Five Obstacles

In last Monday’s Nederlands Dagblad (Dutch newspaper), there was a report on a conference where attention was given, among other things, to five reasons why people turn away from Christianity. In my own words, I summarize them here:

1. The arrogant claim that only Christians go to heaven;
2. The intellectual problem of how a powerful and loving God can allow suffering;
3. Science that dismantles a literal reading of Genesis 1;
4. The injustice that is maintained in the world—partly thanks to orthodox Christianity;
5. The straitjacket of Christian rules that robs people of moral freedom.

The criticism of Christianity that resonates in the above points seems to me, in part, quite justified. Let me briefly go through the list.

Starting with the last point:
Christianity has indeed understood little of the freedom preached by the “apostle of the nations” —
“All is allowed, but not all is expedient.”
The lifestyle Paul sets forth is not dictated, but logical (cf. Romans 12:2).

The fourth point is closely related to a fatal misunderstanding of Paul’s message concerning “the Secret.”
We live in a time in which Christ is hidden, and is explicitly not working to subject the world to Himself.
Christianity, on the other hand, has always seen it as its task to leave its mark on the world—
with the result that Christianity has become, to no small extent, co-responsible for the injustice in the world.

The third obstacle would largely melt away like snow in the sun if people realized that the seven days of Genesis 1 begin in a ruined world (verse 2). Genesis 1 describes the restoration of a devastated earth. A “present world” (kosmos) was preceded by a “then world” (2 Peter 3:6–7). Fossils and geological strata are silent witnesses of that earlier world. This first, long-lasting aeon is almost entirely unknown in traditional Christianity.

The second criticism (together with number one) is undoubtedly the most significant rational obstacle for many in taking Christianity seriously. Christianity as a whole is completely uneasy with the question of how the concept of a loving and powerful God can be reconciled with the presence of evil in the world. This is because it believes that the entry of evil was, (in fact), a blunder on God’s part—
despite clear statements such as Isaiah 45:7 and 46:10. Through the devil and the eating of the notorious fruit, God’s plan, they say, was thwarted. According to Scripture, this is impossible. The evil in the world is the dark backdrop against which God intends the jewels of His grace and love to shine!

The first-mentioned objection ties directly into the above. To put it bluntly: the God of Christianity is a loser. Because, according to Christianity, the entry of evil into the world was unintentional, God has been left with the wreckage—and is now merely trying to salvage what He can. Those who are “saved” are the Christians. The rest are hopelessly lost and destined for hell. This idea not only portrays a God who lacks love toward His own creations, but above all reveals a God who has completely lost control of the narrative.

All the more reason, then—where such darkness dominates the Christian world—for the GoedBericht site to let the God-given light shine all the more brightly!

Delen: