Email “Messages”

      A Minister Responds to Questions from His Congregation

      Copyright © 2011 Steven A. Crane. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical publications or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publisher. Write: Permissions, Wipf and Stock Publishers, 199 W. 8th Ave., Suite 3, Eugene, OR 97401.

      Resource Publications

      An Imprint of Wipf and Stock Publishers

      199 W. 8th Ave., Suite 3

      Eugene, OR 97401

      www.wipfandstock.com

      isbn 13: 978-1-61097-496-7

      eisbn 13: 978-1-4982-7387-9

      Manufactured in the U.S.A.

      Preface

      Fifteen years ago, I had the privilege of planting Eagle Christian Church. From humble beginnings in my living room, the church has since grown significantly. During that time I discovered an interesting correlation: as the congregation grew—so did the number of questions I received—some through snail mail, some voice mail, but primarily through email.

      About two years ago, I realized that many of the questions I was being asked, I had been asked before—and had previously answered (at least once). Upon this realization, I searched frantically in my file cabinets and on my computer to see if I had stored any of my previous correspondence. I found very little. “Oh,” I thought, “if I had only saved the questions and answers in an electronic format!”

      Since that time, the questions have continued to come in, and this present work began to take shape as I have faithfully attempted to respond to each—and faithfully saved them as well. These pages are primarily a compilation of answers to questions I have received from folks within the community of believers at Eagle Christian Church.

      In keeping with the original genre of the writing (email messages), I have intentionally tried to keep my answers brief and to the point. Understand that with brevity often comes incompleteness. There is always much more that could be said, and often there are many different ways one might attempt to answer a particular question. I have tried to include Bible passages and other resources to help the reader to gain more complete answers to their questions when necessary.

      My prayer is that this “question and answer” format will help you on your journey to be able to defend your faith. I believe, as a minister, one of my primary tasks is to equip people with tools necessary to help them answer not only their own questions, but to help them provide answers for others as well. For Scripture tells us, “But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect” (1 Peter 3:15).

      Steven A. Crane

      Section One

      Email “Messages”

       Inbox [1/70]

      To: Dr. Crane [eaglechristianchurch.com]

      Subject: Is Belief in God Irrational?

      ---Original Message---

      What should I say to my atheist friend who doesn’t believe in God because “faith is irrational”?

      Reply:

      While it is true that atheists don’t believe in God, the Bible tells us that God doesn’t believe in atheists! The question is: who are you going to believe? While this answer might seem a little sarcastic, the truth is that whether you believe in God or don’t believe in God—both are systems of faith! The question is not whether “faith” is irrational, but if our faith is “irrationally placed.”

      I actually believe it takes far more faith to be an atheist than it does to believe in God. Let me say that even more strongly. Atheism is an untenable position. You might respond to your friend, “I don’t have enough faith to be an atheist,” and see what kind of reaction that gets. Atheism is a belief system—usually held, not for intellectual reasons, but for moral ones.

      The word atheist comes from the Greek word “atheos.” “Theos” is the word for God. “A” is a negative particle. Placed together, “atheos” literally means “no God.” Therefore, an atheist makes this faith claim: there is no God.

      Let me demonstrate why that belief system is untenable. Imagine for a moment a circle the size of a common car steering wheel which represents all knowledge: past, present, and future. Let that circle represent everything that is, can, and will ever be known. Now, take a moment to shade in the portion of that circle that represents how much of “all-knowledge” you possess. Even the brightest among us dare only make a pin-prick on that circle before we appear arrogant. The point is easily demonstrated: there is far more that we don’t know than we do know.

      I would ask the atheist if it is possible that God resides outside the boundaries of their knowledge. Is it? Which is more rational, to state that you KNOW there is no God, or to say that within the amount of knowledge you possess—you have no knowledge of God? Actually, the atheist would be better served by calling himself an “agnostic”—he has no knowledge of God.

      While I cannot prove the existence of God, neither can the atheist prove the nonexistence of God. We can, however, demonstrate that belief in God is not irrational.

      For further study see: I Don’t Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist, by Norman Geisler and Frank Turek.

      Email “Messages”

       Inbox [2/70]

      To: Dr. Crane [eaglechristianchurch.com]

      Subject: Who Made God?

      ---Original Message---

      I’ve heard it said that everything needs a cause. If that is true, then what caused God?

      Reply:

      I hear this argument often. Philosophers call this the Principle of Sufficient Reason. We use it every day—it is common sense. If you saw a little puppy that did not belong to you suddenly appear in your living room, no one in your family would say, “Hi, puppy. You came from nowhere, didn’t you?” No, you would likely look around to try to determine how it got in, and where it came from. You might be unable to find all the answers to your questions, but still you can know with certainty that the puppy came from somewhere—it didn’t come from nowhere.

      That is the principle to which you refer. But the principle should not be quoted as saying, “Everything needs a cause.” The principle needs to be stated, “Everything that has a beginning needs a cause.” Every finite, contingent thing needs a cause. But God is neither finite nor is he contingent upon anything or anyone. In other words, God does not have a beginning, or a cause—because God is infinite. God is the “uncaused” cause of all finite things. The very word for God used in Scripture is the “I Am”—the always existent one.

      If God were finite, your question would be valid—God would need a cause. If God needed a cause, we would then have a problem and would need to look to a point before God existed and then ask, “Who created God?” But that wouldn’t solve our problem, it would only intensify it. We would then need to ask, “Who created the one that created God?” This would lead us into a quagmire of “preceding causes.”

      As it is, we can’t ask, “Who caused God?” because God is infinite. You can’t go back any farther than that. If you understand this argument, this becomes a powerful argument FOR God rather than an argument against God, because everything that had a beginning needs