM and have enjoyed following on the adventures I send them on. I rarely go more than a few months without working on something, so before the year is out I may begin my next book.
My biggest adventure this year - or at least the biggest one I have scheduled - is my upcoming trip to Israel in March. I will be leaving on the 9th, after school, for Austin, TX. From there I will fly out via New York to Tel Aviv, to begin a ten day scholarly tour which will take me to about thirty different archeological sites dating from two thousand to four thousand years of age - from the time of Abraham to the time of Christ! I'll even get to spend a day assisting on a dig at a 3,000 year old Jewish village that is mentioned in the Old Testament. I can't wait!
As for the rest? I'll continue to teach, read, watch horrible B-movies (and a few good ones to balance them out), hunt arrowheads when I can, raise goats, and enjoy walking through life with my one true love, my beautiful daughters, my wonderful church family, and the many good friends God has blessed me with. And all of you are invited along for the ride, whether you encounter me here on this page or somewhere out in the wide world.
As the very last Calvin and Hobbes comic strip once said:
"It's a magical world . . . let's go exploring!"
Tuesday, December 29, 2015
Why Tragedy?
I was debating on what to write for tonight.
I thought I might do a 2015 "Year in Review" blog, highlighting some of my more interesting moments and encounters within the last year. I may still do something of the sort next week. But Saturday night, Dec. 26, the corner of Texas where I live was the victim of a horrific outbreak of tornadoes - nine twisters that left eleven people dead, dozens injured, and did tens of millions of dollars in damage. I inadvertently got a first hand view of the devastation on Sunday, when a missed exit forced me to detour right across the storm's path. Businesses and homes shattered and scattered, debris everywhere, cars upended and tossed about like children's toys in a tantrum - it was horrifying and humbling to see the raw power of nature destroy the works of men's hands so quickly and completely.
So where was God in all of this? How could One who loves us allow such carnage, especially at a time of year when we celebrate His supreme gift to us all? Why did those eleven people die while others were spared? Why was one house left standing while its neighbor was leveled to its foundations?
I don't even pretend to have answers for everything. I read my Bible, I pray for my friends, and I do what I can to be a good person and a good neighbor to those in need. But those who reject God always have a field day when events like this roll around - "Where was your God in the midst of the storm? How could He let this happen?" The questions come thick and fast, and our answers may sound hollow in the face of human suffering.
In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus was confronted with a similar question. Here is the story:
"Now on the same occasion there were some present who reported to Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. And Jesus said to them, “Do you suppose that these Galileans were greater sinners than all other Galileans because they suffered this fate? “I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. “Or do you suppose that those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them were worse culprits than all the men who live in Jerusalem? “I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” - Luke 13: 1-5 NASB
Was Jesus being callous here? Was he belittling the deaths of these innocents? Or was He making a profound statement about the existence of man in a fallen world?
Whether you regard the story of Adam and Eve as literal truth, mythology, or timeless allegory, it makes a profound statement about the nature of humanity: Death is our lot. We are mortal creatures living in a fallen and imperfect world. All of us are given a span of years, and none of us know how long that span will be. We may say that some are taken "before their time," but that isn't true. They were taken at their time, or they would not have been taken at all. We grieve and rage and weep because they were taken before WE were ready for them to go. Whether someone is killed by a tornado the day after Christmas or dies from the slow ravages of time in a nursing home, the grave is our ultimate fate. Nothing we can do will change that.
That's where faith comes in. Paul told the church at Thessalonica two thousand years ago: "Now I would not have you ignorant, beloved, concerning them that fall asleep, that ye may not grieve as do the rest who have no hope." Without faith, the grave is the end of all things. There is nothing waiting for us beyond, and those we have lost are gone beyond all recovery. I cannot imagine such a hopeless and benighted philosophy - to think that your entire existence is a cosmic accident devoid of meaning or purpose, that we are nothing but hairless apes produced by a long series of meaningless mutations, and that when our life ends, nothing lies waiting.
We who believe have hope. Atheists and agnostics may ridicule us into thinking it's a false hope, but what do they have to offer in its place? An existence that is amoral and meaningless? A life of hedonism, because the pleasures of this life are all we will ever have? No, thank you. I like the promise of Scripture so much better: "Beloved, now we are the sons of God, and it does not yet appear what we shall be. But we know that, when He appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him just as He is."
