Naughty or Nice List

A friend recently wrote, “EVERYBODY'S ON THE NAUGHTY LIST....CHANGE MY MIND!” Is he correct? Is everybody on the naughty list? A little ground work before answering.

What Naughty List?

Was my friend referring to the naughty list from the children’s Christmas song Santa Claus is Coming to Town? Take a look at the first two stanzas of that song.

"Santa Claus Is Coming to Town"

Oh! You better watch out
You better not cry
You better not pout I'm telling you why
Santa Claus is coming to town

He's making a list
Checking it twice
Gonna find out who's naughty or nice
Santa Claus is coming to town

In the second stanza Santa Clause is making a list, checking it twice, gonna find out who’s naughty or nice. This implies two list; a naughty list and a nice list. My friend is an evangelist; therefore, indirectly referring to God’s naughty list using words from this familiar Christmas song. Let us then answer my friends question with the knowledge that he is speaking in regard to God.  

Judgment at the Throne of God

Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. (Rv 20:11-15, NASB)

This passage is referring to the last day when all the dead rise and face Jesus Christ in judgement. There are books, but the book that you want your name written in is the book of life because if your name is not written in the book of life you will be cast into the lake of fire. The passage following this one speaks of the new heaven and new earth (God and man together) which will be the eternal home of everyone whose name is written in the book of life. (cf. Rv 20-21)

Essentially what we have here is a naughty list and a nice list; therefore, my friend is wrong, there are people whose names are not on the naughty list. Their names are on the nice list (book of life) and have been written there from the foundation of the earth. (cf. Rv 17:8) 

Is your name written in the book of life? Jesus promised eternal life to all who believe in him? (cf. Jn 6:47) He calls those who believe in him his sheep and he said of them, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” (Jn 10:27-30, NASB)

Everybody deserves to be on the naughty list; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, but some are justified. These are justified as a gift (they do not deserve it), by the grace of God alone (they did not earn it), through faith alone, in the person and works of Jesus Christ alone. (Rom 3:23-26) Throughout Jesus ministry he would look at people and say, “Follow Me!”

The Problem of Suffering and Evil

As a Critical Care Registered Nurse I see a great deal of suffering. I admit that some of this suffering appears to be purposeless. In the face of human suffering people tend to doubt God. The book of Job gives an answer for Job's suffering, but Job himself is not given an answer. We the readers get to look in on a scene in heaven that Job is not privy too, God has good reason for allowing Job to suffer but Job is never given the reason, only that he should trust the wisdom of God. We Christians believe that God is all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-love; God created everything, and suffering and evil exist.

Should we blame God for our suffering? 

I used to have a dog who would run through the house and crash into things hurting himself. If I was standing there, he would act as though I had done the harm. If I reached out to console him, he would run away yelping. It seems to me that blaming God for our suffering is a lot like my dog’s reaction in his suffering. Most people’s problem of suffering and evil is emotional; and therefore, not intellectual. Like my dog who blamed me for hurting himself, we humans blame God for our suffering. Allowed to fester, this blaming can lead to hatred. If God is all knowing, all powerful and all good why won’t he do anything about my suffering, or the suffering of others and end all the evil in the world? Once this blaming becomes hatred men attempt to kill God. The opponent argues that if God is all-powerful and all-knowing he should have been able to create a world without suffering or evil, and if he is all-love he would have wanted to; therefore, since suffering and evil exist, the God of the Bible does not exist. 

Could they be correct?

The premise of the argument makes two assumptions:

1. Being all-powerful means that God can do anything.
2. Human happiness is the purpose of life.

First, God is all-powerful, but he cannot do anything. God is truth; therefore, God cannot lie because this would contradict his nature. Second, nowhere does the Scripture teach that the purpose of human life is happiness. The Scriptures teach that the purpose of human life is to know God and be conformed to the image of his Son. Jesus said, “This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” (Jn 17:3, NASB) And the apostle Paul wrote; “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.” (Rom 8:28-30, NASB)

Could God have a good reason for allowing suffering and evil?

What if God made man in his image with the free will to choose right and wrong? God could not have created a world in which man had free will without the possibility of evil. God created the heavens and the earth and all that they contain; lastly, he created man and woman in his image with the free will to choose to follow him or not follow him. They chose to do as they pleased; human suffering and death are the result of that decision. (cf. Gn 1-3) The remainder of the Scriptures, Genesis 4:1 – Revelation 22:21 is a story of redemption; God drawing a people to himself by the Spirit, redeeming them by the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ through faith, and using the sufferings of this present day to conform us into the image of his Son. I do not have all the answers (I am not all-knowing), but I do know that the Scriptures testify that God is all-powerful, all-knowing, all-love. God is good and he is sovereign even in the face of human suffering and evil. The Scriptures are replete, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding.” (Proverbs 3:5)

Is There Meaning to Life?

