Embark on an intellectual quest to understand the firm foundations of Christianity, as we traverse through Norman Geisler's illuminative "12 Points that Show Christianity Is True." Feel the ground beneath your beliefs solidify as we begin with the knowability of truth, dismiss the possibility of contradictory truths, and affirm the existence of a theistic God. My own faith journey, marked by struggles and doubts, has been shaped by the crucial role of apologetics, reinforcing that the marriage of faith and evidence is not only possible but deeply enriching. As we navigate Geisler's roadmap, we unpack complex philosophical arguments, grapple with the moral implications of belief, and answer the skeptic's challenging queries.
Dive deeper into the philosophical arguments underpinning the existence of God, where causality and moral absolutes hint at a divine Creator akin to the one C.S. Lewis eloquently described in "Mere Christianity." We even contemplate Pascal's wager, considering the profound consequences of belief and unbelief. Moving forward, the conversation leads us to the intersection of a theistic God with the reality of miracles, setting the stage for a profound look at the life and nature of Jesus Christ. Join me in this episode as we fortify our understanding and venture into the heart of Christianity, equipped with Geisler's unwavering arguments and a spirit of thoughtful inquiry.
Embark on an intellectual quest to understand the firm foundations of Christianity, as we traverse through Norman Geisler's illuminative "12 Points that Show Christianity Is True." Feel the ground beneath your beliefs solidify as we begin with the knowability of truth, dismiss the possibility of contradictory truths, and affirm the existence of a theistic God. My own faith journey, marked by struggles and doubts, has been shaped by the crucial role of apologetics, reinforcing that the marriage of faith and evidence is not only possible but deeply enriching. As we navigate Geisler's roadmap, we unpack complex philosophical arguments, grapple with the moral implications of belief, and answer the skeptic's challenging queries.
Dive deeper into the philosophical arguments underpinning the existence of God, where causality and moral absolutes hint at a divine Creator akin to the one C.S. Lewis eloquently described in "Mere Christianity." We even contemplate Pascal's wager, considering the profound consequences of belief and unbelief. Moving forward, the conversation leads us to the intersection of a theistic God with the reality of miracles, setting the stage for a profound look at the life and nature of Jesus Christ. Join me in this episode as we fortify our understanding and venture into the heart of Christianity, equipped with Geisler's unwavering arguments and a spirit of thoughtful inquiry.
Well, hello everybody, welcome back to a Bible Breakdown Extra. And if you've been with us for a while, we're going through this book right here that's called 12 Points that Show Christianity Is True. Now, the reason why we're doing this is kind of a book study, and so it's really going to behoove you, if I can say it that way what a word we don't use very often Is going through this. It behooves you to get a hold of this book, or I just found this out recently. You can go to YouTube and you can type in Norman Geisler last name Geisler is G-E-I-S-L-E-R and put 12 points that show Christianity is true, and he does 12 different sessions. He was a teacher for like 50 years and he's 12 different sessions on each one of these points to help you figure this out.
Speaker 1:
Because here's the thing the reason why I turned to apologetics and that's what this is is apologetics was two different times in my life I had major faith crises, and it wasn't due to you know, anybody else, just me. I think everybody at some point. If you're a thinking person, you're going to come to a point when you go okay, I need to figure this thing out. Person, you're going to come to a point when you go okay, I need to figure this thing out. And one of the things I needed to figure out is is God real? Can I prove it? And yes, at some point you have to take a step of faith. That's just the way God has designed it. But I don't think you have to take a step of faith quite as big as some people think. I think there's a lot of proof for God's existence and that's what Dr Norman Geisler has done. He has started with.
Speaker 1:
Is truth even knowable? All the way to the Bible is God's word, and whatever is opposed to any biblical truth is false. And God's word says all the things we need to know to be a Christian. And so that's the 12 points. I'm going to read them to you and then we're going to very quickly cover truth number three. But here's the 12 points. I'm going to read them to you and then we're going to very quickly cover truth number three. But here's the 12 points.
