On Refuting Traditional Christianity

Yesterday I wrote a post responding to a post by an Atheist--I first wanted to say I was incorrect that my husband went to school with the writer--when talking with Chris last night, I found out he went to school with a kid who had posted the blog post on his Facebook. Not really relevant to the content of the post, but I wanted to clarify.

I also suggested I would be able to make a better case for Atheism, and that I think I could, but I don't want to (perhaps it's about like saying I didn't apply to Yale but couldn't gotten in if I'd wanted, which is pointless and only true in my mind since I didn't try!). BUT I did want to share a few resources so you can see some of the powerful and informed (I think) challenges to Christianity. Now, it's important to point out that these folks are not what you'd call Atheists, generally. In fact, some would call themselves Christian, perhaps. They do not, at any rate, affirm the historic creeds, and some just plain have rejected Christianity.

If you really want to evaluate these sources, I'd encourage you to read not only their stuff but also their critics. They make scriptural, theological and philosophical arguments that are often pretty technical. I'm reminded of my first Church History course, when Dr. Warren Smith would quite eloquently present the beliefs of a guy long dead, get most of us just to the point of agreeing, then say, "And he was declared a heretic." The most dangerous and seductive heresies are often hard to see at first without a deep understanding of the historic faith of the church. So just approach these with the understanding that it's like you're walking right into a debate happening at a seminary and reflect and research accordingly.

BART EHRMAN
A New Testament scholar, he uses scripture to challenge many traditional ideas about Jesus. He himself has gone through a journey from evangelical Christianity to liberal Christianity to agnosticism. To see some basic info as well as responses, check out his Wikipedia page.

THE JESUS SEMINAR
Now, I'm going to upset a few folks by including these folks on this list, but since the Jesus Seminar largely exists to challenge traditional assumptions of Jesus, i think they're kind of proud of it. Their Wikipedia page will also give you a few views of their work. Actually, their Wikipedia page has a rather good summary of modern challenges to traditional Christian theology.

RICKY GERVAIS
Okay, this is by no means a scholarly writing, and I'm not of the opinion that entertainment celebrities are necessarily the best ones to take our religion, politics or social opinions from, but I thought his article here was a thoughtful of a piece about Atheism as I've seen in a while.

That being said (and these are but a few) I want to also share some solid Christian perspectives. Now, another person or pastor would offer different ones. Certainly these are shape by my own views, which I do not claim speak for all of Christendom. I believe I am in line with the historic creeds, but there are a great many theological debates out there, some dealing with very small but very significant details. But here are some recommendations:

N.T. WRIGHT
If there was a modern theological icon, N.T. Wright would be it, at least for many Duke grads. His book Simply Christian has all the strengths of C.S. Lewis' Mere Christianity, but is more modern and relevant today, and far more readable. Pretty much anything theological that he writes makes me happy.

ROWAN WILLIAMS
I think it's a Duke thing, but we're kind of addicted to British Anglican bishops. I think it's rooted back in John Wesley or something. Weird, I know. But click on his name above to see a much-talked-about letter in reply to a little girl asking if there's a God.


C.S. LEWIS
Himself an atheist and agnostic at times, Lewis became a renowned Christian writer. not a trained theologian, he nonetheless relied upon his philosophical training to write some classics, including Mere Christianity and The Great Divorce (possibly one of my favorite books of all time).

All that said, I don't think there's any one person that can answer all the problems or questions that people have about Christianity, and I was fortunate to have been able to attend seminary to be exposed to a great deal of the writings of the early church fathers--material that most people don't get to dive into. I also hold John Wesley to be a central theologian in my own formation, but his writings can be a bit difficult to access without context and interpretation (the difference in language itself and outside of the context of the arguments he was replying to, his writings can seem stilted). I hope that if you're really interested in these questions, you'll do a lot of reading, but also engage in a lot of discussion as well as interaction with the traditions and statements of the church. It's lots of fun, but also lots of work.