THE ZACHARIAS TRUST MAGA ZINE
The atheist who didn’t exist (the terrible consequences of bad arguments)
Witnessing to those in power Big questions: Tawhid or Trinity? The nature of God in Islam and Christianity Expanding the team: new OCCA Fellows www.rzim.eu
ISSUE 20 | SUMMER 2015
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HELPING THE THINKER BELIEVE AND THE BELIEVER THINK The Zacharias Trust is a UK charity that seeks to engage hearts and minds for Christ. RAVI ZACHARIAS
our team includes:
FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT OF RZIM
AMY ORR-EWING REGIONAL DIRECTOR, EMEA AND CURRICULUM DIRECTOR, OCCA
MICHAEL RAMSDEN ALISTER MCGRATH
INTERNATIONAL DIRECTOR, RZIM
PRESIDENT, OCCA
VINCE VITALE JOHN LENNOX OS GUINNESS
SENIOR TUTOR, OCCA AND RZIM ITINERANT SPEAKER
SENIOR FELLOW, OCCA
ADJUNCT PROFESSOR, OCCA
SHARON DIRCKX
TOM PRICE
TUTOR, OCCA AND RZIM ITINERANT SPEAKER
TUTOR, OCCA AND RZIM ITINERANT SPEAKER
JO VITALE
BECKY PIPPERT
TUTOR , OCCA
ASSOCIATE EVANGELIST
RZIM ITINERANT SPEAKER
TANYA WALKER
VLAD CRIZNIC
MAHLATSE WINSTON MASHUA
RZIM ITINERANT SPEAKER
DIRECTOR, RZIM ROMANIA
DIRECTOR, RZIM SOUTH AFRICA
ANDY WICKHAM
KOSTA MILKOV
DIRECTOR, RZIM SPAIN
DIRECTOR, RZIM MACEDONIA
KEITH SMALL TUTOR , OCCA
SIMON EDWARDS
CHRISTIAN HOFREITER DIRECTOR, RZIM GERMANY, AUSTRIA AND SWITZERLAND
PRINTER | VERITÉ CM LTD DESIGN AND ILLUSTRATION | KAREN SAWREY The Zacharias Trust is the working name of RZIM Zacharias Trust, a charitable company founded in 1997 that is limited by guarantee and registered in England. Company No. 3449676. Charity No. 1067314
The Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics (OCCA) is a partnership between RZIM and Wycliffe Hall, a Permanent Private Hall of the University of Oxford.
The Zacharias Trust, 76 Banbury Road, Oxford, OX2 6JT
SUMMER 2015 | PULSE ISSUE 20
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WELCOME TO THE TWENTIETH EDITION OF
pulse magazine IN THIS ISSUE: KNOWLEDGE AND THE GROWTH OF FAITH How do Christians go from knowing about God to actually knowing him in such a way that their hearts and imaginations are fully captivated by the gospel message? On page 4, Alister McGrath shares about how reading Philippians 3 was pivotal not only for the growth of his faith, but in causing him to reimagine his vision for the church.
THE ATHEIST WHO DIDN’T EXIST AND FOOL’S TALK We are excited to announce the imminent release of two important apologetics books which will be launched at a joint event in July (see page 9). The first is Andy Bannister’s The Atheist Who Didn’t Exist, which takes a humorous and informative look at the major apologetics debates of today. You can get a flavour of the book on page 10, as we have an excerpt from his opening chapter, which sets the scene by focusing on the phenomenon of ‘atheist buses’. The second is Fool’s Talk, Os Guinness’ magnum opus, which examines the art of Christian persuasion. The book draws extensively from his own life-long experience of witnessing in a post-Christian context. These titles follow on from the recent success of John Lennox’s Against the Flow, which was released in March (see page 8).
EXPANDING THE TEAM: NEW OCCA FELLOWS Two years after the successful launch of the OCCA Fellows programme, we are pleased to announce that further speakers have now been added to the team in Australia and the Middle East. You can read more about them and their ministry on page 14.
GLITTER AND GLUE AND BASEBALL HATS, TOO: OCCA MISSIONS The OCCA has recently helped out with a number of university missions around the UK. On page 15, Caroline Trevor describes some of the highlights, as well as what it was like being part of the support team.
WITNESSING TO THOSE IN POWER It is one thing preaching to the marginalised or helping the impoverished, but how do you reach those who occupy the corridors of power? On page 17, Stephen Lam, former Chief Secretary of the Hong Kong government, explores this question, using his own experience of standing up for Christianity amongst those wielding great political influence.
BIG QUESTIONS: TAWHID OR TRINITY? THE NATURE OF GOD IN ISLAM AND CHRISTIANITY Many people have a basic understanding of the differences between Islam and Christianity, but what do the respective religions believe about the very nature of God? This was the topic of discussion in a recent debate between leading Muslim apologist and Imam, Dr Shabir Ally, and RZIM speaker and former Muslim, Dr Nabeel Qureshi. On page 22, Simon Wenham summarises the key exchanges that occurred, and how these relate not only to the nature of God, but also the scriptural authority upon which each religion is grounded.
Simon Wenham
CONTENTS KNOWLEDGE AND THE GROWTH OF FAITH NEWS AND EVENTS BOOK LAUNCH
4 8 9
THE ATHEIST WHO DIDN’T EXIST
10
EXPANDING THE TEAM: NEW OCCA FELLOWS
14
GLITTER AND GLUE AND BASEBALL HATS, TOO
15
WITNESSING TO THOSE IN POWER
17
RZIM RECOMMENDS – WEBSITES
21
TAWHID OR TRINITY? THE NATURE OF GOD IN ISLAM AND CHRISTIANITY
22 DATES FOR YOUR DIARY 27
RESEARCH CO-ORDINATOR
SUMMER2015 | PULSE ISSUE 20
BY A LISTER MCGR ATH
On a beautiful May morning in 1973, my Christian life took a decisive turn.
I DON’T THINK THE WORD TRANSVALUATION WAS IN MY VOCABULARY AT THA
BUT THAT WAS WHAT PAUL WAS PROPOSING – A RADICAL REVISION OF MY UN SUMMER 2015 | PULSE ISSUE 20
AT TIME,
I had converted to Christianity eighteen months before, in the autumn of 1971. I had been an aggressive atheist, utterly convinced of the godless worldview. Yet in my first term at Oxford University, I came to realize that Christianity was intellectually superior to my earlier atheism. Christianity simply made sense of life in a way that atheism did not.
Yet a year or so into my Christian life, all was not well. I tended to think of faith as a set of ideas only. Sure, I loved God with all my mind. But what about my heart? And my imagination? I sensed I was standing on the threshold of something enormously rich and satisfying, but I saw it only from a distance, uncertain of whether I could ever grasp it. Like Moses on Mount Nebo, I was glimpsing something that seemed beyond my reach. I knew I had to break free from the cold rationalism of my early faith. But how?
That was why I set out early on that day, cycling to Wytham Woods, a few miles from Oxford City Centre. I found a place to sit on a hillock from which I could see Oxford’s famous ‘dreaming spires’. Having asked God to help me sort myself out, I opened my Bible and began to read Paul’s letter to the Philippians. One of my friends had told me how it had helped him in his faith to read the book in one sitting. I decided I would do the same out in the countryside, where there were no distractions.
That day I discovered two themes that have transformed my life as a Christian. Both came to me when I was reading Philippians 3, savouring every phrase, trying to identify and digest every nugget of wisdom.
WINGS OF FAITH The first breakthrough came as I contemplated Paul’s declaration, ‘I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord’ (v. 8, ESV used throughout). As I read and reread those words, I began to realize the true nature of my problem: my faith had affected my mind but left the rest of me untouched. Up to that point, I had thought of spiritual growth in terms of accumulating knowledge. And so I had read biblical
NDERSTANDING OF WHAT MATTERED IN LIFE.
commentaries and books on systematic theology. But that hadn’t deepened the quality of my faith. I was like someone who had read books about France but had never visited. Or someone who had read about falling in love but had never experienced it.
Everything in the opening section contributed to my transformed vision of the Christian faith. Yet that single verse seemed to sum up everything so well.
Its context is significant. Paul explains how his personal journey qualified him as a distinguished Jew: ‘If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more’ (v. 4). Paul was not being ironic. He was listing his many achievements before delivering the point: These achievements pale in comparison to the wonder, joy, and privilege of knowing Christ. ‘Whatever gain I had,’ he said, ‘I counted as loss for the sake of Christ’ (v. 7). In the light of Christ, we see things as they really are. What we thought was gold crumbles to dust.
Paul explained that his achievements might actually get in the way of what really matters: knowing Christ. Good things can be a barrier to what is best. I don’t think the word transvaluation was in my vocabulary at that time, but that was what Paul was proposing – a radical revision of my understanding of what mattered in life.
