By John HalfordAdapted from the British magazine
By John Halford
John, the last survivor of Jesus’ original 12 disciples, wrote the Book of Revelation when he was an old man, living in exile in a Roman penal colony.
VERSAILLES, Indiana—
When the skies are bright canary yellow
I forget ev’ry cloud I’ve ever seen,
So they called me a cockeyed optimist
Immature and incurably green.
I have heard people rant and rave and bellow
That we’re done and we might as well be dead,
But I’m only a cockeyed optimist
And I can’t get it into my head.
I hear the human race
Is fallin’ on its face
And hasn’t very far to go,
But ev’ry whippoorwillIs sellin’ me a bill,
And tellin’ me it just ain’t so.
I could say life is just a bowl of Jello
And appear more intelligent and smart,
But I’m stuck like a dope
With a thing called hope,
And I can’t get it out of my heart!
South Pacific; Rogers and Hammerstein
Am I, like Nellie in South Pacific, also just a cockeyed optimist? Like her, I’m stuck on hope, and I can’t get it out of my heart.
I believe that although the world is a pretty awful place now, it is going to get better. I believe God is alive and interested in what is happening to us here below, even though sometimes it doesn’t seem like it. And I believe that although I am getting older, I will live forever. I also believe that you probably will too.
You see, a verse in Revelation 1:18 alters everything we know about being alive: “I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades [the grave].”
Let’s take a closer look and unpack
this verse, because it revolutionizes our understanding of what it means to be
a human being.
The person who wrote this was John, the last survivor of Jesus’ original 12 disciples. When he wrote it, he was an old man, living in exile in a Roman penal colony. While there, he was given a remarkable vision of what the future held for the world in general and the followers of Jesus in particular.
Beyond the grave
John recognized the speaker of these words as Jesus, who had been executed about 60 years before. Now, six decades later, he appears and claims that he is the “living one,” who “was dead.” John knew that. He had seen Jesus after he was resurrected and ascended to heaven. But then Jesus says he will stay alive forever and ever. He also claims to have a key that will unlock the way to defeat the power of the grave, not only for himself but for others too.
Considering our experience of life and death, this is a preposterous statement. In the days when these words were written, an average life span was around 45 years. Few made it past their three score and ten. Today, better health and hygiene have extended the average life for people living in the richer parts of the world. It isn’t unusual to find birthday cards for a 100th birthday on sale. The United Kingdom has about 8,000 centenarians. By 2030 that number may increase to more than 30,000.
It is estimated that about half the children born in a developed European nation today can expect to live past 100. Some researchers believe it may be possible to extend human lives to perhaps 150 or so years. But that is about it. Inevitably even the fittest of us have a date with the grave.
No wonder we get excited when scientists come up with something (such as Viagra) that can prolong just one aspect of our lives. But realistically, no one should expect to live “for ever and ever.” But here is Jesus claiming he has a way to overcome the power of the grave.
If true, this is the most astounding breakthrough in longevity ever announced. If it is not true, this article is just the ramblings of a cockeyed optimist, and you are wasting your time reading it.
So am I, like Nellie, “immature and incurably green”? Are you, if you believe it too?
Smoke and mirrors?
The only evidence we have for believing such an outrageous statement is that Jesus Christ was resurrected from his grave, and eventually ascended to heaven, where he still is. When it comes down to it, the Christian faith stands or falls on that.
St. Paul, one of the first, and arguably the greatest evangelist, was honest enough to admit that. He wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:15-19: “If there’s no resurrection, there’s no living Christ. And face it—if there’s no resurrection for Christ, everything we’ve told you is smoke and mirrors, and everything you’ve staked your life on is smoke and mirrors. Not only that, but we would be guilty of telling a string of barefaced lies about God, all these affidavits we passed on to you verifying that God raised up Christ—sheer fabrications, if there’s no resurrection” (Message Bible).
“If corpses can’t be raised,” continues Paul, “then Christ wasn’t, because he was indeed dead. And if Christ wasn’t raised, then all you’re doing is wandering about in the dark, as lost as ever. It’s even worse for those who died hoping in Christ and resurrection, because they’re already in their graves. If all we get out of Christ is a little inspiration for a few short years, we’re a pretty sorry lot.”
