From Skeptic to Christian
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“Christianity is not a consumer good. You should turn to it only if it is true.” –Timothy Keller, Encounters With Jesus
Before I was a Christian, I was a skeptic. For me, @@Christianity is not merely a set of traditions and a moral code to follow.@@ I really do believe it’s true.
I love the fact that there are numerous examples in the Bible that show Jesus isn’t looking for blind followers. He expects us to think deeply about our beliefs.
There are a number of Christian authors that I appreciate because they’re deep thinkers. C.S. Lewis, Oswald Chambers, R.C. Sproul, G.K. Chesterton, and Timothy Keller are a few of my favorites. I’ve been reading an especially good book by Timothy Keller recently that I wanted to tell you about.
In his book, Encounters with Jesus, Timothy Keller wrote a chapter called The Skeptical Student. Here, he notes that Luc Ferry, the French philosopher, called the prologue at the beginning of the book of John, one of turning points in the history of thought. Here’s what it says,
In the beginning was the word (Logos), and the word was with God, and the word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through Him, all things were made. Without Him, nothing was made that has been made. In Him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind…And the word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory. –John 1:1-3, 14
John is talking about Jesus here, deliberately using the term, Logos, to describe him. So what makes this passage so extraordinary?
Logos is a Greek philosophical term. The belief was that the universe had a rational and moral order to it. This was called the Logos.
“For the Greeks, the meaning of life was to contemplate and discern this order in the world, and they defined a well-lived life as one that conformed to it.” –Timothy Keller
The passage in John is extraordinary, because, in it, John is saying that the meaning of life, the Logos, is not a principle. It’s not an abstract structure, found in intellectual pursuits. It’s a person.
@@Christianity claims that the meaning of life is found in a person, who can be encountered in a relationship.@@ Jesus. And this person, Jesus, is available to anyone, anywhere.
The reason that Luc Ferry called this passage, with this new concept- that Logos is a person- a turning point in history, is because without it, “the philosophy of human rights to which we subscribe today would never have established itself,”
Luc Ferry says Christianity introduced the concept that every single human being, regardless of talent or wealth or race or gender, is made in God’s personal image and therefore, has dignity and rights.
Christianity is different from all other religions in that it’s not about what we do, but it’s about what Jesus has done for us. Jesus is more than a historical figure or a teacher. He’s God. He’s the Logos. He’s the meaning of life.
It’s okay if you’re skeptical. But I encourage you to look more closely at the life of Jesus and consider the world-changing ideas that have come from Christianity. Get rid of your prejudices. Take a look at Jesus. He will exceed your expectations.
