You searched for Humanities - Reasons to Believe https://reasons.org/ Thu, 07 Sep 2023 12:00:00 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0.1 https://reasons-prod.storage.googleapis.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/cropped-Favicon_Thick-32x32.png You searched for Humanities - Reasons to Believe https://reasons.org/ 32 32 Earliest Galaxies Show Importance of Humanities Timing https://reasons.org/creation/universe/earliest-galaxies-show-importance-of-humanities-timing https://reasons.org/creation/universe/earliest-galaxies-show-importance-of-humanities-timing#respond Mon, 10 Jul 2017 14:56:00 +0000 http://reasons.org/publications/earliest-galaxies-show-importance-of-humanities-timing/ Explore how early galaxy mergers confirm the timing of life's emergence, supporting scientific insights into cosmic conditions for habitability.

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TNRTB Archive – Retained for reference information

The earliest optical image of galaxies demonstrates that the early universe was inhospitable for life, pointing to a planned arrival for life and, eventually, humanity. Using the Hubble Ultra Deep Field (HUDF), a team of astronomers has demonstrated that a large fraction of galaxies merged in the early universe (8-10 billion years ago). While many other factors argue that life must have emerged later in the universe, the high fraction of galactic mergers confirms that stable planetary systems would have indeed been rare. As galaxies merge, gravitational interactions between stars dramatically increase, catastrophically disrupting any existing stable planetary systems. However, these mergers do serve a purpose by fueling star formation, which produces the elements necessary for life. RTB’s creation model predicts such fine-tuning of the timing of life’s introduction.

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]]> https://reasons.org/creation/universe/earliest-galaxies-show-importance-of-humanities-timing/feed 0 An Antidote for Scientism—Why Science Needs God https://reasons.org/creation/universe/an-antidote-for-scientism-why-science-needs-god Thu, 07 Sep 2023 12:00:00 +0000 https://reasons.org/?p=352042 Explore how science relies on values like honesty and beauty, suggesting these may originate from a Creator, bridging science and faith.

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]]> “Faith is about values and science is about facts!”

How often has a skeptic made that definitive statement or something similar? It often comes near the end of a discussion about God and science, as a final statement that places you in an awkward spot. It’s known as scientism—the idea that the hard sciences provide the only true knowledge of reality. The professional philosopher can readily respond to this claim, but as a layperson or even a scientist you may not know quite how to answer it. 

What if we take the introductory statement, reverse it, and make the following statement: “Science is about values and faith is about facts.” Is this true? Well, not completely, but partially. But what about the original statement, “Science is about facts and faith is about values.” Is this true? Well, not completely, but partially.

How do we distinguish between values and facts? And what are some of the values of science?

Polanyi on Justifying Science
I’ve found the work of Michael Polanyi to be helpful in this regard.1 Though not formally trained as a philosopher, Michael Polanyi was a physical chemist and a polymath of the highest order. Many people argue that were it not for his later shift to the humanities, he would have won the Nobel prize for his scientific work. Polanyi knew science and how it worked, which makes his comments so incisive. Consider this quote:

The quickest impression on the scientific world may be made not by publishing the whole truth and nothing but the truth but rather by serving up an interesting and plausible story composed of parts of the truth with a little straight invention admixed to it. . . . If each scientist set to work every morning with the intention of doing the best bit of safe charlatanry which would just help him into a good post, there would soon exist no effective standards by which such deception could be detected. A community of scientists in which each would act only with an eye to please scientific opinion would find no scientific opinion to please. Only if scientists remain loyal to scientific ideals rather than try to achieve success with their fellow scientists can they form a community which will uphold these ideals.2

No scientist worth their salt would ever stoop to such lying to advance their career. And that is the point; without this value (of upholding truth) the institution of science would soon sink into a morass of lies and deception. It’s obvious, but where does this value come from? You can’t prove it scientifically. The value of honesty in reporting observations is such a given that if you want to advance your civilization you better have this value. Only by telling the truth about your scientific, historical, literary, and engineering work, will you advance your discipline. The journals of any discipline are dedicated to that fact. If not, we are in deep trouble.

But how do you scientifically justify this obvious tenet of science? You don’t—you just accept it and move on if you wish to become a serious practitioner of science. This is an example of “tradition,” the past collective wisdom of others that has been passed down to us.

Another tradition of science holds that any given set of numeric physical data can be modeled by an infinite number of functions. For example, the positions of the planets can be modeled in Newtonian space by a simple inverse squared distance relationship or an infinitely long Fourier series, etc. But the scientist Isaac Newton chose the inverse squared relationship over many others. Why? Because it was simpler and more mentally satisfying. Consider this quote by Werner Heisenberg in a conversation with Albert Einstein.

You may object that by speaking of simplicity and beauty I am introducing aesthetic criteria of truth, and I frankly admit that I am strongly attracted to the simplicity and beauty of mathematical schemes which nature presents us. You must have felt this too: the almost frightening simplicity and wholeness of the relationship, which nature suddenly spreads out before us . . .3

Simplicity, beauty, wholeness? How do you scientifically justify these values? Since they were recognized by scientific giants such as Einstein and Heisenberg, we must take them seriously. But where did the values come from? Another scientific value affirms that a theory should have predictive success. It should be internally clear and coherent in all of its explanations. There are others. Experiments with controls are better than experiments without them. Double blind experiments are better than single blind experiments. Two-point calibrations of instruments are much better than single-point calibrations. If your data points differ from the average by three standard deviations, consider throwing them out.

How do you empirically or rationally justify such values? Can you scientifically prove them to be the best values to base science on? No, and no one even tries. You just assimilate these values as a budding scientist and move on.

Seeking a Foundation for Universal Values
Science is full of such values and they reflect how science should be practiced. But few scientists discuss or see them, or realize where they came from. They’re built into the teaching of science to such a degree that few people question it. But wait—most disciplines are based on these values and facts! That’s my point—science is no different. It needs these values like everyone else. Do such values emanate from the mind of a Creator who instilled them in human beings so that civilization would flourish?

Christianity likewise depends on these values. Consider this New Testament quote:

For we did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty (2 Peter 1:16). 

Yet Christianity also depends on facts. “And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins” (1 Corinthians 15:17). Thus our faith depends crucially on observed facts that are historically accurate. And science depends on values that cannot be proven—we just accept them as part of our reasonable and justifiable scientific faith. Perhaps now we can see why the statement, “Science is about facts and faith is about values,” is so badly misspoken. In this way, the parallels between Christianity and the institution of science seem satisfyingly and surprisingly consistent.

A few years ago my wife and I were standing on the floor of the great theatre of Ephesus in the nation of Turkey. It was a “bucket list” moment standing where the apostle Paul stood when the great riot over Paul’s teaching took place. Paul was preaching a different God than Artemis—the god of the Ephesians. As I read aloud the 1,900-year-old New Testament incident (Acts 19:23–41), a listening secular Jewish biologist tour companion exclaimed, “This really happened!”

As a Christian I often fail to realize how “factual” my Bible really is. If you are a scientist and are unsure about the Bible’s truthfulness, I invite you to study the Bible from this perspective. Do the facts expressed really match up with accurate historical narrative?4 As a scientist you owe it to yourself to read through the Bible with that perspective and see what it shows. 

Endnotes

  1. Michael Polanyi, Science, Faith, and Society: A Searching Examination of the Meaning and Nature of Scientific Inquiry (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1964). Michael Polanyi, Personal Knowledge: Towards a Post-Critical Philosophy (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1958). Michael Polanyi, The Tacit Dimension (Gloucester, MA: Peter Smith, 1983).
  2. Polanyi, Science, Faith, and Society, 54.
  3. Paul Davies, God and the New Physics (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1983), 220–21. Davies is citing Heisenberg.
  4. The Reasons to Believe website offers a wealth of resources to help determine whether the Bible is based on cleverly devised stories or facts.

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]]> Why Did God Create a World with Autism? https://reasons.org/adam-eve/human-body/why-did-god-create-a-world-with-autism Mon, 24 Apr 2023 12:00:00 +0000 https://reasons.org/?p=347468 Explore autism from a personal and scientific perspective, highlighting its traits, causes, progress, and design significance in human diversity.

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]]> April is World Autism Month. Autism awareness is a relatively recent phenomenon. When I was growing up in Canada there was no public awareness of autism. Thus, my parents had no support or resources available to know why my childhood was different from the experience of other kids and how to help me thrive. 

I never even heard of autism until I emigrated to the United States to do postdoctoral research on quasars and galaxies at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). A year after I started my postdoctoral research, an astrophysicist from Europe came to Caltech as a visiting research fellow. His office was on the same floor of the Robinson Laboratory as my office. At times, I could hear him yelling at other astronomers to stay out of his office and imploring them not to turn on his office lights or to open his door. I heard him explaining that it was not that he disliked any of us, but that because he was autistic he needed his office to be dark, quiet, and devoid of visitors in order to be productive in his research.

What Is Autism?
Autism is a human condition related to brain development that affects how a person perceives, communicates, and socializes with other people. Because autism is manifested in many different ways across a spectrum of symptoms and severity, neuropsychologists now refer to it as autism spectrum disorder or ASD. Another term, Asperger’s syndrome, is sometimes used to refer to people either at the mild end of the spectrum or to people manifesting serious symptoms but possessing a high intelligence quotient.

Regardless of where people are on the autism spectrum, they share the following features in common:

  1. They experience difficulty in sensing the emotions and feelings of others.
  2. They experience difficulty in sensing their own emotions and feelings.
  3. Their emotional responses are often delayed by hours and days.
  4. They experience difficulty in determining what other people are thinking.
  5. They struggle making eye contact or facial expressions.
  6. They experience difficulty in recognizing nonverbal cues, suggestions, and hints.
  7. They don’t anticipate or pick up easily on simple verbal questions and directions, often needing simple verbal questions and directions to be repeated.
  8. They pick up on a conversation only after several words are spoken.
  9. They prefer predictable routines, patterns, and order and they dislike change.
  10. They are insensitive to the personal appearance of themselves and others.
  11. They are insensitive to inappropriate phrases, words, and comments.
  12. They are atypically sensitive to light, sound, and touch but insensitive to air temperature.
  13. They often fixate on a subject, activity, or object.
  14. They experience difficulty in simultaneously coordinating their physical bodies and their mental thoughts.
  15. They express atypical memory selection.

People at the more severe end of the ASD may be unable to start or keep a conversation going. They may speak in an abnormal or robot-like, monotonic tone. They may not be able to tolerate any kind of touch. They may retreat into their own world, preferring to live as a hermit. They may engage in repetitive rituals and/or body movements, for example, rocking, hand flapping, or spinning. They may engage in self-harm activities. They may only tolerate a very limited range of foods, clothes, and environments.

While people on the spectrum are neuroatypical in struggling with many social handicaps, they are also atypically gifted in several ways. They are able to focus on a subject or problem to a degree beyond that of neurotypical people. Because of their inability to hide their lies and deceptions, they often develop into trustworthy and honest people. While they struggle in their relationships with humans, they often excel in their relationships with birds and nonhuman mammals. People with ASD who don’t suffer from another neural handicap are almost always able to perform a specific mental task far better and more quickly than neurotypical people. 

Autism Cause
ASD is reportedly on the rise. However, there is no undisputed evidence that the proportion of ASD people in the general population is any higher today than it was 50, 100, or 1,000 years ago. What is on the rise is autism awareness. This increasing awareness adequately explains why more children and adults are diagnosed as being on the autism spectrum than was the case 10, 20, 50, or 100 years ago. 

The Internet is filled with articles and diagnostic tools on ASD. Consequently, it is not just medical practitioners and psychologists that are diagnosing people as being on the autism spectrum, many ASD people or relatives and friends of ASD people are making the diagnosis.

For the past 30 years, a major controversy has arisen. Some people assert that a causal link exists between ASD and childhood vaccines. However, no reliable, peer-reviewed study has shown a link between ASD and any vaccines, regardless of when the vaccines were administered.

Medical researchers are currently exploring other possible risk factors for ASD, including pregnancy complications and exposure to viral medications, antibiotics, and air pollution. So far, there is no conclusive evidence linking any such risk factors with ASD.

The one undisputed causal link with ASD is genetics. A parent who is on the autism spectrum is more likely to have a child who is on the spectrum. The fact that ASD is consistently four times more likely for males than for females argues for a genetic cause and against environmental causes. 

Several different genes strongly correlate with ASD. The diversity of these genes helps explain why autism disorder is manifested as a spectrum of widely diverse symptoms.    

Autism Progression
ASD symptoms are rarely seen until a child is at least 1–2 years old. During early childhood, ASD children may lose, or at least appear to lose, language skills they already acquired and they may transition from socially engaged to socially withdrawn. During school grades 1 through 6, ASD children may learn quickly, often much more quickly than other children, but experience difficulty in communicating and applying what they have learned. As they enter their teens and twenties, ASD individuals may bore others with their core dumps of everything they know about a particular narrow subject.

Almost all ASD people struggle mightily in their attempts to develop close friendships with others. And starting or sustaining a dating relationship is often either frustrating or perceived as an insurmountable challenge. The divorce rate among ASD people who do marry is much higher than it is among neurotypical people.

Autism Treatment
At least for ASD people of normal or high intelligence, ASD’s negative symptoms can be mitigated or even eradicated. When ASD people seek help and training from neurotypical people, at least some of their socially problematic symptoms will diminish. When this help and training persists over years and decades, some symptoms can diminish to a point where neurotypical people no longer recognize the symptoms.

ASD people progress especially well in moderating their problematic symptoms when they discover and develop their special atypical gift(s). Occasionally, ASD people are able to discover and develop their gift(s) without anyone else’s help. Much better outcomes occur, however, when parents, close relatives, and teachers proactively assist ASD people in discovering and developing their gift(s).

I have personally observed that one of the most effective ways of helping ASD children discover their special gifting is to expose them to books and resources that are at least six grade levels above what is normal for their age. When they excel in understanding and applying what they are reading or viewing, and especially when they become passionate about the advanced material they are studying, then the pathway to discovering and developing their special gift(s) becomes clear.    

My Autism Journey
I don’t just speak and write about autism from my scientific studies. I do so from personal experience.

The Early Years
My parents told me that I was socially engaged when I was an infant and that I quickly developed a vocabulary of words. They noticed that I would never mix my food and insisted on eating just one item at a time. Whenever my parents mixed my food, I would cry and refuse to eat. 

