The New Gospel

<p><em style="line-height: 1.5; background-color: initial;">He said that about noon, when the day was already beginning to decline, he [Constantine] saw with his own eyes the trophy of a cross of light in the heavens, above the sun, and bearing the inscription, “Conquer, by this.”&nbsp; At this sight he himself was struck with amazement, and his whole army also, which followed him on this expedition, and witnessed the miracle.</em></p>

<p><em>I went on talking like this and weeping in the intense bitterness of my broken heart.&nbsp; Suddenly, I heard a voice from a house nearby – perhaps a voice of some boy or girl, I do not know – singing over and over again, “Pick it up and read … I stemmed the flood of my tears and rose to my feet, believing that this could be nothing other than a divine command to open the Book and read the first passage I chanced upon … I snatched it up, opened it and read in silence the passage on which my eyes first lighted: ‘Not in dissipation and drunkenness, nor in debauchery and lewdness, nor in arguing and jealousy; but put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh or gratification of your desires’ [Romans (13:13-14)].&nbsp; I had no wish to read further, nor was there need.&nbsp; No sooner had I reached the end of the verse than the light of certainty flooded my heart and all dark shades of doubt fled away. &nbsp;</em></p>

<p><em style="line-height: 1.5; background-color: initial;">I knew deep down inside that I really did want to love and be loved by others ... Here I was pretending not to need people, when deep down I really did.&nbsp; So that anger and hatred turned in upon myself for my own hypocrisy and phoniness.&nbsp; I don’t know if you understand what this is like, but this kind of inner anger and despair just eats away at your insides, making every day miserable, another day to get through.&nbsp; [In this condition of despair, Craig had a conversation with a girl in his high school German class:]&nbsp;</em></p><p><em>“Sandy, what are you always so happy about anyway?”</em></p><p><em>“Well, Bill,” she said, “It’s because I’m saved! ... I know Jesus Christ as my personal Savior,” she explained.</em></p><p><em>“I go to church,” I said lamely.</em></p><p><em>“That’s not enough, Bill,” she said, “You’ve got to have him really living in your heart.”</em></p><p><em>That was the limit!&nbsp; “What would he want to do a thing like that for?” I demanded.</em></p><p><em>“Because he loves you, Bill.”</em></p><p><em>That hit me like a ton of bricks.&nbsp; Here I was, so filled with anger and hate, and she said there was someone who really loved me.&nbsp; And who was it but the God of the Universe!&nbsp; That thought just staggered me.&nbsp; To think that the God of the universe should love me, Bill Craig, that worm down there on that speck of dust called planet Earth!</em></p>

<p><em style="line-height: 1.5; background-color: initial;">What then should be our approach in apologetics?&nbsp; It should be something like this:&nbsp; My friend, I know Christianity is true because God’s spirit lives in me and assures me that it is true.&nbsp; And you can know it, too, because God is knocking at the door of your heart, telling you the same thing.&nbsp; If you are sincerely seeking God, then God will give you the assurance that the gospel is true.&nbsp; Now, to try to show you it is true.&nbsp; I’ll share with you some arguments and evidence that I really find convincing.&nbsp; But should my arguments seem weak and unconvincing to you, that’s my fault, not God’s.&nbsp; It only shows that I am a poor apologist, not that the gospel is untrue.&nbsp; Whatever you think of my arguments, God still loves you and holds you accountable.&nbsp; I’ll do my best to present good arguments to you.&nbsp; But ultimately you have to deal, not with arguments, but with God himself.&nbsp;</em></p>

<p><em style="line-height: 1.5; background-color: initial;">I dropped to my knees and prayed.&nbsp; In my simple prayer, I admitted that I was a sinner and asked Jesus to forgive my sin and become my personal Savior.&nbsp; When I got up from my knees, I knew I was a born-again Christian!&nbsp; 1 John (5:13) says, “Ye may know that ye have earned eternal life.”</em></p>

<p><em style="line-height: 1.5; background-color: initial;">As I strolled through the freshly greened woods filled with bird song and lit up by the morning sun, all at once everything appeared in an uncommonly clear light.&nbsp; It shone with the most beautiful radiance, speaking to the heart, as though it wanted to encompass me in its majesty.&nbsp; I was filled with an indescribable sensation of joy, oneness and blissful security … It was these experiences that shaped the main outlines of my worldview and convinced me of the existence of a miraculous, powerful, unfathomable reality that was hidden from everyday sight.</em></p>

<p><em style="line-height: 1.5; background-color: initial;">Nearly two years later, I came to deny the Christian faith.&nbsp; </em><em style="line-height: 1.5; background-color: initial;"><strong>It required too much intellectual gerrymandering to believe.</strong></em><em style="line-height: 1.5; background-color: initial;">&nbsp; There were just too many individual problems that I had to balance, like spinning several plates up on several sticks, in order to keep my faith.&nbsp; At some point they just all came crashing down.</em></p>