Does Prayer Work?

Atheists often say they can prove that God doesn't exist because "prayer doesn't work!" And from memory, I think that prayer is about the only time Richard Dawkins discusses any kind of scientific experimentation to prove or disprove "The God Hypothesis" in his book "The God Delusion". In his book he demonstrates that prayer doesn't work by having people pray for healing, only to discover that there was no significant effect of that prayer. Now, I suppose that on the one hand we could criticize the study by questioning the faith of those who prayed; and that's where many Christians would tend to go, I think. But I tend to wonder whether the expectation of healing in response to such prayer is even valid. To people who say "prayer doesn't work", I would ask "and how do you think prayer is supposed to work?" ... Because I think that what is often at fault is people's expectations of prayer. After all, we cannot expect that God exists to do our bidding and to make all our wishes come true. But it seems to me that's how many people expect prayer to work. 

Now the Bible does tell us to expect answers to prayer when we pray according to God's will. Part of prayer is actually discovering God's will. But this does sound like a complete cop out, doesn't it... if I pray for something and it's answered, then that must have been God's will; but if it isn't answered, oh well, it clearly wasn't God's will. But in fact, God is not capricious, and His will can be known. He's revealed His will in the Bible. His will is for people to believe and trust in Him, and for His people to live righteous lives. But to be healed from all sicknesses? In a sense that is His will, though not for the present. God has said that He will take away sickness and disease in the "New Earth" after He returns. But in the present we are still to suffer these things. So I think that if you want to understand how prayer is supposed to work, you need to read your Bible to discover God's purpose for prayer, and to discover God's will. I can certainly testify to the effectiveness of prayer in my life when I've prayed for the strength to resist temptation to sin, or when I've prayed for the ability to share the gospel with others. On that latter point, for example, I have experienced many times when unbelievers have asked difficult and challenging questions, and it has been nothing short of a miracle that I've understood how to answer them on the spot. 

Sometimes the way we think prayer should work is misguided. The television program "Glee" gives us an apt illustration of this. In the episode "Grilled Cheesus", Sue is opposed to God because as a child she was grieved by the cruelty people showed toward her sister, Jean, who has Down's Syndrome. Her prayers as a child to heal her sister were never answered, and so she, like many others, considers prayer a false hope. At the end of the episode, however, Sue is sitting with her sister, Jean, and asks her if she believes in God, and explains how she doesn't believe in God because of the cruelty she witnessed towards Jean. But Jean replies, "God never makes mistakes; that's what I believe. ... Let me pray for you, Sue?"

Now, I don't know whether the writer intended to convey this message, but I think this episode shows us the error we often have in our attitude towards prayer. Sue saw a problem and she saw a solution... her sister was experiencing cruelty because of her condition, and the solution, in her mind, was to heal the condition. Well, that's human wisdom. But we cannot be upset with God because He's wiser than we are! No, I watch this episode and consider that God did hear Sue's prayers, and understood the concern she had in her heart for her sister. But His solution, rather than to heal the condition, was to give Jean faith in Himself, and that faith would allow her to endure that cruelty! This is a far more Biblical expectation than for Jean to have been healed of her Down's Syndrome. As I said before, God's will, as He has revealed it in the Bible, is for us to believe and trust in Him. And this is why I say that part of prayer is actually discovering God's will. When we pray, we need to ask ourselves whether we're praying according to God's will as it has been revealed. Are we praying with Biblical expectations?

For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him! (Luke 11:10-13)

To Be Challenged Is Good

In recent news, schools in Britain will now have their funding cut if they teach Creationism/Intelligent Design in their curriculum. It seems that it's ok to teach Creationism so long as you call it "blind faith" or "myth", but it's as soon as you start to provide evidence for it that you get into trouble. Of course, what is preferable in my opinion, is for both to be taught together, allowing children to see the strengths and weaknesses of both arguments.

Now, based on various discussions I've had with atheist folk, I think that most atheists would assume that if the tables were turned, Christians would gladly push for the same policy against the teaching of Evolution. I'm not sure that this is the case. Furthermore, I think that atheists typically view Christians as simply believing what they believe "because their parents told them it is so", or "because their pastor tells them it is so". Well, in some sects of Christianity I think that's true, but certainly not in my world. I think that most Christians within the Reformed tradition would have a similar story to mine... my experience of Christianity has been to question everything! This has been true at every Church or Bible Study Group I've attended, where all doctrines are discussed according to Scripture, and differing views are respected (at least most of the time). I think that this would surprise most atheists, but it's honestly been that way for me all of my Christian life.

