I haven’t read any of Richard Dawkins books’ in their entirety, but I have read and heard enough snippets of him, Hitchens, Harris, et. al. to recognize an intentional (and rather shallow) meanness in their presentations. I don’t think this will ultimately serve their cause well.
————
P.S. I’ve been listening to James White and Steve Gregg debate Calvinism the last few days. It has been a very interesting conversation. If you’re interested, you can get all five mp3s here.
My wife and I recently watched The Last Sin Eater. While most “Christian” movies are pretty awful (think Left Behind or any other end-times/rapture themed film), for whatever reason, I had vain hopes of mediocrity for this film. Alas, these lofty expectations were dashed before my eyes as I wasted another two hours of my life in front of the idiot box. While the cinematography was far superior to most “Christian” movies, everything else was… bad.
The movie centers on a mid-19th Century Appalachian Welsh village with a rather bizarre death ritual - the Sin Eater. When one of their villagers passes, they place a piece of bread and a wineskin on their chest. The Sin Eater (some dude in a silly, tattered, Grim Reaper robe) arrives, eats the elements (a little too obviously symbolic of Holy Communion) and cries something to the effect of, “I pawn my soul for you!” The stage is set for the introduction of the Last Sin Eater - Jesus Christ.
Undertaker would totally rock the Sin Eater in a cage match.
The theology of the movie isn’t terrible; but it isn’t good either. I have two problems with the film’s theology. First is the fact that all of the characters in the movie walk around with a tangible guilt. You can see it in their faces. You can hear it in their voices. More than a few villagers clumsily state how they wish their sins could be forgiven now rather than at their funeral. Again, this seamlessly sets the stage for the arrival of a Bible-waving stranger to proclaim the gospel…
…Sort of. Which leads into my second problem: The stranger seems to just quote random scriptures until the film’s protagonist asks him (this is a paraphrase), “How do I ask The Last Sin Eater to forgive my sins now?” The stranger weepily replies, “You just did!” Huh? The protagonist hasn’t yet even heard the name of Christ. She has no concept of God’s righteous demand for justice, the plenary nature of her sin and rebellion against this God (except that which she “naturally” feels - going back to my first gripe), the Incarnation, the Atonement, etc. This seemed to be a bit of inappropriate contextualization.
…
This notion of unregenerate guilt echoes a sentiment I once heard from a very prominent evangelist when he and his crusade descended on the Twin Cities a few years back. In an interview with a local media outlet, this evangelist said that he did not preach much sin, judgment, hell, wrath, etc. because he believed people already feel guilty. He stated that his aim is to preach the Good News. Sans Romans 1-3, apparently. (Because I can only paraphrase - I was unable to locate exact quotes - I will refrain from using this evangelist’s name.)
Todd Friel, of Way of the Master fame, was a local radio guy at the time (and an excellent one, at that). Friel did a lot of street evangelism on his show (as he does now with WOTM). He almost always opened a conversation by asking, “Do you think you’re a good person?” I would venture to say that 90-95% of those he conversed with answered this question, unhesitatingly, in the affirmative.
Friel publicly challenged this evangelist for failing to give his audience the Bad News, so that they can fully understand and appreciate the Good News. And rightly so.
…
I don’t know where this idea comes from - that unregenerate folk live their daily lives consumed with guilt over sin. My brief experience in this world has proven the opposite. The world thinks they’re pretty great. The world dives headlong into sin without remorse. Any remorse or semblance of guilt experienced by the world is nothing more than a selfish regret of the negative consequences of bad behavior; it is no holy conviction of sin against Almighty God. Furthermore, the world hates those who dare defecate on their hallowed self-esteem by discussing the unpleasantries of sin and hell.
Anyway, that’s how I was.
Romans 1:29-32
They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God’s decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.
I Corinthians 6:11
And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
Tim Challies recently wrote a very good post critiquing the logical conclusions of Darwinism as a comprehensive worldview. He discusses an article in Psychology Today on evolutionary psychology. Challies compellingly argues that the holistic worldview offered by Darwinsm is empty and often rather silly.
I would like to contrast this article with the very typical Christian responses to evolutionary theory: “That’s stupid! You must really be an idiot if you believe that humans evolved from monkeys!” This is not a good argument. It convinces no one, and makes the Christian look like an arrogant dope.
Exhibit 1: Dr. Kent Hovind (aka Dr. Dino)
.
.
.
Yeah… I can see that.
A few years back, I was invited by an unbelieving friend to attend a Creationism/Evolution debate at a local church. (He had heard about the debate on a conservative talk radio program.) I attended the debate with my friend and his believing co-worker. There were three participants in the debate: Hovind, a Young Earth Creationist (YEC), an Old Earth Creationist (OEC) and an atheistic Darwinist. Hugh Hewitt was the moderator.
The OEC was a perfect gentleman. He asked many good questions of his fellow participants. The Darwinist came off a bit smug, though he was definitely in hostile territory. He also asked intelligent questions of the other participants.
The vast majority of the audience was with Hovind. They seemed more interested in seeing Hovind trounce his foes than in actually learning something. And Hovind was more than willing to oblige.
I cannot remember a time when I was more embarrassed to call myself a Christian. Hovind was a complete arse. He had this silly PowerPoint presentation that he blindly plowed through, completely disregarding the challenges of the other two. It seemed as though he had forgotten it was a debate, but instead believed it to be one of his conferences. He repeatedly referred to evolution, in his grating Dixie drawl, as “stupid”, “dumb”, etc. I can still hear him in my head: “Now, that’s the dumbest thing I ever heard!”
I am convinced that Hovind persuaded no one that evening. Personally, my conviction in the YEC position was temporarily weakened, because Hovind failed to even attempt an answer at several very good challenges.
…
Evolution is not stupid. Evolutionists are not stupid. The vast majority of evolutionary scientists have a far better mechanical knowledge and understanding of how this universe operates than I can ever hope to attain. Does this mean they are right about the Big Bang and macro-evolution? No. I am a YEC. However, it is sinfully arrogant and thoughtless to dismiss these people as fools. And this is precisely what Hovind did, and what many Christians do when confronted with evolutionary theory.
Here’s some advice: If you are having a spiritual conversation with an unbeliever, and the topic of evolution arises, DON’T dismiss the theory and its adherents out of hand. Feel free to offer the watchmaker argument. If you must, try the banana argument. (On second thought, don’t. It’s a terrible argument.) If those fail, and you have nothing left - don’t sweat it. It is possible to accept Darwinism and be saved. It’s not a deal-killer. Darwinism is not the unforgivable sin.
I have seen too many evangelists get hung up on this issue. I have seen too many Christians get in way over their head and look foolish. Darwinism does not keep sinners out of heaven. Sin, rebellion, pride… a hard heart does that.
…
I recently found this YouTube clip of Hovind and Ali G. I soiled myself.
Recent Comments