But Paul goes on to reassure the Corinthians (and us), “But the truth is that Christ has been raised up, the first in a long legacy of those who are going to leave the cemeteries” (verse 20).
But how can he be so sure? Where is the evidence that Jesus was resurrected and is alive?
Willing to adjust
We cannot prove to a skeptic, beyond all shadow of doubt, that God exists, and that the Bible is true. But that does not mean that we have no evidence. Or that the evidence is so shaky that every whiff of criticism can blow it away.
The Christian message has always had its critics. Some criticisms have been valid, and have caused us to think about our understanding of the Bible. It was silly and shortsighted, for example, for medieval theologians to insist that the sun went round the earth when the evidence clearly showed that the opposite was true.
Today, the increase in knowledge in nearly every field continues to challenge traditional ideas, and some concepts we have taken for granted do need to be adjusted.
But this does not mean that the core beliefs of our faith are being undermined, or that the whole idea is so flimsy that we have to go back to the drawing board every time someone brings up an awkward question.
Some people have worried, for example, about the idea behind the best-selling novel The Da Vinci Code. It is based around the search for evidence that Jesus was not crucified, buried and resurrected as the Gospels tell us. Rather, he married Mary Magdalene, moved to France and had children, founding a family line that survives to this day. The church suppressed this information, and tried to destroy it. But the truth was preserved by secret societies, and the evidence of who Jesus really was is buried under the Louvre in Paris. If exposed it will bring down the whole edifice of Christian belief. And only one man and woman can unveil the truth—you know the sort of thing.
The author clearly says it is a work of fiction. Nevertheless it unsettles some people who worry that there might be something in it. Oh how we love conspiracy theories!
The right to believe
But why do we assume that what we believe is so vulnerable? Why not turn the argument around and ask how good is the evidence that Christianity is not true? Or to put it another way, how much proof do you need before you have the right to say you believe something?
Let me go (humbly and respectfully, I hope) on the offensive. You see, I don’t believe that the theory of evolution, as it is usually explained, is good enough to be the only acceptable explanation for the origin and development of life. I believe other explanations exist, and that to dismiss them out of hand is arrogant and unscientific.
I am not suggesting that evolution is a load of bunk. I have seen enough evidence to acknowledge that it, or something like it, might explain how life develops within a species. Charles Darwin was a careful scientist, as are many who followed in his footsteps.
I have seen professional paleontologists at work, and I am impressed by the meticulous care with which they sift and evaluate their evidence—such as it is. I think they make a plausible case for what they call microevolution—that is, change and development within a species. But to extrapolate that evidence to show that it accounts for the actual origin of those species, is, I think, stretching things.
I don’t think they have proved their point beyond all shadow of doubt, and I believe other points of view deserve to be heard. One of those points of view is that there is a Creator God and he created the cosmos (including life) for a purpose, and that purpose includes the eternal destiny of what is now the human race.
Now, I don’t expect the above paragraphs to cause dyed-in-the-wool atheists to throw in the towel and head for the nearest church. But I also do not accept that it gives them the right to ridicule me, because it is not a ridiculous thing to say.
You see, there is no conclusive evidence that there is not a Creator. No one has proved that God does not exist. There are no serious questions about the fact of Jesus’ existence. If we measure the Gospels by the same standards we evaluate other historical literature, we must conclude that they are a reliable record of what Jesus said and did.
Scholars will always quibble about the details, but the questions do not threaten or undermine the essential components of Christian belief, including the death and resurrection of Jesus.
Based on the standards that we believe other things, my faith in the message of the Bible should not be considered uneducated, immature, foolish or naive. It is not therefore the ramblings of a cockeyed optimist to believe that a man born 2,000 years ago was crucified, buried, resurrected and ascended to heaven, and is still alive today.
Still much to learn
If there is one thing that the last few decades should have taught us is that no one, believer or non-believer, should be calling each other foolish or naive. It should be obvious to all that there is a tremendous amount still to learn.
