If Christianity Was Proven True Would You Become a Christian?

Frank Turek, in his “lectures” (a word I use loosely, but is probably the most accurate word to describe it), is often asked how to deal with people who don’t find the evidence convincing. He offers the advice to ask the following question: “Ask this person if Christianity was proven to be true, would you become a Christian?” His point is that those who say no have a heart problem, rather than an evidence problem. I’d like to respond to this.

Let’s suppose that we had sufficient evidence to demonstrate that Christian is true, namely that:

Jesus Is God
There is an afterlife
What I believe about Jesus directly affects my afterlife

I would accept that these propositions are true, as I would no longer need faith to support these propositions. I could (at least by most Protestant standards) be considered a Christian, because of what I believe is true. But here’s the rub: I wouldn’t worship Jesus, and I most certainly wouldn’t become the sycophant that most Christians are. I would still think that Christianity is an immoral system, which requires me to accept an immoral sacrifice (I do not accept that it is moral to allow somebody else to suffer for my mistakes.) I also do not know if I would want to have a “relationship” with God.

Why is that? According to most Christians, God created the world in a state where he knew that we would sin, and fall short of whatever standard he has. He knew that most people in the world wouldn’t find the seemingly arbitrary set of rules that are required in order to be saved. God knew that the limited evidence we have for Christianity wouldn’t be sufficient for rational people, and essentially condemns those who use their brains.

Further, God would have known about the immense amount of suffering that would happen in the world. The idea that this is somehow the best possible world is not one I can easily accept. For these reason, I do not think that God deserves to be worshiped.

So, Frank, I would become a Christian in the most nominal sense of the word, but I doubt I would ever become a Christian like we see Christians as today: Blindly worshiping a being that really doesn’t appear to deserve it. Without having good reasons to believe that God is much better than what I understand the God of Christianity to be, I simply cannot worship, and love, God. In that sense, I can’t see myself becoming a Christian.