From about ages 2–5, my vocabulary was almost always limited to three words: yes, no, and cookie. Whenever I ventured beyond those three words, I would say inappropriate or awkward things and get reprimanded. I learned to keep my mouth shut.

I was physically uncoordinated. I would often trip and fall. I didn’t know how to interpret or respond to touch and, therefore, I would pull back when any adult approached me. My mother would tell her friends, “Don’t touch Hugh.”

My lack of physical coordination, my expressionless face, and my apparently limited vocabulary resulted in my parents’ friends universally declaring that I was mentally impaired. They advised my parents to place me in an institution for mentally impaired children. 

I fully understood the impact of those comments and greatly feared that my parents would act upon their exhortations. I was much relieved when my mother retorted that I was not mentally impaired. She told her friends about the many times I would go off into a corner and do an experiment. I remember my parents saying to their friends, “Just you watch. Hugh is going to become a scientist.” However, I also remember my parents’ friends mocking them for such an unrealistic expectation.

My family moved from Montreal to Calgary when I was four and on to Vancouver when I was five. In my grandmother’s home in Calgary I experimented with starting fires, which, of course, drew my grandmother’s ire. For the rest of my time in Calgary I spent nearly all my time outside with her dog. Her dog and I became best friends.

At School
Once in Vancouver, my parents put me in a public kindergarten class to help socialize me. I remember the kindergarten teacher telling my parents that I was well behaved and quiet but socially unengaged, withdrawn, and apparently afraid to play with other children. 

Entering grade 1, I was still socially unengaged, withdrawn, and afraid to play with other children. As the youngest and one of the smallest pupils in the class and being physically uncoordinated, I was regularly picked on by the class bullies. 

First grade was my first exposure to books. My parents were poor and could not afford to buy books for me or my sisters. There were no books in my kindergarten class. 

I quickly learned how to read but did not like any of the books in our classroom. The stories struck me as inane. Worse, I could not prove to my teacher that I could read. The reading assignments were to read aloud in front of the teacher and the class. My verbal skills were so poor that I always got a failing grade in reading. Furthermore, I was physically unable to make legible letters and numbers with my pencil. Consequently, I was failing in all my subjects. I remember the teacher telling my parents that I would need to repeat first grade and that repeating might be a good way for me to escape the bullying.

A Wise and Caring Teacher
Six weeks before the end of the school year, my parents moved us to a different part of Vancouver. I had a new school and a new first grade teacher. Somehow she sensed my frustration and fear with my failing grades and my verbal communication handicaps. Two weeks before the end of the term, she kept me after class. She pointed out a stack of grade 1 books on her desk and told me she was going to ask me questions about the content of the books. She assured me that I would not need to speak. All I had to do was nod my head for “yes” and shake my head for “no.” By this means she determined that I had read and understood the content of all the books on her desk. She told me she would speak to the principal and do everything she could to persuade him to let me enter grade 2 the following year.

On the last day of class, my teacher read the list of pupils who would be graduating into second grade in order of their academic standing. I waited patiently, hoping that she would finally mention my name. She did, but I was the last one she named.

During the summer between first and second grade, I practiced at least an hour a day trying to make legible letters and numbers with a pencil. By the end of the summer, I was able to write out a whole sentence that someone besides myself could read. During that summer I also discovered a book that had been left behind by the previous residents of our home. It was Charles Dickens’s novel, David Copperfield. It was the first book that I actually enjoyed reading.

On the first day of grade 2 the teacher had us sit in chairs according to our grade 1 academic standing. I was seated in the last chair and had to endure the jeers and labels from other pupils for being the class dummy. Right there, I resolved to do whatever I could to move up from the class dummy chair. I committed to start talking, even if my talking got me into trouble. I knew I had to become more verbally competent.

A month later, our second grade teacher took the entire class on a field trip to the main branch of the Vancouver Public Library. I could not believe my ears when she told us that there were nearly three million books in that library. We were all given membership cards to the children’s section of the library and were told we could borrow as many as five books a week. That day, I took home five books on astronomy and physics. Toward the end of the school year I had read all the astronomy, physics, geology, and chemistry books in the children’s section of the Vancouver Public Library. The librarian gave me a membership card for the adults’ section of the library and told me to come to her if any adults in the library complained about my presence.

I had found my gift. I loved integrating concepts across multiple scientific disciplines. By the end of the second grade I committed to pursuing a career in astronomy. For the last three months of grade 2 I was seated in the first chair.

I tell the rest of the story of my autism journey in our book, Always Be Ready. Included in that story is a meeting I had at age 34 with the teacher I had for the last six weeks of grade 1. At that meeting she told me she was a Christian and how she prayed from the time I was seven years of age that I would become a follower of Jesus Christ and that I would use my studies in science for the glory of God. She was thrilled to discover that her prayers had been answered.        

Autism Design
A question I am frequently asked is why a good God would make so many of his human creatures autistic. I answer that question first by pointing out that the ratio of autistic to nonautistic humans is not large. Only 1 person out of 150–200 is on the autism spectrum.1 Those on the spectrum exhibit a wide range of gifting that spans science, art, music, literature, and the humanities. ASD people likely include such luminaries as Mozart, Leonardo de Vinci, Albert Einstein, and Bobby Fischer. They include animal behaviorist Temple Grandin, who has taught us much about relating to and caring for domesticated animals. (For those interested in understanding ASD, I highly recommend the docudrama, Temple Grandin, and Temple Grandin’s website.)

Humanity and human civilization have benefitted significantly from ASD people. I am struck that if the percentage of ASD people in the population were much higher than 1%, social structures would suffer. On the other hand, if the percentage of ASD people were much lower than 0.5%, the advance of civilization, culture, and technology would be slowed. It seems that we have close to the optimal percentage of ASD people in the human population.

In the Gospel of John, Jesus told his disciples, “In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33, ESV). He also exhorted us to help one another with our tribulations, trials, weaknesses, and handicaps. Those of us who are on the autism spectrum need to be committed to use our gifts and handicaps in the spirit of 2 Corinthians 4 to serve, bless, and teach neurotypical people. We also need to graciously and humbly submit to the training that neurotypical people can provide so that we can gain the social skills that we need. Likewise, neurotypical people need to be committed to use their gifts and handicaps in the same spirit of 2 Corinthians 4 to serve, bless, and teach ASD people and to humbly receive from them the teaching and training they have to offer. We all need to be grateful that God made each person so very different from one another and, hence, so very interesting to get to know and love.

Endnote
1. Theo Vos et al., (GBD 2015 Disease and Injury Incidence and Prevalence Collaborators), “Global, Regional, and National Incidence, Prevalence, and Years Lived with Disability for 310 Diseases and Injuries, 1990–2015: A Systematic Analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015,” Lancet 388 (10053), (October 8, 2016): 1545–1602, doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(16)31678-6.

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]]> How to Appreciate Early Jesus Symbols https://reasons.org/christianity/history/how-to-appreciate-early-jesus-symbols https://reasons.org/christianity/history/how-to-appreciate-early-jesus-symbols#respond Tue, 25 Feb 2020 11:00:00 +0000 http://reasons.org/how-to-appreciate-early-jesus-symbols/ Explore the meaning of early Christian symbols like Chi-Rho, IHS, and INRI, enriching your understanding of Jesus in history and art.

