A little about my Christian faith...
My initial introduction to Christianity - the real alive message rather than the sleepy version which inculcated me from early childhood through Sunday School and the Anglican church - was actually rather a disaster. Having been baptised then confirmed within the Anglican Communion, as a teenager I got caught up in some peripheral charismatic evangelical groups which turned me inside-out causing a lot of turmoil. These folk had meant well but in their zeal there was little fruit of the Spirit. I suffered a greatly distorted view of what Christianity was all about. Teen years are often said to be crazy at the best of times, but add a distorted religiosity to the mix and the results can be quite a mess.
In the end, I threw out the baby (the Gospel message) with the bath water (the distorted belief system) to get on with my life in a more normal and orderly fashion, quite happy instead to be drifting around in a sea of agnosticism. Years later, I found that there had been a small seed planted during that earlier time. I had never lost that sense of being safely held in the palm of God's hand, and that Jesus was indeed somebody special, but I was not prepared to submit to any more "dangerous" religious beliefs again.
But one thing led to another then another, as things tend to do, and eventually a combination of life events began to nudge at me... the horrible deaths of both my parents from chronic terminal illnesses, serious health problems of my own, and a very lucky escape in a bad car accident. I began thinking seriously and asking questions of a faith nature. If you seek genuinely with your whole heart, God will be sure that you find Him. It was the thoughtful and particularly rational answers of a good Christian friend, the works of C.S. Lewis and Dr Francis Schaeffer, George MacDonald's Phantastes which created in me the same longings as it did in Lewis, and then an amazingly beautiful dream that all combined to lead me back to the foot of the cross. I awoke knowing for certain there was no turning away, no going back.
For me personally, the doubts have gone, replaced by a strong conviction and belief in the historical Jesus of the Bible, supported fully by the constant teaching of the Holy Spirit. My Christianity is that of Reformed Theology, the traditional Apostolic faith of the early church fathers and therefore Scripturally based, far removed from the disbelief found in revisionist liberal theologies, the current heresy of applied political correctness that is rendering many of today's established churches secular and irrelevant. My life is not any less difficult in the normal manner of things, but there is an additional sweetness to it all. There is a new relationship that I have with my Creator Father God, a new perspective, a new purpose, and the joy, peace and love which goes with that. I know this makes little sense to non-Christians who easily scoff at such things. However, it is still my experience and it is very real at that.
I believe quite strongly that all Christians should be able to mount a reasonable defence of their faith, know the truth of what is in the Bible, and have intelligent rational answers to give others who, like myself, had genuine questions to ask. Becoming a Christian does not require dropping 30 or more IQ points, accepting some kind of empty faith in lieu of proper answers, and no longer using one's brain to think intelligently. Indeed, it is intelligent to believe when there is so much real evidence and rational argument that points to the truth that our Creator God does exist, and that He has a son Jesus who is exactly who He claims to be. There is considerable Christian apologia available that provides a substantial case for the Gospel message, but even among many Christians not much of the argument is widely known. As C.S. Lewis wrote in Surprised by Joy, "A young man who wishes to remain a sound aetheist cannot be too careful of his reading." That comment back in 1955 was made well before there was any Internet for the easy proliferation of knowledge. And among non-believers, what is thought to be written in the Bible is often a sad travesty of the real truth which had never properly been made clear to them in the first place.
| "The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult; and left untried." ~ G.K. Chesterton (1910). |
In the table below I have provided links to some of my favourite sites for Christian apologia and many other interesting articles where answers to questions may be found. I do not necessarily agree personally with everything that every other author writes, but I believe these sites are worthy enough ones and provide a lot of meat for those who want something to chew on. Most importantly, as with everything in these matters, always "Test everything. Hold on to the good." (1 Thessalonians 5:21) Also, the far right link button will take you to the Visiblesoul Christian website, another of my favourite places where you will find more content to peruse. Also, check out Judah's Journal, the dynamic part of this site (see clickable button below) where new content is added regularly. There you will find more pages and links. These links do not open in new windows, so remember to use your Back button to return to this page again.
| About GodandScience | Tekton Apologetics Ministries | A Christian Thinktank |
If you are interested in improving your knowledge and understanding of the Biblical Christian faith, that which was taught by the Apostles and has been handed on down to us through the centuries, then I can recommend some wonderful teaching websites where mp3 lectures are available for download. These podcasts are free and are the teachings of wellknown and highly respected Christian scholars, theologians and apologists. This is real meat for those interested in spiritual growth.
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Reasonable Faith Podcasts ~ Dr William Lane Craig Let My People Think Broadcasts ~ Dr Ravi Zacharias Renewing Your Mind Broadcasts ~ Dr R. C. Sproul, Ligonier Ministries. Trinity Foundation course lectures ~ Dr John Robbins |
As part of my own further education in Christian theology and apologia I am undertaking the distance learning program of 21 courses provided by Covenant Worldwide, a ministry of Covenant Theological Seminary, St Lousi, Missouri, USA. These courses each consist of between 20 and 35 or so lectures which can be downloaded FREE as podcasts, or as transcribed written notes in either html or pdf formats, and comprises an assortment of classes from Covenant Seminary's master's degree programs. Their selection is designed to provide a broad, foundational knowledge of the Scriptures as well as guidance for engaging a variety of ministry contexts through the study of church history, doctrine and practice.
If you are interested in furthering your Christian knowledge from a Biblically orthodox theological college, then visit Covenant Theological Seminary and explore the plethora of courses listed on their website.
Reformed Theological Seminary is yet another Biblically orthodox theological seminary that offers free podcasts of course lectures through "iTunes U". One can select from Biblical, Theological, Practical Theology, and other related courses to further one's Christian education and spiritual growth.
My own iPod is loaded with "gold" from these two colleges, and as a knowledge resource it is treasure indeed.
Always it is important to refer back to source, to check for oneself that there are no errors in what has been quoted, and to gather further original information by which to judge what one is reading. There are many opportunities for human error in our communications, and those who are wise will do their own research where they can to determine the truth of what is written or said. Today one of the main threats to mainstream Christianity is the re-interpretation of Biblical truth by the liberal revisionist theologians who have, together with syncretism of Eastern philosophical notions, produced a New Age spiritualism that seeks to strip God of His true Being and push Him further away from His own creation in as many respects possible. The source of Christianity is Christ, the Son of God, the historical person Jesus who walked on Earth around 2000 years ago. To read for yourself about Him, you need only reach for a Bible.
