How Do We Know God Exists? Look At The Good His Church Has Done In The World

R. Dwain Minor - October 17, 2024

When Christianity is discussed, one of the objections that immediately comes up is that Christians have done many horrific things in the world. The question is “If Christianity is true then why have Christians done so many bad things?” And, I felt that this would be a good time to discuss this very thing.

No Presumptions Allowed

I believe that we make a mistake by assuming the premise of the argument. I’m not saying that Christians have been perfect through the ages. Nor am I saying that all people are Christians that do things in the name of Jesus. But what I am saying is that, if you are not completely ignorant of the facts it is easy to see that Christianity is a force for good in the world. And it has been from the beginning.

It’s like the presumptive questions that you’ll sometimes see in an interview. The example given when discussing this is the question, “When did you stop beating your wife?” The question assumes that the person is beating his wife. And if the man does not beat his wife, then the only right way to answer the question is to not really answer the question and say, “I never have beat my wife.”

When someone says “If Christianity is true then why have Christians been so evil?”, my first response is that Christians have done an incredible amount of good in the world. In fact, the person asking the question would hate to live in a world that was void of the goodness that Christians have brought to it.

One Example From Today: Southern Baptist Disaster Relief

In the backdrop of my mind is the Southern Baptist response to natural disasters. Southern Baptists were able to set up 23 response sites with volunteers from 14 states, Arkansas being one of them. Some of them are feeding folks, some are manning shower trailers, some are manning laundry trailers, and some are cutting and hauling off debris.[1] I don’t know how many people are going to go and help with the disaster that came about due to Helene. But looking back, Southern Baptists have helped a lot with these sorts of things. 21,000 Southern Baptists went to Hurricane Katrina and helped with hot meals, purifying water, caring for children, cutting up debris, providing showers, a place to wash laundry, and a team to deliver messages via ham radio because all the wired and wireless communication was down.[2]

And why did the Southern Baptists do this? Well, they say it on the website.

“Southern Baptist Disaster Relief is a Christian network bringing help, hope, and healing to people in crisis. We are comprised of volunteers who go out of their way to care for those who have been affected by a disaster.

We network together across various states to accomplish our work together without a cost to those who have been affected because of the generous support of Southern Baptists!”[3]

That is incredible. And it happens through giving to the different Baptist State Conventions and the Cooperative Program.

It started small within the Southern Baptist Convention but has grown to a rather large size. 2017 was the first year that they trained more volunteers than the Red Cross.[4] It is a gradual growth that has grown to an enormous size.

Why do I mention this?

Because it is an example of the enormous good that Christians do in the world.

It’s What Christians Do

On Facebook a person was looking for a place to do volunteer hours and couldn’t find anything not associated with a church. They are out there. But you must look with some intentionality to find it.

Here in Conway, Arkansas. Most of the Food Banks are run by Christian organizations. Some of them are liberal in their orientation, but they at least have a Christian heritage that their desire to help others flow out of. A quick google search of food banks in Conway, Arkansas helps us to understand this.

Greater Pleasant Branch Baptist Church
Grace Methodist Church of Conway
First UMC Conway
The Salvation Army—is a Christian organization, it tempers that message quite a lot, but it’s beginnings were about evangelization and helping the poor.
Peter’s Episcopal Church
Central Baptist Church
Soul Food Café Mission—Christian organization.
Capca—The Community Action Program Conway, Arkansas—not a Christian organization.

I have lived in a few different places here in Arkansas, and I can say that it was similar in all those locations. It was Christians and churches that were doing most of the help for those in need.

A few year’s ago, it was found that 60% of the homeless shelter beds were provided by Christian organizations.[5] That’s a lot. And it doesn’t take into consideration the Christians that gave money toward the cause. This is just Christian organizations. And a study back in 2021 stated that almost half of all churches participated in some sort of food distribution program. That could be having a food bank, giving to food banks, or helping food banks.[6]

A 2022 public health study was very concerned with declining church attendance in the United States. The reason is that so many people rely upon food banks provided by Christians. They studied food pantries in 12 states and their findings were concerning.

“In conclusion, food pantries in these 12 states are mostly set in urban areas, and affiliated with Judeo-Christian organizations. Their operation hours vary considerably; however, many are open at least once a week….However, the extent to which the existence of food pantries is dependent on faith-based communities and associated volunteers is concerning given the precarity of operations and declines in church participation.”[7]

It is intriguing that, after spending a considerable amount of effort criticizing churches and attempting to drag Christianity through the mud, they understand that there will be considerable problems if American Church attendance continues to decline.

The concern found in studies like this one indicates that they actually believe Christians are doing a lot of good for our society.

If You’ve Benefitted From Healthcare, Thank A Christian

In 325 AD the Council of Nicea occurred. At that time many important decisions were made that would impact history. It is a famous one due to the theological heresy being dealt with at the time concerning the Doctrine of the Trinity. It was over the doctrine of the Trinity that the legend of Jolly Old Saint Nick punching the heretic Arius was born.

