Intellectual Christianity

Intellectual Christianity. Is there really such a thing?

I didn’t used to think so. I thought Christians willingly turned off their brains when they entered a church. I believed that they deliberately avoided the hard questions about their religion because they didn’t dare question their faith—questions like:

Why would God torture unbelievers eternally in Hell just for being skeptical? What purpose does that serve? How does that help anyone? Is God simply a sadistic monster?

If God just wants people to believe in him, why does he hide? Why doesn’t he show himself—a  big, powerful, unmistakable demonstration of his might and majesty? Then people would believe. They would almost have to.

Why does God let so many bad things happen? Does he not care? Does he really hate us? Or is he simply powerless to do anything about it?

My beliefs about the intellectual vacuity of Christians was reinforced in college when I asked my fellow students about these and other questions, and the standard reply I received was, “You just have to believe.”

But when I met a Christian who had answers to those questions—legitimate, rational answers (follow the links above for a sampling)[1]—I gained a new respect for the intellectual side of Christianity.

And when I later became a Christian, I learned that some of the smartest people who have ever lived have been Christians—scholars, intellectuals, prolific writers—people like Saul of Tarsus (also known as Paul), Origen, Tertullian, Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, Martin Luther, John Wesley, Alexander Campbell, Dwight Moody, C.S. Lewis, Henry “Watchman” Nee, Dietrich Bonhoeffer.[2]

And I also realized something else—atheists, agnostics, and skeptics are ignoring or avoiding one of the most rational, intellectual proofs of the truth of Christianity: the resurrection.

Oh, I can hear them now. “The resurrection is a myth. Things like that don’t really happen.”

Really? The followers of Jesus suffered, and many of them died, for this “myth.” How many of us would suffer or die for something we knew wasn’t true?

And not only did the early Christians suffer and die for this “myth,” but they also convinced tens of thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands, of sensible people that it was true.

Even one of Christianity’s fiercest opponents, who persecuted the early church, became convinced that this “myth” was really true. He was in fact so convinced that he traveled all over Cyprus, Asia Minor, and Greece spreading the story of this “myth,” despite being persecuted, imprisoned, and ultimately killed, for it. (I’m speaking of Paul, also known as Saul of Tarsus.)

If you are not a believer, then please do yourself a favor and study the evidence for the resurrection of Jesus Christ (follow the link above for a brief introduction to it). And ask yourself why Jesus’s followers would tell this story about his resurrection if it wasn’t true. Why would they make up such a lie? What did they have to gain? Because if it wasn’t a lie, then Christianity is absolutely true. And click here and here to see why that is so important.

[1]. I discuss these and other questions in much greater detail in my first book, Beyond Blind Faith (copyright 2017, 2019). You will find a description of the book, a table of contents, chapter excerpts, and even one complete chapter under Don’s Books, at the link above.

[2]. You can read about these and other faithful Christians in my book, Christ’s Faithful Servants (copyright 2023). You will find a description of the book, a table of contents, chapter excerpts, and even one complete chapter under Don’s Books, at the link above.