Paul’s words forced me to reconsider my value system. He made it clear that what mattered was not what I achieved, but what Christ achieved within and through me. Our status is given through faith in Christ, not obtained through the works of the law. Paul knew that knowing Christ overshadowed and overwhelmed anything and everything he had previously known and valued.
Could I say that? Did knowing Christ trump everything else I loved and valued? Or was Jesus just one interest among many?
What spoke most powerfully to me that morning was Paul’s distinction between knowing about Jesus Christ and knowing Jesus Christ. Many
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ALISTER MCGRATH
readers, no doubt, will feel this is blindingly obvious. But everyone has to discover it sometime, and that day I grasped the importance of ‘spirituality’ for nourishing my relationship with God. And the great ‘Christ hymn’ (Phil. 2:5–11) helped me see my need to focus on Jesus’ life and death, and not approach him through a depersonalizing framework of abstract ideas. As a result, hymns like Isaac Watts’s ‘When I Survey the Wondrous Cross’ – which I had seen as sentimental emotionalism – took on new meaning, as I was able to share and enter into the experience of adoring Christ.
Paul’s words ‘I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own’ (3:12) gave me a framework for growing in my faith. The idea linked together my own responsibility to try to do my best, however limited, and God graciously supplementing my weaknesses and inadequacies. It was because Christ had taken hold of me that I was enabled and encouraged to take hold of him and let him lead me onward and upward through life. Previously, I had tended to see my faith as something I needed to sustain; now I realized it could sustain me.
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I began to think of my faith as being grasped and held by Christ, and adjusted every aspect of my life accordingly – my mind, heart, imagination, and hands. I made a connection – perhaps a naive one, but one that spoke deeply to me – with the powerful image of Christ knocking on the door of the church at Laodicea, asking to be welcomed (Rev. 3:20). When I became a Christian, I had invited Christ into my mind, but that was where it had stopped. I realized that I had to allow every ‘room’ of my life to be filled with the life-giving and life-changing presence of Christ.
Of course, I never lost sight of rationally defending the faith. As an atheist who had discovered Christianity, I naturally saw myself as an apologist – someone who was willing and able to rise to the challenges to faith presented by the culture. Yet I progressed in my understanding of what it meant to have faith in Christ. I began to read C. S. Lewis in 1974, and found in him someone who reaffirmed the rationality of faith while showing its rich imaginative dimensions. I also began to read Thomas à Kempis’s classic Imitation of Christ, embracing its challenge to model my life around the crucified Christ. I had previously seen
the sermon as the heart of a church service; I began to realize how worship nourished and enriched my faith. No longer did I have to actively work at my faith. It was as if it developed a life and strength of its own, supporting me. The phrase ‘wings of faith’ suddenly became meaningful.
WHY THE CHURCH? Yet my reading of Philippians helped me answer another question that had troubled me: What is the point of church? The Oxford congregations I had attended provided rather meager fare – sermons that focused on encouraging us to read our Bibles and trust God. As a result, I thought I could get more from reading books or talking to friends than from attending church. I was unaware of the vitality of Christian community. I had not read Cyprian of Carthage’s famous maxim: ‘He can no longer have God for his Father who has not the church for his mother.’ If I had, it would have baffled me. The church, in my view, played merely an educational and social role.
So I was struck by Paul’s words in Philippians 3:20: ‘our citizenship is
AS I GREW IN FAITH, I READ WORKS SUCH AS DIETRICH BONHOEFFER’S LIFE TOGETHER, WHICH HELPED ME DEVELOP A RICHER AND FULLER VISION OF CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY.
in heaven.’ When I had attended a lecture at Oxford on the Roman colonial system, I had failed to connect it to this passage, which uses the Greek term politeuma, translated here as ‘citizenship.’ A jumble of thoughts surged through my mind as I began to connect the dots.
The church is an outpost of heaven on earth, what Romans termed a colonia – not to be confused with the English word colony. Philippi was itself a Roman colonia at the time, an outpost of Rome in the distant province of Macedonia. Paul’s readers would have easily related to this imagery. Roman citizens residing in Philippi had the right to return home to the metropolis after serving in the colony. For Paul, one benefit of knowing Christ was being a citizen of heaven. Christians live on earth now, where there is much to accomplish for God’s kingdom. But we are citizens of heaven, and that’s our real home.
The church is a community of believers, an outpost of heaven on earth, a place in which a ‘spirit of grace’ (Zech. 12:10) dwells. Just as the Romans at Philippi spoke the language and kept the laws of Rome, so we observe the customs and values of heaven. As Christians, we live in two worlds and must learn to navigate
both while ultimately being faithful to our homeland.
This helped me to finally make sense of Christian community. I began to see the church as a place that helps Christians straddle the two worlds of faith – where we are now and where we shall finally be. It’s like an oasis in a desert, equipping us to work and serve in the world while fostering and safeguarding our distinctiveness as Christians.
I began to realize that the church was an imperfect yet important anticipation of heaven, whose worship and ethos were integral to my faith. The church was a community gathered around the public reading of God’s Word, its interpretation and application through preaching, and its enactment in worship and prayer.
Many readers will rightly note that this – my early thoughts, I remind you – fails to do justice to the full nature of the church. But that’s not the point. As I grew in faith, I read works such as Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Life Together, which helped me develop a richer and fuller vision of Christian community. But reading Philippians triggered a series of thoughts that helped me solve a serious problem I
was facing. However imperfect and inadequate those thoughts of May 1973 may have been, they set me on the road to ordination in the Church of England, so that I might minister within the kind of community I had once considered irrelevant. Although my primary responsibility is teaching at the University of Oxford, I take great pleasure in ministering to village congregations in the Cotswolds, near my home.
Perhaps the most important lesson from my early morning reflections 40-some years ago was how the Bible can speak to us in times of need, transition, and discernment. I was at a crossroads. Like so many others before me, I found that coming to the Bible with real, honest questions – and a willingness to be changed – opened up new possibilities of growth. I know I won’t be the last to make that discovery.
Alister McGrath Andreas Idreos Professor of Science and Religion at Oxford University and President of the Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics. (This article was previously printed in Christianity Today (January/February 2015, vol. 59, No. 1, page 56) and has been reproduced by permission)
SUMMER 2015 | PULSE ISSUE 20
NEWS & EVENTS Over a hundred people recently attended an event at St Hilda’s College in Oxford to mark the launch of John Lennox’s eagerly anticipated new book, Against the Flow: The Inspiration of Daniel in an Age of Relativism. During the evening, Andrew Hodder-Williams, Publishing Director of Lion Hudson, revealed that the book was already on its second print run, before the official release date had even been reached. He suggested that its popularity stemmed from Against the Flow’s potent combination of historical exposition and ‘a profound reading of Daniel’s experience and its engagement with apologetics for today’s world’. Such has been the continuing demand for the book that only a fortnight later the company had to sanction a third print run. Against the Flow explores the life of Daniel and how he managed to maintain a high-profile witness to God in a pluralistic society that was antagonistic to his faith. His story provides a powerful example for us today, as it shows how he had the strength and conviction to stand up for his belief, whilst under immense pressure. Against the Flow is published by Monarch (a division of Lion Hudson) and is available from all major suppliers (priced at £12.99).
Taking Light Darkness
INTO THE
A N A D D R E S S B Y P R O F. J O H N L E N N O X
JOHN LENNOX WILL BE SPEAKING AT A SPECIAL EVENT IN THE SHELDONIAN THEATRE IN OXFORD ON 5 JULY. TICKETS ARE FREE, BUT REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED. FURTHER DETAILS CAN BE FOUND HERE: BIT.LY/LENNOXLIGHT
Zacharias Trust Training Weekends The next Zacharias Trust Training Weekend will be held in Oxford on the weekend of 9-11 October. This popular 3-part course is designed to help equip Christians to engage with life’s difficult questions and to communicate their faith more effectively to others. IF YOU WOULD LIKE FURTHER INFORMATION ABOUT IT (OR FUTURE WEEKENDS), SEE: WWW.RZIM.EU/WHAT-WE-DO-2/TRAINING-WEEKENDS
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OUR 2015 ‘REBOOT’ YOUTH APOLOGETIC S DAY WILL BE HELD IN LONDON ON 26 SEP TEMBER. S E E T H E B AC K CO V E R F O R FU R T H E R I N F O R M AT I O N A B O U T T H E E V E N T.
OTHER EVENTS
Our team will also be speaking at many events over the coming months. For a list of some of the main engagements, see page 27.
