Minneapolis, MN ✠ University Lutheran Church & Student Center, Champaign, IL ✠ University Lutheran Church, Bloomington, IN ✠ Zion Lutheran Church, Alva, OK ✠ Zion Lutheran Church, Morris, MN
✠ CHRIST ON CAMPUS CHAPTERS ✠ All Saints Lutheran Church & Student Center, Slippery Rock, PA ✠ Christ the King Lutheran Chapel, Mt. Pleasant, MI ✠ Co
Christ in efore the rise of modern secularism in the eighteenth century, it was thought that man was the one who must answer for his conduct. Man was, as C. S. Lewis said, in the dock, on trial. Today the situation is totally reversed. God (and specifically Jesus Christ) is in the dock, whether in the classroom, coffee house, or corporate office.
B
One who assumes that Christianity is still in the driver’s seat of culture rather than in the crosshairs of culture is both dangerous and deluded. Secular society exists not to usher in the Kingdom of heaven on earth but to maintain peace and good order so that there is maximum freedom to preach the Gospel. Keeping in mind the apostle Peter’s charge to “always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you” (1 Peter 3:15 ESV), here are some of the common accusations against Christianity, which are heard from the podiums of both academia and pop culture.
H I G H E R T H I N G S __
Christianity is Bigoted If our culture teaches anything, it is that nobody has the truth. Anybody claiming they have the truth is not only bigoted and narrow, they are also dangerous and probably live in a commune in rural Idaho, maybe have a third grade education, and are about ready to start using a gun at any moment. However, truth is by nature narrow. Two plus two equals four, not five. Lincoln was shot at Ford’s Theater in Washington D.C., not at Starbucks in Des Moines. Water is composed of two parts hydrogen and one part oxygen. These statements are true
regardless of whether one lives in Minneapolis or Moscow. They are also true regardless of whether anybody thinks they are true. The issue is not that Christianity asserts a narrow truth. If it is true, we would expect nothing less than precision. The issue whether Christianity is true and how one would verify that truth claim. More importantly, if Christianity is true about original sin, then we are in the absolute worst position for criticizing God for providing only one way to salvation. The question is not why is there only one way? The real question, in light of man’s wretchedness, is why is there any way? We did not come up with this idea of Jesus being the only way. Jesus did! Jesus is extremely narrow when it comes to the issue of multiple ways to heaven. He totally rejected the idea (John 14:6). Since Jesus verified His claims by rising from the dead in real history (proven repeatedly by serious trial lawyers who have investigated this event1), He is in the very best place to give his opinion on whether He alone is the way to God. Christianity is Mythical It is often believed that Christianity was thought up by inebriated monks in the fourth century as a way to motivate superstitious people to give offerings and
16
n Church, Chico, CA ✠ St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church & Campus Center, Laramie, WY ✠ St. Paul’s Lutheran Chapel, Iowa City, IA ✠ University Lutheran Chapel,
