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The Case for the Reasonableness of Faith, based on the classic bestseller.Almost a hundred years ago, successful business leader Robert A. Laidlaw wrote a small book, The Reason Why, to explain in a thoughtful and accessible way why he was convinced that faith in God makes sense. He printed the book primarily for his large staff of employees, but it quickly took on a life of its own—and over time fifty million copies were printed of his powerful and winsome work.

Mark Mittelberg has updated and expanded Laidlaw’s discussion of this perennial topic for the twenty-first century. In addition, he highlights some of the more recent evidence relating to these themes.

Have you ever wondered:

• Is there a God?
• Can the Bible be trusted?
• Are we accountable to God?

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THE REASON WHY

Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.

Contents

Foreword....................................................ixIntroduction................................................xiiiMatters of Faith Really Matter..............................1Is There a God?.............................................7Can the Bible Be Trusted?...................................33Are We Accountable to God?..................................47Who Was Jesus and What Was His Purpose?.....................59Is Divine Forgiveness Available?............................73What Do I Need to Do?.......................................101My Decision.................................................121Next Steps..................................................123Postscript: The Soldier's Choice............................125Notes.......................................................129

Chapter One

Maybe you really will live to the ripe old age of eighty, ninety, or even higher. Actuary tables say that these days your chances are fairly good. By most standards that would be a pretty long life span.

But have you ever thought of that length of time against the backdrop of eternity? Try plotting those eighty years on a chart next to eternity and you'll soon realize that your entire earthly life is represented by a tiny dot that's barely visible next to what follows it! What if all your days here are mostly just preparation for the life that comes next—the real one? How would knowing that now affect your priorities and daily decisions?

Let's look at this from another angle. Suppose a young man sends his fiancée a beautiful diamond ring that costs him $15,000, putting it in the little case that the jeweler throws in for free. Just imagine how shocked he would be if she responded by saying, "Thank you, sweetheart—that was such a nice little box you sent me! To take special care of it, I promise to keep it wrapped up in a safe place so nothing will ever happen to it."

That seems ridiculous, doesn't it? Yet isn't it just as foolish for people like us to spend all our time and energy on our bodies, which are only containers of our real self, the soul, which, according to Jesus and the writers of the Bible, will persist long after our bodies have turned to dust? When you think of it that way, it's easy to see that the soul has immeasurable value.

In fact, Jesus—known for his ability to speak directly to the heart of a matter—asked in Mark 8:36-37: "And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?" Our response to his question today is the same as it was when he first posed it: awkward silence, because the obvious answer is, "No, nothing!" A person's soul—my soul or your soul—according to Jesus, is incomparably more valuable than the entire world of possessions, pleasures, power, and prestige.

Maybe you aren't so sure about matters of the soul at this point in your life. Perhaps the whole realm of the spiritual seems unreal or unimportant to you, or like something you'd rather not think about until later—like when you get closer to that seemingly distant age of eighty or ninety.

Staying Open

May I encourage you to think again, and at least to say, "Maybe"? Admit to yourself that if these things are true, then Jesus' point about the importance of the soul is valid—big time! Do you doubt that? Then at least be consistent enough as a skeptic to also doubt even your own doubts—and keep reading. As you turn the pages, keep saying to yourself, "Maybe God is real"; "Maybe the Bible is God's message to us"; "Maybe Jesus truly was the Son of God"; "Maybe I need what Jesus offers me"; "Maybe God is speaking to me." I'm not asking you to take any blind leaps of faith, just to be open-minded enough to genuinely consider the possibility that these things could be true.

Could I also suggest that you offer a can't-miss prayer? You may not be comfortable with prayer, so move on if you need to. But you don't have to try to sound religious to pray. You can just sincerely say something like this, whether silently or out loud:

God, if you're there and if these things I'm reading are really true, please show me. If you'll make it clear to me, then I promise to respond to you accordingly. Amen.

God loves answering straightforward prayers like that! A man once came to Jesus, having enough faith to ask him for a miracle—but enough doubt to second-guess whether his request would really do any good. Jesus said to him, "Anything is possible if a person believes." The man responded with wonderful transparency: "I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!" And guess what? Jesus honored that sincere doubter's prayer, performing the miracle for him right then and there.

So be honest about your spiritual perspective—but also active in your pursuit of truth and answers for your life. I'm confident God will meet you somewhere in the middle.

Key Faith Issues

Let's talk about some of the central questions that relate to the part of us that Jesus called our most valuable possession, our souls. I think it will quickly become clear that these matters really do matter—not just for some future life in the hereafter, but for the nitty-gritty realities of daily living, as well. These include the following:

Is there a God?

Can the Bible be trusted?

Are we accountable to God?

Who was Jesus and what was his purpose?

Is divine forgiveness available?

What do I need to do?

These are some of the questions that most perplex those who think seriously about spiritual matters, their own lives, and their future.

Chapter Two

While the vast majority of people believe in God or some form of divine being, it has become fashionable to deny God's existence and to declare oneself an atheist. Just scan the shelves of many bookstores—especially, and ironically, the religion sections. Many of the top sellers are actually anti-God books written by spiritual skeptics. Or surf the Internet and you'll see that, increasingly, the boldest and brashest opinions are being presented by people who decry the idea of God altogether.

Why is that? Has there been some new discovery that disproves the existence of a deity? Have the claims of the supernatural been conclusively refuted to the point that we can now deduce that there is no God?

To the contrary, the evidence for God is growing day by day as thinking people—including scientists, historians, archeologists, philosophers, and others, many of whom were former skeptics—find more and more support for the existence of God and for the claims of Christianity in particular. In fact, the strength of the evidence is mounting to the extent that one popular book came out recently with the title I Don't Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist.

I like that title because it really does seem to me that the problems of unbelief in God are greater than the problems of belief. To accept that nothing produced everything, nonlife produced life, randomness produced order, chaos produced information, unconsciousness produced consciousness, and...