DOUBLE BOOK LAUNCH
On 7 July, the Zacharias Trust will be hosting a joint book launch in Oxford to mark the release of Andy Bannister’s The Atheist Who Didn’t Exist and Os Guinness’ Fool’s Talk. During the event, both authors will share their thoughts about communicating the gospel message to others in society today. A LIMITED NUMBER OF (FREE) TICKETS ARE AVAILABLE SEE WWW.EVENTBRITE.CO.UK/E/OS-GUINNESS-ANDY-BANNISTER-TICKETS-8068281447 OR SEARCH ONLINE FOR “AN EVENING WITH OS GUINNESS AND ANDY BANNISTER”.
Pulse has been granted permission to reproduce some of The Atheist Who Didn’t Exist (part of the first chapter), and this can be read overleaf. SUMMER 2015 | PULSE ISSUE 20
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I remember the first time that I saw the bus. An old friend of mine had telephoned me out of the blue a few days before, and in a conspiratorial whisper had hissed: ‘You need to get down to London. There are atheist buses here.’ ‘Atheist buses?’ I replied, bleary eyed. It was long past midnight. ‘How much have you drunk, Tom?’ ‘Only four pints,’ Tom indignantly replied. ‘Well, I’ve always personally thought that the slightly devil-may-care attitude to road safety of many London bus drivers tends to bring people closer to God, rather than drive them away.’ ‘This bus didn’t try to drive me away, it tried to drive over me. Admittedly I
‘You’re sure about this?’ ‘Yes! Now come down to London and see!’ And so it was that I found myself, a few weeks later on a rainy July afternoon, standing among a crowd of damp tourists outside Oxford Circus tube station. We watched the traffic as cars, taxis, lorries, and the occasional sodden cyclist trundled past. And, then, at last, a bus rounded the corner. A big, red London bus sporting a huge advertisement on the side which announced in large, friendly letters: ‘There’s Probably No God. Now Stop Worrying and Enjoy Your Life’. Later, back in the comfort of a nearby pub, I did a little research.2 It turned out that the bus advertisements had been sponsored by The British Humanist Association along with a
infestation of Japanese knotweed into popular culture. For whilst many critics (including many atheist critics) were quick to point out the flaws with ‘There’s Probably No God, Now Stop Worrying and Enjoy Your Life’, nevertheless it has continued to pop up on the sides of buses not just in London but also around the world. The bus advertisement typifies what’s come to be termed the ‘New Atheism’, a phrase coined to describe the group of media savvy atheists – men like Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Daniel Dennett and Christopher Hitchens – whose books attacking religion in general and Christianity in particular have sold by the truckload. What’s new about the ‘New Atheism’? As many have pointed out, not so much its arguments, which tend to be old ones, but its tone – which is one of apoplectic anger. Why the anger?
THE ATHEIST BUS IS A GOOD PLACE TO BEGIN OUR JOURNEY BECAUSE IT ILLUSTRATES TWO REASONS WHY THIS BOOK EXISTS. was lying semi-comatose in the road at the time—’ ‘I knew it!’ ‘—at Hammersmith and the atheist bus almost ran me over.’ ‘You do realise,’ I explained, in the patient tone I reserve for small children and airline check-in agents, ‘that just because a London bus almost flattens a liberal Anglican lying on a zebra crossing, that doesn’t necessarily mean that Richard Dawkins is resorting to hit-and-run attempts to keep the religious affiliation statistics favourable.’ ‘I’m used to being nearly run over, I’ve holidayed in France many times,’1 snapped Tom. ‘But this was an atheist bus I tell you.’
1 2
group of secular celebrities, including the well-known Oxford atheist Richard Dawkins, and represented, in their words, an attempt to provide a ‘peaceful and upbeat’ message about atheism. The advertisements promoted a website where those who browsed could while away their journey on the number 137 bus to Battersea reading about the joys of life without a belief in God. The atheist bus is a good place to begin our journey because it illustrates two reasons why this book exists. First, because the slogan, despite its friendly pink letters, is a perfect example of a really bad argument. An argument so bad, so disastrous in fact that one has to wonder what its sponsors were thinking. More on that in a moment. But second, it illustrates how quickly bad arguments can disseminate, spreading like an
Well, I suspect partly because God was supposed to have disappeared a long time ago as the Great Secular Enlightenment trundled inexorably onward. The failure of God to roll over and die on cue has led to the denial, disappointment and anger that can be seen underpinning much of today’s more popular forms of atheism. And my word, has the New Atheism become a popular movement. Richard Dawkins’ book, The God Delusion, alone has sold several million copies. In many Western countries, atheism is now seen as the default position, with many people assuming that atheism is, indeed, the only position for somebody who wishes to be considered educated, sophisticated, urbane and rational. This is precisely the way the media often plays the issue too – atheism is portrayed as scientific, contemporary and for
It has been remarked that you can tell which European city you are in by how the motorists treat pedestrians. In London, motorists generally stop for you. In Rome, they weave around you at disconcertingly high speeds. In Paris, they change direction, accelerate and aim at you, seeing it as some kind of competitive sport. A writer’s euphemism for ‘I looked it up on Google’. SUMMER 2015 | PULSE ISSUE 20
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those with brains, whilst religion is characterised as stuff y, outmoded and irrational, something for old ladies or fuddy-duddies.3 But there’s a problem. Well, several problems. Chief among them is this: that much of contemporary atheism thrives on poor arguments and cheap sound bites, advancing claims that simply don’t stand up to scrutiny. Like a cheaply made cardigan, they’re full of loose threads that if tugged firmly, quickly begin to unravel. Let me demonstrate what I mean by returning to that notorious bus advertisement: ‘There’s Probably No God. Now Stop Worrying and Enjoy Your Life’. Let’s ask a few critical questions about that claim: what’s wrong with it? Well, one might begin by noting the preachy, condescending, and hectoring tone. I’ve known many atheists over the years whose chief beef with religion has been that they can’t escape it. If it’s not televangelists with perfect teeth, it’s church billboards with dodgy graphic design or giant advertising hoardings warning of hellfire and damnation. ‘You religious types insist on preaching at us,’ is the complaint. Well, now the boot is very much on the other foot and the New Atheism is zealously evangelistic, not merely content with denying deities but offering health benefits at the same time (No worries! Enjoyment! Good hair!). But there’s a deeper problem, too. For atheists like Richard Dawkins, God does not exist, right? That after, all, is what the very term ‘a-theist’ means. Of course, there’s a myriad of other things that don’t exist: fairies, unicorns, the Flying Spaghetti Monster, successful England soccer squads, or the Loch Ness Monster. But here’s my question: what’s the connection between the non-existence of something and any effect, emotional or otherwise? There probably are not any unicorns, so cheer up. The Flying Spaghetti Monster is just a secular parody, so take heart. There’s no God, so quit worrying. How, precisely, does that work? Somebody once remarked 3 4
ANDY BANNISTER
THE NEW ATHEISM IS ZEALOUSLY EVANGELISTIC, NOT MERELY CONTENT WITH DENYING DEITIES BUT OFFERING HEALTH BENEFITS AT THE SAME TIME that a nonsensical statement doesn’t become coherent simply because you insert the term ‘God’ into it, so let’s illustrate the problem by rewording the atheist bus slogan for a moment:
There’s Probably No Loch Ness Monster. So Stop Worrying and Enjoy Your Life. Imagine, for a moment, that you’re down on your luck. Life has dealt you a series of terrible hands and nothing seems to be going your way. You’ve recently lost your job. Your wife has just left you and taken the kids with her.4 This very morning, a letter from your bank has arrived declaring you bankrupt. The doctor’s surgery has just rung to inform you that those worrying headaches are actually Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Oh, and you’re a Bradford City FC fan. Life is really sucky. However, have no fear. Put all that aside. Fret no more. For there is hope. There is an end to all worries. ‘There is?’ I hear you cry, wiping back the tears. Yes, there is. Because (are you ready for this?) the Loch Ness Monster doesn’t exist. Never
It also used to be the case that religious believers were associated with poor fashion sense, but several of the New Atheists have taken admirable steps toward redressing the balance in that regard. If you’re a parent of teenagers, feel free to reword this to ‘left the kids with you’.
