The standard definition for an abortion is, “The intentional killing of an innocent human life”. By this definition, Good Friday might seem as an absurdity - Jesus Christ (human life) prepared as the sacrificial lamb (intentional killing) before the foundation of the world and without blemish (innocent). (1 Peter 1:19-20). All three ingredients are present.

Now, before we go any further I do want to acknowledge that you perhaps may have never thought about it this way. You may even find this entire article a little unfounded to begin with. Or maybe you’ve asked this question before, in some permutation and combination. To the former I say, please bear with me and to the latter, welcome!

This article exists, not because of my own inner wrestling, but to plainly state the nature of the God of the bible. He is often misunderstood - His actions are perceived to be contradictory. But in His abundant grace, we know such notions to be false. Which is why I write.

What's in the Good Friday Story?

As Christians, we often box Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday in two different compartments. “Shush! I can’t talk about what happens on Sunday till it is Sunday”. This is the order in which we often function. The rationale holds - there’s deep significance in focusing on the death of Christ on one hand and His resurrection on the other. Yet it's still the same incident. However, oftentimes we look at it as two different chapters of the same book. I want to invite you to shift perspectives and consider the following.

When someone writes a biography of any sort, the chapterization follows a chronological order where each chapter is dedicated to significant moments in life - early life, education, love leading to marriage, career etc. Each of these chapters are demarcated from the other because there is a clear shift in the focus of the chapter. The next season of life for that individual could've turned out in any which manner.

While I think it's perfectly fine to look at Christ’s death and resurrection as two different chapters, I find value in clubbing them together, only because they are inextricably linked to each other. Not only does one require the other, there is no other alternative for the life of Christ, and the story of humanity. His story, in being prophesied, was already determined.

In asking “Why did a pro-life God let His Son die”, an incomplete question is being put forward. It’s easy to let doubt arise and confuse God the Father’s character, if death is where you end the narrative.  But praise God that our lost souls can find joy in knowing that the climax has more to follow, giving God’s children the assurance of moving from death to life (John 5:24).

In the beginning, man was in perfect union with God. When sin entered the world because of the disobedience of man, the intimate fellowship between God and mankind stood severed. Yet, God loved those made in His image and paved a way to restore the relationship (Genesis 3:15). To satisfy God the Father’s justice, the holy code required that a sinless human’s blood was shed and offered. With no earthly being qualifying that criteria, in His love the Father gave His Son (John 3:16), the perfect sacrifice. In the shedding (death) of Jesus’ blood and His resurrection (life), all those who receive and believe in Jesus as their Saviour, by repenting and turning away from their sins, are restored unto the Father for eternity as His children (John 1:12). They will live under the Kingship of Christ, whose throne is established forever (Hebrews 1:8-9).

So the question at the end of the day is actually, “Why did a pro-life God let His Son first die and then live?”. When you ask the complete question, the question becomes redundant.

Shedding Innocent Blood Justified in Certain Contexts?

But there’s more to the questioner’s curiosity. Drawing from the story of redemption, does it mean that there are instances when it’s okay to kill innocent life for the greater good? Can abortion be permissible in some instances?

It is true that an abortion is often thought of as a measure to alleviate the child from intense suffering. Isn’t that supposedly shedding innocent blood for the greater good? But tell me, who prevents a child from drowning in a pool by throwing them into the sea? If one finds themselves in an extreme scenario and believes that an abortion is the only justified solution, a good question to ask is whether they arrived at that conclusion from the Word of God or from the mere advice of man?

In 1 Chronicles 22: 8, David is prevented from building the temple because he is found to have shed much blood. If God found David wanting, even though the people he killed were not sinless (in his head probably for the greater good), what does it tell us about our God and his displeasure towards death, especially unjust death? Does the blood of the innocent call out to God? (Genesis 4:10). Is God included in the discussion of ‘for the greater good’? Do we acknowledge His role as the Heavenly parent?

But let me allow for pushback. Since unborn children who die find their eternal abode in heaven, isn't abortion then truly associated with a greater good that God must be pleased with?

God's Sovereignty and Abundant Mercy

God hates hands that shed innocent blood (Proverbs 6:17). The hands that God is referring to in this verse are human hands. As Creator of human life (Genesis 1:27, Psalm 139:13), God carries the authority to determine not just the beginning of life but its rightful ending as well. Human beings are not given this authority. Caveats exist in the justice system because God has given those in such positions the authority to execute justice (Romans 13:4). Hence the idea, that the eternity of unborn children stands secured through an abortion, pushes man to play God by taking control forcefully of an area that is only God-authorized. This is a sin.

This may be uncomfortable for many of us. For, God’s sovereignty means that we relinquish control. Even in the midst of trying and terrible circumstances. Yet this article would be amiss if I didn’t mention that the story of redemption lavishes forgiveness to the repentant heart and restores joy in trying circumstances. Jesus’ death accommodates all of our sins, including the sin of abortion, whether done knowingly or unknowingly. (Hebrews 9:15-22). Jesus’ sacrifice is not meant to bring condemnation but saving grace (John 3:17). In being sanctified, we must confront truth, soul-wrenching truth.

Dear brothers and sisters, there is forgiveness in Christ for the sin of abortion. If God the Father did not withhold His Son from us even in the midst of our sins (Romans 5:8), let us not withhold ourselves from God because of sin. God accepts true confession (1 John 1:9). The Father does not despise His children but makes every way for us to be reconciled to Him, by giving His Son to gruesome death followed by glorious life.

Not simply because He is pro-life, but because the Father is pro-eternal life.

When engaging in pro-life advocacy, there are times when you feel as though others’ perceive you to be working through a subjective reality - a passion driven by no rationality. I have grappled with this notion deeply. Are there instances when I fail to take into account reality and instead am propelled by my emotions to hold onto pro-life convictions? Has the advocacy taken over the cause?

Every single time these questions have popped up, I am led to one consistent answer.

For the purposes of this article, I begin with the presupposition that since God is objective, moral laws that come from God are also objective. I won’t dive into this further because it is not relevant for the purposes of this article to demonstrate whether moral laws are objective or subjective.

The bible clearly conveys that abortion is a sin (Read our post: “Abortion and the Gospel”). The shedding of innocent human blood is a desecration of the value placed by God on His image bearers. This is an objective reality that you and I cannot ever change. So what’s the contention then?

Though objective realities exist, circumstances have a role in determining if there are exceptions to the rule. For instance, we know that it is wrong to kill. Yet caveats exist for self-defence or the justice system playing out. Does abortion carry similar caveats that are rooted in subjective notions?

If we look at so-called arguments of “exceptions” in abortion, they largely fall under the umbrella of ‘inconvenience’ to the mother and ‘quality of life’ of the child. Both of these categories ‘assume’ that life is going to be difficult, setting oneself up for the worst outcome. Notice how it is never a given, whether it be in situations of rape or foetal abnormalities. And the truth is that it is never a given because the assumption is false. Secondly, a situation turning out ‘worse’ is not grounds for killing another innocent human life. It undermines the intervention of God in such circumstances (think of Beer Lahai Roi - Genesis 21:14-21) and the working out of His divine plan and purpose.

Thus, while it may appear that the pro-lifer is driven by subjective reality in these instances, the rationale is derived from biblical truth, rendering it still objective.

What about when the mother’s life is in threat, the threat of death?

In the very exceptional cases where this does occur, no advocate for life is going to deny intervention, offering protection to the mother. The suggestion would still be for the termination of the pregnancy (delivery) and not an abortion, to give the child a fighting chance at life. This, instance too, cannot be termed as pro-lifers adopting a subjective reality as the solution meets the objective of saving the mother’s life, along with the child’s,  and meets the biblical standard of honouring life.

Yes, if the child is under the given age of viability then s/he will likely not survive. But it is a deeply unfortunate end, while in the pursuit of life. There is no irrational action hidden in either saving the mother or child.

Thus, regardless of how difficult and varied the situation may be, the idea that pro-lifers are subjective in their approach or are required to give into subjective reality is unfounded. If anything, being pro-life, and taking pro-life decisions, is firmly rooted in objectivity.

The intentional killing of innocent human life, will always remain wrong based on objective reality derived from the bible. This is the consistent answer I keep landing on.

I recently returned from attending the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship conference in London. The ARC is pioneered by Jordan B Peterson, Baronness Philippa Stroud and Os Guinness, among others, to be a Judeo-Christian alternative to the World Economic Forum. For far too long the woke mob and radical left driven by godless ideas have fermented a story of doom and gloom for the West and the World. ARC has been founded and positions itself to be "an international movement with a vision for a better world where empowered citizens take responsibility and work together to bring flourishing and prosperity to their families, communities, and nations.¹"

I had seen all their videos from the inaugural event in 2023. Justin Brierley spoke highly of it and, thanks to a friend involved with ARC, I knew who were driving the ARC forward. So when I was invited to attend I was truly elated. But as the days drew near I kept asking myself - will I find God onboard the ARC?

