The Dawkins Lennox Debate - Part 3 of 3

(Continued from Part 1 and Part 2.)

The fifth thesis of the debate was "One does not need God to be good or evil". Dawkins's initial argument for this thesis is useless. First, he makes the absurd statement one's morals are likely to be "hideous" if they are based on the Bible. Then he sets up two straw men as the two possible reasons - in his mind - that one would need God to be moral: one needs a book to define morality, and one is afraid of God or wants to "suck up" to Him. Dawkins brilliantly demolishes these straw men, but neither represents the biblical position. True, God speaks through his word, and those who do evil should fear him. However, as Lennox points out, morality only has foundation in the holiness and justice of God. He is the absolute and only possible standard for morality.

Dawkins's second argument is that we are all moral in and of ourselves, to one degree or another. We all have an idea of what is right and wrong - he attributes this partly to a vague theory on early human relationships - which he fails to discuss further - as well as to what he calls a "shifting moral zeitgeist" - which he fails to define, other than to emphatically declare that it does not come from religion. Biblical Christians somewhat agree with this second part. The 17th-century Canons of Dort devotes an article to this concept:

To be sure, there is left in man after the fall, some light of nature, whereby he retains some notions about God, about natural things, and about the difference between what is honourable and shameful, and shows some regard for virtue and outward order. But so far is he from arriving at the saving knowledge of God and true conversion through this light of nature that he does not even use it properly in natural and civil matters. Rather, whatever this light may be, man wholly pollutes it in various ways and suppresses it by his wickedness. In doing so, he renders himself without excuse before God. (Chapter III/IV, Article 4)

The first sentence of this article clearly defines Dawkins's "moral zeitgeist", and the rest aptly show why it is "shifting." Lennox didn't need to do much heavy lifting to rebut this thesis.

The sixth and final thesis was "Christian claims about the person of Jesus are not true; his alleged miracles violate the laws of nature." This thesis did not get a full treatment due to time constraints. However, Dawkins's position is outlined in his defense of the second thesis, where he indicated that few "sophisticated" theologians actually believe that miracles literally happened, but that the average "unsophisticated" churchgoer clings to them. As I noted with regard to that thesis, insofar as this is the case, it is an indictment of the churches of which such churchgoers are members. But it is also an indictment of many theologians who are too "sophisticated" to believe what the Bible says. Dawkins is rightly critical of both groups.

Nevertheless, truly biblical Christians - "sophisticated" or otherwise - believe that miracles literally happened; moreover, they do not cling to the miracles themselves. When Nicodemus the Pharisee witnessed Jesus' miracles, he did not cling to them. Rather, he rightly observed that they were signs:

Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, "Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him." (John 3:1)

A sign points to something, and its value and meaning are determined by that to which it points. For Nicodemus, Jesus' miracles signified that he had "come from God." Likewise, Jesus' disciples wondered about his power over storms:

A squall came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger. The disciples went and woke him, saying, "Master, Master, we're going to drown!"

He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm. "Where is your faith?" he asked his disciples.

In fear and amazement they asked one another, "Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him." (Luke 8:23-25)

So, miracles are not to be clung to of themselves; further, they declare that Jesus has power over nature - that is, he is supernatural. Lennox says, "The laws of nature are not violated; the God who controls them is free to introduce events outside of them."

Attacks on the veracity of miracles are not a small matter. As Lennox indicates, the resurrection of Jesus - a supernatural event - is at the heart of the Christian faith. The Apostle Paul states:

If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith... If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men. (1 Corinthians 15:14-19)

The debate was very interesting. Both men argued passionately, but it strikes me that Lennox's position is saturated with stability, justice, and hope, while Dawkins's is devoid of them. It is the difference between the "life under the sun" described in Ecclesiastes, and life according to the Maker's instructions.