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mind the fact that you may be jobless, loveless, penniless and hopeless, doesn’t it warm the cockles of your heart to know that holidaymakers in Scotland can munch their sandwiches by Urquhart Castle and paddle their feet in Loch Ness, safe in the certain knowledge that no monster from the Jurassic will lunge from the deep and drag them off to a watery grave. So, are you feeling better now? No, probably not. So the first half of the claim – no God, no worry – fails spectacularly. The second half doesn’t fare much better either: ‘Enjoy your life’. What could be wrong with that, unless you’re one of those masochistic religious types who prefer guilt to glee? Well, Francis Spufford nails this one perfectly:
I’m sorry – enjoy your life? Enjoy your life? I’m not making some kind of neo-puritan objection to enjoyment. Enjoyment is lovely. Enjoyment is great. The more enjoyment the better. But enjoyment is one emotion. The only things in the world that
are designed to elicit enjoyment and only enjoyment are products, and your life is not a product… To say that life is to be enjoyed (just enjoyed) is like saying that mountains should have only summits, or that all colours should be purple, or that all plays should be by Shakespeare. This really is a bizarre category error.5 In other words, there is considerably more to life than just enjoyment. Indeed, the full gamut of human emotions spans the alphabet. To be fully, authentically human is to have experienced anger, boredom, compassion, delight, expectation, fear, guilt, hope, insecurity, joy, kindness, love, malice, nonchalance, obligation, peace, queasiness, relief, sensuality, thankfulness, uneasiness, vulnerability, wistfulness, yearning and zealousness.6 Given all this, why does the atheist bus advertisement zero in on ‘enjoyment’? Now obviously I’m not privy to the interior mental state of those who penned the slogan, but I do wonder if it’s a symptom of a more general trend in our culture. One that says that the purpose of human life is to simply to be happy, to flit merrily from one experience to another in an effervescence of ecstatic enjoyment. Product after product is sold to us this way – buy this coffee, take that holiday, wear this shade of lip gloss – and you’ll be successful, popular and joyful. The atheist bus is simply riding the cultural wave – think like this, it says, and you’ll be happy. But what if you’re not happy? What if you’re like my earlier example – jobless, friendless, penniless and hopeless. What if you’re at a point in your life where all is not smelling of roses, but rather suspiciously like a sewage farm on a hot afternoon? Indeed, half the world’s population lives on less than $2.50 a day and that amount is not going to keep you in lattes, lipstick or trips to Lanzarote, which means that if the advertisers are correct about where enjoyment is located, you’re in trouble, so you’d 5 6 7
better pull yourself together. I stress you, second person singular, had better pull yourself together, because if the atheist bus slogan is right and there is no God, there’s nobody out there who is ultimately going to help with any pulling. You’re alone in a universe that cares as little about you (and your enjoyment) as it does about the fate of the amoeba, the ant, or the aardvark. There’s no hope, there’s no justice, and there’s certainly nothing inherently wrong with poverty, incidentally, so quit protesting. Life favours the winners, some get the breaks, and others get the sticky end of the stick. Still others get to make millions selling books on atheism, enough for a lifetime of lattes. Enjoy your life? Nice work if you can get it. The atheist bus advertisement illustrates the danger not just of poor arguments, but especially of argument by sound bite. It’s easy to lazily sloganize, to try to reduce complex arguments to something that fits on the side of a bus or sounds good on Twitter, but in so doing you usually miss nuance and depth. In fact, it’s worse than that: the temptation to sloganize can result in arguments that are not merely wrong but are utterly bizarre and have some terrible consequences when you turn them around. And so the aim of The Atheist Who Didn’t Exist is simple: to clear away some of the weeds of bad arguments so that a more sensible dialogue can be had. Because here’s the thing: the ‘God Question’ is arguably the most important question that anybody can think about. Whether or not God exists is not a mere intellectual curiosity, up there with ‘What’s the ten trillionth digit of PI?’ or ‘Did Newton invent the cat flap?’, but a question that has implications for every area of our lives, not least because it is directly tied to the question of meaning: is there something that we are meant to be, or is a life spent playing computer games and eating pizza as valid as that spent fighting poverty or serving the cause of justice?
At the beginning of The God Delusion, Richard Dawkins is very honest about the chief aim of his own book:
If this book works as intended, religious readers who open it will be atheists when they put it down. What presumptuous optimism! Of course, dyed-in-the-wool faith-heads are immune to argument, their resistance built up over years of childhood indoctrination using methods that took centuries to mature.7 That’s a slightly sneaky paragraph: if you read Dawkins’ book and don’t become an atheist, it’s not that the arguments were as suspect as a $50 Rolex from Tooting Market but because you’re an ignorant brainwashed cretin, your head so full of woolly thinking that there’s no room for the fresh winds of ReasonTM to waft through. My aims for this book are a little more modest (and, I trust, a little more optimistic) than those of Dawkins. That an atheist who reads it may be encouraged to at least commit to being a thought-through atheist: perhaps a doubter, rather than a sceptic, somebody who is willing to think deeply and think well. (It has been remarked that the difference between a doubter and a sceptic is that a doubter is somebody who hopes there might be an answer; a sceptic hopes that there isn’t). Perhaps we can all start by agreeing that when it comes to the big questions of life, we need more than sound bites.
Andy Bannister CANADIAN DIRECTOR AND LEAD APOLOGIST FOR RZIM CANADA This excerpt of the book was reproduced by permission of Monarch (the publisher).
Andy Bannister is the Canadian Director and Lead Apologist for RZIM Canada. He speaks throughout Canada and North America, as well as further afield. Andy is also a visiting lecturer for the Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics, London School of Theology and Wycliffe Hall, Oxford. Andy has a BA (Hons) in Theology and a PhD in Islamic Studies from London School of Theology (Brunel University) where he taught as a visiting lecturer for several years before joining the RZIM team.
Francis Suppord, Unapologetic: Why, Despite Everything, Christianity Can Still Make Surprising Emotional Sense (London: Faber & Faber, 2013) 8. I tried hard to find a feeling beginning with ‘x’, I really did, but the best I could come up with was ‘xenophobic’. It staggers me there aren’t more emotions beginning with ‘x’. I blame the French, that usually works. Richard Dawkins,The God Delusion (London: Transworld, 2006) 28. SUMMER 2015 | PULSE ISSUE 20
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EXPANDING the TEAM: NEW OCCA FELLOWS In the last year, three new OCCA Fellows have joined the team allowing us to broaden the ministry’s reach in the Middle East and Australia. The OCCA Fellows programme began less than two years ago in the United States (in Boston, MA, followed shortly by a presence in Washington DC), with four OCCA alumni courageously stepping out to pursue their calling in evangelism. The Fellows are given the resources required for two years to engage in full-time ministry in strategic areas, whilst they continue to receive mentorship from the team here in Oxford, in addition to being linked with mentors in their region. Now, with the programme thriving, we’re proud to introduce our three newest OCCA Fellows: Wassim and Kais in the Middle East, and Daniel Paterson in Australia. ‘Seeing people’s faces after they have found out that God loves them and wants to be in a relationship with them is always worth the time and effort we can give,’ writes Wassim who has been working as an OCCA Fellow in Egypt since October 2014. The team in the Middle East are speaking upwards of five times a week, to try and keep up with the invitations which are flooding in. Christian apologists are a rare find in the Middle East, and the OCCA Fellows have seen that the lack of training for Christians in these regions has contributed to a culture of confusion and doubt within the church. The work the Fellows are doing is going a long way to connect with people’s questions about faith, bringing back
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clarity and restoring a backbone to the Christian message. A few months ago, Kais, based in Jordan, gave a talk on ‘How God became man’, a topic much resisted in that Muslim majority country. Throughout the talk one unbelieving man, clearly frustrated by the oneway communication, kept trying to interrupt Kais, insisting they had a debate there and then. Being reassured there would be ample time for questions and discussion afterwards, and after a bit of peer pressure from the audience, the man reluctantly sat back and listened. After the talk, the discussion ran until 1.00am, with this man and about ten others asking pointed questions of faith. As Kais shook the man’s hand goodbye, the sceptic said, ‘I like you, you didn’t get angry’, and then added ‘and by the way I keep having dreams about Jesus.’ Kais instantly knew God was on his case, ‘I was stunned! Shivers went down my spine when I realized that the Lord was after him long before we met’, Kais wrote. ‘I would have never expected it, not from that guy at least. It was a warm surprise, to come into the reality of that greater plan’. Kais encouraged the man to keep asking questions, hopeful he would find his Maker. ‘I realized at that point, I was merely an additional voice calling this
man to turn to truth. Given my finitude and the millions I simply cannot reach, it was most exhilarating when evidence pointed to the fact that I am only one piece of the puzzle and that someone far mightier than me is taking care of the full picture. Please pray for him, as his journey might be long, hard and undoubtedly costly.’ Whilst Kais and Wassim continue their work in the Middle East, Daniel Paterson, a graduate from the OCCA in 2013, has spent the last three months as an OCCA Fellow, launching the work of RZIM in Australia. Alongside his part-time job as pastor at a church in Brisbane, Dan has been speaking evangelistically in high schools, universities and churches in the Brisbane area, as well as on the Sunshine and the Gold Coasts. Recently, Dan visited a prestigious boys’ private school in Brisbane’s inner city to address the top years (16-18 year olds), on matters of truth, worldviews and epistemology. Through a packed room, Dan could make out one of the lads wearing a prefect badge on his chest who was visibly sceptical before the talk even began. By the end of the talk the boy’s body language had changed. He approached Dan afterwards with question after question on the Bible, science, hell and salvation through Christ. ‘As each straw man argument fell, his heart opened wider to the gospel’s call,’ says Dan. Through having
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GLITTER & GLUE
and baseball hats, too.
op opportunity to ask his honest q questions, the holes in his a atheism had started to form, a he had been moved and to position where he could examine Christ properly for the first time. ‘It warms the heart to see apathy and scepticism give way to engagem engagement, excitement, questions, and even saving faith’, says Dan. an
DANIEL PATE
RSON
ILLUSTRATIONS BY KARENSAWREY.COM
One of the major challenges that the ministry faces each time it launches into new areas is the initial lack of ‘team’ the individuals have on the ground, a network of support which is experienced so richly in the OCCA community and in our long established offices. ‘The challenge of launching RZIM in Australia is the ‘lone wolf’ feeling of itinerant ministry,’ Dan says. ‘On this point, the international community of RZIM speakers and staff are a huge encouragement, championing through prayer and counsel the work I am doing here on the ground. Australia is a BIG island and the team serves as a constant reminder that in the Lord, we are never alone.’ Please do join us in praying for and championing our new OCCA Fellows. Pray that God would continue to go before them as they work for the gospel in these strategic areas.
