Reliable Truth

Are moral choices just a matter of individual taste? During the summer of 2008, the imminent Notre Dame sociologist Christian Smith led a research team that conducted an in-depth interview with 230 young adults from across America. When asked to describe a moral dilemma they had faced, two-thirds of the young people couldn’t answer the question. Instead, they described problems that are not moral at all, like whether they could afford to rent a certain apartment or whether they had enough quarters to feed the meter at a parking spot. When asked about wrong or evil, they could generally agree that rape and murder are wrong, but aside from these extreme cases, moral thinking didn’t enter the picture, even when considering things like drunken driving, cheating in school, or cheating on a partner. “I don’t really deal with right and wrong that often,” is how one interviewee put it. The default position is that moral choices are just a matter of individual taste. "Who am I to say what’s right or what’s wrong?" many of them concluded. There seems to be a moral confusion in our world today. I contend that God is the ultimate moral lawgiver and his moral law is found in the Bible. The Bible is our moral compass, where we can have moral certainty. It eliminates the confusion that we see all around us, in what is right and what is wrong, what is good and what is evil, what is moral and what is immoral.

Why doesn’t God speak to us from Heaven in an audible voice? Why doesn’t He just speak and let His presence be known? I believe the primary reason is that if the infinite God of the universe regularly spoke to us from Heaven, we would be terrorized into loving and listening to Him. Such a direct and demonstrative communication would create a situation where God actually forced Himself on mankind. Serving and listening to Him would almost become compulsory. True love exists only when we choose to love from a condition of freedom.Ironically, just yesterday, I happened to come across this in the book of John, chapter 12, verse 37. Jesus had performed many miracles, including raising Lazarus from the dead, that was witnessed by large numbers of people. Yet look what the verse says: “But though He had performed many miracles before them, yet they were not believing in Him.” It's true that God has chosen not to regularly appear in a visible way. But it's also true that He has not hidden Himself, so that He can be found by those who truly seek Him. This is the promise He makes to mankind, "If you seek Me, you will find Me."

Is there good reason to believe that the Bible is the Word of God? I am convinced that true faith has to have a foundation, and the stronger that foundation, the greater your faith will be. The Christian's faith is not blind faith. Blind faith is worthless, based only on certain conclusions but not on any evidence. Christianity is the only word religion where spiritual truth depends on the veracity of historical events. But how trustworthy is the Bible?  How trustworthy are those who wrote the Bible? Has what we have today been transmitted to us faithfully over the centuries? Documentation is crucial when it comes to history and truth proposition, which is what the Bible is. And this is why the Biblical documents have been handed down to us with such great care with the passage of time. And yet, there are many people, maybe you, who wonder about the relevance of it. So today, I want to talk about ancient documents, and the Bible in comparison with all other ancient literature that’s been passed down to us.

Are science and religious beliefs at war with each other? There are three different ways that people see the relationship between science and God. The first is the belief that science and faith are at war with each other. This is the approach that Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris take - that science has the edge in credibility because it’s about provable facts, and religion depends on faith. The second is that they have nothing to do with each other. The great paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould of Harvard was an atheist and believed that science and faith occupy distinctly different domains. He said that science covers the empirical universe, while religion extends to the issue of morality, values, and meaning.The final one is that the testimony of science points to, it doesn’t prove, but points to the existence of God. Dr. Steven Meyer, who has degrees in physics, geology, and a doctor’s degree in history and philosophy of science, all from the prestigious Cambridge University, says that, “new evidence has come to light in the last 50 years across a wide range of the sciences that supports a belief in God.”Dr. Allan Rex Sandage, who is considered the greatest observations cosmologist in the world, turned heads when he became a Christian at the age of 50. He said that the Big Bang was a supernatural event that cannot be explained within the realm of physics as we know it. He said, "It was my science that drove me to this conclusion. It was only through the supernatural that I can understand the mystery of existence." And then he said, "Many scientists are now driven to faith by their very work."