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As someone who calls himself a “historic Christian,” I am very interested in learning as much as I can about the person of Jesus Christ. My interest extends to an appreciation of early Christian art and especially symbols that use Greek and Latin letters to represent the person of Jesus Christ. These early alphabetic artistic symbols were common in the ancient and medieval Christian world and remain so today in various liturgical church traditions (Orthodox, Catholic, Lutheran, Anglican, Methodist, etc.). Learning what they mean gives us, at the very least, an appreciation for Christ’s preeminence in history. That factor alone has led to centuries of thought and written expression about who Jesus truly was.

The symbols are called monograms or Christograms and can be used—instead of formal images or statues—to represent the person of Jesus Christ. Christians have used these monograms of the name of Jesus Christ in art and symbolism through the centuries. Some even appear extremely early in ancient biblical manuscripts. Over time these images came to be used not only in texts but also as freestanding symbols of Jesus Christ or of the historic Christian faith. You will often see them on liturgical vestments and utensils in more traditional churches.

Yet many Christians and non-Christians today see these symbols but don’t know what they represent. In these six common symbols we learn surprisingly much about the Christ of history.

  • Chi-Rho: ☧

One of the earliest symbols for the person of Jesus Christ, the Chi-Rho (pronounced “KEE-roe”) looks like the crossing of the English letters X and P. But in actuality it is the superimposed Greek letters chi (Χ) and rho (Ρ) from the title Christ (Greek: Χριστός) meaning Messiah (Hebrew: “anointed one”). So the Chi-Rho reflects Jesus’s role as the Messiah who, in a Christian context, is the divine Son of God and the deliverer or Savior.

  • Staurogram:

The staurogram consists of the superimposed Greek capital letters tau (Τ) and rho (Ρ). It takes its name from stauros (σταυρός), the Greek word for cross, and the combining of the tau-rho letters seeks to visually represent Jesus as a crucified figure on the cross. In this way it serves as a “cross-monogram.” It appears in primitive papyri New Testament manuscripts (P66, P45 and P75) and may be the earliest visual reference to the crucified Jesus in history.1

  • IHS

The IHS (or sometimes JHS) monogram symbolizes Jesus and is derived from the first three letters of the Greek name of Jesus (ΙΗΣΟΥΣ, Ἰησοῦς: Iēsous), Iota-Eta-Sigma. This common Western symbol for Jesus is used by both Catholics and Protestants. You’ll see this symbol in many liturgically oriented churches.

  • Ichthus: ΙΧΘΥΣ

The ichthus (also ichthys) symbol which is the Greek word for “fish” consists of the first letters of the Greek words Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς Θεοῦ Υἱὸς Σωτήρ meaning “Jesus Christ, God’s Son, Saviour.” This symbol represents Jesus’s core identity as Messiah, Son of God, and Savior. Some of Jesus’s disciples were fishermen—thus giving rise to the Christian fish symbol in primitive Christianity.

  • Alpha & Omega: Α – Ω

Alpha (Α) and omega (Ω) are the first and last letters, respectively, of the Greek alphabet (the New Testament was originally written in Greek). In the New Testament Jesus is called the Alpha and the Omega or the First and the Last. These two Greek letters represent the truth that Jesus Christ is the beginning and the end of all things and he possesses divine qualities and prerogatives (see Revelation 21:6, 22:13).

  • INRI

These four letters represent the Latin inscription IESVS NAZARENVS REX IVDÆORVM (Iesus Nazarenus, Rex Iudaeorum), which was posted by the Romans on the cross of Jesus. The Latin translates into English as “Jesus the Nazarene, King of the Jews” (John 19:19). You will sometimes see this symbol on crucifixes in Catholic Churches where it represents Jesus’s passion on the cross.

It has rightly been said that “Christianity is Christ.” And these symbols powerfully illustrate the centrality of Jesus Christ and his identity to historic Christianity. These early alphabetic artistic symbols that abbreviate the name of Jesus Christ reflect both theology and art. And Christian art in its own way can facilitate apologetic engagement and evangelism.

Reflections: Your Turn

Have you seen these symbols? Which do you find most interesting? Visit Reflections on WordPress to comment with your response.

Resources

Endnotes
  1. L. W. Hurtado, “The Staurogram in Early Christian Manuscripts: The Earliest Visual Reference to the Crucified Jesus?” https://larryhurtado.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/staurogram-essay.pdf?fbclid=lwAROutaVrJsMqPIFzddDSm9YsyKFeZA5LDk1NDkIFQ4OHsIYITNGM4wmwnXY.

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]]> https://reasons.org/christianity/history/how-to-appreciate-early-jesus-symbols/feed 0 Are Religious Experiences Valid? https://reasons.org/religions/meaning-life/are-religious-experiences-valid https://reasons.org/religions/meaning-life/are-religious-experiences-valid#respond Fri, 10 May 2019 16:00:00 +0000 http://reasons.org/are-religious-experiences-valid/ Explore the validity of religious experiences through a Christian lens, examining scientific evidence, biblical truth, and personal transformation.

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When people ask me how I became a follower of Christ, I am always struck with a sudden mixture of ecstasy and caution. My story of coming to faith in Christ involves elements that are not easy to explain to an audience that may not believe in the supernatural. I love relating it, but I try not to give an initial impression of being esoteric and not describing the full picture.

Passion for Science, No Passion for Life

I grew up in a nominal Catholic family and was familiar with the rituals and traditions of the church. However, my family was discouraged from reading the Bible on our own. We were taught that we needed the guidance of a priest so that we could understand it correctly. I had tried to read some passages on my own, but they seemed dry and largely unintelligible.

During my college years at the University of Arizona I acquired a passion for science. I had started as an engineer, but my exposure to initial courses in physics and chemistry turned my interests towards medicine. The explanatory power of science was mesmerizing, and I quickly became a disciple.

My interest in spiritual things had waned, but then I took a humanities class in which the Bible was part of the world literature curriculum and I was required to read some passages. At the same time, my mother had started attending a Bible study group led by a man who had little formal education, but clear thinking. I chatted with him a few times and posed some hard questions on the Bible. He gave me coherent answers and I was intrigued.

But the pull of the world was strong. After a series of events in pursuit of my own interests and desires, I ended up literally lifting my fist at God and telling him that if he existed, that he should not bother with me. I wanted all traces of him out of my life. I told him to stay away. Shortly thereafter I fell into a severe depression, to the point of thinking seriously about suicide. I had lost all purpose in life. There was nothing to look forward to.

God Reached Me

On December 24, 1989, my mother dragged me to her church. Even though it was Christmas Eve, I cannot remember what the preacher talked about. I was not interested. Yet, he said something at the end that drew my attention, “If you have lost everything in this life, what can you lose by giving Jesus Christ a chance?” So I did. I prayed a short prayer and was taken to a room where they told me that I had made the biggest decision of my life. Not much changed. I went back home and the depression lingered and even worsened.

In my room three days later, I was flipping through the pages of a book that someone had handed me. I was not really interested in reading it, but on one page there was a verse from the Bible that stood out. It was Galatians 2:20 (NASB):

I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

Immediately, the room was filled with an unusual brightness. In an instant, the deep depression that had weighed down my heart was swept away and replaced with the greatest joy I had ever known. The experience was overwhelming. I lifted my eyes and the only words that I could articulate were, “Who are you?”

Unlike the apostle Paul, I did not get an audible answer. I sat there for a long time, trying to make sense of the experience from a scientific or psychological perspective, but that was just not plausible. The only conclusion that made sense was that this experience was supernatural.

That day I decided to find out who had met me in my room. I started reading books on different religious beliefs, but after evaluating the claims of different religions it was not difficult to conclude that it was Jesus Christ who had met me in that room and transformed my life when I was at my lowest point.

Testing Religious Experiences

A fundamental question to ask regarding religious experiences is whether the experience and its associated worldview corresponds to the truth. In some worldviews the appeal to religious experiences is central to their apologetic, but Christians are called to evaluate every claim of a religious experience to see if the corresponding worldview withstands the tests for truth. The apostle John writes:

Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God. (1 John 4:1–2)

Tests to evaluate the truth of a worldview include experiential relevance, empirical adequacy, and logical consistency. The first test includes the religious experience itself, but it goes beyond that to include the way in which the experience blossoms in the person’s life. An experience alone does not provide a strong apologetic for a worldview.

But how do we apply the other two religious experience tests?

The empirical adequacy test requires a worldview to be empirically verifiable. But how do we bring empiricism into a religious experience? Empirical verification requires the observation of the same phenomena as well as a correspondence to reality. A commitment to philosophical naturalism will pose an a priori roadblock to the application of this test because it does not allow supernatural explanations. However, there are multiple documented instances of religious experiences by Christians throughout history. The most remarkable one is the resurrection of Christ and his appearances to over 500 people. These well-attested events provide enough empirical observations that support the Christian worldview.

But not all religious experiences affirm the Christian worldview. In fact, many of these religious experiences occur in the context of other worldviews and some may even fall in the category of hallucinations. Here, the test of logical consistency can be applied to evaluate the truthfulness of the worldview that is being promoted. Drugs and other forms of brain stimulation can cause unusual experiences, but in this instance a careful thinker can identify the stimuli that triggers such experiences. All people need to guard against a willingness to believe what we want to believe. In this case, critical examination of the claim and its correspondence to reality is crucial to determine its truthfulness.

Finally, for those of us who believe in a supernatural dimension, it is vital to remember that not all supernatural events correspond to the worldview of the one who claims to be the Truth. Jesus warned us:

For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect. (Matthew 24:24, NASB)

Scripture encourages Christians to be lovers of truth, including the claims of religious experiences. Every religious experience needs to be carefully and critically evaluated before it is accepted as truth. May each of us pursue and prize the truth in all that we do.

Resources

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]]> https://reasons.org/religions/meaning-life/are-religious-experiences-valid/feed 0 Are There Traces of Pre-Fall Civil Society Today? https://reasons.org/creation/earth/are-there-traces-of-pre-fall-civil-society-today https://reasons.org/creation/earth/are-there-traces-of-pre-fall-civil-society-today#respond Fri, 08 Mar 2019 19:00:00 +0000 http://reasons.org/are-there-traces-of-pre-fall-civil-society-today/ Exploring evidence of pre-fall societal structures through animal and human behavior, raising questions about God's design and human morality.

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A young PhD candidate in sociology asked this question of RTB scholars: “When RTB scholars approach their field of truth, are there specific questions any of them have in mind for applying what they are learning to illustrate God’s character and revelation?” She went on to provide her expectation, giving us a little more context to her question:

Given that God created the underlying structures of human interaction and had some sort of society in mind even pre-fall, there should still be evidence of those structures in today’s world. Do they see any such evidence? Where or how might they show up?

The short answer to her question is yes, evidence should be all around us even today. The approach to those answers and the methodologies researchers use will vary from discipline to discipline, and not just in the physical sciences but in the social sciences, arts, and humanities as well. A healthy curiosity and willingness to work hard will help guide the search for evidence.

From my perspective in political science and national security studies, I have often looked for such answers in my field. Because I also enjoy the outdoors, I have frequently observed animal behavior that seems similar to human behavior, but there are also some significant differences as well. There are at least four ways that human behavior and animal behavior bear striking comparisons—territoriality, hierarchies, power plays, and caring for young—and a couple where there are vast differences.

Similar Animal and Human Behaviors

Animals will defend their territory from other animals. The largest trout in a stream will defend its position near the front or back of a boulder (called the “pillow”) from encroaching fish, for the best access to food. Anglers gravitate to these spots to cast for “the big one.”

Many animal groups have hierarchies (despite some egalitarian examples). Wolves are probably best known for having an alpha-pair lead a pack. Chimpanzees and gorillas have dominant members as well. Dogs in the wild love hierarchies, too, which is why humans were able to domesticate them.

Many animals also engage in power plays. Researchers have observed processes for how animals gain dominance in such hierarchical systems. Often, this means they must fight for control, even killing their opponents.

Probably the most endearing comparison is found in the role both animal and human societies devote to nurturing their young. Most offspring are helpless at birth and need protection, care, feeding, and training for life. The length of time devoted to such nurturing is often an indication of how “advanced” or complex such societies are.

So, are any of these shared behaviors between humans and animals evidence of either good or evil that provide clues to pre-fall human society? Or are they merely elements necessary for survival and competition under the second law of thermodynamics? From a Christian perspective, did God subject the natural world to futility with the creation of the universe in anticipation of redeeming human beings (Romans 8:20)?

Vast Differences

Humans outpace animal societies in both “good” and “evil.” In the context of human free will, C.S. Lewis hints at the major differences between humans and animals:

The better stuff a creature is made of—the cleverer and stronger and freer it is—then the better it will be if it goes right, but also the worse it will be if it goes wrong. A cow cannot be very good or very bad; a dog can be both better and worse; a child better and worse still; an ordinary man, still more so; a man of genius, still more so; a superhuman spirit best—or worst—of all.1

In my field, for example, nationalism—or pride and effort toward the common good of an affiliated group of people—is a good thing. It can be harnessed to support the survival of the group, tribe, clan, or larger political unit. Sadly, it can also be perverted into xenophobia, racism, and genocide. Beyond nationalism, some leaders have used political ideologies to perpetuate even greater evil. Nothing in the animal kingdom compares to the ideologies of the twentieth century that killed millions of people for no reason necessary for the survival or health of the common good. But where do humans get these ideas of good and evil, if not from our Creator in the first place?

These observations are only tentative, but they do fuel some of my research interests in political science and creation. I have more questions to explore. For example, did God introduce race, nationalism, and the spread of human beings after the fall and the flood to restrain the expression of evil? Do these features still restrain evil today? Where does the idea of restraint in warfare come from? Why do some political entities avoid the targeting of noncombatants, and others deliberately target them? Last, did Jesus’s teaching introduce (or reintroduce) more moderating influences on human society? If so, how? Answers to these questions will come from various fields and will shed light on what kind of society a Creator, if he exists, had in mind.

The student’s questions are brilliant, the kind every scholar of the faith should be considering in their field of research. This young scholar encourages me to pursue truth, and I hope her questions will encourage you as well. All Christian scholars should be encouraged to search for truths in their disciplines, and to find venues for helping the rest of us see those truths. If God is the author of the books of revelation and of creation—which includes social systems as well—he will have left evidence of his handiwork that can be learned through careful study.

Endnotes
  1. C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (New York: Collier Books, 1952), Book II, Chapter 3, p. 38.

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]]> https://reasons.org/creation/earth/are-there-traces-of-pre-fall-civil-society-today/feed 0 A Bacterial Protein (CRISPR/Cas9) Will Change Life on Earth https://reasons.org/adam-eve/tools-tech/a-bacterial-protein-crispr-cas9-will-change-life-on-earth https://reasons.org/adam-eve/tools-tech/a-bacterial-protein-crispr-cas9-will-change-life-on-earth#respond Wed, 05 Sep 2007 06:00:00 +0000 http://reasons.org/a-bacterial-protein-(crispr-cas9)-will-change-life-on-earth/ Explore how CRISPR/Cas9 gene-editing technology is revolutionizing medicine and biology, and why Christian ethics are crucial in guiding its use.

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Recent scientific discoveries have opened an era where humans can alter the genetic makeup of any organism at will. Is this type of power safe in our hands? What will our future world look like, and who will decide?

A technology developed from a bacterial immune-system protein (CRISPR/Cas9) will change life on Earth faster than we think. CRISPR/Cas9 allows scientists to edit genomes at specific target sites, theoretically altering the genome of any organism (e.g., yeast, bacteria, plant, mosquito, animal, or human) at will. And with more than 30,000 researchers using CRISPR/Cas9, the potential changes already at hand are staggering.

We find ourselves facing the first CRISPR/Cas9 human clinical trial in the United States and the first manipulation of healthy human embryos with CRISPR/Cas9 in a UK lab. Despite some significant challenges in using CRISPR/Cas9, such as off-target activity, the science speeds ahead. Christians better keep up.

Researchers Use CRISPR/Cas9 for Good Causes

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have cleared the first hurdle in using CRISPR/Cas9 in human clinical trials.1 The NIH Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee (RAC) has granted approval to alter T cells of 18 cancer patients using CRISPR/Cas9 in hopes of making tailored T cells better at fighting myeloma, melanoma, and sarcoma.

This trial will apply CRISPR/Cas9 technology in a highly focused and limited arena. By removing a patient’s T cells, altering the DNA coding for three proteins, and then reintroducing the modified cells back into the person from whom they originated, these trials should be fairly safe. Genetic modifications should affect only the specific T cells, improving their ability to fight and persist in their anticancer activities. If successful, this could reduce cancer recurrence in patients, and it would be a significant advancement in the fight against cancer.

Across the pond at London’s Francis Crick Institute, researcher Kathy Niakan has been granted permission to study early human development in embryos using CRISPR/Cas9 technology. Niakan will examine multiple specific genes in order to identify those most critical for normal human development. It is hoped that her research findings will lead to treatments preventing miscarriages and facilitating healthy pregnancies and births.

Unlike the proposed cancer treatment, where the scope of CRISPR modification is limited to specific T cells in a few individuals, the genetic modification of human embryos by CRISPR/Cas9 has the potential to affect all subsequent generations. When genetic manipulation introduces changes into a zygote, every cell in the resulting adult organism will contain the modification, including the germ cells (eggs or sperm). It follows that such genetic modifications (both intended and unintended) will be passed on to any subsequent offspring and enter the human population.

Gene-Editing Research Needs Regulation

Niakan required permission before she could embark on her manipulation of human embryos. UK law allows research in human embryo development up to 14 days under careful regulation and only upon informed consent by the germ cell donors. UK regulators ensure, through periodic inspections, that the embryos are only being used for specific, approved research projects. Each embryo is documented and traceable through each step, from the time it enters a research facility to the time it is used in an approved project.

No such federal regulation occurs in the United States. Federal regulations ban federal monies from funding such research, but if funding comes from a private (nongovernmental) source, these types of experiments are largely unregulated. US federal regulation of science occurs only if experimentation crosses into human trials or commercial veterinary or agricultural uses. Otherwise, any specific regulations vary from institution to institution, state to state, and internationally, from country to country. Some countries tightly regulate human embryonic research, some only have unenforceable guidelines, but in our global village, changing the human genome at a germ-line level in any country has the potential of altering human genetics for the broad population in every country.

For this reason, many are calling for caution, others for a moratorium, and still others for international consensus on regulating gene-editing of human embryos.

As I see it, only God can be all-powerful without danger, because his wisdom and justice are always equal to his power. Thus there is no authority on earth so inherently worthy of respect, or invested with a right so sacred, that I would want to let it act without oversight or rule without impediment.

–Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America

Christianity’s Moral Compass Is Essential

Altering the human genome for future generations is not the only disconcerting application of CRISPR/Cas9. In a recent Time magazine article, Harvard researcher George Church said, “I worry a lot. And I have every reason to encourage citizens at large to worry as well.”2 His reasons for concern are echoed among many others in regard to a new and powerful technology like CRISPR/Cas9 that could help engineer superbugs for biological warfare or terrorism. Additional worries spring from scientific and political cultures that are often filled with those whose desire to do something first for the sake of personal recognition, advancement, and financial gain might lead them to take risks that could have far-reaching implications for all of us. So the voices of caution raised within the community need to be strongly heeded.

Selfishness, unchecked ambition, greed, power, and hubris are a few of the things we must guard against when a developing technology possesses such radical potential. A society that is fixated on science to the neglect of religion, philosophy, and the humanities is not a healthy or safe society. Our society is beginning to adopt a dangerous ideology that says all things are reducible to materialistic processes and physical entities.

When we embrace this, we have no rational basis to claim any action as immoral, and social norms will be set by those with political and economic power. Alongside a survival-of-the-fittest or social-Darwinism mentality, these ideologies could decimate our future.

Furthermore, as I’ve mentioned elsewhere, hubris can mask ignorance. There are significant complexities still poorly understood in the human genome. In 2016, there is still much of the genome that is unsequenced and unassembled (about 10 percent). Most of this is heterochromatin, but even euchromatic gaps in the human genome still persist.3

These sequences do not appear in reference genomes and are therefore omitted from genomic analyses, including considerations involving targeting of the CRISPR/Cas9 editor. Yet the significance of heterochromatic and highly repetitive sequences is being recognized more and more (at least by some) as regulatory elements, pseudogenes, and actively transcribed sequences are continually being uncovered within these once enigmatic and highly variable sequences.

Filtered through a Darwinian paradigm, many have often insisted that such sequences are nothing more than artifacts of evolutionary processes that only contribute nonspecifically to structural designations. The rhetoric of others is grossly misleading and negligent, claiming a “post-genomic era,” and repeatedly uttering that we completed the human genome more than a decade ago. Such thinking not only has hindered scientific discovery but may even threaten society with its hubris and neglect of details.

The potential good uses of CRISPR/Cas9 are exciting and promising. Cures for many diseases may lie in the not so distant future. But there is still much to be worked out and understood before we adopt widespread gene-editing as a medical treatment option. Our genome is far more complex than we understand, as anyone involved in personal genomic studies will confirm. Manipulating genomes before we know what’s there is rather cavalier, if not irresponsible, behavior.

Actions driven by desire and curiosity must be tempered by moral restraint. The Christian moral and ethical voice needs to temper that of rogue materialism and blind naturalism.

Next week I’ll look at some other ecological applications of CRISPR/Cas9 and consider our charge of stewarding creation.