Helen Sherwin OCCA CURRICULUM CO-ORDINATOR
In February, the students and staff of the OCCA travelled around the UK to help with university missions in Aberdeen, Cardiff, Bournemouth, Canterbury and Brighton. Caroline Trevor, Missions Coordination Team Leader, describes what it was like being involved and how the OCCA’s giant, red, glittery question marks both complicated and cheered the missions experience. ‘It was all worth it, Caroline.’
‘It was all totally worth it,’ she repeated as a glimmer of a giggle crept into her voice: ‘A girl became a Christian because of those question marks.’
Aberdeen #nofilter week, and had the chance to journey from anonymous passer-by to moment-seizing decisionmaker. On the last night, when Christian Hofreiter spoke on finding someone worth following, the girl chose to follow Jesus with her life. And it all – or at least the journey we saw – began with a massive, glittery question mark stationed outside the zebrapanelled glass of the university library.
Emily carried on, telling me about a girl at the University of Aberdeen who stopped because of the giant, glittery question mark. Because the girl stopped, she accepted a flyer. Because she accepted a flyer, she attended a lunchbar. Because she attended a lunchbar, she attended another lunchbar. She returned again and again, and because she returned again and again, and chatted with our OCCA students throughout the week, she engaged with the challenging questions of truth and science and suffering that characterised the
It’s no secret around the OCCA office that I have a complicated relationship with our question marks. I’m not sure if it’s the glitter or the colour or the height that jolts a passer-by from his or her reverie, helps start conversations, and moves along joy-filled stories like the girl in Aberdeen. I do, however, know that it’s the glitter and the colour and the height that makes the process of getting the question marks from point A to point B something of a challenge. When you’re neck deep in hire-van quotes, trying to coordinate pick-ups and drop-offs of massive
Emily, one of this year’s OCCA students, leaned back from the paperwork she was completing and looked at me, her face serious, her tone solemn.
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Like the Yankees guys. At the end of the second-to-last night of the mission at the University of Sussex, Vince Vitale was on his way to the exit and a wellearned, much-needed overnight nap, when two massive guys in New York Yankees hats came storming into the marquee. Not one to miss a chat about sport, Vince got to bantering with them. All of a sudden, in the midst of the joviality, one of the guys stopped. ‘Hey,’ he said, ‘Pray for me tomorrow. I’ve got a big day.’ He went on to explain that he was appearing in court, and when Vince asked specifically what he wanted prayer for, his answer came straight out of an evangelist’s dream: ‘For freedom.’ He paused. ‘And for forgiveness of my sins, and that I’ll change.’ I could tell you about the epic, six-hour discussion that Carson Weitnauer had with one young man who was eager to wrap his head around all his questions about faith and Christianity. I could tell you about the impromptu science lunchbar that Simon Edwards and Andy Bannister held for the benefit of a number of medics studying in Cardiff. (Sharon Dirckx’s talk was packed out, so rather than letting prospective attendees walk away, the two apologists nipped down the hall, invited the overflow students to join them, and went to town with Q&A). I could tell you about the pub in Bournemouth where a group of professors accepted a student’s invitation to listen in on the talk that was being held there. I could tell you story upon story upon story of lives being changed, of individuals getting answers to their deepest questions, of
PHOTOGRAPHY BY RZIM
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polystyrene bundles, when your favourite jeans are permanently scarred by the gooey black glue that attacked you during your attempt to re-glitter last year’s battered and bruised question marks, and when a trail of red glitter follows you around like Pigpen’s dust cloud, it is possible, in a moment of weakness, to lose perspective, to forget that all of it, every last detail, is worth it. Because peoples’ lives are being changed.
hurting people finding hope. When the OCCA students came back from mission, they were full to bursting with jaw-dropping stories of God’s faithfulness, his provision, and his timing.
These days, missions have finished, life has moved on, and I still have a decidedly complicated relationship with the question marks. I definitely know more now than I ever thought
ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE – EFFEC TIVE EVANGELISM – SPIRITUAL FORMATION
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I would know about the care and keeping of glitter and glue – and baseball hats, too…or at least the hearts of those people wearing baseball hats – but this I also know: those gooey-glue scars on my favourite jeans are a permanent reminder that it’s worth it, every last detail.
Caroline Trevor ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT (OCCA) AND MISSIONS COORDINATION TEAM LEADER
@theocca
www.theocca.org
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WITNESSING TO THOSE IN POWER:
‘I think therefore I am.’ (R ENE DESCARTES)
This statement by Descartes is a classic. It expresses one fundamental feature of human existence. The ability to think, self-reflect and make decisions affirms the reality of our being. The human ability to reason also goes well beyond that of other animals. That is why human society has so many inventions, when the rest of the animal kingdom basically stays put. SUMMER 2015 | PULSE ISSUE 20
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Thought defines our existence, shapes our professional careers, and guides our life paths. So it was very apt that the title ‘Festival of Thought’ was given to a series of events that took place at Canary Wharf, London in late February.
FESTIVAL AT CANARY WHARF Designed for those of all beliefs and none – and for those with intellectual objections and heartfelt concerns about the Christian worldview – the Canary Wharf Festival of Thought was an opportunity for individuals in and around Canary Wharf to actively explore key life questions surrounding origin, meaning, morality and destiny. Various team members from RZIM and OCCA were invited to speak at and participate in lunchtime and evening
At an event on Tuesday night, Amy Orr-Ewing and Tracy Trinita, addressed the topic of being ‘Women of Substance’. This attracted an audience of almost 200 people. Frog Orr-Ewing, Simon Edwards, Sharon Dirckx, Michelle Tepper and Tanya Walker addressed a broad scope of apologetics issues. Michael Ramsden spoke on ‘Why Integrity Matters’ and he related the theme to the real life issues which people in business and the professions would have to face. Christian Hofreiter also spoke on this theme and referred to his experience in the lobbying industry in Washington D.C. I also shared a message on integrity at the Financial Conduct Authority. I referred to instances when I had to return gifts received, because their
PERHAPS THE SUCCESS OF THE CANARY WHARF FESTIVAL OF THOUGHT STEMMED FROM THE HUMAN NEED TO THINK, SELF-REFLECT, events that were hosted by some of the workplace Christian Networks at the Wharf.
values exceeded the limits set by the Hong Kong Government. This illustrates a Biblical principle:
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, supported the launching of the Festival by delivering a message on the Festival’s website (www. festivalofthought.buzz). He welcomed all participants to come and have an exchange of views about the Christian faith. He also expressed appreciation by thanking the guests for giving up their time to do so, for time is one commodity, which cannot be replenished once expended.
‘He who is faithful in very little is faithful also in much.’
The local Anglican Church at Canary Wharf, St. Peter’s Barge, provided invaluable support by offering the Festival of Thought team the use of their premises for meetings, logistical support and organising follow-up meetings for those interested in understanding more about Christianity.
(LUKE 16:10)
IMPACT OF FESTIVAL The Festival had an immediate impact, as a significant number of individuals in and around Canary Wharf actively engaged in conversations surrounding the topics addressed throughout the week. Many made decisions to pursue a deeper understanding of the Christian faith, and the follow-up courses at St Peter’s Barge were welltimed for those wanting to learn more. No doubt time will tell the longerlasting impact of the week’s events.
