What Happens When You Die?-Part 1

As a Christian Chaplain and Christian Apologetic (Defender) I am convinced the the power of the Gospel comes from an understanding of what happens "after we die".   After all, if there is no "reward" for repenting of our sins and following Christ, then why not just have as much fun as we can here and now???..sort of the attitude, "We are here for a short time, so we should have a good time." 

Many Christians believe that it is the absence of "eternal punishment" of our Immortal Soul in Hell, that we seek. Sort of the reward is the absence of a terrible punishment. But the idea of a loving God condemning unbelievers to perpetual torture is one of the features of "religion" that cause many to reject it.  Almighty God is a God that values Justice. And, there is much in Scripture that argues for "destruction" rather than "eternal torture".

There is another view that "eternal life" and "immortality" is a reward conditional on our accepting and following Christ as our Lord. Those that fail to accept and follow Christ receive the punishment of  death and "destruction". 

David Reagan has written much about the subject. I am not endorsing Dr. Reagan, but I will say that his writing that I share here is a logical and Scripturally sound response to the question "What Happens When You Die?"  Not all will agree.

Carefully read your Bible. Find your own way. The Gospel is the Good News about how you can avoid Death and achieve Eternal Life. Not everyone will find the path (it is narrow) and the door (it is small). 

Here are a couple of links below to help you. Continue toward the end of the post for more commentary.

  

Dr. David Reagan's Books

Article below from Rapture Ready website

 What Happens When You Die?
Soul Sleep or Conscious Existence?
by Dr. David R. Reagan

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If several years ago you had asked me what happens when you die, I would have given you a pathetic answer. I would have told you that when you die your soul goes to sleep until the Lord returns. At the return of the Lord, your soul is resurrected and judged, and you are either consigned to Hell or allowed to enter Heaven.
My conception of Heaven was that of a spirit world where the saved spend eternity as disembodied spirits, floating around on clouds, playing harps.

A Mistaken View

Needless to say, I couldn't get very excited about all that. I sure didn't like the idea of being unconscious in the grave for eons of time. Nor could I develop any enthusiasm for the prospect of being a disembodied spirit with no particular identity or personality. And the idea of playing a harp for all eternity was downright scandalous, for I had been taught that instrumental music in worship was an abomination!
You can imagine, therefore, the sense of shock I felt when I started studying Bible prophecy and discovered that all these ideas of mine about life after death were foreign to God's Word. But my shock quickly gave way to exhilaration when I discovered what the Lord really has in store for me.

The Biblical View

I learned from God's Word that when those of us who are Christians die, our spirits never lose their consciousness (Phils. 1:23). Instead, our fully conscious spirits are immediately ushered into the presence of Jesus by His holy angels (2 Cor. 5:8).
Our spirits remain in the Lord's presence until He appears for His Church. At that time, He brings our spirits with Him, resurrects our bodies, reunites our spirits with our bodies, and then glorifies our bodies, perfecting them and rendering them eternal (1 Thess 4:13-18).
We return with Him to Heaven in our glorified bodies where we are judged for our works to determine our degrees of rewards (2 Cor. 5:10). When this judgment is completed, we participate in a glorious wedding feast to celebrate the union of Jesus and His Bride, the Church (Rev. 19:7-9).

Witnesses of Glory

At the conclusion of the feast, we burst from the heavens with Jesus, returning with Him to the earth in glory (Rev. 19:14). We witness His victory at Armageddon, we shout "Hallelujah!" as He is crowned King of kings and Lord of lords, and we revel in His glory as He begins to reign over all the earth from Mt. Zion in Jerusalem (Zech. 14:1-9; Rev. 19:17-21).
For a thousand years we participate in that reign, assisting Him with the instruction, administration, and enforcement of His perfect laws (Rev. 20:1-6). We see the earth regenerated and nature reconciled (Isa. 11:6-9). We see holiness abound and the earth flooded with peace, righteousness and justice (Micah 4:1-7).
At the end of the Millennium we witness the release of Satan to deceive the nations. We see the truly despicable nature of the heart of Man as millions rally to Satan in his attempt to overthrow the throne of Jesus. But we will shout "Hallelujah!" again when we witness God's supernatural destruction of Satan's armies and see Satan himself cast into Hell where he will be tormented forever (Rev. 20:7-10).
We will next witness the Great White Throne Judgment when the unrighteous are resurrected to stand before God. We will see perfect holiness and justice in action as God pronounces His terrible judgment upon this congregation of the damned who have rejected His gift of love and mercy in Jesus Christ (Rev. 20:11-13).
Jesus will be fully vindicated as every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that He is Lord. Then the unrighteous will receive their just reward as they are cast into Hell (Rev. 20:14-15).