Is there credible evidence that shows that the Biblical story is in harmony with secular history?Unlike other religious literature, the Bible is not centered in a series of moral, spiritual, and liturgical teachings. The Bible centers around what God did in history and what He revealed in history. Peter Moore, the founder of Trinity Seminary said that Christianity is the only world religion to make spiritual truth depend on historical events. English historian and author Paul Johnson bolsters this truth by stating, “Christianity is essentially a historical religion. It bases its claims on the historical facts it asserts. If these are demolished it is nothing.”Last week I shared stories of people who were convinced the Bible was a book full of myths. But once they were confronted with the strong possibility that the Bible was historical and true, it led each of them down a path to Christ. If the Gospels are true, then Jesus, the Son of God coming into the world would be even as talk-show host Larry King has admitted, the defining moment in all of history. And so today I want to talk with you about Christianity and the historical record. For me, it all started when I stumbled upon a history book of ancient Rome over 30 years ago. 

How do we know that the Bible is truly God’s written revelation? It’s a legitimate question. This question always seems to come up in our culture and in our world today, and it plagues the skeptical mind. And how can such an ancient document have any relevance to modern life? As C.S. Lewis was on his search, he stated honestly, “What I could not understand was how the life and death of someone else 2000 years ago could help us here and now.” I asked the same question years ago. I realized that I first accepted the Bible as God’s written revelation because several people that I trusted told me that it was. But I was never given a good reason. You know, just believe it. Just have faith in it. As I look back, I felt that I was being told not to doubt. I believe this can be dangerous in a person’s life because it can take us in many different directions. For me, personally, I needed to know why I should believe it is God’s word. What kind of evidence is available, to show that the Biblical story is in harmony with secular history?

How well do we know ourselves? How well do we understand the deep longings of the heart?I believe that the better we know ourselves, the healthier we are and the better we can relate to others. Healthy people know themselves.Each one of us is searching for something, but sometimes we're just not sure what we're after. I contend that if we could peel back all the layers of our lives and get to the innermost being, we would all discover that we're attempting to satisfy the hunger and thirst of the soul that only Jesus Christ can satisfy. Today, I'll share some key ways that we can find true contentment and lasting joy in life.

Where is God in the midst of our pain and our suffering? Is it possible that God has a much different view of pain than we do? In the book of I Corinthians, Paul tells us that the wisdom of God often appears to be foolishness to mankind. I contend that often God’s greatest blessings are a result of the painful events of life. And the opposite of that is true as well - that often prosperity and comfort can corrupt us - they can corrupt us spiritually. I believe that God transforms pain, using it to teach and strengthen us, if we allow it to turn our hearts toward Him. Character, wisdom, compassion, Christlikeness. These are what God desires for us. This is the door, He says, that leads to our ultimate happiness and to a high quality of life. Pain and suffering may be the road that gets us there.

The podcast explores the mystery of pain and suffering, questioning the existence of a loving God. It delves into God's perspective on suffering and how our modern world has shifted its view. The speakers discuss the purpose of pain and suffering, free will, attitudes towards suffering in different cultures, and the importance of building a solid foundation in life. They also touch on the search for answers in the face of life's storms and the possibility of Jesus Christ bringing transformation and miracles.

In celebration of Father’s Day today, Richard‘s guest is Jeremiah Castille, University of Alabama football legend and All American, who went on to play for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Denver Broncos. Jeremiah has a heart for mentoring young people, and currently serves as the chaplain for the University of Alabama football team. Jeremiah gave this message to a large gathering of fathers and sons. Jeremiah says that when he looks back on his life, he can see how God prepared him for the ministry work he does today.  He knows that God used his mother and his Coach Bear Bryant to influence his life to help his fellow man. The Jeremiah Castille Ministry provides ministerial programs for marriage, family and individual Biblical counseling in addition to individual and group discipleship, motivational speaking forums and evangelist engagements. Find out more by visiting www.castillefoundation.org.