The Evidence of Pentecost and the Growth of the Early Church

The Evidence of Pentecost and the Growth of the Early Church

The history of the early Church is amazing. I use this term, early Church as the normal one for historians and recognize that we are speaking of a mostly Gentile movement, though Messianic Judaism continued for some time in Israel and Syria.

I here describe the Church before Constantine (316 ff.) and the Council of Nicaea (325 A. D.).

By the end of the sixth decade of the first century, Paul the Apostle could say that the Gospel had spread to all the world and was growing and triumphing everywhere. (Col. 1:23) When Paul speaks of the whole world, he means the Roman ruled world, though there is evidence of spread even to India. The book of Acts gives us an accurate account of the development in Israel through chapter ten and then in the nations beginning in Acts 12 and 13. Antioch was the center of what became a movement of faith among the Gentiles, though Paul first began his presentation in the synagogues. There was a Jewish background in the synagogues of the Mediterranean world that enabled an easier understanding of the Gospel. How do we account for this? It can only be accounted for by the evidence of the resurrection of Yeshua from the dead, the event of the outpouring of the Spirit at Pentecost, and the amazing confirming signs and wonders done in the name of Yeshua, Jesus. The Book of Acts describes this well so that powerful healing came even from the shadow of Peter (Acts 5:15, 16) and the handkerchiefs of Paul (Acts 19:12).

The early Church fathers. bishops of the cities, present a Church that continues to grow by leaps and bounds. Signs and wonders continued. It was mostly organized in-house gatherings. As of yet, there were hardly any buildings for large gatherings. However, it was not only the miraculous but the quality of the lives of the believers, highly moral, but filled with love, reaching out to all. In the third century, maybe 1/3 of the population of the Roman Empire died of plagues. The response of pagans to their sick was to flee and simply leave them to fend for themselves and die. The Christians took care of their own sick and nursed them. They also nursed the pagans (polytheists) who were sick. As a result of prayers for healing and caring for the sick, their percent of survival was much higher. Thus, by the end of the third century in the Roman world, the battle of Christianity with Paganism was largely won. People came to faith in Yeshua in droves. You can read the inspiring story in Rodney Stark’s The Triumph of Christianity. There were other Christian behaviors that won the day: caring for infants given over to infanticide by exposure, caring for the crippled, the poor, the sick in general and so much more. They were disciples of the teaching of Yeshua.

In 316 A. D., the emperor Constantine became a Christian. People debate whether his conversion was genuine or not. They also debate whether it was a good thing or a bad thing since a generation later, the State Church system came into being. However, we can say he saw the “handwriting on the wall.” He certainly knew he could not defeat them, so he joined them so that the Christian faith would unify his rule.

The story of the triumph of Christianity over Paganism is a story that only makes sense based on supernatural power and on the basis that the Biblical faith is true.

The Right of First Refusal

Reading the New Covenant Scriptures in the light of the Hebrew Bible gives us a clear understanding of the priority of to whom we should first proclaim the Good News.

In the Hebrew Bible, page after page tells us that God’s heart is for the poor, dispossessed, widow, orphan, disabled, and imprisoned. We find this clearly in the ministry of Yeshua. He proclaimed the Gospel of the Kingdom, first of all, to such people who were the most open to the Gospel. In Luke 4:18, He quotes from Isaiah 61 which already summarized the priority of the pre-New Covenant prophets and looked forward to the coming of Yeshua. He said, “The Spirit of the LORD is upon me because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor, deliverance to the captives, the recovery of sight to the blind, and to proclaim the acceptable year of our Lord.” The Isaiah 61 context is generally understood as having the Year of Jubilee in the background. The intention of the Year of Jubilee was to give a reset to society, a new start for the population. Debts were canceled and the land was returned to the original families of ownership. Intergenerational wealth disparity was thus mitigated through land ownership and redistribution. The coming of Yeshua provided and provides a new start for the power of living in and from the Kingdom of God. It provides a new opportunity and certainty of success for all who embrace it. The Good News, as Dallas Willard explains, is again the “the invitation to live in and from the Kingdom of God.” As such, by the power of the Spirit, God provides a good purpose and destiny now and forever for those who enter in through the death and resurrection of Yeshua, and who receive the Holy Spirit as God’s powerful presence within.