Now I'm not a Seminary graduate, but I have listened to all of the recordings of all of the lectures provided online by Covenant Theological Seminary, as well as Reformed Theological Seminary which are available on iTunes U. So I can tell you with some credibility that even in Seminary, which is really a "University for Christians", this same attitude is apparent from every lecturer. Lectures in every course would always present various views and interpretations of Scripture for discussion. I even remember Systematic Theology Lecturer Robert Peterson, for example, discussing Limited versus Unlimited Atonement. He believes in Limited Atonement, but he wasn't the least bit shy of putting forward a counter argument to his position for which he had no answer! You see, the proper Christian attitude for teachers of theology is this...

But you are not to be called rabbi [or "teacher"], for you have one teacher [Christ Himself], and you are all brothers. (Matthew 23:8)

We know that the Bible is given to us all, and that it is every individual's responsibility to read it and understand it for themselves, for we are all held accountable for what we believe. Teachers of theology are, like brothers (or equals), trying to help you figure it out for yourself, not trying to dictate what you should believe. One of the main principles of the Reformation is "Semper Reformanda", or "Always Reforming". That is to say that the Church must always be active in examining what we believe. It is to say that we all should be little Martin Luthers, constantly asking the question "Is what the Church preaches today Biblical?" Having belonged to the Church for so long, this is such a big part of my character. And I'm happy to say that, as I consider what I've been taught over the years and what I believe, I most certainly am not just a product of what has been fed to me from the pulpit, or from Seminary lectures, or from peers.

I think that this Reformed attitude of always examining our own beliefs generally extends to the things we're taught from secular sources as well. It certainly should. To be challenged is good and often tends to provoke study, the result of which is growth in faith. I, for one, am not afraid to read atheist materials, knowing that they will not sway me from the Christian faith. Atheists often call themselves "free thinkers" because they supposedly form their opinions independently of authority or tradition, yet in a world where authorities dictate that only one view point may be taught, this label is utter pretense.


And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. (John 8:32)

Ever Wish You Had Super Powers?

So Christmas has come and gone. I find that Christmas is the most hectic time of the year; we're constantly visiting people, and then the kids get Christmas presents and bug you all day long to play with them, or help set up this or that new toy. My son, of course, watches super hero cartoons, and so this year we have all sorts of super hero related toys; the costumes and the figurines and the DVDs. These all to help immerse my son in this fantasy world where he gets to be a super hero. The TV shows present super heroes with super human powers, opposing evil and always protecting the innocent. These shows teach good things to my children. And my son plays pretend constantly that "someone needs saving"! And off he flies to save the day. But he told me that he'd prayed to God, that God would give him super powers for real. And now the poor boy is starting to get impatient that God hasn't answered his prayers!

Now of course, God would never answer such a prayer, and us grown ups all understand why... We know that if there were a man gifted with super human abilities, there is not one who wouldn't use those powers for evil. For me it was an opportunity to explain to my son why sometimes Mummy and Daddy don't let him do things he wants to; that we are always thinking of his best interests even if doesn't look like it. It's a good reminder for us all. It may often be that we are as immature in our requests of God, not understanding what we're really asking for, asking for things we only think we want, not understanding the reality of actually receiving our requests. But it's certain that God will never give super human powers for we are all sinners by nature, unable to handle such power. This is why we have that well known saying "power corrupts". The only one ever entrusted with super human powers over which he had complete control was Christ. Any sinner given too much power will become corrupt.

My son's motives are surely pure; he really does want to save people like his heroes do in the cartoons. My son isn't ready to hear that despite what he expects of himself, he too would become corrupt. But I told him that God won't answer that prayer because being truly heroic is really about helping others even if, (or especially if), it puts you in danger. For what’s more heroic; for an immortal man to dive into a raging river to save a drowning child, or for a man who dives in without regard for his own life which he risks? But we’ve all been given various gifts with which we can be “super heroes” to someone. Our finances are a gift from God which we can use wisely to help others in all kinds of ways. We can use the gift of language to encourage and build people up, and to comfort others. But even with the ordinary human gifts we have, our sinful nature corrupts. We use our words to tear down and destroy lives; and money, of course, is a root of all kinds of evil! If we can’t even be good stewards of the gifts we do have, how can we think that God ought to give us super human powers!? I’ve spoken to adults who think they’ve got a case against God because He doesn’t, or hasn’t, made people “more super” than we are. But let’s consider how much more God has given us than the animals, and realize how wonderful He has made us, rather than how wonderful He could have made us. God has limited us in power because we can’t handle more power. God has limited us in power so that we might look to Him who has all power rather than to ourselves. God has limited us in power so that when we do heroic acts, they are all the more heroic. We believe that some day we who are in Christ will be resurrected in a new body which will be free from sin, and that this body will be without so many of the infirmities we face in life. When we are free from sin, we will be able to handle such a “super human” body. But our lives in the present are, in a sense, a kind of testing ground for us. Jesus said...

