This chapter opens with a brief analogy of how sketch artists can assist in tracking down the perpetrators of a crime. Strobel then goes on to describe how “[Strobel:] The Old Testament provides numerous details about God that sketch out in great specificity what he’s like” (Strobel, CFC, P. 170). He then proceeds to list off the following characteristics that he finds in the old testament. I’ve provided commentary in parenthesis on where you’ll find this refuted.
- Omnipresent (Not according to Genesis)
- Omniscient (Also not according to Genesis)
- Omnipotent (Maybe, but not likely. Genesis shows him flexing very little power overall)
- Immutable (Changes his mind often in the Old Testament, has a makeover in the New)
- Loving (The genocidal flood in Genesis would like to disagree)
- Righteous (By god’s definition only….)
- Wise (Not according to Genesis. Would a wise being flood the earth, or find another way?)
- Just (More like endorses wholesale slaughter and murder of nonbelievers in Genesis)
Much like many other Christians I’ve talked with, Strobel is presuming the authenticity of the bible and going on a massive cherry picking expedition.
Strobel goes on to say “[Strobel:] …if we examine Jesus carefully, does his likeness match the sketch of God that we find elsewhere in the bible? If it doesn’t, we can conclude that his claim to being God is false.” (Strobel, CFC, P. 170). This sounds like a pretty open and shut case then. The god of the old testament is shown to be god who is fickle, doesn’t explain things, sets up people to fail, is not omniscient, is genocidal, is unwise, despises communication, punishes people for things that aren’t their fault, and condemns thousands to slavery… all within the first 15 chapters of the old testament.
Rather than this being a “[Strobel:] …complex and mind-stretching issue” (Strobel, CFC, P. 170), this is primarily an attempt to persuade the reader with just as much evidence and effort as he put into the last 2 chapters. All the “issues” that Strobel brings up are explained away by saying Jesus intentionally limited himself while here on earth.
In this chapter, Strobel interviews Dr. Donald A. Carson.
Living and Forgiving Like god
When asked why he believes Jesus is divine, Dr. Carson says “[Dr. Carson:] Once could point to such things as his miracles… … but other people have done miracles, so while this may be indicative, it’s not decisive.” (Strobel, CFC, P. 171). I’d like to see what sorts of things Dr. Carson considers a miracle if they’re common enough that many people besides his deity have done them. As far as I’ve seen in my life, the amount of miracles performed by anyone is exactly 0.
The rest of the chapter is taking the historical reliability of the gospels as a fact. As shown in the problems with chapters 2 and 3, we can not take the gospels to be historically reliable. Any proof furnished must come from outside sources. I’ll go over a few of the issues in this chapter anyways.
Dr. Carson quotes the gospels as “evidence” that Jesus is god saying “[Dr. Carson:] ‘Who can forgive sins but God alone?’ To my mind, that is one of the most striking things Jesus did.” (Strobel, CFC, P. 172). To someone who is not a believer in Christianity or any sort of theism, this is a very unconvincing argument. You’re telling me that the made up god who says you’re bad is the only one who can forgive you? And because the bible says Jesus could, he’s the same guy? This requires several unsubstantiated leaps of logic.
Not only does the argument ignore perspectives outside of Christianity, but Strobel helps Dr. Carson out by saying “Not only did Jesus forgive sin… …but he asserted that he himself was without sin. And certainly sinlessness is an attribute of a deity.” (Strobel, CFC, P. 172). This continues the made up sin narration and shows that Strobel is fully committed to Christianity at this point. The only reason we have to believe this claim of “sinlessness” is a book written by people who literally worshiped this guy. Of course there’s going to be some far out claims.
Mystery of the Incarnation
Strobel asks Dr. Carson “[Strobel:] …how in the world could Jesus be omnipresent if he couldn’t be in two places at once? … the bible itself seems to argue against Jesus being god.” (Strobel, CFC, P. 172). Dr. Carson gives two ideas to try explain this. To paraphrase, that Jesus was fully human and simply lived in accordance with god’s desires, or Jesus simply limited his powers while here.
Dr. Carson overlooks the simplest explanation of all that we should have started the interview off with: that we should start with the idea of a human like any other and search for proof of any outlandish claims rather than assuming the claims true. Strobel decides that a limited form of divinity that “…finite minds couldn’t totally comprehend…” (Strobel, CFC, P. 175) is good enough for him and moves on.
Creator or Created?
This section is a theological debate over whether or not Jesus was created by god, or if Jesus is god himself. It sets up an either-or fallacy which is ultimately worthless because it still presupposes the historical accuracy of the bible… how exciting! Based on the leading question, this section is intended to set up a case for evidence for Jesus as god… something that is called into severe question if the bible is not historically accurate.
Was Jesus a Lesser God?
