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A Response to “The Blasphemy Challenge” on YouTube - By Leo Sanchez
Dr. Leopoldo Sanchez addresses the activities of an athiest group called "The Blasphemy Challenge."
A Response to “The Blasphemy Challenge” on YouTube
Leopoldo A. Sánchez M.
It is not uncommon to speak of responses to popular works like The DaVinci Code and The Secret as “challenges” to the Christian faith. For sure, these writers sell to the public stories under respectable bookstore categories like “fiction,” “religion,” or “self-improvement” that are ultimately meant to be alternatives to the scriptural narrative of God’s salvation through Jesus Christ, who is the bearer and giver of the Holy Spirit. Every so often, however, a more overtly zealous group comes right out to challenge the Christian faith “in your face.”
Last Christmas, an activist atheist group which goes by the name of The Rational Response Squad launched a $25,000 campaign specifically enticing young people to post a video on YouTube denying the power and existence of the Holy Spirit. In a FAQ section of their website (www.blasphemychallenge.com), the group explains their rationale for targeting a young demographic: “As young people are the most vulnerable to religious indoctrination, we feel it is important to reach them with the concept of challenging the doctrine they are told to unquestioningly believe.” The following is a transcript of the Blasphemy Challenge as it appears on YouTube:
Hell is a terrible place. And you will go there if you are not forgiven by Jesus Christ. But He will forgive you for anything. With one exception…“Whoever blasphemes the Holy Spirit can never be forgiven” (Mark 3:29).
IF YOU DENY THE POWER OR EXISTENCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT YOU ARE DAMNED TO HELL FOREVER.
[A young man speaks:] “Three months ago I was a Christian. Through basic observation of the world around me and logical thinking, I’ve come to the conclusion that alongside the fact that there is no Santa Claus [and] there is no Easter Bunny there is also no God. So without further ado, my name is Chandler and I deny the existence of the Holy Spirit.”
THE RATIONAL RESPONSE SQUAD CHALLENGES YOU TO COMMIT THE UNFORGIVABLE SIN.
[People speak:] “I deny God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.” “I deny the Holy Spirit and Jesus.” “I deny the Holy Spirit…” [Narrator:] The Rational Response Squad wants you to make a short video declaring your independence from the stone age. Shoot your video and upload it to YouTube and we’ll send you a free copy of the hit documentary The God Who Wasn’t There on DVD. The DVD normally sells for $24.98 but it’s yours free when you make and upload your video. [The screen reads:] Your Price: One Soul. [Narrator:] If you already own a copy of The God Who Wasn’t There, remember it makes a great gift. Find out more at blasphemychallenge.com [A childlike voice is heard:] “I deny the Holy Spirit and I’m not afraid.”
Since the Blasphemy Challenge campaign was launched, 1,267 video responses have been uploaded on YouTube (mostly, to welcome the challenge), millions of viewers have checked out these videos, and thousands of people have taken the time to comment either positively or negatively on the videos. Faces of young people blaspheming the Holy Spirit are seen everywhere. At first, one wonders if these young people really know what they are actually saying or doing. One wants to believe that this stuff is innocent blabber. However, after watching more than a few of these videos, one gets a little bit more uncomfortable and even saddened by the stream of testimonials. Some claim to have been Christians at some point in their lives and seem quite deliberate about their decision to deny the Holy Spirit. Suddenly, the Blasphemy Challenge hits too close to home: A 15-year old girl says, “I deny the existence of God. I used to be a Lutheran.”
Brian Sapient and Kelly, who do not use their actual last names for fear of retribution, are co-founders of The Rational Response Squad—a grassroots movement that began as an underground radio show. They see themselves as atheists on a mission to liberate Christians from the bondage of religion, indoctrination, and superstition. In a Nightline interview, Brian stated plainly the reason for the challenge: “I want people to embrace reason.” In contrast to reason stands religion. Or as Kelly puts it, “You are religious or you’re not.” The zeal is evident in the group. True believers! When asked how long the Blasphemy Challenge would last, Brian commented: “Until the end of Christianity.” So this particular challenge might not the last one we’ll see from them.
In the meantime, however, it is critical to provide a theological and pastoral response to this daring “challenge” for young people to gamble with their souls—a dangerous move indeed. In a nutshell, the gospel references to the sin against the Holy Spirit seek to warn us against seeing and judging God’s gracious rule and work through His Son as the work of the devil. Jesus critics dared to interpret Jesus’ driving out of demons as the work of Satan. But Jesus says, “If I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then, the kingdom of God has come upon you” (Mt. 12.28). When such criticism—shall we say, skepticism—translates into unbelief and rejection of God’s gracious rule for us in Christ to a point of no return (a point of no repentance), the unforgivable sin against the Holy Spirit has been committed and eternal consequences follow. Two initial observations follow from this brief biblical sketch concerning the sin against the Holy Spirit.