My concern was driven by the realisation that despite the high praise from serious thinkers of Christendom, ARC appeared to be more focused elsewhere: countering the doomsday narrative of the left. The express drive to be an alternative to the WEF also added to this ambiguity. The WEF is just that - an economic forum. Is that what the ARC is all about? A forum to discuss flourishing and prosperity? I wanted to know in-person the 'story' ARC would be narrating.

The Elusive Better Story

ARC advances the need to tell a better story about faith, family, the future, climate change, energy, innovation and art. Yet, it's still elusive, weirdly so, what that better story actually is. My impressions were confirmed when I talked to and read what some of my friends who attended ARC thought. We know there is a better story and the one told so far by the left is a bad one. So then what exactly does the better story look like? The elusiveness is because the better story isn't out rightly given the name it deserves: Christianity.

It appears that there is a split (not an infighting by any means) within the leaders of ARC. Os Guinness leads one side with Jordan Peterson as his counterpart. The former is focused on getting the roots right while the latter is focused on the fruits. Os Guinness, being the godfather of the movement, has repeatedly reminded, both in the main talks and also in a closed room prayer breakfast, that one cannot go about rebuilding and telling the better story by merely viewing "[Christianity] as useful … if we turn [Christianity] into a psychological version of whatever". That right there was the watershed moment at ARC 2025. Jordan Peterson, Douglass Murray and others are true to realise that a better story and transcendence exists but if the root is missing one will be left with, to borrow Os Guinness' words, a "cut flower". We'll have just a better story, not a lasting story.

Remember the Poor

Alongside Os Guinness we have Ayan Hirsi Ali and others who unrelentingly call for a solid foundation in the Christian faith. Chief among them are Philippa Stroud, CEO of ARC, and Pastor Joshua Luke Smith.

In the call for rebuilding the Western civilisation, the echoes of self-help and mastering one's destiny reverberated throughout the chambers of ARC. While such strong calls have their place in rejuvenating the battle weary, it leaves out those who have fallen by the wayside. That is not to say that ARC has a disdain for the poor or that their welfare is not on the agenda. A careful review of the talks delivered sets the records straight. But it doesn't get the limelight it deserves.

Joshua's poem at the concluding ceremony reminded us to "remember the poor". But to do so, we must choose between a "revolution" and a "revelation". Caught in the heat of the moment marching through the institutions to reclaim them, compassion would be hard to come by. Thankfully Philippa Stroud is doing her part to advance the cause of the afflicted. In her article for the Conservative Home² she calls for the need to support legal migrant workers who struggle to make ends meet. As the comments make clear, the call for the government to support families that deserve support, even when coming from a Tory member, is immediately tagged as 'socialist'.

With Conservatives from the Western world making the overwhelming majority at ARC, there exists the eerie possibility that such government-driven course correction will not find the sympathy it requires, simply because the Left has positioned themselves to be the champions of welfare systems. Christian Conservatives may find the peer pressure to DOdGE any such policy suggestions too strong to resist. Will the better story told be one suited just for those who help themselves? Will the rest miss out on "flourishing and prosperity"? Will the "widows and orphans" fall by the wayside? There appears the tendency of a knee-jerk reaction because of the politics involved. If this shall plague ARC, how Judeo-Christian shall the ARC remain? Shall God be onboard the ARC?

Where the Hope Lies

Among the art on display at ARC, Julie Ann Scott arrayed 9 pieces depicting the triumph of Britain over the Nazis. The recurring thread among them was the necessity of prayer, brought forth through paintings like these focusing on King George VI's role in assembling Britain under the banner of prayer.

In the affixed board adjacent to the art, Julie writes,

King George VI: During the war, every time Britain faced an existential crisis with no human help available, King George VI initiated national days of prayer pleading for divine intervention. Seven times we prayed and seven times we were delivered. We must remember the truth that the King knew the best and only weapon against evil was faith in God's word. We must build our house only on this sure and solid foundation. The orange DOUBLE-EDGED SWORD represents where the hope lies.

Julie's art advance two truths essential for ARC to remain afloat: victory against evil comes with divine help and resilient foundations must be built on Scripture.

Many non-Christians at ARC admire the civilisational greatness of the West, a greatness, by account of their own admission, owing in no little part to the role played by the Bible. But the builders of the past succeeded in doing so because of their outlook on Scripture. They didn't take the Genesis mandate on human equality to be a metaphorical or mystical edict. They took it literally. Could they have built the modern world with its modern codes of values with a non-literal reading of such crucial passages? If not, how can the rebuilders achieve such a feat? I am in no means arguing for a hyper-literal reading of all of Scripture. But if the blueprints of Western civilisation on table, once interpreted literally, are now to be read metaphorically, what sort of confidence can one have in that enterprise? It remains unclear where ARC will sail towards in this regards. One thing is clear: Christianity is at the centre no matter what.

Grab an Oar and Row

In the final talk of ARC 2025, Jordan Peterson outlined what lays ahead by drawing connections to stories from the Old Testament. He however did so in his manner: metaphorical readings and allusions to a non-personal transcendent force. He is on a journey and his journey has been used by God to draw many seeking deeper meaning and purpose unto Himself. No vessel is off limits for God.

Peterson spoke of God visiting Abraham as the "spirit of adventure", calling him out to the adventure that lay ahead. It struck me then that I had never used nor heard anyone speak of our pilgrim progress to the Celestial City as an adventure. The adrenaline anticipation built in to a call for adventure is oft left out. But our journey is precisely an adventure. The days ahead are exciting. No Christian can look at what lies ahead and claim it to be one of boredom. We are in the thick of the battle on all fronts across all domains.

Peterson then concluded with the following admonition to the 4,000+ seated before him,

Welcome onboard the ARC, grab an oar and row.

It is easy to sit through 3 days of conference to listen to such exciting and deep talks. But what lays ahead is crucial. Peterson's call to me was clear. I who understood the essentiality of ARC must, like King George VI, bend my knees and beseech divine protection for the ARC.

The past few years have been radically paradigm shifting. Atheism's surge has peaked and leveled off in the US. Belief in God is making a surprising rebirth in Europe. Bible and God is taking centre stage in media (consider Wes Huff!) Global politics and alliances are being reshaped. We continue to be, as Os Guinness coined it, in the "civilisational moment". The ARC, despite the lack of clarity on some fronts, is being built using the right blueprint. There are men and women of great Christian conviction onboard who are holding down the fort.

It is time to grab an oar and row because God is onboard the ARC, for now.

Here are some must-watch videos from ARC 2025 released as of March 2nd.

Endnotes:

1. https://www.arcforum.com/about
2. Stroud, P. (2024, November 22). Philippa Stroud: We should give migrant workers the same access to public funds as everyone else. Conservative Home. https://conservativehome.com/2024/11/21/philippa-stroud-we-should-migrant-workers-the-same-access-to-public-funds-as-everyone-else/

This is a guest article by Rachel Gaikwad

There’s something profoundly moving in seeing God’s people unite to celebrate the beauty and gift of human life, and stand against the dehumanizing act of abortion¹, which not only kills preborn lives but also deeply hurts women and destroys families. I think it is because this is an issue that deeply grieves God’s own heart², having created man in His image and when His body, the church unites, it is His Spirit powerfully at work in us and through us.

On 10th August, 1971, the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) legalised abortion, allowing the killing of innocent lives in our country. Since then, countless children have been brutally murdered³, and families grievously affected. Sadly, we lack good estimates of abortions performed since its legalization in India. Abortion statistics compiled by the government are known to be greatly underestimated. However, according to a recent study in 2015⁴, an estimated 15.6 million abortions took place annually. To make these numbers comprehensible to our human minds, every 2.5 seconds, a baby in the womb is being denied the right to live. By the time you finish reading this article, around 120 children would have received the death sentence. I hope this helps convey the magnitude of this issue!

Although abortion has been legal in India for over fifty years, the Indian pro-life movement is still in its early stages - compared to countries like the United States where well-established pro-life groups are engaged in various areas of pro-life work – ranging from supporting women in crisis pregnancies to working in research, law and public policy. However, a shift is underway in India. God is doing great things for us. He is exposing the truth of abortion – the lives being killed; women and men being deeply hurt⁵ and families being broken. The pro-life community is growing in India, with Christians from across denominations uniting to be a voice for the voiceless.

What’s brewing on the Pro-life front in India?

Pro-life organisations and ministries have been on the rise in India over the past decade. Trusting God for His providence, Christians across the country are stepping forward to voice this issue and help women. I’ve had the privilege of witnessing this growing community, especially at two national events where the pro-life movement came together.

1. March for Life

In 2022, on the same day abortion was legalised years ago, a group of catholic pro-lifers took a stand against this tragedy by organizing a vocal and visual protest – as they marched for life at Jantar Mantar in the Nation’s capital. Since then, every year this event has continued to grow, with more individuals and organisations gathering to remember the millions of lives violently killed, and to be a voice for them. This year, the March for Life drew an astounding 14,000 passionate pro-lifers, who took to the bustling streets of Thrissur, Kerala, calling the attention of bystanders and exposing the horrors of abortion. This sight of people spreading the message of life is exactly what our country desperately needs more than ever.

