CASE FOR CHRIST

Art Lindsley

ISBN 9780830832859

23 – “A person comes to believe, not when one thing seems to prove that faith is credible, but when everything confirms the teachings of that faith.”

“. . . not simply a few isolated arguments but a comprehensive sense in which faith in Christ fits everything.”

”Lewis came to the conviction that Jesus Christ is the key to unlock the mysteries of life. He said, ‘I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen, not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.’”

[p. 83] “Lewis believed that there is enough evidence for Christ to lead to the psychological exclusion of doubt.”

[p. 197] “We can confirm Jesus’s claims through evidence.”

28-31 – obstacles:

“Chronological Snobbery is the uncritical acceptance of the intellectual climate of our own age, and the assumption that whatever has gone ‘out of date’ is on that count discredited”

“The Problem of Evil – “Lewis eventually arrived at an intellectual resolution of [this] difficulty.”

“Parallel Mythologies – J. R. R. Tolkien was instrumental in [Lewis’s] resolving this conflict.”

“Immersion in Rationalism”

“Imagination vs. Reason”

“Disbelief in Miracles – . . . stunning comment by one of the most hard-boiled atheists [that Lewis] knew: that the ‘historicity of the Gospels [is] really surprisingly good . . . . It almost looks as if it really happened . . .’”

70 – “The Gospel of Christ is a ‘myth become fact.’”

71 – “. . . the story of Christ is simply a true myth: a myth working on us in the same way as others, but with this tremendous difference – that it really happened.”

“Anger at God – [p. 61] . . . in many cases, atheists do not really disbelieve in God ; rather, they believe in Him and are angry at Him.”

“A Psychological Explanation [i.e., wishful thinking? a crutch? ‘the opiate of the masses?’] – . . . The wish itself does not prove that what we desire does not exist. . . . Does God put these yearnings into [us] because we are made in His image?”

“. . . three ways of dealing with these:”

“‘The fool's way: . . . more is better . . . but this always disappoints”

“The cynic’s way – disillusionment”

“The Christian way maintains that ‘creatures are not born with desires unless satisfaction for these desires exists”

“‘If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.’”

39 – “If we are inclined to reject an idea, we must first take time to determine whether it is really false”

“Why did this idea go out of date?”

“Was the idea ever refuted?”

“If [so], by whom, where, and how conclusively?”

40 – “not all progress is good. Some new developments should be resisted . . . stopped on the basis of higher, ethical grounds”

41 – Scripture “cautions us not to be taken captive ‘through hollow and deceptive philosophy’” Col 2:8}”

42 – “G. K. Chesterton said, ‘Real development is not leaving things behind, as on a road, but drawing life from them, as from a root.’”

43 – “. . . in everything . . . Christ is our perfect example”

52 – “If evil is real, . . . there must be an absolute good by which evil can be distinguished from good. . . . [And] didn’t [that] demand a God as an adequate basis for absolute good?”

“ . . . do we not feel that there are many things in this world that ought not to be the way they are? . . . our experience tells that this is a good world gone wrong.”

“ . . . Lewis [said] he could argue for the Christian worldview from two phenomena . . . that both show us that certain things ought not to be as they are:”

“Humor” ; and

“Horror over dead bodies”

55 – “Alvin Plantinga’s observation:”

“The all-powerful, all-good God created the universe.”

“God has permitted evil and has a good reason for doing so.”

“Therefore, there is no contradiction in theism.”

“The classic lines of explanation for evil:”

“Free Will – God did not create evil, but He did create within human beings the capacity to choose evil” [emphasis added]

“Natural Law – . . . without rationality, morality is impossible”

“Soul-Making – . . . pain aids our ability to seek God”

59 – “We may never get an answer”

“In the Bible, Job never receives an explanation for his sufferings. Instead, after a long silence, God asks [Job] a series of questions that show Job the limitations of his . . . understanding. Job learns to trust in God, Who alone knows [the] why.”

[p. 88] “Like Job, it is wise [for us[ to trust God even though it seems unreasonable to do so.”

70 – “Christ is the greatest ‘eucatastrophe’ [i.e., good catastrophe] in history . . . The crucifixion led to the resurrection . . . and victory over death.”

73 – Lewis’s 4 “bleatings”:

“Lewis . . . distrust[s] . . . biblical critics as literary critics. . . . [and asks] what qualifies them as literary critics?”

Lewis says, ‘I have been reading poems, romances, vision literature, legends, and myths all my life. I know what they are like [And] I know that not one of them is like this [the Christian story].’ Either the biblical author[s are] telling something considered factually true, or else the author[s have] precociously anticipated the modern fiction novel . . .”

