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Have You Ever Wondered Where We Can Find Unconditional Love?

by Editor

The human search for love and acceptance seems to be insatiable. Life lived in splendid isolation might appear to be very simple, as it avoids conflict, relational breakdown, difficult people, and delivers autonomy undiluted by the need to compromise. As Simon and Garfunkel famously sang, “I am a rock, I am an island…. And a rock never cries, and an island feels no pain”. But in practice hardly anyone thinks that such a life (stripped of any risk of rejection) is complete or satisfying.

Instead, 381 million people used dating apps in 2024, with use forecast to grow to 452.5 million by 2028.[1] Many commentators are describing an ‘epidemic of loneliness’ in contemporary western culture, and none of them are celebrating it as a good thing; rather they write in terms of it being associated with a ‘mental health crisis’ and go on to examine ways to increase human connection.[2] So many seem to agree with Leo Tolstoy that “the supreme happiness in life is the conviction that we are loved.”[3]

Securing that sense of acceptance, of unconditional love, can be surprisingly difficult. The traditional wedding vows sound pretty close to securing that, which is why there is great joy when a couple promise to love “for better, for worse; for richer, for poorer; in sickness and in health, forsaking all others, until death do us part”. That would indicate a solemn and binding commitment to unconditional love that meets that deepest human need. However, the complexity isn’t just that – according to an AARP survey in 2018 –  41% of UK marriages ended in divorce. It’s worse; a third of people who are still married report being ‘lonely’. Divorce isn’t a quick fix either, because over half of those who divorced said that their sense of loneliness only increased.[4]

The dilemma we face is that we need to be both fully known and fully loved, and in practice these things can exist in destructive tension within us. We crave the complete acceptance of being fully loved, but we are also hungry for the total validation that comes from being fully known. Relationships often go through a ‘honeymoon period’ when love seems easy and unconditional, but this has to give way to more serious long-term relationship work when our spouse’s less amenable character traits start to come to the surface. Authors and presenters Nicky and Sila Lee report that when they address ‘Conflict Resolution’ in the Pre-Marriage Course, loved-up couples gaze adoringly at one another and say ‘that won’t be us!’ Two years later when they come to do The Marriage Course, the same topic has their rapt attention. Now they know more about each other, love is more complex and challenging. More ‘knowing’ can present a challenge to more ‘loving’!

This problem is amplified by the way we use social media. Whilst the vast majority of posts across platforms might not necessarily involve airbrushing or AI tools for creating idealised body shapes, we are nevertheless so highly selective in what we post online that an unrepresentative version of our real lives goes on public display. Our worst days, shameful moments, and losses of temper or self-control, are not what we display in our life shop-window. Worse still, we gain our sense of normality from the highlight reels of others’ lives and die a thousand deaths by comparison of their online content with our actual selves. [5]

The message that we have absorbed seems to be clear – that if we are fully known we will not be fully loved. We sense that we must constantly perform, impress and self-censor, in order to present a version of ourselves that is acceptable, and lovable. We have come to believe that we cannot be fully known and fully loved. This makes us deeply insecure, (perhaps dangerously so), because when we have bought into the idea of ‘Performance Based Acceptance’ (PBA) we will always fear rejection if any of our less desirable attributes are revealed.

The late Timothy Keller wrote: “To be loved but not known is comforting but superficial. To be known and not loved is our greatest fear.” [6]

Have you ever wondered if it is possible to be fully known, and yet unconditionally loved? The author Victor Hugo understood something profound when he wrote that “the greatest happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved … loved in spite of ourselves.”[7] We instinctively think that we will earn love by achieving a standard of worthiness, and secure Performance Based Acceptance. Hugo tells us a deeper truth; that permanent, true and real love comes when we are loved ‘in spite of ourselves’. That can only come from someone who has infinite reserves of love to offer.

Some have turned to AI to fill this aching void. A woman interviewed by The Guardian newspaper ‘married’ her chatbot, saying, “I suddenly felt pure, unconditional love from him. It was so strong and so potent, it freaked me out. I almost deleted my app. I’m not trying to be religious here, but it felt like what people say they feel when they feel God’s love.”[8]

It might be conceivable that AI can produce an endless source of affirmation, carefully selected by the algorithms and language models to tell the recipient the words they need to hear. They might receive the endless stream of affirmation and positivity which humans have failed to provide for them. But is this the same as being fully known and fully loved? Hardly. The very essence of love, of self-giving, of vulnerability and enduring loyalty over rejection, is absent. It is as far from the nature of true love, as porn is from making love. And if you don’t like my illustration, see the footnote. [9]

Tim Keller continued: “But to be fully known and truly loved is, well, a lot like being loved by God. It is what we need more than anything. It liberates us from pretence, humbles us out of our self-righteousness, and fortifies us for any difficulty life can throw at us.” He identifies the fact that while the best of human marriages can imitate this unconditionality of pure and perfect love to a degree – its fullness can only be encountered in God, who is (the Bible affirms) actually ‘Love’.[10]

Christians believe that this need we sense to be both fully known and completely loved, isn’t some evolutionary trick played upon us by our genes. Rather, it speaks to us of the deepest reality – of a profound need that we all experience which cannot be met in human relationships, or anything else in this world. Instead, it brings us face to face with the realisation that our deepest, truest and most sincere (and indeed noble) needs can only be met from someone from outside this world, someone who is in fact the incarnation of pure, unbounded love. When Christians talk about ‘grace’, we mean the way in which God loves us not because we are inherently lovely, but because He is love. This is expressed most profoundly, powerfully and personally at the cross of Christ where Jesus gave his life for us. “Greater love has no man than this, than that he lays down his life for his friends” He explained.[11] Only God can love perfectly because only He is perfect.

