In Pursuit Of Truth

In Pursuit of Truth

by

Wayne McDaniel

 Wayne McDaniel, 2000 [email protected] All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the author.

In Pursuit of Truth: What I Believe and Why. Wayne Logan McDaniel It should have been The Pinnacle of my Christian experience, instead the foundations of my faith were shaken. While at the huge 1997 Promise Keepers convention in Washington, D.C., I was handed a pamphlet published by a “pseudo-Christian” cult (as defined by orthodox Christianity). Instead of discarding it, I read it with great interest. The author was highly educated, very knowledgeable about history and eloquently articulated a significantly different view of salvation and the future of man using Biblical references to support his position. He presented his argument so well it caused me to question the very doctrines I had believed for years. As a result, I undertook one of the most extensive research projects of my life. I was in pursuit of Truth. In his autobiography, Mahatma Gandhi refers to himself as a “seeker of Truth.” While it would be arrogant for me to compare myself to Gandhi, I feel a kindred spirit with him in this regard. Knowing and believing what is True has been very important to me as long as I can remember. To be a seeker of Truth, one must first believe that Truth can be found and known. Many people do not accept that hypothesis today (although such a position is self-contradictory in that the assertion that Truth cannot be known is itself a purported statement of truth). However, acceptance of Truth does not require absolute proof, only evidence beyond a reasonable doubt. Indeed, the scientific process is not based upon certainty, but upon probability. It is this framework of belief that gives life purpose and meaning. The basic foundation of what I believe is that there is a God who created the Universe and that Jesus Christ is the unique Son of God. I further believe that the nature of God is love and that Jesus died and rose from the dead to redeem mankind. My purpose in writing this is to explain why, in this modern, multi-cultural, scientific age, I continue to believe this. My faith is not blind, but is based upon both objective and subjective reasons. We will start with the objective. The primary secular explanation for the origin of life is evolution. On the surface, it seems quite plausible, especially when you view such renderings as the “tree of evolution” or “ascent of man.” When Charles Darwin popularized this theory, scientists thought the cell was the building block of life and was simple. It seemed reasonable that by natural selection one species could evolve into another by merely stretching its neck to reach higher leaves. But, as scientists have discovered, the cell is an incredibly complex machine. Scientists today understand that in order for macro-evolution to occur, changes must occur at the molecular level, as it is DNA which contains the coding for all life. It is at the biochemical level that evolution faces the greatest challenge today. It is not my intent here to present a comprehensive report on the problems of evolution—there are plenty of volumes on that already. Rather, I want to 2

summarize the crux of the issue that is most convincing to me. It comes down to mathematical probability. It has been calculated that the odds of creating just one functional protein molecule by chance would be one in 10 followed by 60 zeros, and then it would have to occur under near ideal conditions. Dr. Michael Behe (author of Darwin’s Black Box) said the probability of linking just one hundred amino acids to create one protein molecule by chance would be the same as a blind folded man finding one marked grain of sand somewhere in the Sahara Desert—and doing it not just once, but three different times! And this is to create just one protein! The simplest cell is immeasurably more complicated than a single protein. I like how one college textbook on organic chemistry describes the complexity of one aspect of cellular activity, the synthesis of amino acids (the building blocks of proteins): “Most of the chemical reactions in cells are catalyzed by enzymes which are complex and highly specialized proteins. About two thousand different enzymes, each of which catalyzes a different reaction, are known. In contrast to the chemical reactions carried out in a laboratory, which often require high temperatures and strong acid or base for catalysis and give many side-products as well as the desired one, enzymes function in our bodies at 37 degrees C and at nearly neutral pH to give the single desired product in 100% yield.” (Organic Products” by Seyhan H. Ege, University of Michigan, 1984, pg. 959). Life is so incredibly complex, that scientist and former atheist, Sir Fredrick Hoyle, said accidental development of life is about as likely as a tornado whirling through a junkyard and accidentally assembling a fully functional Boeing 747. The greatest challenges to Darwinism today are not coming from the religious, but from the scientific community. I have a degree in biology and I find it takes far more faith to believe all the complex beauty we see happened by accident and not by design. Having settled in my mind the reasonableness of belief in a Creator, then which, if any, of the 100 million gods worshipped on earth is the right one? And, is it even possible to know the Creator? While all religions may contain elements of truth, it is not possible for all religions to be equal or true. This should be selfevident for truth cannot contradict itself and all religions have one aspect or another that is in direct conflict with the teaching of others. Rather than go down a litany of the fallacies of various religions, I will focus upon what I consider to be the single most defining point in human history. The answer to this question makes all the others mute. Did Jesus Christ rise from the dead? The answer to this question is so important because if he did, then that would tend to validate his claim to be the Son of God. If he did not, then all of Christianity is a farce, as it is based upon a lie. Skeptics have offered no credible explanation. They even admit as much, concluding they can’t believe in the resurrection because it is “unbelievable!” 3

