Pensées

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Update: Recommend just listening to Sections 3 & 4. If you have time, maybe Section 7. I didn’t find much usefulness in the rest. Below are some good quotes:

There is enough light for those who want to believe and enough shadows to blind those who don’t. — Blaise Pascal

There are only three types of people; those who have found God and serve him; those who have not found God and seek him, and those who live not seeking, or finding him. The first are rational and happy; the second unhappy and rational, and the third foolish and unhappy. — Blaise Pascal

Reason’s final step is to realize that there are an infinite number of things which lie beyond it. It is simply feeble if it does not get as far as realizing that. — Blaise Pascal

There are two kinds of people one can call reasonable; those who serve God with all their heart because they know Him, and those who seek Him with all their heart because they do not know Him. — Blaise Pascal, SECTION III: OF THE NECESSITY OF THE WAGER

For it is indubitable that this life is but an instant of time, that the state of death is eternal, whatever its nature may be, and thus that all our actions and thoughts must follow such different paths according to the state of this eternity, that the only possible way of acting with sense and judgement is to decide our course in the light of this point, which ought to be our ultimate objective. — Blaise Pascal, Pensées (427)

Men despise religion; they hate it and fear it is true. To remedy this, we must begin by showing that religion is not contrary to reason; that it is venerable, to inspire respect for it; then we must make it lovable, to make good men hope it is true; finally, we must prove it is true. Venerable, because it has perfect knowledge of man; lovable because it promises the true good. — Blaise Pascal, Pensées (187)

What can be seen on earth indicates neither the total absence, nor the manifest presence of divinity, but the presence of a hidden God. Everything bears this stamp. — Blaise Pascal, Pensées (449) / 142

We know truth not only through our reason but also through our heart. It is through the latter that we know first principles, and reason, which has nothing to do with it, tries in vain to refute them. — Blaise Pascal, Pensées (110) / 28

I should be much more afraid of being mistaken and then finding out that Christianity is true than of being mistaken in believing it to be true. — Blaise Pascal, Pensées (386 /241)

Truth is so obscured nowadays and lies [are] so well established that unless we love the truth we shall never recognize it. — Blaise Pascal

Prophecies. If a single man had written a book foretelling the time and manner of Jesus’ coming and Jesus had come in conformity with these prophecies, this would carry infinite weight. But there is much more here. There is a succession of men over a period of 4,000 years, coming consistently and invariably one after the other, to foretell the same coming; there is an entire people proclaiming it, existing for 4,000 years to testify in a body to the certainty they feel about it, from which they cannot be deflected by whatever threats and persecutions they may suffer. This is of a quite different order of importance. — Blaise Pascal, Pensees, 332

We know the truth, not only by the reason, but also by the heart. — Blaise Pascal

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I loved Jason’s honesty and humbleness. I found a Christian who questions the usefulness of prayer, who questions whether Christianity isn’t just manmade, and who gets somewhat cynical about the overly-spiritualized church. Yet, he doesn’t give up on his faith. He struggles with it, but still pushes on. He feels that faith is worth the effort. Why does he choose faith? He says:

Mainly, because I hope. “Faith is being sure of what we hope for,” the author of Hebrews wrote, “and certain of what we do not see” (11:1). I’m not exactly “certain” of anything, but I’m sure of what I hope for: I hope there’s something more than a dust-to-dust, grow-old-and-then-you-die material existence. I hope God exists.

Sure, this is a pathetically weak type of faith. Some may even call it wishful thinking. However, it might be the mustard seed size faith Jesus was talking about.

Doubt is an inherently depressing topic to write about, but Jason infuses his book with comic relief, which helped me to keep on reading. Many times, he had me laughing inside, and a few times, I actually laughed out loud. I also enjoyed that he voiced his skeptical internal voice, which sounded a lot like my internal dialogue.

The one “problem” with the book was that it jumped from topic to topic, however I think that style fit with the subject of the book. Doubters tend to jump from issue to issue because one question leads to another, which leads to another, which makes it hard to stay focus.

I would definitely recommend this book. It is not a big time commitment and it was a very enjoyable read. The book was even small enough to fit in my back pocket as I brought it to a couple of restaurants to read during my trip to New Orleans. (It was so nice to be able to eat at an outside café and enjoy good food and a good book!)

