“Good morning, Mr. Jones.”

“Good morning, Reverend Schnitzel.”

“That’s Sch-l-i-ss-el, Mr. Jones.”

“Er, uh, sorry. It is a nice day, isn’t it?”

“Yup. God sure gave us a beaut today.”

“Maybe we ought to keep to the weather. I know you’re a religious man, but I’m pretty much convinced that we’re on our own here. I think religion is basically a cop-out.”

“Opiate of the people, and all that, huh?”

“Yeah. I mean, I’ve got nothin’ against people believin’ in God if it makes them feel better, or whatever. But I’m more realistic.”

“Oh?”

“That’s right. When I was a kid I used to go to church and catechism class but now I see that life is what you make it. Experience has taught me a thing or two, and I guess if I had to have a ‘religious’ motto it would be ‘God helps those who help themselves.’”

“Mr. Jones, do you have a few minutes to sit down and chat. These are very important matters that we’re talking about and I feel that they deserve more than a front-door mention. Your eternal well-being is at stake here.”

“My, we are getting serious, aren’t we? All right. I’m about through with my run. Just have two more deliveries to make over in Bay Ridge. Why not? I suppose the milkman just might teach the preacher somethin’!”

“Fine, fine. Let’s sit down over here in the living room. Good. Now I want to share with you something that Jesus said. ‘I am the way, the truth and the life. No man comes unto the Father except by me.’”

“Well, that may be fine for you. That’s OK. I’ve got a lot of Christian friends, and I don’t mind them really. A couple of ‘em have even asked me to consider Jesus, and to tell you the truth, I’ve got no quarrel with most of His teachings. After all, who’s against peace and love and everything?’”

“Mr. Jones, some Christians might talk to you in a way that would encourage you to take a walk down that ‘way’ Jesus spoke about; some might encourage you to vacation there, so to speak, while you maintain your permanent residence somewhere else. I want to make it quite clear that what I’m going to ask you to do is not simply consider Jesus, or entertain Jesus, or use Jesus on desperate occasions. No. What I’m going to try to present to you is the message of the Bible which teaches us that we have to move lock, stock and barrel from where we’ve become accustomed to living, straight into the Kingdom of the Father, and that the only way there is via the Son. God commands you to repent and believe.”

“Whoa! That’s quite a mouthful for openers! But I think I can handle it. Not many people know this, Reverend, uh, Sch,li,ss,el, Reverend Schlissel, but I’m a MIT dropout. Before becoming a milkman I wanted to be a nuclear engineer. However, after reading three or four books by Ralph Nader, I decided delivering milk was more productive for my society. You see, even if there is a God, He knows I’m a pretty good guy, so I’m not worried.”

“Mr. Jones, what’s your first name?”

“Bartholomew, but you can call me ‘Bart.’”

“Fine. And you can call me Reverend Schlissel. HA! Just kidding. You can call me ‘Steve.’ You know, Bart, what you just said was a ‘mouthful’ (as you called it) at least equal to mine. Even in our first statements we’ve revealed that we look at life, and interpret it in RADICALLY different ways. Now one thing’s clear and for sure, don’t you think? We can’t BOTH be right. You talk about a God who may or may not exist, about the ability to be logical and rational without such a God as may or may not exist, and at the same time you seem to be concerned about justifying yourself before this God who may or may not call you into judgment. What I say, on the other hand, is that the God of the Bible is the God who created and sustains the heavens and the earth. Without Him, nothing else could conceivably exist, nothing could continue to exist. The fact that you and I are here, first presupposes that He created us. Secondly, unless the God of the Scripture exists, there is no such thing as “logic” or rationality or anything else. Statements, arguments, ethics, life—none of these have any meaning. Furthermore, your comment about your being a pretty good guy “demonstrates that you know full well, deep inside you, that the God I declare to you is your God, that He made you in His image, that you are not on good terms with Him, and that you seek, need, but do not find (on your terms) justification. I hope you will discover that Jesus Christ is the only solution to these problems.”

“Oh, I don’t agree at all . . .” “I didn’t think you would (yet , that is, I pray).”; “No. That will not do. The evidence is on my side.”

“What ‘evidence’?”

“Why, science, evolution, history. Things continue as they have since the beginning, developing under the guidance of Nature. Man is obviously, to any unbiased view, the key player in this arena. God has, is and will remain at best a dispensable question mark.”

“Letting your suggestive remark about ‘the beginning’ pass for now, I’d like to focus on that comment about ‘any UNBIASED view.’ Your statements and your current position are proof enough that there is no such thing as an ‘unbiased view.’ According to the Bible you have a very strong interest in denying the truths about God which you know because of your having been created in His image. When you look at the world, you seek not to understand it as God created it, but you first, before anything else, deny His ownership , though He’s left His name on everything everywhere. Again, it is quite obvious we cannot both be right; and I urge you to consider further the things I am saying, hoping that God, the Holy Spirit, will show you their veracity and bring you to repentance. For it is very sinful to deny God and the knowledge of God. Bart, on your principles, how can you know anything?”