A Discussion with Dr. David Norman

Key Points

• John 18 - Jesus Before Pilate
  • “In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world—to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me” (18:37, NIV).1
  • Pilate is in the room with Truth iteself, and he is bored: "What is truth?"
• All truth is God's truth, whether in scripture or in the world
  • Where do we hear Jesus? Clearly in scripture, but also in other ways—experiences of our lives, patterns of creation.
  • “Everyone on the side of truth listens to me” (John 18:37, NIV).
  • We can get so committed to a position that we stop caring about the truth
• Faith that truth belong to God sustains us
  • Not scared that we will disprove God
  • If we follow truth to the conclusion, we reach Christ.
• Cannot do violence either to the authority of scripture or to the scientific record.
  • Normal debate strategy: knock down the other position to build mine up
  • Instead, we need a constructive approach
  • It is tempting to knock down - when we knock down the other side, our position does not have to be as tall
  • The key is not finding more truth than your oponent, but building each other up in love.
• Importance for oustsiders and seekers
  • This issue can be a hold-up for seekers: “How can I accept Christianity if it doesn't accept scientific evidence?"
  • The church is called to engage the world. We gain credibility by understanding the issues.
  • We are also called to do our craft well, and to bring our gifts together for the benefit of the body.
  • They will know we are Christians by our love.
• Deriviative importance
  • Many Christians have wrestled with this and come to different views.
  • It is imporant but of derivative importance - it is not the core of Christianity. The core is Jesus, who he was and what he did.
  • Timothy Keller: “Since Christian believers occupy different positions on both the meaning of Genesis 1 and on the nature of evolution, those who are considering Christianity as a whole should not allow themselves to be distracted by this intramural debate. The skeptical inquirer does not need to accept any one of these positions in order to embrace the Christian faith. Rather, he or she should concentrate on and weigh the central claims of Christianity. Only after drawing conclusions about the person of Christ, the resurrection, and the central tenets of the Christian message should one think through the various options with regard to creation and evolution.”2

Next Page: The Genesis Accounts