Speaker 1:
Number one is truth about reality is knowable, and he proves that. Number two opposites cannot both be true. So therefore, once again, he talked about and I love how he talked about the idea of the three laws of reality, you know the law of non-contradiction, the law of something being what it is, and then the law of excluded middle. In other words, two things can't be the same thing. Something is what it is and there's no hybrid, not when it comes to truth claims. Something can't be true and not true at the same time. When it comes to a truth claim, right, all right.
Speaker 1:
Number three we can talk about today it is true that a theistic God exists. Now, we're not yet saying that the God of the Bible exists We'll get there but that a theistic God exists. Number four miracles are possible. Number five miracles performed in connection with the truth claim confirm that truth claim of God through a messenger of God. That's important. Number six the New Testament documents are reliable. I can't wait to get to that one. That's a big one for me.
Speaker 1:
Number seven as witnessed in the New Testament, jesus claimed to be God. Number eight Jesus claimed to be God was proven by a unique convergence of miracles. Therefore, number nine Jesus was God in human flesh. Number 10, whatever Jesus, who is God, affirmed as true is true. Number 11, jesus affirmed that the Bible is the word of God. Therefore, number 12, it is true that the Bible is the word of God, and whatever is opposed to biblical truth is false and we can believe God's word. So we've already talked about truth being reality or is knowable, and we also talked about opposing things cannot be true. Therefore, then, since we've proven that truth is not relative, now, opinions are relative, but truth is not relative. Truth is either true or it's not.
Speaker 1:
I heard someone say this the other day. They said that if you want to talk to someone and they say that truth is relative and that there's no way that there is a one truth that is true for all and at the same time, in the same moment, is to take them out and put their hand in a fire. We're like whoa. What does that mean, he said, because everybody whose body is functioning the way it's supposed to will say it is always hot. And then he started the whole thing of well, what about somebody who, about somebody who's like numb? Okay, well, they can be numb, but their hand's still going to start to burn because it's hot. It's always true, in every situation. And so he's saying there is such thing as universal truths, objective truths, and since that's the case, it is true that a theistic God exists.
Speaker 1:
Now, I love how Dr Norman Geisler goes through all of these. He talks about different forms of what people think of as true. We like to think of there being three different forms. Right, most people think of believing in God. That's called theism. Not knowing if there's a God or not. That's agnostic. I heard someone say the other day that an agnostic is a scared atheist. In other words, they're an atheist but they don't want to admit it.
Speaker 1:
That's number three atheist, and that's someone who believes there is no God. So you have theist believes in God, agnostic, someone who doesn't know, and then an atheist who doesn't believe in God. But there's actually more than that. I love how Dr Norman Geisler goes through here and he says the one that we believe is true is theism. It's the belief in God that we believe that there is one infinite, personal God who created the universe. That's theism. Right, I want you to think about which one of these you believe and which one just immediately you're like well, yeah, of course, right.
Speaker 1:
Here's number two deism. Deism is one infinite God, but impersonal. Miracles don't happen and God created everything. But it's like he spun the world into existence and then he let it go. He has no interference with the natural world. Then you have finite godism. One finite, that means not omnipotent. There's certain things he can and can't do. So one finite, personal god who exists beyond the world. That would mean that he created the world, but he's not in control of everything. Then you have atheism no god at all.
Speaker 1:
Pantheism, which is god is all and all is god. Pantheism, which is God is all and all is God. Then you have panantheism, which all is in God and God is in all. So they're kind of the same thing, but different, different sides of the same coin. And then you have polytheism, which is many finite gods exist in the world. That would be like living back in the time of the Greeks and the Romans, when you had Zeus and Aphrodite and and and all those Apollos, all the ones I can't remember right now. That would be polytheism. You believe in a whole bunch of gods. There's certain things they can do and certain things they can't do.