It was a meeting of Church leaders that came together to make decisions that involved the direction of the Church. At this time Christianity wasn’t yet split by denominations. And they did deal with these things as much as they could, like the Jerusalem Council in the Book of Acts.

They didn’t just talk about theological matters. They also discussed a few other issues. And one of them was the infancy of healthcare as we know it today.

“If anyone in sickness has undergone surgery at the hands of physicians or has been castrated by barbarians, let him remain among the clergy….”[8]

From here, it seems that the Church expanded its healthcare. Basil of Caesarea is often credited with building the first hospital in 369 AD. He is one of the men that stood against Arius after the First Council of Nicea and upheld the Bible’s teaching on the Doctrine of the Trinity.

At the time there was a great famine, and Christians would go out and search for the sick in the city. They taught skills for work while recuperating so that when they got well, the people were able to go and work in a trade.[9]

Earlier I said that Basil of Caesarea is “credited with building the first hospital” because another ancient Christian is often credited with building the first hospital. Her name was Fabiola.

What little we know of Fabiola comes from her Eulogy. But it seems that after her second husband died, she was left with a tremendous amount of wealth. And it was at this time that she converted to Christianity. At the time there was health care, but not everyone could get it. Both Basil and Fabiola understood this. These hospitals were a real effort to get healthcare to the poor that could not afford it.

Fabiola sold off her tremendous wealth and used it to help the poor. Jerome was the pastor that gave her eulogy. And here is what he said about her after she converted to Christ.

“Instead therefore of re-embarking on her old life, she broke up and sold all that she could lay hands on of her property (it was large and suitable to her rank), and turning it into money she laid out this for the benefit of the poor. She was the first person to found a hospital, into which she might gather sufferers out of the streets, and where she might nurse the unfortunate victims of sickness and want. Need I now recount the various ailments of human beings? Need I speak of noses slit, eyes put out, feet half burnt, hands covered with sores? Or of limbs dropsical and atrophied? Or of diseased flesh alive with worms? Often did she carry on her own shoulders persons infected with jaundice or with filth. Often too did she wash away the matter discharged from wounds which others, even though men, could not bear to look at. She gave food to her patients with her own hand, and moistened the scarce breathing lips of the dying with sips of liquid.”[10]

This is probably the second hospital. It was created around 390. But news didn’t travel far back then. But the reality is that it looked more like hospitals today, probably serving more people.

Throughout the middle ages hospitals were more often associated with Monastaries. In fact, Benedictine Monks highly prioritized this practice. And so, most of the hospitals in the Western World were associated with Monastaries and the pastors were not really part of the work anymore.

As I was preparing for this, I ran across an interesting bit of information. Christian healthcare influenced Islam. After observing the great work Christians were doing, they began erecting their own hospitals. The first of which was in 750 AD.[11] I mention this because people in our day tend to credit Islam with their work in hospitals. But it was Christianity that influenced Islam. It’s a funny fact to know in a day when people will do anything to discredit Christianity.

The first hospital in America was founded in Philadelphia by Ben Franklin and the Quaker, Thomas Bond.[12] Quakers were a group that sprang out of Christianity that were led by the “inner light” of the Holy Spirit. Today it seems that they followed their innards right into believing nothing at all. But at least in the beginning they were very Christian in their orientation.[13]

Much more could be said about this. But Christianity’s influence on medical care has been immense. Nursing as we know it today began as a Christian endeavor. It began in the very hospitals we mentioned earlier. There is just too much to cover here in a post that’s already become quite long. So I will fast forward to today.

As I fast forward to today and think about hospitals, there are a whole lot of them that were founded by Christian organizations. You just have to look around a little ot see it. In fact, Baptist Health was founded in 1919 by our very own Arkansas Baptist State Convention.[14] This is the largest hospital system in the State of Arkansas, and it was founded by Arkansas Baptists. And since we are here in Conway that means a lot. I am a prn chaplain at Baptist Health here in Conway and most of us have either been there or at their large hospital in Little Rock.

Christian Influence Over The Western World Has Brought Tremendous Good

There is so much to say here that books could be written about it. But Christianity has brought tremendous good to the Western World, of which America is a part.

We can look at the society that developed here and see that it was the rule of law that made this possible. Well, where did the laws come from? Overwhelmingly they were Christian in nature.

American law did not spring up on its own. American law was based upon English Common law. English Common Law was an outgrowth of Christianity’s influence in the Western world. One evidence of this is Blackstone’s Commentary on English Law. Go and read it for yourself and see why English law existed as it did.[15]

As I’ve stated repeatedly before, it is the Christian understanding of society that produced the bounty we see today in the Western World.

And today we see that Christianity also does massive good for America and has done a lot of good for the whole world. Even in our own state I have directed our attention to help for the poor and needy that Christians are doing even today.

Why Has Christianity Had Such An Impact

Christianity has had this impact because it believes what the Scriptures teach about people. We believe that people are created in God’s image and all people are to be valued and treated humane because of that.