The problem for me is, I can’t put my head in the sand and not deal with an issue just because I don’t want to. There has to be an explanation. C. S. Lewis once said that after eliminating all the options that cannot be true, then, regardless of how improbable the remaining option may be, it must be true. What clinched the decision for me is the changed lives of the disciples. There is no question but that the disciples taught that Jesus Christ rose bodily from the dead. Scholars almost universally accept that assertion. Furthermore, the disciples saw him as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Documented evidence of this dates back to within five years of Jesus’ death, far too soon for legends to have been developed. Given this, there are only three options: The disciples were deceived, they lied or they told the truth. If they were deceived, who deceived them? Jesus? This would be totally out of character with everything we know about him. Who else would have the motivation to delude them? Certainly not Jesus’ enemies and his friends were far too disorganized. What would it take to delude a dozen men into believing something that totally goes against all nature? Men are not that gullible. Paul was frequently ridiculed for teaching that a man rose from the dead. Perhaps they deluded themselves. Perhaps they so much wanted Jesus to be alive again, they imagined he was! It might be possible for an individual to become so delusional—but a dozen and keep their sanity? Everything we know about these men is that they were highly practical and constantly doubting as opposed to believing. Not only did the disciples claim to have seen Jesus physically alive after his crucifixion, but over 500 others testified to the same. I consider delusion to be an absurd explanation given the facts. Perhaps the disciples perpetrated a lie. It would be the greatest scam of all history! How reasonable is that? What is the likelihood that all of the disciples would keep a sworn secret to their death in the face of torture and death? People will die for a cause, but will they die for a known lie? Furthermore, their message of love, honesty and righteousness is completely incompatible with living a lie. This explanation is even less likely than the first. There is only one other alternative: They spoke the truth. Evidence for this is how their lives changed. These were died-in-the-wool Jews. They were taught their entire lives, until Jesus came along, that you must keep certain laws and regulations to be righteous. Yet these men gave up the legalistic teachings of Judaism. One of the most significant was the keeping of the Sabbath, as taught by Moses. Yet, they not only dispensed with it, they changed the day to Sunday —the day Jesus rose from the dead. This is an incredibly significant fact. Something happened on the Sunday morning following the burial of Jesus. It was so significant that the disciples gave up their Jewish heritage and began to boldly proclaim an outlandish message that someone who died rose from the dead and, in fact is the Lord of the Universe! This was not only outlandish, but also blasphemy to the Jew. They spread this message against all opposition, which ultimately led to torture and death for each of them.

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Something happened on Easter morning and, as incredible as it may seem, I am left with the conclusion that Jesus Christ rose from the dead. If indeed Jesus is the Son of God, as he claimed, then perhaps it is not so unreasonable after all. If God really did visit the earth, as the disciples believed, could he not rise again? Unfortunately, many so-called Christians, by their behavior and judgmentalism, have maligned the Gospel that Jesus taught. While Jesus taught that there was a coming judgment, he condemned no one, except the religious teachers who placed unreasonable burdens on the common person. He accepted all, including those whom his society rejected or held in low esteem—mixed-breed Samaritans, Romans, women and “sinners” such as prostitutes and traitorous tax collectors. He accepted all regardless of race, religion or sex. The message he brought was not that God was a stern Judge anxious to condemn sinners to hell, but that God loves people and wants them to have a relationship with Him. He brought a message of grace, forgiveness and personal freedom. The overriding theme was not one of religion, but of relationship. He came not to condemn the world, but to save the world. That is why he called his message the Gospel, which means Good News! This brings me to my final reasons for believing: my own subjective experience. Skeptics relegate Christian experience to psychological and emotional phenomena. To a degree, I agree. Personal relationships have a strong psychological and emotional component. I could hardly have a relationship with my wife without it. But, just as there IS an actual relationship with my wife, I HAVE an actual relationship with God. I don’t believe it can be explained away totally as psychological delusion. I base this upon thirty years of experiences. One basis for this belief is answered prayer. The fist occasion that sticks out in my mind was when I was a teenager. I had an appointment several miles away, it was getting late and I had no transportation except my bicycle. I prayed and asked God to help me get there and started riding. My parents were coming home from the opposite direction. My mother, on a “whim” suggested they drive around the block before going home. By “coincidence” they passed me and I was able to get a ride. This was a small incident, but over the years there have been numerous such “coincidences” over which I had no influence. There are occasions in which God clearly speaks to me. I have never heard an audible voice, but there have been a number of occasions in which a message— just a short sentence—invades my mind. It is crystal clear, not a vague feeling, and directly speaks to the need at hand. Recently, I was struggling with an issue and was in deep turmoil. Essentially, I was struggling with a decision between two evils. No matter what I did, it would be wrong and I felt trapped by the situation. It was getting late and I knew I needed to go to sleep. As I sometimes do, I prayed the Lords Prayer to help put me to sleep. As soon as I said the line, “Deliver us from evil,” the turmoil immediately lifted. The change was so dramatic, it caught me completely off guard. And then the word came: “If you do not do this thing [which I was thinking of], I will set you free.” Until then, I had 5