Speaker 1:
So when it comes to believing there's a theistic God, which is the one for today, some people are like, well, yeah, of course there is, but not so fast, because for a lot of people there's a lot of different ways of looking at this, a lot of different religions such as Hinduism. They believe panentheism, all is God and God is in all. Buddhism is a form of atheism. They believe that everything is more like a pantheisticness, like there's a force that's out there of like. There's like a force that's out there. So it's a cross between atheism as far as no one infinite God, but closer to the idea of God, is in all and all is God. So there's the force. That's the idea of like Star Wars, it's the force. That's what they believe to a point Not quite the same thing, but kind of to a point.
Speaker 1:
And so, therefore, dr Norman Geisler says not only is truth knowable, not only is truth knowable, not only can both things not be true at the same time, but then the theistic God exists, and this chapter is all about proving it. So what he's saying is God cannot exist and not exist. It can't be true that there is God that is involved but isn't involved. He either is or he isn't. So everything I just read, there's one that was saying that there is a God but he's finite. There's some things he can't do. That can't be true. Along with theism, one has to be true.
Speaker 1:
And so with Dr Norman Geisler in this, he goes through this whole long thing talking about all these different ways to prove God, and this is what I will say. I encourage you to read all these. There's a whole bunch of them and I would even encourage you. You can go to Google and you can say what are the proofs of God's existence, and you're going to see a whole bunch of proofs for the existence of God. Can I tell you, when I've talked to people, we really have to turn this thing around. I will talk to people and I will tell them I'm a pastor and they'll start laughing at me. Now I know we live in a country where we are so blessed and most people I know are not being killed for their Christianity in the United States of America. Other places of the world that is happening, but not in the United States. But it is true also that I tell people I'm a Christian and a pastor and some people will just let it go. But some people go, oh really, like, like condolences, like I feel sorry for you.
Speaker 1:
You believe in God. Why do you believe in God? And do you know they will talk down to me as though I'm not as smart as them because I believe in God, or they'll talk down to me that I'm. You know something's wrong with me, and you know what happens to so many Christians when that happens Because they feel intimidated is they then will either shy away from the conversation or they will start to argue. But if you realize that if I believe in God and they don't, the burden of proof is just as much on them as it is me.
Speaker 1:
I believe in God. You don't believe in God? Well, I don't believe that Jesus came. No, no, no, let's not start there. Let's not believe in Jesus yet. We'll get there, right, let's not start with Jesus, let's not start with the Bible, because then they'll go. Well, if you believe the Bible, then what about this in the Old Testament? Wait a minute, before we get to that, are you telling me that you don't believe in God, or you don't believe in God of the Bible? Well, I don't believe in God at all. Okay, prove it. Well, I asked you first. Okay, great, I will go through mine in proving God, but you're going to prove to me God doesn't exist.
Speaker 1:
But then that's also where the argument breaks down for a lot of Christians, because they believe in God because of an experience they've had. An encounter they've had and nothing is wrong with that. But if you're looking at someone who hasn't had an experience and hasn't had an encounter with God with all due respect, they don't give two cents about your experience, especially if they don't believe the truth is knowable Then they're like, well, that's true for you, right? And so what you need to do is give them evidence. Now, at the end of the day, you have to realize there's three people in this conversation there's you, there's them and then there's the Holy Spirit. But you got to give the Holy Spirit a seed to plant in their heart.
Speaker 1:
And so what I love about what Dr Norman Geiser does is he gives you a few different proofs for the existence of God, and we say it like this proofs for the possible existence of God. But the proofs of the existence of God there are two in here I want to bring up to you really quickly, but there are several in here and there's a whole lot more you can come across. The two of them I want to talk about. Number one is what's called the cosmological argument. Cosmo with space, you know all the things cosmological argument. It's this premise that says this everything that begins had a cause. The universe had a beginning, therefore, the universe had a cause. It's the big bang theory. I love to say it like this If there was a big bang theory, there had to be a big banger to create the big bang theory.
