Month: June 2018
More Nonsense of the New Atheists.
More Nonsense of the New Atheists.
The new atheist claim that they have no burden of proof because atheism is not a belief but rather a non-belief. Right, atheists or no one else can or cannot proof a non-belief. Nor can they argue for or against a non-belief. In fact, you cannot even speak about a non-belief other than simply to say I do not believe. However, I know of only a handful of atheist who refuse to speak about the subject of God and they offer arguments against his existence.
If you are arguing for or against something you are not arguing from a non-belief because that is impossible. Moreover, When arguing against something, the argument “I don’t believe” is insufficient. It is an opinion, not an argument. If you argue you must be argue from some other position or ideology not a non-belief. You cannot as atheists do argue against God and then claim atheism as a non-belief. Atheists must argue against God from either materialism or naturalist ideology which are beliefs. In other words, the minute they open their mouths the burden of proof lies on the one trying to proof their un-belief by the means of other beliefs. In essence, they have to borrow believes from other ideologies to speak against the belief in God. If they don’t want any burden of proof they should simply shut their mouths and not form arguments from materialism, scientism and naturalism.
Natural Revelation and Biblical Revelation
Natural Revelation and Biblical Revelation
The Bible didn’t need to tell us about natural revelation because those things are a part of the human experience. The Biblical writers simply codified or wrote them down. Natural revelation is self-evident truth. A self-evident truth is a truth that God has made known to all men who are in their right mind and whose intellect has not been hardened by rebellion or perverted by worldly philosophy and religion.
In contrast, to natural revelation, Biblical revelation are truths that are made known through the revelatory acts of God; the most obvious revelation is the sending of God’s son in the person of Jesus Christ. In His life and work we see and learn things about God that go beyond natural revelation. In this study we are mainly interested in natural revelation. However, in the life of Christ we often see a confirmation of natural revelation.
The first natural revelation that I was aware of in my life was that there is a God. That’s a self-evident truth that is programmed into everyone i.e. hardwired to believe when they come into the world. However, that self-evident knowledge can be destroyed by human pride and the demonic beliefs of the human heart. Numerous atheists have told me that they became an atheist when they were in their early teens or younger. This may be the case because the Scriptures say, “that foolishness resides in the heart of a child”. Moreover, I believe they told me this to impress me with their intellect. They did not, for they were speaking from their imagination and bias, not their intellect. A child’s mind is not capable of making an intellectual choice about the existence of the God, because the child’s mind cannot understand the concept of the true God. Most likely the god they believed in and rejected was like Santa Claus. However, even this rejection is even dubious. The god they rejected was too small and sadly there are many adults who still have a similar small God. They don’t believe in God, because their God is too small.
The lesson that there is a God is codified and taught in Genesis 1, “In the beginning God created.” However, Genesis does not argue for the existence of God, it assumes his existence and also reveals something about his nature. The first chapter reveals that He is a God that likes order and structure. In that chapter, He separates order from the chaos. He does it through his Word (information); in this act he reveals that He is a God of order, which is reflected in the physical and the moral order of things and in the very nature of man who was created in His likeness.
We see in the creation story a perfect balance between chaos and order. In the universe He left just the right amount of room for free will and randomness. God’s cosmos is perfectly balanced in all things, in light and darkness, in order and chaos. Humans, that were later created in his image and likeness, were commanded to keep things in order on planet earth, which is His nursery for growing and training of the sons of God. When we let our lives get filled with chaos and darkness we miss the mark of fulfilling our purpose and being truly human; then we find ourselves alienated from God, others and even our own selves. In this regard, Genesis 1 is a call for humans to put and keep their lives in order and balance in a world of chaos. In doing this, they reflect the image and likeness of God.
Yes, there is a God and from natural revelation I learned that I am not him. How do I know that? I know it because I have limits and He does not. In chapter 2 of Genesis, man is created in the image and likeness of God. However, Adam and many of his descendents fail to recognize that just being in the image and likeness of God, does not make you God. They failed to see their limits. My shadow has somewhat of my likeness, but it’s not me. In fact, it’s a very poor likeness of me. Man in his present form is a blurred and distorted image of God. The true image of God is seen in Jesus Christ. In Christ, the image of God is, and will be, restored to man. When you are studying the Old Testament story of man, you are basically studying the shadow of God in which God is veiled. Have you studied your shadow lately? Remember that you only see your shadow when the sun is shining. Your shadow is most visible when you are comparing yourself with Jesus, who is the light of the world.
