Battling for Allegiance
Why The Easter Answer Matters
by Stephen Kingsley, copyrighted
The following is a fictional story I wrote as I imagined a conversation between a young Christian and an atheist professor. Atheistic philosophy permates the secular campus and parents and pastors sending their kids off to school need to prepare them for difficult challenges like this one.
Aaron Bradley, a college freshman, stepped out of his dorm on a bright Saturday morning. Spring break was only a week away. The campus was buzzing with excitement. Aaron whistled a song of praise as he headed for a small coffee shop just off campus.
With his steaming vanilla latte in hand, Aaron chose to sit at a table on the outdoor patio near the sidewalk. It had become his habit to read the Bible for half an hour on Saturday mornings, something that he didn’t have much time for during the week. As Aaron took his Bible out of his backpack, he looked around to see whether anyone noticed him doing so. Aaron had found that an open Bible drew curious seekers. And Aaron loved to talk about his faith, and was ever ready.
A Christian home had molded Aaron well. He’d been raised going to Sunday school and Christian youth groups. Aaron was only nineteen, but knew what he wanted to do with his life. Thoughts of God, the Bible, and faith were always rolling through his thoughts. Every time Aaron looked out into his future, Christian ministry was all he could foresee. The particulars were a mystery, but he prayed for the Lord’s leading. The answers were coming. Aaron was certain.
Aaron turned to one of his favorite psalms and started reading. Only ten minutes passed when he noticed that someone had stopped near him. Aaron looked up into the smiling face of his English professor, Mr. Walker. He was wearing baggy sweat pants and a faded fraternity tee shirt. Startled to see the professor dressed so casually, Aaron blurted a quick, "Well hello, sir."
"Good morning," said Walker, friendly like. "Aaron, right?"
The young man nodded and said, "Aaron Bradley." He smiled and stuck out his hand.
After exchanging a warm handshake, Professor Walker said, "So you’re a Bible reader. Me too. But it’s not every day that you find a student reading a Bible in public. I’m intrigued. Mind if I join you?"
"Of course not." With an open hand Aaron welcomed Walker to his little table. "Since starting college I haven’t had much time for the Bible so I promised myself that I’d read it for at least half an hour on Saturday mornings." He watched Walker sit. "It’s such a beautiful morning I thought I’d get my caffeine fix on the patio here while getting in some Bible reading."
The top of Walker’s head was hairless and shiny. He was about sixty. Bespectacled, in bifocals. Thick black frames. The hair over his ears was slightly gray. He had narrow rounded shoulders and skinny legs. Sitting, his shirt was stretched over his belly. Aaron assumed the sweat pants was a comfort thing, not a matter of athletics.
Walker held up his cup of coffee with a grin. "I told my wife I was going out for a stroll, but she knew what I was really up to." He looked at Aaron’s Bible then back to his student. "So I take it you’re a Bible believer as well as a reader?"
"Absolutely," answered Aaron. "Aren’t you?"
"Well, I doubt I see it the same as you." He pointed to Aaron’s open Bible. "Maybe I could best explain by reading something to you?" Aaron couldn’t imagine what Walker meant and handed his Bible over to the professor.
Walker examined Aaron’s Bible. "Ah. I see you’re reading the New American Standard Bible. That’s good. It’s one of my favorites."
Walker flipped through the thin crisp pages. Aaron said, "I’ve collected several Bible versions, and my Bible software program has even more. I only regret not having more time to study." He shrugged. "Maybe someday."
Walker turned to first Corinthians chapter 15 and said, "Okay then. Here we go." He started reading out loud in verse 17. "And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied."
He laid Aaron’s Bible down on the table between them and closed it with a quick flip. Facing the young man squarely, Walker said, "Based on how poorly the Bible deals with the story behind its most important claim, that Jesus rose from the dead," his words deliberate; tone, sober, "I think people who buy into the whole Jesus-saved-me thing are to be pitied."
Aaron was stunned, like he’d been slapped. A moment of awkward silence passed between them as Aaron mulled over what his professor had said. Aaron finally spoke, "So, let me make sure I understand. You read the Bible, but you don’t believe in the resurrection of Jesus?"
"It did not happen," said the professor, confidently, watching Aaron closely.
Aaron wasn’t sure he wanted to get into this conversation with his English professor, but he had opened his Bible in a public place and had hoped it might lead to a chance to witness to someone. But his English professor?
I wasn’t expecting something like this, Aaron thought, and he’s eager to talk about it and he doesn’t believe it and he said it didn’t happen and if I try to get out of this he’ll know that I’m what? A coward or unable to handle myself and I have to challenge what he said because the resurrection did happen and I’m supposed to be standing up for it.
So Aaron sat straighter and squared his shoulders. He looked his professor in the eye, and asked, "If you don’t believe in the resurrection of Jesus, then why do you care about the Bible at all?"
"That Aaron, is a great question." The professor smiled easily. Aaron had done as he’d hoped. He had him right where he wanted him. He was about to give the young man’s naïve faith a good shaking. Walker continued, "Even though I’m an atheist, like many of my colleagues, I read and study the Bible carefully for the very reason that so many people in the world do believe it." Walker paused as if collecting his thoughts. "The influence of the Bible on the history and cultures of the world is immeasurable. Many of my students were raised as Christians, and as a teacher, I consider it a part of my duty to study the Bible and know what it says."
Like a good lawyer in a courtroom Walker knew the questions he was about to ask, and he knew what Aaron’s answers would be. This was familiar territory. First, the setup. "I take it you’re willing to discuss your faith with non-believers like me, so why don’t you explain to me why you believe Jesus literally rose from the dead." Walker smiled again. "Who knows? Maybe you can convince me." continued
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