John and Cynthia Clayton in the Clayton Apologetics Reading Room
A recent ceremony at York University in York, Nebraska, dedicated a new facility for students of Christan apologetics. John Clayton accumulated a library of books and materials published by Christians and skeptics over the past fifty years. He was concerned about what to do with his apologetics library and wanted the books, magazines, and pamphlets to be available for reference and study by future students. John donated his entire library to York College where it is now in the Clayton Apologetics Reading Room.
At the ceremony, York vice-president Jared Stark introduced John and revealed that he became a Christian due to one of John’s lectures. John Clayton has been speaking to people in public assemblies for over fifty years, showing evidence for God’s existence. During that time, many lives have been changed as a result of John’s message.
The new Clayton Apologetics Reading Room is adjacent to the Clayton Museum of Ancient History at York University. They are open to the public by appointment. You can watch a video of the dedication statements by Jared Stark and John Clayton on our website, DoesGodExist.tv. Click HERE and then scroll down to see that video and others featuring John Clayton and John Cooper.
As Christians remember the resurrection of Jesus Christ, how do we know the story is true? Some unbelievers argue that the resurrection is a myth that arose many years later. The evidence against that idea is numerous and strong. The apostles carried the message of Christ’s resurrection to the ends of the Roman Empire for the rest of their lives, even though they had nothing to gain except a life of persecution ending in execution. They would not have done that unless they had seen the resurrected Christ.
Skeptics have often argued that the gospels were written years later to “prove” the resurrection of Jesus Christ was a myth that developed during those years. However, before any of the four gospels were written, Paul wrote to the church in Corinth in A.D. 57. he included an oral tradition that summarizes the gospel message.
In the first century, there were no computers, printed books, or pamphlets, and even simple writing materials were scarce and precious. People memorized important things by summarizing them efficiently and passing them on as oral traditions. The early Christians used that method. Here is the first part of an oral tradition that Paul wrote down in that first letter to the church in Corinth:
“For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures…”
The oral tradition then goes on to list some resurrection appearances of Christ. Then Paul adds himself to the list of those who saw the resurrected Christ. (You can read it for yourself in 1 Corinthians 15:3-8.) Of course, the “Scriptures” that Paul refers to are the Old Testament prophecies of Christ since the New Testament was not yet written.
When did Paul receive this tradition? He probably received it no later than A.D. 36 when he first visited Jerusalem. (See Galatians 1:15-18.) He possibly received it earlier than that in Damascus when, as Saul the persecutor, he encountered Ananias and received his sight. Ananias preached the gospel to him, and “Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus.” Whether in Jerusalem or Damascus, Paul received the oral tradition of Christ’s resurrection no more than five years after the event. That tradition was not a myth that developed years after eyewitnesses died.
We can trust the truth of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Although we have that oral tradition written down, we would do well to memorize it, as the early Christians did.
Skeptics in the media constantly attack the Bible and the biblical concept of God. Writers in The New Yorker, The New Republic, and The Atlantic write as if they were authorities on the Bible while accusing God of murder and condemning Him as being immoral. Taking a Bible passage out of context, they fail to examine who wrote it, why it was written, and how the people to whom it was written would have understood it.
Skeptics make statements like “God murders indiscriminately” when referring to Noah’s flood and Sodom and Gomorrah. They overlook the fact that Noah preached to and taught the people of his age, warning them to avoid the coming disaster. The skeptics also ignore the fact that God agreed to spare Sodom and Gomorrah if ten people in those cities were not involved in the wicked violence and immorality. The people had rejected God, choosing actions that led to death and disease. (See Genesis 18:20-33). The statement by the media accusing God of murder shows a lack of biblical knowledge.
The fact is that God was incredibly patient with the violence and immorality of the nations that rejected Him, not only in ancient times but also today. The people suffered the consequences of their own actions. We see that in 1 Samuel 15:3, where God commands Saul to destroy the Amalekites and “slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.” Skeptics have called God’s actions a senseless act of genocide that was barbaric and immoral. They say that God murders indiscriminately, but a closer study shows a different picture.
God gave the hygienic laws of Leviticus 11-18 for a reason. The cultures surrounding ancient Israel engaged in disastrous practices involving drinking raw blood, eating poorly prepared meat, sexual practices with animals and each other that spread STDs, and many infections that shortened life expectancies at a time when there was no medical treatment. Archaeological evidence and genome studies have left no doubt about the conditions of these ancient people.