Witnesses of a New Creation

We will then witness the most spectacular fireworks display in all of history. We will be taken to the New Jerusalem, the eternal mansion prepared by Jesus for His Bride, and from there we will watch as God renovates this earth with fire, burning away all the filth and pollution left by Satan's last battle (2 Peter 3:12-13).
Just as the angels rejoiced when God created the universe, we will rejoice as we watch God superheat this earth and reshape it like a hot ball of wax into the New Earth, the eternal earth, the paradise where we will live forever in the presence of God (Rev. 21:1).
What a glorious moment it will be when we are lowered to the New Earth inside the fabulous New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:2). God will come down from Heaven to dwell with us (Rev. 21:3). He will proclaim: "Behold, I make all things new" (Rev. 21:5) We will see God face to face (Rev. 22:4). He will wipe away all our tears (Rev. 21:4). Death will be no more (Rev. 21:4). We will be given new names (Rev. 2:17), and we will exist as individual personalities encased in perfect bodies (Phils. 3:21). And we will grow eternally in knowledge and love of our infinite Creator, honoring Him with our talents and gifts.
Now, I can get excited about that!

The Word vs. Tradition

Isn't it amazing how far we can drift away from the Word of God when we stop reading His Word and start mouthing the traditions of men?
As I kept making one discovery after another in God's Prophetic Word that ran contrary to what I had been taught, I began to wonder about the origin of the doctrines I had learned. It didn't take me long to discover that the source was Greek philosophy.
The first attempt to mix the concepts of Greek philosophy with the teachings of God's Word came very early in the history of the Church. The attempt was called Gnosticism. The Gnostic heresy arose among the first Gentile converts because they tried to Hellenize the Scriptures; that is, they tried to make the Scriptures conform to the basic tenets of Greek philosophy.
The Greeks believed that the material universe, including the human body, was evil. This negative view of the creation was diametrically opposed to Hebrew thought, as revealed in the Bible. To the Hebrew mind, the world was created good (Genesis 1:31). And even though the goodness of the creation was corrupted by the sin of Man (Isaiah 24:5-6), the creation still reflects to some degree the glory of God (Psalms 19:1). Most important, the creation will someday be redeemed by God (Romans 8:18-23).

The Gnostic Heresy

When the first Gentiles were converted to the Gospel, their Greek-mind set immediately collided with some of the fundamental teachings of Christianity. For example, they wondered, "How could Jesus have come in the flesh if He was God? God is holy. How can He who is holy be encased in a body which is evil?"
In short, because they viewed the material universe as evil, they could not accept the Bible's teaching that God became incarnate in the flesh. Their response was to develop the Gnostic heresy that Jesus was a spirit being or phantom who never took on the flesh and therefore never experienced physical death.
This heresy is denounced strongly in Scripture. In 1 John 4:1-2 we are told to test those who seek our spiritual fellowship by asking them to confess "that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh."

The Augustinian Corruption

About 400 A.D. a remarkable theologian by the name of St. Augustine attempted to Hellenize what the Scriptures taught about end time events and life after death. Augustine was very successful in his attempt. His views were adopted by the Council of Ephesus in 431 A.D. and have remained Catholic dogma to this day.
The influence of Greek philosophy would not allow Augustine to accept what the Bible taught about life after death.
For example, the Bible says the saints will spend eternity in glorified bodies on a New Earth (Revelation 21:1-7). Such a concept was anathema to the Greek mind of Augustine. If the material world is evil, then he reasoned that the material world must cease to exist when the Lord returns. Augustine solved the problem by spiritualizing what the Bible said. He did this by arguing that the "new earth" of Revelation 21 is just symbolic language for Heaven.
Augustine's views are held by most professing Christians today, both Catholic and Protestant. That means that most of Christianity today teaches Greek philosophy rather than the Word of God when it comes to the realm of end time prophecy and life after death.

