Revealed Religion

Recently the news has featured several debates on television between those who are atheists and those who are Christian. Two of these have been notable to me: one between former television star Kirk Cameron and evangelist Ray Comfort versus two atheists and another between Al Sharpton and author Christopher Hitchens. Both essentially argued for the existence of a Creator. Cameron and Comfort before the debate claimed to have proof of God's existence without the necessity of faith. Their argument quickly fell apart, however, as Comfort held up pictures to the audience and asked them to imagine the creator of the pictures who could not been seen but, nevertheless, still existed. The opponents quickly seized upon that argument by asking the question, "Who then created God?" Afterward, according to the debate moderator, both Cameron and Comfort looked exhausted from the debate and admitted that they underestimated the height of emotion that would be present in the audience against Christianity.

The debate between Sharpton and Hitchens was likely a bit calmer until Sharpton stated that real believers would not vote for a man like Mitt Romney, a Mormon. Later, Sharpton waffled on the statement and tried to explain he was really referring to Hitchings as the unbeliever, not Romney.

It seems to me that debates like this can never be truly won. As a Christian, I believe that my theology comes primarily from revealed religion. The heart of the definition of revealed religion is that "revelation" as a word means "unveiling." A deity unveils to the believer certain ideas, and the body of these ideas then becomes a sacred text--in the case of Christianity, the Bible. I also believe revealed religion consists of being able to look upon creation in order to know that a higher power exists. In addition, I believe in the idea of "prevenient" grace, which is defined as grace that comes before human decision. Infant baptism might be seen in this light; God gives His grace to this child, yet the decision to accept Him or reject Him personally will come at a later date.

As our book club completed its discussion last week of Gilead, the concept is also mentioned near the end of the text. For the minister, John Ames, God has given him closure on several troublesome events in his life (the fact that he cannot leave his wife and son any material goods, only sermons; the reconciliation to the idea of his upcoming death of heart disease; and the forgiveness and acceptance of an old friend's son). It is at this point that John Ames wills himself to sleep, knowing that God will keep him in perfect peace.

In short, we Christians, in my opinion, will never be able intellectually to make the argument for the existence of God. If God has not revealed Himself to an individual through nature, the Holy Spirit, and prevenient grace, He can never be rationally explained to an unbeliever.