Bible Students

I believe the best way to engage the world is through first observing, then contemplating, and only after these two steps responding. This kind of system prevents against foolish responses to what the world says. An example of this can be seen a few years back in my life as I wrestled between creation views.

When coming into contact with other worldviews, there is a very important question to ask: If this is true, is Christianity false? This question allows for a connection between the worldviews. For example, when the Old Testament authors came into contact with polytheism, they asked the question: Does the reality of this pagan god conflict with the existence of the God of Israel? Well, to the biblical authors, the existence of spiritual beings other than God did not conflict with a biblical worldview, but the existence of other God-like beings would. Therefore, the biblical authors affirmed that the gods of other nations may be spiritual beings, but they are not on the same ontological level as God. Other spiritual beings may exist, though they are not like our God. This is important for Christians acting as missionaries both abroad and locally. Do the truths of the culture conflict with biblical trinitarian monotheism? The Christian must identify the pagan practices of the culture, meditate on how they connect and are disconnected to the biblical worldview, and only then respond.

For me, this came under the wrestling of creation ideas. Was man created fiat, or did man evolve from lower beings? What is the importance? If I am misunderstanding Genesis 1 and some parts should be understood as metaphorical (the snake, the dust, the rib), is Christianity false? The answer is a resounding ‘no.’ Christians should not address the part of evolution which does not directly affect Christianity. Which would have more of a bearing on Christianity: The creation of man from another lower animal, or the nonexistence of God? The Christian should find what the most important parts of Christianity the culture is attacking (for atheism, that is the nonexistence of God, not evolution from a lower animal) and address that issue.