Faith After the Assembly

Cult recovery experts agree that one of the main tasks after leaving a high-demand group like the Assembly is to recover one's true identity. For Christians, being a person who has saving faith in Christ is an essential aspect of one's identity.

But what if you're left with a strong aversion to church services and to the Bible? What if you can't even pray because there is confusion and distrust about the character of God himself? Can such a person still consider himself a Christian? What if you're not sure you want to be a Christian any more? The Assembly betrayal has caused a lot of people to send their faith out on "sick leave." To help prevent this from becoming "permanent disability," this section explores these questions and provides some resources for the struggle with faith.

The poem "Thou Art Indeed Just, Lord ", by Gerard Manley Hopkins, might articulate what many feel at this time when everything they labored for seems to have been for nothing.

Remember, the bottom line is....
     You can't lose your salvation (although you can intentionally throw it away, or unheedingly drift away from it).
     God still loves you.
     You still have the Holy Spirit. He hasn't left you. He is always there with you. Don't be apologetic or reluctant to speak about Gospel truth just because you feel you aren't doing at all well spiritually.
     Don't forget that the biggest battle is over your faith--the Adversary is actively trying to destroy it so he can gloat. Re-affirming your faith in God is huge.
     It's okay, in fact it's a sign of recovery, when you can begin to desensitize yourself to triggers by exposing yourself to them in tiny little bits. (Like leaving a Bible open--try using The Message--and reading a verse sometimes.)
     Give yourself credit that you wrestle with these issues and make efforts once in awhile to connect with Christianity. If you weren't a child of God you wouldn't be bothered that God seems so distant and you feel so spiritually dead.
     Be patient and stay hopeful. It takes a long time to heal the spiritual wound, but it will happen because God's intention is that you have the joy of your salvation.

Clickable Table of Contents

Does faith make sense?
Can the Bible be trusted?
Why does God allow tragedies to happen?
Encouragements to faith
Links to apologetics websites
Resources for the younger generation
Books and media from the perspective of science & faith

Does faith make sense?

For those who may not be familiar with the term "apologetics," it comes from the Greek word "apologia" which means "to defend." For example, Socrates defended himself at the court of Athens in Plato’s "The Apology of Socrates."

Jude 1:3 tells us to "contend earnestly for the faith." Paul used philosophical arguments, fulfilled prophecy, and especially the evidence for the resurrection to convince and persuade people of the truth of Christianity.

The Assembly avoided this approach, for reasons that are explored elsewhere on this website, mainly because critical thinking was a danger to the system. Consequently, people who came to Christ through Assembly outreaches may be susceptible to attacks on the reasonableness of their faith. This section presents rational arguments that strongly reinforce faith. To quote Brady Lenardos, "The fact is that the Christian position holds the high intellectual ground."

Dave Sable has a wise observation about faith and feelings.

Five Reasons God Exists, a very watchable You Tube presentation by Dr. Ken Samples.

Why Should I Believe My Belief?, a dialogue by J. Budziszewski, argues for the reasonability of faith in a creator God. Budziszewski is a former atheist, former political radical, and former shipyard welder. A Yale Ph.D., he's now a professor in the Government and Philosophy Departments at the University of Texas in Austin.

Peter Kreeft, professor of philosophy at Boston University, wrote an article on The Divinity of Christ. "When the first Christian apologists began to give a reason for the faith that was in them to unbelievers, the doctrine of Christ's divinity naturally came under attack, for it was almost as incredible to Gentiles as it was scandalous to Jews...The argument the early apologists used to defend this apparently indefensible doctrine has become a classic one. [It can be summarized] in the trilemma, 'Lord, liar, or lunatic?' Those are the only options."

Dr. Kreeft has also written on evidence for the resurrection of Christ: "We believe Christ's resurrection can be proved with at least as much certainty as any universally believed and well-documented event in ancient history. To prove this, we do not need to presuppose anything controversial (e.g. that miracles happen). But the skeptic must also not presuppose anything (e.g. that they do not). We do not need to presuppose that the New Testament is infallible, or divinely inspired or even true. We do not need to presuppose that there really was an empty tomb or post-resurrection appearances, as recorded. We need to presuppose only two things, both of which are hard data, empirical data, which no one denies: The existence of the New Testament texts as we have them, and the existence (but not necessarily the truth) of the Christian religion as we find it today." More »

The Psychology of Atheism, by Dr. Paul C. Vitz, presents the idea that a key element in the development of atheism is the perception that fathers, including God, are defective. He gives many biographical examples of how skepticism developed in well-known atheists, examples that may resonate with many of us. We have been bitterly betrayed by our "spiritual father," George Geftakys, and his leaders. It makes sense if we now tend to distrust a "defective" Father God who did not protect us. Understanding why one seems to be losing one's faith may be prerequisite to finding it again. Dr. Vitz, a professor of psychology at New York University, became an atheist in college. He presents an amusing and relevant account of why this happened. He remained an atheist-skeptic until his late thirties, when he came back to faith, as he says, "...much to my surprise, in the very secular environment of academic psychology in New York City."

