Deep Thinking and Christianity - DTC Introduction

Here's the plan.

DTC, that is, Deep Thinking about Christianity, or some such similar thing, is a series of nontechnical posts that contain my responses to the biggest intellectual challenges to Christianity. As I explain in the preface, I hope that both naturalists and believers will benefit from this series.

Outline

• Part I: Fundamental Questions

  • What is God?

  • Does God exist?

  • Can we know anything about God?

  • What is the world’s relation to God?

• Part II: Substantive Questions

  • What has God revealed to us?

  • Do miracles really happen?

  • Is God really a trinity?

  • Is the Bible really true?

  • Hell!?

• Part III. Experiential Questions

  • What does it mean to feel God's presence?

  • Why don’t I feel like God exists?

  • What does it mean to have faith or to believe?

  • Can anyone really know if they know God?

• Part IV: Frequently Asked Questions

  • If God exists, why do bad things happen?

  • Why does God get to be jealous, wrathful, and demanding?

  • Why are Christians mean and hypocritical?

  • Hasn't science disproven religion?

  • Is religion good?

  • Is there only one true religion?

  • Is religion really for everyone?

Introduction

Deep thinking isn’t for everyone. I wish it were, but alas, people have practical things to do. As far as I can gather, questions and ideas about inherently esoteric topics do not constantly flood the minds of most people. They feel no need to wonder about the nature of reality or to work out an answer to some skeptic’s question. For these people, I imagine this book may seem absurd. I won’t argue that point; I think that too sometimes. On the other hand, if you, like me, have the problem of nagging concerns about the claims of Christianity and have, or would like to cultivate, the ability to think deeply, working out these problems for yourself, then I hope you will find this series helpful.

In the following pages, I want to address a broad range of different issues, which I phrase as questions, that are relevant to living in a Christian or even post-Christian culture. As the outline shows, I’ve decided to group these questions into four categories. I have done my best to include all relevant questions that cast serious doubt on the validity of Christianity without going too far into the practice of Christianity itself, as that is outside the scope of this series. I do not intend to deal with the historical context of this topic in this series; there are other books for that. Instead, I will be working towards providing my own perspectives on these issues, noting where they align well with the solutions of others. My purpose here is not to regurgitate arguments that have already been analyzed into oblivion. Those who promote such arguments feign, or truly possess, ignorance of the arguments’ counterpoints, and those who understand the arguments understand their shortcomings. Neither of these groups are thinking deeply in this activity. Rather, by working through reasoning as best I can, I hope I will challenge you to do the same. If this is successful, your thoughts may not align all that well with my own, and we will be engaged in intellectual dialogue as a consequence. By adhering to the call of reason, you and I can persistently and skeptically approach these questions, seeking the truth.

Each of these four sections comes with its own challenges. The fundamental questions are so abstract that thinking through them may feel like a stretch of the intellect itself. I remember this feeling well from when I first approached metaphysics. Well, it was more like the first dozen or so times I approached the topic. We just don’t normally think about these things. In a sense, this is akin to trying to work in a new field, or study a new topic, except in this case, the new topic resists learning transfer; it’s unlike most other topics. Rather than dreading or avoiding this sort of thinking, let’s look at it as an opportunity to work out an oft-neglected muscle. Don’t skip leg day.

The topics in the fundamental section require little introduction. We’re all aware of, even if only vaguely, questions about the nature of God, his existence, and whether or not we can know anything about God. The fourth question offers the additional challenge of understanding our own world.

In Part II, I hope to address more content-oriented questions, especially within the context of Christianity. Here, more so than in other parts, we will be focused on Christianity specifically rather than on vague notions of religion and God. As essentially everything within the content of Christianity has been doubted and questioned, part of the challenge here is deciding which questions to address. I have tried to pick the stickiest ones.

The question of revelation is both borderline fundamental and borderline experiential, but at its core, it is a content-related question nonetheless. Questioning the miraculous in some ways falls under the umbrella of questions regarding revelation, but this topic is difficult enough that it demands its own chapter. The next two questions are among the first to come to mind when considering the content-oriented questions facing Christianity: Is God triune, and is the Bible true? Both of these questions have been focal points in Christianity. Finally, the question of hell, specifically that of its existence and nature, has in recent years become sticky enough to include in this series. Surely only angry people believe in a God who sends people to hell, right?

The third part focuses on the experiences of individuals in relation to Christianity. It is no secret that thinking and feeling are closely related. Skipping over an in-depth analysis of this relationship, I hope to wrestle with the most difficult feelings about Christianity. The challenge here is obvious: How can we rationally work with feelings and (anecdotal) experiences? Nevertheless, these are deep and introspective questions that must be addressed.

Perhaps the most troubling of these questions is whether or not we should expect to feel God’s presence, and what does feeling God’s presence even mean? Likewise, why might someone feel, in a deep and spiritual way, that there is no God? The third and fourth questions address the feeling and knowledge-of-self issues related to the claims of Christianity around faith and belief. Christians tend to relate these questions to salvation and the inward assurance thereof, but I intend to take a more literal approach.

The last part, Part IV, is a catch-all for remaining questions. Some of these questions could have been squeezed into other parts, but I believe that they are a better fit for the frequently-asked category. As is suggested by their frequently-asked status, these are some of the most challenging questions to address. We have to save the best for last, right?

I will begin this section with the trump card (can I still use this expression?), the problem of evil: Why do bad things happen (to good people)? Does Christianity give an acceptable account of why evil exists in the first place? Like a combination punch, the next topic I broach is the seemingly unseemly characteristics of God. Here, I intend to bring in the context of Old Testament scriptures to frame the question using the Christian Scriptures. Next, we will own up to the perception that Christians aren’t so nice. Perhaps they are just following their Old Testament God? The final haymaker is purportedly made by science. Has the death of God come to pass? Finally, the last three questions address aspects of religion itself. Is religion a good (helpful) thing in the world? Is there only one “true” religion? Moreover, is religion something that everyone should engage with, or is it only for people who “need” it?

I think that about covers it.