01.06 - Chapter 6 - Anti-Christian Theories
Chapter 6 ANTI-CHRISTIAN THEORIES
Deism As a philosophical system of belief, Deism teaches that there is a personal God, that He created the world and impressed on it the laws that govern it. Having done this, Deism argues that God withdrew from the world to leave it to operate according to Natural Law. There is no revelation, no miracle, no incarnation, no supernatural manifestation, no intervention of God in the affairs of men, no providence, no control. God has nothing more to do with the world that He has made. The light of nature, i.e., reason, is man’s only reliance to explain all things.
History of Deism Lord Herbert of Cherbury (1583-1648) is regarded as the “Father of English Deism.”
Though moral in his private life, Lord Herbert’s intellectual infidelity brought great harm to the world as he eloquently combined truth and error, and offered the mixture for consideration and acceptance. Herbert believed that God exited. He embraced a life of personal devotion, and accepted many Christian doctrines regarding repentance and forgiveness, rewards and punishments in this world and the next. However, Lord Herbert dismissed a written revelation (the Bible) and denounced the distinctive Christian doctrines of the incarnation and the substitutionary, atoning work of Jesus Christ. The result: English Deism encouraged the emergence of French Deism, represented by Voltaire (1694-1778), Rousseau (1712-1778), and Diderot (1713-1784). These intellectually gifted men used their natural talents to mock Christ and His Church.
Objections to Deism
If the foundational belief of Deism can be destroyed, then the intellectual super-structure built upon it will collapse. The foundational belief can be destroyed with a simple but profound thought. “It is incredulous to believe that the sovereign God would make a world and not be concerned for the world that He made. All nature, from the farthest reach of the telescope to the deepest research of the microscope, exhibits the care with which God made the world. That He should not be intimately interested in it, contradicts all our notions of the fitness of things. All evidence of an overruling providence, all sense of responsibility for human conduct, all proof of revelation, stands opposed to Deism. It is subversive of all morality to deny that God is a moral Governor.” (David Clark) The care of God for all of His creation was reaffirmed by Jesus who said, "Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?" (Matthew 6:26)
Rationalism
Rationalism emerged with force about the middle of the 18th century to suggest a Natural Theology. One primary objective of Rationalism was to demonstrate that all the doctrines of religion could be judged by reason and accepted or rejected on the basis of the same. In Rationalism, nothing was to be embraced as true unless it could be demonstrated by logic. A Challenge to Rationalism
Early objections to Rationalism were well grounded for Rationalism dismissed too easily Divine revelation. It also failed to consider the possibility that the reasoning processes of man may have been defiled by sin so that he is incapable of proper reasoning on moral and spiritual matters. Indeed, "Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this world? Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?" (1 Corinthians 1:20) The destructive nature of Rationalism was first challenged and then exposed by Immanual Kant (1724-1804). Kant wrote his Critique Of Pure Reason to demonstrate that reason alone is not fully capable of proving any religious truth, including Christianity. There must be faith, said Kant. Faith, beginning where knowledge ends, is not irrational nor is it based upon mere intuition. Faith is grounded in an ethical God who has revealed not only Himself but His will to mankind.
By-passing all other theological arguments, Kant rested his entire belief in God and in religious truth on a moral basis. If any system of ethics are to be meaningful then men must live at least "as if" there is a God. "If there is no God, human ethics are worthless and civilization cannot survive. Societies are left with arbitrary traditions that have no moral suasion to them. And because there is no universal "ought" of righteousness, the final "ethical" conduct will emerge based upon brutality and the philosophy that might makes right." (David Clark) The concluding thought is simple: Christianity, the most moral and ethical of all religions, cannot be based upon a lie. "It was impossible for God to lie." (Hebrews 6:18) "No lie is of the truth." (1 John 2:21) Only unbelief will change the truth of God into a lie (Romans 1:25).
Pessimism
Pessimism is the philosophy that regards the universe and life as essentially evil. It contends that the world, if not the worst that can be, is at least sufficiently corrupt to be worse than none at all. Pessimism’s distinguishing characteristics may be summarized. To live is to desire, to desire is to want, to want is to suffer, and therefore, to live is to suffer.
Pessimism accepts as true the words of the Greek dramatist Sophocles (c. 496-406 BC):
Never to have been born is the happiest fate, and the next best thing to die young.
Pessimism teaches that the more sophisticated forms of life suffer the most and the lower the least. The lowest animals are therefore happier than man. Pessimism insists that if individuals were not so ignorant and knew better what life really is, they would will not to live; they would refuse to preserve themselves, and propagate their species, and would welcome death as the highest good. In modern times, such men as the German philosopher, Shopenhauer (1788-1860), have articulated the philosophy of Pessimism. Shopenhauer openly displayed great disrespect to the Bible when he said, "In its explanation of the origin of the world, Judaism is inferior to any other form of religious doctrine, professed by a civilized nation." With that as a starting point Shopenhauer went on to boldly promote the right and virtue of suicide. He advocated polygamy, and the keeping of a mistress in the name of women’s rights and sexual freedom only to declare that woman should not be entrusted with property or the management of business affairs. In fact, women should be made subject to men in all things. Morally, Pessimism does not want to hear that, "Marriage is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge." (Hebrews 13:4) Nor do its advocates want to be told that husbands are to "love their wives as Christ loved the Church, and gave Himself for it" (Ephesians 5:25) As inconsistent and degrading as it was, Shopenhauer’s philosophy of Pessimism found a curious public following. The Doctrine of a Finite God
There is another view of God that has been seriously considered. This view says that God is a limited Being who is subject to a process of cosmic evolution as a deity. It is argued that God is developing under the same laws, or similar laws, as the universe. The acceptance of a finite God seems to some to offer an explanation for the dark side of creation. For example, the English philosopher and economist John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) concluded, from the presence of evil in the world, that God cannot be both good and omnipotent. If God is omnipotent, said Mill, He cannot be good. Either God is malicious and irresponsible in permitting evil, or He is helpless to prevent it. In either case God is limited either in goodness or in power. Professor William James (1842-1910), a philosopher and psychologist of Harvard University, also contended that God is finite. He even dared to conjecture that this finite "God" of the known universe is subordinate to a greater and all-inclusive Absolute. Your God Is Too Small The Biblical revelation is that neither God’s goodness nor His power is limited by the fact of evil. "Your thoughts of God are too human," said Luther to Erasmus in a letter one day. It is so often true. Men limit the Lord while the supremacy of God is declared time and again in Scripture (Psalms 2:9; 1 Chronicles 29:11-12; 2 Chronicles 20:6; Job 23:13; Job 42:2; Psalms 115:3; James 4:13, James 4:15; Ephesians 1:11; Romans 11:36). God, being infinitely righteous and omnipotent, may have reasons for the permission of evil that may be incomprehensible to anyone but Himself. "The imperfection of the finite universe and man does not necessitate imperfections in God. In fact, imperfection belongs to the sphere of the finite. Regarding the concept of an evolving Deity, it simply is not logical. A finite and developing Deity who would have necessarily less in each preceding age gains nothing. An evolving Deity does not solve the question of an ultimate beginning. “Where did God come from?” When such a question is raised, the mind is compelled to go back to the pre-supposition that there is an eternal First Cause." (David Clark) Until the day dawns when God reveals His reasons for creating the universe as He did, man should be silent and say only that, "The Lord does all things well." Certainly the Biblical revelation of God is that He is not limited in power or wisdom. Rather, God "worketh all things after the counsel of His own will." (Ephesians 1:11) His power glitters in all His works, as well as His wisdom. "Twice have I heard this, that power belongs unto God." (Psalms 62:11)