Speaker 1:
Whatever that would be would need to be spaceless, timeless, immaterial, outside of our realm, because whatever that was had to create all that we know. Well, that sounds like a definition for god, right, and so the question then would be well, if all of this isn't real, all of this isn't infinite, and it's not, we can tell, by the way we study things, that the universe is slowly running out of gas, you know, slowly slowing down. They also one of the reasons why they know the Big Bang was most likely a thing is because everything is expanding out of a central point. So they just come up with this. They said there had to be this at one point, there was this big old mass of matter that exploded. Well, the question then becomes where did it come from?
Speaker 1:
Everything that begins had a cause. We know that the universe began because we're all here. Therefore, there had to had a cause. We know that the universe began because we're all here. Therefore, there had to be a cause for it to begin, the universe had that beginning. There had to be a causer to make it happen. Now I get that. They're like well, you know, well, I just think it always was. Is that possible? Is it possible that it always was? I already get what you're probably thinking.
Speaker 1:
Well, what about God? Isn't he? No, us, let's already get where you're probably thinking. Well, what about God? Isn't he, you know? No, no, because he's not a he, he, he's not a cause, he is outside of all of that. He is uncreated. Are you telling me that the universe is uncreated? No, it's here. We can see it. Therefore, you go to. Okay, yeah, but if God didn't create the universe, where'd he come from? Well, you go talking about well, where did God come from? That's a great conversation. We'll get there. But first I'm giving you a plausible reason why God exists. Can you give me a plausible reason why God doesn't exist? And if they go to? Well, there's evil in the world and all that kind of stuff. That's great. Which leads me to the second one, and that is the moral argument. The moral argument says the fact that you realize that there's bad things in this world means that had to come from somewhere.
Speaker 1:
Do you know that people have done these great studies everywhere and they have noticed that, across time and cultures and everything, there's always been a few things that's always been considered universally wrong. It's always been considered universally wrong to do certain things like, such as kill people without reason. It's been considered to be universally wrong to um, to rape someone universally considered wrong. Now, people may have still done it and people have done it, but it was not considered to be a good thing. People didn't celebrate it, right, it wasn't considered to be good. There are certain things that are just considered to be wrong Cannibalism they do it, but they do it as a way to appease this, that or the other, but it's still considered to be a taboo thing. It's not something they celebrate and they're excited. They don't go kill their mate and do that. I mean, I'm saying it happens, but it's not considered to be a universal good thing. It's considered to be universally wrong.
Speaker 1:
The moral argument states this every law has a lawgiver. There is an absolute moral law written on our hearts. Therefore, there must be an absolute moral law giver. This was one of the number one things that turned the heart of CS Lewis. It was one of the number one things that turned the heart of CS Lewis. It was one of the number one things that he wrote about in his wonderful book called Mere Christianity, when he talks about how most people, you know, you have people who are psychopaths, sociopaths, people like that who do not have the ability to empathize and understand. They're not like this, they're not like this, but should we say most well-functioning normal, for lack of a better word? People have a moral compass.
Speaker 1:
Where did that come from? Where did these? Universal rights are thoughts of what is right and what is wrong. Where does it come from? And so you ask your atheist friend if across that, then where to come from? Well, that is just something that we have developed over time to help us have the survival of species. Well, why would we care about the survival of species? Why it's developed in us Really, is it really developed in us? Where'd that come from? You know, when you slowly start to break down and go okay, but where, but where? But where? And am I saying that these are rock solid? No, but where? But where? And am I saying that these are rock solid? No, you can sit there and you can argue some of these, but they take thinking and there's a whole bunch of these.