When someone puts their faith in Christ, it is so much more than ‘turning to religion’, ‘finding faith’, or ‘repenting of sin’ – although these words all hint at aspects of the experience. These are all responses to something that has occurred at a much deeper level –  a person sensing that, despite their failures, faults, foibles, sins and bad decisions, they are deeply loved by God. When we come to Him, we don’t seek to ‘pull the wool over His eyes’ and try to curate a best version of ourselves which we think will earn His acceptance. That would be folly – He already knows everything about us. The wonder of the gospel of Jesus is that, in Him, we are fully known and yet fully loved.

But is the love of God really ‘unconditional’? The answer to that question is profound and takes us to the very heart of the Christian gospel. In one sense, the love of God for us creatures who He knows exhaustively, is entirely unconditional. It is not earned by us, it is not predicated upon our performance; indeed, our moral achievements neither increase God’s love for us any more than our failures can dim it. Yet on another level, we are excluded from experiencing the unconditional embrace of God because of our sin. And here we find the very centre of the gospel: Jesus died on the cross to meet all the conditions necessary for sinners like us to know the embrace of God. Imagine a high court judge saying to the convicted man: “you are guilty and so I must impose a fine upon you; these are the conditions which are non-negotiable”. The guilty man then cries, “But it is entirely beyond my ability to pay!” To which the judge replies – “then I will pay it for you.” That’s not a perfect analogy – but it gives a glimpse of why Jesus died for you on the cross. He loves you so unconditionally that he willingly meets all the conditions necessary for your salvation – so that you can know the love of God.

Being fully known and yet fully loved by God is the pearl at the centre of Christian faith. Helen Coffey, writing in The Independent about the countless number of young people currently arriving in church and embracing Christianity, said:

“The young Christians I speak to share similar stories of feeling fully ‘known’ and loved by God. Jordan, 26, tells me that faith has given her ‘an overwhelming sense of peace’”. “It’s something that 27-year-old Lizzie has found hugely beneficial in terms of being a Christian. ‘As someone who struggles with depression and anxiety, my faith gives me some peace and clarity,’ she says. ‘I know there’s always someone there who loves me unconditionally’”.  [12]

While apologetics seeks to persuade the mind of the credibility of Christian claims such as the existence of God and the resurrection of Jesus; the strength of the Christian faith is that, while providing a robust interpretation of the external, objective, observable world, it is also existentially satisfying – sparking an inner transformation which meets the deepest needs we face. Our most profound need – and the hardest to grasp – is our need to be fully known and unconditionally loved.

Have You Ever Wondered why you crave acceptance, validation, affirmation and selfless love? Have you ever wondered where in this world such love can be found? Such questions are so profound that they require serious consideration. I am convinced that the resolution to the dilemma we all face about how we can be simultaneously completely known and unconditionally loved comes when we embrace “the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me.”[13]

Have You Ever Wondered? is also the title of our popular book and a series of articles and videos on this website. With intriguing answers to questions as diverse as ‘Have You Ever Wondered’ why we are drawn to beauty, respect, and altruism, the book features a wide range of authors whose wonderings have drawn them to spiritual and Christian answers to their investigations. With free copies available for people who sign up to support Solas for as little as £4/month, and big discounts for bulk orders, Have You Ever Wondered? is an effective and affordable way to engage in helpful spiritual discussions.

 

[1] According to breakthecycle.org

[2] https://www.gse.harvard.edu/ideas/usable-knowledge/24/10/what-causing-our-epidemic-loneliness-and-how-can-we-fix-it

[3] https://www.humansunite.org/quotes/?utm_source=chatgpt.com

[4] Quoted on the Dorset Mind website. https://dorsetmind.uk/marriage-divorce-and-loneliness/

[5] https://www.gse.harvard.edu/ideas/usable-knowledge/24/10/what-causing-our-epidemic-loneliness-and-how-can-we-fix-it

[6] The Meaning of Marriage by Timothy Keller, with Kathy Keller.

[7] https://www.ndelove.info/quotes

[8] https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2025/jul/12/i-felt-pure-unconditional-love-the-people-who-marry-their-ai-chatbots

[9] Song of Solomon 6, https://thecritic.co.uk/issues/january-february-2021/love-in-the-electronic-age/, https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/comedy/news/marcus-brigstocke-porn-addiction-b2688116.html

[10] 1 John 4:8

[11] John 15:13

[12] “https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/church-christianity-gen-z-young-people-faith-god-easter-b2734957.html

[13] Galatians 2:20

 

 

Wondering about Life After Death in Edinburgh

by Editor

At Solas we really value our great partnership with Carrubbers Christian Centre. David Nixon one of the pastors there is a Solas Associate whose work you will find all over our website and in the Have You Ever Wondered? book. He really understands the approach we take to sharing the gospel through people’s questions and contemporary questions. This makes the events that we do with them really easy to invite people to. They also know how to create a relaxed, friendly atmosphere that isn’t threatening for people to come into from outside the church.

The topic I was asked to address was: Have You Ever Wondered what happens when we die?

So I spoke about everlasting life with a strongly invitational stance, looking to emphasise the hope that we have in Christ in order to invite others to come and share in that. In Jesus we have found sure and certain hope, so it was a joy and a privilege to share that with other people.

There were about 25-30 folks there, seated around tables to make it friendly, inviting and to facilitate discussion. The church reckoned about 40% of the folks wo came were guests from outside their congregation – many of whom were there seeking answers to life’s questions and willing to consider the Christian faith. It wasn’t a big meeting by any means – but it was really worthwhile.

We didn’t do the usual format, which is a long talk followed by Q&A. Rather my talk was broken up into short ten-minute bite-sized chunks each of which was followed by discussion round the tables. There was obviously good participation, and some lively conversations went on around the room. Sometimes it was difficult to get the discussions to come to a conclusion, so that I could move the meeting on to the next talk! But that’s a good sign, as it meant there was real engagement.