Scholarship has also come to a much better understanding of the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7 (the plain in Luke 6). The beatitudes (or those who blessed) are not a prescription of how we are to be blessed. It is rather an announcement of a great reversal of conditions for the marginalized and mistreated. Blessed are the poor, those who mourn, the meek, and the persecuted is the announcement that their difficult situation and marginalization is no longer determinative for their lives. Those who are poor have Kingdom supernatural supply, those who mourn are delivered from mourning. Mourning no longer dominates them for the comfort of the Kingdom has come. So also, the meek are no longer trampled upon, but they have God’s power and inherit the earth. This is very well laid out in Dallas Willard’s The Divine Conspiracy and in N. T. Wright’s Jesus and the Victory of God.

When the priority of the Church is according to the model of Yeshua, signs and wonders more readily follow to confirm the Gospel. The pattern of Yeshua and the Disciples is repeated. As with Yeshua, some with wealth will also be reached as they see the power of the Gospel lifting, healing and restoring. Yes, the Gospel will reach beyond the poor to the wealthy as it did in the ministry of Paul.

The Bible presents us with a first right of refusal also for the Jewish people. Romans 1:16 tells us that the “Gospel is the power of God first to the Jew and also to the Greek.” The people of the covenants, therefore, have this very special right because they were and are God’s covenant people, who preserved the Covenants, the Scriptures, and have an irrevocable election and calling (Romans 11:29). Therefore, we see Paul going first to the synagogue, not only because it was the easiest place for him to start in the Mediterranean world, but because of the first right of refusal. “It was necessary for the Gospel to be spoken to you first (Acts 13:46). This continues throughout Paul’s ministry in Acts and is reaffirmed in Romans 1:16 and Romans 11:13, 14 where Paul charges the Gentiles to embrace their role in making Israel jealous since their reconciliation leads to living from the dead. (11:15)

Was this right of refusal only for that generation? Did that right end after the destruction of the Temple? Or is it generation to generation until our day? Yes, it continues, again since Israel is still chosen and elect and her salvation leads to the Second Coming of Yeshua. The priority of the Gospel to the Jews must be embraced.

If the Church had loved the Jewish people and given them their due and if she had given the Gospel first to the poor and downtrodden, the history of recent times would have been very different. The Church would have more credibility today. Let us restore credibility by restoring the priority for spreading the Gospel.

Yeshua’s Death, Resurrection, and Pentecost (Shavuot)

The capstone or climax of the life of Yeshua was his death and resurrection. This death and resurrection led to a public event, an outpouring of the Spirit with parallels to the Sinai event when the Torah was given to Moses. It is important to understand that all of the New Testament documents and testify to his crucifixion and resurrection after which He revealed himself to the disciples. These documents present independent testimony to his death and resurrection. These documents were then brought together afterward and formed the New Covenant Scriptures or the New Testament. There is Matthew, Mark (that early tradition tells us was based on the preaching of Peter), Luke, John, Paul, the author of Hebrews, James (Jacob), Peter, and Jude.

The four Gospels present us with an amazing account of his crucifixion and the other New Testament documents agree with the testimony; all given in the first century. What do the Gospels say about this? They tell us that Yeshua celebrated Passover with his disciples and instituted the Lord’s Supper in connection to that Passover. They tell us that he afterward left for the Garden of Gethsemane to pray, was arrested, badly treated by both the Jewish police and then the Roman soldiers. He was judged guilty by a representation of the Sanhedrin. Then the Romans agreed to give into the will of the Jewish religious leaders and to have him crucified as a zealot in rebellion against Rome. We are then told that they died in submission to God and in a spirit of forgiveness. Supernatural signs took place, darkness in mid-day, an earthquake, and the curtain of the Temple was torn in two. Then a rich man, Joseph of Arimathea, received his body for burial. The Gospels then describe the disillusioned and fearful disciples. Whenever the rest of the New Testament documents speak about his crucifixion and burial they agree with these accounts.

Then on the first day of the week, the Feast of First-Fruits, early in the morning, women first discover that He was risen from the dead. His body was not in the Tomb and did not undergo decomposition. He then had a supernatural Body. He appeared to the smaller group of disciples, but I Cor. 15 adds that he appeared to 500 at the same time, most of whom were alive when Paul wrote this amazing chapter, in the 40s A. D., soon after the events.

The historian of the Roman Empire period, A. Sherwin White, tells us that the events of the New Testament and the story of Yeshua are the best documented or attested of any historical figure from that era, by far more than Julius Caesar.

