Six

WEDNESDAY NIGHT AT THE CARUTH HAVEN COFFEEHOUSE

THE CARUTH HAVEN coffeehouse is the largest coffee shop in Dallas. Yet, even with four spacious rooms and a patio it’s filled with college students all the time. Even at 2:00 a.m. It’s not uncommon to see graduate students studying, or drunk undergrads sobering up after the clubs shut down.

Jamal showed up a few minutes late and heads turned as he walked in. The college girls thought he was good looking and they smiled at each other. When Jamal finally approached their table, coffee in hand, Nick introduced everyone. Andrea had arrived with Mina and Jessica, and Brett brought his atheist friends, Scott and Lauren. Nick felt a little intimidated being the youngest one there, but he was also eager to learn from their interaction. “The reason we’re all here is because my brand-new friend, Brett, requested a conversation about Jesus Christ as a man of history. I don’t feel equipped to answer questions on that topic so I asked Jamal and Mina to join us since they helped me with my own questions last year. Brett, why don’t you kick us off by explaining what’s on your mind.”

“Sure.” Addressing Jamal, Brett said, “I had mentioned to Nick that prominent atheists like the late Bertrand Russell and Christopher Hitchens openly doubt the historicity of Jesus Christ. Hitchens even refers to his existence as ‘highly questionable.’⁵ How do we really know that Christ existed?”

“Good question, Brett. Let me explain why I believe both Hitchens and Russell are mistaken. While historians have debated whether some other figures of ancient times, like homer, existed at all, there is general unanimity that Christ was a real person. If one believes in the existence of Socrates, Alexander the Great, or Julius Caesar, then one should definitely believe in Christ’s existence. If historicity is established by written records in multiple copies that date originally from near contemporaneous sources, there is far more historical evidence for Christ’s existence than for any of theirs. The historicity of Christ is attested not only by Christians but also by Greek, Roman, and Jewish Sources.”⁶

Lauren, Brett’s friend from medical school, leaned forward and set her drink on the table. “Wait a second. I thought with you Christians it was all about faith.”

Jamal responded, “Lauren, there’s no question that many Christians have blind faith. Thankfully, it wasn’t that way with the great thinkers like Anselm and Aquinas. The foundation of the Christian faith is a real event—the historical resurrection of Jesus Christ. Paul wrote to the Christians in the city of Corinth, ‘If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.’”⁷

Jamal continued, “Brett, Dr. Otto Betz, a brilliant historian, once remarked, ‘No serious scholar has ventured to postulate the non-historicity of Jesus.’”⁸

“Jamal,” Andrea cut in. “It really doesn’t matter if Jesus was a man of history or not. Even if He existed, He wasn’t God. He was just a great teacher or some fanatic.”

Sounds like Andrea is spending too much time with Sam, thought Nick.

“Okay, Andrea, let’s follow that track for a minute. You referred to Jesus Christ as a great teacher or some fanatic. Let’s consider Him as a teacher. He was actually a profound philosopher and communicator. The early apologists held that the beauty and brilliance of His teaching surpassed Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. I agree with the observations of Stanford research scholar Dinesh D’Souza, who pointedout that even though Shakespeare is the greatest dramatist of the English language, ‘there is no single character in Shakespeare who can match Christ’s eloquence.’⁹ Think of all the popular expressions that were spoken by Christ. By their fruits you shall know them. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Turn the other cheek. Man does not live by bread alone. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”¹⁰

Scott, the doctoral student, interrupted. “Jamal, maybe Jesus was a good teacher, but as I’ve studied history, I think society would be better off without Christ’s followers. When I think about the impact Christianity has had on society, I think of fighting in the name of religion, hatred toward women and minority groups, and their attempts to stifle the advancement of science and academia.”

“There’s no question that evil things have been done and defended in the name of Christ,” said Jamal. “Scott, let me ask you a question. Do you believe the human race is good or evil?”

“Good, for the most part,” responded Scott. “I think your God is the one who is evil.”

Andrea flipped open her laptop. “Scott, I agree with you. It’s God and religion that are the source of evil. Jamal and Nick, let me read you one of my favorite quotes from Richard Dawkins. This is from his book The God Delusion. You’ve probably heard it. ‘The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction; jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully.’”¹¹

Mina spoke up. “Andrea, it sounds to me like you would agree with most ‘New Atheists’ that human beings are basically good. Am I right?”

