"Rabshakeh said unto [Israel]...If thou say to me, 'We trust in the Lord our God,' is it not He whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away?" Isaiah 36:7
Those who are afraid to hear the skeptics are no better than the skeptics, i.e., they have no faith in what they believe. It is true that such dealings should be done carefully and in stages; many get overwhelmed because they took on too much too early. Done properly, however, and you will find the skeptics are full of hot air. Though they may ask valid questions, they are all based on assumptions that are wholly erroneous. The silliness of Rabshakeh's question to Israel is matched only by his bravado in saying it.
Do not misunderstand: this is not saying that we should not take skeptics seriously, but that we should not fear them. Part of being a Christian is believing that there is an answer for the hope within, whether you know it or not. If you do not know it, then seek until you find it. God does not allow doubts to assail us for their own sakes; they are there so that we might seek and know.
"Of a truth, Lord, the kings of Assyria...have cast [the nation's] gods into the fire: for they were no gods, but the works of men's hands..." (Isaiah 37:18, 19) Christianity is not a man made thing. A building, an empire, or an institution may be, but Christianity is more than these. It is life in intimate communion with God. That is a truth beyond "just the facts." You can state it in words, but you can never know it until you experience it.
May I never despair of men,
May I never be haughty over them.
May Your Truth be the basis of
My relation to them...
-Jon Vowell
Those who are afraid to hear the skeptics are no better than the skeptics, i.e., they have no faith in what they believe. It is true that such dealings should be done carefully and in stages; many get overwhelmed because they took on too much too early. Done properly, however, and you will find the skeptics are full of hot air. Though they may ask valid questions, they are all based on assumptions that are wholly erroneous. The silliness of Rabshakeh's question to Israel is matched only by his bravado in saying it.
Do not misunderstand: this is not saying that we should not take skeptics seriously, but that we should not fear them. Part of being a Christian is believing that there is an answer for the hope within, whether you know it or not. If you do not know it, then seek until you find it. God does not allow doubts to assail us for their own sakes; they are there so that we might seek and know.
"Of a truth, Lord, the kings of Assyria...have cast [the nation's] gods into the fire: for they were no gods, but the works of men's hands..." (Isaiah 37:18, 19) Christianity is not a man made thing. A building, an empire, or an institution may be, but Christianity is more than these. It is life in intimate communion with God. That is a truth beyond "just the facts." You can state it in words, but you can never know it until you experience it.
May I never despair of men,
May I never be haughty over them.
May Your Truth be the basis of
My relation to them...
-Jon Vowell
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