The Book of Acts, written by Luke, who professes his desire to provide accurate historical accounts, presents the narrative that Yeshua appeared and taught on the Kingdom off and on for 40 days after his resurrection. He then brought his Disciples up to the Mount of Olives, and after giving them instructions to wait together in Jerusalem until they would receive a great outpouring of the Holy Spirit. From there they would be his witnesses. In Acts 2 we read of this great outpouring of the Spirit. When the Spirit was poured out, the larger group of disciples (120) were able to speak in several languages they had never learned and to proclaim the Gospel on the Temple Mount to the multitude of Jews from other nations who spoke other languages. They had come up to Jerusalem for the Feast of Shavuot (Pentecost). This was an astonishing miracle where Jews from many nations heard the Gospel. Thousands repented and were immersed in water in the name of Yeshua. It is likely that many stayed in Jerusalem, and in no time many thousands were now in the house gatherings in Jerusalem overseen by the Disciples (Apostles).

There is no parallel to these accounts in any nation or culture outside of Israel. It is astonishing. However, how do we weigh the credibility of the New Testament witness? Already, in the pages of the New Testament, we read that the Apostles went from fear to become bold witnesses after Pentecost. The earliest post-biblical Church history tells us that all of the 12 died as martyrs for their faith. John lived to old age and was exiled on the island of Patmos. The testimony of the early Church Fathers confirms the truth of the martyrdom of the Apostles. Clement of Rome, Polycarp (who knew John), and Ignatius are three early witnesses.

In conclusion, we can be confident that the New Testament presents an accurate account of the life, death, and resurrection of Yeshua plus Pentecost and that we can base our lives on the Gospel and the teaching of Yeshua and the Apostles who gave us the New Testament.

Evidence from the Life of Yeshua; Part I: Fulfilled Prophecy

The Four Gospels provide the historical picture narrative of Yeshua’s ministry on the earth. Matthew and Mark include birth stories and Luke one story from when He was 12 years old. The summary case for the historical trustworthiness of these Gospels will be in another later essay. At this point, I want to assert that the Gospels were all written during the period when the Apostles who were his disciples were still alive. They claimed to be eyewitnesses.

The Gospels report the story of a man who did amazing miracles both in large numbers and with a quality that could not be explained by natural causes. They also report a way of love and teaching on ethics or right and wrong behavior that was full of love and went beyond anything that was ever taught before, even beyond the Hebrew Scriptures. The Gospels also report that Yeshua fulfilled the prophecies of the Messiah from the Hebrew Bible. Some of these prophecies are clear predictions and others are a fulfillment of types Types foreshadow the Messiah. For example, the King of Israel, Solomon, is described in Psalm 72 in ways that go well beyond what Solomon could fulfill. The Psalm in several verses only can be literally true of the Messiah King. However, other texts are amazingly predictive and literal. These fulfilments have a clear supernatural character, but the former also give us evidence.

The most amazing text on the future Messiah is Isaiah 53. This text is the climax of a series of texts on the Servant of the LORD; Isaiah 42, 49, 50, and 53. As the prediction of the final and everlasting ruling King of Isaiah 2 and 11, He is the one who is a banner for the nations, not only for Israel. He is a light to the nations in Isaiah 42 and will rule over all nations as in the earlier text. It is easy to see that this one is the same person. Yet as we progress through these texts, we find suffering as well, the suffering comes to its climax. The Messiah King in these texts is called the Servant of the LORD. Israel in other texts is also called the servant of the Lord, but here the Messiah is the representative King of Israel, the ultimate Servant. In Isaiah 53 we find that his people, the Jewish people, do not receive the report of who He is. He is, “Despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.” His death is a sacrifice for our sins, for He was, “Wounded for our transgressions, and bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement for our peace was upon him.” “All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned everyone to his own way and that LORD has laid upon Him the iniquity of us all.” We find that he was numbered with transgressors in his death. Yeshua died between two criminals. Yet, the text implies resurrection for “He will see his offspring. He will prolong his days.” He will be satisfied with what He accomplished. This text alone has convinced many to believe in Yeshua.

However, there are other texts that are remarkable. Perhaps the most remarkable is Daniel 9:24 ff. In these texts, weeks of years, by the understanding of almost all, 490 years. A decree goes forth and after the time allotted the Messiah is cut off. The calculation takes us to the time of Yeshua’s death. This is why some Rabbis wondered if the Messiah had already come. After his death, a prince would come and destroy the city and the sanctuary. Daniel was writing when the First Temple had been destroyed and the second had not yet been built. Now he says that the Messiah will die before the second Temple is destroyed. This happened in 70 A. D. some 40 years after the death and resurrection of Yeshua. Yeshua predicted this destruction toward the end of his life on earth.

Micha 5:2 tells us that the Messiah, the one who is to rule Israel forever, will be born in Bethlehem. There are many other amazing texts. Zechariah 9:9 tells us that the Messiah Prince will ride into Jerusalem on a donkey. Zechariah also indicates his death, for when the Shepherd is smitten, the sheep will be scattered. (Zech. 13). Yet, it also says that someday the Jewish people will look on Him who they have pierced, and mourn for him. The picture of Joshua, the high priest in Zechariah 4, is a picture of the Messiah. He has the same name.