The Intermediate State

Some of the greatest confusion about life after death relates to the intermediate state between death and eternity. Some people advocate a concept called "soul sleep." They argue that both the saved and unsaved are unconscious after death until the return of Jesus.
But the Bible makes it crystal clear that our spirit does not lose its consciousness at death. The only thing that "falls asleep" is our body — in a symbolic sense. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:8 that he would prefer to be "absent from the body and at home with the Lord." In Philippians 1:21 he observes, "For me to live is Christ and to die is gain." He then adds in verse 23 that his desire is "to depart and be with Christ." Paul certainly did not expect to be in a coma after he died!
If then our spirits retain their consciousness after death, where do they go? The Bible teaches that prior to the resurrection of Jesus, the spirits of the dead went to a place called Hades ("Sheol" in the Old Testament). The spirits existed there consciously in one of two compartments, either Paradise or Torments. This concept is pictured graphically in Jesus' story of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31).
The Bible indicates that after the death of Jesus on the Cross, He descended into Hades and declared to all the spirits there His triumph over Satan (1 Peter 3:18-19; 4:6). The Bible also indicates that after His resurrection, when He ascended into Heaven, Jesus took Paradise with Him, transferring the spirits of dead saints from Hades to Heaven (Ephesians 4:8-9 and 2 Corinthians 12:1-4). The spirits of dead saints are thereafter pictured as being in Heaven before the throne of God (See Revelation 6:9 and 7:9).
The spirits of the righteous dead could not go directly to Heaven before the Cross because their sins were not forgiven. Instead, their sins were merely covered by their faith. The forgiveness of their sins had to await the shedding of the blood of Christ (Leviticus 17:11; Romans 5:8-9; Hebrews 9:22).

Events at Death

So, what happens when you die? If you are a child of God, your spirit is immediately ushered into the bosom of Jesus by His holy angels. Your spirit remains in Heaven, in the presence of God, until the time of the Rapture. When Jesus comes for His Church, He brings your spirit with Him, resurrects and glorifies your body, making it eternal in nature (1 Corinthians 15 and 1 Thessalonians 4). You reign with Christ for a thousand years and then live eternally with Him on the new earth (Revelation 20-22).
If you are not a child of God, then your spirit goes to Hades at your death. This is a place of torments where your spirit is held until the resurrection of the unrighteous which takes place at the end of the millennial reign of Jesus. At that resurrection you are taken before the Great White Throne of God where you are judged by your works and then condemned to the "second death," which is the "lake of fire" or Hell (Revelation 20:11-15).

Preparing for Eternity

One thing is certain: "Every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that 'Jesus is Lord!'" (Isaiah 45:23; Romans 14:11). Your eternal destiny will be determined by when you make this confession.
If it is made before you die, then you will spend eternity with God. If not, then you will make the confession at the Great White Throne judgment before you are cast into Hell. To spend eternity with God, your confession of Jesus as Lord must be made now.
"If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved"
— Romans 10:9  

Is this a "mainstream" view?  Billy Graham thinks so...."From my own study of the Bible, I’m convinced that when we die, we immediately enter the presence of the Lord. At some future time, we will be given new bodies, similar to the body Jesus had after His resurrection. But in the meantime, our souls are with the Lord, and we are fully conscious of being in His presence."

Link to Billy Graham comments 

Finally, some thoughts about the "second death" and that "lake of fire".  Scripture clearly speaks to "everlasting destruction" for unbelievers who fail to follow Christ. Their soul and spirit is annihilated and they fail to exist again forever---they are not all tormented for eternity. (The punishment is proportionate--just as you would expect from a just God.) Every person will acknowledge Christ, either before the "first death" while here on earth, or at the time of judgement after resurrection. In order to enter Paradise and achieve eternal life in Heaven, you must acknowledge and follow Christ while here on earth. He is the WAY.

Link to resource for further reading about "after we die". 