“. . . what is common to all believers, and even to many unbelievers, . . . is the sense that in the Gospels they have met a Personality.”

[the Telephone Game theory of Gospel ‘development’] “is totally contrary to the Middle Eastern and Jewish environment. . . . It has to be an exact repetition . . . verbatim . . .”

“Jesus died around A.D, 30. The Gospel of Mark was written in the 60s, if not the 50s. Paul received his tradition in the 30s and also wrote in the early-50s. Where is there the time for the creation of legends and myths?” [& geo-wide orthodoxy w/o tech help!?]

“The message of the Gospel exploded into life fully grown at birth.”

Their assumption – ‘if miraculous, then unhistorical’ – does not come out of the text but is brought to it. . . . They are in captivity to modernism – the whole rationalistic spirit of the Enlightenment”

“. . . the attempt to reconstruct the origin of texts (when, where, for what purpose they were written) ought to be regarded with great skepticism.”

85 – “Proof of a negative statement is difficult [if not impossible] to pull off.”

86 – “To reject rationalism is not necessarily [the] reject[ion of] rationality.”

87 – “Often a person's emotional issues must be addressed before the person can sustain a passionate commitment to Christ.”

105 – “Lewis . . . demonstrate[d] that naturalism would eventually self-destruct. If naturalism is true, then we cannot be certain of the arguments that attempt to establish it.”

106 – “Material forces, working by chance, might produce an ability to think in a way that was sound, . . . but we would never know or have an adequate basis to know it. Thus on a naturalistic foundation, all our confidence in the reason[ing] used to establish naturalism is undermined.”

108-113 – “Philosopher Victor Reppert . . . restates Lewis’s argument”

“No belief is rationally inferred if it can be fully explained in terms of non-rational causes.”

“If materialism is true, then all beliefs can be explained in terms of non-rational causes.”

“Therefore, if materialism is true, then no belief is rationally inferred.”

“If any thesis entails the conclusion that no belief is rationally inferred, then it should be rejected and its denial accepted.”

“Therefore, materialism should be rejected and its denial accepted.”

“There are 3 negative ways to respond to miracles:”

“Impossible? – Lewis says, . . . ‘ . . . I have never found any philosophical grounds for the universal negative proposition that miracles don’t happen. Unless we are absolutely certain that there is no supernatural power (God) in the universe, we cannot dogmatically say that every claim of a miracle is false. . . . we can never assume that what we have experienced is all there is to reality.’”

“Improbable? – Why do the instances that establish natural law have to count against a reported miracle?”

“Even if people of the past knew less than we know, we cannot discount everything they reported . . . People throughout history have known that the dead do not normally rise and [that] virgins do not normally have babies.”

“Inappropriate? – Lewis claim[s] that the Christian miracles have a much greater intrinsic probability in virtue of their organic connection with one another and with the whole structure of the religion they exhibit.”

“In Christianity, miracles have decisive significance, converging on Christ and demonstrating that He is the One sent by God.”

127 – “ . . . Freud and Marx rejected the theistic position rather than attempting to reasonably refute it. They assumed that God does not exist and then pinned a psychological explanation on those who believe in God . . . but neglected the [starting] question: Does God exist or not?”

“In other words, you must show that a man is wrong before you start explaining why he is wrong.”

128 – “If faith in God is only wish-fulfillment, [then] why does our faith include so many problematic aspects?

“Why have we not wished these ideas away?:”

“Why would all believers wish for a holy, righteous, just God Who is angry at sin?”

“Why would there be a universal longing for moral rules that put restrictions on our personal freedom?”

“Who would wish for divine judgment or Hell?”

129-130 – “As Lewis indicated, the tables can be turned on the atheist. We can just as likely5 say:”

“Atheism is a projection.”

“Atheism is an opiate of the conscience.”

“Atheism is wish-fulfillment.”

132 – “ . . . the proof that all proofs are invalid must be invalid itself.”

141 – “The most basic postmodern contentions are self-refuting”:

“Is it objectively true to say that there are no objective truths?”

“Can you deny the validity of reason without using reason?”

“If all perspectives of reality are culturally determined, then that statement itself is culturally determined . . .“

“If all metanarratives are suspect because they are oppressive, then is not postmodernism also a metanarrative and [thus] equally suspect?”

“If all knowledge claims are a grab for power, then are not the contentions of postmodernism equally motivated by the drive for power?”

“Suspicion can work both ways. Postmodernists would do well to suspect their own suspicions.”

“ Postmodernism’s moral conclusions deserve suspicion. A view which maintains that there are no grounds on which we can condemn the Holocaust deserves suspicion.”