Following God’s strict hygienic laws, given through Moses, allowed Israel to avoid those problems. How was God to treat the situation when Israel moved into an area where these hygienic problems were running rampant? Even the animals and babies carried the viruses and bacteria that saturated the people of those cultures.
Accusing God of murder shows a lack of understanding the Bible. From the New Testament, we know how much human sin grieved God and left Him with no alternative. The big question is whether we are creating similar problems for ourselves while possibly destroying the planet God created for us.
The quote by C.S. Lewis about the infinite importance of Christianity is true on several levels. When we use the term “Christianity,” we are not talking about human religions or denominations, usually named after humans or a particular philosophical or theological belief system. The word “Christian” literally means “Christ-like,” and that means doing and practicing what Jesus did and taught.
One thing that makes Christianity of “infinite importance” is what it offers to the poor and challenged. In Matthew 25:33-40, Jesus spoke about the Christ-like things His followers would do. Those things include feeding the hungry, giving water to those who don’t have it, providing clothing and shelter for those in need, and helping those in prison.
Another reason for the infinite importance of Christianity is the effect it has on morality. Marriage is important, and how kids are raised is vital. No one can argue with how Christ taught His followers to deal with these institutions. In the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), Jesus explains how Christians should treat each other and deal with the world in which they live. The wars and violence in our world today are rooted in people refusing to do what Jesus told us to do.
The most critical reason for the infinite importance of Christianity is that it provides hope for what happens after life in this world is done. For each of us, it is of infinite importance that we obey Christ and become “new creatures,” as described in Romans 6. No human religious goal is of infinite importance, whether it’s reincarnation, a harem of “black-eyed beauties,” or a return to Earth in some other space/time.
When our physical bodies return to the dust from which they came, we long for our souls to return to the God who created us. Christianity uniquely offers that hope, making it of “infinite importance.”
The United States Geological Survey published a map showing the earthquake catastrophe risk in different parts of the country. This data comes from seismic records of 130,000 earthquakes of a magnitude on the Modified Mercalli intensity scale of six or higher, which is severe enough to frighten people, move furniture, and cause other damage, like falling plaster. Most of us know about some geologically unstable regions of the country, but other areas may be surprising.
The highest earthquake catastrophe risk within the next 100 years is essentially the whole western edge of California, the southern part of Alaska from Juneau through the Aleutians, and the eastern islands of Hawaii. Those areas with a 75 to 95% chance of a damaging earthquake include virtually all of California, the Yellowstone National Park area, and the intersection of Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee, and Kentucky. The study says that 230 million people live in areas with a 95% chance of a damaging earthquake.
The point of this data is that there will be a massive earthquake sometime in the next 100 years, causing death and structural damage. Many people will blame this coming catastrophe on God. The fact is that earthquakes are a natural product of the uplift of the land. Without those forces, erosion would have brought all land masses to sea level. Despite the data, humans continue to build huge structures in areas where earthquake catastrophe risk is high. This can be added to a long list of situations where humans set themselves up for a catastrophe.
My wife and I were on Hawaii’s “Big Island” when Kilauea erupted in May 2018. In one of the places we visited, lava flow had destroyed many homes. We happened across a man who was working on a new house. I asked him if he was not concerned that another lava flow might destroy this house. He laughed and said, “God wouldn’t do that to me twice.”
We need to understand that God does not cause bad things to happen to us. If you eliminate what humans do to each other and the foolish acts humans engage in (like building a house in the path of a lava flow or on an earthquake faultline), much human pain and suffering would stop. Read James 1:13-17.
We have said many times thatscience and the Bible are friends. We need both for an enjoyable life. Unfortunately, many believers reject science because they think it conflicts with faith, and many scientists reject faith because they believe it is contrary to science. Both of those are false ideas of a conflict that should not exist. The truth is that both science and the Bible testify to God’s existence.
Science helps us understand the physical world. Physics and chemistry give us new and better ways to do things. Medical science helps us live healthier and longer lives. We need science because it benefits us. Likewise, the Bible benefits us in many ways. It tells us how to live fulfilled lives in peace and harmony with each other and with the natural world. Most importantly, the Bible also tells us about Jesus Christ and how we can live beyond this physical existence.