"We shall behold Him." What a magnificent promise - a promise no tragedy can take away! In the end, faith is the only response that makes any sense in a world that is far too filled with suffering.
I thought I might do a 2015 "Year in Review" blog, highlighting some of my more interesting moments and encounters within the last year. I may still do something of the sort next week. But Saturday night, Dec. 26, the corner of Texas where I live was the victim of a horrific outbreak of tornadoes - nine twisters that left eleven people dead, dozens injured, and did tens of millions of dollars in damage. I inadvertently got a first hand view of the devastation on Sunday, when a missed exit forced me to detour right across the storm's path. Businesses and homes shattered and scattered, debris everywhere, cars upended and tossed about like children's toys in a tantrum - it was horrifying and humbling to see the raw power of nature destroy the works of men's hands so quickly and completely.
So where was God in all of this? How could One who loves us allow such carnage, especially at a time of year when we celebrate His supreme gift to us all? Why did those eleven people die while others were spared? Why was one house left standing while its neighbor was leveled to its foundations?
I don't even pretend to have answers for everything. I read my Bible, I pray for my friends, and I do what I can to be a good person and a good neighbor to those in need. But those who reject God always have a field day when events like this roll around - "Where was your God in the midst of the storm? How could He let this happen?" The questions come thick and fast, and our answers may sound hollow in the face of human suffering.
In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus was confronted with a similar question. Here is the story:
"Now on the same occasion there were some present who reported to Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. And Jesus said to them, “Do you suppose that these Galileans were greater sinners than all other Galileans because they suffered this fate? “I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. “Or do you suppose that those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them were worse culprits than all the men who live in Jerusalem? “I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” - Luke 13: 1-5 NASB
Was Jesus being callous here? Was he belittling the deaths of these innocents? Or was He making a profound statement about the existence of man in a fallen world?
Whether you regard the story of Adam and Eve as literal truth, mythology, or timeless allegory, it makes a profound statement about the nature of humanity: Death is our lot. We are mortal creatures living in a fallen and imperfect world. All of us are given a span of years, and none of us know how long that span will be. We may say that some are taken "before their time," but that isn't true. They were taken at their time, or they would not have been taken at all. We grieve and rage and weep because they were taken before WE were ready for them to go. Whether someone is killed by a tornado the day after Christmas or dies from the slow ravages of time in a nursing home, the grave is our ultimate fate. Nothing we can do will change that.
That's where faith comes in. Paul told the church at Thessalonica two thousand years ago: "Now I would not have you ignorant, beloved, concerning them that fall asleep, that ye may not grieve as do the rest who have no hope." Without faith, the grave is the end of all things. There is nothing waiting for us beyond, and those we have lost are gone beyond all recovery. I cannot imagine such a hopeless and benighted philosophy - to think that your entire existence is a cosmic accident devoid of meaning or purpose, that we are nothing but hairless apes produced by a long series of meaningless mutations, and that when our life ends, nothing lies waiting.
We who believe have hope. Atheists and agnostics may ridicule us into thinking it's a false hope, but what do they have to offer in its place? An existence that is amoral and meaningless? A life of hedonism, because the pleasures of this life are all we will ever have? No, thank you. I like the promise of Scripture so much better: "Beloved, now we are the sons of God, and it does not yet appear what we shall be. But we know that, when He appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him just as He is."
"We shall behold Him." What a magnificent promise - a promise no tragedy can take away! In the end, faith is the only response that makes any sense in a world that is far too filled with suffering.
Monday, December 21, 2015
And Just Like That, It's Christmas Again!
Where does the time go?
This has been my first full year of keeping a blog, and I appreciate all of you who take the time to read it. I seem to average about 40-50 views per post, and that's very flattering. I am hoping this thing will grow over time, as my readership grows, but I'm happy either way. The greatest hope of any writer is that people enjoy his words enough to come back for more.
There are lots of things I could write about today, and no way to write about all of them. So I thought that I might recap a few things that I talked about in church yesterday. My sermon title was "Heaven Came Down." As I read through a few verses from the first and second chapters of Luke's Gospel, I saw four occasions where heaven, quite literally, came down and intersected lives on earth in the course of the Nativity story.