So, there may be some disagreement about what happens to those that do not accept Christ, there is little disagreement about what happens to "born again" Christians--At the death of our body, our spirit immediately enters into the presence of the Lord in Paradise. At some future time, when  Christ returns to Earth, we will be given new bodies and shall return with Christ to live on a new Earth with Christ forever. The essence of the Gospel or Good News is that we can have eternal life with God forever.  That is the reward for becoming a follower of Jesus Christ. 

In addition to the book written several years ago by Randy Alcorn, entitled simply "Heaven", a new book has just been written by David Jeremiah. 

David Jeremiah Official - Revealing Mysteries of Heaven

In my humble opinion, Dr. Jeremiah's book is the best summary of what God has promised to Christians in regards to Heaven and Eternal Life. 

 

 

"Tell me something that might save my life"

Really powerful lyrics and a catchy tune.

Christians are commanded to share the Good News (Gospel) which is that something that will save lives.

The Power of Peace Beyond All Understanding

Team RFC @ iRacing "Racers for Christ" has a special rule:

"In the event of an on-track collision, other than being hit from behind by another driver, Members agree to send a PM (Private Message) to the other driver/s saying he/she is “Sorry for their part in the incident”. This applies no matter who is more “at fault”. We believe that almost all collisions with cars that are beside or in front of us are “avoidable”."  

http://teamrfc-at-iracing.blogspot.com/

Team Member Terry Hallick of Canada recently sent this PM:

 "Hi Donald,

Just a quick note about apologizing for contact in a race. I am having lots of fun with this. In each race where I have been involved in some form of contact I review the replay after, get the fellow competitors name and send them a message.

I think I have sent 6 so far and 5/6 have responded all positive and the 1/6 did not respond at all. In the 5 reply's they have all been surprised by the message and the fact that I reached out to say I was sorry.

For myself I know it has changed me and thinking of what Jesus would do it makes sense that regardless of who was at fault we forgive them and show compassion. It is really an empowering feeling to let that stuff go and show our fellow racers we can do that.

I have to be honest I was a little concerned with that when I joined RFC, but it has been the one area I find really cool to do and I actually look forward to sending the message and getting the reply."

 Here is my reply:

"Thank you for sharing your experience. Being an Ambassador and Representative of Christ has many rewards in this world and the next. A peace beyond understanding is one of the rewards in this world. People will see that in you and some will come to Christ because of your actions. Being an example is being salt and light. Great job and God Bless. Here is a link to an article that expands on this message.


http://www.gotquestions.org/peace-that-passes-all-understanding.html

Blessings,
Donald "

And, Terry's awesome response:

"I believe it is God working through you, RFC, myself, and sim racing as a means to pass along his message. I'm honored he used me! "

 I encourage you to read the entire article from gotquestions link above. There is one part I think is really special:

"The believer who places his or her full confidence in a loving God and is thankful in every circumstance will possess a supernatural peace. An inner calm will dominate the heart. The faithful believer will know peace—his heart and mind are “guarded” by it—despite the tempest raging without. No one, especially those outside of Christ, will be able to fathom that peace. To most, it will remain a mystery how someone can be so serene in the midst of turmoil."

To me, this Peace Beyond All Understanding is one of the many great rewards for being a "follower of Christ" while here on earth. It provides a power and strength to deal with about anything that life throws at you. It is also a characteristic that will attract others to the Gospel.  I have never met a man or woman who did not seek this peace and power--even though many will not admit to or even recognize they are seeking it.

Don't underestimate the positive effects of reaching out to those who you come in contact with (literally) while racing and taking at least some responsibility. My experience is similar to Terry's. I have sent out many "sorry" messages. Most responses I have gotten indicate surprise and gratitude for my message. Only one was sour enough to tell me I was still an idiot and that he intended to protest me. (He never did.) 
 ____________________________________________________________


Since we are on the subject of releasing anger, not seeking retribution, forgiveness, humility and reaching out to others in love that our simple rule represents, it is also useful to emphasize that this obligation does not need to subject us to abuse or false accusations.

