Mark Clark - The Problem of God: Answering a Skeptic’s Challenges to Christianity

B Y L ARRY O SBORNE

I ts no news flash that the prevailing worldview in North American today is decidedly post-Christian, dominated by secularism, science, and an intensely privatized spirituality. As with every culturally dominate worldview (including that of the Christian era), it impacts the way that we evaluate competing truth claims. We all start out with a set of presuppositions and paradigms that we assume to be fact basedbut in reality, are seldom tested, at times illogical, and in some cases blatant falsehoods.

Thats why before we dismiss Jesus, the Bible, and Christianity as mere ancient myth, antiquated literature, or a set of oppressive and failed moral standards, we need to first test our assumptions against the facts and then let the facts speak for themselves.

The same goes for those of us who call ourselves Jesus followers. Our faith doesnt magically make our assumptions about Jesus and the Bible true. Faith cant turn a falsehood into truth. Rightly understood, its not a blind belief in the unbelievable; its a rational belief based on a preponderance of evidence. If we trust God and the Bible enough to do what they say, it should be because weve put them to the test and found them to be trustworthy. Anything else is mere credulity.

Whether you self-identify as a skeptic seeking answers to what Christians believe, an antagonist wondering why they believe such nonsense, a Christian looking for well-reasoned answers to the tough questions youve been asked, or you fall somewhere else on the continuum, I guarantee that youll find the following pages to be enlightening and beneficial in your spiritual journey.

What you wont find is a collection of straw man arguments that convince none but the already persuaded, or the soulless answers that read like a well-researched term paper. Instead youll find a thoughtful examination of the legitimate and sincere questions that skeptics, antagonists, and agnostics have long asked about Jesus, the Bible, and the Christian worldview.

In many ways, Mark Clark was born to write this book. When it comes to the deeper questions of life, truth, and spirituality, our personal experiences always have a profound impact upon the lens through which we see and interpret things. Clark is no exception. His upbringing, cultural context, and life experiences have uniquely prepared him to speak to both skeptics and Christians.

In one sense, hes the last person anyone would have expected to become an articulate Jesus followeran atheistic upbringing, drug abuse, Tourette syndrome, and a series of profoundly negative church experiences as a new Christian are not your typical career path to ministry.

But with the clarity of 20/20 hindsight, it all makes perfect sense.

From the very first time I met Mark, Ive been impressed with his ability to powerfully communicate to both those who believe and those who doubt. His deep knowledge of the Bible empowers him to reach Jesus followers. His personal journey and struggle with the questions that skeptics ask enables him to both validate and answer their concerns with a clarity and persuasiveness. Its no wonder that despite its location in one of the most secular and diverse cities in North American, huge crowds flock to his church and tune into his podcasts each week.