Religion as Ice Cream

Going out for ice cream is an exciting activity for all ages on a hot summer day. Having to choose from dozens of flavors, sizes, cones and toppings can sometimes seem overwhelming, but we like all our choices! When going out for ice cream, the choice is up to you. You get to decide how much you want, what flavor and toppings and it is yours to simply enjoy.

Getting medicine on the other hand is a little different. While there are still dozens of choices, you are only looking for what your body actually needs. If your trouble is a migraine headache, for example, you will not want to invest in throat drops. Nor will you go for a box of bandaids if you have severe burns. Choosing medicine must be based on the need, not the want. So it is with religion. If religion is only used to meet a specific want, it not only loses its value, it is being used incorrectly.

The stem of this thought comes from scholar Greg Koukl, author and teacher at Biola University. Greg Koukl's thoughts and apologetics can all be found at str.org.

The difference between ice cream and medicine is quite obvious, and it may seem silly to compare it to religion. However, in our current culture, there seems to be a lot of emphasis on getting whatever you want. We like our choices. We like to the grocery aisle completely full of more than thirty different kinds of breakfast cereal. Some of us make our choices based on what tastes good, while others go for a low price, and yet others go for the healthiest choice to meet their physical needs.

Choosing cereal and ice cream can be difficult choices, even though they only involve our physical and sometimes emotional lives on earth.

Greg Koukl's theory is that choosing religion should not be based on the same method. Choosing a religion based on the cost, flavor and benefits directly coincides with the culture of self gratification. Whatever works for you is a common thought stream perpetuated by the media. However, when it comes to eternal destination, whatever works for you may not really work at all.

Indeed, believing whatever you want to believe is only rooted in your own likes and dislikes or whatever is popular. Koukl challenges this thought by recognizing the need for a belief in what is true, based on the fact that it is truth. Much like medicine, you must choose what heals and addresses the internal spiritual need.

It would also be foolish to go and pick out medicine for a serious ailment without consulting a doctor who is well educated and researched.

Another attitude addressed by Gregory Koukl is that people believe what they want to believe. We are fans of our own comfort, and why would we treat faith any differently? This doesn't mean we believe without reason, however, it is often belief without good reason. In other words, we jump on the cultural bandwagon when it comes to many moral issues, without ever examining the reasoning behind it. Koukl challenges people to know why they believe what they believe, to ask questions and research the basis of the answers.

Koukl also provides much evidence on the validity of the Holy Bible and provides many examples to debunk moral relativism.

The Bible is the best selling book of all time and has been translated into more languages than any other text for good reasons.

Another way that Koukl illustrates the cultural method of choosing a religion is through the fable of the blind men and the elephant.

The old story is about six traveling men who all happened to be blind. Each man touches the elephant and discovers one characteristic of the elephant. They argue about what an elephant is like because of their different perspectives and in the end, it is just an elephant and the men realize that they must compile their thinking and perspectives in order to discover what an elephant is really like.

Many people compare religion using this fable. They may say that all religions contain some truth and some aspect of God. It is similar to saying that religion is like the roots of a tree and that they all lead to God.

Unfortunately, religions cannot be viewed in this way. Mainly because there are religions which do not allow the teaching of other religions to be valid.

For example, Judaism teaches that Jesus is not the Messiah and Christianity teaches that He is. These two statements cannot both be true.

In the elephant fable, the king ends of being the one to inform the blind men of what the elephant really looks like.

Much like our own spiritual lives, we need the perspective of absolute truth coming from the King. We cannot simply look to other blind men and try to piece truth together because there will always be contradictory viewpoints.

For more information on apologetics and this topic, visit str.org and look into the validity of the Bible and why it stands to reason.