The following is an edited extract from The Gospel According to Christ’s Enemies, recently published by Banner of Truth.
‘Christianity is for simple people’
This is another example of the gospel being expressed by Christ’s enemies. It is intended as a criticism, implying that the gospel only appeals to unthinking or unsophisticated people, but we would agree with it; Christianity is for simple people.
When Jesus had miraculously given sight to a man who had been blind from birth, people couldn’t believe that the sighted man was the very one who used to sit at the roadside begging.
They asked his parents, who simply said that they didn’t understand what had happened, but, ‘Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.’ They did so, and the man said that there were many things he couldn’t understand, but ‘one thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see’ (John 9:25).
The story goes on to tell of the man finding out more about Jesus and becoming one of his followers. As someone who had been blind from birth, he would have received little, if any, education.
In a sense, therefore, he was a simple person, and he illustrates this theme that the gospel is indeed for simple people. Of course, it is not only for simple people, but thankfully faith and discipleship do not depend on the level of one’s education or intellect.
‘Christianity is for intellectuals’
Strangely, the opposite attitude is also sometimes expressed as a criticism of the Christian message, as some allege that Christianity is for intellectuals. The idea is that Christianity is for sophisticated and educated people and not for simple folk.
