Sodom and Gomorrah Were Married????
Friday, March 16, 2007 at 03:07PM 
It certainly comes as no surprise that people don't know much about Christianity, or even religion in general. According to a recent USA Today article (Click here: Americans get an 'F' in religion - USATODAY.com), when asked, 50% of high school seniors thought that Sodom and Gomorrah were a married couple! 60% couldn't name even five of the Ten Commandments.
As to the latter, that's actually better than the results White Horse Inn producer, Shane Rosenthal got when he asked these same questions at the Christian Bookseller's convention some years ago. My guess is that those who could name only some of the commandments, named only "second table" commands, like those prohibiting adultery, theft and murder. They probably don't know enough about God to know any of the first four commandments.
OK, so we all know this is the case. Why another article (or post) on this? The author of a new book addressing the topic of the general ignorance of religion in America (Stephen Prothro, from Boston University, who describes himself as a "confused Christian" -- of course, he was raised Episcopalian), makes an important point. Ignorance of these things is not just sad, it is dangerous. His solution is to sell his book (Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know)! That's not quite mine.
Prothro does make the important point that ignorance of Christianity and other world religions is no longer an item of trivia or a sad commentary on American morality. It is now a dangerous thing when most people don't know even the basic differences (doctrine, history and culture) between Christianity and Islam, or between Islam and Judaism. Not knowing these things, how then can they understand why the Shias and Sunnis are fighting over Baghdad? Why are Muslims so dead set against Israel occupying Palestine and especially the city of Jerusalem? And what about all the religious images invoked on the evening news from the apocalyptic zealot who runs Iran (and may soon have the bomb), to something seemingly mundane, like Bush misquoting the Bible to make a political point?
While the debate rages about how to teach religion in the public schools--a sign to me that we are deeply in trouble--Protho's thesis is important. For the well-being of the American republic, people need to know these things! People who don't know these things, nevertheless still vote and determine public policy as well as foreign policy.
Meanwhile, it is vital that churches get to work. We must do our best to ensure that Christians know the Scriptures, that they are catechized in the great doctrines of the faith, and that they are taught basic apologetics along with the tools of evangelism. But churches should also be equipping their members to know the doctrinal, historical and cultural differences between Islam, Christianity and Judaism! The secular public has an excuse. We do not.
So, when 50% of high-schoolers think Sodom and Gomorrah were married, its more than a sign of ignorance--it is a warning. Especially, when I notice the new Mosque down the street is packed out on Friday afternoons and I know they are not taking these matters lightly.
Your thoughts?
Reader Comments (47)
Not inherently unknowable, but unknown. I've gone through many cycles in my life, from christian to atheist, to deist, to atheist... before I figured out that the changes from one label to another were primarily motivated by what made me feel good at the time. I thought sticking to agnostic, no matter how I feel, was more honest.
Walt:
I recently met a Christian who believed that America ought to be governed by some sort of theocracy, and everyone compelled to live by the ten commandments and other laws from the bible he considered significant.
The greater good that would come of this, he told me, was that society would be safer and more peaceful... and that a loss of freedom was worth such peace.
Is that any different than the peace that Islam proposes?
Wendy
The greater good that would come of this, he told me, was that society would be safer and more peaceful... and that a loss of freedom was worth such peace.
Is that any different than the peace that Islam proposes?
Wendy "
Wendy,
That position is called 'theonomy' or 'Christian reconstructionism'. It's a Christian heresy that carries very little weight in the church. Several theologians, including Meredith Kline, have answered people supporting this belief. My old pastor has a bunch of papers on it on his website. If you're interested, email me so we don't hijack this thread.
At any rate, it has nothing to do with Islam, and I haven't noticed any theonomists flying any planes into any buildings, circumcising any women, taking any schools hostage, setting off any IEDs, launching any rockets, or beheading anyone. If you do, will you let me know so I can condemn it?
I guess my train of thought was leading me to wonder if Islam could be a religion of peace in the same way as Christian Reconstruction is a religion of peace, and Marxism is a utopian political system... that is, once all those who don't fall in line are eliminated, there is peace among those who remain.
"I guess my train of thought was leading me to wonder if Islam could be a religion of peace in the same way as Christian Reconstruction is a religion of peace, and Marxism is a utopian political system... that is, once all those who don't fall in line are eliminated, there is peace among those who remain. "
Bingo. Islam is a religion of peace when we're all dead or dhimmis.
Wendy,
You said:
"Not inherently unknowable, but unknown. I've gone through many cycles in my life, from christian to atheist, to deist, to atheist... before I figured out that the changes from one label to another were primarily motivated by what made me feel good at the time. I thought sticking to agnostic, no matter how I feel, was more honest."
- Echo:
Well, I appreciate your honesty. There's much to be said for that. And I'm glad to see that you understand that religion, regardless of its form, shouldn't be something that's simply meant to make you feel good. That wouldn't be a religion about God, but a religion about me, where God serves ME, rather than the other way around. I think your realization here is a healthy one.
So I'd like to talk a bit more about God simply being unknown, rather than unknowable. This seems to indicate that what you are saying is that you simply have not yet found God. You aren't denying that he's out there somewhere, but you're saying that you simply haven't made contact with him - yet.
I think this is a very important point. You are affirming 1) that God is in fact out there somewhere, and 2) it is possible for human beings to come into contact with him, to know something about him. At the same time, however, you are admitting that at this point, regardless of all the things you've tried, you have not yet connected with him.
