Jesus or Nothing E-Book

Dan DeWitt

• Herausgeber: Crossway
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 146

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2014

Beschreibung

It's time to make a choice... Many young adults are abandoning the Christian faith, convinced that it's an outdated and uneducated belief system. In this compelling address, Dan DeWitt counters these misconceptions and challenges us to think carefully about the choice between Jesus or nothing by comparing the Christian worldview to the notion of a godless universe devoid of true goodness and ultimate significance. This winsome book describes the rock-solid foundation for life that Christians enjoy in and through the gospel—offering an explanation for our existence, grace for our guilt, and meaning for our mortality.

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“This book will challenge you to rethink how you view atheists and others who seriously question our faith, and it will leave you better equipped to point them toward the only One who can ultimately give meaning and hope.”

Kevin Ezell, President, North American Mission Board, Southern Baptist Convention

“To be alive today is to be at the intersection of worldviews. Different worldviews compete for allegiance, but Dan DeWitt clearly demonstrates that there are really only two worldviews in constant conflict: theism versus nihilism. The superiority of the Christian worldview is demonstrated not only by its inherent truth claims, but also by the tragic inadequacy of nihilism. DeWitt sets the issue clearly in his title: it’s Jesus or Nothing. Any thinking person will benefit from reading this important new book.”

R. Albert Mohler Jr., President, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

“Life really does boil down to Jesus or nothing. Without Christ, we are left with relative morals, meaningless lives, and no hope. Dan is a learned theologian, but never arrogant or judgmental. He has a genuine compassion for those in search of truth, no matter how big or ‘dangerous’ their questions are. Jesus or Nothing is a book that matters, because its proposition is the ultimate matter.”

Josh Wilson, award-winning singer/songwriter

“DeWitt courageously takes us to life’s great intersection. There we find the atheist’s theory of nothing and the Christian theory of everything. Decision and destiny hang in the balance for all.”

Jack D. Eggar, CEO, Global Children's Network

“Jesus or Nothing is a little book about a big God. If you are a skeptic or a minister to skeptics, you should read this book about the God who is conspicuously there and who aims to reconcile sinners to himself through Christ.”

Denny Burk, author, What Is the Meaning of Sex?

“The truthfulness of the claims of Scripture matters, and those claims have been—and will continue to be—defended often. But another, more basic question matters as well: What is the value, meaning, and purpose of life without God? Dan DeWitt brilliantly demonstrates that the choice truly is Jesus or Nothing.”

Timothy Paul Jones, author, Misquoting Truth: A Guide to the Fallacies of Bart Ehrman’s "Misquoting Jesus"

“Dan DeWitt knows his stuff. It is apparent that he’s familiar with everyone from Chesterton to Lewis to Schaeffer, not only in the ideas set forth in this book, but in his gentle, good-humored tone as well. In a culture where it can feel like Christianity is on the defensive, Dan reminds us that the gospel is beautiful beyond reason and completely reasonable.”

Andrew Peterson, singer/songwriter; author, The Wingfeather Saga series

“Citing everyone from Hawking to Chesterton, Dan shows not only the reasonableness but also the beauty of the gospel of Christ. Jesus or Nothing provides a concise and thoughtful resource for engaging secularists and academics in a city like Boston, where I live and minister.”

Bland Mason, Pastor, City on a Hill Church, Boston, Massachusetts; Chapel Leader, Boston Red Sox

“Jesus or Nothing will take you on a journey through the hope of the gospel and cause you to engage those seeking answers to life’s most important questions with grace and truth.”

Andraé Robinson, Former Pastor, Cornerstone Church, South Los Angeles, California

“Dan DeWitt artfully and accurately presents the big picture of one of the most important battles for hearts in our day. Atheism is often portrayed as the only intelligent worldview, but this book dispels the fog of that myth. I heartily recommend Jesus or Nothing to anyone struggling to sort through the shrill, confusing voices trying to tell us what matters most.”

Ted Cabal, general editor, The Apologetics Study Bible

“Jesus or Nothing addresses the question that believers and nonbelievers alike are afraid to ask—‘What if I’m wrong?’ In an increasingly post-Christian context, Dan contrasts these two worldviews and guides the reader to the exclusive foundation for human flourishing found in the gospel.”

Andy Frew, singer/songwriter; Worship Pastor, Crossridge Church, Surrey, British Columbia

“Dan DeWitt paints a beautiful portrait of Jesus with all the strokes of a fine painter. Jesus or Nothing shows us how to engage our skeptic friends in the grandeur of a story unique and true. DeWitt’s personal enjoyment is etched throughout the painting, exploding with the reality of Jesus and the truth of the gospel. This is a recommended read for all who want to reveal the awesome beauty of Jesus to those who are choosing Nothing.”