Andrea nodded.

“I don’t see how that adds up logically. For example, if Richard Dawkins is saying that this evil being called God is merely fictional, then who is responsible for the evils of religion? If God doesn’t exist in reality, then it’s mankind who creates these evil religions. Why would you get angry at God if He’s just a fictional character? And how can you justify the goodness of mankind after all the killing that has happened throughout history?”

“Because most of the killing is done by those who believe in God!”

“Actually, that’s not historically true,” Mina quickly responded. “But let’s set that aside for a minute and suppose that every murder in history was performed by a person believing in God. What basis does the atheist have for optimism? Those murders are still done by people—by the human race—regardless of what fiction they believe.”

“I think we need to embrace science, not God,” commented Lauren.

“Why not both?” asked Mina. “I love science but it has limitations. Science can make observations about the physical world, but it can’t answer simple questions about morality or goodness. Has the advancement of science helped us to become more peaceful over the past one hundred years? Not hardly. Throughout history humans continue to do evil things to one another. Perhaps this is why atheist Stephen Hawking believes that in order for the human race to survive, we should spread out to other planets.”

“Might not be a bad idea,” said Andrea.

Mina continued, “Andrea, getting back to your comment about most of the killing being done by those who believe in God, you’d want to consider what took place over the past hundred years. The atheist regimes of Stalin, Hitler, and Mao murdered more than one hundred million people. The deaths by religious zealots over hundreds of years is less than one percent of those done by the evils of atheism.¹² I know there are atheist bloggers who say that Hitler was a Christian, but historically this is nonsense. Hitler himself said, ‘Through the peasantry we shall be able to destroy Christianity.’¹³ In fact, he blamed the Jews for inventing Christianity.”

“I understand that Hitler wasn’t a real Christian,” said Scott. “I’m guessing my atheist blogger friends are referring to his “I am fighting for the work of the Lord” passage in Mein Kampf.¹⁴ Pretty convincing until you realize it’s all propaganda designed to sway the masses. Even so, I believe the world would be better off without Christianity.”

“I’m surprised to hear you say that, Scott,” responded Mina. “As a student of history, surely you know how much good has happened in the name of Christianity.”

“Jesus and His followers have contributed nothing good to society,” snapped Andrea.

“Come on, Andrea, everyone knows that’s not true,” said Mina. “Even Dawkins admits that science was birthed out of religion. The late Dr. D. James Kennedy, who earned his PhD from New York University, documented in one of his books that if Christ had never been born, our world would be quite different.¹⁵

“First, Christianity has elevated the value of human life. For example, in classical Rome and Greece, infanticide was not only legal, it was applauded by some leaders! It was the early Christian church that ultimately brought an end to infanticide. Christianity has consistently held a high view of children—even unborn children.”

“There you go with your pro-life talk,” interjected Lauren. “Christianity doesn’t value human life—it disgraces women and always has.”

“That’s not completely accurate, Lauren,” said Mina. “Scott, feel free to correct me if I’m wrong here, but in ancient cultures, a wife was the property of her husband. Aristotle said that a woman was somewhere between a free man and a slave. In parts of India, widows were burned on their husbands’ funeral pyres. Lauren, if you look at history, you’ll find that Christian missionaries were a major influence in stopping such centuries-old practices and ideas.”

“I have a question about that,” said Brett. “Christians often talk about all the compassion they have for people, but what about all the founding fathers of America who professed to be Christians and owned slaves? How would you explain that?”

“In two minutes or in twelve hours?” asked Jamal.

Everyone laughed, which broke some of the natural tension of the discussion. Several of them went back to the counter for refills, and Jessica prayed silently for Andrea. Nick and Brett headed for the restroom. “How are you for time?” Nick asked.

“I’m still good,” said Brett. “This is interesting, though it’s all over the map. Your friends know their stuff. Hey, I meant to ask you when his name came up yesterday. Is Jamal …”

“From Notre Dame?” Nick cut in. Brett nodded. “He’s the one. I’ll tell you what—he’s got an amazing story, too. I mean, unless you think testimonies are a waste of time.” Nick smiled and Brett smacked his arm.