Christianity loves the light

Christianity loves the light…because we have nothing to hide!

The other day my nephew, a graduate of Whitworth sent me an email with a question. He’s always engaging people around him who both know Christ and others who don’t, but I find it interesting how there seems to be a growing chorus of skepticism from those who are supposedly inside the faith. Here is what my nephew’s note said:  "I was thinking about something this week…I’ve had talks with friends (liberal Christians) who have been taught some of the books of the Bible like Jonah and others were fictional stories not real stories. How do you contend with this? Can this be disproven?" Good question and one that is often asked. Here is what I proposed for a reasonable response as I Peter 3:15 instructs us to be ready to do.

First of all, the burden of proof on things like this lies squarely in the corner of the skeptic, so I usually ask them to give me the objective evidence that they studied that led them to such a belief. Nine times out of ten it seems, they have no evidence, but are only spouting things they’ve heard from other liberal skeptics.

Second, because Christianity is based upon objective truth and is not scared of scrutiny, we have answers…the first stumbling block most liberals have with Jonah is the possibility of the miraculous (they think…miracles can’t and don’t happen, so Jonah must be fiction). The best defense of the historical reality of Jonah is what Jesus said. In Matt. 12:40, he used Jonah’s 3 days in the fish to predict His own real, historical, physical death, burial and resurrection and He said it all to a bunch of skeptics…the Pharisees. If Jonah’s story is only fictional or mythical, then Jesus’ use of the story provided no support for His coming death, burial and resurrection.. We could also add some archaeological evidence that has unearthed Jonah’s grave in northern Israel along with some coins with an inscription of a man coming out of a fish’s mouth…but I like Jesus’ evidence better.

Now, one of the things I love about Christianity is its open-book mentality. Because there is nothing to hide, we can rest confidently in the truth that all questions whether sincere or not can be researched and answered objectively and reasonably. God gave us the truth He wanted us to know and that explains life as we need to know it and helps us understand what really matters in life. God said, “And you will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart and I will be found by you, declares the Lord…” (Jeremiah 29:13-14a).

Encourage your friends to ask question about Christianity’s claims or our Bible because God wants His truth made known.