EXERCISING OF POWER THE FESTIVAL PROGRAMME The Christian networks at several companies in and near Canary Wharf hosted more than fifteen luncheon and dinner talks within five days. SUMMER 2015 | PULSE ISSUE 20
Since leaving Oxford (and studying at the OCCA) in the summer of 2013, I have commenced a ministry as an independent non-denominational speaker. I visit a variety of churches,
AND MAKE DECISIONS schools, universities and other institutions in Hong Kong and other parts of Asia. Most often, people are interested in how the Christian faith is relevant to real life situations, in particular how someone with my background could play my role as a government minister consistently with the Christian faith. In short, they like to know how Christianity has guided me in exercising power. I share some recurring themes with different audiences: • Power is not something to be craved. • Power is not something to be possessed. • Power is to be exercised in humility and in prayer.
Back in 2004, I and three other Christian ministers of the Hong Kong Government decided to form a prayer group. While we started with a group of four, in a few years’ time, this grew to eight members, about half the total number of ministers in our cabinet.
Every week, we would meet over breakfast and bring before God all our personal and official challenges. The Lord always answers. One clear example of the Lord’s intervention into Hong Kong’s history was how He answered our prayers in allowing Hong Kong to secure consensus on constitutional reforms for 2012.
contentious issue in Hong Kong.
For almost ten years, I managed the constitutional portfolio in Hong Kong. As Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs, I had to cover elections, human rights, and relations with Mainland China and Taiwan. One key issue I had to resolve was to roll forward democratic elections for Hong Kong.
Many people in Hong Kong considered this to be mission impossible and the reform package to be dead. But our group of Christian ministers and our spouses continued to pray. We did not give up.
Hong Kong has two forms of elections to the Legislative Council. Geographical constituencies have over three million registered voters, basically all permanent residents over 18. Functional constituencies had only 200,000 registered voters. The functional constituencies comprised representatives of chambers of commerce, trade unions and professionals like lawyers, doctors and engineers. For years, this imbalance in the franchise of geographical and functional elections has been a
In dealing with constitutional reforms for 2012, I had to try to redress the imbalance. To do so, I had to secure two-thirds majority in the Legislative Council and consensus on constitutional change with the sovereign government in Beijing.
By mid-June in 2010, about ten days before the constitutional vote, the Lord answered our prayers. One of the political parties in opposition announced that they would support the reform package, if the Hong Kong Government could put forth a package that would allow ‘oneperson-two-votes’. Under such a package, every registered voter would be able to cast one vote in geographical constituencies and another vote in functional constituencies. This would entail broadening the franchise for functional constituencies from
200,000 to over three million people. It would place the franchise of functional constituencies on a par with geographical constituencies. By way of illustration, this would be akin to giving the British electorate one vote to return the House of Commons and another vote to return the House of Lords. This was a steep challenge and time was running out. But we put this proposition to Beijing and continued to pray. A few days before the vote, we got confirmation that Beijing would support the package. Eventually, we secured not just two-thirds majority, but more than three-quarters majority: 46 votes out of 60 in the Legislative Council supported the 2012 reforms. To many in the world, this story would be a classic illustration of the saying: ‘One week is a long time in politics’. To the Christian ministers of Hong Kong, this is a real life illustration of our God being the Lord of history:
‘The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; He turns it wherever He will.’ (PROVERBS 21:1)
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MOVING ONTO NEW ORBITS I shared this story with the Festival of Thought audience when I spoke at an evening event hosted by the KPMG Christian Network. Many were moved by the fact that prayer guided those who were at the pinnacle of the governmental hierarchy in Hong Kong. By extension, I encouraged all who are in any positions of management or influence to appreciate that the power they hold comes, not from themselves, but from above. That was Christ’s answer to Pontius Pilate when He was asked why He refused to reply. Christ said, ‘You would have no power over me, unless it had been given you from above.’ (John 19:11) All power comes from above. It is to be exercised in humility and for the greater good of the community or organization that we serve. The audience at Canary Wharf took on board this message. This was relevant to all whether they were a board chairman, CEO, senior partner or bank teller. They either exercised power or lived under it. We all live under the grace of God. Any positions of influence or power are transient. We hold them for the duration which God allows. As St. Paul said, the Lord has ‘determined allotted periods and the boundaries of men’s habitation’. (Acts 17:26) It is, therefore, very necessary for those in positions of power to remain alert to the changing circumstances around them and to be prepared to move on when the time comes.
STEPHEN LAM
OR PERHAPS IT ANSWERS THE ECHO OF THE HUMAN HEART year of theology. That paved the way for me to move on to the current new orbit of becoming an independent non-denominational speaker. While Descartes’ statement may be of interest to students of philosophy, to my mind the saying of St. Paul is more profound:
‘By the grace of God, I am what I am.’ MOVING INTO NEW ORBITS I believe that, in a figurative sense, our lives move in orbits. Once an orbit has been completed, if we insist on staying rather moving on to the next orbit, our lives may be thrown off balance. That is why, when my wife and I had decided that I should leave the Hong Kong Government in 2012 upon completing ten years in a ministerial position, I applied to OCCA to do a
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(I CORINTHIANS 15:10)
OBSERVATIONS & CONCLUSIONS Some may think that it is difficult to discuss meaning, morality and destiny with those who work in the cut and thrust of high-powered and high-stressed international business. But from what I observed, those individuals pursuing their careers in Canary Wharf have the same spiritual and emotional needs as those in other sectors. Indeed, they
can even be quite approachable, as was indicated by the immediate and very encouraging responses to the opportunities for follow-up courses at St. Peter’s Barge. Perhaps the success of the Canary Wharf Festival of Thought stemmed from the human need to think, selfreflect, and make decisions. Perhaps it stemmed from the truth that thought defines our existence, shapes our professional careers, and guides our life paths. Or perhaps it answers the echo of the human heart and reflects the truth of another familiar quote:
“Lift up your eyes, and see how the fields are ripe for harvest” (JOHN 4:35).
Stephen Lam FORMER CHIEF SECRETARY OF THE HONG KONG GOVERNMENT ADJUNCT SPEAKER FOR RZIM ASIA AND OCCA ALUMNUS (2012/3)
PHOTOGRAPHY BY RZIM
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2 21 recommends – websites There are all kinds of apologetics resources out there online, but are any of them any good? After all, if we are searching for an answer to a particular question, the chances are we don’t already know enough about the topic to know for sure. This is why we have compiled a list of some of the best general apologetics websites (besides those from RZIM) out there. APOLOGETICS 315 This major hub of apologetics material is updated frequently and is jam-packed with quality content.
www.apologetics315.com
BETHINKING This ‘one-stop-shop’ is probably the UK’s leading site and its material is helpfully broken down into different levels (from ‘introductory’ to ‘advanced’).
www.bethinking.org
GOD POD The regular Podcasts by St Paul’s Theological Centre cover a vast range of topics relating to Christianity today.
sptc.htb.org/godpod
JOHNLENNOX.ORG John Lennox is one of the most recognised defenders of Christianity today and a large selection of his talks and debates can be seen on his site.
www.johnlennox.org
THE POACHED EGG This American website is Ratio Christi’s Christian worldview and apologetics network, which contains many topical resources relating to culture today.
www.thepoachedegg.net
PSEPHIZO This is the award-winning blog of theologian, Ian Paul, which covers a range of apologetics topics, as well as those relating to preaching.
www.psephizo.com
UNBELIEVABLE? Justin Brierley’s weekly show for Premier Christian Radio is always a dependable source of intriguing discussions between those from a whole host of different perspectives.
www.premierchristianradio.com/Shows/Saturday/ Unbelievable
THE VERITAS FORUM This American organisation has produced a vast number of resources from the regular talks and discussions that it organises with prominent academics on university campuses.
www.veritas.org
OTHERS There are many other websites that could also be mentioned. Some of these have a narrower focus, such as www.livingout.org, which looks at Christian responses to same-sex attraction, www.answering-islam.co.uk, which explores the debate between the two religions, and www.epsociety.org, which examines philosophy from an evangelical perspective. Others explore ‘the big questions’ from a secular stance, which includes a Christian perspective, such as www.closertotruth.com. There are of course many resources from RZIM (the majority of which can be accessed from www.rzim.org), including the recent collection of ‘Short answers to big questions’ from the Canadian office that can be seen at both www.rzim.org and www.stayintheconversation.org.
WHAT ABOUT BOOKS? If you are wanting book recommendations, then turn to pages 8 and 9 to find out more about three new titles by members of the RZIM team that are being released this year.
SOCIAL MEDIA If you want even more immediate news from the RZIM or OCCA team, then why not follow them on Twitter?
REASONABLE FAITH William Lane Craig is one of the foremost Christian philosophers and his wide-ranging site engages with many of the most topical scientific, philosophical and theological questions.
www.reasonablefaith.com
@VinceRVitale @SharonDirckx
@michelle_tepper @amyorrewing
@abetterhope (Tom Price) @theocca
@RamsdenMichael
@ZachariasTrust
@ProfJohnLennox
@simon_a_edwards
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BIG QUESTIONS: TAWHID OR TRINITY? THE NATURE OF GOD IN ISLAM AND CHRISTIANITY BY SIMON W ENHA M
Wayne State University recently hosted an intriguing debate between Dr Shabir Ally, a Muslim Imam, and Dr Nabeel Qureshi, a member of the RZIM team and former Muslim. The topic for discussion was the nature of God and whether the doctrine of Tawhid or Trinity made the most sense.