Well, so here's a question. If God is out there, and he can be known, the question is: how can he be known? I think there are two main ways to answer this question.
1. God makes himself known to us, or,
2. We have to find God out, to discover him.
Those seem to be the only two options available, IF in fact God is knowable at all. The question is not merely one of responsibility, as if we were asking whether we were responsible to discover God on the one hand, or if he is responsible for making himself known on the other. While that may not be the worst question to ask, it would fall short of the mark.
The question is not who is responsible for discovering the other, the question is, if we can know God at all, HOW do we come to know him? Is it even possible for us to reach out and apprehend him?
The reformed have traditionally said, no, we cannot find out God, but only God can reveal himself to us. And if you think about it, this only makes sense. I mean, if he is God, the Creator of everything, including time and space, how could we even comprehend him? If we can't even comprehend him, then how are we supposed to discover him, unless he helps us?
But the good news is that he has helped us, he has revealed himself to us. He did this by speaking to us. He has spoken to us in the Scriptures to be sure, but he also speaks to us in the creation, and ultimately he spoke to us by becoming a man and dwelling among us, and I am talking about Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ is called the Word made flesh, because he is - in the flesh - what God is saying to us. And the message is clear and simple: God loves his people enough to send his Son to live among them and to die for them, and to rise again from the dead for them. He came to bring us life.
For you see, the first thing God said to man was what he said to Adam, not to eat of that particular tree. But Adam did not listen. You see, God had revealed himself by speaking to Adam, but Adam refused to hear. He refused to believe it. Of course, it didn't help that Satan had come along and said that what God was saying was not true, but still, Adam liked what Satan was saying better than what God was saying. Well, thanks to Adam's sin, now we all are born in sin. It didn't have to be that way, but it turned out that way because of Adam's sin. By refusing to listen to God, Adam became God's enemy.
But that was not the end of the story. God spoke to us again through the raising up of the nation of Israel, to teach us what the law of God really says. Again, this all amounts to clarifying God's speech about himself. "Here's what I really want from you," he said.
But unfortunately, being sinful in Adam, we can't give God what he wants from us. It's impossible.
So he sent his Son, to SHOW us what he wants from us. Jesus perfectly obeyed God. If we want to understand what God wants from us, then we need to simply look at what Jesus actually did.
But the interesting thing is that what God wants from us, what he wants us to do, the obedience he requires, is just a matter of being like him. He just wants us to imitate his character. That's why Jesus obeyed the law perfectly - because he was God already! The law simply tells us what God's righteous character is like. You see, it's all a matter of God explaining himself to us, telling us about himself.
So when Jesus came and obeyed the law perfectly, we now saw what it means to obey the law, something we didn't really understand before.
But that's only one side of the coin. Jesus didn't merely provide a good moral example for us to follow. No, we can't follow him, because we can never obey perfectly like he did. It's just not possible for us, because we are born sinful, thanks to Adam. Of course, we like it that way, but we like it that way thanks to Adam.
But Jesus obeyed perfectly not just to show us what perfect obedience is, but he did it on our behalf. Growing up, I heard over and over that "Jesus died for you." What I rarely heard was that Jesus lived for us as well as died for us, and rose again and remains alive FOR US. All those things also matter.
He didn't just pay for our sins on the cross, but his life of perfect obedience can also become OUR obedience. See, his death on the cross becomes our death, that's why we believe that we will inherit eternal life, rather than eternal death in hell. Jesus died on earth so that we wouldn't have to die forever in hell. But it's more than that. He also LIVED on earth. His death is credited to our account, but so is his life. That's why we believe that one day we will be raised with him.
But all of this is simply God speaking to us more and more. He tells us about his character, his righteousness and holiness in the law. But in the gospel, the good news of what Jesus Christ has done for us, he tells us about his great love and care for us.
Here is a paradox about God that no one on earth can copy. God is at the same time perfectly just and perfectly merciful.
If a judge wants to show a criminal mercy, he can only do so at the expense of justice, because if he gives him a lighter sentence, the victim will suffer, because the victim didn't get justice. But if justice is perfectly carried out, the criminal doesn't get any mercy.
But God upholds both justice and mercy in the cross. His justice is upheld in that Jesus really and truly paid the penalty due to our sin. But his mercy is also upheld, in that it was GOD incarnate on that cross, and not you or me. This action of God is FULLY just and FULLY merciful. Everyone's happy.
You see, Christ is the perfect solution to our sin problem.
But more than that, the nature of the solution Christ brings speaks VOLUMES to us about God. That's what the whole Old Testament was preparing the world for, and that's what the whole New Testament comments on.
The ultimate speech act of God is Jesus Christ, who reveals to us what God is like, both just and merciful. This is so paradoxical and confounding that it could not be something a mere man would conceive of. I'm not saying this constitutes proof, mind you, but it is awfully compelling, I think.
So all I'm saying is that God has revealed himself by speaking to mankind in Jesus Christ, and that's what the whole Bible is all about.
God is knowable, because he has made himself known.
I'm sorry if that wasn't as clear as it could be. I'm not the best writer, but there are many people who would explain the same thing to you in perhaps clearer language.
You're right, religion is not about US, but about God. That's why it needs to be given to us FROM God. Religion cannot be made up by man, because that would be only what pleases man, what makes man feel good. Religion is about God revealing himself to us, making himself known.
Seek him, and you will find him. His Word is not far from us.
Echo