Jason describes a faith that I hope to have one day. It is a weak faith that continues to doubt, but a faith nonetheless. Jason is honest about his feelings but still seeks the Lord. Unfortunately, the skeptic in me still wonders if Jason is just being a hopeful believer.

Note: Jason Boyett also has a great blog.

I’ve finally finished his book, “The Crucifixion and Death of a Man Called Jesus. From the Eyes of a Physician”, by David A. Ball, M.D. His book was a nice easy read, however sometimes it was a bit “too Christian” for me. What I mean by that is that sometimes the book did too much evangelism, and sometimes the book felt more like a devotional than a book investigating the crucifixion. Some of Ball’s arguments were also not well supported and a lot of his arguments relied on “since the Bible said it, it must be true”. However, I’m getting better about not getting distracted by things I may disagree with and try to glean things that are helpful for me.

Some of the things that were helpful to me or that I found interesting are the following:

• Nice summary of some of the prophecies that Jesus is said to have fulfilled. (However, I still think the gospel writers wrote it to “fulfill” OT prophecy)
• Explanation of the covenant cutting ceremony in Genesis 15:7-17 in light of Jesus’ crucifixion.
• Hypothesis of why Jesus sweat became like drops of blood (Luke 22:41-44).
• Medical description of the scourging and the typical cause of death by crucifixion.
• David Ball’s hypothesis that Jesus died of a ruptured heart.
• Comparison of Jesus to the Passover lamb.

Overall, I would say it was an okay book. I would recommend to first look at his journal articles here. These articles contained most of the things I found interesting. If you like these articles then check out his book which contains a little more details and more Biblical study (comparison with Passover lamb and prophecies).

Back to the books I go. . .

As someone who has gone through doubt and is now an unbeliever, Rachel captures the struggle of the doubter. In one moment Rachel is questioning a loving God who sends people to hell for eternity, and then a moment later she is clinging fast to a God that loves her. I could feel the tension and the pain of her struggles. It was also comforting to know that I am not alone in my doubt.

The book is a quick and easy read with very enjoyable stories of different people who have influenced her life’s path. The stories make it personal, while also giving a glimpse of the rich variety of different beliefs and experiences. Rachel is an excellent writer and I found myself highlighting many sections in her book.

I would recommend this book to anyone who feels trapped in Christian fundamentalism. Rachel gives an example of a healthy alternative to the absolutes that are often found in Christianity today. I would not recommend this book to someone who is looking for answers. This book is about asking questions, and living out your faith in spite of the uncertainties.

Rachel also has an excellent blog that I would recommend too.

Here the book trailer:

Click here to view the embedded video.

He discusses many topics such as the early manuscripts, who were the writers, when were they written, miracles, archeology, and much more. I especially liked his discussion on the reliability of the early Christian oral tradition. Looking back, I’m amazed at how much he was able to pack in to such a small book.

I would highly recommend this book for those who have questions regarding the gospels and want something accessible to the normal layman. Mark Roberts also has some great resources on his website. In fact, this book is based off of one of his blog series.

I have mixed feelings about the book. Some parts were very thick. Sometimes I didn’t know where he was going with the very large background that he was building for hundreds of pages. And sometimes I felt I was undergoing some sort of torture until I would just say, “Ok, ok, I believe, just let me stop reading!” I think a beginner like me can quickly drown with all the information presented. Then trying to look up the opposing view point made it almost an impossible task.

The other side of me was just amazed at all the research and reading N. T. Wright has done in presenting this information. Wright goes into much detail on each topic and fully develops the background of his arguments. He also addresses many of the current objections to the historicity of the resurrection. This book will definitely become for me a reference book regarding the resurrection.

In the end I would recommend the book. However, if I had to do it over again, I wouldn’t have read it page by page. I would have just read the nice conclusions at the end of most chapters and then dive more into chapters that I found more interesting. Over the next several weeks (or months) I’ll try to discuss some of the topics presented. I’ll also try to compile some of my notes here.

In reading Dangerous Journey, The Story of Pilgrim’s Progress, to my kids, I was taken aback by the how close to home one of the chapters hit. The chapter is about two pilgrims, Christian and Hopeful, who find themselves unjustly imprisoned in the dungeon of Doubting Castle. There they lay without food or water. They were cut off from their friends and no one knew where they were. Here the gloomy figure, Giant Despair, beats Christian and Hopeful without mercy and leaves them helpless on the floor in the dark dungeon of Doubting Castle.

