J. B. Phillip's classic description of contemporary theology is appropriately titled, Your God Is Too Small. Phillips traces some of the most popular pictures of God today: a resident policeman, passing out tickets to unsuspecting motorists; a "parental hangover" from our days as children; a "grand old man" who has little to do with his grandchildren; a "meek-and-mild" Jesus who would never judge or condemn us; and "God-in-a-box," limited to our understanding and experience.

Phillips concludes his argument for the miraculous God of Scripture by answering the charge: "Critics often complain that if the world is in its present state after nineteen centuries of Christianity, then it cannot be a very good religion." He points out that Christianity has never been in a position to control the "state of the world." Then he makes an assertion especially appropriate to our subject:

They misunderstand the nature of Christianity. It is not to be judged by its success or failure to reform the world which rejects it. If it failed where it is accepted there might be grounds for complaint, but it does not so fail. It is a revelation of the true way of living, the way to know God, the way to live life of eternal quality, and is not to be regarded as a handy social instrument for reducing juvenile delinquency or the divorce rate. . . . The religion of Jesus Christ changes people (if they are willing to pay the price of being changed) so that they quite naturally and normally live as "sons and daughters of God," and of course they exert an excellent influence on the community. But if real Christianity fails, it fails for the same reasons that Christ failed--and any condemnation rightly falls on the world which rejects both Him and it.

The miraculous nature of the Christian faith is not to be judged by those who reject its message and power. In fact, they are in the worst possible position to render an appropriate verdict. Those who have experienced the miraculous God personally know that his word changes lives. They know that they can trust the authority of the Scriptures, for they have met their Author. And they say with the blind man, "One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!" (Jn 9:25).

We know the sun exists on a cloudy day, not because we can see it, but because we can see everything else in its light.

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