If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? (Luke 16:11)

What Christopher Hitchens Didn't Understand

Christopher Hitchens

I’ve been a little saddened by the recent news of Christopher Hitchens’ death. While I have not read much of his work or listened to many of his debates, the impression I have of him is that his major issue with religion is the violence it causes, as well as the hypocrisy we find in all religious people. What I find interesting is that these things disturb me also, but far from being an atheist because of them, I stand firmly in my faith. Is religion evil because of the violence it causes? Yes, I can agree with Hitchens on that. Is the hypocrisy we find in religious people despicable? Yes, I can agree with Hitchens again. But what Christopher Hitchens didn’t understand is this... that the Spirit of the true God isn’t like that. This is what makes Christianity different, because Christians are given the Spirit of God so that we begin to think like God and act like God. And of course, hypocrisy exists within Christianity because not all who call themselves Christians do actually have the Spirit of God, and even those who do will never follow Him perfectly, but are to grow in Spiritual maturity becoming more and more Christ-like.

Now most atheists will scoff, saying “Christians aren’t any different from any other religion.” Christopher Hitchens believed there was no evidence that they were. But earlier this week I came across the following article in Christianity Today...
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2011/december/self-defense-debate.html

The article talks about how Muslim violence against Christians has risen in Nigeria. Apparently this has been going on for some time, and this rise began about eight months ago. Some of the Christians there are saying “enough is enough” and encouraging other Christians to begin fighting back. But isn’t that interesting? That for all this time, the Christians have been true to the Bible which says “if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.” Wouldn’t it be great for Christopher Hitchens to see that in the midst of the religious violence he so opposed, Christians were indeed quite different. They have not fought back. They have not contributed to the violence.

Jesus rebuked one of His disciples for striking the servant of the high priest with a sword, and reminded us that “all who take the sword will perish by the sword.” We can all understand that... if you’re a soldier in an army, for example, there’s a good chance you’ll die in battle some day. Why? Because when you fight, you always fight against someone who is trying to defend themselves. Violence just creates more violence. We should, of course, fight for justice; but when two parties are fighting purely out of hatred or rivalry, we see senseless violence in the world. This is the world that Christopher Hitchens abhorred, and which I do also. If those Christians in Nigera take up arms they become like their enemies, and they become hypocrites. They say “We have turned both [cheeks], and they have slapped us. There is nothing else to turn.” But what did they think their cheek turning would accomplish? Surely not peace from their persecutors... that’s not the point at all. Rather, what they have already accomplished is a witness to the world, and to people like Christopher Hitchens, that Christianity is different. That we do not live by the sword, as our Lord instructed us. If they take up arms, they will destroy that witness and will bolster many like Christopher Hitchens in their opposition to Christianity.


Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.
Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. 
You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet.
(Matthew 5:9-13)

The Purpose of Old Testament Purity Laws

I was recently asked a question about the Old Testament purity laws. In the Old Testament Mosaic Law there were various things which made a person "unclean". And then there were various means by which that person would become "clean" again. What did it mean to be "unclean"? It essentially meant that one was not permitted to worship God in the temple. Some of the things which made a person unlcean were contact with a dead body, eating certain animals, and even the mere act of sexual intercourse. Often becoming unclean was completely unavoidable. A woman would be unclean during her menstrual period, or for so many days after having a child, for example. And people who had leprosy (which is really all manner of skin rashes and diseases) were unclean, which may have meant that one might be unclean their whole lives! And then certain animals were themselves "unclean", and even certain things could be unclean, such as a mildewy house. Contact with an unclean animal or thing made a person unclean. Since this state of uncleanliness meant that a person was not permitted to enter the temple, it was not a desirable state to be in for one who desired to worship God. So what we want to consider today is "Why?" Why did God set up these laws which banned people from His presence for seemingly trivial, arbitrary and unavoidable things?

