How do I convince my dad to believe in God and in the Bible? Can apologetics help?
[Editor’s note: This question is very personal. I do not normally publish such personal questions, but have decided to do so because it provides a good example of how young Christians who are trying to learn how to defend their faith can help those that they are close to.]
Question:
First, I would like to express gratitude and appreciation for all the work you do and the content you put out to shed light on faith-related questions and topics. I am currently reading your book, “Is there a God?” (www.ipibooks.com) and I look forward to reading more! I am a young disciple of Jesus, currently living in Nigeria. My father, however, isn’t a disciple of Jesus, yet but has a keen interest in the history of Israel. Occasionally he asks questions about God, Jesus, heaven, etc., and he often says that the Bible is “nothing but Jewish fairytales.” These encounters with my Dad challenge me to dig deeper and has led me to develop an interest in Apologetics, which is why started reading in of your books. Recently, I forwarded the message below to my Dad and he responded with a question, which I would like you to shed more light on. The message I forwarded to my Dad is: “*COLD UNTIL AUGUST – TAKE NOTE:* *Starting tomorrow at 5:00 AM: for 27 hours we will experience the APHELION PHENOMENON.* *The Earth will be very far from the Sun* . *We cannot see the phenomenon, but we CAN feel its impact. It will last until the month of August.* *We will have colder weather than ever before, which can lead to flu, coughing, difficulty breathing, etc.* *We must boost our immunity by using plenty of vitamins and supplements to strengthen our health.* *The distance from the Earth to the Sun is normally 5 light-minutes or 90 million km.* *During the Aphelion phenomenon, we are 152 million km away from the Sun — that’s 66% further.* *The air will become colder, and our bodies are not used to this* temperature — it is a significant difference. *We must maintain our health as best we can. Whether it is cloudy or sunny, the cold will increase just the same!!!* *Please share this information with all your family and friends, as many people as possible, so they too can* take precautions. *LET’S TAKE CARE OF OURSELVES!!*” My Dad’s response was: “Thank you for sharing. If the sun can be that far from the Earth, then where is Heaven?” My reply to.his message was: “Which viewpoint are you looking at the heavens from? A physical or spiritual one? Consider the scripture below: Isaiah 55:8 – “My thoughts are completely different from yours,” says the LORD. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. Isaiah 55:9 – For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.” His response was: This does not answer my question. If anything, it simply implies that the concept of Heaven is abstract in much the same way as the concept of “God”. ….. Please, how would you advise me to approach this question? Do you have any material/content/book that you would recommend for me to read so that I can grow in my ability to respond to questions like this? What is your response to the question(s) raised by my Dad? Please pardon my lengthy message… I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Answer:
I am so glad you are looking into apologetics so that you can inform your own faith, first of all, and also help with your father’s faith.
I am sad to inform you that the information you gave your father is very inaccurate!!! The earth is in a slightly elliptical orbit. It varies between about 92.5 million miles and 93.5 million miles from the sun. This happens every year. We are very slightly closer to the sun when it is winter in the northern hemisphere, but summer in the southern hemisphere. It is absolutely and totally false to say that the earth changes from 90 to 152 million kilometers from the sun. I have no idea where you got this false idea from. The only thing I can think of is that the closest distance is 92.5 million miles (where you got the 90 million miles???), and the farthest distance is 93.5 million miles (which is 150 million kilometers). I am guessing someone mixed up the miles for the closest with kilometers for the farthest. So… You should immediately apologize to your father for giving him this false information. The difference in distance between the closest and farthest distance of the earth from the sun has no significant effect on the temperature of the earth. The problem is that this rather silly error you made will erode your father’s confidence in what you say.
About heaven, you are doing a much better job. Your father is making a mistake if he assumes that heaven, at this time, is a physical place like Nigeria or the moon or alpha centauri. But your father does have a good point, and I am not sure you are completely getting the point of Isaiah 55:9. In this passage, when Isaiah is talking about the “heavens,” he is talking about the sky, not heaven. The ancients called the sky, and the realm past the sky the “heavens.” We would call them the atmosphere and outer space. The “heavens” in this passage is, in a sense, a physical place. Isaiah is not talking about what we call heaven. What God is saying here is that, metaphorically, God is in a much “higher” realm than we are. But Isaiah is not talking about God being in a physically higher place. He is talking about God being in a spiritually higher place than we are. You are right in this part of what you are telling your dad. But, your dad is more experienced than you, and he might even be more educated than you, so you should be humble and careful to express yourself very wisely, otherwise he will not be willing to listen to you. Your zeal is awesome, but you should speak carefully to your father and be quite sure you know what you are talking about before speaking. Dad is testing you!!! He is right that the idea of heaven is abstract, as God is abstract. And to be completely honest, I think he was secretly chuckling at you when you made the false claim about the distance from the earth to the sun.
Also, almost every question that comes up, you will find an answer at my website, although you might have to do a search. For example, I did a search at my site for heavens (not heaven… heavens) and found several helpful articles you could have read. Take your time. Hold your tongue, and speak only when you are quite confident, and be sure you understand a passage well before you quote it to your father. You will have to take some time and be very wise to win back the respect of your father for your ideas.
John Oakes
