Tag: Christianity

Why I Am Not A Christian – 1

In my addendum to my blog post “Is There A God?” I set myself up for the challenge of responding to two works titled “Why I Am Not A Christian” by philosophers Bertrand Russell and Richard Carrier. I have now acquired both as audio books from Audible, but have only listened to Richard Carrier’s so far. These are my comments on his work. I shall respond to Bertrand Russell later. Bear in mind that these are books and my comments are limited to a blog post, so I can only address the main points.

The full title of Carrier’s book is “Why I An Not A Christian: Four Conclusive Reasons To Reject The Faith“. Obviously not conclusive in that they didn’t shake my faith, though it is reasonably well argued, but in the case of the audio version, not very nicely read by Carrier himself.

His four “conclusive” reasons are:

  • God’s silence,
  • God’s inaction,
  • The lack of evidence, and
  • The way the universe looks exactly like a godless universe would, and not at all like a Christian universe would, even down to its very structure.

Basic problems are that he is arguing from the wrong premise and so, in my opinion, reaching the wrong conclusion. As any scientist and philosopher will tell you, if you start with the wrong assumptions, you will reach the wrong conclusions. Carrier frequently uses the phrase “Christian God” but I shall call him God for the sake of brevity.

God’s Silence

His first mistake is to base his argument on the description of God by C.S.Lewis in his book Basic Christianity. He really ought to go back to the source, the Holy Bible. To argue that God is not like a man’s description is meaningless.

His second mistake is thinking that God should act the way he thinks God should act if he matches C.S.Lewis’ description. So that is adding his thoughts and interpretations on top of C.S.Lewis’ thoughts and interpretations.

His basic argument is that God does not exist because he does not clearly tell everyone in no uncertain terms what they need to do for their salvation, and leaving it up to them whether they take notice or ignore it. Instead he says that we are bombarded with a plethora of confused and contradictory messages from mere humans rather than the truth directly from God unambiguously so that everyone could agree what the message was.

That kind of ignores that God has already spoken to us unambiguously and in no uncertain terms in the Holy Bible. Namely “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind”; and, “Love your neighbour as yourself”. As Jesus said “Do this and you will live”. (Luke 10 v.27-8)

Carrier makes the point that chemists agree on the fundamental facts of chemistry, doctors agree on the fundamental facts of medicine and engineers agree on the fundamental facts of engineering, but mistakenly says that people are confused about the facts of salvation. But there they are in black and white for all to read. What more does he want?

Carrier makes the point that believers of all religions claim to be hearing the word of God and that they are hearing different messages. So he concludes that if God is telling people different things, then he really isn’t telling them anything and the reality is that there is no God and they are just hearing their “inner voice”. That is a difficult statement for me to refute because, as a Christian, I do not know what people of other religions are hearing, if anything. I have read most of the Qur’an and it left me unmoved and I have also read “I Dared To Call Him Father” by Bilquis Sheik, a Pakistani Muslim woman who converted to Christianity, against all the odds. That book left me in no doubt that God talked to her through his Holy Spirit. I don’t say that Christianity is the only way to salvation and that everyone who is not a Christian will die, because that is not what the Bible says. Refer to what Jesus said above.

Digression

A lot of Carrier’s argument is based on what he thinks God could or should do, or what he would do if he had God’s power.

For example, he says that God does not behave as a father should in not giving his children guidance as soon as they go astray. But they have that guidance any time they want in the Holy Bible, which also assures them of God’s love. Just as a parent cannot speak to their child if that child completely rejects them and moves away, so God says little or nothing to those who reject him. But, like a parent, he is always there if the child comes back. See the Parable of the Lost Son as an example (Luke 15 v.11-32)

Another thing is that we cannot fully know God’s mind. We only get glimpses. However, there is reason to believe that he is taking a relatively “hands-off” approach to his creation. As an example see The Parable of the Tenants, Matthew 21 v. 33-41. Very briefly a landowner (God) creates a vineyard and lets it out to tenants (us) to manage while he goes off elsewhere. He sends them his servants (prophets) whom they beat or kill, and he finally sends his son (Jesus) and they kill him too. The implications then are that there will be a day of reckoning.

That is not to say that God has deserted those that love him, but only to say that he does not intervene in every single thing that is wrong with the world. And everything that is wrong is man-made and the price of having free-will. We have guides as to how to use that free-will, but we have abused it. And we are paying the price. I don’t want to get into the realm of politics, but would say that there seems to be an increasing expectation, world-wide, that governments will pick up the pieces of people’s mistakes. Carrier expects God to do the same. Whereas Christianity is about our personal responsibility towards God and towards our neighbour.