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TEXT COLOUR:
The exchange was given greater poignancy by the fact that, a decade earlier, Qureshi himself had been in the audience of one such event, as a student wanting Ally to win. The debate, which was organised in conjunction with RZIM, Cru (Campus Crusade), Ratio Christi and the Muslim Students Association, was moderated by the broadcaster Julie Roys, and was live streamed, as well as being recorded for Moody radio. Below is a summary of how the discussion progressed and some of the central arguments that were used.
of Muslims were subsequently flogged or killed over the issue, which eventually led to a moratorium being called on the discussion. He added that we know the historical context in which the Qur’an was written, because it draws from other contemporary sources, such as a late gnostic gospel, which describes Jesus speaking at birth. Moreover, he mentioned two Turkish scholars who studied the alleged Uthamic Qur’ans, supposedly the earliest Qur’an manuscripts, and showed that they were different from the one we have today in over 2000 places.
NARRATOR
NABEEL QURESHI
SHABIR ALLY
strive to be in relationship with God too. By contrast, he said that although relational terms are used about Allah, he cannot be loving or relational until he has created, because he has nothing to love or relate to. So this was very different from a Christian God who was even willing to die for us out of love. Shabir Ally started his opening address by stressing the areas of agreement between the two faiths (e.g. belief in Jesus doing the miraculous) and the need to work together because of the many needs of the world. To illustrate
QURESHI INTRODUCED THE DEBATE BY STRESSING THAT PURSUING GOD AND THE TRUTH WAS THE NOBLEST THING SOMEONE COULD DO. In his opening statement, Qureshi introduced the debate by stressing that pursuing God and the truth was the noblest thing someone could do. He told the audience that he had once been in their shoes, as a Muslim watching a debate and wanting Ally to win. He began his argument by saying how science should recalibrate our expectations, as there are lots of aspects of it we don’t fully understand and yet believe to be true. He then summarised three key arguments he had formerly used against the Trinity: •
The word Trinity is not found in the Bible
•
The doctrine developed over hundreds of years
•
The concept is philosophically and theologically complex
Yet he pointed out that such arguments were inconsistent, because they also applied to Tawhid. He spoke of the first Islamic inquisition (the Mihna), in the 9th century, when the nature of the Qur’an was discussed. Abbasid Caliph al-Mamun, who called the inquisition, said that no one could believe in Allah’s unity, if they believed the Qur’an was eternal. A number
There were even discussions in Uthman’s time about how many chapters it should contain. The slogan ‘we don’t know’ became the official response to the question of how an eternal Qu’ran is not contradictory to Tawhid. He then focused on the evidence for the Trinity and defined God as one being, but three in persons (the difference between the ‘what’ and the ‘who’). He said this was not a contradiction and referred to the many references in the Old Testament where God appears in some form on earth, which he is obviously able to do to, if he wants to. He reiterated that God can be complex and that even in Islam we don’t understand his nature. He stressed that the word Elohim is plural, and Echad can describe something plural in one sense and singular in another, and that this is how the Old Testament describes God. Moreover, when Jesus called himself the ‘Son of Man’ this was a direct reference to the earlier descriptions of God. He concluded that the Trinity is the best explanation for what is written and that Christians believe in a God of true love, which comes from his very essence (one of relationship). He said that we should
his main points he took the first three letters of the word three: T: Text of scripture. He argued that the Bible favours the idea of Tawhid over the Trinity, because of the many clear statements about there only being one God in the Torah. He also noted that in the ten commandments it expressly says that you shouldn’t worship anything that resembles something on earth. He suggested that Christians were interpreting the clear verses in the Bible, in light of the less clear ones, i.e. in order to try to make them fit the more difficult concept. He said that the status of Jesus is less clear, whereas there is no doubt in scripture that the one God is Yahweh. H: History. He said that the concept of Trinity was different from that of Tawhid, as you can see it developing over time (unitarian to binatarian to trinitarian). He said that Muslims understood the mysteries about God’s nature, but the same issues about the word of God also applied to Christianity and Judaism, i.e. was the Torah part of God or not? Yet Christians started to worship the word also, as the logos supposedly became human. He stressed you inevitably run
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into problems if you make an aspect of the creator into God. R: Reason. He said that similar words about love are used to describe Allah, but you don’t need three persons to be loving. He added that talking about God’s essence as being love was an ‘after-the-fact’ justification and if there had been four persons,
He agreed that you had to be careful not to view the clear verses in light of the less clear ones, but he said there was no doubt that the Bible teaches God came to earth at certain times. He added that, whereas he had shown that early Muslims were killing each other over the question of Tawhid, Ally had not given proof of the progression of Christian beliefs he
He said humans had done their best to collect the words of God and there is overwhelming evidence to say that the 114 chapters we have today (in the Qur’an) is the only true word of God. He asked why Christians didn’t use the other triadic formulae in the Bible, like in 1 Timothy (God, Christ and the holy
HE REITERATED THAT THE EARLIEST EVIDENCE FROM THE NEW TESTAMENT TREATED JESUS AS YAHWEH then all kinds of justifications would have been invented for that too. Yet he stressed that it was logically impossible for a perfect God to become a perfect man. Moreover, he noted, that if Echad is complex, then why couldn’t there be more than three, such as one on another planet, for example, or someone else like Krishna? Ultimately the whole concept seemed to be ‘opening up a can of…gods’. He added that the orthodox Christian view of the Trinity can be traced back to one of two factions that existed in the early church. The Ebionites, who followed Peter, believed in one God, but it was the other group (under the leadership of Paul) that prevailed. Indeed, it was Paul who was responsible for ‘splitting’ God and yet he still performed the sacrifices and adhered to parts of the law. Furthermore, the early Christians didn’t regard the Holy Spirit as being part of God. It wasn’t until the Council of Nicaea (325AD) that the doctrine of the Trinity was decided upon and that was only after they subsequently reconvened to address the matter. Yet the suggestion that the spirit proceeded from God and the Son led to the split with the Eastern church. Qureshi started his rebuttal by referring people to his website (www. nabeelqureshi.com) where he said he would post a fuller response.
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said had occurred (from unitarian to Trinitarian). Furthermore, he pointed out that many Muslims do believe in an eternal Qur’an, although he conceded that there are philosophical issues relating to an unchanging God interacting with the world. He denied that it was an after-the-fact justification to say God’s essence was love, as the Bible itself teaches it. He addressed the issue of the Ebionites by pointing out that even Bart Ehrman (a liberal scholar) claims all four gospels proclaimed the divinity of Christ. Ally started his rebuttal by saying Tawhid was not comparable with the Trinity, because it was a concept that came from many creedal statements and references in the Qur’an, whereas the Christian doctrine went against the oneness of God. He pointed out that, as James White says, it is extremely easy to fall into heresy (modalism or tri-theism) when thinking about the Trinity. It is not surprising that you run into all kinds of problems when you make a concept up. How can someone be fully God and fully human, for example, and how can God die? He didn’t deny that the Qur’an had a history, but said that God operates in the world through natural causes (so you get ‘creative evolution’, rather than one or the other).
angels) and that the spirit hovering over the water (Genesis 1) is simply God’s active force or perhaps an intermediary. There is mystery in God’s nature, but it is common sense that you don’t create a bigger problem to solve a smaller one. As James Dunn claims, the Jewish Christians thought Jesus was simply a prophet. In the cross-examination, Qureshi asked Ally the following questions: 1. Which side of the debate amongst Muslims are you on, those who say the Qur’an is eternal or those who say it is not eternal? 2. Is the recited word of the Qur’an something going into eternity past and something that is next to him or part of him? 3. Is the Qur’an perfectly preserved or has it been changed? 4. Would you not agree that the pre-Pauline hymns are the earliest records of Christian beliefs and do they not proclaim Jesus as Yahweh? 5. Doesn’t Mark juxtapose the Old Testament references to God with those of Jesus and haven’t you said in a previous debate that Paul substitutes Jesus for Yahweh in scripture?