2. The National Pro-Life Summit

Over the years, and as this movement has grown in India, there was a growing need to unite and work together, to equip the young pro-life movement in India to prepare and continue the battle. Responding to this, the first National Pro-life Summit met in 2014 to bring together Christians active on this front from across the country. In October of this year, the 9th National Pro-life Summit was hosted in Mumbai, a three-day event organized to encourage and equip, pray and fellowship, and strategize to be a formidable force against abortion in our land. Key topics addressing the sanctity of human life, including IVF and embryo adoption, exploring foster care in India, conducting pro-life seminars, counseling those in a crisis pregnancy, etc. were addressed.

Why is this important?

Some may wonder what impact a march like this, or an annual pro-life summit, can truly have. Such events serve two crucial purposes: (i) they create an opportunity for dialogue on abortion, a topic often overlooked, despite how prevalent it is and the devastation it causes, and (ii) they showcase the incredible potential of the pro-life movement when Christ followers unite and stand against the "Molech" of our times.

But I also believe it serves another important purpose. Working in the pro-life movement can feel isolating, and the journey is often tough. It can feel like being a lone soldier on the field. In 1 Kings 19, even after witnessing God’s amazing power on Mount Carmel, Elijah, in fear, fled into the wilderness and wandered there, thinking his ministry was a failure, and believing he was the only righteous one in all of Israel. But God graciously revealed that he was not alone - 7000 others remained faithful and had not bowed to Baal.

Gatherings like these also serve as a reminder that we are not alone on the battlefield, but are part of a larger community. God has preserved His remnant, like the 7000 during Elijah’s time, who have refused to bow to the culture of death or remain silent on this issue. In fact, He not only preserves but recruits many more into His battalion.

The Christian’s call

Francis Schaeffer said, “Merely to say you must not have an abortion without being ready to involve yourself in the problem is another way of being inhuman.” Pretty strong words! But they echo with what God’s word commands us as well (Proverbs 24:11-12, Jeremiah 22:3). God not only commands us to defend life, but also warns us of His judgment against apathy and complacency in the face of injustice.

God hates child sacrifice (Leviticus 18:21), and that is why He hates abortion⁶. None of our hearts can ache as deeply as His over the extent of loss of innocent unborn lives. While the evil of abortion is deep rooted and huge, isn’t the God we serve far greater? Our numbers may be small, and our resources limited, but if we believe in the God of the Bible, we should know that battles were never won by kings or rulers or earthly powers. Victory belongs to the Lord. It was always God’s power on display. We are but His sheep. He calls us to faithful obedience. He calls us to be the salt and light in this world. He commands us, not to be conformed to the pattern of this world, but to be transformed into the image of Christ and fulfill His Great Commission. Those of us on the battlefield are indeed on the mission field—the Gospel is the answer to the tragedy of abortion.

Knowing God’s heart on this issue, can we as His children stay silent? Let’s pay heed to God’s call, lest we be judged for being mere onlookers of this massive massacre.

“The Church of Jesus Christ should lead the way in proclaiming this vital truth about the inherent value of all human beings. As the Church, we cannot outsource this responsibility. For, we have the life-changing message that God the Son became an embryo in a virgin’s womb and grew into a man who lived a righteous life, died on the cross, and rose again to save His people. We have the mission given by Jesus to make disciples of all people groups, baptizing and teaching them what Jesus has taught, which includes the message that every human being, regardless of age, has a life worth living. And we have the community—we actually are the community—of the redeemed, who love, serve, and welcome all made in God’s image.” - Pastor Tom Strode

Join the movement for Life in India! Come and be a part of the National Pro-life Summit and the March for Life.

Endnotes

1. What is Abortion? (n.d.). Abortion Procedures. https://www.abortionprocedures.com/
2. Jones, M. (2024, November 22). God was placed in a womb. Desiring God. https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/god-was-placed-in-a-womb
3. PassionLife. (2024, April 3). Does God see abortion as murder? | The PassionLife Podcast | Mark Nicholson [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ydE0LxmM7Y
4. Singh, S. et. al (2018). The incidence of abortion and unintended pregnancy in India, 2015. The Lancet Global Health, 6(1), e111–e120. https://doi.org/10.1016/s2214-109x(17)30453-9
5. Creekmore, H. (2024, May 31). NBC Show Says Abortion is a Profoundly Personal Decision. Is it? Care Net. https://care-net.org/abundant-life-blog/nbc-show-claims-abortion-is-a-profoundly-personal-decision-is-it/
6. PassionLife. (2024b, May 8). Is abortion child sacrifice? | The PassionLife Podcast | Mark Nicholson [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwOZqwGcJzU

Rachel Gaikwad resides in Pune and fellowships at Disciples Community Church. She works at Life for All, a pro-life organization in India, and is passionate about serving women facing crisis pregnancies and guiding young women on matters of sexual integrity.

Ever wondered why Jesus who spoke about the power and necessity of faith never once mentioned His faith in the Father/God? This surprising silence on the part of Christ is a veiled reference to His self-understanding as Divine. And it was Tom Gilson who pointed it out.

This was one of the many insightful findings in his book 'Too Good To Be False: How Jesus' Incomparable Character Reveals His Reality'. The book was my introduction to his work and led to my interaction with him on SAFT Podcast back in November 2020. Tom Gilson's thesis was decisively novel: the character of Jesus is just too 'good' to be the product of fables and hashed together legends. The thesis presented Jesus' greatness unnoticed by many and drew the readers to worship of the Lord.

Later, we had the distinct privilege to invite him to speak at Areopagus 2021. He shared publicly for the first time a novel argument for the Resurrection based off of Paul's love for the church in Corinth. And there lies what set Tom Gilson apart.

The Resurrection argument was simple: Paul loved the church at Corinth so much that he couldn't lie to them about something as monumental - to Paul's ministry to the Corinthians - as the Resurrection. This is a remarkable insight that we've often missed. Paul's writings make clear how much he loved and, more importantly, suffered for and with the Corinthians. It took someone like Tom Gilson to wake us up to it.

Though my interactions with him were limited, the lingering memory that I share with those who have known him much longer remains the same: a wise and kind man. Tom's legacy to this end stands not because he avoided difficult topics, for he surely wrote on such issues at The Stream. But it is solely due to his character. He possessed the ability to narrate well, while retaining the sting of his arguments.

Tom Gilson's departure at the end of his cancer battle last week, as with all departures, leaves mixed feelings. He had so much more to teach us about conveying ideas with meekness and strength, yes strength indeed! As I write this, Aslan comes to mind. Maybe he was a bit like when Aslan would speak. There was something in his writings that I cannot put a finger on, despite my attempts above, that spoke to me about how good, nay great, a writer he was. I wonder how much more I'll appreciate his works as I read more of his penmanship. Or maybe he had shared all he was commissioned to.

For now he rests in the presence of the Lord, who is too good to be the concoction of men of lowly ambitions.

It’s vital for the disciples to understand the nature of their Master. Who is God? If we don't have a biblically & theologically accurate answer, there might be a chance that we are worshiping a god of our imagination.

Christian theology is unique and distinct in its claims about the nature of God, when compared to other worldviews. In Christian monotheism, God is a Trinity. There are three Persons in the Godhead: The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. While in Islam, Allah is not a trinity. In Hinduism, there is a pantheon of deities. So, the God Christians worship fundamentally differs from deities of other religions. The Christian God is personal, immaterial and transcends space and time, while in Hinduism, the material world itself is a part of impersonal Brahma. So, the claim that all religions worship the same God but in different names is an uninformed and ignorant assertion. The popular catchphrase, “all paths lead to God” is simply false. While the invitation to salvation is inclusive and extended to all, the gift of salvation is exclusive to only those who believe in the one true God. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life, nobody comes to the Father except through me.” Christianity is unique from other world religions as it is intellectually reasonable and historically reliable. These facts can be tested and verified empirically, as they are deeply rooted in history. The historical facts about the life, death and resurrection of Jesus can be explored & verified. Some of the attributes of Judeo-Christian God are: Omnipotence, Omniscience, Omnipresence, Eternity, Omnibenevolence, Immutability, Incorporeality. Love is an essential attribute of God. God is love.

Christianity & Salvation

How does Jesus save you and everyone who accepts the gospel you share? How do we attain salvation? What should we do? Should our good deeds outweigh our bad deeds so we can secure a place in heaven? Or does God grant you heaven if you run a charity organization for orphans?

In other forms of religion, the way of salvation is to earn God’s merit and favour by championing a system of good deeds. How can we ever match the standard of an infinitely good and perfect God? We can never earn His favour through our own works. We are fallen and basically evil and in need of a Saviour. So the second person of Trinity, Jesus was sent to pay the price of our mistakes and meet the standard of God. In Christianity, God initiates the process of Salvation. He offers it as a free gift to those who place their trust in the risen Jesus. We serve a personal God, who wants to enter into a loving relationship with us. We all are in dire need of a savior, who could pay the price for our mistakes and save us from the eternal punishment that is due to us. That’s exactly what Jesus achieved on the cross. The cross is a beautiful display of God’s Love and Justice: He took upon Himself what’s due to us (punishment) satisfying the divine justice and gave us what is His (righteousness, eternal life). Despite our worst mistakes, God loves us, and chose us to be His. By placing our trust in Jesus, His righteousness is accredited (imputed) to us. Through Jesus, God sees imperfect humans as perfect and holy people. He blotted out all of our sins! This is awesome news! The Bible is clear that we have been saved by faith alone, but that in no way downplays your role in this world to be a light for others in the dark. Indeed, a true Christian will clothe the naked, feed the hungry and tend the wounded.

Life as a Christian

There may be preachers out there telling you that once you have become a Christian, your life is going to be filled with prosperity. But is it true about actual Christians? What does the bible say?

We have hope in this hopeless world and in spite of the suffering, there is meaning and hope, which carries you through as a Christian. Please don’t get the impression that your everyday problems in this world will be gone once you become a Christian. No! Christianity does not offer any quick fix or fancy spell that will eliminate your problems! Indeed, Jesus says that there will be troubles in this world. The mainstream cry of this generation is that the goal of life is to be happy. But chasing happiness as an end in itself is a shallow and worthless pursuit. The purpose of life should be to seek the supreme Good: God Himself. From meeting that key primary purpose, we derive all other meaningful purposes for our life. Christianity is experientially relevant, meeting you wherever you are in your daily life. We have been called to live in the light of eternity, as this world is a temporary place and is going to fade away. As a disciple of Jesus, we are representing the Creator God, to this creation and others who are in need of hope and grace. Hence, all the gracious works and good deeds you do become eternally meaningful as a Christian. C.S. Lewis writes, “Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and, if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important.”
Your life doesn’t end at the grave. The material perishes, but the immaterial lives on, so the choices you make today determine what happens to your soul. “What do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?” (Matt16:26) The last book of the Bible, Revelation, talks about Heaven as the whole of reality being transformed. The Bible speaks of a new heaven, and a new earth, where those who trust in Christ will be resurrected, with newly glorified bodies. Christ will return to this earth as He has promised to establish His unending kingdom. God and humankind will once again be in close relationship.

Faith Explored: Navigating the Christian Worldview

This devotional journey offers Apologetics-based training, uncovering the distinctiveness of Christianity in addressing life’s core questions and bonus topics like salvation and Christian-living. Learn how it sets Christianity apart from other world religions. Whether you’re new to Christianity or…

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This article is an excerpt from the 7-day Bible plan by SAFT: Faith Explored—Navigating the Christian Worldview on the YouVersion Bible App.

Communism is appealing. There I said it.

It is true that the utopian world Karl Marx envisioned to actualise has got its pull. It looked to make the world a better place. The oppressed workers are to be set free and the resources are to be shared (by force, but we'll skip over that tiny detail) among all. Gandhi's adage "There's enough for everyone's need but not for everyone's greed" would've been actualised. But Communism failed wherever it was tried.

It was one of the many revolutions that aimed to make the world a better place as the revolutionaries envisioned it. History is replete with people groups rising to topple the powers that be and usher in a new era of prosperity, equality and peace. However, they all end up doing the exact opposite. It is no wonder for they lack Christ.

A Divided World

Let me explain. These ambitious revolutions are unresolvedly polarised. The French Revolution, the American Civil War, all wars of independence, the Intifadas, the World Wars and finally the recent elections in the US and India. In all instances a supposedly immovable object is rammed by a seemingly unstoppable force. If the object topples, the status is reset and a new norm sets in. But for these entities to collide there must be resolute differences. If not, the force stops or the object moves and compromise sets in. That's not what happens in revolutions. Ardent hostility is the fuel of revolutions.

This is evident in the recent political climates of USA and India. The Republicans aim to preserve the Constitutional integrity and founding values of their nation and perceive the Democrats as a threat to the same. The Democrats see the Republicans as fascists overcome by every conceivable phobia who deter the nation's progress into a new era of racial and gender perception. India sees a similar tug between I.N.D.I.A and the NDA, wherein the latter wants to undo the founding identity and usher the nation to its new Hindutva centric-Vedic era identity. Neither side is going to give in. And where does the hostility lead to? A divided nation.

In India film stars who were once loved by all lose out on the appeal of one faction the moment they join politics. A saffron flag donning youth is not seen in friendly light by a Christian or Muslim because they sense that they are looking at someone who is calling for their expulsion from India or forced conversion to Hinduism. It could just be that the peaceful tolerant young man isn't fully aware of what that flag means for other communities and simply followed his elders. In a nation and culture where the youth are often used as pawns and where blind obedience to elders is seen as the utmost virtue, this isn't too hard to imagine. It may be improbable but you see what I'm getting at. Each side sees the other as irreconcilably distant.

This is precisely what happens when we remove Christ from our political and social revolutions. The Christian call is to see the opposing, persecuting, vengeful person as the image-bearing recipient of God's grace and mercy through the cross. If this out-of-this-world virtue is negated from our fights for justice, we will be left with victors and the vanquished. Should I gleefully look down upon the ones that I've toppled?  As difficult as it sounds, I am to love them and show them the light that shines within me - the love of God.

Christ the Revolutionary

Christ toppled the social order of His time on Earth. He uplifted the women and outcasts to their God-ordained heights of human dignity. He earned the animosity of the religious political powers of the land. They weren't unmovable but He was truly unstoppable. Yet He forgave them on the cross. He was the victor but He knew whom He vanquished. It was not fallen humans who held different classes in the social strata. It was the root cause and fruit of all evil: sin and death. Christ the Revolutionary didn't come down to topple humans but to lift us out of our depraved state. Christianity tells us that apart from God's mercy revealed through that rugged cross, we were all fit to be vanquished.

All the Christ-less efforts to make the world a better place isolates the other and creates further division and animosity. They falsely assume that class, social hierarchies and seats of power are the root cause of the evil around them. The base assumption is that the social environment we construct and place ourselves in is the decider of our status. We are the sole masters of our destiny then. They treat the symptoms but not the disease. It ends up shifting the scales of vengeance in favour of the defeated who is now fired up to topple the newly enthroned. Isn't that what we see in election cycles?

The zeal within us to make the world a better place becomes the source of further brokenness and destruction, all because our compass is distorted enough to guide us towards toppling the compromised possessors of power while unaware that the malignant tumor that had rendered them fit to be toppled plagues us too.

As we strive to tilt this Earth towards Heaven and away from Hell, let Christ be the cornerstone of our efforts. Let the Word shine light to our paths lest we be enamored by the zeitgeist - the god of this age - as were the many futile revolutionaries of the past.

Resurrection: Hope in the Midst of Suffering

We are called to give reason for our hope. But what is our hope: Eternity, justice in the hereafter, restoration soon made complete, seeing our Redeemer in His splendor? And why do we have this hope? Because the tomb was found empty. In this Bible plan you will meditate and explore the historical ca…

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Far too often we relegate our Christian identity by compartmentalising it. We believe that we are to live out our Christian convictions solely in the church or within domains of similar spiritual engagements. However, Scripture calls us to de-compartmentalise such an outlook. As Jordan Peterson remarked recently, a thin veil separates earth and heaven. This doesn’t mean that we must substitute earth for our celestial city - such an erroneous attempt at substitution is at the heart of many world religions that profess the removal of a ‘city to look forward to’. Rather it reminds us that we are God’s ambassadors, originally designed to carry out His will on earth as it is in heaven. Peterson’s remark reveals an intersectional understanding of our call and purpose that is central to the Bible. We see this intersectional understanding reflected in Augustine's magnum opus, rightly noting that we are citizens ‘of’ the City of God living ‘in’ the City of Man.  

Christ asks us to be the salt and light of the world. We express our saltiness and brightness when we proclaim the Gospel. But we are to also show the world that we do not belong to the City of Man, but to the City of God, by our lives (John 13:35). There is a theme of permeation present here. Salt and light permeate to impact all that it interacts with. This theme is carried forward when Jesus likened the kingdom of God with yeast. Interestingly, Jesus doesn’t qualify this principle of permeation by demarcating lines where we shall impact no further. It follows then that we are to be God’s witness in every domain possible. We are to illuminate and make tasteful this world marred by sin. We are to do so while remaining “unstained from the world” (James 1:27).  

This intersectional understanding is reflected in the lives of Joseph, Esther and Daniel. God asked the exiled Israelites to “seek the welfare of the city . . . and pray to the Lord on its behalf” (Jeremiah. 29:7). While the former trio was placed by God in places of great power over evil nations, the latter was placed within an evil nation. Yet, they were not to alienate themselves from striving to be the force for good in those nations. In asking the exiles to seek the welfare of an evil nation, God seems to call to remembrance that He hasn’t relinquished His place as the Sovereign Lord of creation - the earth and everything in it is still the Lord’s (Psalms 24:1). When we step into every domain on earth and use our influence to seek the welfare of the City of Man, we proclaim the subordination of the purpose of this city to the directives of the City of God.

