In chapter five, Distortions of the Christian Worldview---Or the God I Don’t Believe In, Groothius gives a brief response to objections to the Christian worldview such as anti-intellectualism, an antiscience stance, racism, sexism, homophobia, imperialism, ecological disregard and a boring conception of the afterlife.
Anti-Intellectualism: Christianity as Intellectual Suicide
No one should be willing to follow a religion that decapitates critical thinking. In Matthew 22:37, Jesus said, “you shall love the Lord your God with all your …. mind.” He said this after he had out debated the leading scholars of his day: the Herodians, the Sadducees, and the Pharisees.
The Supposed Warfare Between Christianity and Science
Richard Dawkins in his bestselling book The God Delusion argues that Christianity is reactionary and antiscience.
The historical record is not one of unmitigated hostility of the church against science, resulting in science always claiming victory over benighted theological assertions. Christian theists like Galileo saw no disharmony between the Bible and science. The Roman Catholic Church rejected Galileo’s heliocentric theory because of its commitment to Aristotelian principle concerning nature, not biblical teaching. This is no trophy for secularist.
Racism and Slavery
God chose one race in the OT, Jews, not because he was racist, but so that one race would be a light to all other races. Jesus died for all races or “whosoever will” and commissioned believers to take the gospel to “all nationalities.”
OT laws regulate the extent and form of slavery and resulted in humanizing the existing institution. The Hebrew theocracy was not meant to be a perpetual institution. Paul refers to slave traders as evil (1 Timothy 1:10). The book of Philemon did much to revolutionize the Christian view of slavery. Jesus’ instruction that his followers not lord it over others but rather prize servanthood sets in motion and ethic ultimately incompatible with slavery (Mark 9:35).
Is Christianity Sexist?
Groothius documents well the equality of men and women who are both made in the image of God (Galatians 3:26-2), but he totally leaves unaddressed the role of men as leaders in the home and church (1 Timothy 2:8-3:13).
Are Christians Afraid of Homosexuality?
The Bible clearly teaches that marriage is between a man and a woman (Genesis 1:26-28; 2:23-25). Jesus endorsed this model in Matthew 19:4-5. Likewise, Scriptures condemn homosexuality in Romans 1:24-27. Yet, Christians are to love homosexuals as Jesus did when he died on the cross for all sins. Paul won homosexuals to Christ at Corinth (1 Cor. 6:9-11).
Coercion and Imperialism
Jesus commanded the church to make disciples of all nations by means of the gospel not the sword. God gave the sword to government to maintain order but not to the church. In OT, God commanded Joshua defeat enemy nations but that is not commanded of the church today. The Crusades were instigated by the Roman Catholic Church in which the pope sometimes guaranteed heaven for dying soldiers is totally unbiblical and does not represent true Christianity.
Does Christianity Neglect Ecology?
The Christian worldview neither deifies nor denigrates nature. One day the curse will be lifted. The planet will be destroyed by fire. But God also will make a “new earth.” Jesus said that man made in the image of God is “much more valuable” than the birds of the air. That we can eat meat. Psalm 24:1 says that the earth is the Lords. So we should seek to manage well the planet God has given us to serve him.
The Christian Afterlife is Unappealing
Believers are depicted as praising and worshiping an infinitely majestic God which cannot possibly be boring or pointless (Revelation 5:9-14). Most of us have been caught up in the moment of a standing ovation for a virtuoso musician for a finite production. For believers standing, or falling on our faces, will inexplicably greater when we give praise to the God who has forgiven our sins, delivered us from eternal conscience suffering to beauty and glory of Heaven.
From Distortions to Reality
This chapter shows that Christianity can counter the caricatures raised against it.