The pit bull has a mixed reputation among dog breeds. Many owners insist that they are gentle by nature and angered only when provoked. But many pit bulls are bred to be fighting dogs. In the first five months of 2013, pit bulls were responsible for 93 percent of all dog bite fatalities that occurred.
Just as pit bulls have their own particular reputation, the Bible also has its own reputation regarding the supernatural.
Out of the Enlightenment Period in the 18th Century came this assertion: "The God hypothesis is no longer necessary to explain the origin of the universe or the development of human life." God's existence was seen as no longer necessary because He had been supplanted by the "science" of that period that explained the universe in terms of spontaneous generation.
Added to this, came agnosticism by the philosopher Immanuel Kant, who argued that it is impossible for science or philosophy to acquire knowledge of the metaphysical realm of God. It was declared that all knowledge must be restricted to the realm of the natural. With the combination of Kant's agnosticism and the hypothesis of the Enlightenment, the door was open wide to a thoroughgoing philosophy of naturalism that left no imagination for the miraculous.
Out of this came nineteenth-century liberalism with its militant anti-supernatural perspective. The liberalism of that era denied all of the supernatural elements of the Christian faith, including the virgin birth of Jesus, His miracles, His atoning death, and His resurrection. These are at the core of the Christian faith.
The impact of liberalism on the church left it basically as a worldly, nature-bound religion that sought refuge in a humanitarian social agenda. The church was content with preaching a social gospel and embraced liberation theology. This is the approach to Christianity that has all but completely captured many of today's mainline denominations throughout the world.
Thankfully, in the last few decades, we have witnessed a comeback of the supernatural. Yet this increasing interest in the supernatural has been driven in large measure by a fascination with the occult. People are now interested in demons, witches, spiritualists, and other occultic phenomena.
The Christianity of the Bible is a religion that is uncompromisingly supernatural. If we take away the supernatural, we take away Christianity. At the heart of the worldview of both the Old and New Testament is the idea that the realm of nature is created by the God who transcends that nature.
With the renewed interest in the supernatural that comes with the occult, we must be ever vigilant to make sure that whatever understanding we have of the supernatural is an understanding that is informed by the Bible and not by paganism, liberalism or materialism.
What we need is an understanding of the supernatural that comes to us from the supernatural -- from the God of the supernatural, who reveals to us in His Word the content of the supernatural realm — so that our understanding of angels, or demons, or of spiritual beings comes from biblical revelation and not from human speculation, or other forms of pagan intrusions.
Therefore, we must insist that without the supernatural, Christianity loses its very heart and soul. We pastors must teach our people to live, not merely normal lives, but supernatural lives expecting supernatural encounters with the God of the Bible.
When Jesus entered the world for the first time through what is known as the incarnation (Philip. 2:6-8), it was through a supernatural process -- a virgin conception with no aid from a man whatsoever (Luke 1:34-35).
Nevertheless, we must also teach people to not accept all supernatural encounters as those being legit and of God. Satan is quite clever and has used signs and wonders to lead many people astray. Walking with God will have supernatural encounters – and such we should not fear to embrace.
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