Book Highlight: Why Trust Jesus? by Dave Sterrett

Chapter Two:  Why Should I Trust Jesus When I’m Not Sure That a Supernatural God Is Real?

After firmly grounding us on truth in the previous chapter, Sterrett offers up the teleological, kalam cosmological and moral arguments to answer the question of this chapter. He gives a high level view of each of the arguments as follows:

Teleological Argument

Design can be inferred from what we see around us. Sterrett points to the fine tuning of the universe and the structure and order of DNA as examples. God has revealed Himself as the Intelligent Designer.

Kalam Cosmological Argument

1. Everything that had a beginning had a cause.
2. The universe had a beginning.
3. Therefore, the universe had a cause.

Premise one is the principle of causality. Sterrett states that science would be impossible without this principle and even David Hume did not deny it.

Premise two has been increasingly supported by scientific discoveries within the last century. He gives Hubble’s discovery of the red shift in 1927 as an example and discusses that discoveries like this have led people like Stephen Hawking and Robert Jastrow to believe in a universe that began.

The conclusion logically follows and Sterrett points out that it takes much more faith to believe that no one caused the universe than it does to believe that someone caused it. God has revealed Himself as the First Cause.

Moral Argument

Sterret appeals to our undeniable experience of an objective moral law. Every law has a lawgiver thus this moral law must have a moral lawgiver. God has revealed Himself as the Moral Lawgiver.

He concludes the chapter with a reason to trust Jesus. He asks the reader to examine themselves and see that they are unable to keep the moral law. God has revealed himself in Jesus and through Him He personally engaged our sinful human condition. He kept the moral law. Through His death He paid for our failure to keep the moral law. And He reconciled us to Himself through these two actions which culminated in His resurrection.

Stand firm in Christ,
Chase

Forthcoming:  A summary of Chapter Three:  Why Should I Trust Jesus When I Have Been Let Down So Many Times?

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