This is a\u00a0guest post courtesy of Dr. William Lane Craig<\/strong><\/a>, Christian philosopher,\u00a0theologian, and founder of Reasonable Faith<\/strong><\/a>.\u00a0Dr. Craig is Research Professor of Philosophy at Talbot School of\u00a0 Theology in La Mirada, California. You can follow Reasonable Faith and Dr. Craig on Facebook<\/a> and Twitter <\/a>and access articles, podcasts, and other resources for defending the Christian faith at www.reasonablefaith.org<\/a>. He and his wife Jan have two grown children.<\/p>\n This post is\u00a0a response\u00a0to a CNN.com post\u00a0from a Texas mother entitled Why I Raise My Children Without God<\/a>\u00a0that has been\u00a0viewed more than 750,ooo times.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Why?\u00a0 Because we wanted to teach them the truth.<\/p>\n For the same\u00a0 reason, Jan and I did not lie to our children about Santa Claus.<\/p>\n We told them\u00a0that Santa Claus (or P\u00e8re No\u00ebl, as they were raised in Belgium) was a fun,\u00a0 make-believe figure we could pretend brought presents around Christmas time.\u00a0 It\u00a0was all in good fun, and no big deal.\u00a0 Christmas was mainly about the birth of a\u00a0historical person who really lived, Jesus of Nazareth, who revealed to us what\u00a0God is like, died for our sins, and rose from the dead.<\/p>\n We were prepared at the\u00a0drop of a hat to discuss the reasons why we believe these things, should they\u00a0want to ask.\u00a0 No question was off limits, and open inquiry was encouraged.<\/p>\n We think Christianity is true. So how could we not<\/em> teach our\u00a0children about it?\u00a0 That would be the worst form of child abuse conceivable, to try to shield one\u2019s children from the love of God and eternal life.<\/p>\n The fundamental mistake of the mother who wrote the column\u00a0is thinking that\u00a0when \u201cwe raise kids without God, we tell them the truth.<\/em>\u201d\u00a0 Do we?\u00a0 I\u00a0 think, on the contrary, that we thereby lead them astray into falsehood.<\/p>\n The\u00a0whole question, then, is:\u00a0 is Christianity true?<\/p>\n Well, what reasons does this\u00a0mother offer for thinking that it is not?\u00a0Let\u2019s look at them briefly one at a\u00a0time:<\/p>\n This charge assumes that God is\u00a0supposed to serve as a model for parenthood.\u00a0 But while there are analogies\u00a0 between God as our heavenly Father and a human parent, the disanalogies are so\u00a0great as to undermine the assumption that God is to serve as a role model for\u00a0human parents.\u00a0 For one thing, the analogy should be between us and our adult<\/em> children, and in that case we do let them make their own free\u00a0decisions without interference.<\/p>\n But even then the analogy is not tight.\u00a0 For we\u00a0and our children are equals; but God is our Creator and Sovereign.\u00a0 A human\u00a0father who thought of himself as the end-all of his children\u2019s existence would\u00a0be egomaniacal.\u00a0 But the infinite God, who is the locus of goodness and love, is\u00a0the appropriate end of all beings (even of Himself!), the summum bonum<\/em>\u00a0 (highest good).<\/p>\n I am charged with the moral and spiritual education of my\u00a0children; but God is involved in drawing all<\/em> people freely to a saving\u00a0knowledge of Himself.\u00a0 It is not at all improbable that only in a world suffused\u00a0with natural and moral evil would the optimal number of people freely come to\u00a0 know Him and His salvation. I am bound by certain moral obligations and\u00a0 prohibitions vis \u00e0 vis my children (e.g.<\/em>, not to harm them); but God\u00a0 (if He has moral duties at all) is not bound by many of these (e.g.<\/em>, He\u00a0 can give and take life as He pleases).\u00a0 God may ask me to bear terrible\u00a0 suffering (though not without recompense!) in order that others might freely\u00a0 find eternal life.<\/p>\n This mother is obviously not aware that the logical version of the problem of evil is recognized as bankrupt even by atheist\u00a0and agnostic philosophers today.\u00a0 (See the discussion of the problem of evil in\u00a0my Philosophical Foundations for a Christian Worldview<\/a> Every event sends a ripple effect through history such that its consequences\u00a0are impossible for finite persons limited in time and space to predict.\u00a0 Thus it\u00a0is the better part of intellectual humility to say that we do not know the\u00a0specific reason why God permitted some instance of suffering.\u00a0 What we can show\u00a0is that the occurrence of such suffering is neither inconsistent nor improbable\u00a0with respect to God\u2019s existence, as the atheist presumptuously asserts.<\/p>\n Obviously, no one is advocating that we should abdicate our responsibility\u00a0for mitigating or eliminating the evils that afflict our world.\u00a0 On the\u00a0contrary, Christians have led the way in the fight against slavery, poverty,\u00a0disease, ignorance, and the manifest evils of our world.\u00a0 What have atheists\u00a0done for us lately?<\/p>\n This is just childish whining.\u00a0 Life is not fair.\u00a0\u00a0Get used to it.\u00a0 God is not under any obligation to be \u201cfair.\u201d\u00a0 (God is not\u00a0Santa Claus, remember?)<\/p>\n That does not imply that God allows \u201cluck to rule\u00a0mankind\u2019s existence.<\/em>\u201d No, it is God\u2019s sovereign providence that rules the\u00a0affairs of men.\u00a0 God neither promises nor provides an equal lot in life to every\u00a0human being.\u00a0 What God does do is give sufficient grace for salvation and\u00a0eternal life to every person He creates.\u00a0 The inequities and shortcomings of\u00a0this life are not even worth comparing with the glory that God will bestow upon\u00a0 us in heaven.\u00a0 He sovereignly orders the world so that His plans will be\u00a0achieved, and we can trust Him to do what is good.<\/p>\n Right!\u00a0 Nor is He under any\u00a0obligation to do so. He did not protect His only son Jesus Christ, who was the\u00a0most innocent of men, from the horrible death on the cross.\u00a0 But God rightly\u00a0orders the world so as to achieve His good purposes for the human race.\u00a0\u00a0Christ\u2019s innocent death, in particular, brought about the redemption of mankind.<\/p>\n How do you know?\u00a0 Because we \u201ccannot see,\u00a0 smell, touch or hear<\/em>\u201d God?\u00a0 If you could, he would be a finite, physical\u00a0object, an idol, in effect, not God.\u00a0 Modern physics teaches us that there all\u00a0sorts of realities that are not accessible to the five senses (QoW\u00a0 #273<\/a>).\u00a0 Should we not believe in them?\u00a0 But we have indirect evidence of\u00a0their reality, you might say.\u00a0 Indeed, and in the same way we have similar\u00a0evidence for God.<\/p>\n This is not an argument\u00a0against God\u2019s existence but just an alleged reason not to teach your children\u00a0about God. I agree that we should teach children to do what is right because it\u00a0 is right.\u00a0 But the reason it is right is because God commands us to do it.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/billintheblank\/files\/2013\/01\/william_lane_craig_interhigh-300x199.png\")
<\/a>Jan and I raised our kids to believe in God, indeed, to believe in the\u00a0Christian God.<\/p>\nIs Christianity True?<\/h3>\n
God is a bad parent and role model.<\/h4>\n
God is not logical.<\/h4>\n
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God is not fair.<\/h4>\n
God does not protect the innocent.<\/h4>\n
God is not present.<\/h4>\n
God Does Not Teach Children to Be Good.<\/h4>\n