I personally was accused of causing an accident on the Las Vegas oval. I had just passed second place car and was in P2 on the inside of the leader going into the turn. The leader was high on the track and I could see him coming down to the apex and we were running almost the same speed. At first I thought he would stay high and we would run thru the corner side by side, but it became apparent he was going for the inside lane. I lifted to avoid hitting him and the P3 car slammed into the back of my car. The P3 guy (a long term IndyCar oval driver) had a temper tantrum, sent me a PM, essentially accusing me of being an idiot for lifting and that he could have never predicted that I would lift and slow in the corner.   After carefully reviewing the replay, I responded calmly that I was quite sure that I had no responsibility for him running into the back of my car and that I would not apologize for maintaining "reasonable" racing room to the guy who pulled in front of me. (I did not say it, but the P3 guy very easily could have driven around my right side without contact.)

In another instance, on the Team RFC @ iRacing webpage, an unidentified driver posted a message accusing a Team Member of ruining his race and not sending an apology.

 BeaZSeptember 25, 2015 at 10:30 AM

"A) In the event of an on-track collision, other than being hit from behind by another driver, Members agree to send a PM (Private Message) to the other driver/s saying he/she is “Sorry for their part in the incident”. This applies no matter who is more “at fault”. We believe that all collisions with cars that are beside or in front of us are “avoidable”.

I had my race ruined by a 'team member' in the IndyCar winter series yesterday. Not so much as a hint of an apology."

Here is my response:

WS Wealth Managers Inc.October 12, 2015 at 8:39 AM
"We take our rules seriously. Since you did not identify yourself or the specific race on 9/24 at Michigan, we investigated Team members' activities and found one instance where there was considerable contact and assumed that is what you refer to as "I had my race ruined ". Generally Team members save replays and in this case we have carefully reviewed the replay from several perspectives and find no justification for an apology.

We have added the word "almost" to our comment: "We believe that almost all collisions with cars that are beside or in front of us are 'avoidable'."

There are some instances where a car beside or ahead of us loses control and that loss of control results in "unavoidable" contact. There are also instances where the car beside actually drives into us--this is again considered "unavoidable". (Unavoidable at least by us.)

We are aware that our "message" as conveyed by our Sponsor's logo subjects us to a special scrutiny in regards to being accused of hypocrisy and we are quite vigilant in guarding against any hint of that. We do our best but remind that Christianity is not a museum for perfectly righteous people, but rather a hospital for those who often fall short of the ideal. Christians are seldom perfect people, even though they try their best to be.

We regret that you became involved in this incident as a premature ending of anyone's race because of car contact is always disappointing. But, we find your accusations that a Team RFC member "ruined" your race, and/or that a Team Member failed to follow our rules, to be without merit"

So please remember that setting a good example is important. It gives you PEACE and POWER. It also helps others in that it makes them wonder if they should get some of what you have--that is the message of the Gospel. A message that Christians are commanded to share. And finally, be aware that being "MEEK" does not mean "WEAK" but rather "HUMBLE". When you are falsely accused, it is OK to stand up for yourself with facts and a Peace Beyond All Understanding.

"Unexpected Celebrities Sharing their Christian Faith

Maybe being a Christian is now "Cool"

Savannah Guthrie-Today Show


Justin Bieber-"I want to be like Jesus."

Justin Bieber


If they are sincere--this is a welcome trend!

Discussion about "Success" for Christians

One of the missions of my work as a Chaplain in the auto racing community is to get the message out that "Success" and the "Joy" that comes from it for Christians is very different from "Success" as the Secular World defines it.  The "Pursuit of Happiness" is not about envy and beating the other guy, but rather it is about seeking and receiving God's approval and delight through a relationship with God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Here are excerpts from two great articles published by two great organizations:


"Write Your Own Success Story"

Link to Write Your Own Success article:
http://christianfellowshipbreakfast.org/resources/success-story

"We live in a society that is worshipping success. The sad thing is that most people do not know what success really is. They confuse success with popularity, or wealth, or position. If these are the essentials for success, then Jesus Christ was the greatest failure who ever walked this earth! No, success from God’s point of view goes a lot deeper and reaches a lot farther. It is not a shallow thing, but the result of the right kind of life. In this familiar parable, Matthew 25:14-30, Jesus answers three important questions about success; and in answering these questions, He tells us how to succeed."

"I. What is success?

