Further proof that William Lane Craig is insane

[Rev. Rye]

Here are a few highlights from the whole essay and my replies

I suspect that there’s no simple, quick recipe that if followed will make your doubts vanish like magic. You’ll probably have to work through your doubts in a slow and agonizing process. But be assured that many great men and women of God have traveled that same path before you and have not lost faith.

Well, so far so good. It's somewhat legit advice that, if I were a priest counseling a parishioner, I'd give. Granted, it'd probably be useless, but at least it's nowhere near as asinine as the rest of the article.

the Christian students who shared the Gospel with me seemed to be living on a different plane of reality than I was.

And that's a reason to want to join them? There's a term for people who seem to be living on a different plane of reality than the rest of us, and it's "psychotic."

Their faith in Christ imparted meaning to their lives along with a joyous peace, which I craved.

Really? If you want a religion that can cause a joyous peace, try Buddhism. Look at the Dalai Lama; He's lost control of an entire nation, and, even though he's spent his entire adult life fighting the most populous nation on Earth trying to regain control of that nation, he considers himself a very happy person.

But then, third, I became acquainted on a popular level with Christian evidences, particularly for the resurrection of Jesus, compiled, for example, by Josh McDowell in Evidence that Demands a Verdict. It became evident to me that it was possible to present a sound, convincing, positive case for the truth of Christian theism.

If Josh McDowell is the best you could do, I am not impressed. Check out this tag-team dissection of that very book.

If this approach is correct, then it has tremendously important practical implications. One of the most pernicious problems with theological rationalism is that it is deleterious to one’s spiritual life. It leads precisely to the sort of agony you describe, where one’s faith hangs in the balance with every new issue of The Philosophical Review or turn of the archaeologist’s spade.

And if it's wrong?

This implies that we have to be very mindful of our own spiritual formation. First and foremost, you need to be sure that you are a regenerate Christian. If you have not been born anew of the Holy Spirit, then you lack His witness within you and so find yourself cast solely upon such arguments and evidence as you in your limited time and knowledge come across. If that’s the case, it’s no wonder you feel doubt and uncertainty!

If you’ve never been born anew, then I’d urge you to go to God in repentance for your sin, tell Him that you believe He sent his Son to die for your sin and to restore the relationship with Him that you were created to have, and invite the Holy Spirit to come and make you spiritually alive.

Did you read his letter? He said he was a born-again Christian, and, given that he believed you could help him, he was probably not kidding.

Confess sin as soon as you’re aware of it, and allow the Holy Spirit to empower and direct you. Be sure to maintain a devotional life, with regular times alone of prayer and Bible study. Take your doubts to God and ask Him to give you grace to persevere. Cultivate the Christian virtues in your life, and then you can claim the promise of II Peter 1. 5-11: “if you do this you will never fall.”

Many atheists have tried this, and they fell. That's why they're now atheists.

Be intentional about sharing your faith with unbelievers, despite your doubts (they’ll probably respect your transparency and vulnerability!).

And if they're atheists, they'll probably try to swing you to their side.

I firmly believe, and I think the Bizarro-testimonies of those who have lost their faith and apostatized bears out, that moral and spiritual lapses are the principal cause for failure to persevere rather than intellectual doubts. But intellectual doubts become a convenient and self-flattering excuse for spiritual failure because we thereby portray ourselves as such intelligent persons rather than as moral and spiritual failures.

Can you explain any difference between "intellectual doubts" and "spiritual lapse" independent of a person's perspective?

The key is to prevent unanswered questions from becoming destructive doubts.

To quote Henry Drummond, "It frightens me to imagine the state of learning in this world if everyone had your driving curiosity."