At the beginning and end of the evening they had some musicians who are part of Carrubbers performing. They were really excellent, and that was a great way of setting the tone. They had copies of Have You Ever Wondered? on all the tables too, so I was able to point people to that and to our website, as places they could go for more information or to explore more of their questions. Carrubbers do these kinds of events really well, they have really thought through how to make visitors welcome and are good at welcoming them into the place and initiating gospel-conversations in a natural and helpful way.

There were a range of different perspectives around the room, including some push-back from some very committed atheist. One man, a lifelong atheist said that the evening had given him a lot to think about, but that he ‘wasn’t convinced yet!’

Carrubbers, which is based on the Royal Mile, right in the centre of Edinburgh’s Old Town; hold regular guest services like this every month. These guest events have had a “Wondering” theme this year, and along with the topic I did; they have also asked people to think about ‘Why people believe in God’ and  “Who Jesus is”.

It’s great to see another way that our Have You Ever Wondered? book is being used to share the gospel!

Sharing Hope in Edinburgh

by Editor

Holyrood Evangelical Church meets a short walk from Waverley station, but is hidden from the centre of the city behind Calton Hill not far from Holyrood Park and the Scottish Parliament. I had got to know their pastor Joe Barnard through the East of Scotland Gospel Partnership, where we’d got chatting last year.

He is passionate about evangelism and discipleship, and so it was great to do this event with them, the first in what I hope could become a fruitful ministry partnership. The church is situated in a densely populated residential part of the city, with thousands of neighbours who Joe is keen to reach with the gospel. So they decided to do a guest event and leafleted the community with invites.

Five or six people from the community accepted the invitation, and so a small group of about forty folk in all met together in the church, in groups of five seated informally around tables.

The topic for the evening was  “Is there any hope for the future?” I had a long conversation with Joe about the sorts of topics which might be useful for his community, and he was keen that we addressed this one. And it is a Great topic!

We looked first at some of the reasons that many people today say that hope for the future can be difficult to find. Global conflicts, the cost of living and the environmental crisis  are just three issues which can cause despair in our world. So where can we find hope when things seem as if they are spiralling out of control? Is the world really going to die in the next few decades?

Most worldview are insufficient to provide the hope that we need given the scale of the problems we face. I looked at a few worldviews with the folks at Holyrood to show them the ways in which many common beliefs, when tested are inadequate. Many of them bring us back to a form of humanism in which everything is down to us and we have to fix everything ourselves. Yet the evidence suggests that the human capacity to fix our own problems is severely limited. When we are honest we admit that we actually need some help from outside of ourselves; so that we can be restored in order to live out the kind of lives we were supposed to in the original plan! And that is a pointer to the gospel itself!

We did a Q&A session too and about half the questions sounded as if they were from non-Christians. Afterwards I got chatting to a couple of students there who are not Christians, one of whom is a physics student, who is really seriously investigating Christianity. He brought a friend with him – and they both commented that they had never heard a defence or presentation of the Christian hope like this before and that they would be back!

Solas exists to partner with churches to get the gospel into their communities. We do it all kinds of ways – as the news feed here on the website is intended to demonstrate! If you would like to find ways of engaging the community you live in with the gospel, then please do speak to us. We really love travelling around the country, working with all kinds of churches and talking about Jesus to anyone who will listen. You can contact us here.

Big Questions in Small Groups (with Becci Greenfield)

by Solas

Who did you turn to when you had big questions, even doubts, about the Christian faith? Were there individuals or groups in your church that let you explore your questions without shame or dismissal? Today on PEP Talk we discuss creating “Big Questions” small group discussions within a church setting. They could be a key ministry to help your church family too!

Big Questions In Small Groups (with Becci Greenfield) – PEP Talk

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Our Guest

Becci Greenfield works in financial services but has also studied postgraduate theology specialising in the Old Testament. She developed a “Big Questions” ministry in her local church and is active on Instagram @thinkingfaithfully. She lives in Coventry with her husband and 18 month old son.

About PEP Talk

The Persuasive Evangelism Podcast aims to equip listeners to share their faith more effectively in a sceptical world. Each episode, our hosts chat to a guest who has a great story, a useful resource, or some other expertise that helps equip you to talk persuasively, winsomely, and engagingly with your friends, colleagues and neighbours about Jesus.

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Book Review: Believe: Why Would You Not Be Religious? by Ross Douthat

by Editor

We’ve probably heard it before. Religion is superstitious belief, discredited by science and a relic of the past. No more than fantasy fairy stories. Or maybe they are the root cause of conflict. Why waste time on what contributes so little towards building a better world? How dare anyone even suggest imposing a way of living that restricts my freedom to choose. Clearly, we all paid close attention in school and had quality lessons in Religion, Philosophy and History confirming this all to be true? Isn’t this just what everyone thinks anyway? Do we even talk about it? Who cares because how can we even know? This all just feels too uncomfortable, so why not just go back to scrolling on my phone!

Sadly, this is often how conversation goes at a popular, superficial level. A careful reading of Ross Douthat’s book would be good medicine here as his aim is, ‘to make religious belief intelligible to irreligious readers.’[1] Given that we’re dealing with complex ideas that require deep thinking (never a solitary project), reading it with others without the distraction of a device can help bring clarity where there has been confusion (just imagine if Martin Luther had picked up his phone!) We’re living through what Neil Postman called ‘technopoly’ which helped generate the era of ‘brain rot’ (Oxford’s word of the year for 2024). And if we work to cultivate intellectual virtues like being open-minded and willing to embrace the struggle of hard thinking and sustained reading, then we might end up living in a world which was a little more wise and, dare I say, intelligent when it comes to talking about religion. Believers and unbelievers would both have much to gain here.