At least three factors are involved in success, and we see them in this parable: the will of the Master, the abilities of the workers, and the talents. Now, please note that Jesus makes a distinction between abilities and talents. He gave the men the talents on the basis of their abilities. We often equate talent and ability, but in this parable Jesus makes a distinction.
We are born with abilities, and certainly nobody can take credit for the abilities he has! Our United States Constitution declares that “all men are created equal,” but when it comes to abilities, this is not true. Before the law, and before God, all men are equal; but compared with each other, all men are different. We all have different abilities.

What, then, do the talents represent? Opportunities to use the abilities. The man with much ability is given more opportunities to invest them; the man with fewer abilities is given -fewer opportunities. But the Master rewards his men fairly: both of the men doubled the talents, and each one received the same commendation and reward. This leads us to a suggested definition of success: Success for the Christian is taking advantage of our God-given opportunities to use our God-given abilities to fulfill the will of God. And in fulfilling the will of God, we will bring glory to God, good to others, and blessing to ourselves.

Life then, for the Christian is a series of wonderful opportunities for fulfillment-fulfilling the will of God, and fulfilling the purposes for which we were born, and born again. If we are doing our own will, we are not successful. If we are neglecting opportunities, we are not successful. True success, for the Christian, is fulfilling the will of God by taking advantage of our God-given opportunities to use our God-given abilities for the good of others and the glory of God."




 "Are you obsessed with success?"

Link to "Are you Obsessed with Success" article:
http://fervr.net/teen-life/are-you-obsessed-with-success

 "The Bible has some humbling words for people who want to win at everything."

"The Bible on success

This is a really humbling verse:

Then I observed that most people are motivated to success because they envy their neighbors. But this, too, is meaningless—like chasing the wind (Ecclesiastes 4:4)

Read that again. What does this verse say about our real motivation for succes?
More times than not, we do what we do, in an attempt to be “the best”. You see what others have, you envy it and you want it too … or something even better.

Students do this with grades, athletics and all kinds of extra curricular activities. Adults do this with parenting, church attendance, money, and their gardens.

They compare themselves to others, decide they aren't as good as someone else, and then attempt to surpass their peers in some way."

Anti-Christian Atmosphere in a Post-Christian World

Recently, we formed a racing team for iRacing competition, and dubbed it Team RFC-Racers for Christ.   To recruit new members, we placed an announcement and invitation in several iRacing forums organized according to iRacing Series.  To say the response was a surprise would be an understatement.

The good news is that we gained 12 new members in the first week.  The bad news is that several people used the forum to mock or condemn religion in general and Christianity in particular.  A few proudly announced they were Atheists and rhetorically asked “Can we join the team?”  In one forum for the Skip Barber 2000 Series, several posters decided to make the thread a place for a debate about religion. (One responder displayed a rainbow graphic and the words “#LoveWins” in his post signature—perhaps his deal was that Christianity threatened the Gay Agenda.)  I requested that iRacing lock the thread to avoid continued strife.

The incident reminded me of my experience as the Chaplain for the SCCA Washington DC Region. There, our effort to establish a regular non-denominational Invocation before the racing day began was vigorously opposed by the “Freedom From Religion” crowd.  Also, several participants openly objected to us playing music and singing as part of our outdoor Sunday Chapel worship service.

Clearly, in the world, and in the racing “community” there is not only ambivalence toward religion and Christianity, but outright opposition. 

Unlike some, I would not characterize our present atmosphere as one where Christians fear persecution…yet.  (At least in the America’s and Europe.) I would rather state that the relative dominance of the Christian Biblical World View in the America’s and Europe has been substantially diminished.  People are not yet opposed to private religious belief, but many are opposed to any public display of religion. In other words, it is OK to pray in private and “be religious” at church, but “keep your religion to yourself”.

This attitude creates a serious problem for adherents of Christianity, as well as adherents of Orthodox Judaism and Islam.  These major world religions require their adherents to adopt certain behaviors and a particular world view.  

The Holy Scripture of Christianity teaches that Christ (God Himself as Man) commissioned the Disciples and the Church to “go out into all the world, preaching the Gospel and make Disciples of all the Nations”.  The command was not to “go to church and worship in private” but rather to “go out” and “preach the Gospel”.  Now, the exact actions associated with going out and preaching are not described exactly, but true Christians cannot hide their belief in the “good news” that God Loves Mankind and in Christ He has presented a “way” to achieve Salvation and Eternal Life.  (Who would want to keep that message a secret anyway?)

