Discerning Truth from Falsehood

DISCERNING TRUTH FROM FALSEHOOD: REFLECTIONS ON A VISIT TO BORDERS BOOKSTORE

Samuel Ling

I don’t remember when I started going to Borders. It was probably when I was ministering in Chicago in the early 1990s. Borders – and other bookstores like Barnes and Noble and smaller bookshops – gave me a window to the secular world, what non- Christians were thinking, what trends I should be aware of as I analyze and re-formulate the church’s mission to the world. I would look forward to finding out what the latest business books were saying about leadership and management. I would browse the super-bargain tables, sometimes placed outside the store. It was a nice diversion from stress-filled days of ministry.

After a few years, however, I got tired of these trips to secular bookstores. I discovered that, sure, once in a while I would come away with bargains – on one occasion in Ohio, I bought many volumes of Simon Kistemaker’s New Testament Commentary on I Corinthians (which I highly recommend) for $6 a piece – but the religion sections of these supermarkets of books tend to be filled with volumes on New Age, Tibetan Buddhism, astrology and witchcraft; the business books which I used to look forward to browsing were mostly giving away tips on short-term profit-making, now with some New Age religious ideas mixed in. (I first noticed this in secular bookstores in Malaysia and Singapore last summer!) My life was busy, and it was more important to write articles and read books in a quiet environment – like a coffee shop – than browsing the shelves filled with the latest secular volumes.

Then one day, I returned to Borders. I really went in to do some ready, but I went over to the religion section. Well, this was Borders on Westwood Blvd., a mile from the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA). It was a particularly large and well-stocked store. A large sign “Religion” was hung against the ceiling, near “Literature.” There was a section of Bibles; then Bible study; then “Inspirational.” Of course, in this cosmopolitan neighborhood, one would expect to find a section on “Judaica.” Then a whole wall of books on “Christianity” greeted me. What I found surprised, excited, and distressed me.

There were books authored by my favorite authors: John Stott, R.C. Sproul; and books published by evangelical publishers: Inter Varsity, Eerdmans, Baker. But there were also the most liberal stuff one could find in a seminary library. Many of the books were of high academic caliber, volumes which would appear on the “Required Readings” list of any seminary course. Others are on a popular level, which laypeople can easily understand. The frustrating thing is: all these books, academic and not so academic, evangelical, wishy-washy and liberal, were all mixed in. What is a lay Christian supposed to do when he/she visits the religion section of Borders these days? 2

In the “Bible Study” section, for example, there was a book which one would find in any Family Christian Bookstore: How To Study Your Bible, Precpt Upon Precept, by Kay Arthur (Harvest House). However, nearby was William Barclay’s Introducing the Bible (Abingdon). Barclay explains that, while the New Testament authors had good memories, they were selective in how they told the stories of Jesus. Some stories were written as myths: Once again we must remember that this word myth does not express an advance verdict as to whether or not the story is true in fact. The Greeks used the word muthos to describe any narrative which told some story about heavenly and eternal things in terms of things of earth and time. In this sense the Temptation story and the Transfiguration story (Matthew 4:1-11; 17:2-8) are Myths because they bring on to the scene heavenly and eternal figures in circumstances of space and time (p. 61).

I remember studying the concept of “myth” in my secular courses on the history of philosophy, and 19th century religious thought, at the University of Pennsylvania. I also know that, young people today who grow up in upright, committed Christian homes are having their faith systematically destroyed – even in their freshman year, first semester – by ideas like this, taught not only in “Bible as literature” courses, but in any survey course on the history of western civilization.

How will a layperson know whether to buy Kay Arthur ($9.00) or William Barclay ($19.95)? Perhaps a Sunday School teacher or Bible study leader would take home both volumes. I suspect the layperson won’t buy Bruce Metzger’s The Text of the New Testament: Its Transmission, Corruption and Restoration (Third, Enlarged Edition, Oxford, $22.95), even though Metzger is a conservative witness in the British academic world (he was mentor to Ronald Fung and Che-Bin Tan, to name just two Chinese evangelical scholars in New Testament studies). Metzger’s book is highly academic, and the cover is uninvitingly light-green. Barclay’s cover had a beautiful painting, even though it was rather expensive.

Over in the “Christianity” section, the juxtaposition of evangelical, liberal, Catholic, radical and historical books was so intriguing and discouraging to me, that it prompted me to write this article. I paid a return visit to Borders just to do this. Let me illustrate with books from one single shelf, featuring authors whose last names begin with the letter “S”:

In the evangelical camp, there is R.C. Sproul, very well represented, with Renewing Your Mind: Basic Christian Beliefs You Need to Know (Baker, $11.00), and several other of his titles. John Stott (a world leader among evangelicals, despite his controversial view about hell) is here, with his Contemporary Christian (Inter Varsity, $15.99), which seeks to bridge Christ, the gospel, and the church with the world; and Christian Basics: Beginnings, Beliefs and Behavior (Baker, hardbound, $18.95). The second is a simple guide to the Christian faith for the new believer. John Stott also has a small book entitled Same-Sex Partnerships? A Christian Perspective (Revell, $8.00). 3

In the field of apologetics (evidentialist school) is Lee Strobel’s The Case For Christ: A Journalist’s Personal Investigation of the Evidence for Jesus (Harper Collins / Zondervan, $12.99). A non-Christian could well pick this up and have his preconceptions challenged about the Bible and true Christianity.

On the same shelf, however, is the radical Episcopal bishop from New Jersey, John Shelby Spong, an advocate of homosexual clergy in the church. His book, Here I Stand (Harper SanFrancisco, $25.00), carries a manifesto which declares: … those who know themselves to be gay or lesbian persons, and who do not choose to live alone, but forge relationships with partners of their choice that are faithful, monogamous, committed, life-giving, and holy are to be honored. We will continue to relate to these couples with our support, our pastoral care, our prayers, and our recognition, in whatever form is deemed appropriate, that God is indeed present in their life together. …. We are aware of the presence in the church of gay and lesbian clergy. We bear witness to the fact that they have served and continue to serve this church with effectiveness and integrity. Some of them are single; many more of them are living in committed partnerships. … By their willingness to accept and acknowledge their own sexual orientation and by the very witness of the committed nature of the lives they live with their partners, they have brought hope the hope and love of Christ to communities of people long oppressed, long denigrated, and long judged by various religious authorities to be inadequate human beings in whom the image of God is somehow flawed (p. 449). Spong has written another book, whose title is self-explanatory: Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism: A Bishop Rethinks the Meaning of Scripture (Harper San Francisco, $13.00). His hostility to Bible-believing Christians is obvious.

Catholic books are well represented in this section on “Christianity,” such as Catholic and Christian: An Explanation of Commonly Misunderstood Catholic Beliefs, by Alan Schreck (Servant, $11.00). It sounds like an attempt by a Catholic author to build the foundation of his laypeople’s beliefs. From the back cover we learn that Schreck is “associate professor of theology at the Franciscan University of Steubenville in Ohio. He holds the doctorate in theology from the University of St. Michael’s College in Toronto.”

The student of history may want to pick up a Penguin classic, Early Christian Writings ($11.95), containing writings by Ignatius, Polycarp, Barnabas, and the writing known as the Didache. A discerning undergraduate from an evangelical background, however, may raise the issue: Why are these writings not included in the New Testament canon? Who will be there to answer this question for him/her? I had the occasion of answering just this question recently, from an undergraduate studying in one of the most prestigious liberal arts colleges on the East Coast.

Also from the Penguin Classics series is The Life of Saint Teresa of Avila by Herself ($10.95). Indeed, many of the saints and monks in the Early and Medieval church are featured in this and many other bookstores. More distressing to me is the fact 4 that Chinese evangelical publishers in Asia are publishing these books, and evangelical pastors are promoting the reading of them – perhaps without adequate warning that Catholic and Eastern Orthodox authors do not share the same beliefs as evangelicals do on the doctrine of salvation, and the doctrine of Scripture.

So here are all these books – evangelical, Catholic, radically liberal, historical, academic – in the marketplace of ideas. When I was a child (late 1950s, early 1960s), the evangelical bookstore was poorly stocked. Then I went to college (1968-71), and Inter Varsity and Eerdmans began to put out many evangelical and academic volumes. Those were exciting times; but we all knew then, that secular bookstores would not carry Christian (evangelical) titles.

Then dawned the 21st century, where New Age religion and every shade of “Christianity” is represented in the supermarket of ideas. Evangelical publishers enter the marketplace, and some of them are bought by larger companies. What is a Christian layperson to do? What is a pastor to do?

With a strong foundation in biblical doctrine, apologetics, and the history of ideas, a lay Christian can be a wonderful witness to academics, post-modern young adults, and serious inquirers from around the world – all of whom can be found in any campus town in North America. But without an adequate foundation in biblical doctrine, a freshman from the best of Christian families can lose his/her faith. (I have witnessed this, alas, in real life.)

I call on the evangelical church to build a solid curriculum in Bible content, systematic doctrine and apologetics in their junior high and senior high Sunday School and fellowship programs. Parents and teachers may despair: perhaps we are not equipped ourselves; how can we teach? Well, we can learn together.

We are confronted with the most aggressive assault of paganism on the church in recent history. Our children are learning that being a witch can be fun (from elementary school libraries); our public school teachers can be evangelical Christian, Buddhist or gay. Our children are taught secular sex education as early as 5th grade; what are we teaching them? And what about the Bible and science?

Parents, teachers, and pastors: We can do something. We can begin with the Sunday School and fellowship programs which we conduct for our children and young people. We can begin at home. For parents who want to build their own theological foundation, they can obtain my bibliography, “Building Your Theological Foundation” (visit me at www.chinahorizon.org). This is a list of books (published in English and in Chinese) which will get you started. Do get started; we have no time to waste! But it is never too late.

“All Scripture is God-breathed, and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (II Timothy 3:16-17) 5

Question: How is the Word to be read and heard, that it may become effectual to salvation?

Answer: That the Word may become effectual to salvation, we must attend thereunto with diligence, preparation, and prayer; receive it with faith and love, lay it up in our hearts, and practice it in our lives. (From the Westminster Shorter Catechism)

Written at the Westwood Borders Bookstore, Los Angeles, California. (Tuesday, February 6, 2001)

Samuel Ling is president of China Horizon, an apologetics ministry based in Los Angeles. Visit him at www.chinahorizon.org. Download his writings there as well as at: http://samling.ccim.org.