Consider General John Monroe, Resident of the Travancore and Cochin kingdoms from 1810-1819. His integrity won over the royalty who freely entrusted to him the administration of their kingdoms. Queens Lakshmi and Parvati considered him as a brother. He utilised his influence to abolish slavery in Kerala in 1812 and unleashed waves of legal reforms, including the induction of Christian judges to the judiciary. He hoped that Christian judges of integrity would curb corruption and hasten the provision of justice to the downtrodden. Of such magnitude was the impact of Monroe’s reforms that historians now identify Kerala’s history as pre-Monroe and post-Monroe. John Monroe is just one example. But he showed us what it means to be a citizen of the City of God and an exile in the City of Man.

Endnotes:

1. For more information on Colonel John Monroe and his revolutionary impact on Kerala's society, read Dr. Samuel Nellimukal's "Keralathile Samoohya Parivarthanam"

Reading the Bible is unavoidable. We read off of the screen at church every week. But ‘reading’ the Bible in a deeper sense to feed our spiritual man is different. I am talking about how we ought to really read the Bible. We don’t then just read but we consume or meditate upon the truth delivered by the Scriptures. Such ‘readings’ are indispensable for our daily Christian walk. How we read the Bible during our meditations will form our framework to understand/interpret Scripture. You will inevitably apply that framework when you share from the Word. Here are just 5 tips (of the many out there) to help you.

1. “So what does this passage mean to you?”

Resist the urge to make a passage about you. Let Scripture speak for itself. If I try to make the passage ‘mean something’ to me, then the same charity gets extended to someone else. Before long, five people will have five meanings from the same text. Asking ‘what does the text speak to you’ can be different. Mark 12:30-31 could speak to one (convict) about his lack of love for God while another can be convicted about his recent altercation with his neighbour without ever reducing the meaning to individual whims.

2. Context, context, context.

Between the 13^th and 16^thcenturies, commentators structured the Bible to have chapters and verses to enable Scripture referencing in their commentaries. Since then, the book meant for reading became a book for referencing. There is a reason why verses are in the place you find them and not somewhere else. Why didn’t Paul tell Timothy to welcome back Onesimus? Because his letter to Philemon was meant for Philemon and not for Timothy. It is for the same reason that Paul doesn’t mention how elders should be appointed in his letter to Philemon but only to Titus. Read the preceding and succeeding text to get a grip on the passage. Scripture is given for doctrine, reproof, correction, and for instruction in righteousness. If taking someone’s speech out of context to suit one’s purposes can be disrespectful and, dare I say, deceitful do we dare attempt that with God’s Word?

3. Written to them, but for us

The letters, the commands to the Israelites, the prophecies of the Old Testament prophets and all other books are written to the author’s immediate audience. It addresses them. It is written to them. But the principles, the lessons learned, the revelation about God’s nature etc. can be meant for us. Caution and discernment must be exercised in such attempts. This discernment tells us which commands apply to us and which don’t. Otherwise we may end up avoiding eating anything lacking a split hoof or rumination. We don't want that now do we :)

4. Descriptive vs prescriptive

Some passages are never meant for us to imitate, follow or obey. Why? Because they are just a description of what happened. Then there are passages prescribing what our actions should be. Failure to identify this distinction can cause us to think that we can pray Psalms 137:9 over our enemies.

5. Identify the genre

The Epistles aren’t written like poems and Psalms isn’t written like the Gospels. Observing the genre and learning about the style of writing can elevate our understanding of Scripture to enjoy its beauty and sophistication to much greater heights. God used people as diverse as a King and a fisherman to write the Scriptures. Reading the entire Bible as if they are written for a 21^st century English reader makes for a bland reading of the Scriptures and it is anything but deserving of such bland reading.

So, the next time you pick up the Bible to seriously read and meditate, these five pointers will aid you to treat the Scriptures with the reverence and seriousness it demands. I've often found that heretics and shallow theology peddlers (word of faith and prosperity gospel) commit their errors because the basics outlined above are missing. These five aren't an exhaustive list but it should serve to help you start off.

Resurrection: Hope in the Midst of Suffering

We are called to give reason for our hope. But what is our hope: Eternity, justice in the hereafter, restoration soon made complete, seeing our Redeemer in His splendor? And why do we have this hope? Because the tomb was found empty. In this Bible plan you will meditate and explore the historical ca…

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This article originally appeared in 'EGM Times Jan-Feb 2023' edition of Confident Answers.

In more ways than one, this article is one of the easiest to answer in our column here. The prime reason being the previous edition of EGM Times covering in considerable depth, girded by personal testimony and Scriptural backing, the topic of the ‘Church’. And for that reason I invite Gideon and the readers to read the previous edition with utmost fervour.

Allow me to answer Gideon’s questions, which are by no means an isolated instance in the history of questions raised by believers, from the last to the first. You can be a Christian at home, just as you can be a Christian in a swimming pool. The identity of being a Christian is dependent on and brought to effect by our personal relation with God - our confession and submission to the saving Lordship of the risen Christ. To attend church is to partake in social interaction with believers in close proximity (or digital proximity, lest I leave out post-Covid church attendance). The lack or presence of such interaction is not the defining parameter of our salvation; we are saved by grace through the faith we place in God and not the gathering of believers. Albeit the abstinence from regular fellowship with fellow Christians doesn’t render one unsaved or an apostate, it is symptomatic of a less than ideal situation. But what is the ideal situation and why is it ideal?

Resurrection: Hope in the Midst of Suffering

We are called to give reason for our hope. But what is our hope: Eternity, justice in the hereafter, restoration soon made complete, seeing our Redeemer in His splendor? And why do we have this hope? Because the tomb was found empty. In this Bible plan you will meditate and explore the historical ca…

YouVersion | The Bible App | Bible.com

A survey of the starting themes of the articles in the previous edition betrays a coincidental consensus between the first two full-length articles: something is wrong with the church, so much so that it warrants us to question the necessity of participation. We have to take effort to disentangle our negative individual experiences with specific church gatherings before we evaluate the need for church attendance on the basis of Scripture. While such hurtful experiences, to which we are no strangers, can in fact awaken us to reforms needed in the local or universal church, they cannot justify us making them the basis for our abstinence. Similarly, we also need to identify whether our probing of alternative ways of Christian living, devoid of church attendance, is driven by a form of social rebellion, one wherein we want to live as we please without having to concern ourselves with the thoughts, remarks, and correction from fellow believers. If so, then such explorations are driven by deep-seated notions of Christian living contrary to the mindset we must pursue as Paul espoused in Romans 8:9, 13.

We inherently acknowledge that church attendance is something a Christian is expected to do. Even if one rejects acknowledging this, he/she might concede that an atheist regularly attending church and partaking in church responsibilities is bizarre. That is because we don’t expect non-Christians to do so. What gave way to the formation of this expectation? Obviously it is the time honoured practice of the Christian community for millennia. But what could’ve prompted them to initiate such a practice and then retain it? Does Scripture give the grounding? If so, then Scripture’s mandate certainly serves as the basis for discerning whether church attendance matters to Christians. Now let’s dive into the first question.

Hebrews 10:25 is the clearest call to partake in the gathering of believers. Verses 24 and 25 present three actions for the believers to complete: spur (vs 24), meet (vs 25) and encourage (vs 25). While we prima facie concede the importance of the first and the last, it becomes lucid that the act of meeting is connected to the first and last call to action. Scripture is stressing the role meeting together has in being the catalyst for fellow believers to heal, uplift and build each other up. This is precisely why Acts references the early church meeting together in common places (Temple) and private settings (homes). So we see that there is considerable persuasion from the Scriptures by means of mentioning the practice of the early church and calling for gathering. The call to action in Galatians 5:13 and Colossians 3:16 is easily served through the gathering of the believers. The church, thereby, fulfils her role as the living body of Christ and not the mere amalgamation of like-minded people in a building.

In addition to these reasons, there is a significant amount of research done probing the quantifiable impact regular church attendance has on its attendees. Research shows that regular church attendance leads to reduced mortality¹, reduced suicide rates among women², and positive effects on youth psychology³ to name a few research outcomes. There is even research that shows the superior benefit of partaking in religious services in person than over impersonal medium⁴.

Let me close off with one personal experience of why church attendance matters to me. One Sunday I walked in with a heavy heart. Stressed, worried, questioning and tired with how things were not in control. I found it even difficult to sing along with the choir. But then, a church member seated to my left started singing out loud with all her heart. She isn’t a trained singer. She doesn’t have the best vocal prowess. But she was singing with a full heart, a heart of gratitude. That was my watershed moment for the agony I was in. Her soulful and sincere singing moved powerfully to help me break free and praise God. I proceeded from church like Christian proceeded in The Pilgrim’s Progress - the burden unshackled at the Cross, rolling down the hill, forever to be isolated from the shoulders that once bore it.