Speaker 1:
That's where you get down to what they call Pascal's wager. Pascal's wager says that imagine that there are two people One believes in God, one doesn't believe in God, and then one person who believes in God lives a moral life, does the right thing, tries to help people, do all the things, and then they die. Well, let's say, the other person doesn't believe in God, so they have no moral compass, they do exactly what they want to do, all this kind of stuff, and then they both die. Let's say God's not real. Well, if God's not real, then they both just die and go to nothing. But which one do you think was the better person? Which one do you think probably ended up having the better person? Which one do you think probably ended up having the better life with the fewest regrets? The one who lived as though he was God. So he said if you've got a wager, it's better to trust in God, because if God is wrong and we both die, then the worst thing that's happened to me is I've lived a moral life, done good by my neighbor and I'm okay. But if I'm right and you, mr Atheist, is wrong, then you have a hefty price to pay for your arrogance. So Pascal's wager is all things considered, it's better to believe in God.
Speaker 1:
Now, that doesn't get you to Christianity yet, but we're building a case, one step at a time, and I want to get really personal before we are done with our time together. I've been in conversations with people, and when they want to argue about this, that and the other, and they want to argue about Jesus and they want to argue about miracles and all these kinds of things, and if God's real, then why do bad things have to happen and all this kind of good stuff, and we go. You know what that is. That is a great conversation, but you're telling me you don't believe in God and understand what I'm saying. I'm not trying to skirt those. Those are hard questions. Some of those questions are hard questions, and so let's grapple with those. But right now we're not grappling with the same thing I'm grappling with.
Speaker 1:
Why would a good God allow evil? You're saying you don't believe in God. So this isn't even your argument. It's only an argument for people who believe in God. So why do you care? Right? And so therefore, before you even get to Christianity, can we establish that God is real? Okay, and they go no, god's not real, prove it, I can't, okay. Well then, if you can't prove that God's not real, then why do you care? If I believe in God, I mean, I can. I can give you scenarios where it is more likely than not that God is real. You can't do otherwise. And so what you're doing is is you're trying to get out of them their real reason. And here's what I was saying. I want to get really honest, really personal with you. Before we end our time together.
Speaker 1:
You always want to pray and ask the Holy Spirit to be working the situation to open the right door, because almost every atheist I've met and there's been a couple that's otherwise almost every atheist I've met, almost every agnostic I've met is not an atheist or an agnostic because the evidence didn't point anywhere else. Most of them haven't done more than a cursory study, more than just a little, just a little bit. Which is why, if you even go with a couple of the cosmological argument there's a teleological argument, there's an ontological argument, there's the moral argument. There's all these other, there's the Kalam cosmological argument, there's all these different ones. You just take a couple of them which it looks like it's even possible that God exists, you will just fluster them immediately. Well, how could you? And just get into name-calling and all this kind of stuff. And usually when you get into that you realize you won. The person who loses their cool first loses the argument. And so then you realize, okay, now I have a chance for ministry. Because then you go okay, here's the deal. I just gave you a couple of reasons to at least consider that God exists. We're not talking about Christianity yet We'll get there, but God exists.
Speaker 1:
Why are you so angry? And what you can come to find out is many times people believe there's a God and they're mad at him. They're mad because of an unmet expectation, because somebody somewhere took advantage of them and they blamed it on God because maybe they were in a position of authority, maybe a thousand things. That is a very different conversation than I don't believe in God. Basically, what they're actually saying is is I believe in God and I'm mad at him, and that's important. That's why it's so important that we start very slowly and start building.
Speaker 1:
Number one truth is real and knowable. Number two that the opposites can't be true. And then number three the theistic God exists. And if you can get someone to this one, the theistic God exists, then you can start to have the conversation. After this we're going to talk about not only does the theistic God exist, but miracles are possible. If the theistic God exists which means theistic God means that there is one infinite personal God he exists Then if that exists, then he has the ability to step into the natural order and law that he created and do something that's outside of the norm, which is called a miracle, in order to show himself to us, and that is just a, as they would say, hop skip and a jump away from Jesus. All right, I hope you had a good one. I hope you enjoy reading this along with me. I have enjoyed every single chapter. I can't wait to continue this with you. And next Bible breakdown episode, we're going to cover the next chapter, which is all about miracles. I love.