Friedrich Nietzsche was a 19th century German Philosopher and writer born on October 15, 1844 in Rocken, Prussia, east Germany today. His writings fall into three categories: early years, middle years and mature years. In his mature writings he was preoccupied with the origin and function of human values. “Nihilism” was a term that he used to describe the degradation of human values once theological foundations are removed. Nietzsche believed that when theological foundations for human morality are removed a pervasive since of purposelessness and meaningless would ingulf the human mind. In Nietzsche’s mind “God is dead,” because he understood that without God there are no objective moral values; therefore, life is meaningless and purposeless. Nietzsche collapsed in the street of Turin, Italy in 1889 into total mental darkness and remained in that condition unto death 11 years later.1

Blaise Pascal said that Christianity teaches two truths: There is a God that man is capable of knowing, but man’s sin nature makes man unsuitable for a relationship with God.2 Without a relationship with your creator life has no meaning or purpose. Without God everything that you do has no meaning, value or purpose. There is no value in your existence because one day you will be gone without a trace. This is all that Atheism has to offer. Jesus Christ promised eternal life to all who believe in him; he died for our sins then rose bodily from the dead.

Nietzsche was an unbeliever who understood what a universe without God meant; no moral values or duties because life has no meaning or purpose. I happen to agree with Nietzsche because “if God does not exist, objective moral values and duties do not exist.”3 However, objective moral values and duties do exist and cannot be explained away by naturalistic evolution. Objective moral values and duties are not instincts, they are based in knowledge. Do you want a life that has value, meaning and purpose? Or do you want Nihilism?

Without God there is no moral anchor, yet the fact remains that all people know what we ought to do and what we ought not do even if we do not fully comply; it is our flesh, Satan and the world that lead us to temptation. Nietzsche is correct to assert that if God does not exist, objective moral values and duties do not exist. However, when we observe those around us and search the deepest recesses of our hearts we all know that objective moral values and duties do exist. We all know that certain things are right and certain things are wrong. Since objective moral values and duties do exist then God exists.4

The meaning of life is to know God. The Westminster Shorter Catechism says, “Man’s chief end is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.” God is all powerful, all knowing and morally perfect; therefore, he cannot allow anyone morally unperfected into his presence. Man is sinful; therefore, man is separated from God. 

Jesus Christ is the answer to our sin problem. Jesus lived a righteous life pleasing to God, God said of him, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to him.” (Mt 17:5b) Jesus promised eternal life to all who would ever come to believe in him, then he willing died in our place. The Bible says, that he was handed over because of our transgression, and was raised because of our justification. (Rom 4:25) What you must do is repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, persevere in the faith and overcome the world.

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1 The New Encyclopaedia Britannica, Volume 24, 15th ed., s. v. “Nietzsche.”, 936-937.

2 William Lane Craig, Reasonable Faith, 3^rded., (Wheaton: Crossway, 2008), 66.

3 Ibid, 172.

4 Ibid.

The Evidence for God

I watched a video in which Dr. William Lane Craig gave a lecture at Imperial College in London, England. The lecture occurred sometime between October 17^th-26^thof 2011 when he was touring England. The lecture is called The Evidence for God.

Synopsis

After being introduced by a student, Dr. Craig begins with a premise; “Is the material world all there is?” Dr. Craig then stated that he will give seven aspects of the world that testify for God. The first is the Contingence Argument in which he asks, “Why does anything exist at all?” He then states that everything that exists has an explanation; they either exists by their own nature or have an external cause. The universe exists; therefore, it has an explanation which must be greater than the universe itself. This argues for a transcendent mind. Second, the Cosmological Argument: Whatever begins to exist has a cause, the universe began to exist; therefore, the universe has a cause. The cause must be causeless, timeless, changeless, immaterial and personal. Third, the Teleological Argument: The universe is fine tuned to a degree that is incomprehensible. This fine-tuning is necessary for intelligent life. He states that there are but three explanations: necessity, chance, and design. He states that the most plausible of these three are design. Fourth, the Moral Argument: If God does not exist, then objective moral values do not exist; objective moral values do exist; therefore, God exist. Fifth, the Ontological Argument: God is the maximally greatest possible being. It is possible that a maximally great being exist; if it is possible that a maximally great being exists, then a maximally great being exists in some possible world; if a maximally great being exists in every possible world, then it exists in the actual world; therefore, a maximally great being exists; therefore, God exist. Sixth, the Resurrection of Jesus Christ: He gives three facts for Christ resurrection, then gives a hypothesis. If Christ rose from the dead, God raised him from the dead; therefore, since Christ is risen, God exist. Seventh, The Immediate Experience of God: Beliefs that are grounded do not need argument; the Scriptures are appropriately grounded; therefore, it is rational to believe that God exist.

Evaluation

In this lecture Dr. Craig did a good job of summarizing seven apologetic arguments for the existence of God. The explanations that he gave were not simple but brief and to the point. This lecture was given mostly to undergraduate students in a classroom setting. I was able to understand the premises for each argument in the way that he presented them in this lecture; therefore, I believe that the lecture was a good one because the students should have been able to understand them.

The lecture left me wondering if the arguments had an effect on the student’s worldview, specifically on their view of a Supreme being responsible for all that exist. One of the worries that I have had when focusing on natural theology was addressed by Dr. Craig in this lecture. I do believe that there is validity in arguing from natural theology for the existence of God, but I also believe that it is incomplete without personal experience. Therefore, I really appreciate Dr. Craig’s final argument which is not an argument for God’s existence at all but a claim that people know God apart from arguments. To that regard I would like to point out that though natural theology might cause one to know that there is a God; it is solely through special revelation found in Scripture alone, confirmed in our hearts and minds by the Holy Spirit that lead us to truly know the person of God.