The Apostle Paul says of the Resurrected Christ, “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.”(Col 1:15-19) In saying this the Apostle Paul is pointing out that Christ is the true Adam. He is the true likeness and image of the eternal God in bodily form. In the resurrection when time is fulfilled God will restore to men who are in Christ, the image and likeness of God. That is why the Apostle John could say that, “when he comes we shall be like him.”
Let me share with you some reasons why I know that I have limits and that I am not God.
I cannot do anything I want because when my wants conflict with some other persons wants, they are my limits (people). Especially, if it’s a 250-pound man. I once heard a man say that you cannot stop the man with the plan. What if someone has a plan to stop that man with a plan?
I cannot have everything I want because my “want-to” appetite is too big and when my want to-appetite is too large, I have found the trouble and my limits. That is why so many people are overweight, and in debt up to their eye balls. Their appetite, or will is too large. They have not completely learned the lesson of life; there is a God and they are not Him. God gives children parents to demonstrate to the children what their limits are. Good parents will place limits on their children. If children are not taught limits when they’re young by their parents, other people (300-pound pound gorilla boss) with more power than them, will place limits on their will or want-to’s. So place limits on your children early, and save them the pain of learning the hard way.
I cannot be anything I want to be. I can identify as being rich but that doesn’t make me rich. Many Americans live as though they’re rich. Let me share with you some good advice; stop living as though you’re rich; most of you are not. Also, please stop identifying as the opposite sex. Identifying as the opposite sex is not going to make you into that gender. You can dress up and pretend to be, but that does not change your biology or your DNA. Just like you can dress up to be a millionaire, but that doesn’t make you a millionaire.
I am limited by my IQ, which translates as; I am limited by nature. Natural law teaches us that we have limits. Learn this simple lesson from nature. God gave us only two hands. If you get your hands too full, you’re miserable. This means that your if your hands are full you must put something down before you can pick something else up. By all means test your limits but learn to accept the real ones.
I also learned through natural revelation that there is something in the world called the Trouble. It’s like the air that we breathe. It is in us, and all around us. That is what Genesis, chapters 2 and 3, teach us as well. Paul refers to the Trouble as sin and death. He is not talking about personal sin or morality, he is talking about the powers of sin and death who are the source of the Trouble. We see the beginning of the Trouble in the conflict of Adams will, with God’s will. Then in chapter 3 of the book of Genesis, we see the Trouble entering human relationships in the story of Cain and Able. When there are conflicting wills between man and God, or man and other humans, there is the Trouble.
Both the Bible, and natural revelation teach us that we are limited by our conflicting desires or will, and that this conflict is this source of the Trouble. In the book of James, we find this plainly stated, “What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You want something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures” ( James 4:1-3).
It is a self-evident truth that conflicting wills and appetites are the source of the Trouble. As stated before, this is not a biblical revelation, it is a natural revelation that is obvious to all men who are in their right minds. The Bible simply codifies it and in so doing, amplifies it to help humans become more aware of the Trouble in their lives, and substantiation that we are not God.
In conclusion, we can say that if you reflect on nature and how we react to the human condition you can plainly see that biblical revelation and natural revelation teach the equivalent wisdom. So, the book of nature and the book of God teach basically the same things about God, man’s behavior and the human condition. There is a God, we are not him and there is the Trouble that depicts the whole of the human condition.
What is Religion
The Value Of Religion and the Problem With Atheism
In the following video Carl Young present some material that should make the new atheist type rethink the virtue of their constant attacks on religion as though their attacks are in somehow virtuous. Young’s points out that a loss of faith and religion is the reason why so many people today are despond. Young also shows that a loss of faith tends to move a culture towards State-ism and the development and growth of a will for power in the human spirit which results in metal disorders and the totalitarian state.
In a past article I pointed out that atheism is a phenomenal which seems to take place at the end of a civilization and is one of the marks of a decaying culture. It is hard to tell whether atheism is causal or the fruit of atheism. However, either way it is not a positive force in the human community.
