Dear Posterity,

Yup, you read that right, and if it makes you uncomfortable, then my advice is to never attend seminary. Seminary is where I learned that although countless Christians are taught in youth group and Sunday school that Christianity is above disproof…it isn’t. The supposed infallible argument comes from overstating the proof of Christianity in children’s Sunday school classes to assure they won’t wander away from the faith and do something bad, and they believed it.

In seminary I realized that Christianity is a rational system that seeks to correct dysfunction. Thus, it functionally works the same way as other rational systems: it begins with unprovable assumptions, like God’s existence. For every snowflake, there’s a tsunami, so I get a draw. For every evidence of superior morality, I see a pastor running off with the worship leader’s wife…another draw. Thus, I realized that Christianity as a system began with circuitry, and it could not be proven.

But this isn’t the heart of the issue. The real issue asks: am I entitled to it? Do I have a right to this faith? Because it is faith. It’s the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1), and the answer is the criteria for ALL systems: it explains the dilemma of humankind and offers hope. In this I believe Christianity excels. Instead of asking whether this belief can be proven, it’s more helpful to ask: is it reasonable to believe it? I have faith that my airplane will not plummet into the Earth at any given moment, that the chair underneath me will hold my weight during meals, etc. based on the reasonableness of the argument. Thus, after mulling over the arguments for the existence of God, I believe it is reasonable to place my faith in Him.

It doesn’t mean we don’t doubt. I believe doubt is good because it is the way to knowledge; silence is the way to knowing, but it’s assured. When a seminary professor popped a hole in my Christian bubble, I thought the whole darn balloon went. Ha! But I came out of it more assured than ever due to one overarching truth:

Yes, I’ve doubted Christianity (any sincere seeker would), but never Jesus Christ. Due to God’s grace in my life, I have never confused the two. My feet are on solid ground when I place my faith in Christ, not Christianity. There are too many unanswerable questions in Christianity for which I can offer no explanation other than the boundaries drawn by my limited mental capacity. How do I answer Jacob Arminius when he asks how we reconcile “You must come to Christ,” with the equally truistic statement, “You cannot come to Christ” (e.g. human inability)? I cannot explain it. How can finitude explain infinitude when infinitude has not revealed it to finitude? It’s illogical. Questions like these offer no satisfactory resolution. So the real question is: do we have enough information to trust when we do not know? I believe that in the person of Jesus, we have enough information. I do not have many of answers, so I study the Bible intensely to know that when God stops speaking, so should I. We cannot alter a text of Scripture to have a coherent theological system because God has revealed Himself truly, but not completely. If you have all the answers, you don’t have all the questions. The great question is rather: is He able to be trusted? When I consider the person of Jesus Christ, all trepidation fades. All doubt dissolves because I have personally met Him in my heart of hearts, and He is as real as the nose on my face. No philosophical conundrums, no quandaries, no doctrinal pretzels, no theoretical dilemmas…just Jesus Christ.  

To this end, I rather like John 6:67-68: