Response to Piper’s “20 Reasons…” Part 1
June 5, 2008
Recently John Piper, a notable evangelical speaker and author, blogged about “20 Reasons I don’t Take Potshots at Fundamentalists” (http://www.desiringgod.org/Blog/1251_20_reasons_i_dont_take_potshots_at_fun). It is a bit tongue-in-cheek (I hope), but even so I think it is captures many of the items that Fundamentalists pride themselves on. So, let’s look at each one – 5 each day over the course of the next 4 days:
1. They are humble and respectful and courteous and even funny (the ones I’ve met).
So what? I’ve met some proud and disrespectful and humorless Fundamentalists, especially when their beliefs are challenged. I’ve seen Pastors and congregations literally destroy families because of what they believe the Bible says. Some are cruel and some are nice. I’m sure there are some very humble, respectful and courteous criminals too – at least outwardly. But I do have to agree with Piper (tongue-in-cheek), they are funny. You certainly can’t take their beliefs seriously.
2. They believe in truth.
No they don’t. They believe in what they perceive to be truth – that the Bible is the inerrant word of God in all that it says. They ignore the truth of science, especially evolution. They ignore the truth of errors and contradictions in their Holy Scriptures. They ignore the fact of the earth is approximately 4.5 BILLION years old, not 6,000 to 10,000 years old. They live by faith which, by definition, is required because their beliefs cannot be proven. This is hardly truth which should demand that a belief be in agreement with fact or reality. A fact cannot be validated by faith. If so, anyone can have faith in anything and say it is true. Have faith in Thor and be saved! I think not.
3. They believe that truth really matters.
They believe that their “truth” matters not the Truth. Much of their doctrine is based on faith and not fact or reality. A more accurate statement would be “They believe that FAITH really matters” and that FAITH means “believe like me”.
4. They believe that the Bible is true, all of it.
And this is good? They believe their book of myths is true but religious books of other religions are simply stupid myths. Believing the entire Bible is true shows that they do NOT value truth. Do they seriously believe that the world is 6000 years old, man and dinosaurs lived together, a snake and donkey actually talked, the sun stopped still (showing a complete ignorance of science), the Red Sea was parted and that a man rose from the dead. Such stories in any other religious text would be looked at as fiction, yet in their text it is true. Yup, they sure do value truth!
5. They know that the Bible calls for some kind of separation from the world.
Priceless. Separate yourself from the reality of the world so you can live in an imaginary land. They lock people up that have such delusions unless they happen to be religious. Then you can believe that fairy tales are true and be perfectly sane. Try convincing a psychologist that you are sane when you tell her that you believe that Santa Claus is real, wants to bring presents to all who believe in him (but only on Dec 25th) and when you die you will go to the North Pole and be with him forever!
Tomorrow – Questions 6 – 10.