First, in the appearance of the angel to Zacharias in the Temple - here, heaven came down to an old man and woman, bereft of children in a time when your offspring were the only "Social Security" that there was. They were facing the prospect of lonely old age, with no one to look after either of them once their strength and finances gave out. Heaven came down and injected hope into a hopeless situation, creating life out of death, giving these two godly people the one thing they had always prayed for - but more than that, giving to all of God's people the messenger, the herald of the Messiah, that they had longed for since the days of Moses. Four hundred years had passed since the last prophet spoke to Israel, and now God gently reminds his people, through this miraculous birth, that He is not done with them yet. Even in the hopelessness of occupation and subjugation by Rome, God's plan was still rolling forward, and redemption was now at hand.
Then there was the annunciation to Mary that her child would be the long-awaited Messiah of Israel, who would redeem not just the sons of Abraham but all mankind from the hopelessness of sin. Here we see heaven coming down at a time and place least expected, but most needed. Who was Mary? While there has been a ton of mythology attached to her name, in the end, what we know is sparse: she was a virgin girl of the ancient line of King David, living a normal life in Nazareth. She was devout, and very knowledgeable concerning the Scriptures (in her song "the Magnificat" recorded in Luke 1 there are 15 direct quotations and/or allusions to the OT), and most likely very young. This peasant girl from a small village in a backwater province of the Roman Empire would give birth to the most significant human being to ever walk the earth - and a messenger direct from the throne of God came and gave her this news! Heaven came down when it was least expected to bring the news most needed.
Third, there is the actual birth of Jesus - all the wisdom, love, and power of the Godhead poured into a frail human vessel, a tiny infant possessing the consciousness that created the Universe. "The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory - the glory of the Only Begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." It would have been a step down of unimaginable proportions had God stepped into the body of Caesar Augustus himself! But for the creator of the universe to incarnate himself into the body of an infant, born to an impoverished family, and cradled in a feeding trough for cattle - all to accomplish the redemption of a wicked and selfish people who had done nothing to earn God's favor or mercy! Here is a love story beyond compare.
Fourth and finally - heaven came down to pronounce the birth of the Messiah King, not in the Temple at Jerusalem, nor to the Forum in Rome - but to a band of penniless shepherd, camped in the field by night and tending their flocks. Why God chose this unlikely band of witnesses to behold the arrival of His Son, we do not know - but it affirms the central truth of the Christmas story:
Heaven comes down to bring life to the lifeless and hope to the hopeless. It comes down in the time least looked for, in the form least expected, and reveals itself to the least likely of audiences. And yet - two thousand years later, we still remember and celebrate!
"How silently, how silently, the wondrous gift is given!
So God imparts to human hearts the blessings of his heaven.
No ear may hear His coming, but in this world of sin,
Where meek souls will receive him still, the dear Christ enters in."
Merry Christmas!
This has been my first full year of keeping a blog, and I appreciate all of you who take the time to read it. I seem to average about 40-50 views per post, and that's very flattering. I am hoping this thing will grow over time, as my readership grows, but I'm happy either way. The greatest hope of any writer is that people enjoy his words enough to come back for more.
There are lots of things I could write about today, and no way to write about all of them. So I thought that I might recap a few things that I talked about in church yesterday. My sermon title was "Heaven Came Down." As I read through a few verses from the first and second chapters of Luke's Gospel, I saw four occasions where heaven, quite literally, came down and intersected lives on earth in the course of the Nativity story.
First, in the appearance of the angel to Zacharias in the Temple - here, heaven came down to an old man and woman, bereft of children in a time when your offspring were the only "Social Security" that there was. They were facing the prospect of lonely old age, with no one to look after either of them once their strength and finances gave out. Heaven came down and injected hope into a hopeless situation, creating life out of death, giving these two godly people the one thing they had always prayed for - but more than that, giving to all of God's people the messenger, the herald of the Messiah, that they had longed for since the days of Moses. Four hundred years had passed since the last prophet spoke to Israel, and now God gently reminds his people, through this miraculous birth, that He is not done with them yet. Even in the hopelessness of occupation and subjugation by Rome, God's plan was still rolling forward, and redemption was now at hand.