First, one cannot ultimately deny the Holy Spirit without also denying the Son and the Father. Not surprisingly, many of the videos sent to YouTube show people denying the power and existence of all three persons of the Trinity. This move is not inconsistent with the biblical narrative in which the sin against the Holy Spirit amounts precisely to a final denial of the Father who rules among His people through Christ and by the power of the Holy Spirit. Second, one cannot ultimately deny the Holy Spirit without also denying the evil spirit or devil. Many of the videos sent to YouTube show young people denying the Holy Spirit and Satan (or for that matter, hell) at once—since these realities are seen as myths or superstition. Denying the existence of both is a consistent move to oppose the biblical narrative which shows the kingdom of God in Christ as a fight against the kingdom of Satan, a struggle in which Jesus, the stronger man, “ties up the strong man” to “steal his property” and “plunder his house” (Mt. 12:29). More seriously, however, the sin against the Holy Spirit is ultimately also an acceptance of Satan’s works and ways. It is one’s bondage to Satan. Even if one denies theoretically the power and existence of the Holy Spirit and the devil, this does not change the biblical and existential reality that humans are either bound to the Spirit of Christ or to the evil spirit, either in the kingdom or outside of the kingdom. These two observations above have theological and pastoral implications.
In the broader context of the biblical narrative, one cannot understand the sin against the Holy Spirit apart from unbelief in God’s merciful rule in Christ. In terms of pastoral practice, however, there is actually very little we can do with the theology of the sin against the Holy Spirit. What I mean is that we cannot make a judgment of the heart or a judgment call on those who have committed the unpardonable sin. Such knowledge is hidden from us (Deus absconditus). To restrain the flesh and prevent carnal security, pastors will certainly want to apply the Law to proud sinners and warn them against grieving the Holy Spirit. But warning against grieving the Holy Spirit is not the same as knowing for certain if a person has committed the unforgivable sin and are therefore outside of God’s merciful reach.
The other side of the affirmation concerning the sin against the Holy Spirit is the teaching that one can neither see Christ crucified as the wisdom of God apart from the Holy Spirit nor confess Jesus as Lord apart from the Holy Spirit. If life without the Spirit is rejection of Christ, then, life in the Spirit is living by faith in Christ. Since the pastor cannot ascertain who has denied the Holy Spirit forever, he simply moves to proclaim what God has clearly revealed to us in Jesus Christ (Deus revelatus). So what if that former Lutheran 15-year old girl who denied the Holy Spirit in YouTube came to your congregations 10 years from now and wondered if she will be damned forever? Here we run away from speculation on what God has not revealed to us. To those who wonder in despair if they have grieved the Holy Spirit to the point of no return, the pastor simply proclaims the Gospel, “Jesus loves you! You are forgiven!”
The second theological point that follows from our biblical sketch of the sin against the Holy Spirit is that one cannot finally claim to deny the Holy Spirit and pretend to free oneself from Satan at the same time—even if one does so in one’s mind. In the biblical narrative, Jesus’ critics and skeptics are not seen as neutral interpreters of events. They are in opposition to the kingdom of God and therefore to Jesus. To say, as Kelly does, that “you are religious or you’re not” is really a meaningless statement. The name of The Rational Response Squad tells a different story. As Brian Sapient puts it so well, “I want people to embrace reason.” Here reason has become “god.” Indeed, everybody is some kind of theologian because everyone—as Luther would say in his Large Catechism—has a god in whom he puts his trust and from whom he expects all things and answers in life. The 15-year old former Lutheran girl at one point in her video mentioned that, although she was no longer religious, she was learning some Eastern “philosophy of life.” No longer religious? Atheists too are true believers and, therefore, theologians—except that they speak about, to, and for another “god.”
From a pastoral perspective, the minister of the Word will want to unmask idols that drive people away from the Father who saves us through Christ and by the power of the Holy Spirit. Is “reason” the only idol that leads young people to deny the Holy Spirit? Not always. For some of the young people in the videos, the idol is “freedom” from parents who “make me go to church” for indoctrination or “freedom” from answering to God about my life and choices. For others the idol is “equality.” At times you can sense in the youth a frustration with the state of the present world and its many injustices. In the midst of their own struggles with theodicy questions, some feel moved to deny the existence of a God who can forgive child molesters and murderers but send you to hell if you deny the Holy Spirit—a form of protest atheism and agnosticism. By unmasking idols, the pastor will be able to offer people like the 15-year Lutheran girl a solid biblical framework for thinking about and practicing the proper use of reason, freedom, and equality. More broadly, by preaching and teaching, the pastor will always strive to help the sheep interpret their lives and the world around them through the lens of the scriptural narratives and their witness to God’s salvation through Jesus Christ, who is the bearer and giver of the Holy Spirit.
“Hide Your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity. Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from Your presence or take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation and grant me a willing spirit to sustain me” (Psalm 51.9-12).
Written By: host
Date Posted: 6/22/2007
Number of Views: 1424
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