Digression over, back to Carrier:

God’s Inaction

So Carrier’s expectation is that God would cure all the world’s ills. He would eliminate all disease, would eliminate all weapons, would eliminate poverty, would provide enough for everybody. He sees that as what any “good” God would do, and so he takes the fact God doesn’t as evidence that God does not exist.

It is a good point of course, but an equally good point is that if we all turned to God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, then all these things would be done. By us. The choice is ours. Who are we to say that God is not good or does not exist because he does not save us from the consequences of our actions? He has given us the solution. What more does Carrier want? Spoon-feeding?

The Lack Of Evidence

Carrier says that there is a lack of evidence that God exists. Christians believe that there is evidence, but much of it is personal experience. Things in our own lives and the lives of others convince us that God indeed is, but we are well aware that does not meet the standards of scientific proof.

But then Carrier’s arguments for the non-existence of God do not meet the standards of scientific proof either. His conclusions (and his book contains many of them) that God does not exist are defective.

Carrier also makes the point that there is no evidence that faith in Jesus leads to eternal life. There isn’t, but so what? Christianity is so good for us and for the world in this life, that the next life is not really an issue. Christianity is so full of joy and freedom, and comfort when we need it, that eternal life is not really a a factor in our Christianity. It is a lovely promise, but definitely not something we need to prove.

Jesus kind of makes it clear that we are not going to get any proof. He is repeatedly asked for a sign from Heaven and he repeatedly refuses. When Thomas was told of Jesus’ resurrection, he doubted its truth, saying he needed to see for himself. Later when Jesus appeared to Thomas, he said to him: ‘Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe’. Thomas said to him, ‘My Lord and my God!’. Then Jesus replied, ‘Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.’ (John 20 v.27-9)

Wrong Universe

Carrier claims that the universe is exactly like a godless universe would look and not at all like a Christian universe would look. He makes the good point that with so many suns and planets in the universe, there is bound to be one conducive to life and that life will evolve as we know it can. But so what?

This again is Carrier playing God and saying that if there were a God, he would do it differently. It is really a rubbish argument to say that God would do it differently, therefore he doesn’t exist.

Conclusion

Carrier’s conclusion is quite interesting.

He repeats his four reasons as proving “conclusively” that Christianity is false and that there is no God. He claims that Christianity makes numerous failed predictions, which is not true. Christians may make predictions that are wrong, but that does not mean that Christianity makes failed predictions. The other failed predictions he refers to are what he thinks Christianity predicts, e.g. a different universe, so not surprising they are failed predictions. There is not much value in making things up so that you can trash them.

Interesting though that he continues with the question “So what do we believe?”, which he answers in another of his books “Sense And Goodness Without God”. I certainly will not buy it, but will read it if the opportunity arises. He summarises that book as since this world isn’t the way we want it to be, we have to make it the way we want it to be. Scary! He goes on to say good things like we need to create justice, care for each other, we have to find and give and receive love for each other etc.

But who says we have to do that? It is just his opinion of what a nice world would be. Hitler had another view of what a nice world would be. Who is right – Hitler or Carrier? It is purely subjective. You could argue that in Hitler’s world, there wouldn’t be a problem with over-population and there wouldn’t be any racial strife. Certainly Carrier’s view is closer to the Christian view, but if Christianity is false, as he would have us believe, what evidence is there that this is the right view?

And how is Carrier going to bring about this world that he says we “have to” try to bring about? Politics? I think there is enough failed politics around the world, including in Carrier’s home country, to know that that won’t work. World Government? That’s an even scarier idea with all the problems of the European Union on a larger scale.

I’ve got a better idea! Let’s do what we can to promote real Christianity, where people take personal responsibility for being and doing better. And where we have an objective standard of good and bad.

Here’s another idea for Carrier to make the world better. Stop going on about Christians and just leave us to our faith. He is not going to convert us and we are not going to convert him, so there really is not much point.

Invictus

The poem “Invictus” by William Ernest Henley was catapulted into the public consciousness by the 2009 film of that name about Nelson Mandela and post-apartheid South Africa. The poem helped to carry him through his imprisonment and is perhaps part of the reason that he emerged without resentment and vengefulness. Henley himself was no stranger to misfortune, having had part of a leg amputated at a fairly early age. He suffered ill health and did not live very long, dying at the age of 53. This is the poem:

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate,
I am the captain of my soul

Invictus is the Latin word for unconquered or undefeated, and is a marvellous example of how we should live our lives – as the master of our fate and captain of our soul. With God to help us

Invictus is kept in the public consciousness by the Invictus Games, the name of which is written with the letters I AM highlighted in a different colour. Was this in the knowledge that I AM is one of the names of God? Possibly not.