Then there was the annunciation to Mary that her child would be the long-awaited Messiah of Israel, who would redeem not just the sons of Abraham but all mankind from the hopelessness of sin. Here we see heaven coming down at a time and place least expected, but most needed. Who was Mary? While there has been a ton of mythology attached to her name, in the end, what we know is sparse: she was a virgin girl of the ancient line of King David, living a normal life in Nazareth. She was devout, and very knowledgeable concerning the Scriptures (in her song "the Magnificat" recorded in Luke 1 there are 15 direct quotations and/or allusions to the OT), and most likely very young. This peasant girl from a small village in a backwater province of the Roman Empire would give birth to the most significant human being to ever walk the earth - and a messenger direct from the throne of God came and gave her this news! Heaven came down when it was least expected to bring the news most needed.
Third, there is the actual birth of Jesus - all the wisdom, love, and power of the Godhead poured into a frail human vessel, a tiny infant possessing the consciousness that created the Universe. "The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory - the glory of the Only Begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." It would have been a step down of unimaginable proportions had God stepped into the body of Caesar Augustus himself! But for the creator of the universe to incarnate himself into the body of an infant, born to an impoverished family, and cradled in a feeding trough for cattle - all to accomplish the redemption of a wicked and selfish people who had done nothing to earn God's favor or mercy! Here is a love story beyond compare.
Fourth and finally - heaven came down to pronounce the birth of the Messiah King, not in the Temple at Jerusalem, nor to the Forum in Rome - but to a band of penniless shepherd, camped in the field by night and tending their flocks. Why God chose this unlikely band of witnesses to behold the arrival of His Son, we do not know - but it affirms the central truth of the Christmas story:
Heaven comes down to bring life to the lifeless and hope to the hopeless. It comes down in the time least looked for, in the form least expected, and reveals itself to the least likely of audiences. And yet - two thousand years later, we still remember and celebrate!
"How silently, how silently, the wondrous gift is given!
So God imparts to human hearts the blessings of his heaven.
No ear may hear His coming, but in this world of sin,
Where meek souls will receive him still, the dear Christ enters in."
Merry Christmas!
Monday, December 14, 2015
The Vexing Issue of Islam in the Age of Obama and Trump
Radical Islam, specifically those radical Muslims dedicated to jihad against the West, have been on the mind of every American since 9/11/01 slapped us in the face with the depths of evil to which some will sink in the name of religion. Recent events in Syria, Iraq, Paris, and San Bernardino have made Islam/Jihad/radicalism the focal point of countless talk shows and FB memes all around America. As voices on all sides become more shrill and more insistent that the other side is wrong, maintaining any kind of mental balance becomes harder and harder.
Two responses have emerged to the wave of Islamic violence radiating from the Middle East in recent years. The first is that Islam is really a peaceful and tolerant religion, that groups like ISIS, Al Qaeda, and Boko Haran are a tiny minority who no more represent a majority of Islam than Westboro Baptist and the KKK represent the majority of Christendom. Therefore any kind of extra vigilance directed at Muslims is nothing more than racism, pure and simple, just as detestable as Bull Connor turning the fire hoses on Birmingham's black children as they marched for justice sixty years ago. That is the position of our President and many in his party.
The other is a knee-jerk Islamophobia that regards every single Muslim on earth as a potential jihadist, secretly committed to the death of Western Civilization, opposed to all religious and political freedom, and ready to clap a burka over every woman in sight and turn every church into a mosque. These folks argue that all Muslims must be regarded with suspicion and excessive scrutiny, and Donald Trump has become their spokesman. You get the feeling that many of these people would be fine with forcing American Muslims to wear a yellow crescent on their chest and live in special camps where they could be de-programmed, or even eliminated. So we see the endless parade of "Lock and Load!" posts on FB that do nothing but feed fear and hatred.
The problem is that both of these responses are based on a false narrative. There are about 1.2 billion Muslims in the world. If even half of them were committed to jihad, our world would be awash in blood (yes, things in the Middle East are bad, but they could be so much worse than they are right now if ALL of the area's residents decided to rise up against the infidel!). A majority of the world's Muslims are not committed to killing or forcibly converting their neighbors, and the fact is that many of them are decent people, our friends, neighbors, and co-workers who despise ISIS just as much as we do. I mean, does anyone see Kareem Abdul-Jabar shouting "Allahu Akbar!" and blowing up half the crowd at a Lakers game? Of course not. But, if you treat 1.2 billion people as enemies, you turn more and more of them into enemies - which is exactly what groups like ISIS want!
