Matthew 13:31-32 (NASB) 31 He presented another parable to them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field; 32 and this is smaller than all other seeds, but when it is full grown, it is larger than the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that THE BIRDS OF THE AIR come and NEST IN ITS BRANCHES.”
Richard Dawkins and others have told us that they classify themselves as “cultural Christians”. This is because they observe the world that is emerging before their eyes and they most likely don’t like it, prefering the world they knew at earlier times in their lives. That earlier world where good was acknowledged as good and bad as bad, is slipping away fast. We are losing what we had – freedom, commonsense, governments and police forces on the side of the people – in favour of a world of Islamic and Marxist dominance – a world foisted upon us all where anyone and anything can be labelled as what they or it are not.
The biblical parable reveals that a Christian culture protects and nourishes all people, whether they acknowledge Christ or not. Now that Christendom is being attacked and undermined, someone who worked as hard to encourage disbelief as Richard Dawkins did in his ‘God Delusion’ seems now to be having second thoughts. I might be wrong. The effects of a Christian culture were overlooked. In all the talk, this must be one of the greatest pieces of evidence for the truth of Christianity – its extraordinary effect on societies because of these transformed individuals – Christians.
To move from the theoretical to the living actuality of personal faith is not as hard a step as might be thought. Whoever and wherever you are, prayer is one positive step in returning to God. Reading the Bible is another. If you choose to read the Bible, I suggest you read it meditatively. Take your time, even if you have to go one paragraph at a time. You will probably gain more understanding reading a chapter at a time but go as slowly as you like. Many interpretations are made of this Book, the Good Book. You can consult free commentaries through biblehub.com. There are more contemporary ones online. May I suggest that you read the scriptural text before reading any commentary. You are getting in touch with God. Let Him speak to you. No one in this big, wide world understands you like He does. Perhaps start with the four gospels – Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Then use your study Bible or online study guides to help you understand what might at first seem incomprehensible.
As well as prayer and Bible reading, books can be a help. Here are some that I recommend. I am putting these out there but it depends on who you are and where your interests lie as to what will speak to you. Here are some books and stories that I have valued and found helpful across different stages of my life. It’s a random, short list on various topics but I find all of them thoughtful on matters relating variously to virtue, truth and beauty, spirituality, theology, wisdom and politics.
- Aesop’s Fables, where commonsense, wisdom, virtue and meaning are elevated and are accessibly revealed to children
- Cinderella by Charles Perrault, where good is good, the beautiful is beautiful and where forgiveness is exemplified – to read Cinderella in its original form in this day and age is an act of defiance against our culture of relativism, cynicism and dopey leftism
- Animal Farm by George Orwell, which invites us to wake up to the pernicious use of language by totalitarians to fool the masses
- That Hideous Strength by C S Lewis, revealing a world of conspiracies and human hubris against all that is good and true
- 33 Degress of Deception: an Expose of Freemasonry by Tom C McKenny, which shows the secret rites of freemasonry in order to expose this deception, rooted as it is in ancient Egyptian pagan religion rather than in Christianity
- Secret Prayer by Bishop H C G Moule, where he writes about how to structure prayer and to meaningfully come before God. He writes in an inspiring way. I love his memorable line: we are to be “self-abasing, not self-debasing”
- Blaise Pascal: The Man Who Made The Modern World by Bishop Graham Tomlin, an interesting look at faith as it has been understood and accessed differently by notable historical figures as well as by unknown ones
- Atonement And The Death Of Christ by William Lane Craig, for those who would like to understand the essential Christian doctrine of Christ’s atonement for humanity, showing its rootedness in the Old Testament sacrificial system
- Any of the books by Raymond Ibrahim on Islam where you will get a true account of the Crusades and of this religion
If you are scientifically inclined, go the resources of the Discovery Institute. I write here as an outsider who has observed their talks and other resources over several years so everything that follows is my personal understanding. This organisation challenges Darwinian evolution. The institute is made up of scientists and mathematicians who promote the notion of intelligent design as a possible explanation for the beginning of all things, whether of the universe or of life. Ruling out the hypothesis of intelligent design, they affirm, is based not on science but on ideology that considers materialism the only possible mechanism for explaining beginnings. Those at the Discovery Institute get labelled all sorts of things from Deists to Creationists who rely on the Bible and not on science. There is nothing wrong with relying only on Scripture for your view of beginnings but as scientists and mathematicians, they should be free to pursue a scientific understanding of the world without threat to God or Church or anyone. To the charge of deism, the DI people do not purport to be theologians so they are not making theological arguments. Deists do that. DI has scientists and mathematicians and as such, they believe science should not be limited by ideological preferences that only serve to inhibit real science from progressing. For example, atheists’ belief that life randomly arose refused to part with the idea of junk DNA. They were refusing, and some still refuse, to acknowledge that so-called junk DNA is not junk but has a purpose. Junk DNA was a myth to be maintained because it had a bearing on the randomness of life’s origins. These atheistic understandings of DNA have since been proved wrong. The scientists of the early scientific revolution were often theists. Unlike what Professor Emeritus of Physical Chemistry at Oxford University, Peter Atkins, had claimed in an interview with Justin Brierley, all people in earlier centuries were not Christians. Yes, more Christians may have existed then than now but there have always been skeptics, cynics and Christians co-existing in all strata of society and across all times. So for people like Galileo, Kepler and Newton, who thought deeply about science and who contributed to human understanding of how the universe actually operates, to be Christians is something we cannot ignore, try as we might. Their theism did not get in the way of the progress of science and knowledge.
Christians believe that objective truth exists, that God exists and that Jesus Christ bodily entered our realm through the Virgin Mary, lived, taught, performed miracles on this earth, was killed by evil people at a young age and rose from the dead three days later. After Jesus bodily rose from the dead, He remained on the earth revealing His resurrected state to His disciples and others for 40 days then ascended to Heaven where He sits at the right hand of God the Father. “Sitting” denotes His completed work of the defeat of sin, death and Satan. Jesus was killed on earth but lives in Heaven. He will hear you when you pray to Him to guide you into truth. Perhaps He will even send you a human mentor. There are plenty of worthwhile and genuine Christian voices on YouTube.
All this to say that we have to re-think the culture in which we live. It has gone wrong. We often feel powerless against seemingly invisible forces. There are many voices that speak against other types of lies – medical lies being a big one. Dr Robert Malone and Dr Mark Trozzi speak truth on these matters. The Children’s Health Defense is an excellent resource too. I can’t believe how fortunate we are to have access to so many good sources of information in a world of deception. There are so many truth-tellers out there. Our task is to look for sources of truth that resonate.
Our World Our Faith 