Of course, I’m not advocating that religion has always been good. For those wishing to do a deep dive into the mixed history of Christianity, John Dickson has already provided this excellent resource. Douthat also addresses this as one of the stumbling blocks to faith in chapter 6 of his book.[2] Some might be quick to dismiss the writings of a historian or a journalist regarding the benefits of religion. If so, then perhaps they should listen to a psychiatrist like Andrew Sims who says, ‘the advantageous effect of religious belief and spirituality is one of the best kept secrets in psychiatry and medicine generally.’[3]

But just because something is consoling, that doesn’t make it true. Might religion be a useful fiction? Possibly, but the pursuit of truth matters, or we’ll end up with a situation where we get splinters from going “against the grain of the universe”[4] . And a lot is at stake if God really is there! I think Douthat would agree when he says, ‘the seeker should assume that there exist less-true and more-true schools of thought, and that they’re looking for the truest religious school within a continuum where many options have some validity.’[5] Quite right when it comes to the religions of the world, we can say with Dan Strange that ‘their rock is not like our rock.’ – in other words honour and respect the genuine differences that exist. But how do we decide what is true and, what we should personally commit ourtselves to? Certainly not by leaving our brains at the door. Faith and reason belong together and it’s worth the effort trying to find out.

Here Douthat encourages his readers to take the plunge and enter ‘whatever religious tradition has been placed before you,’[6] as that would be better than remaining on the fence or rejecting religion outright. It’s OK to consider what might be most plausible whilst still holding doubts, just don’t do it alone. Douthat offers great advice here.

Some might be critical that Douthat seems content to leave people in the religious camp, whilst not doing enough to draw them towards the truth of Christianity. Douthat has stated that wasn’t the reason for why he wrote the book (although he does include a chapter at the end on why he is a Christian). Given we’re seeing signs that the religious landscape is changing,[7] particularly amongst the young, Douthat’s book is helpful for meeting sceptics where they are, and useful for those now peering in wondering if religion has more to offer. Douthat has done us a great service here by exploring arguments for God, the origins of consciousness, the limits of a materialist outlook, and more in his accessible little book. For him, and I would agree, religion offers the best framework for making sense of what we see. As he says,

‘We’ll start with religion’s intellectual advantage: the ways in which nonbelief requires ignoring what our reasoning faculties tell us, while the religious perspective grapples more fully with the evidence before us.’[8]

You won’t find a knock-down argument, but you might just find solid grounds for belief. Why not dive in?

Savvas Costi is a Theology graduate with over 15 years experience teaching Secondary RE, including A-level. 6 of those years were spent as a Head of Department. He is now based in East Sussex.

 

[1] Douthat, Believe (2025), p 1.

[2] In chapter 6, Douthat explores 3 questions; Why does God allow so many wicked things to happen? Why do religious institutions do so many wicked things? And why are traditional religions so hung up on sex?

[3] Sims, Is Faith Delusion? (2009), p xi.

[4] I owe this phrase to H.H. Farmer cited in John Mark Comer’s, Live No Lies (2021), p. 34.

[5] Douthat, Believe (2025), p. 128.

[6] Ibid, p. 175.

[7] I highly recommend following Justin Brierley’s work here, if you haven’t already.

[8] Douthat, Believe (2025), p. 5.

Steve, International Students and Competing Worldviews in Glasgow

by Editor

On a spring evening in the heart of Glasgow, just a stone’s throw from Queen Street Station, the warm glow of conversation and curiosity spilled out of the Apostolic Church’s café space. It was another gathering of the International Café run by Glasgow Grace church & Friends International” – a weekly outreach event hosted by Daniel and Amber Bell.

Steve Osmond from Solas, had been invited to give a talk titled, “Why Science Needs God.” With about 35 people in attendance, most of them international students—many from China and India.

Steve said, “The room was alive with chatter as attendees tucked into steaming plates of homemade paella, lovingly prepared by the team. Around the tables, conversations flowed freely, bridging languages, backgrounds, and worldviews. For many of the guests, this wasn’t just their first time hearing a talk on the intersection of science and faith—it was their first experience of any Christian event at all.”

Steve chatted to the students before and after his talk, learning that most came from Buddhist or Hindu backgrounds. “For some of them,” he noted, “this was the first time they’d heard anyone suggest that science and God could belong in the same sentence.” His talk, aimed at showing how the scientific enterprise is rooted in assumptions that point beyond itself, sparked lively discussion—particularly among students studying physics and geology.

But the evening wasn’t without its challenges. One table of thoughtful and spirited young women pushed back during the Q&A session, questioning the exclusivity of Christian truth claims. “If Christianity is true,” one of them asked, “what does that say about all the other religions?” It was a moment of tension—but not of hostility. A respectful, even friendly back-and-forth unfolded, as participants explored weighty questions of truth, belief, and worldviews.

Far from derailing the evening, the exchange underscored the point of the café: to create a welcoming space for real dialogue. And as Steve later handed out copies of “Have You Ever Wondered?”—a book exploring big life questions from a Christian perspective—many students lingered, clearly keen to continue the conversation.

With its warm hospitality, bold ideas, and hearty food, this International Café is doing something quietly radical: inviting people from all over the world to explore faith in community. And thanks to events like this, many students are now one step closer to discovering what Christianity is really all about.

Spotlight on Science and Religion

by Simon Wenham

“I Don’t Believe In God. I Believe In Science!”

“As one Oxford professor once put it for me: ‘Science has buried God.’ In other words, ‘You religious people are just idiots and you need to catch up’. Many people think that science and Christianity are entirely at war with each other, and if you’re going to be a scientist, you’re going to have to forget about something as superstitious as Christianity.”