Dr. John C. Lennox is emeritus fellow of mathematics and philosophy of science at Oxford University. In a debate with leading atheist scientist Richard Dawkins, Lennox illustrated the difference between science and biblical faith very simply. He said, “Science can tell you what will happen when you put arsenic in your Aunt Tilley’s tea, but it cannot tell whether or not you should.” That simple statement suggests why this is a conflict that should not exist.
Atheists insist that a person does not have to believe to live a moral life. It is true that sometimes atheists live lives that appear to be more morally upright than some who claim to be believers. However, without faith in God and His Word, what is the objective basis for deciding what is right or wrong? We can’t make valid moral choices without a moral compass to tell us which direction to go.
Science gives us many things that make our lives in this world better. The Bible and faith also improve our lives and the lives of those around us. But faith also gives us some things that science cannot. Our faith in God and the Bible gives us a purpose and reason to live and enjoy this life. Beyond that, it gives us hope for a better existence without the pain and suffering we face now. In science, we find solutions to make life more enjoyable. In the Bible, we discover a reason for our existence and hope for a better future. The animosity between science and faith is a conflict that should not exist.
Most people are familiar with the three states of matter—solid, liquid, and gas. However, they may not know there is a fourth state of matter—plasma. You may be surprised to learn that plasmas are the most abundant form of matter in the cosmos. The effects of plasmas can help us understand many UFO sightings and may be the method God used to accomplish some of His work on Earth.
When matter becomes hot enough or is altered by strong magnetic fields, the electrons may split away from their parent atoms. When that happens, the electrons and the ionized nucleus give off light. Stars are made of plasma produced by the intense heat of their nuclear fires. We see examples of plasmas in our daily lives in fluorescent and neon lights and lightning.
Plasma can move in various ways and become attracted to solid matter. People have observed plasmas following aircraft and around nuclear power plants. NASA astronauts have seen large plasmas moving through space. When they descend into Earth’s atmosphere, they become attracted to almost anything, especially things with great heat or a strong magnetic field. Plasmas can have many shapes, including balls, cigar shapes, and disks. Many UFO sightings are almost sure to be the effects of plasmas.
Could God have used plasmas to produce some of the visual effects the Bible describes? The star of Bethlehem, the bush Moses saw that was not consumed, and the pillar of fire that led ancient Israel are all possible plasmas. How about the extended sunshine in Joshua 10? God can use natural methods for many of the things the Bible describes. Relegating them to superstition or myth is ignoring the reasonable causes we know exist. In the Bible or UFO sightings, observers may see the effects of plasmas and not understand what they are.
Smoke from record-setting fire currently burning in Texas
Our hearts go out to those who have lost property and maybe even loved ones to the so-called natural disasters that have increased in frequency and size. Few of these disasters are the typical product of nature. What God created has always been in balance and functioned without the massive changes we are seeing in today’s world, but skeptics are blaming God for human mismanagement.
Among the disasters that have increased in number and ferocity are wildfires. They destroyed massive numbers of trees, causing a shortage of wood and wood products, destroying homes and businesses, and even entire towns. The Nature Conservancy reported that the average wildfire size today is 23,000 acres. In the 1980’s, the average wildfire size was 7,000 acres. A currently burning wildfire in Texas has destroyed more than one million acres.
Those of us with some training in environmental management know that the “Smokey the Bear” idea of preventing any kind of fire was an ignorant practice. In the natural world, lightning and spontaneous combustion produce small fires. When you allow leaves and dead wood to accumulate for decades, a lightning strike can cause a massive fire with lots of fuel for combustion. Even the amount of smoke these huge fires generate threatens people living thousands of miles away.
God has used fires in surprising ways. There are some trees whose seeds do not germinate unless they have been exposed to fire. Some animals depend on naturally burned-over areas to produce food such as berries and nuts. Still, we have been in some areas where the fire’s massive heat sterilized the area, preventing anything from growing.
Skeptics are blaming God for human mismanagement that has caused the devastating fires we are seeing today. A major cause of today’s catastrophic fires is human prevention of naturally occurring small fires. We need to recognize that the intelligence of design has kept woodlands healthy and stable in the past. We must work with that design intelligently to avoid the tragic pictures we see on the news.
