Yes Christianity is the answer!

Justin Brierley has very judiciously recorded a fascinating swing of opinion among leading intellectuals like Jordan Peterson and Tom Holland. These thinkers and many others have recognised the radical necessity of a key statement in Genesis chapter 1:27 for the understanding of human nature today. This verse affirms “God created man in his own image”, and this and this alone, they realise, can properly undergird our necessary conviction that our human life has any value, significance, and purpose.

Without that basis, considering humans from a purely scientific perspective, we are nothing of importance at all. Juval Noah Harari has shown this: he is strong on analysis, but oh, so weak on hope – when he writes, for example, “to the best of our scientific understanding, the universe is a blind and purposeless process”; and “in a universe devoid of meaning, modern culture… is plagued by more existential angst than any previous culture”. “Scientists have reached the conclusion that there are no free individuals”. “Scientists cannot deliver ethical judgments”. He sums up, “as far as we can tell, from a purely scientific viewpoint, human life has absolutely no meaning”.

Wiser thinkers turn away from such purely “scientific” assessment, realising that our human reality cannot be reduced by such unliveable theories, to the level of animals or machines. So these new bright thinkers render a great service to us. Conscious of the inability of science and atheism to find any serious grounds for human value and meaning, these intellectuals are leading the way “back to the Bible”, returning to the marvellous concept of humans made in the image of God.

They are also confronted with a delicate problem, however: how can they benefit from this essential foundation of man’s true value without having honestly to admit the whole context of creation. If God created us, the necessary implication is that we are answerable to him. (That’s why many dislike the principle!)

This stresses out people like Jordan Peterson: he clearly sees this logical consequence and has oriented his life to live as if there is a God. This is honest, and he is a conscientious man. Others may still try to escape the inevitable logic, but if man is made in the image of God, God is our Maker. And we easily discern that the God who gave us a conscience will hold us responsible for our conduct. The same God of Genesis 1 is the God of Exodus 20 where he gives to humankind the Ten Commandments. The God who made us personal, with capacity for speech, is able to speak to us, and his Word is Truth, said Jesus. So here we have at last the key source of truth to understand our human value and to answer all our existential questions! To reject the rest of the Bible’s wisdom while holding to the foundation is illogical. You cannot agree to Genesis 1.27 and stay on the side-lines. Logical consistency demands that we give God his due place and listen to the whole biblical revelation. 

As leaders do that, they will see that many thinkers have got things wrong. If we are made in the image of God, our essential orientation must be towards God, receiving his love, learning his wisdom, obeying his will, and living in a right relationship with him. We came from the creative hand of God, and can only find our place when we put our hand in his.

Living consistently with the foundation of Genesis 1.27 is the only logical and hopeful course of action open to us. 

Clive Every-Clayton