The poem is not overtly Christian – “I thank whatever gods may be For my unconquerable soul”, but the sentiment is entirely consistent with Christianity, except that he seems to have a rather gloomy expectation of the hereafter. I also believe it is a good fit with life with cancer: whatever it throws at us, we are personally responsible for our reaction and how we learn from it.

I certainly didn’t have this poem in mind when I formulated my approach to my cancer, so am somewhat blown away by how accurately it expresses my feelings about it. Initially I was rather inclined to leave it up to the medical profession, but then being told that I will probably never be free of cancer, inspired me to start taking responsibility.

I wasn’t given much dietary advice and the subjects of mental and spiritual wellbeing, and their importance in healing, never arose in conversations with oncologists. That is not a criticism of oncology today, because I realise that they are constrained by their training and even by their ethical code which prevents them talking about things that are not “proven” to be of benefit. Drug trials provide evidence of efficacy and side effects, whereas there is no “proof” that a particular diet will have a beneficial effect or that the mental and spiritual measures that I have already touched upon will promote healing. All I can say with certainty is that they have done wonders for my morale and that the recent scan results are very encouraging. And if they cease to be encouraging, that would indicate that there are further learning opportunities and different ideas to investigate and try out. “I am the master of my fate”.

Belief, Faith And Religion

Belief, faith and religion are interconnected but distinctly different. I thought it worth putting my thoughts down because many people, especially atheists, confuse faith and religion, and to some extent belief. They tend to point to the failures of “religion” and “religious people” as proof that God doesn’t exist. That is clearly nonsense and defies all logic..

Belief and Faith

Belief and faith in God are often seen as the same thing. The reason that I have separated them is my own experience. Before I became a Christian and had faith in God, I believed that God actually existed, but that belief did not in any way affect my life. I didn’t feel a need to do anything about that belief. It was only later that the Holy Spirit led me to faith. Then my life, thoughts and emotions were changed. The difference is the feeling of love and trust. These emotions, for me, changed a belief in God’s existence to a faith that he loved me as his creation and that I could commune with him and ask his guidance and try to understand what he would have me do.

Religion

Religion is based on a core faith and belief. It is basically humankind’s way of expressing that faith and putting it into action. Then, over time, religion develops further beliefs and practices around that core faith. Most of these beliefs, or doctrine, arise from study and interpretation of the scriptures, from inspiration from God and some unfortunately, in my perception, arise from worldly consideration. Inevitably there is discussion about these further beliefs and practices and whether they are fully in accord with the faith. And then inevitably there are disagreements and one group splits off, still holding the core faith but wanting to do things a bit differently. That is why we have a number of Christian denominations, all with the same faith in God and Jesus Christ, but wanting to worship differently or having a particular belief on whether something is or is not in accord with the scriptures. This is both a weakness and a strength.

It is certainly a weakness when members of a particular denomination declare that theirs is the one true faith and the others are apostate. That shows a complete misunderstanding of the fact that we are all one in Christ and all have our different parts to play. The New Testament of the Bible has a number of references to “the body of Christ”, of which all the faithful are part, and that we are all different parts of that same body but with our own particular functions.

A strength of different denominations is that the faithful can find a “home” where they are spiritually comfortable. This may be because they are happier worshipping in a particular way, or because their interpretation of the scriptures is particularly in accord with one particular denomination. That is fine as long as we remember that we are all one and all equal.

I attend an Anglican church and am very comfortable there. That doesn’t mean that I accept everything that the Church of England leadership says and does. In fact I think that some of what they say and do is wrong. But most of that doesn’t affect the life and love so evident in our particular church. Unfortunately some political pronouncements on matters where there is no absolute right or wrong, and on which people hold strong and divergent views, can turn people off the Church of England and, by extension, Christianity as a whole. A lot of politics is a matter of choosing the least bad option and there will always be disagreement as to what that is.

Religious Wrongdoing

Another problem with religion is that some of its adherents do things that are egregiously wrong by any standards. Whether the acts are individual or collective, atheists love to trot out examples to “prove” that the religion and therefore the faith are false. Even worse are the individual cases where those in authority have tried to sweep it under the carpet. Unfortunately, any attempt to explain is seen as an excuse.

