I wrote this letter to my father in January 2012 while he was extremely ill, in hopes that he might at least consider praying for himself. I don’t claim to have all the answers and I am in no position to judge anyone.
But I do believe the teachings of Christ, so it would be poor of me not to try to convince those whom I love in a humble way.
If you have not read the post called “The Geronda and the Atheist,” I would highly recommend it. Here is the link:
Dear Poppy,
I am writing this to you because I feel that I would be remiss if I did not press you about this subject. I know that you have a disdain for religion, and you always have. I have a problem with it too, in many ways. Terrible evils have been committed in the name of religion, and it angers me too.
You are very hard-headed and I like that in many ways, because I think it is important to think for oneself. I admired Luis Buñuel for challenging the religious leaders and questioning everything, even if they did excommunicate him and consider him a heretic.
However, I do have this question for you that has been bothering me. You have many valid complaints about religion, but what about Jesus? What is wrong with Him? I have never really heard you address this. I am really curious, because I cannot seem to find a flaw in Him. When He was sent to Pontius Pilate to be beaten and questioned, Pilate said that he could find no fault in Him. No one else could find anything either, even the religious hypocrites who wanted to kill Him. I’ve never met anyone perfect before, so this in itself makes me think that He is divine.
Also, what is your response to C. S. Lewis, the Oxford scholar who said that you either must believe what Christ said about Himself, or be comfortable with calling Him a liar or a madman? Christ said He was one with the Father (God) and Lewis says if it is not true, then He is like someone who calls himself a poached egg.
All of Christ’s closest friends said that He had no qualms about professing His divinity, or saying that He was the only door to God. He said He had sheep that were from other pastures, and that He would bring them into His pasture. This is a mystery in many ways, but I believe in His divinity and His ability to visit anyone He chooses in any place at any time and reveal Himself.
If I have to choose between believing Jesus and believing some writer like the author of the Da Vinci Code or Hitchens, I think I would trust Jesus more than any of them. Gandhi expressed great admiration for Christ but he couldn’t stand Christians, because he felt they were so unlike Christ.
I admire many great human teachers such as Buddha, Gandhi, Black Elk, Baha U’llah, and others, and agree with many of their teachings. I think they are a great source of joy and wisdom to many people. But to me it would be preposterous to say that they were equal with Christ. That is, of course, unless you don’t believe Jesus performed so many miracles or died willingly for His followers or rose from the dead. No other teachers have done such things or made such claims.
If these miracles were not true and the scriptures were false, then why did the Essenes go through such painstaking efforts to write them all down numerous times with such precision and care, and to preserve them for future generations? Why would I waste my whole life to write down a fairy tale hundreds of times and hide copies in places where they could survive for thousands of years? And to do it anonymously, taking no credit for myself as the writer! That would seem ludicrous to me.
Well, I know that you are an intellectual, and that you enjoy these conversations like a jousting match. To me, this isn’t just some empty rhetoric and it’s not a game. I am not seeking argument or conflict or trying to outsmart you, but rather wishing you would just contemplate what I am saying. If you must debate, so be it, but I wish you’d just pray once instead. I actually do worry about your soul. I’ll bet you are laughing about that, but why would you want to take chances? Sometimes I think it’s just your pride and nothing more.
Have you ever thought about asking God in a humble sincere way to do something for you that you could not possibly do on your own, and just see what happens? What do you have to lose by giving Him a chance? If He doesn’t respond to your humble sincere prayer, then you will never let me live it down, and that is okay. Then you can have another good laugh.
I am going to have the audacity to ask you to pray anyway, and I will pray too for you to be persuaded about Jesus, even if you don’t believe anything else. You are aware that I have loved Him for my entire life.
I hope this letter doesn’t make you angry, because I love you and enjoy our communications these days. I don’t want to wreck things. I wish you would just do this one thing for my sake, if for no other reason.
Love always,
Olive
~♥~