Ally responded to the first suggestion by saying they were both right in a sense. There is the uncreated word (the eternal knowledge of God), whereas others speak of what is produced (by pen and ink). So the
word of God was always with him (his knowledge) and yet there is also a revealed word that came into history. He said its exact status in heaven is mysterious and, like other attributes of God, it remains unanswerable. He denied that he was being flippant about this, as he said Christians had the same problem. He confirmed that the Qur’an had been preserved according to Allah’s promise and that the numerical patterns within it showed its divine authorship (although Qureshi claimed these didn’t work). He denied that Mark or Paul presented Jesus as Yahweh, but suggested that although their descriptions teased the boundaries a little, it didn’t cancel out the verses suggesting that Jesus was subject to God. He said that a good definition of God is that beyond which nothing greater can be imagined. Yet if he becomes a created being – even the most powerful one we can think of – he would still always be less than God. Ally’s questions to Qureshi were: 1. Where in the Bible does it say anything like ‘three persons in the godhead’? 2. Is Yahweh the name of the three together or just the name of the father? 3. Isn’t it a fallacy of equivocation to sometimes talk about God as one and sometimes as not? 4. In Psalm 110 Yahweh speaks to ‘my Lord’, so if Jesus is the latter, then isn’t he someone other than Yahweh? 5. In Daniel 7 it speaks of the Son of Man approaching the Ancient of Days, so isn’t the former someone other than God?
Qureshi responded by repeating that the term Trinity is not used in the Bible, in the same way as Tawhid is not mentioned in the Qur’an. Furthermore, Jesus is introduced as Yahweh (not by a development over time) and the Holy Spirit is called God and is personal. He said Yahweh was a term for the trinitarian God of three persons and that although different names for the creator were used in the Bible, they were analogous. He
reiterated that divine attributes were written about Jesus expressly to make that connection, such as in Daniel 7. He argued that some Jewish scholars accepted a binatarian concept of God, but there was subsequently a reaction against this because of Christianity. Qureshi started his closing statement by stressing the importance of these questions, which is why they had been fought over. He urged people to look into the history of the Qur’an, given that he had once thought it was perfectly preserved, only to discover that the modern version was only formalised in 1924. He reiterated that the earliest evidence from the New Testament treated Jesus as Yahweh, which must have been the result of Christ’s teaching. Referring to Anselm’s idea about not being able to imagine anything greater than God, he said that if love, self-sacrifice, justice, mercy and humility are all good things, then God must be the most loving, self-sacrificial, just, merciful and humble being in the universe. Furthermore, if God is absolutely just then he can’t overlook some sins, and if he is love in his essence and heaven is a perfect place, we can’t make our own way there by ourselves. So we all rely on the mercy and grace of God, given to us 2000 years ago (which he urged the audience to accept). The Jews said God was pluriform in person and Jesus claimed to be one of God’s Persons. When he died on the cross it was an act of forgiving our sins. He concluded his statement by saying that we can argue about this all day long (Jewish, Islamic, Christian theology), but ‘do not neglect the one true God’. Ally began his closing statement by repeating his three earlier points. He said the text of the Bible supported the Islamic view of Tawhid and that no verses either confirmed the Trinity or limited the nature of God to three persons. He said that Jesus may have been spoken about in glorified ways, but he was not God, as could
be seen by what he himself said. He suggested that Qureshi had tried to turn the topic towards the Qur’an, but that it wasn’t directly relevant. Yet he said that even if you did that, you still have the problem of the Trinity. He said that people were killed over minor things in the past for lots of reasons (including mentioning the name of Yahweh), so we shouldn’t make too much of that. Furthermore, he stressed that the Old Testament does not teach a binatarian God and that the distinction between the word of God and the revealed word of God is an issue for the Trinity too. He said that you might say that God is totally loving (in his essence), but this is not directed towards others, but is a form of self-love. Furthermore, if he loves himself, why would God punish his son, which, as Steve Chalke has pointed out, seems like ‘cosmic child abuse’. Finally, he said this is an important debate and he was glad to have been involved.
Q&A When asked about justice and mercy, Ally said that God is able to freely forgive us, without requiring someone else to be penalised. Qureshi said that the issue was a crucial one and that sin against an infinitely holy God cannot be overlooked, but it requires a triune God to deal with it. Ally labelled this an after-the-fact justification and argued that it was Paul’s mistake to claim God was a curse for us, which was then propagated by Christians. He said that, like the scholars, we have to take this factional split seriously, as well as the issue of other uses in the Bible of Echad and Elohim. On the question of whether it was a contradiction that some people in the Bible died when they saw God and others didn’t, Qureshi said it would be without the Trinity, as they had seen different persons. When asked about the multiple versions of the Qur’an, Ally responded by saying it was a complex document that had been revealed in a way that could be recited
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and that any variations were not significant. Yet Qureshi encouraged people to read Bukhari on the issue. Even if it wasn’t substantially altered, he said you couldn’t say it wasn’t changed, given Uthman’s standardisation of the text. When asked about why Jesus said God had forsaken him on the cross, Qureshi said that Jesus had died with respect to his human nature and the sins were imputed to the divine nature. Ally responded by saying you have the additional problem of working out whether two of the persons are running the universe at the point of Jesus’ death. He added that the other stream of Christianity (Peter’s group) had a much bleaker view of Jesus’ death, but it was Paul’s (winning) faction that had ‘photo-shopped’ Jesus. When asked about relying on the authority of scholars, Ally said that the experts can’t be overlooked as they think deeply about the topics and they admit that Tawhid is better supported by even the Christian scripture. Qureshi disagreed, adding that reasoning also had to be considered as some of the supposed Christian scholars mentioned by Ally held unorthodox views. Furthermore, it was by applying the arguments consistently to both sides that he became a Christian. When asked about the omniscience of God being beyond reason, both speakers said that Occam’s razor would lead you to their position, although they both agreed that grace was needed when dealing with the difficult matters of faith. Whereas Qureshi said the Trinity could be easily understood, Ally suggested that even the best scholars didn’t really understand it, so it was a deep problem for Christians. Lastly, there was a question about whether religious dogma (in general) inevitably leads to killing and strife.
Ally said this was the result of small mindedness, but that as the issues were complex, we should be tolerant and respectful. Qureshi said that after reading the Qur’an he realised Jesus was the most peaceful man who ever lived. He added that this was because his essence was love, and, furthermore, his teaching, like turning the other cheek to violence and being self-sacrificial, was the most beautiful thing you will ever read in your life. He pointed out that, by dying for us, God loved sinful man and was willing to suffer for them, which means we should be willing to do the same for others out of love. Those who do the opposite are not following Jesus.
SOME FINAL OBSERVATIONS Perhaps the most striking feature of the debate was the ease by which both speakers could converse in the ‘language’ of their opponent. Yet, for that reason, it might not necessarily have been immediately apparent to some, how significant some of the arguments were for the other side. The question of whether or not there is a literal eternal Qur’an in heaven is a point of dispute amongst Muslims today, for example, which is also why the issue is not as directly comparable to Christianity. It was interesting that Ally took a nuanced stance on this and he did not deny that the early theological debates had occurred. Perhaps more significantly, he did not challenge the suggestion that different forms of the Qur’an were in existence, nor did he say the text was ‘perfectly preserved’ (a point usually made to contrast it with the supposedly corrupted Bible). Interestingly, Qureshi, by contrast, did not concede anything during the debate. Nevertheless, Ally’s point about those discussing the Trinity always running the risk of heresy would definitely have struck a nerve
with Christians, as many do find the issue difficult, even if neither side can claim to really know God’s nature. In fact, one of the interesting aspects of the debate is how a group of monotheistic Jews came to a new understanding of the nature of God, as they clearly didn’t see this as being opposed to what they already believed. Nevertheless, Ally did well in reminding the audience that there are a range of scholarly interpretations about early Christianity (with different passages giving different impressions of Jesus’ nature) and that those looking at scripture do run the risk of after-the-fact justifications. Yet although relying on the academic literature is legitimate, the tactic also highlighted the great imbalance there is between Islam and Christianity, when it comes to certain types of scriptural scholarship. Furthermore, the names he cited were not all of the same academic standing and it wasn’t particularly fair to throw in Steve Chalke’s point about ‘cosmic child abuse’ right at the end of the closing statement, when there was no time to respond to it. Having said that, the whole debate was conducted in a very civilised and friendly manner and there were even a few humorous quips, like both speakers claiming the other would win! Furthermore, the discussions leave the door open for further dialogue, which would certainly be something to look forward to. The moderator probably summed it up best, when she said that, above all, the debate had challenged everyone to think deeply about what they believe and why. Both speakers would no doubt be delighted if that was the ultimate legacyy of this fascinating debate.
Simon Wenham RESEARCH COORDINATOR
YOU CAN READ MORE ABOUT MANY OF THE ARGUMENTS IN QURESHI’S BOOK SEEKING ALLAH, FINDING JESUS
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The whole debate can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWpqqqZn7Kg (or found by searching online for ‘Tawhid or Trinity?’).
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JULY
AUGUST
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29 JUN – 1
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2
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5
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(Andy Wickham) (Team)
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