Endnotes
  1. Although approved by the NIH RAC, the proposed therapy must also pass review at the various institutions involved in the clinical trials and receive approval by the FDA.
  2. Alice Park, “Life, The Remix,” Time, July 4, 2016, 43–48.
  3. Mark Chaisson, Richard Wilson, and Evan Eichler, “Genetic Variation and the De NovoAssembly of Human Genomes,” Nature Reviews Genetics 16 (November 2015): 627–40, doi:10.1038/nrg3933.

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]]> https://reasons.org/adam-eve/tools-tech/a-bacterial-protein-crispr-cas9-will-change-life-on-earth/feed 0 Ten Reasons for the Rapid Spread of Christianity, Part 3: Religious Factors https://reasons.org/christianity/beliefs-values/ten-reasons-for-the-rapid-spread-of-christianity-part-3-religious-factors https://reasons.org/christianity/beliefs-values/ten-reasons-for-the-rapid-spread-of-christianity-part-3-religious-factors#respond Tue, 19 Jan 2016 18:00:00 +0000 http://reasons.org/ten-reasons-for-the-rapid-spread-of-christianity-part-3-religious-factors/ Explore ten key social, cultural, and religious reasons behind Christianity's rapid growth, highlighting courageous martyrs, monotheism, and Paul’s missionary work.

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How did the tiny and little-known Jesus movement overcome hostilities and persecution within four centuries to become the official religion of the Roman Empire?

Christians, of course, believe that God sovereignly arranged the circumstances of history to allow the gospel to go forth with power and great success. Yet God’s providential workings behind the scenes of history do not rule out God’s use of social, cultural, and religious factors to fulfill his ultimate ends.

In parts one and two of this series, we briefly examined social and cultural aspects that contributed to Christianity’s amazing growth and influence. In this third part, we’ll wrap up our list of 10 reasons by reviewing some religious and theological features that helped ignite early Christianity.

6. Courageous Martyrs

While there is debate within scholarly circles regarding just how much persecution Christians received within the Roman Empire, it is widely accepted that the courageous deaths of some of the early Christian martyrs had a positive impact in attracting people to the faith. Knowing that one’s death is forthcoming is enough to bring virtually any person to their knees. Yet the apostles’ belief in the bodily resurrection of Jesus gave them amazing courage in the face of death (see Stephen’s story in Acts 7:54–60). If the apostles had reason to doubt the reality of Jesus’s resurrection, surely these martyrs wouldn’t have risked their lives in this way.

7. Growing Interest in Monotheism

Polytheism abounded in the ancient Greco-Roman world, as is evidenced by ancient Rome’s most prominent building, the Pantheon (dedicated to “all gods”). But a growing interest in monotheism coincided with the emergence of Christianity. Monotheism was viewed as religiously different and apparently trendy. The belief in one all-powerful God carried with it both coherence and continuity in contrast to polytheism. Christianity’s affirmation of the Triune God reflected a unique kind of monotheism (a unity of nature and diversity of personhood). And there is a case to be made among religious scholars today that monotheism reflects the original form of religion among humankind.1

8. Christianity’s Gracious Plan of Salvation

The gospel proclamation that the Savior Jesus Christ had made atonement for sin via Roman crucifixion was extremely appealing to many in the ancient world. The view that salvation is the gift of a loving God who forgives all sins, regardless of race or social status, was very different from what the other religions and philosophies of the time offered. Since many of the initial followers of Christ were slaves in the Roman Empire, these people readily embraced the incredible message that God uniquely cares for the world’s poor and disadvantaged people. The Christian teaching that God is love (1 John 4:8) was a magnet to people who had been taught to fear and appease the various gods of the Greco-Roman world.

9. A Universal Faith

The earliest Jewish Christians viewed Jesus Christ as the Jewish Messiah (God’s unique “anointed one” or servant) whose coming was foretold in the Hebrew Scriptures (Psalm 22, Isaiah 53). Yet while the Jesus movement was birthed from Old Testament Judaism, the Christian faith did not adopt all of the distinctive cultural practices of Judaism (for example, circumcision, dietary laws, etc.). Thus, a very attractive element of the Christian faith for Gentiles was that it was viewed as a universal religion that was open to all people from all cultural backgrounds. Historic Christianity affirmed that Jews and Gentiles were one through their common faith in Jesus Christ (Galatians 3:28). Christianity would go on to become a religion that is affirmed by people throughout the world.

10. The Unique Work of the Apostle Paul

Whether one views the ministry of the Apostle Paul as supernaturally inspired or not, his work in spreading the gospel message of primitive Christianity is truly extraordinary. Paul’s three missionary journeys, as described in the book of Acts, served to permanently establish the newfound faith in Asia Minor (the geographic region in the southwestern part of Asia encompassing most of what is presently the nation of Turkey). Paul remains to this day Christianity’s greatest missionary as well as the faith’s greatest theologian and apologist. The apostle wrote 13 of the New Testament books that help explain how Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of the Old Testament expectations concerning the Messiah. It can be reasonably argued that the Apostle Paul did more to spread Christianity than any other individual in Christian history.

So in light of these 10 reasons, while Christians affirm God’s unique providential involvement in the faith’s establishment and early success, it is clear that social, cultural, and religious factors also contributed to the rapid spread of Christianity.

See other installments in this series here: part 1, part 2.

Resources

For more information on the spread of Christianity, please see my book 7 Truths That Changed the World. I also recommend How Christianity Changed the World by Alvin J. Schmidt, The Rise of Christianity by Rodney Stark, Culture and Values: A Survey of the Humanities by Lawrence Cunningham and John Reich, and What’s So Great about Christianity by Dinesh D’Souza.

Endnotes
  1. Winfried Corduan, In the Beginning God: A Fresh Look at the Case for Original Monotheism (Nashville: B&H Publishing, 2013).

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]]> https://reasons.org/christianity/beliefs-values/ten-reasons-for-the-rapid-spread-of-christianity-part-3-religious-factors/feed 0 Ten Reasons for the Rapid Spread of Christianity, Part 1: Social Factors https://reasons.org/christianity/history/ten-reasons-for-the-rapid-spread-of-christianity-part-1-social-factors https://reasons.org/christianity/history/ten-reasons-for-the-rapid-spread-of-christianity-part-1-social-factors#respond Mon, 04 Jan 2016 18:00:00 +0000 http://reasons.org/ten-reasons-for-the-rapid-spread-of-christianity-part-1-social-factors/ Explore three key social factors—Pax Romana, Roman roads, and common language—that aided Christianity's rapid spread in the Roman Empire.

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Jesus Christ lived the most consequential life in human history. As Christian theologian Michael Green notes, “His coming split history into two: everything is dated before or after this man.”1 But the religion that bears his name started small and slow in the backwater of the Roman Empire. What factors contributed to its subsequent rapid spread?

In this series we’ll briefly look at 10 reasons for Christianity’s rapid spread during its first few centuries. As a Christian, I believe that God’s historical providence directed the events that led to Christianity’s development. Nevertheless, understanding the social, cultural, and religious factors that influenced the spread of the faith doesn’t make the ultimate cause of the movement any less supernatural in nature. A natural implication of God’s historical providence is that he specifically prepared the world for the coming of Jesus Christ and that this divine arrangement led to Christianity’s subsequent growth and success.

