When I was in college (and into my first few years of grad school), I had some serious questions about God, faith, and Christianity. I'm talking about questions related to the:
concept of God (Who is this being? How powerful is He? Why does He care about me? Does He answer prayers?)
origin of life (Where do I come from? Am I an evolved ape? How do I reconcile evolutionary biology with Christian faith?)
morality and ethics (Why should I be "good" when "bad or evil" people flourish? Why is there evil in the first place? Is morality a human construct?)
and the afterlife (What happens at the end of life? Are there Heaven and Hell? What happens to people who have never heard of the Gospel?)
I didn't have anyone around who could answer my questions (at least, that's what I thought). So, I kept the questions to myself.
I did find relevant and persuasive answers in books. For example, I found convincing and reasonable answers to most of my questions in C.S. Lewis' Mere Christianity. In addition, Josh McDowell's Evidence That Demands Verdict helped me to think through many questions (albeit not in-depth). In 1993, I heard Ravi Zacharias speak at the Urbana Student Missions Conference in Illinois. I felt elated and liberated to hear such a powerful and persuasive defense of Christianity. [Note: Zacharias has recently passed away and his posthumous revelations of moral failures and egregious sins have disgraced him so much so that we don't even mention his name. However, if we separate the man from his message, and consider his arguments in defense of Christianity for what it is, I think we can still find valuable and helpful insights.] Later, I read up on Christian philosophers and apologists such as J.P. Moreland, William Lane Craig, Lee Stroebel, Stephen Meyer, Michael Behe, John Lennox, Alvin Plantinga, Hugh Ross, etc. Based on such readings, I can confidently tell you that there are lots of reasonable, persuasive, logical, and scientific evidence that point to the God of the Bible as the Creator of the universe, Author of Life, Giver of moral standards, Savior of mankind, and the loving Father.
While questions about God and faith have remained relatively the same throughout human history, today's environment is exponentially more secular, more atheistic, and more anti-religion than ever before. We now have militant atheists and anti-theists who are bent on humiliating believers and dismissing all forms of religion as myths, folklores, and lies. Such folks use the Internet and social media aggressively (and skillfully) to influence young people who don't have the ability to think for themselves. That results in many young people between the ages of 12-20 walking away from their faith due to skepticism, unanswered questions, apparent silence from the pulpit or Sunday School teachers, and eventual acceptance of science as the only source of answers, rationality, and truths. I serve as the Head of School at New Covenant Academy (hereafter NCA). By interacting closely with our students, we discovered that doubts about Christianity start in pre-teen years. And, just like my experience, most students do not have anyone to turn to for answers. So, they just sit on their questions and doubts which later become the basis of their rejection of Christianity. Given this, NCA actively provides answers at Friday chapels. We also have an open-door policy on asking faith-related questions to teachers and admins. What we can't answer, we research together to arrive at the truth. We also freely share hundreds of books on Apologetics with students/parents who want to dig deeper. On top of that, we've invited guest speakers (Dr. Hugh Ross, Dr. Craig Hazen, Dr. Sean McDowell, to name a few) to address the school community. These speakers cover relevant topics (i.e., the problem of evil, the age of the universe/earth, the origin of morality, multiverse theory, fine-tuning of life and universe, etc.), and also field a wide range of questions from the audience. Their expertise and attestations have been informative, encouraging, and empowering. NCA will continue to encourage students to ask questions and concerns about faith and God because our students deserve to know the truth. I urge all parents and Christian educators to better inform themselves so that they can confidently and openly share their insights with young people. Let's not allow our own ignorance to lend credibility to their doubts.
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