seen no good alternative, but he showed me one. When I questioned him, he said, “Try me on this.” I did, it worked and it changed my life. Another time I was in deep prayer, sorrowful about my own insensitivity to the needs of others. I was asking what to do. The message came to sell my stocks, pay off all I owed and then I will have the freedom to serve him as he desires. At this time, I was making a lot of money aggressively speculating in the market and could see how I could easily make another 50% in a short time. I argued with God, but he did not answer. I decided to wait because I could do so much more for him with another 50%. But, God knew something I did not. I subsequently lost a great amount of it. It was a very hard lesson. But, as a result, I listened the next time he spoke! Next, there are the ways he has set me free from things that held sway over me. Jesus said, “You will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” I bit my fingernails for 40 years. I had tried unsuccessfully many times to stop. Then, after being challenged by another Christian, I decided to ask God to give me the power to stop. I thought it would be a struggle, but it wasn’t. I have not chewed my fingernails again from that day. With virtually no effort from myself, I was set free from a lifetime habit. He has also set me free, instantaneously from a lifelong cloud of depression, “mind chatter” and the power of sin. These are things that grab the soul and are very difficult to overcome on ones own. But, when the Spirit of God does it, it is remarkably easy. Finally, he has filled my life with joy, peace and love. By this, I do not mean that I am always joyful, loving or full of peace. I get angry, hurt and stressed. But, when I pause in the midst of the pain of life, I experience His presence. I experience a joy in the midst of sorrow, love in the midst of hurt and peace in the midst of fear. This is not to imply that I think I have become perfect or achieved some elevated level of spirituality. In fact, quite the contrary. I am well aware of my faults. But, I am also aware of the great grace of God, his forgiveness and the power of His Spirit in my life. One of the great joys of knowing Christ is that when I fail, he unconditionally accepts me and forgives me. I do not have to live under the burden of guilt. There is no other philosophy of life that so upholds the dignity and value of humankind. Jesus said he came give us abundant life— not life which consists of material things, but life which has eternal qualities. In conclusion, the more I know the stronger my faith in Christ becomes. The objective reasons are compelling while the subjective ones are confirming. However, as much as I relish an intellectual understanding of Truth, I know that it is of little value. One could have great depths of understanding, but be completely lonely. Fulfillment ultimately comes not from what one knows, but who one knows. It is relationships that count. The most important relationship is with the One to whom my search for Truth has led. It is a relationship with the One who said He is Truth—Truth personified. One of the astounding aspects of the Gospel is that this relationship with Truth is attainable by anyone regardless of education, knowledge, experience, time or 6

socio-economic status. One need not purify oneself by meditation, sacrifice or other “spiritual” exercises. Most of the world struggles for existence and does not have the time or money to be able to devote themselves to extensive spiritual development. This is a very important point and one that differentiates Christianity: that a relationship with God is freely accessible to everyone who asks. It is not an elitist religion. Jesus said, “Seek and you will find.” Unfortunately, most people never seek. They are too busy, don’t care or don’t believe that Truth can be known. Others give up due to disappointment. But, I truly believe that anyone with an open mind and willing heart can find the Truth. And when they do, they will experience freedom in their soul. Whether you agree with my conclusions or not, I hope you have found what I have written interesting. Even more, I hope that I have kindled within you a desire to seek Truth. I greatly enjoy non-coercive discussions about spiritual matters and invite you to enter into one with me. I love to be challenged, to hear what you believe and to share what little I know. My pursuit of Truth is not over. What I see, I see as through a glass dimly and I am driven by a burning desire to have a more perfect knowledge of the Truth. Thank you for listening. Wayne McDaniel 1271 N 870 Rd Lawrence, KS 66047 [email protected] 785-842-2097 November, 2000

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