Christians certainly accept that humankind is imperfect and that we are individually imperfect. Which is one of the reasons that we are so grateful for our faith. The Bible gives us many examples of wrongdoing (sin) and redemption. “Sin” of course is an emotive and pejorative word that is seen as judgmental, but in reality is just a conveniently short word to use for anything that would be displeasing to God. None of us is free from it. As Jesus said when the adulterer was sentenced to death by stoning (John Ch.8), “Let he who is without sin, cast the first stone”. Nobody did because nobody was. Jesus said to the woman “Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more”. What wonderful compassion! One of the many reasons why our faith makes us so happy.

But why these terrible acts? Evil spirits? The devil? At one time I would have laughed at the idea that they existed, but now I am inclined to believe they do. If you wanted to destroy the Church, how would you go about it? Making it illegal has only ever driven it underground. Logical argument against it doesn’t work. Scientific argument doesn’t work. The brilliant physicist Stephen Hawking had to rely on a giant non sequitur to “prove” that God doesn’t exist. No, the only way that would succeed, but for God, would be to try to destroy it from inside. To exploit the weakness of its members, to have them speak or act in such a way as to cause revulsion or indifference towards the Church. I really do believe that is what is happening today. On the one hand attacking the Church from within, on the other hand enticing people away with material things so that they have neither the time nor inclination to think about the spiritual.

I really believe that the tide will turn when it becomes more evident to more people that the current way of the world is just not working for them.

Judgmental?

Christians are often accused of being judgmental, which unfortunately some are in spite of the direction “judge not, that ye be not judged” (Matthew Ch.7). But it is more often a case of Christians being judged. Just do an Internet search on what people think of Christians. It is quite eye-opening, fortunately not all negative, though much is. Every one of our misdeeds is used against our faith. I found a really good article about this online (See it HERE). I was actually searching to see if there was anything about what Christians think of non-Christians, but only found what people think Christians think, as well as their thoughts on Christians.

Command and Control?

On top of this, we see the archaic view that religion is about “command and control” – keeping the peasants under the thumb of the elite. Not realising that that is actually one of the evils of the modern secular world and almost completely absent in Christianity.

The world is becoming more and more polarised with power in the hands of the “elites” whether that elitism is through the power of money, government, industry or whatever. More or less the people who turn up to the World Economic Forum in Davos every year. We have even got to the point of thinking of self-serving misanthropists as philanthropists because they tell us that is what they are. If only more people could see that Christianity is about freedom and not command and control! We try to do what is pleasing to God because of our love for Him and His love for us, not because we are commanded to. Yes, we fall short. But we get up and keep on going because we know it is right for us and for the world. I’ve mentioned before The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan because it is such a beautiful allegory of the Christian journey. A tale of learning, of success and failure, of fear and joy, of trials and tribulations, and of following the wrong path and then getting back on track.

Summary

Faith is immutable and comes from God and is true. Religion is humankind’s attempt to define and follow that faith, and as such is subject to human frailty and weakness. The failure of people is not the failure of God and has no bearing on God’s existence.

Separate Faith and Cancer?

It was suggested to me that perhaps I should separate this blog into two blogs – one for Faith and one for Cancer. Here is some of my rationale for keeping things the way they are:

Healing

Every holistic healer and many in the medical profession will say that the mind is an essential part of healing. In fact there is evidence that mental trauma can make you sick in the first place. It is generally recognised that mental well-being is essential to physical well-being.

There is no doubt in my mind that my Christian faith contributes massively to my mental well-being. Two very powerful contributors that faith provides are Gratitude and Forgiveness.

Gratitude is so healthy because it is so positive. We are grateful for what we have and not anxious or envious of the things we don’t have. Christians are indeed extremely grateful for the redemption offered by Jesus Christ. Gratitude goes beyond that, for the beauty of God’s creation, for shelter, for warmth, for food, for other people. As I write this, I am additionally grateful for the warmth of the sun on this slightly chilly autumn day and for the beauty of the flowers outside the window. As I prepare to go to bed at night, I thank the Lord for all the blessings of the day.

Forgiveness is absolutely essential. If we do not forgive, we can become bitter, resentful and angry. All very negative emotions that damage our health. I remember a few years ago I was angry with the police for falsifying their testimony to make it appear that I had committed an offence that I didn’t commit. It made my blood boil, I lost sleep over it, it affected my whole life. I didn’t know it at the time, but I already had kidney cancer and I do not doubt that my mental state made it worse. Then I became a Christian and learned to forgive and put it behind me. Not forgiving hurts us and not those we don’t forgive.

