Why have faith in God at all, much less Jesus as the only way?

Introduction

How could we believe in John 14:6? The only way?

Maybe a generation ago, the bigger debate was whether there was a god

Today it seems more people believe in the supernatural but can’t agree with Christianity’s exclusivism

Many of you have family or friends who are good with you being a Christian as long as it “works for you”

But shouldn’t we want something that we know is actually true?

Like the Andy Griffith episode where Barney buys a new car but the salesman put sawdust in the transmission to help it run smoothly (for just a couple days), but in the end it has disastrous results

You need to wrestle to the ground for yourself what you believe about ultimate truth + 4 questions that form a worldview

Where did I come from? (Origin)

How do I separate good from bad? (Morality)

What is my life’s meaning? (Purpose)

What’s going to happen to me when I die? (Destiny)

Ask yourself, “Would I really be willing to change my view if I were wrong?”

Overview of Tonight’s Arguments

There is absolute truth.

Everyone has faith.

A supernatural power is the only basis for morality.

Monotheism is the only logical explanation for the supernatural.

Christianity is the only monotheistic religion that makes sense of historical evidence.

1. There is absolute truth.

John 18:37–39 37 “You are a king then?” Pilate asked. “You say that I’m a king,” Jesus replied. “I was born for this, and I have come into the world for this: to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” 38 “What is truth?” said Pilate. After he had said this, he went out to the Jews again and told them, “I find no grounds for charging him. 39 You have a custom that I release one prisoner to you at the Passover. So, do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?””

Our culture loves the idea of relativity because it never challenges us

“There’s no such thing as absolute truth.” Are you absolutely sure about that?

It’s impossible to live life without making or believing some sort of truth claims.

Just because we may disagree on what is ultimately true about the universe doesn’t mean that truth doesn’t exist.

God is either real or he isn’t.

Jesus either rose from the dead or he didn’t.

2. Everyone has faith.

You have faith when you drive a car that no one is going to intentionally hit you.

We also have faith when it comes to the bigger issues in life.

What’s to say the Deist view isn’t right? We have faith that God isn’t hiding out.

Even the position of taking no position (agnosticism) involves some faith and risk.

People that want “proof” will always be disappointed because we only receive evidence

If you only believe in things that can be proven empirically, you can’t prove empirically that you should think that way

If you’re frustrated that God makes us choose based on evidence and wish he would just show up and prove it, I’ve got news for you (he did, but people still don’t believe it)

The question then becomes not “will I have faith?” but rather “how do I pick the best set of evidence?”

Set aside your bias, hear arguments from both sides, and submit to the greater set of evidence

3. A supernatural power is the only basis for morality.

We all live by an objective standard of right and wrong.

Everyone has a knowledge of right and wrong, and we feel some need to act in accordance with this.

While laws and cultures may affect our understanding of the standard, the standard is beyond those things. It’s not relative.

That’s why we’d say that the Nazis were wrong for what they did, rather than that genocide isn’t our personal preference.

“What was the sense in saying the Nazis were wrong…if they had no notion of what we meant by right?” — C.S. Lewis

Some cultures and people are closer to the standard than others, but the only way we are able to speak of “progress” (e.g. women in Yemen v. USA) is if there is a standard to progress towards

The cause can either be natural or supernatural.

The natural cause says evolution brought about our morality.

Basically, instincts have been passed down to us that helped us survive in the past, not because they’re “right.”

In other words, we’ve been wired to feel we ought to do the right thing.

If there’s a moment where we feel tribe mentality, it’s because we used to have to protect our families. If there’s a moment we feel altruism, it’s because helping others helped us survive.

The problem with this is that it explains what is but not what ought to be

Explains Hitler’s tribe mentality, but not that he shouldn’t have followed it

Think about saving a drowning man. We feel that it is right even though it doesn’t help us or society.

C.S. Lewis compares instincts to keys on a piano. The instincts themselves are neither good nor bad; it’s how we play them that makes music good or bad. And there must be something beyond the piano itself that tells us how to play them (sheet music) as well as someone who put the sheet music there.

If the natural causes fail to make sense, the cause must be super-natural.

If we’re all here by evolution, why shouldn’t I punch you in the face? I’m just stardust being stardust.

The irreligious person can’t argue that black lives matter, that war in the Middle East is wrong, etc. without appealing to a moral standard

The Christian can make a case for all of this.

“…they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness…” — Romans 2:15

The Bible explains why we have morals even if we don’t have religion, why sometimes our instincts tell us to do what is right (created with conscience), and why sometimes our instincts tell us to do what is wrong (sinful nature).

4. Monotheism is the only logical explanation for the supernatural.

People essentially fall into 1 of 3 camps.

Only the universe exists.

Confucianism sorta falls between this one and the next.

But like we said, this fails to make sense of morality.

Only God exists. (Pantheism/Panentheism)

Taoism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism

All people and things are a part of God and you can reach enlightenment by truly realizing this

Pantheism fails to explain the moral law.

If all things are a part of God, or if God is a part of everything, it’s impossible for anything to be against his will. Because if we murder someone, we are essentially a manifestation of God.

It doesn’t make sense of our motivation to be moral (or call others to be moral). If everything is “sacred” it just gives me more reason to continue acting as I am, since I am sacred and a part of God no matter how I act.

If everything is divine, nothing is ever wrong. We have to admit that some things are not divine.

God and the universe exists. (Abrahamic religions)

3+ gods (Romans, Greeks)

If they aren’t perfect, they aren’t God. That would be like saying Christianity has countless gods because we believe in angels and demons. Eventually there must be a Creator at the top of the chain.

2 (Zoroastrianism)

One good and one evil power, both eternally existent. The problem is that for there to be a standard by which we judge which one is good and which one is evil, there must be a moral standard beyond them. If something is beyond/before them, they aren’t gods.

1

Only a monotheistic worldview that believes God is inherently good can make sense of our understanding of right and wrong.

The only monotheistic religions that address the problem of right and wrong and a God who is involved in his creation are the Abrahamic ones.

5. Christianity is the only monotheistic religion that makes sense of the historical evidence.

Judaism is full of prophecies that point directly towards Jesus being the Christ. Islam fails to reckon with the historical evidence that arises from these prophecies.

Isaiah 64:1 “1 If only you would tear the heavens open and come down, so that mountains would quake at your presence—”

God came down the mountain

Share the gospel