This is one area which theologians seem to hold a number of different views. And while I don’t claim to have the answer to every question about these purity laws, I think my understanding of their general purpose is right based on my reading of Scripture. But the first thing I want to establish is that the things which made a person unclean aren’t necessarily sinful! Just consider the things we've looked at... it's not a sin to have a skin disease, or to have a child, or to eat a certain kind of food. None of these things are sinful.

Now, we read in Hebrews that the temple was a sort of "model" of heaven...

For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. (Hebrews 9:24)

Well, if you consider the temple to be a model of heaven, and that being unclean prevented you from entering the temple, then I think we have a good idea of what these purity laws were trying to teach us. The things that made people unclean all seem to have this in common; that they are aspects of life which do not exist in heaven. To have contact with a dead body, (human or animal), made you unclean. Why? Because there’s no death in heaven. People who have skin diseases were unclean because there's no disease in heaven. In fact, leprosy was specifically described as making a person appear "as one dead" (Numbers 12:10-12), and so we can say all the more, should zombie-looking people walk around in this "picture of heaven"? Menstruation, sexual intercourse, or having just given birth; these made you unclean because there's no sex or childbirth in heaven. In Matthew 22:29-30, Jesus says to those who asked a question about marriage in heaven, “...you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God. For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage”. Jesus says they didn't know the Scriptures! But I’m not sure that the Old Testament actually tells us that there is no marriage in heaven unless we interpret the purity laws this way. What we learn from the purity laws are a few things about what humanity will look like after the resurrection.

Now this may not answer every question; there are still some things which appear confusing, and which don't appear to fit my theory. One of these would be the unclean animals. Surely this doesn't fit the model where we can say "some animals won't be present after the resurrection." Common theories are that unclean animals are those animals which often make people sick when they’re eaten. But if that were the case, why would God allow us to eat them now, as though He’s stopped caring for our health? Others say that the unclean animals do have something in common; that they’re all “wilderness animals”. If that were true it might fit my theory because in the New Earth there will be no “wild animals”; all will be domestic. But I’m not sure that this is the way the Bible makes the distinction. It calls animals which “part the hoof but do not chew the cud” unclean. If it were to do with being wild animals, why wouldn’t God just say “wild animals are unclean”? But another view is that the distinction for animals was indeed fairly arbitrary, and only served the purpose of separating Israel from other nations which did eat these things. I think this may be the most Biblical answer, generally speaking at least, when it comes to the purity laws regarding animals. Deuteronomy, whose purpose is to explain the Law, says in the context of reiterating the purity laws for animals:

For you are a people holy to the LORD your God, and the LORD has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. (Deuteronomy 14:2)

The ultimate purpose for having unclean animals, then, is that God was able to demonstrate the end of the division between Jew and Gentile through the vision of Peter in Acts 10, where God showed that the distinction between animals had been abrogated. In the Old Testament, those laws were designed to separate Jew from Gentile so that a Gentile had to become Jewish if they wanted to worship the true God of Creation. In the New Testament, by taking away this barrier, Jesus is showing us one of the many things His sacrifice on the cross has achieved... a more direct access to God, available to anyone. Whereas all mankind once had to approach God through the mediation of the Jewish priests, now Christ in heaven is our priest, or mediator.

When Jesus came He healed lepers, a woman with a “discharge of blood”, and He raised the dead... all the things which are not sinful but made us unclean, He cleansed. He showed us that He is the one who takes away the corruption of the curse on creation, which was a result of the Fall of Man. Possibly, we aren’t supposed to make sense of the Old Testament laws apart from New Testament revelation. In the New Testament we have a lot of cleansing symbolism - the water of life, the blood of Christ, and baptism. But all of these are “once for all”, as opposed to a regular washing or purification ritual. Now that Christ has come there is no need for priests, for we have direct access to God; and there is no need for purity laws, because Christ has cleansed us. The only notion of a “purity law” in the New Testament is the impurity of sin, and the cleansing away of that sin through repentance and faith in Christ.