We are forgiven by God through faith in Jesus Christ, so who are we not to forgive others? Like many others, I have difficulty forgiving myself for. things I have done that hurt others. But that is something we have to learn too – make amends where we can and ask forgiveness where we can, and then put it behind us. God doesn’t forgive us for us to feel guilty, but to feel free.

Mental Outlook

Gratitude and Forgiveness are two essential ingredients of mental well-being. But faith gives us more than that. I was diagnosed with a tumour in my brain stem. A devastating diagnosis, except I wasn’t devastated. I put that down to my faith which the Lord had given me just a few months before. What my faith gave me was acceptance. Not acceptance that this was fate and let it take its course, but acceptance that I had to do what I could to get well. And if I didn’t get well, so be it. That was over 2 1/2 years ago, since when there have been a few ups and downs with beneficial treatments and medication side effects. And a lot of learning too about cancer and the causes of cancer and about alternative healing, both the scientifically sound and the scientifically unsound.

All the while, my faith has given me a positive outlook. Of course, I am not absolutely joyful when suffering medication side effects, but extremely grateful for all the times when I feel better and have energy. Not only do I pray for healing, but also that the rest of my life will be useful. When I first prayed for healing, the answer I got was “Why?”. That is a very good question and if we are sick, we need to know the answer. That question did rather change my outlook.

Body, Mind and Spirit

Our body, mind and spirit are inextricably linked. Our bodies will not be healthy unless our minds and spirits are too. And that is why I have linked my cancer and my faith together in this blog. Although old in years, I am young in faith and continually learning, and some of that is reflected in this blog. All blog entries are categorised by Cancer or by Faith, so you can just choose to read one or the other. This post falls into both categories, and I hope helps the reader recognise the importance of making the whole person healthy,

Alternative Cancer Therapies – Part 3

I have been on a combined therapy of Everolimus and Lenvatinib for metastatic kidney cancer in my lungs and brain since November 2022, so about 7 months. In that time my appetite has been badly affected and I have frequently felt nauseous. As a result of which my weight has reduced from 80kg to 68kg, which is quite a shocking reduction, seeing as how I wasn’t overweight to start with for someone of my height and build.

Added to my woes, I am just starting to feel better after 3 whole weeks of feeling really bad. It started with flu-like symptoms of headaches and aches and pains, then I developed a swollen and sore throat, badly affecting my voice, and then developed a mucus cough which I am at last getting over. A compromised immune system is one of the effects of the drugs and I assume that is why I have felt so bad for so long, with the sort of thing one expects to shake off within a week.

I had my regular meeting with the oncologist 2 days ago, on Thursday 6 July, and told him that I wanted to go off the medication for a bit so that I could get to feel normal again and hopefully repair my immune system. He agreed, but cautioned me that if I go off them too long, he will be unable to resume the same treatment, and he would have to start me on another drug.

At the same time, I have been looking at alternative therapies that might be kinder on the body and let me live a more normal life. I was learning particularly that some doctors are having impressive results treating cancer naturally as opposed to the traditional treatment of “cut, poison and burn” as surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy are popularly known. I have had all those, though the chemo is via a daily oral drug rather than being hooked up to a machine periodically.

Natural therapies make so much sense with three main components:

  • MENTAL, EMOTIONAL, SPIRITUAL wellbeing. These are widely recognised as having a major impact on our healing and health. I know in my own case I have had a bad time with anger, unhappiness and toxic relationships. Many people have experienced these or had other mental or emotional trauma. I manged to put much of it behind me when I became a Christian – being forgiven makes it so much easier to forgive. God forgives us but people may not be so forgiving, in which case all one can do is apologise and see whether there is any way to make amends. Sadly, if people are not forgiving and are angry and resentful, it only hurts them and ultimately hurts their health, as it undoubtedly did mine.
  • DETOXIFY. We are surrounded by toxins. They make us ill. They stop us from getting well. We need to detoxify our lives as far as possible and this means getting harmful chemicals out of our lives – things like cleaners, cosmetics, weedkillers, insecticides and so the list goes on. we should look at the ingredients of everything we use. Some things are hard to change – such as the impurity of our tap water. Although there are stringent requirements for the amount of various impurities in parts per million, there are so many impurities that added together, they form a substantial amount. So not only do we have to minimise ingesting new toxins, but we have to detoxify to get rid of the ones that remain in our bodies. This is something that I am researching how best to do and will update with my experience.
  • DIET. The consensus seems to be in favour of a mostly vegetable diet. Some advocate Vegan, some Vegetarian and others cutting down drastically on meat. There are differing opinions too on eggs and dairy. Where there is unanimity is on drastically cutting down on sugar and processed foods and refined grains, with an emphasis on buying organic where possible, which can unfortunately be expensive. Many doctors recommend various natural foods and food supplements with known anti-cancer properties

I am still in the process of researching and learning. Two websites that I like are the following. The people who started them are very generous with the information that they make freely available and both have plentiful experience successfully treating patients. They are:

What I particularly like about Dr Conners’ website is that it starts with a quotation from the Holy Bible, which is very apt and which well describes his philosophy.

