It is easy amidst the logic, philosophy, and arguments pro and con of theology and apologetics to lose sight of the sheer beauty, hope, and power of a Real Truth. By that I mean a truth that is active, living, and powerful. Not only so, but this Truth has desired a personal relationship with us, and He has called us no longer servants, but brothers. How incredible is that? As awesome (worthy of awe and fear) and glorious as God is, He is also the most beautiful and comforting. No matter what goes wrong, God's glory protects us for his love. John Piper explains it this way:
Nothing ugly is ever called glorious in the Bible. There is “great sin” (Genesis 20:9), but never “glorious sin.” The evil one has “cosmic power” (Ephesians 6:12), but not cosmic “glory.” The reason for this is that sin and evil are not beautiful. But glory includes beauty. Glory includes more, but never less. Nothing ugly is glorious.
Therefore, the beauty of God is as pervasive and practical as the glory of God. If we admire the glory of God, we are admiring God’s beauty. If the glory of God has an effect in our lives, God’s beauty is having an effect. If God acts to magnify this glory, he is acting to magnify his beauty.
Thus, when God saves us and works in us, His beauty is having an effect on us, the effect to be able to believe. C.S. Lewis explains this beautifully in his work of fiction The Silver Chair.
"One word, Ma'am," he said, coming back from the fire; limping, because of the pain. "One word. All you've been saying is quite right, I shouldn't wonder. I'm a chap who always liked to know the worst and then put the best face I can on it. So I won't deny any of what you said. But there's one thing more to be said, even so. Suppose we have only dreamed, or made up, all those things - trees and grass and sun and moon and stars and Aslan himself. Suppose we have. Then all I can say is that, in that case, the made-up things seem a good deal more important than the real ones. Suppose this black pit of a kingdom of yours is the only world. Well, it strikes me as a pretty poor one. And that's a funny thing, when you come to think of it. We're just babies making up a game, if you're right. But four babies playing a game can make a playworld which licks your real world hollow. That's why I'm going to stand by the play-world. I'm on Aslan's side even if there isn't any Aslan to lead it. I'm going to live as like a Narnian as I can even if there isn't any Narnia. So, thanking you kindly for our supper, if these two gentlemen and the young lady are ready, we're leaving your court at once and setting out in the dark to spend our lives looking for Overland. Not that our lives will be very long, I should think; but that's a small loss if the world's as dull a place as you say."
An allegory, Lewis illustrates the hopelessness of a Godless world - the complete, awful, meaningless world rifled with pain and without "right" or "wrong." It's not apparent that the superior quality of life in having faith qualifies as a good enough reason to believe, though. The brilliant French mathematician and philosopher, Blaise Pascal argued that once at this conclusion, a wager results.
Make religion attractive, make good men wish it were true, and then show that it is. Worthy of reverence because it really understands human nature. Attractive because it promises true good...Between us and heaven or hell there is only life, which is the frailest thing in the world...Yes; but you must wager. It is not optional. You are embarked. Which will you choose then? Let us see. Since you must choose, let us see which interests you least. You have two things to lose, the true and the good; and two things to stake, your reason and your will, your knowledge and your happiness; and your nature has two things to shun, error and misery. Your reason is no more shocked in choosing one rather than the other, since you must of necessity choose. This is one point settled. But your happiness? Let us weigh the gain and the loss in wagering that God is. Let us estimate these two chances. If you gain, you gain all; if you lose, you lose nothing. Wager, then, without hesitation that He is.
So we see from these two great men that we have good reason to wager in favor of faith - both because life's better with belief, but also because it's more probable it's (significantly) better after death. The conjunction of these ideas from a powerful apologetic in our opinion. God has not only made us in our image, giving us Faith, Hope, Love, and Meaning, but he has done it all despite our unfaithfulness toward him. Rejoice! Our God has blessed us beyond all imagination, and we have every reason to be joyful in even our worst hardships, for with God, we don't have to worry about any evil act going unpunished, any trial being in vain, or any person being worthless. This means that no matter what, no matter how bad things appear to us, there will always be a better day ahead and the sun(and Son) will always rise again. This is the grace and glory of God acting upon our lives.
Soli Deo Gloria!
Athanasius
Excelsior
P.S. We've made it a month, writing this blog. Praise God for his mercy! If you've been following us this long, we'd like to say ('you' here being the strange English second person plural):
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