Look at the world through Biblical Glasses (2)

This is part 2 of 3 from the introductory chapter of my book, Biblical Glasses.

Before proceeding, answer the following questions to see what presuppositions or preconceived notions you may have:

• Where did you come from?
• What is your worldview?
• Why are you here?
• What will happen when you die?

The four main interests humans have deep down inside are: Origin, morality, purpose, and death. How do we know the answers to these questions? Can we be sure of the answers? Should we care about the answers to these questions? Why or why not? I have searched for and studied the truthful answers to the questions above; the answers say things today’s popular worldview does not support.

The popular worldview of our society today is flawed. We see a gradual, yet explicit decline of morality, an increase in hyper-tolerance, the teaching of lies (such as evolution), and a distinct straying from the truth given to us by God.

The bottom line regarding a legitimate worldview is whether or not objective, absolute truth exists. If absolute truth exists, then it is only logical and wise to seek it out, learn it, and follow it, living according to it. If you think it is absolutely true that there is no absolute truth, then you are contradicting and deceiving yourself.

For example, the atheist claims God does not exist. To prove God does not exist, the atheist would have to be God—omniscient and omnipresent. Since no atheists have all the knowledge in the universe, they cannot be sure God does not exist in the knowledge they do not have. They must therefore logically admit God may exist, because no one can be sure He does not exist. Clearly the atheistic viewpoint is illogical and self-contradictory, just like the viewpoint saying it is absolutely true that absolute truth does not exist. Atheism is ignorant and irrational, and when atheists realize this, they generally become agnostic.

Agnostics say it cannot be known whether or not God exists. Similarly, agnostics may say it cannot be known whether or not absolute truth exists. In other words, agnostics are not sure, and they think no one can ever be sure. They do not have scientific proof, which is based on testing and repeatable observations, of God or truth; but they overlook the legal/historic proof, which is proof beyond a reasonable doubt based on a preponderance of reliable evidence. If you are unsure about absolute truth based on scientific proof, then look at absolute truth based on legal/historic proof by answering this simple question:

Was Ronald Reagan sworn in (with his right hand on the Bible) as President of the United States of America in 1980? Of course, you will answer yes to the question. Is it true for everyone all the time? Of course it is! The argument posed against this fact is based on lack of scientific proof—we cannot know for sure, because we were not present at the ceremony; we did not experience the inauguration with any of the five senses—seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling, or touching. The response to this argument, based on legal/historic proof, is that all of the evidence, beyond a reasonable doubt, points to the event as having actually occurred. In other words, it is a fact; it is true. How do we really know something is true? What is truth?

Truth is “the state of being factual and real.” Knowledge is defined as “understanding truth or fact through reasoning and interpreting the examined evidence.” How do we know if absolute truth exists? That is where faith comes in to play. Faith is defined in the Bible as “being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see” (Hebrews 11:1). The word faith describes “a belief that is held with an especially strong conviction.” Belief conveys “conviction of the truth of some statement or the reality of some being or phenomenon, especially when based on examination of evidence.” A belief is “a state or habit of mind in which trust or confidence is placed in some person or thing.” Trust describes “an assured reliance or dependence on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something.”

These words—truth, knowledge, faith, belief, and trust—are not only clearly interrelated, but also very powerful. To summarize, knowledge of truth requires faith and trust in the belief that truth is factual based on examined evidence. We can trust, faithfully believe, and therefore have knowledge or know certain things are truthful and factual based on evidence!

All humans are finite beings living by faith, whether we admit it or not. We have faith in the past, living as if events in our lives, such as our births, did actually occur. We have faith in the present, that we do truly exist and have actual thoughts. We have faith in the future, living and making plans as if tomorrow will come despite having no knowledge of tomorrow. As I hope to show, we can trust, faithfully believe, and therefore know, based on the overwhelming evidence, that Jesus Christ is both the Son of the One, True God revealed in the Bible and Savior of the world. Since we (humans) are moved to action by our faith and beliefs, our lives will be forever changed by the evidence for the truth about God found in the Bible.

The evidence is important! What does the evidence show about our world? What observations can be made? How does faith, and its relation to our worldview, affect our thinking? How does science fit in here with its claims about our world? Science is “knowledge covering general truths or laws especially as obtained and tested through the scientific method.” The scientific method requires examining the evidence through observation and testing. Science is great when it shows, by observing and testing, what things are and how things work, but when science makes assumptions outside the boundaries of the scientific method, it is no longer science—it becomes speculation at best! Science often claims to have the keys to the past in missing links that it does not observe and cannot accurately test. Such is the case with the theory of evolution.
In the same way, people often display contradiction in their faith and worldview. For example, many claim to believe in and worship the God of the Bible and also feel confident Darwin’s evolution is fact. These two views cannot co-exist, as we will see later. Our society keeps us too busy to spend time worrying about faith/worldview contradictions. Moral relativism has developed out of demand for self-serving convenience and lack of time for genuine examination of the evidence.

Ultimately, American society’s most precious possession is time, because none of us will escape death. Death is the great equalizer for all people—rich or poor, black or white, wise or ignorant. Interestingly, the word translated as death in the Bible actually means separation, not extinction, annihilation, non-existence, or unconsciousness. (We will look more at the importance of this later.) Many of us spend our time working toward self-gratifying possessions we cannot take to the grave. We have less and less time, because our culture encourages fame and fortune. It encourages power, wealth, and prestige, which are bonding and seductive. The Bible says: “Do not store up … treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up … treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal” (Matthew 6:19-20).

I recently read an article in which the story of a missionary martyr who served the Huaorani tribe in Ecuador in the 1950s was told. This missionary was Jim Elliot; in his journal he wrote, “He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.” We are called not to amass material possessions and wealth, which are temporary, but to serve God, Who is eternal. That does not mean we cannot enjoy the incredible blessings God has provided for us, especially here in America, but it does mean we need to realize God is both the giver of all we have and the sustainer of our lives. When we begin to believe, understand, and appreciate that, our lives will change for the better, and we will see the world from the truthful vantage point—with a Biblical worldview.