Christian Belief
Benjamin F. Plybon
Emeritus Professor of Mathematics, Miami University
I want to talk about believing today. Some of us say we are believers, meaning we are Christians. We describe ourselves as believers as if only Christians are believers. But many non Christians are also believers. Some will deny, but they are. Everyone believes in something. So how are we different, so different we label ourselves as believers? That has become our identity. We say proudly, “we are believers”, as if we were the only believers in the world. So then, what do we, Christians, believe that is so special? You might say Christians believe in God. Yes, we do, but much more than that. Many who are not Christians also believe in God. Most of those non-Christians who believe in God have very different ideas about God. Can you believe in God but not believe in Jesus? Yes, you can. Ask any Jew or Muslim. With us there is more.
Christians believe that Jesus was, and is, the Son of God. We have the amazing belief that God the Father, and God the Son, are one. We have sound reasons for believing that but it is a difficult belief to understand. Most Christians believe but cannot explain why they believe this amazing thing. But we even go beyond that. We claim God is one God but three persons in one: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Theologians call that the Trinity doctrine. A truly amazing claim. It is a truth discovered by the first Christians like Paul. It you think this thought is foolish consider the fact that Paul was a brilliant man, well educated, and definitely no fool. In more recent times we have brilliant men like the writer C.S. Lewis and the great scientist Michael Faraday who believed in the Trinity and could tell you why. We are unique among believers that way. No other believers think of God as a Trinity, three persons in one. Others do not believe Jesus died on a cross for our sins. Only Christians believe Jesus died on a Friday and arose from the dead on Sunday, leaving an empty tomb behind. Some believe our claims are truly unbelievable for any reasonable person. I believe and have very rational reasons for believing these strange things. I believe Christianity is the only religion suitable for a scientist. The Christian beliefs mentioned above are all supported by evidence more reliable than the evidence offered for some of our scientific beliefs. There is no evidence for String Theory, one of the cherished beliefs among many physicists.
I want to share some thoughts with you about believing as a Christian. It is important to realize, there are beliefs proposed by some Christians that are not shared by all Christians. I write now only about beliefs we share with most if not all other Christians: Jesus is the Son of God, God is three persons but only one God (the Trinity), the Resurrection of Jesus, Jesus died to save us from sin.
If you are a Christian, why do you believe as other Christians do, and what do you believe? If some one asked you that question, later today or tomorrow, how would you answer? I am troubled by the fact that most Christians would have difficulty answering that question. Think about it. Do you know what you believe and why you believe?
Our believing begins with believing in God. Many people in the world today think belief in God today is incredible, an outdated idea. So, why do we believe in God? Think about it. That is the question of the centuries. A question that has been discussed and argued, many times and in many places, over the past two thousand years. Actually the question has been around much longer than that, but I am concerned at the moment with the God in which Christians believe. There have been other gods worshipped, and other ideas about the Creator God we worship, for thousands of years. Existence of God has been debated by philosophers, even in universities. I have heard some of those debates at times. To Christians, God is much more than a philosophical idea.
If you open your Bible and begin to read you find, “In the beginning God created,….” The first words in our Bible. As a child I was familiar with those words. That is the first truth we learn from the Bible. Briefly, the Bible tells us in the first verse of the book, that God exists and God created the universe, everything in it: The earth, the stars and galaxies, all animals and plants and even you and me. People get hung up on the details, and debate evolution, but never forget, the bottom line is there is one God, and he is creator of everything. If you believe that, it is a matter of faith. You cannot prove in any scientific sense that God exists and created all. But no one can prove that belief is false. If anyone tries to do that, remind them that their words are futile, empty words, so much vibrating air sounding as noise. Their words change nothing; meaningless sounds, sometimes masquerading as logic and reason.
I am familiar with the science some use, trying to prove God does not exist. I’ve read many of those papers and articles written by some as scientific wisdom. Most are attempts to show the world can come into existence without a creator, a natural consequence of the laws of science. Hence God is not a necessary hypothesis. I believe such attempts are foolish. I have published articles elsewhere explaining why I say those efforts are foolish.