G. Brady Lenardos presents a very readable version of the argument for the necessity of God based on the existence of knowledge. In a nutshell, he shows that if knowledge exists, then atheism is inherently contradictory and theism must be true. Lenardos, a member of Mensa, runs an apologetics website.

The philosopher Blaise Pascal formulated a famous argument for belief in the existence of God called "The Wager", which Dr. Samples discusses on his website, Augustine Fellowship Study Center.

Here are some brief articles that are good reminders that the Christian faith is not unreasonable.

Is God Real?
Beyond Blind Faith, by Paul E. Little. Who is Jesus? Was He the Son of God? A brief look at the life of Jesus of Nazareth, and why it's not blind faith to believe in him....
Why I am a Christian, by Michael Spencer.
After the release of the movie, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe in December, 2005, Jeff Lukens, staff writer for the National Ledger, wrote a column summarizing the argument C. S. Lewis makes in his case for Christianity.
The Improbability of Chance, from a post on the Evangelical Outpost blog.

The following two articles by Hugh Ross, PhD., present or reference more scholarly, in-depth treatments of evidence supporting the rationality of faith in God.

Design Evidences in the Cosmos
Astronomical Evidences for the Existence of the God of the Bible Dr. Ross concludes, "The more astronomers learn about the origin and development of the universe, the more evidence they accumulate for the God of the Bible. Ironically, those who fought hardest against God as the explanation for the cosmos often were the ones whose work provided the most powerful new evidence for Him. Today, with the measuring of the creation has come the scientific equipment to make a positive identification of the Creator. Though not many who write about these new measurements acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, they typically confess that the only explanation for the universe we observe is the action of an entity beyond the space-time continuum of the universe who/that is capable of design and of carrying out that design. All they typically lack is the theological knowledge or the courage to recognize that in their confession they have testified of none other than the God of the Bible."

The Time Magazine cover story for the week of November 5, 2006, was a debate between atheist scientist Richard Dawkins, and Francis Collins, Christian head of the Human Genome Project.

Dr. Anthony Flew is a legendary British philosopher and atheist, and has been an icon and champion for unbelievers for decades. His change of mind from atheist to theist was significant news in 2004, not only about his personal journey, but also about the persuasive power of the arguments modern theists have been using to challenge atheistic naturalism. He was interviewed by Gary Habermas in 2004.

Can the Bible be trusted?

Why You Can Believe the Bible, an introduction to the issues, with many good links for further investigation.

Not exactly an apologetic article, but U2 Bono's introduction to The Message translation of the Psalms does argue for the validity of faith.

Are the Biblical Documents Reliable? by James Williams, of Probe Ministries. Discusses the existing manuscripts, dating, procedures for establishing validity, the early church father's, etc.

The Historicity of the New Testament, chapter 5 from J. P. Moreland's book, Scaling the Secular City.

The wide popularity of The Da Vinci Code, and Dr. Bart Ehrman's book, Misquoting Jesus, fueled a wave of skepticism about Christianity and the validity of the Bible. This can feel either like an attack on your faith, or like welcome justification for withdrawing from God, depending on where you're with faith after the Assembly. There are good arguments against the ideas proposed by Dan Brown and Bart Ehrman. Dr. Erhman was debated by Dr. William Lane Craig on the topic, "Is There Historical Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus?" at a university this spring. The complete 38-page transcript is available in a pdf file. Michael Spencer comments on the debate, "It’s impressive in many ways: scope, depth, congeniality, candor and readability."

Misanalyzing Text Criticism--Bart Ehrman's Misquoting Jesus--Dr. Ben Witherington comments on Ehrman's book and quotes comments by Dr. Dan Wallace . Both these men are scholarly peers of Erhman, well qualified to critique his work. Dr. Wallace is Professor of New Testament Studies at Dallas Theological Seminary, and senior editor of the NET Bible. Wikipedia says, "Wallace is considered an authority on textual criticism among evangelical scholars." Dr. Witherington is Professor of New Testament Interpretation at Asbury Theological Seminary and an elected member of the prestigious SNTS, a society dedicated to New Testament studies. He has taught at Vanderbilt University, Duke Divinity School and Gordon-Conwell.

The Da Vinci Code: The Facts Behind the Fiction covers Primetime's special on Elizabeth Vargas' investigation into the claims made in The Da Vinci Code.

Historical Truth Behind The Da Vinci Code

The "Gospel of Judas", by Rich Deem. National Geographic attacks Christianity with biased research.