I will provide updates as I go along and have some experience and results to share.

Pillars of Christianity

While pondering conversions to Christianity, I also looked at conversions to Islam to confirm that they were different in nature. In doing so, I was reminded of the 5 Pillars of Islam – Shahaadah (Profession of Faith); Salaat (Prayer); Zakat (Almsgiving); Sawm (Fasting); Hajj (Pilgrimage) – which got me to wondering whether there were considered to be any Christian “pillars”.

Although those 5 “pillars” appear in Christianity, although differently, they are not considered pillars of the faith, only as something that we will naturally do, or might do in the case of pilgrimage.

Then when I thought about it, I realised that Christianity is built on a rock. Far more substantial than pillars. When Jesus asked his disciples whom they say He is, Peter said “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16v16). Jesus replied “on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it”. So there we have it, Christianity and the Church is built on a rock, and has not been overcome in spite of many attempts from within as well as from without. Praise God.

Anyway, I thought it might be useful to discuss how the confession of faith; prayer; almsgiving; fasting; and pilgrimage appear in Christianity.

Confession of Faith

There are 2 commonly recited statements of faith, the Apostles’ Creed and the Nicene Creed. The former is the one most commonly said in our church and is as follows in the original version with which I am most familiar from my childhood:

“I believe in God, the Father almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary, who suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried, descended into hell, rose again from the dead on the third day, ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty, who will come again to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen”.

My memory is old but that seems to me to be the way it was. The words “crucified, dead and buried” have been replaced by “crucified, died and was buried”. The Church of England currently incorporates a couple of minor changes: ‘creator’ in place of ‘Maker’ and ‘he descended to the dead’ in place of ‘descended into hell’. The first change seems a bit unnecessary, but interesting in that many North American indigenous peoples believe in ‘the Creator’. The latter change presumably because there is some question as to the exact meaning of ‘descended into hell’. Also the “quick” have been changed to the “living”, effectively just a language update. The ‘holy catholic Church’ is the universal Christian Church, not to be confused with the Roman Catholic Church, so often abbreviated to Catholic Church.

So the first part of the Creed is the Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Next the belief in the Holy catholic Church. This is important to recognise that we are all part of the same universal body of Christ, regardless of what denomination Church we worship in.

“The communion of saints” got me thinking. This is clearly not the Holy Communion or Eucharist or Lord’s Supper. So I went back to basics. A definition of “communion” that I like is “a close relationship with someone in which feelings and thoughts are exchanged”. So who are saints? They are not necessarily those who are designated as Saints by churches. The word saint comes from the similar French word which is derived from the Latin word ‘sanctus’ which means Holy and is the root of the word ‘sanctified’. Here is a nice article on ways we are sanctified: 3 Ways Christians Are Sanctified. Several times, Paul refers to church members as saints in his epistles. So my interpretation of the communion of saints is the close relationships and exchanges which we need with other church members. I believe that group Bible Study is a good example of this, where we exchange our thoughts and experiences.

Just as an aside, that is my interpretation and may differ from an “approved” interpretation. I believe the Holy Spirit gave me the idea of this blog so as to clarify and share my faith. As a relatively new Christian, I may be totally misinterpreting some things, in which case I shall be delighted to receive comments to put me straight.

The forgiveness of sins is an example of the amazing Grace and Mercy of God. It is one of the tenets of our faith that Jesus dies for our sins and that we are forgiven them through our belief in, and love for, Jesus

The resurrection of the body I do not fully understand. Yes, I believe that we will have a resurrected body, but not exactly the one we left behind, although I am sure it will have a close relationship to it. Whether we are buried or cremated, atoms of our body are dispersed into the environment and potentially become part of plants or animals or other people. Check out the words of “On Ilkla Moor Baht ‘at” (aka. On Ilkley Moor Without A Hat) to see how that can happen. But then everything is possible with God and we won’t know until we do. As Paul said “Now we see through a glass darkly, but then face to face”.

The life everlasting is the final belief of the Apostles’ Creed. That is indeed the promise. Is that a motivation? Jesus is asked what someone has to do to achieve everlasting life, so it is not completely under the surface. On the other hand, it is not something I think about, even though I am in my 80th year, because it doesn’t affect my daily life or my love of God. For me it is a reassuring fact, very much in the background.