On the other hand, ISIS, Al Qaeda, and their ilk are not the tiny minority some would have us believe, nor have they somehow "hijacked" Islam from its peaceful roots. Truth be told, their actions are closer to the actions of Muhammad and the first generations to follow his call to jihad - a bloody wave of warfare, slavery, and forced conversions that wiped out whole cultures and spilled over the Middle East and North Africa like a bloody tidal wave in the Seventh and Eighth Centuries AD. No one knows what percentage of Muslims world wide are "radicalized" - nor is there any exact agreement as to what that term means. But I daresay that the jihadists represent a far greater percentage of Islam than Klansmen and Westboro fanatics do of Christianity! (It's also worth pointing out that the Westboro goons, although they are often held up as an example of the most extreme and ugly perversion of Christianity out there, have never bombed a gay nightclub or cut the head off of someone they don't like!) So the threat is real, and ignoring it won't make it go away. But it's also something that is impossible to defend against 100% of the time.
So what do we do? What is the proper response to this threat that seems so menacing - and yet is not nearly as great as our media, in their endless quest for ratings, makes it out to be? In the wake of the Paris attacks, I made post on this very blog pointing out some of the dangers of taking the threat for granted. And yet, as I look around thereafter, I see the dangers of taking it too seriously. So here is what I propose:
First of all, we can't let fear make us quit being Americans. Being American means believing in religious freedom, rejecting persecution on the grounds of faith, even if the faith isn't one we share or find particularly appealing. We also can't let fear eat away our compassion - that means we try to help the victims of conflict, even when we have huge deficits at home. It means we try to offer some sort of shelter and aid to the victims of the conflict in Syria, even if that may mean bringing some of them here. But what if there are ISIS sleeper agents among them? So be it. As Americans, we accept a certain level of gun carnage every year as the price of having the freedom to bear arms. Far more Americans are killed every week by handguns wielded by their fellow Americans than have perished in all the terrorist attacks of the last ten years. Yet we on the right side of the political aisle scream bloody murder at the thought of anyone infringing on our Second Amendment rights. If we are willing to see that much blood spilled to preserve one of our freedoms, are we willing to bargain away other sacred American traditions for the fear that a hypothetical jihadist might strike at us after being given shelter and refuge? Are we willing to condemn men, women, and children to death and slavery to avoid a threat that most likely will never touch us personally?
Last of all, Christians must still be Christians. I'm not talking about the idiot Crusaders who slaughtered tens of thousands of Muslims in the name of a Savior whose words they could not even read. I'm talking about the fearless, blazing faith of Jesus and his disciples who were willing to face death by the cross, the sword, and wild beasts with the name of the Lord on their lips and hearts full of love for those who were screaming for their blood. It means that we must recognize that Jesus died for that radicalized Muslim cleric just as much as He died for you and me, and that above all we must pray for the salvation of the followers of Muhammad, that the love of God may conquer the forces of hate.
Our government has a responsibility, before God and the Constitution, to defend our lives, liberty, and property against those who would destroy us. That responsibility should be exercised cautiously, soberly, and, at times, forcefully. But our government ultimately answers to and reflects us, and we must not let fear turn us into a dark mirror image of those who seek to destroy us. We must remember who we are, lest we become that which we hate.
Two responses have emerged to the wave of Islamic violence radiating from the Middle East in recent years. The first is that Islam is really a peaceful and tolerant religion, that groups like ISIS, Al Qaeda, and Boko Haran are a tiny minority who no more represent a majority of Islam than Westboro Baptist and the KKK represent the majority of Christendom. Therefore any kind of extra vigilance directed at Muslims is nothing more than racism, pure and simple, just as detestable as Bull Connor turning the fire hoses on Birmingham's black children as they marched for justice sixty years ago. That is the position of our President and many in his party.
The other is a knee-jerk Islamophobia that regards every single Muslim on earth as a potential jihadist, secretly committed to the death of Western Civilization, opposed to all religious and political freedom, and ready to clap a burka over every woman in sight and turn every church into a mosque. These folks argue that all Muslims must be regarded with suspicion and excessive scrutiny, and Donald Trump has become their spokesman. You get the feeling that many of these people would be fine with forcing American Muslims to wear a yellow crescent on their chest and live in special camps where they could be de-programmed, or even eliminated. So we see the endless parade of "Lock and Load!" posts on FB that do nothing but feed fear and hatred.