There are whole books written in much detail on the fulfillment of prophecy. They give strong evidence for our faith in Yeshua.

The Old Testament Against its Environment

When one studies the religions and cultures of the world, one finds that the Torah (the first five books of Moses) and the rest of the Hebrew Bible presents us with views about God, the world, and the way Israel was to conduct their lives that is in many respects a great contrast to the nations, cultures, and religions of that time. I have taken this title from a book written in the late 1940s by G. Ernest Wright of Harvard. More recently the late Rabbi Reuven Hammer, a leader in Conservative Judaism wrote a parallel book, The Torah Revolution. The standards of the Hebrew Bible are not as elevated as the fulfillment stage in the teaching of Yeshua and the Apostles, but much is universal and forever. Those who argue for the truth of our faith, say that it is hard to account for or explain the Hebrew Bible unless it came from beyond Israel and from God since it went so far beyond the cultures of the day. It is not just a product of the gradual advance or evolution of culture. Many values that we take for granted today had their origins in Hebrew Bible. Here is a very brief summary.

First, is the idea that every human being is created in the image of the one Creator God, maker of heaven and earth. (Gen. 1:26). The assertion of one God who is overall and the rejection of the worship of all other gods is amazing and without parallel. That every human being has great worth and basic equal worth is also something that the ancient world did not believe. This great worth is re-affirmed in Genesis 9. Anyone who murders a human being is to be put to death. This idea of the worth of each human being is the foundation of the progress of human rights. This is the origin of the idea in the United States Declaration of Independence, that all human beings are created equal and that rights come from the Creator.

The unique status of Israel as God’s light bearer, the people who carry his revelation, is unique. That a nation was formed from slaves who escaped the nation that suppressed them is so totally unique. They escaped by signs and miracles from God under the leadership of Moses. This nation is then given God’s instruction including his Law. The Law is so unique, amazing.

The Torah requires the King to be subject to the law whereas in other societies at the time the King was the law and above the law. The Torah provides for the office of the prophet that holds the King and the nation accountable to God’s Law (Deut. 18). There is a division of power of prophet, priest, and king. No other society had such a clear balance of power. The courts of Israel were to be based on evidence and the testimony of witnesses. Trial by chance ordeal was precluded. The rich and poor were to be treated favorably. There was to be equality before the courts. Judges who received bribes were condemned. The Law elevated women. Marriage was a covenant with mutual responsibilities. A false husband who made false accusations against a woman for immorality was to be punished and had to provide for that wife for a lifetime. (Num. 5) Women could receive an inheritance and had rights to be heard by the courts.

The Torah and then the prophets proclaim God as one who identifies with the weak and marginalized, the widow, the orphan, the handicapped, and the poor. The society is charged with showing special care for these and will be punished if they do not do so. Other societies discarded their marginalized people.

The Torah provides many laws to make the economic sphere humane. First is the keeping of time by weeks. No other society kept time by weeks. Every seventh day was a day for rest, worship, renewal with God and with one another. The seventh day was a memorial of God creating the universe in six defined periods called days (yomim) and rested on the seventh day. Human days in Israel are to maintain a pattern that shows that truth. The seventh day is a weekly memorial of the Exodus from Egypt. No other society had a seven-day pattern with a Sabbath. The seven-day pattern in the world today came from the Torah.

In addition, economic arrangements limited slavery to 6 years or less. Every seventh year all slaves were freed, and all debts canceled. The slave was to be sent out with provision to make a new start in life. The land was to lie fallow and to be renewed. God promises to provide by making the sixth-year harvest abundant and to provide abundance in what grows by itself. This required Israelites to exercise faith in God. Even In the United States today, reflecting this law, one can declare bankruptcy every seven years and be freed of debt.

However, the Jubilee year was the most amazing (Lev. 25). Primary wealth was held in land in the ancient world. Some could get rich on trade, but land was more primary. In other societies, the rich controlled the land generation after generation. The rest of the population worked the land at an almost slave level. This is precluded in ancient Israel. The land was divided among all the tribes and families of Israel. Every 50^th year, liberty was proclaimed, and the land was returned to the families of original ownership. One could become poor and might have to sell their land, but the sale was only for the years of productivity until the Jubilee year. While hard work was rewarded and there could be disparities of wealth, the Torah precludes a super-wealthy class ruling perpetually over a poor class. It limits wealth disparity.