So how did we arrive in this “Post-Christian” world? Probably the best book that addresses this is “The God Who Is There” by Francis A. Schaeffer. He posits that Europe crossed below a “Line of Despair” in the 1800’s, followed by the America’s in the 1900’s.  Schaeffer writes that man’s despair “arises from the abandonment of the hope of a unified answer for knowledge and life.” 

Since Adam and Eve, Man has been in a state of rebellion against God. Christians teach that Christ provides a way for all men to return to the state God originally intended—in fellowship with Him,  tending to his “garden” here on Earth. Over a period of 1500 years, almost all of Europe adopted Christianity and it become the dominant religion in Europe and the America’s—until the 1800’s. (Many European flags still display the Christian Cross.) Governments were established based on natural “rights” endowed by the Creator.

Up until the 1800’s, Science was the quest for knowledge about God’s Creation.  Then, various philosophers began to question the “absolute” nature of knowledge. Darwin theorized that man was an “random accident” of Nature. Mankind’s urge to stand “equal to God” actually led many to ignore God and even deny the existence of Him. Many began to claim that Mankind had evolved and did not need God or even the idea of Him anymore. 

The Christian Biblical Worldview is that Almighty God created the World. He also created Mankind “in his image”.  Since all men are “image-bearers” of God, they all have certain inalienable rights and deserve a certain respect and dignity.  Morality is not “man-made” but rather “God-made” and therefore absolute.

The philosophers that questioned this absolute nature of knowledge promoted the concept of “average” or synthesis forming from two relativistic, but opposing points of view.  What has developed over time is that morality is what the “average” person in “society” thinks is “acceptable”.  Man’s continued rebellion against God in the modern world had become a demand for complete freedom to do whatever man wants, “as long as it does not hurt anybody”. 

Christians started out as a very small group in a very secular world. (The Roman Empire was about as secular a world as one could possibly imagine.) The power of the Christian message does not require dominance. In a secular world, the Great Commission demands that we be “salt and light” and set an example for others to follow.  An example that is so “attractive” that others begin to join us. 

Perhaps the best course of action is to show what we are for rather than just what we are against---to be less condemning and judgmental of others and more positive—loving one another and displaying a joy that can only come from a personal relationship with a Triune God. And, proclaiming to others that you are a Christian is part of the program.

"Don't shine so others can see you. Shine so that through you, others can see Him."   C. S. Lewis

Donald Wayne Strout, Chaplain

PS.  Outside of Europe and the America's, Christians are arguably the most persecuted group on Earth.  In many parts of the world, Christians are put to death for stating "Jesus is Lord".  Christians should be aware that being a minority can be quite dangerous.  History teaches that Atheistic States have seen Christianity as a threat to their power--where the politically correct man-made moral beliefs of the majority (or the State) conflict with the God-made laws supported by Christians. There is already one European country where it is estimated that there are more Atheists than Theists today. 

Rebellion against, and/or denial of God's existence, with the freedom to set your own rules, can only produce "temporary" happiness and perhaps only for the young. As people's thoughts turn toward the future (for example as parents concerned for their children) and they approach the reality of death, the "despair" defined by Schaeffer begins to surface. Without God and the Gospel in our lives, we "know" that "something" is missing. 

The Christian Biblical Worldview is the only worldview that answers man's basic and most important questions: Why am I Here?, Where did I come From?, What is my Future?  Paul's letter to the Romans states that the existence of God is obvious and those that refuse to believe essentially "suppress and deny the Truth".  It is time for Christians to declare that Science does not prove that God does not exist--to the contrary, Scientific discovery confirms God's existence.  It is time for Christians to declare that true eternal happiness comes only from a personal relationship with Almighty God through Jesus Christ--following the two most important commandments: Love God, and Love Others--and carrying out the Great Commission of preaching the Gospel by living our lives in a way so that others see the "results" of our beliefs.

Apologetics is not about apology---it is based on the Greek word for "defense".  As Christians we are required to "proclaim and defend" the TRUTH through the way we live our lives.

One important caution:  Here is a quote from Brennan Manning.

"The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today are Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips and then walk out the door and deny him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable."