Intellectual Excuses
The rejection of Christ is often not so much of the "mind," but of the "will";
not so much "I can't," but "I won't."
I [McDowell] have met many people with intellectual excuses, but few with intellectual
problems (however, I have met some).
Excuses can cover a multitude of reasons. I greatly respect a man who has taken
time to investigate the claims of Christ and concludes he just can't believe.
I have a rapport with a man who knows why he doesn't believe (factually and
historically), for I know why I believe (factually and historically). This gives
us a common ground (though different conclusions).
I have found that most people reject Christ for one or more of the following reasons:
- Ignorance - Romans 1:18-23 (often self-imposed),
Matthew 22:29
- Pride - John 5:40-44
- Moral Problem - John 3:19-20
I was counseling a person who was fed up with Christianity because she believed
it was not historical and there was just nothing to it factually. She had
convinced everyone that she had searched and found profound intellectual problems
as the result of her university studies. One after another would try to persuade
her intellectually and to answer her many accusations.
I listened and then asked several questions. Within 30 minutes she admitted she
had fooled everyone and that she developed these intellectual doubts in order to
excuse her moral life.
One needs to answer the basic problem or real question and not the surface detour
that often manifests itself.
A student in a New England university said he had an intellectual problem with
Christianity and just could not therefore accept Christ as Savior. "Why can't
you believe?" I asked. He replied, "The New Testament is not reliable." I then
asked, "If I demonstrate to you that the New Testament is one of the most reliable
pieces of literature of antiquity, will you believe?" He retorted, "NO!" "You don't
have a problem with your mind, but with your will," I answered.
A graduate student at the same university, after a lecture on "The Resurrection:
Hoax or History?", was bombarding me with questions intermingled with accusations
(later I found out he did it to most Christian speakers). Finally, after 45 minutes
of dialogue, I asked him, "If I prove to you beyond a shadow of a doubt that Christ
was raised from the dead and is the Son of God, will you consider Him?" The immediate
and emphatic reply was, "NO!"
Michael Green cites Aldous Huxley, the atheist, who has destroyed the beliefs of many
and has been hailed as a great intellect. Huxley admits his own biases (Ends and Means,
pp.270 ff.) when he says:
"I had motives for not wanting the world to have a meaning; consequently assumed that
it had none, and was able without any difficulty to find satisfying reasons for this
assumption. The philosopher who finds no meaning in the world is not concerned exclusively
with a problem in metaphysics, he is concerned to prove that there is no valid reason why
he personally should not do as he wants to do, or why his friends should not seize
political power and govern in the way that they find most advantageous to themselves...
For myself, the philosophy of meaninglessness was essentially an instrument of liberation,
sexual and political."
Bertrand Russell is an example of an intelligent atheist who did not give careful
examination to the evidence of Christianity. In his essay, Why I Am Not a Christian,
it is obvious that he has not even considered the evidence of and for the resurrection of
Jesus and, by his remarks, it is doubtful as to whether he has even glanced at the New
Testament. It seems incongruous that a man would not deal with the resurrection in great
detail since it is the foundation of Christianity.
John 7:17 assures one:
"If any man is willing to do His will, he shall know of the teaching, whether it is of God,
or whether I speak from Myself."
If any man comes to the claims of Jesus Christ wanting to know if they are true, willing
to follow His teachings if they are true, he will know. But one cannot come unwilling
to accept and expect to find out.
Pascal, the French philosopher, writes:
"The evidence of God's existence and His gift is more than compelling, but those who
insist that they have no need of Him or it will always find ways to discount the offer."
Source: Evidence Demands a Verdict, p10-11
Josh McDowell -- ISBN 0-918956-46-3 |