Not all in the Law shows God’s ideal. The New Covenant Scriptures show that some laws accommodated the weakness of that time (allowing slavery though limiting it and giving slaves rights which required them to be treated well and then released) and polygamy which Yeshua precluded, restoring monogamy (Matt. 19) Most of the ethical teaching of the Torah is universal.

The uniqueness of the story of Israel and the teaching and laws of the Torah are best explained as a revelation of God.

Attachment Love

I am reading an intriguing book by Jim Wilder and Dallas Willard entitled, God, Dallas Willard, and the Church that Transforms. One of the Tikkun America leaders recommended the book, The Other Half of the Church, by Michael Hendricks and Jim Wilder. The book by Willard and Wilder continues and expands upon the material of the first book I read. I found out from an old friend, pastor, and leader in the movement called Life Model Works, that there is now quite a movement with a network of associated churches. I am very hopeful that this movement will bring significant positive change and renewal in the Church.

Dallas Willard was a noted philosophy professor at the University of Southern California. In his later years and until his recent death, he was consumed with discipleship and spiritual formation. His book, The Divine Conspiracy, was monumental. It established that the Gospel is the Gospel of the Kingdom, the invitation to live in and from the Kingdom of God under the Lordship of Yeshua. One can be considered as discipled when that one generally lives in accord with the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) and the teaching of Yeshua and then the Apostles. It is possible to attain this though of course, not perfectly but generally. The Gospel itself is an invitation for discipleship where God puts all in our lives in the right order and establishes us in a community that furthers discipleship for its members. Individual and corporate disciplines are presented by Willard in this and other books (The Spirit of the Disciplines). In his last years, Willard has connected himself to the stream that leads Life Model Works.

Dr. Jim Wilder for many years connected to a ministry of personal healing and growth, The Shepherd’s House in Van Nuys, California. Wilder presents himself as a Neuro-theologian. What does this mean? He has made himself an expert on the connection of the brain to our thinking, emotions, feelings, and established values. Wilder is brilliant at noting that we have two sides to our functioning, a right-brain orientation, and a left-brain orientation. The latter is the slow intellectual processor, and the right is the fast immediate respondent to the whole environment. The right brain is much more the center of our automatic responses. It is also the center of attachment love. Much of the failure of discipleship in the Church is due to its limited left-brain approach, encouraging people to absorb information and then make decisions and commitments to implement the teaching. However, this left-brain approach often fails. Why? It is because discipleship and spiritual formation is not just a function of logic and will but a matter of developing attachment love to Yeshua and a spiritual family where we correct one another in love. We are to love him with all our hearts. The N. T. emphasis on love for God, Yeshua, and one another is pervasive. That attachment love is the center of growth into conformity to Yeshua. Without a loving community committed to mutual discipleship in love, most will not be discipled. Many failures and serious falls among leaders show this deficit in discipleship and attachment love to Yeshua and a loving community. This community begins for a leader in a mutually accountable circle of leaders.

Much of this material fits our books, my book, Relational Leadership, and Covenant Relationships by Asher Intrater. However, there are helpful additions to what we have taught for many years. Community in Yeshua is central to growth and change, but not just attending meetings as observers. The books of this movement provide exercises and patterns of mutual accountability in small groups beginning with the elders, that make them much more effective in discipleship.

I do have one correction and that is that the language over emphasizes the brain where one could believe that Jim Wilder almost believes that the brain is the human personality. I would like to note how much the soul transcends the brain. The book by Mario Beauregard, The Spiritual Brain, shows that the mind or soul transcends the brain. Of course, Wilder believes this. Near-death experiences, the best of which I believe are death and resurrection experiences, prove that the soul can be separated from the body/brain. I have given much thought to the mind-body problem as it is studied in philosophy. Though it seems to us that the brain is so integrated and that we could say that our body is ourselves, this is not true. The brain is a detailed map in this world of the multi-variegated soul, a manifestation in this physical world of the soul. So, I like to speak of left-brain/mind and right brain/mind or left-brain/soul or right brain/mind. I would like to recommend that my readers pursue these books and look into Life Model Works.

The Moral Argument

Famous writers from even a very long time ago, have presented the moral argument for the existence of God. It is found in Paul (Shaul) the apostle and C. S. Lewis (Mere Christianity) and countless others. There are several aspects to this argument.

First, we find ourselves with a conscience which either convicts us or tells us that we are guilty or not guilty. The guilty or not guilty judgment for our behavior is a constant part of our human experience. We are guilty before the law as our conscience understands right and wrong. That is an amazing fact about human beings that is not the case with animals at any level. Animals survive and do quite well by instinct and mental awareness. They don’t’ follow moral standards. There are two aspects to this.