A Christian Letter to a Libertarian
A Christian Letter to a Libertarian
Mark, although I believe in liberty and freedom I am not a libertarian. I try my best to avoid any “ism”. If I was to give myself a label I would refer to myself as a Christian realist. I do not believe in big government, big religion, or for that matter big anything. It is not that big is inherently evil, it is that humans are inherently evil and will abuse the power that goes with big. If history proves anything it proves this. I believe it was Lord Acton who said “that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely”
Libertarians and Christians can agree on a number of things but their basic difference is found in the definition of liberty and freedom. The libertarian wants to be free to do their own thing. Free from all restraints and for many that means God. The Christian believes they are set free from self indulgence to serve others and God. Christians also recognize that all men are slaves to something, in that slavery is a part of the human condition and can never be overcome completely with political ideology, which means that no amount of philosophy or libertarianism will change that condition.
One of the basic roots of libertarianism is radical individualism and as a Christian realist I must believe that in the end radical individualism is the enemy of liberty. The problem is to find a balance between individualism and collectivism. I personally believe that conservatism does a better job balancing these two than libertarianism. Therefore, conservatism aligns better with Christianity than libertarianism. However, Christianity must also in some areas depart from conservatism when it hardens into an un-flexible ideology.
The Christian realist has a realistic view of the power of law. They understand that the law is powerless to change people. However, unlike the libertarians they understand the necessity of law to impart social restraints, norms and boundaries which instruct humanity in civil living. Moreover, Christian realists see that the problem is not with Law, but rather with humanity. For the Christian realist mankind is fallen, being incapable of keeping the law and rejoicing in it. Even from an evolutional point of view most would say that mans progress have gone awry and that mankind is anything but a noble savage. The Bible would put it this way “All have sinned and have fallen short of being truly human”. Man in his fallen nature is in need of God’s help in order to hold it together. This help comes in the form of God’s grace given in forgiveness and power to be free from ineffective living that leads to unhappiness and ultimately in missing the goal of the divine life.
I would encourage you to take a serious look at the Christian faith. I would contend that it contains the best of all philosophies in regards to what constitutes the good life. It provides us with a balance between individualism and collectivism and between mercy and justice. Yes, it puts tremendous demands on a person but it is entered by a free choice and commitment to Jesus Christ.
Find Me God
Find Me God
Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, “I find no pleasure in them.” Ecclésiastes 12:1
Have you ever wondered why Solomon told people to remember God when they’re young? I always thought that as you got older, one should remember God more often because you’re getting closer to death. However, Solomon says to do it while you’re young, but why? I think one reason is that when you’re young, you’re pure in heart. Your mind has not been filled with crazy ideologies and belief systems which make it hard find and know God. Jesus said, “Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.”
One of the greatest insights I’ve read on finding God was written by C.S. Lewis; it’s about God finding us, or us finding God. The quote is quite lengthy, however, it is rewarding. “When you come to knowing God, the initiative lies on His side. If He does not show Himself, nothing you can do will enable you to find Him. And, in fact, He shows much more of Himself to some people than to others—not because He has favorites, but because it is impossible for Him to show Himself to a man whose whole mind and character are in the wrong condition. Just as sunlight, though it has no favorites, cannot be reflected in a dusty mirror as clearly as in a clean one. You can put this another way by saying that while in other sciences the instruments you use are things external to yourself (things like microscopes and telescopes), the instrument through which you see God is your whole self. And if a man’s self is not kept clean and bright, his glimpse of God will be blurred-like the Moon seen through a dirty telescope. That is why horrible nations have horrible religions: they have been looking at God through a dirty lens. God can show Himself as He really is, only to real men. And that means not simply to men who are individually good, but to men who are united together in a body, loving one another, helping one another, showing Him to one another. For that is what God meant humanity to be like; like players in one band, or organs in one body. Consequently, the one really adequate instrument for learning about God is the whole Christian community, waiting for Him together. Christian brotherhood is, so to speak, the technical equipment for this science-the laboratory outfit.”[1]
Jesus gives further insight when he says to his disciples, “If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him” (John 14:15-24).
In the context the commandment that Jesus is referring to is the commandment to love one another as he has loved them. From this, we can gather that it is not the intellectual or the person who knows the most about the bible that Jesus will reveal himself to, but rather to the man who loves his brothers. We can also gather that there is a knowledge of God in Jesus that is beyond knowing the Bible. It is the knowledge that comes from having a deep relationship with someone; we could liken that to a man knowing his wife in an intimate fashion. After being married for 50 years I can say that I know my wife. I know what she likes and I know her desires even without her telling me. You could say I know her will; and I know it apart from her writing me a letter every day about her wants and desires. Knowing God in Christ on this level is getting close to the meaning of what Paul says when he tells Christians to “live by the Spirit and not the flesh”.
