The New Gospel

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.  So that anger and hatred turned in upon myself for my own hypocrisy and phoniness.  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.  [In this condition of despair, Craig had a conversation with a girl in his high school German class:] 

“Sandy, what are you always so happy about anyway?”

“Well, Bill,” she said, “It’s because I’m saved! ... I know Jesus Christ as my personal Savior,” she explained.

“I go to church,” I said lamely.

“That’s not enough, Bill,” she said, “You’ve got to have him really living in your heart.”

That was the limit!  “What would he want to do a thing like that for?” I demanded.

“Because he loves you, Bill.”

That hit me like a ton of bricks.  Here I was, so filled with anger and hate, and she said there was someone who really loved me.  And who was it but the God of the Universe!  That thought just staggered me.  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!

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

References to Jesus outside the New Testament tend to confirm what we read in the gospels, but they don’t really tell us anything new … What this means is that despite all the hoopla, the documents contained in the New Testament are our primary sources for the life of Jesus.

If life ends at the grave [there is no reward in Heaven or punishment in Hell], then it makes no ultimate difference whether you live as Stalin or a Mother Teresa.  Since your destiny is ultimately unrelated to your behavior, you may as well live as you please.