Peter Witkowski Christmas

The Virgin Birth Still Matters

virgin-birthDespite the worry of many Christians, Christ is still very much a part of Christmas. Secular music specials feature songs for from our church hymnals, stores decorate with nativity scenes, and Christmas cards continue to feature the Wise men on their way to view baby Jesus. In short, the battle between the culture and our churches is not really over whether or not we keep the first syllable in the word Christmas. The real fight is over the virgin birth. It is over Jesus’ identity.

Our culture has no problem praising the arrival of Jesus, the great teacher.  After all, Jesus cared about the poor, offered the world of ton of pithy statements, and tried to bring peace to earth. As the atheist R. Elisabeth Cornwell remarked, “Christmas belongs to anyone who wants it, and just because I gave up believing in a god doesn’t mean I gave up believing in the love and joy of family.” In short, the world has no problem with celebrating the principles that Jesus triumphed while on earth.

The real Christmas battle is actually being fought over the virgin birth. As the great revolutionary writer Thomas Paine once wrote, “It is…at least millions to one, that the reporter of a miracle tells a lie.” Miracles are inconceivable to the modern scientific mind because they bespeak of a reckless embrace of the absurd. But what makes the virgin birth so unfathomable to the modern mind goes beyond the scientific method. The theological and the philosophical implications are truly the most troubling part of the Christmas story for our culture.

If Jesus was really born of a virgin, then his claims of divinity carry great weight. His offer of salvation transforms from a pithy idea into an ever present reality. If we belief, Jesus can down from heaven being both fully God and fully, then we truly must worship him. We must obey him. We must realize that we are powerless to redefine sexuality, morality, or to pay for our wrongs. We must surrender our lives to him. And then, we must do all that we can to follow him. As the pastor Tim Keller wrote,

If there is a God, and he has become human, why would you find it incredible that he would do miracles, pay for the sins of the world, or rise from the dead?

If we admit that something miraculous happened in that Bethlehem stable so long ago, then we have to admit that something even better happened on Calvary. We have to admit the Jesus, the “way the truth and the life.”

But what if the Paine and today’s atheists are right? What if Jesus is simply just another human? Is Christmas still worth celebrating?”

I think the answer is most decidedly no. As Paul said in I Corinthians 15:19, “If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.” If Christ is not God, Christmas is not a triumph over sin and death. Rather, the holiday is a testimony to the futility of humanity. Think about it. Thousands of babies are killed because of this Jesus’s birth. He most loyal predecessors and cousin ends up dead at because of an evil king. Eventually, Jesus too is executed unjustly. And then all but one of his disciples is murdered or executed. When Jesus attempted to bring at the best in people, he was slain by the worst in people. Christmas without a divine Jesus is nothing more than a tale of human hope dashed upon the rocks of human failure. Why celebrate Jesus if he is just human?

Thankfully, Jesus life and death were not useless. He was not just a man. He was both fully man and fully God. By his death and resurrection, Jesus secured eternal for the innocent babies that died Bethlehem, for John the Baptist, for his disciples, and for the millions of his followers. Jesus conquered death. As Hebrews 2:14b-15 says,

he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.

As we talk about Christmas in the days ahead, let’s not just stop with putting Christ in Christmas. Let’s mention who Jesus really is. Let’s share about how the whole meaning of Christmas rides upon the virgin birth. From Bethlehem, the whole story of salvation unfolds.  Are we ready to share it?

Peter Witkowski Apologetics, Discipleship

Don’t Just Believe: Encouraging Questions to Strengthen A Child’s Faith

Don't Just Believe“Just believe”…these two words perhaps single handily have done more harm to the children of our churches than an army of snooty atheists, wielding Bertrand Russell essays. Employed by well-meaning Christians, “just believe” has become the quick solution to all serious theological issues. Have a question about God, the Bible, or life? Ignore it. Take a Kierkegaardian leap of faith and believe.

And I’ll be the first to admit that many doctrines such as the doctrine of the trinity, predestination, or of God’s character exceed our tiny limits of comprehension and exploration.

For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9).

God's ThoughtsBut the fact that God’s thoughts are above us does not mean they are foreign or beyond the scope of reason.  God communicated with people through the Bible. “Men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:21b). God intends for people to understand and comprehend God by using their mental abilities of observation and reason. Peter, Luke, John, and all of the other Biblical writers claimed to be using human language to convey the real events and conversations that comprise God’s message to the world, the gospel (2 Peter 1:16, I John 1:1-5, Luke 1:1-4, Acts 1:1, I Cor 15:1-8).