Prayer

Prayer, talking to God, is an essential part of our faith. Although there have been suggestions that Christians might pray at specific times of the day, the reality is that God is everywhere all the time so we can pray anywhere at any time. The advantage of having multiple set times during the day, means that you are constantly reminded of God’s presence, if you need a reminder. The disadvantage is that it may start to feel a duty, rather than a joy. I frequently thank God and praise him for things through the day, as well as trying to put aside time for specific praise, thanks, apologising for where I fell short, and making specific requests.

Alms

Since the beginning of Christianity, Christians have been giving to support those less fortunate than themselves. Many hospitals were founded by Christians. There are alms houses all over this country where people’s faith has moved them to help others. Giving is and always was a part of Christianity. The principle of tithing is mentioned in the Holy Bible and is emphasised more in some churches than in others. Paul in his epistles refers to giving a number of times and also makes clear his appreciation of churches that have collected to finance his ministry. He also makes requests for donations to relieve poor churches. There are examples of Christians giving away 50% to 90% of their income according to their means, but this does not belittle the giving of those who can afford less. Jesus makes this clear when he says the widow giving her mite is giving more than those who ostentatiously give large amounts they can easily afford.

Fasting

Prayer and fasting gets several mentions in the Holy Bible and is recommended but perhaps doesn’t get the emphasis that it needs. It can be both healthy and spiritual but should be done at times to suit the individual’s physical and spiritual needs, rather than at set seasons. I have fasted for several days for health reasons in my pre-Christian life, but not since. I am resolved to combine prayer and fasting as soon as I have resolved my problems with nausea from the meds. I did fast for 24 hours and then had a meal which almost instantly came up again,, and I am not anxious to repeat that. I am currently trying CBD to deal with the nausea and it seems effective so far, but I am only a week into it.

Pilgrimage

Pilgrimage is more of a Roman Catholic tradition than a Protestant one, though some Protestants will make a pilgrimage to a place such as Iona where there is an opportunity for Christian fellowship, prayer and meditation ‘away from it all’. Might be a very good idea, but I’m not sure I would be up to it at my age. Lourdes is a popular pilgrim destination for those in search of healing and not only for Roman Catholics. There are confirmed stories of healing there and I am unable to comment on whether they are conveyed by the waters or by the pilgrim’s faith. As Jesus said to the woman who touched his garment, believing that it would give her healing, “thy faith hath made thee whole” (Matthew 9 v.22).

In some respects, pilgrimage seems unnecessary with God being everywhere all the time. But never having been a pilgrim, I cannot really comment. Perhaps the travel is important – I can see that it would be very beneficial to be focused on the journey and the destination. And I can imagine the peace and tranquillity and closeness to God that one might feel having arrived at a Holy place. I think I might almost talk myself into making a pilgrimage.

Talking about pilgrimage, I have just recently read “The Pilgrim’s Progress” written by John Bunyan in about 1680. And a wonderful book it is too, being an allegory of the Christian faith journey with struggles and diversions and temptations on the way. I even felt a bit weepy at times when reading parts that particularly resonated. The pilgrim, named Christian, started out with a heavy burden of sin locked to his back, weighing him down as he began his journey. And it was beautifully released when he came to the Cross. Happy to say he reaches the Celestial City at the end of his journey. Part 2 is the journey of his wife and children when she realises how wrong she was not to accompany Christian in the first place. I highly recommend this book.

Conclusion

I am not trying to draw a comparison between Christianity and Islam, which is essentially anti-Christian in its denial of Jesus as the Son of God. We talk of Judaism, Christianity and Islam as the three major “Abrahamic” religions (there are others), which they are in terms of the number of adherents, but they are totally different of course. Christianity follows on from Judaism in that the prophets foretold the Christ Jesus, though He wasn’t what Jews expected, so many rejected him, though of course, the first Christians were Jews. I am hard pressed to see a reason for any religion to follow Christianity because Jesus with His teaching, with His crucifixion and with His resurrection showed us God in all His glory and all His love and all His mercy. It is true that mankind has periodically corrupted the message and people have twisted it to their advantage, but it continues to shine through in its original form. As Gamaliel said in the Sanhedrin, about the Apostles brought before them: “Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail.  But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God.” (Acts 5.38/39). After 2,000 years, I believe that says it is from God.