David Clifford, Director of Outreach Events and Church Partnerships, Bethlehem College & Seminary

“The ultimate human question has always been that of meaning—the meaning of life, the meaning of death, the meaning of everything. Dan DeWitt reminds us again that meaning is always and necessarily grounded in God, and God is known only through Christ in the gospel. Apart from him, all pleasure, success, and happiness that may (or may not) come your way ultimately adds up to nothing. Biblically solid and culturally aware, DeWitt weaves together references to Pascal, Toy Story 3, Richard Dawkins, John Lennon, and Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn to argue that there are only two roads: the gospel or emptiness, Jesus or nothing. Accessible and enjoyable works on apologetics that are also richly thought provoking are a rarity; Dan DeWitt manages the task beautifully. This book will encourage and challenge many.”

Grant Horner, Associate Professor of Renaissance and Reformation, The Master’s University; author, Meaning at the Movies

JESUS ORNOTHING

Dan DeWitt

Foreword by RUSSELL D. MOORE

Jesus or Nothing

Copyright © 2014 by Daniel A. DeWitt

Published by Crossway

1300 Crescent Street

Wheaton, Illinois 60187

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher, except as provided for by USA copyright law.

Cover design: Faceout Studio, www.faceoutstudio.com

First printing 2014

Printed in the United States of America

Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway. 2011 Text Edition. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

All emphases in Scripture quotations have been added by the author.

Trade paperback ISBN: 978-1-4335-4046-2 PDF ISBN: 978-1-4335-4047-9 Mobipocket ISBN: 978-1-4335-4048-6 ePub ISBN: 978-1-4335-4049-3

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

DeWitt, Dan, 1977–

   Jesus or nothing / Dan DeWitt; foreword by Russell D. Moore.

        1 online resource.

   Includes bibliographical references.

   Description based on print version record and CIP data provided by publisher; resource not viewed.

   ISBN 978-1-4335-4047-9 (pdf) – ISBN 978-1-4335-4048-6 (mobi) – ISBN 978-1-4335-4049-3 (epub) – ISBN 978-1-4335-4046-2 (tp)

   1. Christianity and atheism. 2. Apologetics.  3. Nothing (Philosophy)  4. Nihilism (Philosophy)  5. Bible. Colossians—Criticism, interpretation, etc.  I. Title.

BR128.A8

261.2'1—dc23            2013048415

Crossway is a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

To April Joy, my beautiful and faithful bride

Contents

CoverNewsletter Sign UpEndorsmentsTitle PageCopyrightDedicationForeword by Russell D. MooreIntroduction: The Power of Nothing 1 The Tale of Two Stories 2 The Gospel Offers an Explanation for Our Existence 3 The Gospel Offers Clarity for Our Confusion 4 The Gospel Offers Grace for Our Guilt 5 The Gospel Offers Meaning for Our Mortality 6 The Gospel Offers Answers for Our Adversaries 7 The Never-Ending StoryConclusion: The Weight of the WagerAfterword by Marcus Gray (aka Flame)AcknowledgmentsDiscussion GuideNotesClear Sight MusicBack Cover

Foreword

Russell D. Moore

Atheists are easy to hate, until you can’t help but love one.

What I mean is that, despite all our supposed secularization, it takes a certain sort of cultural courage to say, “I don’t believe in God.” Since that’s the case, most of the high-profile people proclaiming as much in public are people with adrenaline firing in a quest to disprove or ridicule faith, especially the Christian faith. But judging atheists by the pamphleteers and the professionally irreligious is akin to unbelievers judging Christians by our most outrageous prosperity-hawking television evangelists.

Most people learn to love atheists by learning to love an atheist—maybe a son or a daughter, or an old college roommate; someone who just can’t believe anymore that at the nub of this whirling universe there’s a Father. When one knows, and loves, someone like that, one realizes that this isn’t part of some conspiratorial plot to attack the faith. This is someone who has lost his or her story—and is looking for a way to make sense of a cosmos filled with quasars and waterfalls, of pythons and parasites.

The book you hold in your hand—or view on your screen—isn’t an argument. It’s not more intellectual ammunition designed to help you win a debate over coffee. It is something I saw buzzing about in the author’s life for years—as he learned to love some atheists. He didn’t see them as projects or prizes—some sort of spiritual taxidermy to hang on his mantle if he won them to Christ. He saw them as friends—to be witnessed to, of course, but also to be listened to. This book is meant to awaken your imagination in two directions—first, toward the wonder of what it means that this story we find ourselves in is really true. There really is a dynamically alive ex-corpse who is bending all of history toward himself. You really are accepted, and forgiven, and welcome if you’re hidden in him. You really have nothing to fear—from your past guilt or from your future casket. But this book will also turn your imagination toward those around you who just can’t find that old, old story to be good, good news.

The author is a bright Christian scholar, a winsome Christian teacher. But he’s also one who knows what it is like to follow his Lord toward sitting down with those far from the kingdom—and with a provocative tranquility show them a story that, if as true as we believe it is, upends everything. The kingdom of God is not, the Scriptures tell us, a matter of talk but of power. This book is electric with kingdom power—the kind of power that casts out darkness, tears down strongholds, and tells a story just wild enough to love.

Introduction

The Power of Nothing

He saw Nothing. Beyond the shrubbery in his front yard, he saw Nothing. The landscaping pointed simply to itself and not to a grand designer in the sky. The bushes didn’t host fairies or goblins. They had nothing to do with gods or holy books. They just were.