A third of the way through the first century AD, the early Jesus movement consisted initially of the Nazarene teacher and his small band of disciples. By the end of the first century the Christian movement had spread through so much of the Roman Empire that government officials were commenting on the new religion.2 By the end of the fourth century, Christianity had been recognized as the official religion of the Roman Empire. Today, Christianity is the largest religion in the world with approximately one third of the people on the planet subscribing to the faith (at least 2 billion people).3

In part one of this series, we’ll examine three social factors that significantly helped the spread of Christianity.4

1. The Peace of Rome

The powerful Roman army’s ability to keep peace within the empire meant that the message of Christianity could be spread far and wide without the physical danger and information blackout that so often accompanies war. Imagine the difficulties that would arise in attempting to communicate a new faith in such contemporary war-torn countries as Afghanistan or Syria. Early Christians therefore took advantage of Rome’s famous pax Romana to spread their faith about the coming of the Messiah Jesus.

2. Easy Travel

Rome’s advancements in technology allowed them to build a reliable system of roads throughout the Empire. Christian missionaries like the Apostle Paul were able to utilize these roads in spreading the gospel message and founding new churches throughout the Roman world. These Roman roads made travel easy and that accessibility allowed new ideas to spread quickly throughout the Mediterranean world.

3. Common Language

The Mediterranean world had two basic languages: Latin in the west and Greek in the east. But the language of trade or commerce was Koine Greek (or common Greek). This was the same language that was used to write the New Testament. Thus, in a sense, the language of the New Testament was functioning like the universal language of the Mediterranean world. Consider how advantageous it was to be able to communicate the gospel message without a language barrier. Virtually the entire Mediterranean world was able to converse in the very language of the Christian Scriptures.

Clearly the stability of the Mediterranean world in general and the Roman Empire in particular helped the Christian message to spread far, wide and rapidly. As we continue this series, we will look at other historical factors that were key to Christianity’s rise to the most populous religion of the world.

Resources
For more information on the spread of Christianity, please see my book 7 Truths That Changed the World, or check out How Christianity Changed the World by Alvin J. Schmidt and The Rise of Christianity by Rodney Stark.

Endnotes
  1. Michael Green, Who Is This Jesus? (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1992), 7.
  2. Three Roman authors mention Jesus Christ and Christians: Tacitus, Suetonius, and Pliny the Younger. See Robert E. Van Voorst, Jesus outside the New Testament: An Introduction to the Ancient Evidence (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2000).
  3. “Global Christianity: A Report on the Size and Distribution of the World’s Christian Population,” Pew Research Center, published December 19, 2011, https://www.pewforum.org/2011/12/19/global-christianity-exec/.
  4. Lawrence Cunningham and John Reich, Culture and Values: A Survey of the Humanities, vol. 1 (Fort Worth, TX: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1992), 179–80.

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]]> https://reasons.org/christianity/history/ten-reasons-for-the-rapid-spread-of-christianity-part-1-social-factors/feed 0 What Makes the Christian God Unique? https://reasons.org/christianity/beliefs-values/what-makes-the-christian-god-unique Sat, 01 Jul 2006 15:00:00 +0000 http://reasons.org/publications/what-makes-the-christian-god-unique/ Explore how Christianity's unique view of God—Trinity, Incarnation, and Atonement—sets it apart from Judaism and Islam in this thoughtful article.

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For more than a decade I taught philosophy and religion courses at a public college in Southern California. One of the courses I enjoyed teaching most was the world religions class. Most students who took the class were interested in more than just fulfilling their humanities requirement. I was pleased to discover that the majority of these students were genuinely interested in learning about the various religions of the world.

Though I had many fine students over the years and lots of provocative discussions in and outside the classroom, one particular exchange with two students stands out in my memory. This dialogue challenged me to think carefully about how Christianity differs from two of the other major religions of the world.

One semester I had two bright, religiously devout young women in my class–one Jewish, the other Muslim. Both of them were interested in learning how their own respective religions compared and contrasted with other religions. When I lectured on Judaism and Islam, the two students shared helpful insights about their particular religious beliefs and rituals. The Jewish student had lived in Israel for part of her life, and the Muslim had grown up in Egypt. After one of my lectures on Christianity, the two students approached me and asked a pointed question: “Exactly how does the God of Christianity differ from the Jewish and Muslim views of God?”

I explained to them that historic Christianity, like Judaism and Islam,1 affirms the existence of one true and living God. I pointed out that Christianity enjoys a unique and special relationship with Judaism. However, I also emphasized three distinctive ways in which the Christian God differs from the conception of God found in these two other Middle Eastern monotheistic religions. In fact, I said that these three doctrinal distinctives set the Christian faith apart from all other religious systems, not just Judaism and Islam. The three tenets (in a sense) express the theological heart of historic Christianity.

The first way in which Christianity is distinct is in its special conception of monotheism. Unlike traditional Judaism and Islam, the God of Christianity possesses a unique and mysterious plurality of personhood within its single divine essence. In other words, while God is one in being, he nevertheless exists as three distinct persons (or centers of consciousness). One way of expressing this special form of monotheism is to say that God is “one what and three whos.” That is, in terms of what God is, God is one and only one divine being. But in terms of who God is, God is three distinct persons. No other religion conceives of God in this way, by distinguishing between God’s single essence on one hand and his mysterious plurality of personhood on the other.2

A second difference lies in Christianity’s unusual and extraordinary way in which God has revealed himself in the world. Central to Christian belief is the view that one of those divine persons (namely the Son) took a genuine human nature and became a man. Unlike all other religions, historic Christianity affirms that God came to the earth in human flesh. The historical person Jesus of Nazareth is designated as none other than the “God-man.” To the Christian, to encounter Jesus is to meet God face to face. The God who made the heavens and the earth has personally visited this planet. I explained to the students that Muslims and traditional Jews reject historic Christianity’s bold claim that Jesus was God Incarnate.

The third distinctive feature of the Christian view of God describes how this holy and righteous God brings about the forgiveness of sinful and rebellious human beings. Unlike the gods of virtually all other religions, the Christian God does not accept people based upon a preponderance of good deeds done in life. Rather, God the Son, Jesus Christ, took upon himself-while on the Roman cross-the just punishment for the sinful acts perpetrated by human beings and thus appeased God’s appropriate wrath. Jesus’ atoning sacrifice made a way for God to express his mercy and forgiveness to repentant sinners. Redemption or salvation then is provided by God’s grace alone, exclusively through faith in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

I concluded my answer to the students by stating that these three great doctrinal truths illustrate the uniqueness of the historic Christian concept of God. They asked me many more good and difficult questions that semester, and they also taught me a thing or two about their respective religions. Frank and healthy discussions like this one underscore the truth that a person’s view of God makes a critical difference to one’s overall world-and-life perspective.

This article has been adapted from Kenneth Samples’ upcoming book on worldviews, due to be published in 2007.

Endnotes
  1. For an evangelical Christian assessment of the religions of Judaism and Islam, see Winfried Corduan, Neighboring Faiths: A Christian Introduction to World Religions (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1998); see chapters 2 and 3 respectively.
  2. 2 For more on the historic Christian doctrine of the Trinity, see Kenneth Richard Samples, Without a Doubt: Answering the 20 Toughest Faith Questions (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 2004), chapter 5, “How Can God be Three and One?” 63-76.

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