In this post, we will tackle what is becoming one of the fastest-growing objections to the Faith. 

It goes something like, “I’m spiritual, not religious.” Our response, as with the other Analogous Apologetic posts, begins with a story.

The Analogy

A man was once sent by his wife to the local department store to pick up one of those “build at home” bar stools.

He brought it home, and immediately after pulling the parts out of the box, began to put it together.

When he was finished, he found a lot of “extra” screws and washers that he figured he just didn’t need. So, setting the bar stool upright, he decided to give it a try. It collapsed underneath him.

Why? Because those extra screws just weren’t so extra after all, which he would have known had he taken the time to read the instructions.

And, so it is with being spiritual and not religious.

The Explanation

If knowing how to put together bar stools and tables requires instructions, how much more do we need instructions to know God, who is infinitely more incomprehensible and inscrutable?

How could we possibly know, without Him telling us, what God is like in Himself, not to mention what He wants for us?

Moreover, without instructions from God (even if we could know quite a bit about Him) how could we know which of that information was “extra” and which was absolutely essential?

If we try and cut corners and figure things out by ourselves, we may, like the husband in the story, have unpleasant and unexpected results—forever.

So, we ought to ask, “has God, in fact, left us some instructions?” 

It turns out that He has. 

(for what follows, see the heading, “God Speaks” in the post, “Faith vs. Doubt”).