Breakfast

One Saturday in each month Christ Church, Brownsover holds a men’s breakfast. A full English breakfast for adult males only. It is usually attended by about a dozen people, sometimes more, and is open to men who are not members of the church and who are not necessarily Christian. After eating we have a discussion about Christianity or about Christian life. The topic is chosen by Simon who organises the breakfast. I like going because I rarely have a cooked breakfast otherwise and the discussion is always interesting. A while ago, we discussed the question of what God expects of us or wants us to do.

It was made interesting by the presence of someone who did not believe in God and who essentially held to the humanist philosophy which has the tenet that you can “be good” without God. In its atheistic view of course it does not accept that God gives us a sense of right and wrong. It is interesting that the forbidden fruit in the “Garden of Eden” was on the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil (Genesis ch.2 v.17).

Humanists

From the Humanists UK website: “Humanists are people who shape their own lives in the here and now, because we believe it’s the only life we have. We make sense of the world through logic, reason, and evidence, and always seek to treat those around us with warmth, understanding, and respect.”. Elsewhere on the website it states “They have trusted to the scientific method, evidence, and reason to discover truths about the universe and have placed human welfare and happiness at the centre of their ethical decision making.”. So it reads like a godless religion, with statements like “we believe”. And they talk about ethics and moral values which have no anchor other than that they stem from Christianity. A fact which they conveniently ignore.

Humanists have “trusted to the scientific method ….. to discover truths about the universe … “. Their trust runs out when it comes to creating a universe out of nothing. Or indeed to creating anything out of nothing. There is no “natural law” to explain it and they can’t even explain why there are laws of nature in the first place.

To be a humanist requires assumptions about humanity and requires a leap of faith, though they will likely not admit it.

Evidence for Christianity

Clearly I should also subject my Christian faith to the same brief critical analysis but quite frankly I find that difficult in that I didn’t get here by trusting to “the scientific method, evidence, and reason”. The fact is simply that I didn’t really believe until I did. I believed that there was most likely a God, in that the arguments against His existence were pretty weak, and the argument for the creation of the universe was pretty strong (humanists seem confident that science will work out how the universe created itself out of nothing). But it didn’t affect my life in any way until I felt the strongest urge, which I take to be the working of the Holy Spirit, to get a Bible and read it. Then everything just fell into place. It really comes down to two questions: “Is there or isn’t there a God?”, and “What should one do about the answer?”. The humanist would answer the first question with a ‘No’ and the second, apparently, with ‘Invent a substitute set of beliefs’. A Christian would answer the first question with a ‘Yes’ and the second with faith and a resolve to love God and love one’s neighbour (see my blog post on the Good Samaritan). Before I found real faith, I would have answered the first question with ‘Yes, probably’ and the second with ‘Do nothing’.

There is certainly evidence to support Christianity. In Jesus’ time there were religious cults that melted away when they lost their leaders. This is recorded after Jesus’ death and resurrection when the apostles were called before the Sabhedrin (Acts 5).

33 When they heard this, they were furious and wanted to put them to death. 34 But a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law, who was honoured by all the people, stood up in the Sanhedrin and ordered that the men be put outside for a little while. 35 Then he addressed the Sanhedrin: ‘Men of Israel, consider carefully what you intend to do to these men. 36 Some time ago Theudas appeared, claiming to be somebody, and about four hundred men rallied to him. He was killed, all his followers were dispersed, and it all came to nothing. 37 After him, Judas the Galilean appeared in the days of the census and led a band of people in revolt. He too was killed, and all his followers were scattered. 38 Therefore, in the present case I advise you: leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. 39 But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God.’

It was indeed from God and the message is still going strong 2,000 years later. But for the resurrection and the sending of the Holy Spirit, the disciples would surely have dispersed. They were dejected and demoralised after the crucifixion until they were aware of His resurrection. Then Jesus sent them the Holy Spirit. They were so energized and transformed that they preached the Gospel and gladly faced death. Their actions alone are convincing evidence of the Resurrection and divinity of Jesus.

The empirical evidence for Christianity is vast. The conversion experience and immediate transformation in many people’s lives alone is convincing. Indeed I don’t think any other religion has such profound conversion experiences. If they were bogus and purely emotional, then surely all other religions would have similar experiences,

I did check out some videos of conversions to Islam which confirmed my hypothesis that they were not the same. I make no comment other than that they are different. What I found rather sad was that Christians who converted to Islam, including those involved in leading and teaching young people in church, did not have a good understanding of Christianity. They had been brought up in the Christian faith but somehow missed out on the joy and the freedom it gives. The moral here is that Christian parents, bringing up their children as Christians does not make them Christians. Becoming a Christian requires a deliberate act of faith.