The famed British actor/comedian Stephen Fry recently
appeared in my Facebook newsfeed for an interview he gave in which he expressed
not only non-belief but utter contempt for the Christian God. The interview
appeared in a British program titled The
Meaning of Life, which aired on 1 February 2015.
Prompted by the interviewer, Fry imagined meeting God in the
afterlife to think how he would respond. Fry’s response was to level
accusations against God: “How dare you. How dare you create a world in which
there is so much misery that is not our fault? It’s not right. It’s utterly,
utterly evil.”
I understand and sympathize with his sentiments. Having once
identified strongly with atheism, similar thoughts and feelings once surged
through me as well. It’s a funny feeling, to hate that which does not exist…
But rather than brush off this sentiment as absurd, I want to grapple with it
seriously. I know how real that sentiment is for those who hold it.
Most importantly, I know what kind of a barrier that kind of
sentiment can be to a true understanding of the true and living God. It is in
the interest of tearing down that barrier, or at least putting a little crack
in it, that I initiate this conversation.
If I could talk directly to Stephen Fry, or those who share
his sentiments (admittedly this included myself only a few short years ago), I
would say something like what I am about to write below:
Accusing God
One question to start us off… If you have a negative
impression of the Christian God, where did you get that impression? A university
class? An online pundit? A celebrity?
I’m going to guess right now that it’s not from actually
reading the Bible. When I was an atheist, I thought I had a pretty good idea of
what the Bible said about God’s character. I latched onto verses in the Old
Testament that used harsh language to describe God’s triumph over the
Israelites’ enemies, battle accounts, or the flood of Noah, etc., and thought
that meant the biblical God was immoral. WHAT I WOULD NOT HAVE ADMITTED at the
time was that these were all interpretations that were spoonfed to me by
atheist commentators online or in books that I had read!
I can’t speak for everyone, but that was certainly the case
for me. I want you to assess yourself seriously – is your impression of the
Christian God actually based on your own first-hand inquiry into the Bible? Or
is it based on the interpretations of a handful of atheist commentators?
I thought I was such an independent thinker, but really, I
was just towing the same old line of accusations that have been leveled against
God for centuries!
Indeed, right from the very beginning God’s enemies have
been misrepresenting his character in order to discredit him. Take the story of
the Garden of Eden. God commanded Adam and Eve not to eat of the forbidden
fruit – but the serpent had a twist on God’s words. The very first statement
out of the serpent’s mouth was a misrepresentation of God’s words: “hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?”
If Satan can malign the character of God, then he can try to prevent one or two
more people from going to God for their salvation. It would seem to me that’s why so many
people hate God today. They have bought into the serpent’s lie that God is a
tyrant. Jesus prophesied that this would happen: “But this cometh to pass, that
the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without
a cause.” (John 15:25)
But like Adam and Eve knew the actual word of God was different from what the serpent said, YOU
can know that the actual character of
God is different from what the new atheist posse are saying. How? By actually
reading the word of God, of course…
People tried to accuse and entrap Jesus at various points
during his ministry. In one such instance, “Jesus answered
and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the
power of God.” (Matthew 22:29)
I don’t want you to err! I want you to know the scriptures,
and know the power of God!
I want you to know God.
No God? KNOW God!
How on earth could I know God? How could any of us? If God
is indeed the creator of the universe, outside of our mortal constraints of
space and time, how could we even begin to comprehend God?
The answer is simple. God created us to be in fellowship with
him – as God said, “I will walk among you, and will be your
God, and ye shall be my people” (Lev. 26:12) – and so it only makes
sense that he would present himself to us in such a way that we can understand
him and interact with him in a personal way! It’s built into the very purpose
of his creation.
In fact, God chose to represent himself to us as a flesh-and-blood
human, 2000 years ago, when he walked among us as Jesus. He lived a human life.
He ate food, breathed air, occupied finite space, suffered pain, and even
experienced death – just like all of us. He interacted with us, spoke with us,
taught us, and laid down his life for us. JESUS is our Lord and our God! (John
20:27-29) Jesus is “the image of the invisible God”
(Colossians 1:15). So, if you as a human want to know God, you must understand Jesus. As the Bible says, Jesus is
Emmanuel (“God with Us”, see Matthew 1:23) who became flesh to dwell among us
(John 1:1, 14).
THAT IS HOW WE KNOW GOD! We can look to Jesus! How? First by
reading about what he said and did, through the Gospels. Then by talking with
him through prayer, inviting him into our lives, and walking with him day by
day.
When we understand God in this way, we no longer have the
false impression that he is a distant and capricious authority figure. We no
longer see him as someone we are obligated to do rituals for. We are no longer
mere servants, but friends of God! As Jesus said, “Henceforth
I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I
have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have
made known unto you.” (John 15:15)
What kind of God
is God?
In Stephen Fry’s interview, he revealed rather frankly what
he thought about the Christian God: “…What kind of God is he? It’s perfectly
apparent; he’s monstrous, utterly monstrous and deserves no respect whatsoever.”
But what does Jesus reveal about God’s character?
Unconditional love. Mercy. Patience. He is the hero of the downtrodden. He came
to proclaim liberty to the captives, to give sight to the blind, and to heal
the broken-hearted.
Just look at the Parable of the Prodigal Son, in which God
is described as a loving father anxiously awaiting the return of his wayward
child and welcoming him back with open arms and unconditional forgiveness (Luke
15). Just look at the story of the woman accused of adultery, whom Jesus
forgave by uttering those famous words “Let he who is without sin cast the
first stone” (John 8). Just look at Jesus healing the sick, raising the dead,
and eating with the social outcasts of his day.
You’ve all heard at least something about Jesus – I mean,
come on, he’s JESUS! That’s the God I know!
If you don’t know how awesome Jesus is, then seriously,
crack open a Bible. If you don’t have a Bible, use a free online Bible like
biblegateway.org. Start with one of the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John –
I recommend John).
Get to know this Jesus guy! In other words, “taste and
see that the Lord is good!” (Psalm 34:8)
Conclusion
To all who ask why God allows evil in the world… Stop and consider
the fact that none of us are perfect. All of us, regrettably, have allowed evil
in our own lives. So when God allows evil to exist in the world, he is also
allowing YOU to exist in the world. In that sense you can appreciate God’s
(temporary) allowance of evil to be a very merciful and longsuffering thing…!
God is amazingly merciful and patient with us. And he is
also just. Wickedness cannot go on forever. God has promised to one day set
right all that humanity has made wrong. Then there shall be no more evil, no
more disease, no more death. As the Bible says, “And God
shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death,
neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former
things are passed away.” (Revelation 21:4)
God is allowing evil to exist for a time. But one day he
will destroy the wicked with the brightness of his return (2 Thessalonians 2:8).
When that day comes, will you be among the accusers saying “How dare you”? Or
will you be among the redeemed who have tasted and seen that the Lord is good?
God bless you.