That’s how Mark Bauerlein, professor of English at Emory University, describes his teenage conversion to atheism.1 Mark’s experience is not uncommon. Another skeptic once shared with me that he became an atheist as a boy shortly after a close friend died. The thought of his friend peering into his preteen adolescent activities sort of creeped him out. And so he came to grips with Nothing. There was Nothing beyond death. There was no heaven. And there was no God.

Sometimes Nothing can be quite therapeutic. It’s likely that Nothing has soothed your fears at some point in your life. Parents calm their children with the words, “There’s nothing in the closet.” No monsters. No bogeymen. Nothing. You can go back to bed and rest in peace: this Nothing can’t hurt you.

This is why the recent atheistic marketing campaign caused such a stir. For many the message connected with a deep longing for ultimate liberation: “God probably doesn’t exist. Go ahead and enjoy the rest of your life.” This proposal touches a nerve in the believing community as well. Many professing Christians, for all practical purposes, live as functional atheists with little regard for God’s sovereign rule over their daily lives.

This is not to say that atheists stop with Nothing. But for many, perhaps most, Nothing is where they begin. That’s where it began for Zach. He grew up in a conservative Christian home in the bluegrass state of Kentucky. His devout parents sent him to a fundamentalist Christian school from kindergarten though high school graduation. He was well versed in the sort of things that make Nothing all the more appealing.

After eighteen years of emotional revival services, fiery church business meetings, silly youth group antics, endless rules and regulations, and leadership resignations due to moral downfalls, he was ready for something else. And he found it in the local community college. He breathed deeply the fresh air of intellectual diversity. For the first time in his life he felt truly free.

He first contemplated the possibilities of Nothing in a biology class his second semester, where his professor presented the merits of evolution. The theory was nearly forbidden in his private high school. It was worse than a four-letter word. Yet here it was discussed in a rational and persuasive manner. Now when Zach looked out at the world, with its own natural explanations, he saw Nothing. And it was beautiful.

Zach later transferred to a large state university to pursue a degree in humanities. He spent the summer after his junior year with a group of students from a humanist campus organization serving the poor in Haiti. He caringly handed food rations to impoverished youth amid trash heaps. He and his colleagues toiled beneath the summer sun to make a difference one child at a time. The grateful, yet sunken, brown eyes of starving boys and girls were more than enough to make his sacrifice seem relatively insignificant, yet powerfully satisfying. He didn’t do it for religion. He did it for hungry children.

He always thought that if he embraced Nothing, he would instantly morph into some sort of morally reprehensible monster. He quickly discarded this misconception, along with a host of others he had heard throughout childhood. Early in his senior year he made the dreaded phone call to his parents and told them he was no longer a Christian. They were devastated. At the fork in the road between Jesus and Nothing, he chose Nothing.

And who can blame him?

His story is repeated countless times at colleges across America. I’ve had the wonderful privilege of meeting many students like Zach over the last several years as I’ve led a campus ministry at a secular school. I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the healthy discussions that are possible between Christians and skeptics. All too often caricatures of both sides thwart meaningful relationships.

We started our ministry with three seminars, one a month, spread out over an academic semester. Perhaps the titles of our events illustrate why a number of skeptics regularly attended our gatherings: “What I Hate about Religion,” “What I’ve Learned from Atheism,” and last but not least, “What I Love about the Gospel.” From the beginning we sought common ground to engage in meaningful conversations. Christian ministries regularly limit themselves to monologue—we longed for dialogue.

Though I’m now the dean of a Bible college, I still have regular opportunities to speak to university students. When given the occasion to address the topic of the Christian faith, I often use the book of Colossians to outline my presentation. There are numerous paths a discourse about faith can take, and I’ve found that the simplicity of Paul’s short letter provides helpful parameters for demonstrating the gospel’s unique ability to provide an objective basis for human flourishing.

My presentation of the gospel, grounded in Colossians, has evolved over the years. And so have I. My understanding of both the gospel and the human condition continue to deepen and flavor the way I talk about Jesus. In many ways this book is a culmination of the interactions, conversations, relationships, and dialogues about the gospel that I’ve shared with thoughtful and intelligent students, believers and unbelievers alike.

This is a book for Zach, and many like him who have considered walking away from their childhood faith in favor of a different worldview. I hope to contrast the narrative of the gospel with what I believe to be an inevitable nihilism that permeates a godless universe.

I recognize that my words cannot—in and of themselves—convince a cynic or convert a sinner. Yet, it is my aim, and my prayer, that this short book will encourage believers in their love of the gospel, challenge skeptics in their rejection of it, and assist Christian parents and leaders as they contend for the faith once for all delivered to the saints (Jude 1:3).

My goal is not to offer finely tuned apologetic arguments—though there are several references to such defenses—but instead to ask the reader to envision what the world would look like if the gospel were actually true. If this book achieves anything, I hope it shows, even to some small measure, that Christianity is both plausible and desirable. And who knows: maybe it’s also true. Just imagine.

Welcome to the human epic of Jesus or Nothing.

1

The Tale of Two Stories