Endnotes:

1. Bruce MA, Martins D, Duru K, Beech BM, Sims M, Harawa N, et al. (2017) Church attendance, allostatic load and mortality in middle aged adults. PLoS ONE 12(5): e0177618. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0177618
2. VanderWeele TJ, Li S, Tsai AC, Kawachi I. Association Between Religious Service Attendance and Lower Suicide Rates Among US Women. JAMA Psychiatry. 2016;73(8):845–851. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2016.1243
3. Mohanty, M. S. (2021). Effect of church attendance during youth on future psychological capital endowments: the US evidence. Education Economics, 30(2), 129–154. https://doi.org/10.1080/09645292.2021.1951172
4. Koenig, H. G., George, L. K., Hays, J. C., Larson, D. B., Cohen, H. J., & Blazer, D. G. (1998). The relationship between religious activities and blood pressure in older adults. International journal of psychiatry in medicine, 28(2), 189–213. https://doi.org/10.2190/75JM-J234-5JKN-4DQD

This article originally appeared in 'EGM Times Nov-Dec 2022' edition of Confident Answers.

Effie, oh how we all have asked this question at some point in our lives! No matter how further down the line in our Christian journey we may be, we still grapple with sin. Oftentimes our struggle with sin is more frequent than we wish it were. I think this doubt creeps back in because with each passing day we see how fallen our sinful nature is in contrast to the holiness of God. So Effie I want to invite you and all the readers to join me as we learn (maybe even relearn!) the assurance of God’s unconditional love.

This world gives us a distorted view of what love is. The view is so distorted that when we try and conceptualise what true love must be we end up drawing up something that seems out of this world. But maybe that is because love in its truest form is really out of this world. C S Lewis famously said “If I find in myself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy, the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world.” ¹ Isn’t it fascinating that the most wholesome description of true love is found in the Bible penned by a former persecutor when Paul said,

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonour others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails… And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” ( 1 Corinthians 13: 4-8,13)

Isn’t it profound that the Bible says God is love (1 John 4:16)! If this is the case then that means the description in 1 Corinthians 13 is what we will find in God’s nature and since He is unchanging (Malachi 3:6, James 1:17) we can confidently trust His nature and His love always! And who else can love us like this true love but God? If love keeps no record of wrongs but always protects and never fails, then is that not more than enough reason to run to God at any time?

Resurrection: Hope in the Midst of Suffering

We are called to give reason for our hope. But what is our hope: Eternity, justice in the hereafter, restoration soon made complete, seeing our Redeemer in His splendor? And why do we have this hope? Because the tomb was found empty. In this Bible plan you will meditate and explore the historical ca…

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Since God knows that the pangs of this sinful world will inject the poison of fear and deceit into our hearts and will make us doubt God’s love, He provided the greatest display of His unconditional love — the Cross. He showed us what unconditional love really is — we were loved by God when we hated God (Romans 5:8). As Matt Maher sang

“You blessed those who cursed You You loved those who hated You On the cross You died for me”²

The power of the Cross that ushered in God’s love is stronger than any force that could ever raise its head in arrogance against the Almighty. Paul unambiguously shouts out that not even hell can separate us from God’s love (Romans 8:38). The protective power of God’s love is so powerful that the strongholds of sin are rendered powerless. What could possibly snatch us away, make God indifferent to me or even make Him hate me (Psalms 5:11-12)! If Christ’s death two thousand years ago could cleanse and redeem you and me two thousand years later, then isn’t His sacrifice capable enough to cleanse me into the rest of my life? If my sinful state and rebellion didn’t hold back His unrelenting love from pursuing me before I was saved, would His love give up now? This is the unwavering assurance we have about what God has done for us. But there’s more.

The moment we accepted Christ as our Lord and Saviour we invited the Holy Spirit to rule in our hearts and take the permanent seat within us. We moved out of darkness into His glorious light. We are now His children (Ephesian 1:5, 1 John 3:1). The sole reason we have this privilege is solely because the Holy Spirit resides in the heart of the believer and we are endowed with the undeserving privilege of being co-heirs with Christ.

“The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ,” (Romans 8:16,17)

Does all this mean that we should never expect sin to be found in our Christian life? No, not at all! Even Paul testifies to the constant struggle he feels in his body with the tug of the world (Romans 7:25). But Paul and all the saints who went before us press on unto the crown that awaits us. The onus is on us to keep our sights fixed on our glorious redeemer and keep pushing. My mentor once told me, “Christian life on earth is about progression and not perfection”.  The enemy is hard at work to deflect our trajectory and lies to us that we are not children of God or heirs with God. He wants us to think that our sins are greater than the Cross. He wants us to think that our High Priest who sympathises with us has given up on us. Let us not give heed to that liar! He has been disarmed by our Father and now God is enthroned in our hearts. As Scripture calls us,

“... let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. …Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” (Hebrews 12:1-3)

As Horatio Spafford sang,

“Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come Let this blest assurance control That Christ has regarded my helpless estate And has shed His own blood for my soul”

Yes, it is well with my soul. Take heart Effie!

Endnotes:

1. C S Lewis, Mere Christianity, pg 137
2. Clean Heart by Matt Maher

This article originally appeared in 'EGM Times Sept-Oct 2022' edition of Confident Answers.

Thank you Christina for sending in the question. I don’t think there could've been a more holistic question to initiate our article series answering the pressingly relevant questions of the ardent readers of the magazine. I hope that as I attempt to unpack the answer, this article series will cause more reflection on your end about the various facets of Christian living in the intellectual sphere, both privately and publicly, and subsequently move you to probe them using what Rick Warren calls our “greatest asset” the enemy is after - our mind¹.

So, what is this question about? Is it about a ‘why’, ‘what’, ‘when’, ‘how’, or ‘who’? The question is a ‘who’ question. Did ‘God’? That's the question. Pretty straightforward right? Hence the answer for a Christian immediately comes off as a resounding yes! God has not, for the smallest fraction of a second, relinquished His authority as Lord over all creation. There is nothing that can overturn or overrule His unassailable, sovereign dominance over reality. Isaiah most unambiguously proclaimed this when he said,

“I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the Lord, do all these things.” (Isaiah 45:7, NIV)

Lamentations underwrites this proclamation saying,

“Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that both calamities and good things come?” (Lamentations 3:38, NIV)

Both these verses, in addition to affirming God’s Kingship authority, most clearly spell out in case we harboured any doubt - He can and does create disaster and calamities. Having this spelled out in like manner hits the point home for us. We knew from the Egyptian Escapade that God delivered the Israelites through the Red Sea while He drowned the Egyptian army. We also saw that He gave light to the Israelites but darkness to the Egyptians. But we often turn to verses in Psalms to affirm God's role as deliverer, Saviour, light, fortress, shield etc. because seeing these traits spelled out brings a unique sense of affirmation. Likewise, God wants us to absorb as clearly as possible that He is the sovereign God who can and does bring about destruction at His own discretion. Since the pandemic happened we can easily affirm that He allowed the pandemic to happen because there isn’t any force within or beyond the universe that can even muster up to make God do something at gunpoint against His will. But what more does it mean here? Did He push a massive snowball down the mountain towards the village or did He merely step out of the way of the rolling behemoth, letting nature take its course?

Despite the lack of a conclusive answer to the question on the origin of the SARS-Cov-2 virus, investigations lean towards two possible explanations²: a species leap from animals to humans or the result of a botched (dare I say successful) experimentation in a lab³. If the former is substantiated, then the blame is upon humans. Animals, that otherwise wouldn’t have naturally been together, came in contact with each other in the open-air wet markets in China⁴ and enabled the virus to make species leap from (possibly) bats, pangolins and palm civets to humans. If the latter is substantiated then humans are still to be blamed. Lack of ample precautions gave way for the virus to infect humans and spread beyond the lab. Though speculations about the origin of the virus as a biological weapon have subsided, they still remain to some degree. However, in either case the responsibility upon humans cannot be negated. It doesn't seem either, from an inspection of the data and reports at hand, that a solely supernatural intervention brought about the virus⁵. So God did move out of the way of the snowball. But why?

Well wouldn’t we all like to know! But I don’t think we can in the here and now. Let me close off with two pointers that can help us navigate this question in the midst of our ignorance. Firstly, we can continue to trust God’s good and holy nature because of what we know through Christ’s words, His deeds, the Cross and how He has moved in our lives. Secondly, the Butterfly Effect. It is said in chaos theory that minute changes in a local area can have large effects in the remainder of that complex system. Translation: the wing flaps of a butterfly in Europe can
reverberate through the air and contribute towards a hurricane in South America. Consider for a moment how our world has changed post-pandemic. The global north and global south are now on a radically different path than they were before. Government structures, administrations, economies, job markets, personal career paths, number of family members alive - all have changed. Couldn’t God have been weaving together His grand plan through these overhauled events of history? Dare we say we can trace it all down?

