How a Secular Jew Came to Faith in Jesus Christ (Interview)
Klavan's coming to faith took place over a process of many years where he wrestled with many philosophical quandaries and the author is quick to point out that reason can only get you so far.
CP asked Klavan how important he thinks experiencing God is in light of how contemporary culture values thinking over feeling, particularly the reasoning that what we think is objectively true and the things we experience are subjective and therefore invalid.
Among other things, Klavan noted, the subjective experience of falling in love with his wife over the course of many decades was an epiphany of sorts; love showed him that just because something might be subjective it does not mean it is not real.
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"That led me to start to think 'Now, wait a minute, maybe if you can be deceived in your subjective perceptions, then maybe you can be right in your subjective perceptions," Klavan said.
Along the way, Klavan's rejection of atheism was in part because he found important truths in places many devout Christians rarely look. Klavan told The Christian Post that one of the most important engagements he had with a work of art was with French author and philosopher Marquis de Sade.
"De Sade wrote some of the most sadistic pornography — some of the most disgusting stuff I ever read — and his books are laced with atheistic philosophy. And when I read that atheist philosophy and I saw that pornography that accompanied it, I said to myself, 'That is honest atheism. That is only true, truly reasoned atheism I ever saw, that if you wanted to be an atheist, this was the logic of it and it turned me away.' I turned my back and walked away from it."
"So here's this ugly guy but writing brilliant art, brilliant psychopathic art, that contained a truth that I needed to find," he continued.
CP asked Klavan what Christians might do to be more thoughtful as they engage the intellectuals and the broader culture.
"The one thing I would love to see Christians do, is to stop leaping to condemn art that doesn't immediately echo their deeply held beliefs. Because I truly believe that all great art is speaking truth. God is god of the real world, he's not God of fantasy land. When you shut people off from the ugliness of life, from the physicality of life and the passion and the lust that are in the Bible and in the arts, you shut people off from the real God," he said.
"I think that the arts are one of the ways that human beings relate their inner experience to one another. And I think in that inner experience is where we are going to find our faith and find our God. So learn how to read the arts, learn how to read something that repels you, it actually may have a truth inside that people need to know."
When asked what he would most like readers to take away from his memoir, Klavan reiterated the importance to examining the evidence for faith for oneself, against the fierce cultural tide of unbelief.
"You have to step out of that current, as hard as it is, and see the world fresh and start to find the truth from there," Klavan said. "Because as the X-files always told us, the truth is out there. And it really is staring you in the face, and it really is speaking to you, singing to you, virtually, from every corner of the world."
"And I feel like if you will experience my story with me, it might resonate. You might turn to your own life and say, 'You know, once I start to listen I hear that song and it might help to draw you out of this tide that is washing you in something that is utterly untrue," he concluded.
For more on Andrew Klavan and his new book, click here. To listen to The Andrew Klavan Show, check out the Daily Wire.