This section doesn’t really make a clear case for whether or not Jesus is a lesser god or equal to the god of gods that the bible says made everything. It’s a trivial interpretation of the phrase “the Father is greater than I” that could really be taken in several different ways. Given what Christians believe, which interpretation do you think was cherry picked?
The Disquieting Question of Hell
This section shows how far Dr. Carson will go to rationalize viewpoints that have no support for them. Jesus in Luke 13:24-28, states that many people will seek to be in heaven, but few will achieve it. AKA: Many will end up in hell. Dr. Carson makes a theological argument against that without any evidence and literally speaks for God throughout a lot of the chapter.
Dr. Carson, with no evidence provided, states “[Dr. Carson:] …I’m not sure that god simply casts people into hell because they don’t accept certain beliefs.”(Strobel, CFC, P. 179). He further states a little later about hell that “[Dr. Carson:] It’s filled with people who, for all eternity, still want to be at the center of the universe and who persist in their God-defying rebellion” (Strobel, CFC, P. 180).
There is no mention of this throughout the bible. In Matthwew 13:51, it certainly sounds like beliefs are required to escape from the punishment of hell. According to John 10:7-18, it certainly sounds like a belief in Jesus specifically is required to escape hell. Having “certain beliefs” certainly seems to be a prerequisite to receiving your “get-out-of-hell free card”.
Dr. Carson also argues that, even if people do get sent to hell, “[Dr. Carson:] …that there are different degrees of punishment…” (Strobel, CFC, P. 180). Even if this is the case and carried out in the bible, is it truly a good or just thing to have someone being tormented for all of eternity? In the end, there’s no good reason that a truly just god wouldn’t be able to find a better method than hell.
As an aside, Dr. Carson appears to hold the belief that “[Dr. Carson:] [Hell is] …filled with people who, for all eternity, still want to be at the center of the universe…” (Strobel, CFC, P. 180). Weirdly, Strobel, who claims to be an atheist, doesn’t counter this claim. One of the most life changing realizations many atheists have had is the feeling that, in the grand scheme of things, they are nothing more than a speck living atop a floating marble in the vast emptiness of space. Atheism actually promotes the worldview that you are not the center rather than the special individual centric religious viewpoint Christianity offers.
To give an analogy of how ridiculously stupid the concept of hell is, just imagine sentencing a child to being beaten for the rest of their life because they took a cookie from a cookie jar once without asking. In the grand scheme of an eternity, all of a person’s lifetime mess-ups would be just as inconsequential a few thousand to a few million years down the line. Could you truly say “[Dr. Carson:] …no one will be able to complain by saying, ‘This isn’t fair’ ” (Strobel, CFC, P. 180) about such a punishment?
Jesus and Slavery/Overthrowing Oppression
These two are so closely tied together that they may as well be in the same section.
Strobel brings up the fact that Jesus never denounced slavery, which seems to be a method of supporting it. He asks Dr. Carson “[Strobel:] Why didn’t Jesus stand up and shout, ‘Slavery is wrong’?” (Strobel, CFC, P. 181). Dr. Carson proceeds to gloss over why Jesus didn’t end slavery because “[Dr. Carson:] …he did not come to overturn the Roman economic system, which included slavery. He came to free men and women from their sins.” (Strobel, CFC, P. 182). Dr. Carson concludes that, while Jesus didn’t come to free slaves, the abolition of slavery today was because “[Dr. Carson]: Christians rammed abolition through Parliament in the beginning of the nineteenth century” (Strobel, CFC, P. 183)
This doesn’t hold much water when you look at it from outside the romanticized Christian worldview that Strobel (Through Dr. Carson) is trying to push on us. If ending slavery was a long term goal of coming to preach, then why is that that, after only a few centuries of the Enlightment era starting, slavery was stopped? Christians had control of Britain and large portions of Europe for a long time before then. Why wasn’t slavery abolished within a few centuries of Christianity starting rather than almost 2000 years? Why was it that only after the age of enlightenment started did abolition arguments start to gain traction?
Strangely, Dr. Carson leaves out other references to slavery coming from Paul, such as in Ephesians 6:5, where Paul says “Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear and sincerity of heart, just as you would show to Christ”. I don’t know how Dr. Carson would interpret this, but to me, it sounds very much like an endorsement of slavery.
Matching the Sketch of God
The conclusion for this chapter takes the gospels as a fact. Strobel’s claim that “[Strobel:] …according to the Bible, the fact that it [Jesus’s Incarnation] did occur is not in any doubt. Every attribute of God, says the New Testament, is found in Jesus Christ.” (Strobel, CFC, P. 184).
Contrary to Strobel’s claim, there is great doubt to believe any of this still. He has failed to present a clear case in any chapter so far, and this chapter continues to be just as ineffective.