Biochemist Fuz Rana⁶ remarks about the providential coincidence in timing of the development of mRNA technology and the outbreak of COVID such that, as Harvard medical doctor Anthony Komaroff too noted⁷, research spanning over three decades came to humanity’s aid at the proverbial 11^th hour. Just like YHWH planted the tree in the wilderness in anticipation of the Israelites’ plea for drinkable water at Marah (Exodus 15:25) years in advance, He had providentially ordered the course of human scientific exploration to deliver us in our time of need. So we say, rest assured, come what may we take courage in our good and just God; our knowledge of Him shines ever so bright in our darkest times.

Endnotes:

1. Warren, R. (2021, November 29). Your Thoughts Control Your Life - Pastor Rick’s Daily Hope. Pastor Rick’s Daily Hope. Retrieved August 30, 2022, from
2. Roberts, A. (2021, May 13). COVID Pandemic: God’s Fault or Ours? Reasons to Believe. Retrieved August 30, 2022, from
3. Hassanin, A. (2020, June 25). How did the COVID-19 coronavirus originate? World Economic Forum. Retrieved August 30, 2022 | John Hopkins Medicine. (2022, July 29). What Is Coronavirus? Retrieved August 30, 2022 | Kandola, A. (2020, June 30). Coronavirus cause: Origin and how it spreads. Medical News Today. Retrieved August 30,
   2022 | Rath, L. (2020, March 24). Coronavirus History. WebMD. Retrieved August 30, 2022 | Sandoiu, A. (2020, February 11). Coronavirus: Pangolins may have spread the disease to humans. Medical News Today. Retrieved August 30, 2022
4. How Wildlife Trade Is Linked to Coronavirus, VOX video, March 6, 2020,
5. Denison, J. (2020, April 21). COVID-19 Is Not God’s Judgment. Christianity Today. Retrieved August 30, 2022
6. Rana, F. (2021, June 4). The COVID-19 Vaccines and God’s Providence. Reasons to Believe. Retrieved August 30, 2022
7. Anthony Komaroff, Why Are MRNA Vaccines So Exciting?, Harvard Health Blog (December 18, 2020), accessed August 30, 2022.

Have you ever noticed the protocol followed when dignitaries travel? Tight security, meticulous planning so that there are minimum challenges and maximum efficiency. Now think about the Christmas story. The highest dignitary, the Royal of royals was to be born. Yet on first reading, we encounter multiple obstacles presenting itself in the birth of the Messiah. God could have given a green light  and ensured Jesus a hassle-free passage into this world. But that’s not how God intended it to be. One takeaway I hold is that there are teachable moments from our Heavenly Father hidden in the story for us. This article explores one such instance - Christmas screams pro-life!

The discourse surrounding abortion heavily sides with the rights of the woman. ‘Her choice’ is given precedence over all else. The reasons to abort vary from physical and mental incapacity, hindrance to career prospects, and economic infeasibility among others. Let’s consider the virgin birth.

Mary had been betrothed to Joseph at this point. Like most young women, Mary may have had a certain imagination of her future with her husband. Yet in the middle of all of this, she is visited by the angel, a highly unusual and unexpected experience, only to be told that she has been chosen and tasked to birth and nurture the incarnate God.

We may not know the thoughts that ran through Mary’s head. Imagine Mary saying, “I don’t want this responsibility, I am not ready to deal with this”. She could have said that this would ruin her relationship with Joseph (which it almost did!). Her reputation in society could be tarnished for who was really going to believe that it was a virgin birth after all. But what we know for certain is that she accepted that which God had in store in obedience. God had already through prophets of old spoken of the purpose and plan that He was going to fulfill through this Child.

This baby was to be the Messiah of all the world who would save the people from their sins (Genesis 3:15). He would be adorned in attributes given to God alone, and He would establish His government and rule forevermore (Isaiah 9:6-7). God also had a name chosen for this baby before His birth - Jesus (Luke 1:31).

The pro-choice argument says that ‘it’s only a clump of cells’ when it is in the womb in an attempt to dehumanize the baby and render it purposeless. But from the Christmas story, we clearly see that God had a plan for the life of Jesus even before His birth. There’s a unique identity and mission assigned to the Child. This stands true for me and you as well.

Have you noticed how those who are pro-abortion use the words ‘embryo’ or ‘fetus’ more readily to refer to the child in the womb rather than the word baby? This is often done in an attempt to subtly convey that ‘whatever is in the womb is insignificant’. The root word for fetus in Latin means offspring. The irony! When Mary goes to visit her cousin Elizabeth we are told that the baby in Elizabeth’s womb leapt with joy upon hearing Mary’s voice (Luke 1:39-45). We see that baby John in the womb had emotions and sensations. This child is already communicating with the outside world!

A gruesome picture in the birth story of Jesus is presented in Matthew 2:13-18. A threatened King Herod in an attempt to save his throne kills all the male children two years and under. The despicable act of this man, in slaughtering babies, is the personification of evil. Truly he’s got the wrath of the society. Let’s juxtapose this with abortion. Why does the sound of disapproval quieten? If killing innocent babies was a cruel act done by Herod, what changes when it is performed in the womb in the name of an abortion?

God through Joseph preserves Jesus. Sadly, in our world, it is through lots of Josephs and Marys that the lives of babies are snuffed out. Imagine the course of our world in a plotline where Mary would want to abort her child or if Joseph would insist on Mary aborting the child. This is not to suggest that we are capable of foiling God’s plan. We are not. Rather it is to make you think of the implications of our choices in God’s grand scheme of things.    

This Christmas I pray that your heart gets touched so that you may clearly see the value that God places in life - life that begins at conception. A life already filled with meaning and purpose.  We stand pro-life because God is pro-life. He demonstrated that in His very birth.

“My body, my choice.” “It’s just a clump of cells.” “Abortion is better than bringing a child into a world full of suffering” “Abortion is reproductive rights.”

If you’ve ever paid attention to the abortion debate, you must have surely come across these statements. It forms some of the many, though prominent, arguments given by those who support abortion. At first glance, they may appear to be valid and pretty convincing. Who would want to argue against the health and well-being of a woman afterall? Could there be some truth, if not fully, in them? These are burning questions, prevalent within the Christian community as well.

Thankfully, we have the Bible through which we can evaluate these claims and truly know what God’s heart is on this matter.

Abortion shouldn’t be a dilemma for a Christian.

What is an abortion?

Abortion is the killing of innocent human beings.

However, the dictionary definition states that, abortion is the "termination of a pregnancy after, accompanied by, resulting in, or closely followed by the death of the embryo or fetus".¹

We must be careful to make the distinction between these definitions because the latter caters to scientific language. However, by doing so it masks the reality of what abortion actually entails, which is gruesome in nature.

The first definition is crucial because it clearly states that:

• A ‘human’ (the baby) is killed in the process
• It is not a natural death
• These humans are innocent

The Gospel Truth on Abortion

In Genesis, we are told that God breathed the breath of life into Adam by which he became a living person (Genesis 2:7). Humans are made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26). Despite the fall caused due to disobedience, both Adam and Eve continued to live physically though spiritually they were dead. The gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ is the remedial story that caters to our spiritual and eternal life. In the death and resurrection of Christ, sinful men who put their trust in Jesus and repent, find forgiveness and live with God in His presence, forevermore in newness.

There are three takeaways for us:

• God intends for us to live
• God is the sole giver of life (both physical and spiritual)
• Our transformed lives reflect Jesus’ character

Psalm 139:13 and Jeremiah 1:5 clearly show that not only does God form us in our mother’s womb but that He knows us and has a plan for our lives even before we are born. It also follows that if God is the sole giver of life, He is the only one who has the authority to take that life away. An abortion wrongly places the power to end life with humans and thereby interferes with God’s plan. Basically, we are playing god and that is a sin.

We also know from the Bible that God hates hands that shed innocent blood (Proverbs 6:17). Babies in the womb are innocent (they have sin nature but have not yet committed sin) no matter in what state they were conceived.  In abortion, they are unjustly killed for no fault of their own. Yet they are treated with the consequences of a severe crime - death itself.  It must truly grieve God’s heart greatly when children in the womb are discarded by demeaning their God-given human value.

It is plainly evident, therefore, from scripture that abortion is morally wrong and a sin in God’s eyes. One may argue that since there is no biblical verse catering directly to abortion, it is permissible. However, such reasoning chooses to willfully disregard all the above verses that clearly lay principles by which we can definitively take a stance on abortion. The lack of a particular word in the Bible should not be equated to its silence on the matter. The doctrine of the Trinity is a case in point.

Having laid the biblical foundation I will now proceed to quickly counter the arguments for abortion presented at the beginning of this article.

The lack of a particular word in the Bible should not be equated to its silence on the matter.

Common Arguments

My body, my choice

This is correct. One should have autonomy over their body. An abortion, however, is having autonomy over another person’s body - an adult having autonomy over the child’s body. In most cases, an abortion is chosen so that the woman can ultimately live, though the reasons for this ‘living’ can be defined in many ways. We can say that the choice of the woman is towards life for herself. Why do we then deny that very choice to the other person in the question - the baby?

Secondly, the baby is not a part of the woman’s body. A pregnant woman does not have 2 noses, 20 fingers, 2 hearts etc. Also, the fact that the child has a unique DNA from the mother is proof that the baby is a distinct human being.