What is being discovered on the frontiers of knowledge should cause everyone to be willing to re-evaluate even the most entrenched ideas. Tried and tested physical laws seem to break down at the sub-atomic level. Constants such as the speed of light might not be quite so constant after all. Traditional physics is being turned on its head.
Isaac Newton proved the ancients were wrong in their explanation of reality. Then Albert Einstein showed that Newton was wrong in some of his ideas, and once again reshaped our understanding of the universe.
The more we look into it, the cosmos seems to be ever more intricate, mysterious and marvelous. And let not those who believe in God be smug and say we told you so, because we didn’t. No one anticipated the discoveries that are revolutionizing our understanding of reality.
What is interesting is that scientists, trying to find words to explain what they are learning, resort to terms that sometimes seem more appropriate for theology than physics. But why not? Truth, after all, is truth, and genuine discovery poses no threat to a proper understanding of our Creator.
Nothing that has been discovered has undermined the faith of this cockeyed optimist. On the contrary, it has reinforced it. I see no reason not to be “stuck like a dope on a thing called hope.” In fact, in this ever shifting and rather dangerous world, it makes more and more sense.
So can we talk about hope for a while?
An anchor for the soul
“Faith, hope and charity,” wrote St. Paul in 1 Corinthians 13:13, “and the greatest of these is charity.” He did not go on to say which of the three is the least, but chances are you’d opt for hope. Unlike faith, the way we use the word hope today carries with it an element of uncertainty.
You buy a lottery ticket hoping it is the winning number. You plan a picnic hoping it doesn’t rain. You know you can’t have absolute faith that you will win the jackpot or not get wet. You just hope you don’t. Hope is what you have when you can’t have total faith.
But that is not the way the Bible uses the idea of hope. It is much more than a sort of decaffeinated faith. The writer of the New Testament epistle to the Hebrews describes hope as an “anchor for the soul” (Hebrews 6:19).
Sailors drop an anchor when they want their ship to stay in a fixed position in the ever-changing environment of the sea. An anchor stops your drifting. You know where you are.
You need some anchor points in this world, which sometimes—and never more than now—seems to be adrift. Old ideas are found to be wrong. Trusted institutions are shown to be unreliable. Traditions are abandoned. Who can you trust? What can you count on? Where are we headed? Have we lost the plot? Is there a plot?
Into this sea of uncertainty, the Bible brings some fixed points—things you can count on no matter what else happens. It tells you that there is a God. Then it tells you that he is benevolent and loving, and wants good things for you.
That is not as obvious as it might seem. Many people believe in “gods” that are anything but benevolent. Some are nasty bits of work indeed, and their followers are told that it is best to keep out of their way unless you want something they control—such as rain, fertility or wealth. And then you’d better approach them carefully, and make it worth their while. Even some people who claim to believe in the God of the Bible have a level of understanding that is not much more sophisticated. However, it is not how the God of the Bible reveals himself.
Tom Wright, Bishop of Durham, explains it like this: “Christian hope isn’t optimism, a vague sense that things will probably turn out all right.
“Christian faith is trusting—and going on trusting through thick and thin—in the God who made unbreakable promises and will certainly keep them.
Christian hope is looking ahead to the time when, according to those promises, God will make the world over anew, completing the work he began in Jesus” (Hebrews for Everyone, Tom Wright, SPCK 2003, page 67).
The resurrection of Jesus to eternal life, and all that it implies is not just the wishful thinking of cock-eyed optimists. Nor is it just the refuge of naive people who won’t face reality. It is an idea that has been carefully examined by educated and brilliant people, who have chosen to believe it after considering the alternatives. It can be defended and supported. There is no evidence to show that it isn’t true.
That is why I say that the scripture I quoted at the beginning transforms everything we know and believe about our existence. I don’t believe “the human race is falling on its face,” although I think it is time we fell to our knees. There is hope for us, and that hope is based on who Jesus was, and still is.
That hope cannot be casually dismissed as superstition. And when you take it seriously, and let it provide a foundation for how you live your life, the more it becomes a reliable and comforting anchor for your soul.
Copyright © Worldwide Church of God, 2004