Putting God Out of a Job

In 1966, Lee Strobel was a 16-year-old who liked science. He liked it because it fit in with his logical way of looking at the world. He liked it for another reason, as well: Science -- the way he was taught it -- allowed him to dismiss God from his life. In his new book, The Case for a Creator, Strobel describes the link between what he was taught in biology class and the breakdown of his religious faith. Sad to say, Strobel's biology teacher was aided and abetted by his church. In Sunday school, Strobel writes, "my 'why' questions weren't always welcomed." Instead of answering them, his teachers told him to memorize another Bible verse. Meanwhile, Strobel's trust in science "had been shaped by growing up in post- Sputnik America, where science and technology had been exalted as holding the keys to the survival of our country." That trust became rock-solid when Strobel encountered the images of evolution. The most powerful image involved the Stanley Miller experiment. In 1953, Miller, a graduate student at the University of Chicago, attempted to artificially create the building blocks of life. Miller reproduced what he believed was the atmosphere of the primitive earth. He then shot electric sparks through it to simulate lightning. The result? Amino acids. Strobel says that when he learned of this experiment, "My mind flashed to the logical implication: If the origin of life can be explained solely through natural processes, then God was out of a job! After all, there was no need for a deity if living organisms could emerge by themselves out of the primordial soup and then develop . . . into more and more complex creatures." Strobel was delighted to put God out of a job, because no God meant he could behave exactly as he wanted. And that's how things remained for quite a few years. And then, one day, an unexpected witness led Strobel to reconsider the possibility that God might exist, after all: Strobel's wife Leslie announced that she had become a Christian. Strobel was horrified. He could not understand how a rational person could believe such nonsense. But over the next few months, Strobel began to notice a change in Leslie's values and character. He was determined to investigate this change -- and go wherever the answers took him. His two-year research into the claims of Christianity led him to a powerful faith in Christ. Strobel's story is a warning of why Christians need to teach their kids how to apply worldview thinking to every aspect of their lives. We can start by telling them that much of the so-called evidence for evolution is fraudulent or has been proven false, like the Miller experiment that so influenced Strobel. Strobel discovered all of this when he began searching for answers. His latest book, The Case for a Creator, explains how new findings in physics, astronomy, and biochemistry support the notion that God created the heavens and the earth. I'll be talking about this book over the next few days on BreakPoint. I hope you'll keep reading, because if we don't give our kids answers to their questions, somebody else will -- somebody who may be intent on putting God out of a job. For further reading and information: Lee Strobel, The Case for a Creator (Zondervan, 2004). Visit the book's website. On September 26, CCN is broadcasting a special event on The Case for a Creator. Find out how your church can air the broadcast. Ryan Huxley, "Case for a Creator," a review, IDEA Center. Trevor Stokes, "Intelligent design study appears," The Scientist, 3 September 2004. John Wilson, "Unintelligent Debate," Christianity Today, September 2004. See Chuck Colson's Ten Questions about Origins, a useful tool for the classroom. See the "Worldview for Parents" page, "More Than Coincidence" (which includes links to other past "Worldview for Parents" pages on evolution and creation). See BreakPoint's Intelligent Design research page. The videos "Unlocking the Mystery of Life" and "Icons of Evolution" are great resources for students. And now available is the newest DVD on intelligent design from Illustra Media, "Privileged Planet: How Our Place in the Cosmos Is Designed for Discovery": Call 1-877-322-5527 to order.

09/20/04