Why does God allow tragedies to happen?

Michael Spencer posts on The Ecclesiastes Attitude, pondering "the mixture of causation" of events in our lives, and noting that God's purposes seem more often to be in our mistakes and their consequences than in our successes.

Does God care about us if he allows tragedies to happen? The question, "Why?" is one that probably everyone who has left the Assemblies has struggled with. Margaret Irons offers one perspective.

Steve Saint, who lost his missionary father to the poisoned arrows of the Auca indians when he was five years old, tells how he found an answer to his lifelong questions, "Did my dad have to die? Couldn't there have been another way?"

Two brief articles: Paralyzed But Not Down, Stacy James' perspective from a wheelchair after a college diving accident. Stacy also wrote So Why Do Bad Things Happen?

Misty Irons blogged on Dec 21, 2006 on the difficult question of suffering and evil. A worthwhile read!

A more scholarly and in-depth article: A Good Reason for Evil, Gregory Koukl

Ravi Zacharias responds to the Columbine High School and Virginia Tech shootings.

Encouragements to faith

Kirk C., formerly of the San Luis Obispo Assembly, wrote The Beach of Glass, a short but encouraging meditation on Joel 2:25, "I will restore to you the years the cankerworm has eaten."

Bono, lead singer for U2, wrote the introduction to a British edition of the Psalms in 1999. It's encouraging to see a bit of the background of his faith and his quite literate expression of it.

On Faith's Crumbling Edge: Restoring the Uprooted Assurance of the Ordinary Christian is an essay from the Internet Monk archives. It's good medicine for those who find themselves devoid of the zeal and intense faith they once had, and now may even doubt their salvation.

Gerard Manley Hopkins, a Jesuit priest and poet in the early 20th century, is reputed to be among the greatest poets of faith and doubt in the English language. His poem Thou Art Indeed Just, Lord is a cry from the heart in a time of great disappointment and barrenness.

Links to apologetics websites

Reasons to Believe: Providing Powerful New Reasons from Science to Believe in Christ - Website of Dr. Hugh Ross's premier science-faith think tank. Multimedia, articles, scientific papers links and more. Tom Maddux volunteers for RTB.

The God and Science site is recommended by Tom Maddux. Sections on "Answers for Atheists", "Design vs. Evolution", "Biblical Creation", Biblical Authenticity", slides, discussion forum and more. Rich Deem works as a member of a team that does immunology research at Cedars-Sinai Hospital.

Stand To Reason - The internet extension of the radio ministry of Greg Koukl, a ministry dedicated to equipping Christians to rationally engage others about the truths of Christianity.

The Ultimate Christian Apologetics Website - G. Brady Lenardos

Ankerberg Theological Research Institute - Apologetic articles from many different perspectives. Site is difficult to navigate, but worth it.

Resources for the younger generation

Probe Ministries - Mainly geared to college students from the perspective of integrating faith and learning.

Leadership U - "Telling the truth at the speed of life". Geared primarily to college students, sponsored by Campus Crusade for Christ.

EveryStudent.com - Developed by Campus Crusade for Christ. Offers personal responses to email questions about God

Summit Ministries - Conducts conferences for students, as well as adults, and provides a complete range of homeschool curricula. Part of their mission statement includes presenting Christianity as "an intelligent and defensible position in the market place of ideas". Dr. JP Moreland is on their staff.

Books and media from the perspective of science & faith

	The Language of God, by Dr. Francis Collins, head of the Human Genome Project. Available in print and audio. "The experience of sequencing the human genome, and uncovering this most remarkable of all texts, was both a stunning scientific achievement and an occasion of worship."
	The Case for Christ, by Lee Strobel. The Case for Faith is also excellent. The subtitle is "A Journalist Investigates the Toughest Objections to Christianity".
	Journey Towards Creation - DVD. "Explore the astronomical evidence for a universe that is meticulously fine tuned for the benefit of human life. Astronomer Hugh Ross whisks viewers through the solar system, past stars, galaxies and quasars--all the way back to the moment when light first sprang from the darkness." This is awesome.
	The Privileged Planet - DVD. "The more we learn about single-cell creatures (as demonstrated in "Unlocking the Mystery of Life,"), the more obvious it seems that our universe is intentionally designed. The same is true when go into the opposite direction. Though the universe is vast beyond imagination, "The Privileged Planet" argues that the earth in unique indeed. The many conditions necessary for life converge on the earth, something unlikely to occur anywhere else."
	Unlocking the Mystery of Life - DVD. "No one looking at a rotary motor says, 'Wonderful little accident, here."'What if scientists discovered a "rotary motor" inside a human cell? See some of the surprises that awaited researchers when high-tech instruments gave them a close-up view of the cell's intricate inner workings." This excellently produced account goes well with Dr. Collins' The Language of God.

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