SBGA

I listened to a message by RC Sproul on the way in to work this morning on the philosophy of Bertrand Russell.  Russell’s three arguments against Christianity were:

1. The law of causality requires that God be caused
2. The presence of pain and suffering in the world shows that God is either not good or not all-powerful
3. The prediction by Jesus that he would return before that generation passed away was not fulfilled

The law of causality was misunderstood by Russell.  The law of causality states that every cause has an effect and that every effect has a cause.  It’s really just a definition.  Russell misstated the law to be that everything that exists has a cause, therefore God must have had a cause, and whatever caused God had a cause, etc.  Christian belief is that God is not an effect, and therefore does not require a cause.  God is an eternal uncaused being.

The presence and pain of suffering in the world is a result of the fall and is a consequence of sin and God’s justice.  This is a subject of another series I’m listening to on 1 Peter by Mark Driscoll.  I plan to develop thoughts on this and put it in this journal.

The prediction by Jesus that he would return before the generation of that time passed away (Matt 24, Mark 13, Luke 21) referred to, according to Sproul, the events around destruction of the temple in 70 A.D.  Sproul mentioned that he wrote a book about it.  My understanding is that generation doesn’t necessarily mean 40 years, but could be an age or race of people.  For example it could mean the church age, or “the evil generation” that will be here until Christ returns.  I guess I’ll have to read his book.