Who are we guilty before? There are many things where we believe we are guilty or not though the wrong we perceive does not violate any civil law of society. Lying, mistreating another, unfair anger, cheating, manipulating, selfishly grabbing the bigger piece, little things, and big things, all produce guilt. Good behavior produces a sense of peace. If we are guilty, who is it before? If there is a Law Giver, this would explain that we are guilty before Him. We could argue that we are guilty before parents, teachers, and society who taught us standards, but as an adult, we will not be punished by our parents or teachers. If we are very bad, people will avoid us. However, guilt has to do with punishment. How do we find forgiveness from our guilt? The nature of guilt points to One before whom we are guilty. This is not absolute proof, but as C. S. Lewis says, a pointer.
Secondly, we believe in right and wrong. Some people say there is really no right and wrong. It is relative and only because we think it so. However, no one acts as if this is the case. When a driver cuts us off in a dangerous move, we do not say, “Wow, I don’t like it when people do that.” Rather we get angry sometimes and say that it is wrong. When someone works harder and better but does not get promoted but the one not performing as well does get it due to favoritism, we do not say, “I feel bad and wish it were not so.” We say, “it is unjust and wrong.” We constantly judge others as right and wrong for their behavior as if there is a standard of right and wrong that they violate. It is not just a matter of feeling preferences. Romans 2 states that this sense of right and wrong is from God. We will thus be judged by the very standards we express in our judgment of others. Though cultures vary in their view of right and wrong, there is much in common as well. So where does the law come from, the idea of just and unjust? To really take right and wrong seriously it can not just be what parents and teachers happened to say to us. Again, the law and standards of justice can be most easily understood as from a great Lawgiver. He is the one before whom we must give an account, the ultimate Judge before whom we will gain reward or punishment. Our forgiveness and guilt can be removed only by repenting and asking forgiveness from Him and the ones we have wronged and by making restitution or payback for the wrong.

This understanding of right and wrong, Lawgiver and conscience, and the guilty and not guilty verdicts of conscience have been the overwhelming consensus of western culture for 1600 years. Only in our day do we see a loss of confidence in these views. It has produced terrible social decline. Those who make the moral argument are not saying conscience is a perfect guide but that it tells us something. It is a pointer. Law, conscience, guilt, etc. make sense if there is a righteous God who created us and gives the Law. However, we also argue that we need biblical revelation to really understand God’s law more accurately and his way of forgiveness and judgment for those who do not repent.

The New Cosmological Argument

The Cosmological Argument for the existence of God argues from the observed Cosmos to the idea of a First Cause. The classic statement of this was from St. Thomas Aquinas in the Middle Ages. The argument was basically that there had to be a first cause of the Universe or there would be no cause since an infinite series of causes means that there is no cause really. That is said to be self-contradictory. Philosophers have argued over this argument for many centuries. After establishing the first cause and naming him God, Thomas went on to present two other arguments. The first was the argument from design. The First Cause had to be a designer and intelligent since we see design everywhere. Design is always the product of intelligence. For a time the naturalistic Darwinian theory of evolution was thought to disprove this, but as we showed in our last essay, this is not so, and the argument for design is stronger than ever. The next argument was the moral argument. It posits that our conscience judges our behavior as right or wrong, with guilt or exoneration. However, if we are judged, it shows that there is a moral lawgiver. We can only be guilty before a judge who is the author of the law. I will return to this in a future essay. The great writer C. S. Lewis presented this argument brilliantly. However, the law of right and wrong in societies and in conscience is not trustworthy.

The New Cosmological Argument does not seek to solve the problem of whether or not an infinite series of causes with no first cause is contradictory. It instead begins with the most clear and absolute point, that something cannot come from nothing. If we do not accept that nothing produces nothing, then all reasoning is ended. Rather, Something or Someone had to and will always exist, or nothing would exist. We exist, our earth-world, and the universe exists. So, we know for sure that something has always existed.

The second question in the New Cosmological Argument is what is the nature of the Always Existent? Is the Ultimate Everlasting matter in motion, atoms, energy, sub-atomic particles, etc. or something more? Again, the principle that nothing does not produce something helps us understand more about the everlasting existent. Those who argue that the Always Existent is just matter, particles, etc. have a great problem. The most foundational experiential fact of our experience is that we are conscious beings. Consciousness exists. Everything we know and experience is within our consciousness. There, is nothing in chance re-arrangements of particles that can be thought to come together to produce consciousness. Everything we know is only known because we are conscious and intelligent. It is unthinkable that a conscious intelligent being can be produced from what has no conscious intelligent being. Conscious intelligent being cannot be explained in terms of matter and energy processes. We say that it is a given in existence and cannot be explained in terms of something that is not conscious intelligence. It is a foundational reality and must be part of the Everlasting Something. In philosophy, this is called irreducible. You cannot reduce the reality to something lesser. This is also true of the basic qualities of our conscious human existence: love, beauty, and so much more. Only conscious intelligent beings can produce conscious intelligent beings.

