01 – Foreword

Our world is a mess – and it’s getting messier.

Babies are aborted for convenience even in the ninth month of pregnancy. Elderly and disabled people are quietly “put down” because someone decided their lives were no longer worth living. The Internet has created unprecedented levels of addiction to pornography. Governments run numbers rackets that they once prosecuted mobsters for running. Court decisions about sodomy laws and same-sex “marriage” reveal a basic confusion about human sexuality. Activists even are pushing society to accept sexual relationships between adults and children.

Everyone seems to agree that no one can know for sure what’s right or wrong for someone else. Christians are dismissed as “judgmental” or “intolerant” if they disagree with the moral choices other people make. Almost everyone rejects the idea of moral truth that applies to all people everywhere. Yet those same people have strong feelings about justice and injustice, and they expect others to agree with them! No one seems to realize the contradiction. Both those beliefs can’t be true, yet we believe them both!

People don’t realize the idea of right and wrong no longer makes any sense. If there are no moral absolutes, then nothing is wrong or unjust. If everyone decides right and wrong for himself, then no one should be punished for doing whatever he wants. It’s only a matter of time before civilized society is completely impossible.

The problem is that we’ve believed two false ideas that make it impossible to maintain just, free society.

If we just stop and think about those ideas for a moment, it becomes very clear that they aren’t true. But most of us are caught up in the pressing problems of daily life and just don’t spend much time thinking about questions like “How can people know what is true about religion and morals?”

Christians say we have the solution, but in fact we’re part of the problem. We can tell unbelievers what God says is right and wrong, but we can’t imagine what to say when they tell us religion and morals are just matters of personal belief. Most of us actually agree! “You can’t prove God and Jesus,” we say. “You just have to take it on faith.”

We can’t be “salt and light” in lost society, because we think just like lost society thinks.

And there’s the heart of the problem: Almost no one believes you can prove what is true when it comes to religion and morals. But the truth is, if you can’t prove it, there’s no hope of creating just, free society. If we can’t prove Christianity is true, we can’t offer our world any real hope, either in this life or the next, because it’s all just a matter of opinion anyway.

If Christians don’t stop for a moment and think about this one question – and understand this one crucial truth – then our world will continue its steady slide into chaos. New depravities will come into vogue with every shift of public opinion – and no one will even be able to explain why they are wrong.

Nothing said in this little book is complicated or original. All it does is point out the non-sense almost everyone believes about religion and morals and show how we really can know what is true. I hope it helps Christians clear their minds and take possession of the only truth that offers any hope of creating just, free society.

*****
This is an online book, not a random series of blog postings. To assist you in reading straight through, a link to the next chapter is posted at the bottom of each page. The categories at the right list each chapter in sequence.

I’m leaving these entries open for comments because I think the Holy Spirit teaches us better when we are in dialogue than when we muddle about in isolation. Constructive critiques are welcome; uncivilized excretions will be flushed. If you have questions, they may be addressed to kainosblog (at) gmail.com.

Next installment
02 – The basic problem

—–
Copyright © 2007, Kainos Press. All rights reserved.