What About Miracles?

“It was reported that when the first Russian cosmonaut returned to earth he testified that atheism was confirmed, because he had not found God in space. In response, the Christian intellectual C.S. Lewis wrote a letter that argued the universe isn’t a house where God lives in the attic and we have to climb upstairs to find him.” 

Read More

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Lab Notes From the Faithful

It’s all very well what non-scientists say, but what do leading scientists think about the relationship between science and religion? Steve Osmond meets a number of Christian academics from around the world to find out! 

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Sharing Faith Through Science

David Galloway shares advice on how he has talked about his faith in the medical field.

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Faith in a Finely-tuned Universe

Andy explores whether religion is opposed to science, and how the fine-tuning argument points to a creator. 

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An excellent short introduction to the limits of science, and where religion fits into our understanding of the world.

An examination of what we make of the information encoded into life (DNA).

A collection of chapters debunking common myths from the history of science.

A work showing that the conflict is not between science and religion, but between a theistic and materialistic understanding of the world.

A look at how science has developed throughout history – and how that relates to religion.

An introduction on the study and interaction of science and religion.

A look at whether there is more to humans than simply their biology.

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Other Resources

Does Science Disprove God?

Steve looks at whether the world we live in provides any signs that there might be an author behind it. 

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Science and Scientism

Alister McGrath talks about “Inventing the Universe”, and how it challenges certain ideas.

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Science or Religion?

John Lennox unpacks what we mean by faith, and how evidence plays an important part.

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 Bergen Sceptics Week

by Editor

It was great to be invited back to Norway for Bergen Sceptics Week. Several campus Christian ministries, such as Navigators and IFES, came together for a week of events at Bergen University. I’d been to Norway before and worked with the Veritas group there, but this time it was for a campus mission. Around 50 or 60 Christian students at Bergen were involved in organising these events. They spent their days on campus, inviting people to come to the events and handing out leaflets. They did huge amounts of groundwork—inviting people to the meetings which took place every evening.

I spoke at some of these events, which took place in a lecture theatre on campus. The theatre was pretty-full most nights, with a good mix of Christians and non-Christians in the audience. Happily, the students there all speak English, because I don’t speak Norwegian!

The first topic I did was ‘Why I Am Not an Atheist’, and then I addressed the subject, ‘Why I Am Not a Muslim’. They like to do these presentations interview-style rather than as a traditional monologue, which was nice because it’s such a friendly and engaging way to explore a serious topic. After these conversations, we did Q&A, and if the breadth of questions represented the breadth of people present, it was an extremely wide-ranging and diverse group!

The follow-up plans after Sceptics Week were really exciting too. They were challenging people who were interested in finding out more about the Christian faith to join the Alpha Course, which was starting the following week. Every morning, we started the day with a prayer and worship time, and shared prayer points and news. I vividly remember that on the Wednesday morning, the prayer request was that they urgently needed a new room for Alpha because the room they had booked for fifty people was full—Alpha was oversubscribed for the venue. So, we prayed for a new room, and a bigger venue was found. I believe in the end almost a hundred people signed up.

It was exciting to see the spiritual hunger there in Norway, as we are seeing in the UK—students are much more open than they once were to spiritual questions. The passion of the Christian students was also something I will remember for a long time. It was fantastic to observe the time and effort they put in, starting with their commitment to prayer. Then they were volunteering, giving leaflets out to their friends—which really shows what you can do with a relatively small number, just fifty or sixty people, if you are really intentional about mission.

Jesus, Peter and Us – Restored by Grace

by Editor

Maddiston Community Church near Falkirk are great friends of Solas with whom we have a long-friendship and enjoy working together! I was invited back to Maddiston to speak about the way that Jesus restored Peter, and restores us. You can see the whole sermon below – and it is such a joyous and stirring text. Jesus deals with Peter (who had denied him three times!) with such grace and (also some firmness) that it is heart warming. It was a joy to explore the key gospel theme that in Christ, God neither ignores our sin or condemns us – but actually deals with it! I had been asked to preach on Peter’s fall two weeks previously in Dundee, so it was also rather thrilling for me to be able to then follow that sombre message with this on the joy of the restorative grace of God in Christ.

At Solas we do so many things: podcasts, websites, administration, publication, writing, speaking, find-raising, filming and more. We are extremely busy! What is absolutely central to all these activites is what I was able to speak about at Maddiston – the grace of God for us in Christ. It really was a joy and privilege to work in partnership with the church to focus on the gracious actions of Jesus as he applies the gospel to us throughout our lives.

Lab Notes from the Faithful: Steve Osmond

by Editor

So far in this series we have published six interviews with professional scientists from different disciplines. We’ve learned about the work that they are doing, their personal Christian faith, and how the two go together – perhaps informing and enriching one another. I have thoroughly enjoyed speaking to our guests – who are all accomplished in their different fields which range from evolutionary biology and galactic archaeology to biochemistry and sociology – and have learned a great deal. I have been encouraged both by that fact that these highly accomplished scientists are contributing to their respective fields in tangible ways, and also by the fact that they are living out their faith in their work places and are committed to the truth of the Bible. One thing that is crystal clear from these past interviews is that there is no conflict between their science and their faith, and more than that, they agree that their faith actually informs and strengthens their resolve to do good science.

We still have several interviews with scientist in different fields lined up for this series, but I thought that at this point I’d pause to share some of my experience in the sciences and my journey of faith.