This argument does not tell us a lot about the Ultimate Existence. It does tell us something important. This Ultimate could be one God, or many gods that are in union and live forever, or the mind/consciousness of the Universe itself as in New Age thinking. This is progress beyond materialism, but we will need revelation from the Everlasting Conscious Intelligent to know more.

Privilege and Disadvantage

It is wrong for a person to be disadvantaged due to the color of their skin. This is the cry of the Critical Race people on the injustice of white privilege. Does it exist? Yes, in court sentencing until recently (amazingly Trump acted to right this), in how police treat black young men in comparison to whites, in educational opportunity, and more. However, there are circumstances where blacks may be more privileged as when a black is accepted to a top-flight university instead of a higher-performing Asian, or in being raised in a sports culture, especially basketball. The well-known player in his day, Enos Country Slaughter, was amazed that he could lead a life making a salary at a game he loved, baseball. In Basketball the pro-players all would be rich with the right financial discipline and investment. That is a great privilege. However, having said all that, I do believe that black skin is generally a disadvantage and white skin an advantage. But it is overly stressed since it is not determinative. Dark Indian immigrants do very well. It is not as in the days of Jim Crow a barrier that cannot be overcome. Those some whites will hire those who “look like and act like me” others really seek diversity. I don’t think there are clear stats to know how this is breaking down. However, I want to talk about another issue of advantages and disadvantages through the lens of my life and then speak of some applications.

My Jewish father died before I was 9 years old. That was a terrible disadvantage. I watched my mother who cried and grieved daily for years. That also was a disadvantage. However, my father left my mother a good sum in inheritance. He was a successful Wall Street broker. That was a great advantage. We never lacked food or clothing and grew up living in a large lovely home without a mortgage. We all went to very good public schools in Northern New Jersey. That was an advantage, a great privilege. I became amazingly fat and was greatly rejected in elementary school to high school until I was 15. I had few friends. It was a terrible disadvantage. Normal-looking thin people were so much more privileged. Yet when I was 12 ½ I was drawn to God and went to Church. This was connected to my Norwegian roots. My Uncle was on the board of Billy Graham’s organization and an elder in the church where I attended. I prayed to accept Jesus. Then I went to summer camp and dedicated my life to Jesus. I also had friends at camp that accepted me. After this, though at times my weight, connected to thyroid issues, gave me depression, I was yet mostly optimistic. I had this deep conviction or certainty that my life would be good, and I would succeed because God was with me. I did lose weight when I was 15. Acceptance was not a big issue anymore though I was not cool. I had two strong friends in the secular school and a few in the church youth group. The family funds were enough to pay for Wheaton College and graduate school. What a privilege this was! I look back on the anti-Semitism of my grandparent’s era, living in the poor area of the Lower East Side of New York, but somehow, they made it financially, and I am so privileged that they did. After a time of depression and doubt, God provided a spiritual father, an amazing man who nurtured me back to faith. What a privilege to be loved and mentored by Wheaton’s Chaplain Evan Welsh.

God has a good calling intended for all, but these callings are not equal. To prevent a good destiny is a central meaning of injustice. (Destiny prevention) However, I have other thoughts. This is for believers. Paul notes that in the Body we should take care of those members who are especially not as beautiful or seemingly important just as we take care of the less presentable parts of our bodies. Do note the many issues of disadvantage, not just black skin. Those who are beautiful in form are given preferences in hiring, marriage prospects, and social advantages. Ever notice how the women look on Fox news? Yet, this can come with challenges. I sometimes think the middling people, not greatly beautiful or ugly but middling, not rich but not poor but well supplied, maybe more well-adjusted. Each of us is called by God to make the most of what God has provided, for we all have advantages and privileges and disadvantages. Those who were raised in loving two-parent families with a father and mother who loved each other show amazing privilege. This may be the number one predictor of success. Lastly, I mention the disadvantages of mental and physical handicaps, autism, genetic deformities, crippling from accidents or even from birth.

The job of the Body of Messiah is to provide communities of love where those who are disadvantaged are well-loved and from that love, and healing can go on to succeed in life as God has called them. The emphasis of the Gospel is toward the disadvantaged; those who are marginalized. With the power of the Spirit, all can come into the most amazing privilege and success. All have a purpose in Him.