But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:4-5)

How To Be Truly Great

Throughout history, and just as true today, the measure of success has been how many people are beneath you in the hierarchy of society. To be a boss or a manager means you’ve made it. Because of this, to be ambitious often means to put yourself above others. But the Bible is counter intuitive in this regard. Jesus said:

The greatest among you shall be your servant. (Matthew 23:11)

Applying this teaching, Paul said:

Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. (Philippians 2:3)

My wife worked for a child care center which was described by everyone who worked there as a horrible place to work. In my view of the situation it was a horrible place to work because everyone did everything out of rivalry and conceit, and everyone thought they were better than everyone else. Everyone thought they could run the place better and were continually fighting for their ideas to be respected and implemented. They were continually hurt because nobody liked their ideas, but that was because they all wanted to be recognized for their own ideas. This is a perfect example of what the world is often like, and how God's counter intuitive wisdom is actually the true wisdom. If you had tried to reason with these folks that they should stop worrying about their own ideas and encourage and build the ideas of others, they probably would have said “No way! I’m not going to let them walk all over me! You have to be assertive if you want to get anywhere.” This is language we’ve all heard before and is familiar to us. But one of Jesus' sayings which has particularly influenced the way I live my life is this...

"When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in a place of honor, lest someone more distinguished than you be invited by him, and he who invited you both will come and say to you, 'Give your place to this person,' and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when your host comes he may say to you, 'Friend, move up higher.' Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at table with you. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." (Luke 14:8-11)

In this world it has always been the case that people will trample over everyone to get to the top. And so this Christian attitude of humility is often scorned and seen as weak. After all, if we don't fight to have our talents and ideas recognized, how will we get anywhere? But the Christian knows and trusts that God is sovereign over all. "He removes kings and sets up kings" (Daniel 2:21). We are told to be a servant of all, and to submit to those who have been given authority over us, for all authority comes from God (Romans 13:1). Servitude is the opposite of what people want; this is completely counter intuitive wisdom. A few years ago, however, I joined an online Bible study and fellowship. From the very beginning I was very aware of other people’s feelings and needs. I often wrote to people privately to encourage them and often to comfort or counsel them as they had shared their trials in the public forum. I never did anything in order to be noticed; this was all done privately out of a genuine desire to serve others out of love. Whenever I wrote on the public forum it was always to build others up and never to show off my own knowledge. I never strove to be anybody significant on that site, but after about a year I was invited to be a moderator. Later still, I was invited to create content for the Bible study courses they were running. I never told anybody how the forum ought to be run; I always respected that this wasn’t my forum and it wasn’t my position to change things. After a while, however, I noticed that some of the other moderators were imitating me in a few things. I’d had an influence, not by telling people “Do things my way”, but through my sincere service to others. I eventually left the forum to focus my time on other things, but my time there was a wonderful experience, and essentially without conflict. The kind of unity God wants in His Church is achieved through obedience to His Word and living according to Biblical principles. This was certainly something I learned while I was there; that the ones I became closely bonded with were the ones who had the same attitude of service as I did. We were all equals working towards a common goal; the edification of one another and the glorification of God. No matter what position a Christian finds themselves in, they are in a position of service. Even to properly handle the responsibility of authority is to always remember that you are actually serving those who are under you.

In the greater scheme of things, we all want to be masters over our own lives. We want to do whatever we want, which really means that we serve ourselves. But being a Christian necessarily means serving Christ first, then others, and ourselves last. To serve Christ and others is going to mean, quite literally, that you can’t necessarily do whatever you want. And if people were with me up to this point in regard to serving others, this is where I might still lose others. Often we’ll acknowledge that the Biblical ideal of serving others is good and wise, but the one area of life which people really have trouble relinquishing control is over their own lives. In fact, when my mother became a Christian this was her first question and the one thing holding her back... “What will I have to give up?” The pastor speaking to her at the time said “Nothing.” In one sense I understand what he meant, because a Christian doesn’t miss anything, so it doesn’t feel like you’re “giving up” anything. My mother was worried about the parties and the drinking, but soon found (as Christians do) that she no longer wanted those things anyway. But in the truer sense, the answer is most certainly that you have to give up something. In truth, you have to give up being master of your own life. When I became a Christian, this is what I realized. My first confession of faith was that I was prepared to give up my own “life plan” and to follow God’s plan for my life. This is a step of faith; you don’t know what God’s plan might be, or what the cost of following that plan will be. But knowing who God is and that He is trustworthy, a life of servitude to Him will never be a regret.

