A creative tension - why the blog?

I do not want this blog to be about me. It's going to be about the bible, and the evidence for Christianity, and the interplay between faith, evidence, doubt, trust, sin, and thorny issues we'd rather pretend didn't exist (young earth creationism, anyone?). But so that you know where it's coming from... here's the raison d'etre.

1) Christianity is not an abstract set of ideas with no foundation in the observable, testable realms of history and science. It is about a relationship with a God who entered human history. This means (thankfully) that doubters do not have to be told to shut up and go away, lest the whole edifice come crumbling down around everyone's ears. God is not afraid of being "found out". At least in principle, healthy scepticism can be just that and the church is stronger for facing up to and answering criticism and intellectual debate. The whole western approach to scientific study was fostered in the Christian worldview that said "the world is a rational place, created by a God of order, and it's a good thing to ask questions and find out about it".

2) As a Christian I have come to believe that there is no proverbial fence to sit on. There is no such thing as the dispassionate observer when it comes to matters of heaven and hell, life and death. After years of struggling in my faith and having been unable to come up with a disproof of the Christian message it seems that the best course of action is to put my trust wholly in my creator God. This is summed up well in Isaiah 29 and 30 where there is -

- an explanation of the absurdity of doubting God's existence:

You turn things upside down, as if the potter were thought to be like the clay!
Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, "He did not make me"?
Can the pot say of the potter, "He knows nothing"?

- a dire warning of the consequences of rejecting the truth of the gospel:

Because you have rejected this message, relied on oppression, and depended on deceit, this sin will become for you like a high wall, cracked and bulging that collapses suddenly, in an instant.

- and an amazing promise

In repentance and rest is your salvation,
in quietness and trust is your strength,
but you would have none of it....
... Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you;
he rises to show you compassion,
For the Lord is a God of justice,
Blessed are all who wait for him.


So God willing, this blog will attempt to work through some doubts and questions, but prayerfully, reverently, in the spirit of Deuteronomy 29:29

The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children for ever, that we may follow all the words of this law.

To finish, a note to kind readers.

Firstly - little of this blog will be original - much credit should go to good friends like Helen R, Mark W, Phil B, Vicky B, Jud P and many others who kindly thrash things out with me. Many of the thoughts not nicked from Christian friends will have come from the UCCF bethinking website, and authors of such books as F.F. Bruce's "Are the NT documents reliable?" or Strobel's "Case for Christ". I'll try to attribute things as I go along, but I'm not always great at remembering who said what...

Secondly - I would value the help of my brothers and sisters in bringing me up short if this blog degenerates into tedious or unhelpful introspection or self-pity, or if you think I'm not getting the tension right in reverence/questioning. Also, any thoughts on topics addressed are gratefully received. I am eternally grateful for good friends who have personified both aspects of the command in the letter of Jude:

Be merciful to those who doubt; snatch others from the fire and save them; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.