Let me conclude by saying if you want to be found by God, or find God, you can begin by loving his image and likeness in other Christians and your fellow man in and through the body of Christ which is his church. Love is the way to God.
[1] C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (1952; Harper Collins: 2001) pages164-165
Why I Go To Church
Why I Need the Church and the Bible
Some people wonder why they would ever need the Church or the Bible. Why not just go for a walk on the beach or climb a mountain and meet and worship God there? Can you not experience God as well or perhaps even better in nature than at Church or from reading the Bible? I do not doubt for a minute that you can experience God in nature, for I have done that myself. Nature has a way of opening the human spirit to the Divine. Our experience of God while in nature often seems more real than anything that we may experience at Church or from reading the Bible.
I have found that when I wish to travel to a place, I want to know everything about it. I will read everything I can about it, and I will try to find people who have been there and are able to answer questions about that particular place. I find myself filled with questions. What is the best way to get there? What should I see? What should I avoid? What should I wear for clothing? You see, I do not want to be surprised. I want the best trip possible. I especially do this when I go for a hike in the mountains, for I do not want to get lost. The harder the climb, the more research I do.
Going to church and reading the Bible are like the research one would do for a journey unto a very high and often dangerous mountain. For me, it seems only natural to talk to as many people as possible who are on or have made the journey. I once went to Africa and climbed Kilimanjaro. I called everyone I could find who had made the climb, even complete strangers, and asked them about the mountain and the trails. I wanted to be ready for anything. I wanted to make it to the top. When Christians gather at church, it is mainly to talk about the journey and to study the map. They consider their map to be the Bible. The strong and knowledgeable ones among them who have been on the journey a long time do not attend church solely for themselves, but also to help the young and weaker ones among them. They want everyone to get to the top. They share with them the trails to avoid and the ones to take. They make sure that the young ones know the map and the right and best guides who can help them on their journey.
Let me say something about the map. It is true that sometimes people get the map mixed up with the real territory. When that happens, people often spend more time reading the map than moving on in their journey. I know some people who are always reading and talking about the map, but never seem to get too far along on the journey. They seem to have confused reading the map with the journey. This is truly sad because it confuses people about the reasons for the journey and the purpose of the map. Of course, on the other side of the coin are those who feel they can do okay without a map, compass, or a guide. These folks often end up in a briar patch lost, cold, and hungry. They often spend a great deal of time backtracking and wandering around aimlessly. However, some of the stronger ones seem to get along fairly well without the map, but when asked where they are, they often do not seem to know. The little ones and weak ones without the map and compass often just die or quit.
Because the journey is often long and hard, the map at times can be quite hard to read. It does have a lot of details about the journey. It is there to help and is very important. However, it can be confusing to someone not too skilled in map reading. When the journey gets difficult, it is then a person needs to remember the training in which the guides taught him about how to use the map. It is even better if travelers have cell phone, so they can call a guide for further directions on how to make best use of the map. We always need to remember that the map is a piece of paper that only reflects the territory. It is not the territory. We also need to remember that the map was made by a lot of people who have made the journey and left us their story about it. When we read the map, remember that those who wrote it were all on the same journey, but not all used the same trail and all did not make it to their destination. Like in nature, some trails are better than others and a bad choice can cause you to lose your way or even perish. Yes, some died on the journey without making it to top or back home. This is another reason why we should study the map; we want to know that we are on the very best trail.
If you are not a member of a church, let me suggest that you find someone, maybe some of your friends who are on the journey and ask them about the church they attend. Ask them if they study the map and if its members are excited about the journey. If they say yes to both questions, you might want to check it out. You can also begin the journey by getting a Bible and start becoming familiar with what it teaches. You do not need to understand everything—just start reading it. A good place to start is the Gospel of John. If you do not know of anyone who is able to help you, you can write me, and I will be glad to help. I often have map reading courses at my office or even in people’s homes. If you would like to attend one, let me know. You can reach me at lyleduell@gmail.com
Lyle Duell 