His master said to him, "Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master." (Matthew 25:23)

The Problem of Human Nature

I read an essay by Stephen Jay Gould, an agnostic, called “Ten Thousand Acts of Kindness” which basically said that people aren’t really all that bad, it’s just that we focus more heavily on the bad things we do, which are actually an exception to the norm. If we stopped to take notice, he says, the good things far outnumber the bad things! He concludes “The solution to our woes lies not in overcoming our 'nature' but in fracturing the 'great asymmetry' and allowing our ordinary propensities to direct our lives.” This statement directly opposes Christianity which says that the essential problem with humanity is our corrupt nature. The Bible says, for example...

The intention of man's heart is evil from his youth. (Genesis 8:21).

Now, if the Bible is true we should be able to identify with that statement. Why is it that we don’t feel as though the intentions of our hearts are evil? It’s because what we’re reading here is God’s own words, spoken from God’s perspective. In another passage of Scripture it says, (again from a writer who understands God’s perspective),

All our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. (Isaiah 64:6)

A “polluted garment” has the Biblical significance of something that separates us from God, yet it’s not talking about our sinful deeds but our righteous deeds! Those “ten thousand acts of kindness” which Stephen Jay Gould speaks of can be, to God, a “polluted garment”. How so? There are a number of ways we can do something good and yet offend God. Whenever we do something out of selfish motives, for example, the act itself is tainted. People can appear to be very kind but their real motive may be self-serving. Perhaps they want to impress others with how good they are, or maybe they’re expecting a “you owe me one” debt from the other person. We can also do things which appear good only because we feel compelled to do them. If, for example, I asked my son to clean his room, he might do it but he might hate doing it and do it reluctantly. This taints the whole act; what a father wants and appreciates is a son who cleans his room out of a motivation to do the right thing and to please his father. Motivation is everything, and in Christianity the motive must be love. And so Jesus explains...

And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 22:37-40)

Love for God and love for others must be the motivation for all our righteous deeds. The “Law and the Prophets” refers to all of Scripture. At the time Jesus said this there was only what we now call the Old Testament, but I believe He’s speaking of all Scripture, whose purpose is to show us how the world ought to be, and how Man ought to think, feel and act (James 1:22-25). So, then, the way we are supposed to act is out of love for God and love for others. This is why our righteous deeds can be seen as “polluted garments”, when they are not done out of love for God and for others.

As I said earlier, we can do things which appear righteous but, because of our motives they are tainted, even to a fellow human being when they learn of our true motives and judge the act in that light. However, I’m not saying that fallen Man can’t be genuinely righteous in acting out of genuine love for others; we can. But even when we have love for God and man, our righteous deeds are still going to be tainted by other factors. We simply cannot be perfect in the way that God is. But can an atheist or agnostic like Stephen Jay Gould ever do anything at all out of love for God? Again, from God’s perspective, the heart of a man like Stephen Jay Gould is “evil from his youth” because he never, in his heart, expresses love for God let alone acts out of love for God. How can he? He doubts whether there even is a God.

The most righteous people alive in Jesus’ day were the Pharisees; members of a sect of Judaism dedicated to upholding the Mosaic Law. They had, however, missed the point of the Law which we have stated above when we quoted Jesus... the deeds of the Law are not pleasing to God unless they are done out of genuine love. Even the deeds of these Pharisees, then, were utterly corrupt from Jesus’ perspective. He said of them...

The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat, so practice and observe whatever they tell you—but not what they do. For they preach, but do not practice. ... They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long [essentially making conspicuous their piety by arraying their garments with religious symbols], and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues. (Matthew 23:2-6)

Jesus, who is also God, was displeased with their righteous deeds because their motivations were selfish and prideful. Instead of focusing on their service to others, their mind was on their own ambitions; to be recognized as authority figures. This is our very nature, according the Bible; that we do not seek to glorify God in what we do, but to glorify ourselves. Stephen Jay Gould was wrong... our very nature is the problem because we do not love and glorify God by nature. The Bible tells us that when we put our faith in Christ we are given a new nature which is able to glorify God out of a genuine love for Him. This is why the Bible says we must be “born again”; we must be given a new start with a new nature. If we are truly prepared to forsake our old nature, which is ultimately selfish, and put our faith in Christ, He will give us this new nature. He will take away the self-glorification which characterizes so much of what we do, and passages like Philippians 2:3-4 will characterize our lives instead...

Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. (Philippians 2:3-4)