Giant Despair tries to convince Christian and Hopeful to give up and kill themselves. He then shows them the skeletons of past pilgrims who he tore apart. However, when Christian thought all was lost he remembered an old key called Promise in his pocket that he used to unlock the door to the dungeon. Christian and Hopeful then escaped from Doubting Castle.

Like the story, I often feel beat up by Despair and left broken on the cold dark floor of the dungeon. I also often feel like giving up when I see all the “skeletons” of people torn apart by Despair in Doubting Castle. There are many ex-Christians blogs out there with many de-conversion stories. How scary it is to hear of pastors who after years of believing in God, have now renounced their faith.

I have tried to find a way out of this dungeon. I have looked for loose stones, I have tried to dig a tunnel, I have tried to trick the guards, but nothing has worked. I am stuck in this dungeon, desperately searching my pockets trying to find the old key called Promise.

I just got finished reading another book by Gary Habermas. This book, “The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus” is co-authored by Gary Habermas and Michael Licona. The book is aimed at preparing believers in their interactions with skeptics. The book, along with the accompanying interactive CD, is essentially a guide/instructions in presenting the evidences that exist for the resurrection of Jesus to non-believers. This books is similar to Habermas’ other book, “The Historical Jesus”, in that it has many of the same evidences and argument (Minimal Facts Approach). The book is full of data, and has a ~100 page note section. The book is not a “quick read” but is more of a text book style.

The authors first go over some historical principles in order to set up the arguments latter in the book. Next they go over what Habermas is know for, what he calls “The minimal Facts Approach”. This approach only considers data that is strongly evidenced and that is accepted by virtually all scholars, even the skeptical ones. The authors then go through 5 facts: 1) Jesus died by crucifixion; 2) Jesus’ disciples believed that he rose and appeared to them; 3) Paul, a persecutor of Christians, was suddenly changed; 4) James, a skeptic, was suddenly changed; 5) the empty tomb. (The fifth one, according to Habermas, is only accepted by ~75% of scholars, not virtually all like the other four).

Habermas and Licona then go over many objections and alternatives to Jesus’ resurrection. They then briefly go over a variety of other topics such as the nature of the resurrection, self-understanding of Jesus, “Intelligent Design”, some miscellaneous objections that didn’t fit elsewhere, and how the believer should present this information to non-believers.

I generally enjoyed this book. I primarily enjoyed the nice outline and summary of many of the evidence for the resurrection. I also liked that the book contained their rebuttals to many of the objections to the resurrection. It is a nice one stop type book, but because of this style, there were many times I wish the authors could have gone more in depth on a subject. However, the note sections usually gave references and notes of where to go for more details.

I’ll show my bias by saying that the biggest weakness in this book was Chap 11. In this chapter the authors discuss and support intelligent design. Needless to say this was a big disappointment for me. When theologians and historians start writing about science–reader beware.  For instance, on page 178 they write, “Of many amino acids in the body, only twenty types are useful for life. Of those, only four types are found in DNA.” When the basics of biology are not understood, yet one goes public and supports an unscientific “theory” like intelligent design, it tarnishes the rest of the book. I am not saying that the rest of the book is wrong, it just makes someone who already doubts the resurrection think twice about what they call facts.

Overall I would recommend this book, but would also recommend that they tear Chap 11 out. I found the book to be a good starting point in my research. (Check out the wiki page for my not so complete notes).

I am not an avid reader. It’s actually embarrassing the number of books I have read. It’s not that I don’t read, it’s just that I’m a slow reader. I blame it on having to read numerous journal articles and scientific reports, where I have to carefully read and think about each sentence. I therefore never learned to read quickly, so picking up a 300+ page book is daunting.

Reading books in my researching my doubt is even worse. Not only do I have to read and think about each sentence, I often have to do some background research because many of the topics are out of my expertise. My doubt further complicates matters because many times I am skeptical of what an author may say, so I have to do some further research to verify what they say. All this makes each book become a small research project.

Another problem that I face is that I’m not a huge fan of reading history and theology books, and since most of my free time is late at night, I find myself falling asleep in my chair. I also have found that even with highlighting and writing notes in the margins, I quickly forget key arguments or evidences presented. So I am trying with future books to try to capture my notes and summaries and add it to this website in the wiki section. I’ve chosen to do this in a wiki format so that others can add their notes too. Hopefully this will be beneficial.