What is God Like

In our last article, we argued that life on earth including human life can only be explained by intelligent design or that there is a designer who brought about our world. This is the overwhelming conclusion of most cultures. Ancient China had the concept of the will of heaven and living in accord with the order of heaven. Other cultures describe the gods in the plural as being the source of life on earth. Maybe gods are eternal or maybe not. The gods usually have one at the head of their company. India posited Brahmin as the ultimate god idea but one that is left vague with lesser gods having great sway on earth. Native Americans speak of the Great Spirit and a happy life after death for good people. Africans worship many gods but sometimes perceive an ultimate god above all but only a few tribes seek to relate to him and not only the lesser gods. Judaism and Christianity see God as ultimately good and loving.

The dilemma is, what can be known about God or the realm of divinity without God revealing himself in acts and speech? We now want to look at what can be known about God or the Divine realm without the revelation that is in the Bible. In Acts 17 in Paul’s preaching, we are told that from one original human couple all peoples were created and given boundaries that they might grope after God and perhaps find him. Indeed, this groping after seems universal. In addition, some cultures seem to fall into worshipping dark powers, sacrifice human beings on altars, eat other human beings, and do evil that is hard to comprehend, though in our own recent past terrible evil has been done, such as by the Nazis in killing six million Jews or Stalin in Russia starving from ten to thirty million. Part of the motive was evil religious ideas. We return to our original question.

Human beings find themselves in a world of great beauty and wonderful experiences. Human love between men and women, the birth of children, the joy of nature, animals both pets and wild animals, flowers, sports, art, music, friendship shout that God or the divine is good and loving and pours out good gifts on us. On the other hand, human beings know terrible pain, disease, suffering, death, war, terrible evil done by some against others, natural disasters, floods, earthquakes, tornados, hurricanes, droughts, accidents, and more. This mixture of the wonderful and the terrible has led to three main theories or responses from those who believe that our universe is designed. The first is Deism. Yes, there is God, and He created the universe. It was something He was interested in doing. But He does not care about people and is uninvolved. He created our capacities but left them all up to us and the forces of nature. It is as if God created a clock wound it up and then released it to run on its own. The other theory is dualism, that there are really two gods, the good and the evil god. The ancient religious philosopher Manni in Persia put forth this view, hence called Manichaeanism. The good comes from the good god and the evil from the evil god. The great science fiction series Star Wars gets close to this idea, the good side of the Force and the dark side. When they say they can experience the empowerment of the Force, it is the good side of the Force and they say, “May the Force be with you.” But one can go over to the dark side of the Force. The third response is to say it is too mysterious. Yes, we see the Divine, but we see such good and such evil, that it is an ultimate mystery. We cannot know, but this existence is an illusion (Buddhism). Hindus believe that the good and evil experienced in this life are a matter of just deserts due to our past lives and sins. If we pursue goodness, eventually we escape the wheel of reincarnation birth and death and enter the eternal realm of bliss with no more suffering.

So, where does this leave us? I think a few more comments are in order. First, the idea of one ultimate God is a more credible idea than two gods or many. This is because we experience one universe. The universe is an integrated whole and does not look like a multiverse with many different not integrated parts running on its own. We are not a multiverse, but a universe. Science discovers scientific laws that apply to the whole universe, from Mars to the farthest galaxy. The basic elements are the same on that famous chart of the elements and the discoveries of physics not only of the atom but sub-atomic realities apply to the whole universe. So the designer behind the universe would be an ultimate unity.

So, we conclude that there is one ultimate God. However, does God love us and is He good? There is so much astonishing beauty and joy in living that it seems He is good when we focus on that. But there is so much evil, pain and suffering that it seems He is not. This is called the problem of evil. Those who deny God’s goodness or even his existence due to evil and suffering (a truly foolish idea to deny design) have to deal with the problem of good. How can there be no God of goodness with all the wonderful experiences in this life, all the good things in life?

C. S. Lewis was one of the greatest thinkers of the 20^th century. Children know of him through his children’s series, The Narnia Chronicles. Lewis put forth one more argument in his book Mere Christianity. It was that our conscience that justifies us for good actions and condemns us for evil actions. This is an important hint concerning the nature of the universe. This is similar to Paul’s argument in Romans 1, 2. Conscience is not a perfect guide, but it tells us that we are condemned or affirmed by a judge that is above us. The judge is the Creator of the Universe. This is strong evidence that God is good and cares about good and evil behavior. However, is there an ultimate judgment beyond this life. Many cultures have come to that conclusion.

However, without biblical revelation, we just do not have enough information.