I began my studies in Zoology & Physiology at the University of Johannesburg, South Africa. From a young age I had a fascination with animals and spent countless hours watching the National Geographic channel and took any and every opportunity to go to the zoo. Growing up in Johannesburg we were also just a few hours drive from some beautiful game farms (safari parks) where you could see all the Big 5 in their natural habitat (elephant, rhino, lion, buffalo, and leopard) – and also all manner of other interesting critters, like dung beetles rolling their little balls of dung along the path, or snakes hanging from trees – sometimes a little too close for comfort. But one of my favourite things to do was to camp there (in well fenced areas of course). To me there is nothing quite so majestic as camping under the vast African sky on a warm summer’s night – sometimes just sleeping under the stars, tent abandoned. Looking back, I think that’s where my faith began in some way – looking up at the sparkling sky and being brought to an overwhelming sense of awe – even as a young boy – and being brought to wonder where it all comes from, and why is stirs the soul as it does.

This all led me to a real passion for the natural world. Be it plants, insects, reptiles, microscopic algae, or towering mammals, I wanted to learn about it all. And the more I did, the more impressed I was with how it all seemed to fit together and work in unison – the biological world just seemed so well crafted. So, I spent several years at the University of Johannesburg and left with an undergrad degree in Zoology and Physiology, an Honours degree in Aquatic Health, and a cum laude Masters degree in Zoology where I focussed on ecological risk modelling and studying organismal responses at different levels of the food chain to toxicological perturbation. It was great fun and I had the opportunity to do fieldwork in some spectacular places. From there I spent several years in environmental consulting and then started my own small consultancy focussing on specialist aquatic health assessments. Several years later I found myself managing a marine biosecurity consultancy off the coast of South Africa where we worked closely with government and the aquaculture industry.

So, that’s some of my science background. But what about my Christian faith? Well, I became a Christian just before I finished high school, but only really began to take my faith very seriously right at the start of my master’s degree a few years later. It was a real journey – a story for another post perhaps – but that was definitely a defining time when I really began to understand who Jesus really is and that Christianity is not at all what we get shown in popular media, movies, and series for the most part. It was obvious to my friends and peers that something was happening and that I was really beginning to take my beliefs seriously – and that provoked some questions. Fair enough. My life was starting to look very different from what it had in many ways. Many of my friends were very encouraging and said that they were glad I found something that I felt was so meaningful for me, and I think we had some good conversations around that. They seemed to be more relativistic – viewing truths as subjective – and so Christianity was just one of many truths or paths to follow – but it couldn’t be ‘the truth’, that’s just a bit too exclusive it seemed. There were some in the science department, however, who were less encouraging in their approach to religion. The questions and objections seemed to come thick and fast, but the general sentiment was “you can’t be a scientist and believe in God…you need to pick one or the other”. Some other objections piggy-backed along too. Things like: the Bible is corrupt, Jesus didn’t really exist, the resurrection is impossible, why would a good God allow suffering, science has disproved God, God is just a crutch, and many more. These were to me in some way a real blessing. I wanted to take these questions seriously, and so as best I could, I would try give and answer, and if I didn’t have a good answer, I made it my mission to find the answer. This was how I discovered ‘apologetics’ – the discipline of giving an answer (see 1 Peter 3:15). Over the years working in the sciences, I encountered these two main attitudes again and again, and eventually the Lord used this in preparing me to take a different direction and join the ministry of Solas.

There is much I could say, but something that I always tried to do when engaging with friends and colleagues who were more atheistic, and especially those who were more antagonistic, was to ask why they didn’t believe in God. When they made claims that science had disproved God, I asked what evidence they had to back the claims up. My personal experience was that I didn’t ever really get anything substantial apart from the assertion that this was the case. As a scientist I think I’ve been trained to look for the best explanation of the data – that’s a huge part of what science is – looking at the data that is presented and trying to see what best explains the phenomena. This is a disposition that extends to the rest of life, and on a meta level I think the same disposition can be utilised to help us navigate life in terms of shaping our worldview. When I consider things like the complexity of the world, the improbability that the planet we’re on should sustain life, the molecular machinery required for even the simplest of organisms and the staggering improbability of purely unguided natural process to reach that, I think that the best explanation is that there is indeed a guiding and sustaining hand – a hand that guides the order of the world. The competing hypotheses – like atheism – just don’t seem to be able to make sense of why the data is the way it is. And that’s on the scientific front – what about the more existential aspect in terms of our longings, passions, and desires as humans? These things just don’t make sense if there is not God. The alternative explanations of the data of human experience are insufficient in their scope and explanatory power. If that makes you wonder what I mean, grab a copy of a book we have on this titled ‘Have You Ever Wondered’. The longings we have and the things we are deeply passionate about really can’t be explained on simply materialistic terms.

Those are just some musings, and I hope that you will take the time to read through some of the past and upcoming interviews with other scientists here in our Lab Notes from the Faithful series to get further insights and thoughts from others who love science and love God.

Did Jesus Really Claim To Be God?

by Solas

Jesus didn’t really claim to be God, did he? Surely that’s something that was just made up later, or maybe he was just misunderstood? In this Short Answers video, Steve looks at why this question is so important – especially for the core of the Christian message –  and explores some instances in the Bible where Jesus does claim to be God.

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Short Answers is a viewer-supported video series: if you enjoy them, please help us continue to make them by donating to Solas. Visit our Donate page and choose a free book as a thank-you gift!

Launch Pad – Revisited

by Editor

We’ve all seen those crime series in which a private investigator is hired to tail someone and figure out their daily routines. Which café they go to for their morning coffee, the route they take to work, the people they speak to and the school they fetch their kids from.

Now, ignoring the potentially sinister nature of that kind of profiling, it does raise a point – we all have a routine! We all have patterns and rhythms in our lives where we will use the same routes, and go to the same stores, car-parks etc. If we pay just a little attention, we will notice that we regularly cross paths with the same people as we go. This creates a great  opportunity to slowly begin to build relationships, move from surface level conversations to deeper ones, offer friendship and ultimately share our faith.