“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” (Genesis 1:27 ESV)

It was interesting to me that in Jerome’s Eulogy, he mentions this as being part of the reason that Fabiola had such an impact while other people do not. Here is what he said,

“The poor wretch whom we despise, whom we cannot so much as look at, and the very sight of whom turns our stomachs, is human like ourselves, is made of the same clay as we are, is formed out of the same elements. All that he suffers we too may suffer. Let us then regard his wounds as though they were our own, and then all our insensibility to another’s suffering will give way before our pity for ourselves.”[16]

Fabiola and Christians before and after her have seen the pitiful state of humans that are, like them, created in the image of God. They regarded them as worthy of our love and compassion and have cared for them.

A second reason for this is that our Savior and Lord exemplified love and care for those in need. Repeatedly Jesus healed those in need.

“And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people.” (Matthew 4:23 ESV)

Passages like the one above are commonplace in the gospel accounts. Jesus had the power to heal and because he had compassion on the people, He did it.

And Jesus expects us to do the same. We are ourselves commanded to love and care for those in need.

“And he called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal.” (Luke 9:1-2 ESV)
“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.'” (Matthew 25:34-40 ESV)

Jesus expected us to help others. And throughout the history of the Church and even today that is what we have seen. Christians love and care for others in accordance with their beliefs and what their Lord has commanded.

In Acts we saw that the earliest believers took helping the poor and needy seriously.

“Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common. And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold and laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.” (Acts 4:32-35 ESV)

As the Church grew this emphasis on helping those in need remained. An excerpt Dionysius, who was the Bishop of Rome in the mid 200’s, tells us of the Christian response to plagues.

“Certainly very many of our brethren, while, in their exceeding love and brotherly-kindness, they did not spare themselves, but kept by each other, and visited the sick without thought of their own peril, and ministered to them assiduously, and treated them for their healing in Christ, died from time to time most joyfully along with them, lading themselves with pains derived from others, and drawing upon themselves their neighbours’ diseases, and willingly taking over to their own persons the burden of the sufferings of those around them. And many who had thus cured others of their sicknesses, and restored them to strength, died themselves, having transferred to their own bodies the death that lay upon these. And that common saying, which else seemed always to be only a polite form of address, they expressed in actual fact then, as they departed this life, like the off-scourings of all. Yea, the very best of our brethren have departed this life in this manner, including some presbyters and some deacons, and among the people those who were in highest reputation: so that this very form of death, in virtue of the distinguished piety and the steadfast faith which were exhibited in it, appeared to come in nothing beneath martyrdom itself.
And they took the bodies of the saints on their upturned hands, and on their bosoms, and closed their eyes, and shut their mouths. And carrying them in company, and laying them out decently, they clung to them, and embraced them, and prepared them duly with washing and with attire. And then in a little while after they had the same services done for themselves, as those who survived were ever following those who departed before them. But among the heathen all was the very reverse. For they thrust aside any who began to be sick, and kept aloof even from their dearest friends, and cast the sufferers out upon the public roads half dead, and left them unburied, and treated them with utter contempt when they died, steadily avoiding any kind of communication and intercourse with death; which, however, it was not easy for them altogether to escape, in spite of the many precautions they employed.”[17]

Dionysius, who wrote this, was writing before Christians created the world’s first hospitals. He was writing this in the mid 200’s. He died in 268.

Look at the above quote again. The pagans in the Roman world did the exact opposite thing the Christians did. They avoided interaction with the sick altogether. They even cast aside those close to them to escape death.

Tell Them They’re Wrong But There Is Hope In Jesus

So, don’t assume that the unbeliever is correct in their assessment of Christianity. Don’t let them rest on their presumptions. Inform them that Christianity has been a massive force for good in this world. And tell them that the reason it has been a massive force for good is that the Scriptures are true and the work that is done in believers is life changing.

In other words, let this lead you to a conversation about Jesus and the salvation He gives.

R. Dwain Minor

[1] Hurricane Helene – Send Relief, accessed 10/14/2024.

[2] Katrina proved the mettle of Baptist disaster relief | Baptist Press, accessed 10/14/2024.

[3] SOUTHERN BAPTIST DISASTER RELIEF – Home (sbdr.info) accessed 10/14/2024.

[4] How Southern Baptists Trained More Disaster Relief Volunteers than the Red Cross (thegospelcoalition.org) accessed 10/14/2024.

[5] Study: 60% of Homeless Shelter Beds Are Provided Through Faith-Based Organizations – RELEVANT (relevantmagazine.com) accessed 10/16/2024.

[6] Nearly Half of Churches & Other Faith Groups Help People Get Enough to Eat – Word&Way (wordandway.org) accessed 10/16/2024.

[7] A descriptive analysis of food pantries in twelve American states: hours of operation, faith-based affiliation, and location | BMC Public Health | Full Text (biomedcentral.com), accessed 10/16/2024.

[8] Canon 1 of the First Council of Nicea

[9] A history of Healthcare…and why Christians have done it different | Reformed Perspective accessed 10/16/2024.

[10] CHURCH FATHERS: Letter 77 (Jerome) (newadvent.org) accessed 10/16/2024