It’s just a clump of cells

We’re all just a clump of cells by that logic. By 4 weeks, the heart of the child begins beating ². The hands and feet start taking shape by 7 weeks. Look at this picture of a fetus at the end of 12 weeks and tell me what it resembles according to all the species that you know. There’s only one right answer - a human being.

Abortion is better than bringing a child into a world full of suffering

This statement is filled with irony. In order to help a child avoid suffering, you kill it through a process that is full of suffering. Abortion is not a painless procedure. Suffocating a child by withholding  oxygen or dismembering it by pullings its limbs one by one is exactly what abortion looks like.

Also, this is playing God. Nobody knows what our lives are going to look like. Imagine a child born into a well to do family. After a month after birth, due to some catastrophic reasons, the child loses both parents and is rendered an orphan with no one to look after him/her. Would it be right to kill the child then to prevent it from suffering? The logic followed by abortion would say ‘yes’.

We must trust God that He will provide for us in our darkest moments when we hold onto Him. Suffering is inevitable in a fallen world. But God gives us new mercies every morning.

Abortion is reproductive rights

Our rights end when the question of another person’s life begins. Living is an inherent privilege. Privilege takes precedence over rights.

We’ve been speaking about the child all this while. But it is important to note that an abortion is detrimental to the wellbeing of women. The incidence of breast cancer increases on average by 554% post induced abortion³, infertility increases by 7 times⁴ and women who undergo an abortion are likely to have an increase in suicidal behavior by 3 times compared to women who've carried their child to term, while suicidal impulses for teenagers post an abortion increases by 6-10 times⁵. Abortion never empowered women.

What if I've partaken in an abortion?

If you have had an abortion as a woman or have forced a woman to undergo one as a man, there is hope. It is never too late to take the right stand. This hope is offered to us by Christ Jesus. When we repent of our sins, He not only forgives us but helps us to heal. But the first step is in acknowledging that abortion is a sin.

This may be an extremely hard task, perhaps a lot of guilt and shame surround it. I want to assure you that you are not out of God’s grace. It is more than sufficient and capable to deal with our follies. The process of transformation within us may take time, but that’s true for each one of us for the different sins we’ve committed in the past. Let not the past marr you and hold you back from the freedom that Christ offers you in the present that also seeps into your future. In Christ we find life, life abundant.

Many who were called to live have been aborted. And many who live, call for others to be aborted. Let God be the sole adjudicator of life.

Endnotes

1. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/embryo
2. Tan CMJ, Lewandowski AJ. The Transitional Heart: From Early Embryonic and Fetal Development to Neonatal Life. Fetal Diagn Ther. 2020;47(5):373-386. doi: 10.1159/000501906. Epub 2019 Sep 18. PMID: 31533099; PMCID: PMC7265763.
3. https://www.pop.org/out-of-india-comes-yet-more-evidence-that-abortion-causes-breast-cancer/
4. M.A. Hassan and S.R. Killick, ‘Is previous aberrant reproductive outcome predictive of subsequently reduced fecundity?’ (Human Reproduction 20(3), March 2005): pp. 657-64. Odds ratio 7.2 (p value 0.02); p. 662. Further evidence in Dr. Angela Lanfranchi, Prof. Ian Gentles, Elizabeth Ring-Cassidy, ‘Complications: Abortion’s Impact on Women’ (Toronto: deVeber, 2013), p. 176
5. Gissler M, Hemminki E, Lonnqvist J. Suicides after pregnancy in Finland, 1987–94: register linkage study BMJ (1996)

This guest article by Kenneth Samples originally appeared on reasons.org

Among the world’s great religious leaders, only two had such a profound impact that contemporaries inquired as to the very nature of their being.¹ People wondered whether Siddhartha Gautama (the Buddha) and Jesus of Nazareth (the Christ) were more than mere human beings. While both are known as great teachers and profound souls, the identity, mission, and message of these two men couldn’t be more different.

The Buddha

Like Christianity, the religion of Buddhism is traced to a single individual. That person is Siddhartha Gautama (c. 563–480 BC). While mixtures of myth and legend make it impossible to completely reconstruct the life of the Buddha, there is a historical core of information known about him.²

Siddhartha was born into the Indian Sakyas clan in the sixth century BC in Nepal, near its border with India. Siddhartha’s father was the feudal lord of the Sakyas people and created a life of luxury for his son. Siddhartha is said to have had three palaces with 40,000 dancing girls at his disposal. He received a cultured education that included studies in the arts, warfare (martial arts), and philosophy. He later married a neighboring princess and they had a son together.

Siddhartha gradually grew discontented with his life of affluence and hedonism. Upon taking a chariot ride into the city he encountered the “Four Passing Sights” (an old man, a diseased man, a dead man, and a monk). These sights represent Siddhartha’s first glimpse of human misery and they profoundly impacted him. For the first time he began to reflect upon the problem of suffering. At age 29, he renounced the pleasures of the princely life, left his family and privileged position behind, and became a truth-seeker. He wanted to uncover the causes and cure of the universal problem of human suffering.

Siddhartha’s search for enlightenment lasted six years and moved through three distinctive phases. First, he studied Hindu philosophy and meditation from the Indian Yogis. Second, he encountered some Jain monks (an offshoot of Hinduism) and adopted their extreme form of asceticism (self-denial). Nearly starving himself to death, he found asceticism no more revealing than his former life of affluence. Third, now fatigued and desperate for genuine enlightenment, he sat in the lotus position before the Bodhi tree in meditation. He decided that he would remain in this “immovable spot” until he was enlightened or dead of starvation. On the forty-ninth day, Siddhartha Gautama experienced the ultimate transformation of consciousness (“Nirvana”) and became “the Buddha”—the “enlightened one” or “awakened one.”

Nirvana is the supreme goal of Buddhism for it breaks the cycling of rebirths (reincarnation). The word “Nirvana” literally means “blowing out” the flame of passion (desire is eliminated). Understood as extinguishing the self (nothingness, the Void), some define Nirvana as continuation of consciousness in a mystical state.

This enlightened state allowed Buddha to understand the causes of, and solution to, the human cycle of suffering. The Buddha’s teaching core consisted of the Four Noble Truths.

Four Noble Truths

1. Dukkha: The true nature of existence is suffering (sickness, pain, fear, death).
2. Trishna: Misery is rooted in ignorant craving (Tanha: desire for attachment to the illusory world).
3. Cessation: Eliminating the desire for attachment can abolish suffering (stop the desiring and the suffering stops).
4. The Eightfold Path: Stop the desiring through concentrated effort (preparation for Nirvana). The Eightfold path consists of moral, intellectual, and spiritual development leading to enlightenment (transformed consciousness).

The Buddha subsequently conducted a 45-year missionary career of converting people to his religion of mystical enlightenment. He died around 80 years of age.

The Buddha and the Christ

The title “Buddha” means one who has awakened from an illusory state of consciousness. The title “Christ” is Greek for the Hebrew word “Messiah,” meaning the “anointed one”—the special one who would do God’s bidding.

Eight Ways Buddha and Christ Differ

• History: While the life of the Buddha is wrapped in legend and evolving speculation, Christ is a historical figure whose life, death, and resurrection are rooted in facts of history.
• Nature: Though the Buddha held an awakened state of consciousness, he was merely a human being, whereas the Christ reveals himself to be both God and man (a single person with both a divine and human nature).
• Character: The Buddha, even with an enlightened consciousness, had moral weaknesses and limitations. Christ, on the other hand, was morally perfect.
• Mission: The Buddha’s mission was to help others achieve Nirvana. Christ’s mission was to rescue sinners by providing a sacrifice for sin.
• Role: The Buddha himself is not crucial to the essence of Buddhism (the Four Noble Truths are the heart of the Buddhist philosophy). On the other hand, historic Christianity is all about Christ (emphasizing his person, nature, life, death, and resurrection).
• Suffering: The Buddha sought to eliminate suffering through resignation. Christ suffered with and for sinners in order to reconcile them to God.
• Life: Buddha’s message is life denying. Christ’s message is life affirming.
• Future: The Buddha offers many lives of suffering with the only hope being extinction (Nirvana). The Christ offers resurrection for the dead and eternal life with God.

Jesus Christ presents a vision of life and reality that is far superior to that of the Buddha. For the historic Christian world-and-life view is uniquely reasonable, testable, viable, workable, livable, and hopeful.

Endnotes

1. Huston Smith, The World’s Religions (San Francisco: Harper, 1991), 82.
2. Winfried Corduan, Neighboring Faiths (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1998).

Philosopher and theologian Kenneth Richard Samples is a senior research scholar at Reasons to Believe with an MA in theological studies. Kenneth had worked as senior research consultant and correspondence editor at Christian Research Institute and his articles have been published in Christianity Today, Christian Research Journal, and Facts for Faith. He holds memberships in the Evangelical Philosophical Society, the Evangelical Theological Society, and the International Society of Christian Apologetics.