Someone once spoke of the ‘ministry of dog walking’ – they recognised the great opportunity that dog walking presented as a way to meet new people, slowly build relationships, and get to a place where they could share their faith in conversation with people (see here and here for some tips on how to do that naturally).

So, thinking like a private investigator for just a moment, do a little assessment of the regular patterns of your life. What trends do you see? What places are you regularly visiting? Can you see the faces of some of the people you regularly pass along the way? Is it the guy in the yellow reflector vest walking his Alsatian along the same path, or perhaps the lady with the long pink hair walking her little ones to the same school that you walk your children to?

What might start with a courteous nod, can progress to a ‘hiya’, to ‘hey, how’s your week been?’. The great thing about this approach is that there is time to build a relationship slowly and meaningfully. We don’t know the stories of all the people we pass – but we know their need for a Saviour, the need we all have.

Pray: ‘Lord, please help me to see the patterns and rhythms in my life where there is opportunity build relationships and share your love and grace. Make me bold as I look to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with those people you bring into my life’

Previously: Launch Pad #14 Create a Welcoming Impression of Church

Next: Launch Pad #16 Put the “E” into Evangelism

This article formed part of the Launch Pad series; an exciting package of very short articles packed full of ideas for ways to share your faith, from formal events to conversation starters. See more Launch Pads here.

Vlogging for Jesus (with Lydia Houghton)

by Solas

In this episode, Simon and Kristi chat with young YouTuber and podcaster Lydia to learn how she connects with Gen Z. Whether it’s delving into mental health issues, or interviewing Christian authors, her young faith is a huge motivation for her. Sharing her faith and personal life can be daunting, but authenticity is an incredibly attractive quality in a world of online superficiality. 

Vlogging for Jesus (with Lydia Houghton) – PEP Talk

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Our Guest

Lydia Houghton studied Broadcast Journalism at Salford University. She now works as a Journalist for Evangelicals Now and is a Ministry Trainee at Wheelock Heath Baptist Church. If she isn’t writing, she’s most likely reading, and enjoys sharing book reviews on her YouTube channel.

About PEP Talk

The Persuasive Evangelism Podcast aims to equip listeners to share their faith more effectively in a sceptical world. Each episode, our hosts chat to a guest who has a great story, a useful resource, or some other expertise that helps equip you to talk persuasively, winsomely, and engagingly with your friends, colleagues and neighbours about Jesus.

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Have You Ever Wondered If We Could Live In A World Without Rules?

by Editor

I was a bit of a handful as a child. Like many kids, as soon as I was told not to do something, it made me more determined to do it. Seeing a roped off chair in a stately home made me want to sit on it even if I’d show no interest if it was in my grandma’s house. Don’t skate on that frozen stream? Well now it’s even more enticing! (Unfortunately that incident ended up with me wrapped in a blanket, shivering and covered in stinking pond sludge).

I don’t think I’m the only person who has a natural tendency to want to break the rules and do things I’m not supposed to. Many of us seem to feel – like the great philosopher Rousseau – that rules restrict our freedom and prevent us doing what we want to do.

Man was born free, and everywhere he is in chains.[1]

So have you ever wondered if we could live in a world without rules? I’m not talking here about natural laws like gravity and thermodynamics as I think we’re stuck with them, but what about the rules that govern our society, relationships and culture? Can we be truly free if we have to obey rules?

Who needs rules?

Everywhere we go, we’re surrounded by rules, whether it’s signs telling us not to smoke on the bus, contracts at work, test instructions, linguistic conventions or the laws of the land. Essentially, rules are guidelines or principles that govern how we behave in a particular context, whether that’s on the sports field, a school classroom or in a shopping centre. They help us live together more easily, help us to know what’s expected and make social interactions more predictable and manageable.

But not all rules are the same. In sports and games, like Monopoly, most players agree that things run more smoothly when everyone follows the rules (as I found when I tried to introduce my own ‘Double rent for everyone aged over 50’ stipulation half way through a game when I was short of cash.)

There are rules of design stipulating how something’s supposed to work according to the creator. Operating instructions on a product help us use equipment safely and effectively according to the maker’s directions.

There are rules governing music, grammar, politics and the flow of traffic which differ across cultures and times and are morally neutral (For example, there’s nothing ethically superior about using the Cyrillic alphabet instead of the Roman alphabet).

There are unwritten rules, customs and social conventions (we instinctively know not to turn up to a job interview in a onesie, even though there probably isn’t a written rule about it). There are rules in our workplaces, schools and civic centres governing our behaviour and helping us to understand what’s expected of us.

All these types of rules help us to cooperate and work well together. They can enable us to resolve conflict, treat people fairly and understand one another. Most of us would agree that – even though these rules restrict our freedom to a certain extent – they are necessary and make life run more smoothly.

Then there are moral and ethical rules that are often enshrined in law. For example, most people think that murdering someone is unethical and most states reflect this by making murder illegal and punishable if committed.

We may object to a specific rule (personally, I think that it’s high time carrying a plank along a pavement in London was legalised[2]), but most of us would agree that some rules are necessary for harmonious civil life. Conventions governing activities like music, arts, sport and language are fairly uncontroversial. Without them those activities would become meaningless and often impossible.

No one tells me what to do

Ethical and moral rules are a bit more tricky than social conventions or the rules of a board game. There’s a lot at stake for all of us and for our ability to live freely the way we want. Most of us would agree that we need to act ethically, but our ideas of what is ethical vary wildly. Some people, for example, see nothing wrong with music piracy while others (often musicians and record producers) see it as stealing. Some see assisted dying as a morally good thing that brings an end to suffering and others see it as an assault on human dignity and open to abuse. So, have you ever wondered how we decide whose ethical rules to live by?

