In the 1960’s,
Altizer, a descendent of the great Stonewall Jackson, sparked a national
uproar, was on the cover of “Time Magazine,” received death threats, yet
enjoyed the public support of the president of the university, a support which
would shape the future of Emory. At that point, “Emory ceased to be a regional
Methodist school and became a national institution known for serious religious
scholarship.” (“Emory Magazine,” Autumn 2006)
We might argue over
the term “serious religious scholarship” since it’s from Emory that we get the
oxymoron, “Christian atheist,” but that’s for another day. (With that term,
Romans 1:22 comes to mind.) Those fellows were educated way beyond their
intelligence.
Decatur is 5.5 miles
from Atlanta. In 2014, Atlanta had the distinction of being the No. 1 spot in
the list of top the 10 U.S. cities for recent college graduates to live. Educated,
affluent, low cost of living, that’s Decatur, GA.
LOCUST FROVE
Then there’s Locust
Grove, GA. If you’re looking for a four-year university, there’s not one, the
closest is in another county, 22 miles away. If you’re looking for a library,
Locust Grove has one, with restricted hours (closed on Friday-Sunday, open 12-8
PM on Mondays and Thursdays, 10 AM -6 PM on Tuesdays and Wednesdays). There are
22 libraries within a 19-mile radius of Decatur.
ATHENS AND JERUSALEM
For our purposes,
let’s say that Decatur is Athens and Locust Grove is Jerusalem. Locust Grove is
35 miles from Decatur, but the spiritual distance between the two is like
traveling the 3,172 miles by land from Jerusalem to Athens.
Decatur is educated-sophisticated-philosophical-new-idea-discussing-Athens
(Acts 17). Locust Grove is the home of the “Mardi Growl,” (a community-wide dog day event), yard sales, and a
celebration/ reception to mark the renaming of a road. Locust Grove is God-fearing, church-respecting
and church-going, a town with old-time Baptist bones and old-time Methodist
roots, deep and strong; it is Jerusalem. Merle Haggard could have written “The
Roots of My Raisin’ Run Deep” about Locust Grove.
Decatur, well,
that’s another story. At the DBF you’ll meet Jews and gentiles, Muslims,
Hindus, and a whole lot of whatevers. At the DBF there’s one who wants to argue
your belief that Jesus is the only way. At the DBF, there’s the nice Jewish
lady who says, “I don’t believe your Bible,” meaning “your New Testament.” If
you talk to her about the Old Testament, if you call it that, she’ll correct
you as quickly as she did me. At the DBF you’ll meet some (not all) who won’t
buy into your Book as the Word of God. At the DBF, you’ll meet a man whose
guidebook isn’t the Bible, but is, “The Gospel According to Thomas.”
So that brings us to
the questions of the hour—how do you and I converse with such people about the
gospel? And, another important question, “Just who are these modern-day
Athenians?”
A RUSSIAN ATHEIST
CAN HELP US
The Russian-born
atheist, Ayn Rand (1905-1982), gives us an insight into the Athenian of
today, trained in a system which, in a through-going way, leaves God out. He’s
not in the mindset of the educated. What’s the mindset of such a person? His
worldview? Rand defines him. She said, “Reason is man’s only tool of
knowledge.” By this, she means reason unaided by revelation from God.
There it is, man’s
mind is the only tool he has to understand and interpret himself, others, the
world around him, and the universe. Man’s mind is the only tool he has to
figure out the big questions of life: Where did I come from? What’s my purpose?
Where am I going?
A LOOK AT MAN’S MIND
The human brain is
an amazing creation. Your brain is made up of billions of cells that send and
receive information. It weighs 3 pounds and develops until it gets into its
late 40’s. (For some, like those on the Jerry Springer Show, it ceases to
develop much earlier.)
The Bible tells
us the human brain is both limited and infected. It’s limited-- it can’t be
omniscient. It’s infected by sin as a result of the Fall of man. (Of course the
educated would disagree with the last statement, but would agree with the first.
JOE LOOKS UP
Joe, from Decatur, looks
at night sky, sees the stars and planets with their form, order, and
precision of movement and rotation and says, “Chance plus time plus the
impersonal produced all that.” That’s an example of his limited knowledge and
his infected brain which, all evidence to the contrary, suppresses the clear
evidence of the existence, wisdom, and power of God (Romans 1).
JACK LOOKS UP
Jack, from
Locust Grove, with the Bible, looks at the same heavens and says, “The heavens
declare the glory of God and the firmament shows His handiwork.” The Athenian
brain is making the first statement; the Jerusalem brain is making the
second. Both brains are looking at the
same night sky, but interpreting it differently. One is aided by revelation,
the other isn’t.
THE FILM IN
ZAPRUDER’S CAMERA
That’s like the
Zapruder film of the Kennedy assassination. If Joe approaches the film
believing the assassination was a conspiracy, he’ll see conspirators at work on
the grassy knoll. He’ll see “Badge Man” hidden
in the bushes and on the sidewalk, he’ll note the actions of “Umbrella Man.” He
will see them as conspirators, in on the plot.
Yet Jack believes
the assassination to be the deed of one lone Marxist. He looks at the film and
sees only one person firing one rifle. He can’t see Badge Man in the bushes. He will see
Umbrella Man, but won’t see his action as conspiratorial. It’s the same film, yet
two opposite conclusions.
What’s happening?
Joe and Jack are bringing different presuppositions to the film, and because of
their presuppositions, they interpret it differently.
That’s what’s
happening in the case of the Athenian and the Jerusalemite: each is
interpreting man, the world, and the universe using a different presupposition.
Joe brings the presupposition Ayn Rand spoke of: “[Unaided] reason is man’s
only tool of knowledge.” Jack brings the presupposition that the Bible is the
Word of God by which he interprets the heavens.
THE ATHENIAN
Put yourself in the
mindset of the Athenian in Decatur. The only tool he has for interpreting
himself, others, and the universe is just as Ayn Rand says, his three- pound
brain.
Our Decaturite will ask,
“How do you know the Bible‘s the Word of God?” The typical Locust Grovite won’t
ask that question. He’ll respect the very paper it’s written on.
So how do we
Jerusalemites discuss spiritual matters with the Athenians?
To be continued.
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