We also need to understand that there are some places where humans should not build buildings. We all know that Los Angeles and San Francisco straddle the San Andreas fault, which has produced severe earthquakes in the past and will do it again. When that happens, skeptics will be blaming God for human mismanagement, even though the warnings were there. We know what we must do, but greed and selfishness seem to rule the day instead of intelligent management of what God has given us.
Those who work with sheep have shared with me some of the problems of shepherding, such as disease, quality of fleece, and feed problems. But the strangest problem is what happens with lambs during their first week after birth. It’s a question of trust.
If something awakens a newborn lamb, it has an instinctive drive to follow whatever moves near it – usually its mother. That allows lambs in the wild to stay with the herd. The problem is that if something other than the mother is moving nearby, they will follow it. There are cases where a lamb followed an ATV, a predator, or even a bird.
If you have seen pictures of Jesus carrying a lamb, you are seeing what ancient shepherds did. Isaiah 40:10-11 describes this in beautiful terms. Jesus and the writers of the New Testament frequently used an illustration of sheep. (See Mark 6:34; John 10:1-9; and 1 Peter 2:25). The sheep’s trust in the shepherd is amazing. They know his voice and will follow and trust the shepherd 100%.
It’s a question of trust for you and me also. We all know you can’t trust the government, the company you work for, neighbors, or perhaps even family members. Examining the life of Peter, you can see him growing from a man with no faith following Jesus, knowing that he could return to his fishing nets whenever he stopped trusting Jesus. By Mathew 16:16, you see Peter calling Jesus the Son of God. In Luke 5:4-5, he responds to Jesus by saying, “Nevertheless if you say so, I will let down the nets.” We tend to criticize Peter for what happened in Matthew 26:69-75, but given the same circumstance, I don’t know that my trust would be great enough to stand up and be martyred.
Satan attacks our trust when bad things erode our faith in God. Sickness, the death of a loved one, money issues, politics – the list of things that erode our trust in God is enormous. But Christians can do things to build trust. We need to count our blessings and remember when God provided an answer for a tough time in our lives. Spend some time looking at the alternative. Where would being an unbeliever take you? If you reject God, what purpose will you have in life?
Learn to avoid the naysayers and reflect on the evidence that God is real and His word is a proven guide to living with trust and joy. Our free video series on the web at doesgodexist.tv will give you evidence to trust God. Our free correspondence courses can give you evidence to build your faith. Don’t let a lack the pressures of the skeptical world destroy your faith in Jesus Christ. It’s a question of trust.
I recently received a comment from a woman saying, “I don’t need another burden in my life, and going to church is just another depressing burden.” How sad it is that Christians sometimes view going to church as a depressing burden. It should be a blessing.
Part of this problem may be that many preachers burden their listeners with guilt and unfulfilled expectations. Gathering with fellow believers should give us support and encouragement. A church service should, first of all, be a time of praising God and expressing gratitude for what He has done for us as individuals and as a group. It should then be a time to share what God has done in our lives and to encourage one another.
One of the most essential parts of “going to Church” is to experience love. Jesus said in John 13:34-35, “Now I am giving you a new commandment that you are to love one another. By this shall all men know that you are my disciples by your love for one another.” Having kind words to say to each other, asking questions, expressing concerns when there is a crisis in someone’s life, and giving a hug are all part of loving one another.
Isn’t it interesting that the difference between the English words “live” and “love” is the single letter “I.” The more we take “I” out of the way, the more we can give and experience love. The Greek word translated as “love” here is “agape,” indicating caring about the worth of every person. There is joy in doing what God calls us to do, but obsessing about “I” and losing love can make us think of going to church as a depressing burden.
If you don’t understand this, I suggest you look more carefully at why you “go to church” or what you are missing if you don’t go. If your religious experience is reading an essay or watching a service on TV, you are missing the essential personal contact. If you think of going to church as a depressing burden, there is something wrong.
An atheist whose life is guided by “survival of the fittest” cannot comprehend the kind of love that Jesus taught. By my count, Jesus used the word “agapao” 108 times in the gospels. The next most common word He used for “love” was “phileo,” meaning “friendship,” which He used 18 times. Church involvement gives us a chance to consider the worth of all humans, eliminating racism, sexism, envy, jealousy, and all phobias that afflict humans.
Going to church should be a blessing. If the Church is functioning as God intended, we will leave every visit to our local congregation encouraged, uplifted, and ready to face the world and spread God’s love.