Since the Bible claims to be an understandable book that reveals the will of God in the real world, Christians can take their real world concerns and tough questions directly to the Bible (2 Tim. 3:16). Instead of championing irrational belief, the New Testament writers encouraged people to investigate their claims and doctrines. In Acts 17:11, the apostles praised the Jews in Berea for receiving, “The word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so” (Acts 17:11). When these Christians heard about the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, they did not just believe. No, they questioned, examined, and analyzed the disciples’ teaching against the word of God (The Old Testament). And their examination of Paul’s teaching strengthened their faith. As seen from this passage and others, the apostles believed rational, human exploration is essential to Christianity. As one professor wrote, “The Bible doesn’t ask us to adopt a BLIND faith but a REASONED faith- a faith that can honestly ask the hard questions and then go out and in search of real, measurable, credible answers” (Kostenberger, 2014, p. 12)

Today, we should help our children take their doubts and concerns about the faith back to the Bible. From my experience, we tend to play the “Have Faith” card because we do not know how to answer our child’s question about, “Why does God let babies die?” Or we are scared that if we do answer the question about the source of evil, we will find the Bible wanting.

Friends, we don’t have to be ignorant or scared of the Bible. As one of my favorite writers and professors, Dr. Bruce Ware, often says, “We should never be afraid to ask a question of the Bible.” If we don’t know something, we go investigate. We ask our pastor; we do a word search on Bible Gateway; or we scan our Bible’s concordance.

God’s word is beautiful. Yes, the Bible has many hard sayings. It wounds my pride and challenges my assumptions often.  And when we devote time to the Bible, we all will be challenged to repent of greed, pride, and a host of other sins. But when we dig down deep into the word of God, we also find true life and comfort (Psalm 119:40, 52)! Although our sinful habits and misconceptions of God might be hurt by the Bible, the ultimate result of our biblical exploration will be an increased faith (Psalm 119:66).

And if we don’t help our children work through their questions, someone else will. Whether it’s the ever popular agnostic, Dr. Bart Ehrman, or the Darwinian high school teacher, or the local atheist blogger down the street, someone will attempt to answer our children’s questions with skepticism. Sadly by simply appealing to reason, the college professor’s incomplete answers will often appear more compelling than the blind faith our children encounter in many Sunday school classes.

Even though they claim to appeal to reason, the skeptics of Christianity put forth many arguments that are seldom the zenith of intellectual thought.  Those who diligently examine the skeptics claims will discover that the agnostics, “doubts are not as solid they first appeared” (Keller, 2008, p. xviii)  Take the problem of evil. Many skeptics claim that the all-powerful, good God of the Bible can’t be real because good people suffer needlessly.  But as Tim Keller explains,

“Just because you can’t see or imagine a good reason why God might allow something to happen doesn’t mean there can’t be one. Again we see lurking within this supposed hard-nosed skepticism an enormous faith in one’s own cognitive faculties. If our minds can’t plumb the depths of the universe for good answers to suffering, well, then, there can’t be any! This is blind faith of a higher order.” (2008, pp. 23-24)

Christian FaithWhile other worldviews employ hidden assumptions, Christianity offers solutions founded upon faith infused reason. As one seminary professor wrote, “Christian faith is true not only because we really want to believe it but also because the truth it believes is the most plausible of all explanations” (Kostenberger, 2014, p. 14).

Admittedly, we cannot reason our children to salvation. God saves.  But, we can help our children grasp the Bible’s rational worldview, a philosophy more worthy of acceptance than the agnosticism of the blogosphere.

The next time a child asks you, “Did Jesus really come back to life?” let’s encourage him to believe by scouring the Bible for a thoughtful answer. And as we wait for questions to boil out our children’s hearts, we can be preparing.  We can grab a copy of the Case For Christ, Big Truths for Young Hearts, or Truth Matters.  Even better yet, we can pray for wisdom and study our Bibles faithfully.  We can begin exploring the words of the one true God daily in personal quiet times and in family worship.  We could even venture outside our homes and start an apologetics class at church. Let’s follow the Apostle Peter’s advice and prepare our families to contend for the faith.

But even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed. And do not fear their intimidation, and do not be troubled, but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence;

(1 Peter 3:14-15)

Works Cited

Keller, T. (2008). The Reason For God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism. New York : Penguin .

Kostenberger, A. B. (2014). Truth Matters: Confident Faith in a Confusing World. Nashville: B&H Publishing .