It has been almost 9 years since my first conversation with (what I realized was) a New Ager. At the time it was very difficult to figure out exactly what he believed. In fact, I never succeeded. Every time that I had thought I understood his thinking, he would gently tell me that he had not said that. He and his wife were flying to Romania to adopt one of the street children that have been orphaned in the middle of all the political problems. I commend him for that. What is hard to understand is why one would have beliefs that cannot be explained. I hope the child he adopted finds a better belief system. This afternoon I read Francis Schaeffer’s book Escape from Reason and, for the first time, might be able to understand why people have begun to believe their religious ideas can be so aloof from regular thought. But ideas have consequences. From the beginning of the book, the author uses a series of graphs to make his ideas clear. They seem arbitrary at first but become more comfortable toward the end. One of the main reasons for these graphs is to trace the evolution of our rational for life. By the end, Schaeffer has shown how there is a disconnect between what is considered rational thought and the “religious experience.” Logical thought is “downstairs” while religion (or any “hope”) has been relegated to an “upstairs” where logical thought is left behind. You’ll have to read the book if you want a better explanation. My intent was only to give a cursory understanding that makes this quote understandable:

The evangelical Christian needs to be careful because some evangelicals have recently been asserting that what matters is not setting out to prove or disprove propositions; what matters is an encounter with Jesus. When a Christian has made such a statement he has, in an analyzed or unanalyzed form, moved upstairs.

This rung a bell. In the last few years I have heard a number of preachers say that it did not matter if it was proven that Jesus did marry and have kids (as fictional books such as The DaVinci Code have alleged) or if it was proven that Joseph had gotten Mary pregnant. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Justin Martyr was convinced to study Jesus after a kind, old gentleman followed him when he went out to think (as good philosophers were supposed to do). The man demonstrated how Scripture was logical and, further, how the prophets had foretold Jesus’ coming. If we cannot logically explain why we believe what we do then we really have no reason to continue believing it. In the store the other day, a random stranger handed me a card with 1 Peter 3:15:

Instead, exalt Christ as Lord in your hearts. Always be prepared to give a defense to everyone who asks you to explain the hope you have. [ISV]

Let’s stay away from a New Age Jesus, shall we? The ratification for the Nicene Creed (AD 381) reads this way:

And those who say "There was a time when He was not," or that "Before He was begotten He was not," or that "He was made out of nothing;" or who say that The Son of God is of any other substance, or that He is changeable or unstable,--these the Catholic and Apostolic Church anathematizes. [quotation marks added for clarification]