I am familiar with the Bible and the Gospel, the story of Jesus, the writings of Peter, Paul, John and all of those first Christian believers. I am convinced Paul was as informed as any philosopher of his day, he was clearly a brilliant man, yet he believed just as we do. He taught his followers many of the things we as Christians believe today. Christian beliefs are the products of brilliant minds possessed by men who had seen the evidence. They had known Jesus, talked with him and witnessed his deeds. They were witnesses of events that had no other logical explanation. They did not write fiction.
The Christian beliefs about Jesus, that Jesus was the Son of God, he died on a cross and was then resurrected, are not philosophical ideas. These are conclusions reached by intelligent people after talking with Jesus, listening to his words and witnessing his actions over a period of more than three years. The belief that God is three persons, is based on the fact that over a time period of more than a thousand years God revealed himself in those three ways. There were many witnesses to the resurrection. Those first Christian believers experienced forgiveness of sins as new life, a very different view of the world and people. That experience was powerful and beautiful, so they witnessed to others about that experience. The Bible contains written accounts written by people who lived through those days. They wanted to tell the world about those amazing sights and experiences. It was their moral duty to tell everyone.
This question of believing is an important one for all Christians because of our unusual beliefs. We are attacked from all sides, mostly by misinformed doubters. So many people who do not see what we see, the evidence that God is real and Jesus is alive in the world today. We need to be able to stand up for what we believe. We need to be able to tell doubters what we believe and why. You must be prepared to present the evidence.
Remember Jesus warned his followers they would some day be put on the witness stand, to answer questions. Remember he said, ’fear not’, the Holy Spirit will be there to give you the words you need when that time comes. The time has come. Be prepared to stand up for what you believe. “Believe and you will see that God is real.” That is our message to the world. We are witnesses.
This is a plea for two things. If you are a Christian take time to think deeply about what you believe and why. Be prepared to answer your critics, those who question your sanity for believing such incredible things. Never doubt that you do claim to believe some amazing things. Know and stand firm when challenged. If you are not a Christian, possibly an atheist, take time to read the Bible and learn more about Christian beliefs. There is much wisdom in the Bible; all of the great writers and other thinkers did know the Bible. Both Newton and Shakespeare knew the Bible well. So many are quick to laugh at the Bible, a book they have never read and knoweth not. Some claim because of their knowledge of science they could never believe a man died and then rose from the dead. Our current science cannot explain many things that we know are true . Our ignorance about the how is no excuse. The fact is that there is much evidence that Jesus did die and then reappeared as a living man. The scientific way is to examine the evidence. Take the advice of a wise man.
“I am profitably engaged in reading the Bible. Take all of this Book upon reason that you can, and the balance by faith; you will live and die a better man.”
Abraham Lincoln
(Copyright 2013 Benjamin F. Plybon. All rights reserved.)
You are a fine thinker, but I found this article to be overly wordy in trying to describe your belief in Christianity. You could describe your belief in far fewer words. Again, the key word is, “belief.” For that is all anyone has for something that has no real proof. Natural selection has made most of us, “followers,” in the hierarchical schema of social human behavior. We are prisoners of our genetic makeup making us extremely subject first, to our families, and then larger social networks, including religions, and a host of other social structures like governments, clubs, and schools. Some have called this the, “Matrix,” but I'll just say it's natural––part of our natural evolution. Quite frankly, almost everyone is a backslider who does what they are told because it's the only thing they know how to do in this world to get along. If they are born into Christianity they become Christians and while they might rebel briefly as a teenager, they fall into the habit that repetition of dogma creates and end up believing, because they believe, not because they know anything of physics, philosophy, or anything else. The older they get, the more they believe, because it's the only thing that doesn't change in their lives. In the end, they only wish that they could stop all the pain from all their ailments and look forward every day to be released from the pain and enter “heaven” that they have been promised because they believe.
Sorry, but I escaped the matrix a long time ago and the only thing that I believe in is myself. The only thing that will remain after me is my life work, my writing. I will not live some glorious afterlife in some made-up heaven because I was born a Christian or worse, “born again,” as a Christian.
Ron