Faith and Evidence (Adult Sunday School)

Exercising Faith • • • Talk to God each day this week. Listen to God each day this week. Write down 15 passages that show you can trust God. Summary • Many people talk about faith as “One’s personal, subjective, • The Bible talks about faith as “trust that rests on sufficient opinion without any evidence.” evidence.” • What counts as evidence? • • • • You observe physical realities with your senses. You reason to concepts and ideas with your mind. You experience life and form memories. You learn from the experience and testimony of others. Through long experience of interacting with others in the world, we have come to think that it is wise, most of the time, to put a good measure of trust in the testimony of others, when those people seem to be giving that testimony in good faith. Page 24 Faith and Evidence Part Two ”Religion isn’t like science. What’s true for you isn’t true for everyone, so don’t push your personal faith on other people.” Central Claims What types of claims are central to Christianity? • Personal, subjective claims? “I like blue more than red.” Central Claims What types of claims are central to Christianity? • • Personal, subjective claims? “I like blue more than red.” Universal, objective claims? “Jesus rose from the dead.” What are the central claims God wants us to rest in? (1 Cor. 15:1–8) • • Jesus died and was buried. Jesus rose again and was witnessed by others. The central truth claim on which Christianity stands or falls is that Jesus was physically raised from the dead.…Jesus either was raised from the dead…or was not. Our believing or not believing in the resurrection may change us, but it does not change the objective reality of what took place two thousand years ago. And this is a question on which the three greatest monotheistic religions disagree. Page 53–54 Christians believe that Jesus rose from the dead. Muslims believe that Jesus did not die, but that he was instead taken up into heaven. Jews (and atheists and agnostics, for that matter)believe that Jesus died and remained dead. These claims are mutually exclusive. At this foundational level, religious truth cannot be untangled from historical truth.…to say that all religions are equally true is to lose our grip on history. Page 54 “Religious claims aren’t like scientific claims or historical claims. I think all religious truth is relative. Religion is basically about personal values, goals and lifestyle choices. And those are obviously person-relative or culture-relative. They aren’t based on objective facts.”…Such a perspective s quite common, but it’s problematic on several levels.… Page 18 It may be true that some religions are only about personal values, goals and lifestyle choices. But that’s definitely not true for some of the major world religions. Christianity, Islam and Judaism all make significant historical claims about what took place in the past [like the existence of Jesus].… Either there was such a person or there wasn’t. Either He performed miracles or He didn’t. Such claims can’t be “true” for some people but not “true” for other people. Page 18 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord Romans 1:1–4 Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know— this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death Acts 2:22–24 This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses.…Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” Acts 2:32, 36 “I’ll evaluate God’s claims solely on the evidence.” HUMANS ARE LIMITED IN KNOWLEDGE Then I saw all the work of God, that man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun. However much man may toil in seeking, he will not find it out. Even though a wise man claims to know, he cannot find it out. Ecclesiastes 8:17 HUMANS ARE FINITE IN NATURE As for man, his days are like grass; he flourishes like a flower of the field; for the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place knows it no more. Psalm 103:15–16 Biblical Lenses God tells you to interpret all evidence by His own testimony: • Test what you sense by His Word This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand… that all the earth may know there is a God in Israel. 1 Samuel 17:46, 47 Biblical Lenses God tells you to interpret all evidence by His own testimony: • • Test what you sense by His Word Test your reasoning by His Word Truly, O LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations and their lands…So now, O LORD our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone are the LORD.” Isaiah 37:20 Biblical Lenses God tells you to interpret all evidence by His own testimony: • • • Test what you sense by His Word Test your reasoning by His Word Test your experiences by His Word And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts… 2 Peter 1:19 Biblical Lenses God tells you to interpret all evidence by His own testimony: • • • • Test what you sense by His Word Test your reasoning by His Word Test your experience and memories by His Word Test tradition and shared testimony by His Word But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed. Galatians 1:8–9 Biblical Lenses God tells you to interpret all evidence by His own testimony: • • • • Test what you sense by His Word Test your reasoning by His Word Test your experience and memories by His Word Test tradition and shared testimony by His Word The Word of God is the ultimate lens for knowledge. By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible. Hebrews 11:3 I believe in order to understand. Augustian Exercising Faith • Read two extended stories from 1 or 2 Kings. • Mark how God’s Word is the governor for how Judah or Israel should interpret their experience, reasonings, or testimony of others. Evaluating Your Lens How do you know if your interpretive lens is right? • • • Is it self-consistent? Can you consistently live as though it’s true? Can you explain what you observe in yourself and others? Faith and Evidence Part Two