The problem is that both of these responses are based on a false narrative. There are about 1.2 billion Muslims in the world. If even half of them were committed to jihad, our world would be awash in blood (yes, things in the Middle East are bad, but they could be so much worse than they are right now if ALL of the area's residents decided to rise up against the infidel!). A majority of the world's Muslims are not committed to killing or forcibly converting their neighbors, and the fact is that many of them are decent people, our friends, neighbors, and co-workers who despise ISIS just as much as we do. I mean, does anyone see Kareem Abdul-Jabar shouting "Allahu Akbar!" and blowing up half the crowd at a Lakers game? Of course not. But, if you treat 1.2 billion people as enemies, you turn more and more of them into enemies - which is exactly what groups like ISIS want!
On the other hand, ISIS, Al Qaeda, and their ilk are not the tiny minority some would have us believe, nor have they somehow "hijacked" Islam from its peaceful roots. Truth be told, their actions are closer to the actions of Muhammad and the first generations to follow his call to jihad - a bloody wave of warfare, slavery, and forced conversions that wiped out whole cultures and spilled over the Middle East and North Africa like a bloody tidal wave in the Seventh and Eighth Centuries AD. No one knows what percentage of Muslims world wide are "radicalized" - nor is there any exact agreement as to what that term means. But I daresay that the jihadists represent a far greater percentage of Islam than Klansmen and Westboro fanatics do of Christianity! (It's also worth pointing out that the Westboro goons, although they are often held up as an example of the most extreme and ugly perversion of Christianity out there, have never bombed a gay nightclub or cut the head off of someone they don't like!) So the threat is real, and ignoring it won't make it go away. But it's also something that is impossible to defend against 100% of the time.
So what do we do? What is the proper response to this threat that seems so menacing - and yet is not nearly as great as our media, in their endless quest for ratings, makes it out to be? In the wake of the Paris attacks, I made post on this very blog pointing out some of the dangers of taking the threat for granted. And yet, as I look around thereafter, I see the dangers of taking it too seriously. So here is what I propose:
First of all, we can't let fear make us quit being Americans. Being American means believing in religious freedom, rejecting persecution on the grounds of faith, even if the faith isn't one we share or find particularly appealing. We also can't let fear eat away our compassion - that means we try to help the victims of conflict, even when we have huge deficits at home. It means we try to offer some sort of shelter and aid to the victims of the conflict in Syria, even if that may mean bringing some of them here. But what if there are ISIS sleeper agents among them? So be it. As Americans, we accept a certain level of gun carnage every year as the price of having the freedom to bear arms. Far more Americans are killed every week by handguns wielded by their fellow Americans than have perished in all the terrorist attacks of the last ten years. Yet we on the right side of the political aisle scream bloody murder at the thought of anyone infringing on our Second Amendment rights. If we are willing to see that much blood spilled to preserve one of our freedoms, are we willing to bargain away other sacred American traditions for the fear that a hypothetical jihadist might strike at us after being given shelter and refuge? Are we willing to condemn men, women, and children to death and slavery to avoid a threat that most likely will never touch us personally?
Last of all, Christians must still be Christians. I'm not talking about the idiot Crusaders who slaughtered tens of thousands of Muslims in the name of a Savior whose words they could not even read. I'm talking about the fearless, blazing faith of Jesus and his disciples who were willing to face death by the cross, the sword, and wild beasts with the name of the Lord on their lips and hearts full of love for those who were screaming for their blood. It means that we must recognize that Jesus died for that radicalized Muslim cleric just as much as He died for you and me, and that above all we must pray for the salvation of the followers of Muhammad, that the love of God may conquer the forces of hate.
Our government has a responsibility, before God and the Constitution, to defend our lives, liberty, and property against those who would destroy us. That responsibility should be exercised cautiously, soberly, and, at times, forcefully. But our government ultimately answers to and reflects us, and we must not let fear turn us into a dark mirror image of those who seek to destroy us. We must remember who we are, lest we become that which we hate.
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