Healthy plants have deep roots and strong pillars have solid foundations. If we are to be Christians who are deeply rooted in Christ and built on the solid Rock, then we need more than mere sound bites. One means that the Lord has used throughout church history to strengthen His people’s faith and witness is reading good books. This book review series is identifying books that can serve as shovels that help you dig deeper in your Christian life.
Book: Surviving Religion 101 – Letters to a Christian Student on Keeping the Faith in College - Michael J. Kruger
Am I the only one here who believes what the Bible says about God, Jesus, and salvation? As the crowd swarms past you on campus it’s easy to feel alone – socially, but especially, intellectually and theologically. Maybe this isolation has planted questions in your mind: If Christianity is true, then why don’t more people believe it? And why does it seem that the smartest people are the ones who don’t believe? In Chapter 2 of Surviving Religion 101, Michael Kruger helps us understand why the intellectual landscape is the way it is.
1) Just the Facts, Ma’am
We tend to think that to discover truth – truth about things like how planes fly to something like the existence of God – you just have to put on the white lab coat and ‘scientifically’ collect information. Truth becomes ‘democratic’ and we think that the people with the most facts are bound to be right. However, all of this overlooks the simple, yet significant point: people (including your professors) are not neutral.
We all have a worldview, a paradigm, that shapes everything we see. Our worldview involves our most foundational commitments and is always operating in the background, conditioning and controlling our search for knowledge. Having a worldview is like wearing coloured glasses; they affect everything you see. It’s not so much something you look at as something you look through.
2) Seeing What We Want to See
What happens if someone is looking at the world through the wrong glasses? It doesn’t matter how smart she is, she will misunderstand and misinterpret the data around her. For example, if a person’s worldview says miracles are impossible, she is unlikely to find the evidence for the resurrection convincing (no matter how good it might be!).
C.S. Lewis captured this reality well in his children’s allegory, The Magician’s Nephew. Uncle Andrew assumes (in his worldview) that animals are nothing but dumb creatures. When he enters Narnia and hears Aslan singing, he rationalizes it away: “‘Of course, it can’t really have been singing….Who ever heard of a lion singing?’” Lewis (as the narrator) offers the most profound insight: “What you see and what you hear depends a great deal on where you are standing. It also depends on what sort of person you are.”
In other words, people accept only beliefs that are consistent with the earlier and more foundational beliefs present in their worldview. People interpret the facts according to their worldview. If their worldview is wrong, they reach wrong conclusions.
3) Born This Way?
But why do so many people walk around with a problematic worldview that is hostile to Christianity? The Bible teaches that people are born this way. It’s not that people are born with a full package of beliefs in Buddhism or Islam or anything else. Instead, we are all born with an inherent disposition against the one true God. Because of Adam’s sin, all humanity is born with a dark, fallen heart that shapes our belief system.
The Apostle Paul addressed this when he wrote to the Corinthians. Like ancient Athens, the city of Corinth prided itself on the sophistication of its philosophers. The Christians there probably felt intellectually isolated and likely wrestled with a similar struggle as you, “Isn’t it more likely that these brilliant philosophers are right and we are wrong?”
But Paul is very clear: “The natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned”(1 Cor. 2:14). It’s not just that non-Christians don’t understand Christianity; they are unable to understand it. Due to our fallen nature all people are hardwired to reject Christianity. We cannot see the truth unless the Spirit opens our eyes. Thus, the widespread rejection of Christianity by intellectual elites has nothing to do with whether Christianity is true.
There are two practical points that flow from this. First, your disagreements with your non-Christian friends cannot be solved simply by giving them more facts. What they ultimately need, is the same as what we all need, and that is to be born again by the Holy Spirit. This doesn’t mean we don’t present our best evidence and arguments for Christianity – we can and should. But it should lead us to the loving Saviour, who can save us from our spiritual deadness and who can work in our non-Christian friends as well.
Second, if you believe in Christ this explains why. It’s not that you are smarter than others. It’s solely because the gracious God sovereignly opened your eyes by the Holy Spirit so that you could understand His Word and His world. That should lead you to humility and thankfulness.
4) You’re Not Really Alone
Sometimes we feel intellectually alone because we lack perspective. However, if we think globally, then we see that we are not really alone. Christianity is the world’s largest religion. While not everyone bearing the label of Christian truly believes in Christ; yet, many do. Further, we should be encouraged to know that many intellectuals throughout history and into the present have embraced Christianity. The reason most secular universities are dominated by people with a non-Christian worldview is that there is a strong bias against Christian scholars, who are often sifted out in the hiring process. Many people, even intelligent people, have believed what you believe, both in the past and in the present.
In summary: Truth is not determined by majority vote. One must view the world through a God-given lens to understand it rightly. And that can happen only by the help of the Holy Spirit.
For next time: “There are a lot of different views here. How can we say that Christianity is the only right religion?”
Surviving Religion 101 – Letters to a Christian Student on Keeping the Faith in College by Michael J. Kruger. Published by Crossway, Wheaton, Illinois, 2021. Softcover, 262 pages.