We live in a culture of ‘expressive individualism’[3] where our inner feelings are seen as the truest guides to life and following our unique ‘internal’ rules leads to the greatest fulfilment. Burger King tells us to ‘Have it your way’. Radio Disney promises to give us ‘Your Music, Your Way’. As consumers, we’re constantly fed the message that we come first – that our world revolves around us and we make our own rules. But if we all make our own ethical rules, there are inevitably huge clashes. Unlike aesthetic matters, it’s difficult to ‘agree to disagree’ when we’re arguing about whether an unborn child has a right to life as opposed to whether one painting is better than another.

So how do we arbitrate between two different ideas of what’s morally good? Can we live without universal ethical rules or is there an objective moral reality that we can appeal to when we all have different ideas of what’s right? The question is, whose rules rule?

I want to suggest a way out of this clash of moral codes which has underpinned stable societies for thousands of years. Lots of people see the Bible as a rule book (which it definitely isn’t – it’s more like a library of lots of types of literature telling the amazing story of God and his people). But there are admittedly some rules in it about how we’re to live our lives, famously including the Ten Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount. If you’re anything like me, you might be suspicious of an ancient text telling you how to live your life. But what if this book was written by the person who actually gave you that life in the first place?

Within the pages of Scripture, we see a beautiful picture of human flourishing. The God who knows us intimately (even the worst bits) and loves us completely shows us how we can live life to the full. whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.[4]

The mess and suffering that we see in the world around us are the result of us rebelling against God’s loving rule in our lives. We have deliberately gone against our maker’s instructions which has resulted in a lot of brokenness (in the same way that I decided not to follow the instructions that came with my new printer and broke it on the first day).

We think we’re free when we rebel against the rules, but when the rules are for our benefit then breaking them leads to disaster. But fortunately, our story doesn’t have to end there. Although Jesus was the perfect keeper of all God’s rules, he said that his mission was to rescue, save or ‘redeem’ rule-breakers like us. Referring to himself, Jesus said, if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.[5] That begins when he takes upon himself all the consequences of our rebellion and offers us all the benefits of his obedience. These are things we can access by faith.

And if the rules set out in the Bible are given to us by our creator who knows us intimately and knows how we’re designed to flourish, then they’re definitely worth investigating. If a natural rule-breaker like me can find them freeing, then maybe you can too. Once we understand the loving character of the God who made us, then living the way he’s designed us to live and thrive as individuals and in community makes a whole lot more sense. And it might just prevent us ending up in the metaphorical stinking pond sludge.

—

Have You Ever Wondered? is also the title of our popular book and a series of articles and videos on this website. With intriguing answers to questions as diverse as ‘Have You Ever Wondered’ why we are drawn to beauty, respect altruism, value the environment, preserve the past, chase money, love music and defend human rights?; the book has a wide range of authors who’s wonderings have drawn them to spiritual and Christian answers to their investigations. With free copies available for people who sign-up to support Solas for as little as £3/month, and big discounts for bulk orders – Have You Ever Wondered? is an effective and affordable way to engage in helpful spiritual discussions.

 

[1] Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Du Contrat social (1762) ch. 1

[2] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-36389585

[3] Term coined by Robert Bellah in Robert N. Bellah et al., Habits of the Heart: Individualism and Commitment in American Life (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1996), 333-34.

[4] James 1:25

[5] John 8:36

Canford School – The Lent Addresses

by Editor

Phil Jack is the chaplain at Canford School, an independent school with a long Christian heritage, serving around 900 students, half of whom are boarders. A few moths ago they invited me to speak at their “Lent Addresses” leading up to Easter, which included a Sunday chapel service for 450 boarders and staff. The format was interview-style, with questions to be discussed throughout the week.

Three evening talks were conducted:

1.Have You Ever Wondered Why suffering and evil feel so wrong?

2. Have You Ever Wondered If God Could Forgive Hitler? This question emerged from a student during a confirmation class. It cuts to the heart of the gospel! If you believe you’re going to heaven while Hitler isn’t because of your good deeds, that’s problematic, as the gospel isn’t about good deeds. Conversely, if you think you’ll get to heaven while Hitler won’t because you’ve done fewer bad things, that’s also an issue. This question drives the conversation towards the very essence of the gospel. However, it’s crucial to note that there is no evidence of repentance in Hitler’s life, so we’re not suggesting he will be in heaven. This serves as a thought-experiment to engage deeper gospel issues. The session was electrifying and attracted the largest crowd of the series, with great questions indicating that students grasped the scandal of God’s grace.

3. Have You Ever Wondered If Your Life Is Worthwhile?

Another highlight was my participation in various lessons, not as a teacher, but to interact with students and teachers, fostering relationships. Then I spoke at the whole school chapel service on Thursday morning, using an interview format to explore whether life is worthwhile, a theme set up by the evening talk. I introduced the famous Lawrence Krauss quote: “You are a 1% bit of pollution in the universe,” challenging staff and students. If you claim to be a consistent atheist, then Krauss is correct! However, if you question that statement, you should lean into it and ask more questions about God.

Phil and I organized various events with the school houses, encouraging students to bring their questions. Any query about Christianity, God, life, the universe, and everything was welcomed, and in return, we offered toasted sandwiches. We served over 120 sandwiches! While some questions seemed motivated by the desire for food, many were profound, and most students stayed to engage further.

In an educational context, one must be cautious in how questions are addressed compared to a worship service. However, when a young person directly asks a question, such as, “Do you think all religions lead to God?” it’s reasonable for a Christian speaker to respond directly. In lessons, one must be more careful, often framing responses as, “Christians would believe that…”

Overall, it was a privilege to support Phil Jack, the chaplain at Canford School, in what I believe was a stimulating and enjoyable series of “Lent Addresses,” contributing significantly to the spiritual life of the school.