“Some non-Christian radical feminists maintain that moral relativism actually perpetuates oppression and injustice to[ward] women because it makes the terms ‘justice’ and ‘injustice’ merely emotive statements.”

“. . . the denial of absolutes leads to even [worse] oppression . . . . Lewis . .. . points out that no relativist has ever been given power and used it for benevolent ends.”

[p. 155] “Without external moral standards, [even] the [most well-meaning] effort goes horribly wrong . . . [think] Hitler . . .”

[they said “the ends justify that means. There was no intrinsic limit to prohibit the use of any tactic or strategy. Anyone was expendable in [pursuit] of the larger ‘good’”

“World War II [saw] some of the worst consequences of moral relativism. Lewis foresaw much darker possibilities ahead. ‘I am doubting whether history shows us [even] one example of a man who, having stepped outside traditional morality and attained power, has used that power benevolently.’”

152 – “The view that ‘morals are relative’ not only ignores the universality of moral standards [across cultures and eras], and trivializes human feelings, [but] it [also] turns out to be a philosophical position that is hopelessly inconsistent.”

154 – “ . . . character, virtue, . . . decency[:] But what is the price of those admirable qualities? It is submission to an external moral standard by which we know those qualities are admirable.’

163 – “. . . atheism turns out to be the most narrow-minded of all belief systems, because it denies the truth of the central principles of any and all religions.”

164 – “Humans beings, created by God in His image, have an innate sense of what rings true.”

167 – “The death [and resurrection] of Christ solves the problem of how sinful human beings come into personal relationship with the transcendent, [all-]holy God.”

171 – “Experience and common sense tell us that good and bad are not the same. A[ny] person who disallows all differences is out of touch with reality.”

“Christianity is the one true religion, the only one with the right mixture of ‘thick and clear’, the only one which acknowledges that God has come to earth in the flesh.”

176-7 – “According to the atheist, . . . [l]ife came from non-life through evolution.

178 – “[In] contrast, for the Christian believer, . . . the living God is our Creator . . . . [D]eath is merely a temporary interruption in the midst of . . . life.”

“Among worldviews, atheism is an aberration. Most societies throughout history have believed that death is not the end.”

“. . . believers in Christ maintain that the human predicament is our broken relationship with God, and [that] the solution is reconciliation with Him through Jesus Christ.”

180 – “Such a view of if gives tremendous significance not only to individual people but [also] to individual choices. Lewis says that in every choice, we pick the beatific or the miserific vision.”

183=2 – “. . . self-interest is not the same thing as selfishness. . . . [S]elf-denial is in our self-interest. If we say ‘no’ to ourselves and follow Him, we will gain everything worth having. Self-interest does not necessarily make our motives impure.’ {cf Mark 8:35-36}”

186 – “Not only is there a strong historical case for the resurrection of Christ, but there are [also] millions of people [who] have testified and continue to testify that His living presence has changed them in radical ways. Could whopping lies or raving lunacy transform people’s lives from insanity to sanity, from slavery to freedom, from hostility to love, from instability to stability, from brokenness to wholeness?”

“If you read history, you will find that the Christians who did [the] most for the present world were [the very same people] who thought most of the next [world] . . . It is since Christiansd have largely ceased to think of the [next] world that they have become so ineffective in this world.” [emphasis added]

189 – “Not Safe, But Good” re: Aslan

“The attributes of Jesus:”

“He is always present whether we are aware of Him or not.”

“He is always working for our good, whether or not we understand (or even like) what He does.”

“He transforms us in ways we could never do for ourselves.”

“Greatest of all, He sacrificed His life for us and rose again, freeing us from the bondage of sin [and from eternal death].”

194, 196-197 – “Lewis argues that Christ cannot be simply a great moral teacher and nothing else:”

“‘I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: “I am ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God.” That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was really a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic – on the level of a man who says he is a poached egg – or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up as a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon, or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.’”

“Is he a liar? – It would be very strange if the teaching of a liar . . . encourage[d] people to walk in the way of scrupulous honesty. Throughout church history, committed Chriustians have been known as people who keep their word, even at great cost to themselves.”.

“Is he a lunatic? – Then it is impossible to explain the amazing rationality of His teachings about relationships, or the perfect balance of justice and mercy in His life. And how do we account for the [good] effect of His ‘lunacy’ on his followers? The weak become strong ; the selfish, selfless ; the defeated, victorious ; the bad, good.”

“Is He Lord? – If Jesus is Lord, the fact is of more than intellectual interest. It demands a response. We can either deny His authority or we can submit to it.” [emphasis added]

‘. . . and the truth shall set you free.’ {Jn 8 ; 32}