Here is a great site discussing the issues of Evolution.
http://www.whoisyourcreator.com/
Check it out. I think you'll be challenged.
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Saturday, February 3, 2007
Addressing Bible Difficulties and "Contradictions"
The Bible is frequently attacked as being a book full of contradictions and problems and inconsistencies. This, however, is not true. Those that make such assertions do so without understanding.
Here is a great site that documents and answers the many so-called "contradictions" of the Bible, showing that the Bible is, in fact, not self-contradicting. Rather, it is accurate, internally consistent...and ultimately trustworthy.
http://www.carm.org/bible_difficulties.htm
Here is a great site that documents and answers the many so-called "contradictions" of the Bible, showing that the Bible is, in fact, not self-contradicting. Rather, it is accurate, internally consistent...and ultimately trustworthy.
http://www.carm.org/bible_difficulties.htm
It is really ridiculous to believe?
Perhaps the title of this posting sounds odd considering it is from one who does believe, but there is "method behind the madness" :-). In having some recent discussions with several who do not believe, I've begun to ask myself why they find the idea of believing so ridiculous (not their words, but mine, but that is essentially what they communicate).
If I were to ask them directly (and I have in some cases) the answer would likely be (and has been) that there is no proof for God or the Bible, that it isn't logical or scientific. A common response I've received is "I am a scientist..." after which some statement is made that suggests that one who adheres to the science method cannot believe in God. This, of course, is silly, as there are many really scientists who firmly believe in God. But that isn't what I want to focus on.
What I want to focus on is why the idea of believing in God--and specifically in Christianity--is so ridiculous to the unbeliever.
Is it because there is no proof? Those who do not believe would say there is no proof. This, however, is simply not the case. There is so much evidence it isn't funny. Many would disagree, but that doesn't make it any less so.
Is it because science is the antithesis of faith and spiritual beliefs? This is also not the case. As I stated above there are scientists who believe. And though I am not a formal scientist by trade, I also am a scientist. My work in technology involves the application of Computer Science. I am a student and lover of the world and method of science. I apply its methods daily and read of its works frequently.
And yet I believe in God and His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. With all my heart, mind and soul.
So where is the problem, really? The problem lies somewhere else.
Now, you may ask, how can I say this? Isn't this an almost arrogant statement? Yes, I could be, accept I know this first hand. I know this because of my own life.
I can still recall that time in my life when I was a firm disbeliever. I used to look at the Bible and think it the most ridiculous book there could be, created by people, having nothing to tell us about God--if He was even there. No, I was never an all-out atheist, but was agnostic for certain. And there was a time I was close to being atheistic. The phrase "born-again Christian" brought nothing but a distasteful sensation to my mouth. I thought such people were nutcases.
But then I was confronted with the truth in a way I never had heard. It was during a period in my life when I was not being judgemental. I wasn't "seeking", but I wasn't closed to anything either. I was willing to listen to what others had to say for what it was without dismissing it out of hand. I was willing to contemplate it and consider it. For a long while I did disagree with what I heard. But that eventually changed.
I became a Christian. I believed in what God said about Himself and about His Son, about my state as a sinner, and my need to find salvation alone in His Son Jesus Christ, through His sacrifice on the cross. I believed (and still do) that Jesus rose again three days later and is alive even today.
How did I make this transition? How did I go from stanch skeptic to all-out believer?
The evidence didn't change, though I did learn more about it. The nature of the information I had access to didn't fundamentally change. The Bible didn't change. The world didn't change. What changed?
I did. My attitude did. Before I became a believer, nothing anyone said to me would have ever changed my mind. No amount of proof or evidence or exposure to Christian things would have changed my heart. I've seen this very thing in other people I know. It wasn't a lack of evidence that was standing in the way. The evidence was always there.
The barrier was in me and in my heart. I didn't want to believe.
That's right. I didn't want to believe. I wanted to believe what I wanted to believe. I thought I full understood the nature of the world and was completely convinced of it. But this wasn't even the problem. The problem was that I didn't want anyone to be my master besides myself.
The biggest obstacle I now see I had was the idea of being subservient, even a slave, to another. In this case God. As well as the idea of being dependant on Jesus Christ utterly for the future and eternal condition. This idea was anathema to me.
I was all I needed. My mind. My effort. My strength. My intelligence and reasoning. My power. There was no God. There was no need for God. I was all I had and all I needed to empower and direct my future. That was true freedom. Anything else was slavery to an unseen God and that was unacceptable. W. E. Henley wrote the poem Invictus which speaks of being the "captain of one's soul". It is a "hymn" to the ability to choose and to decide one's own life for oneself, as I read one person say.
The fallacy, however, is even when we think we are free when we are doing are own thing apart from God, we in fact are not. I definitely wasn't free then. Before God I was a slave. Worse was I didn't even realize it. I thought I could do what I wanted, how I wanted, when I wanted. But in fact, I couldn't. I was a slave to my passions, my desires, my ambitions, my emotions.
W.L. Barnes in his book Free as a bird illustrates this with story of a bird who had decided to make their bird feeder his territory and guarded it fiercely. The bird was like the man of Invictus with his head unbowed, doing what he wanted to matter what. He chased away any other intruders. He guarded his territory and protected it. In the end, however, he was not free. Because of His own choices, he was not actually free. He couldn't leave the feeder because he had to always guard it. And when he was chasing away one intruder he was risking allowing in another. He couldn't go anywhere else. He had to always be with the feeder. He had made himself a slave to his own choice--a selfish one, in fact--and though he felt strong in his assertion of his own choices, he was a slave to that assertion. He life was governed by his choices. He was now no longer free to make any other choice, unless he could let go of the desire to dominate the feeder, which we wouldn't. He wanted to be free to go elsewhere, but also wanted to dominate the feeder. He couldn't have both. And, consequently, he made himself a slave to his own passions. Had he but let go of that selfish ambition, he could have been free to go elsewhere and still enjoy the food while sharing it with the other birds. He could have had the food and been free to soar elsewhere as well.
You see, we humans like to think that--apart from God--we are getting to do our own thing. In reality, we are not. We are like that bird. How many times have you done something mainly because that is what your emotions or desires drove you to, and not because you felt it was the best thing for you, because you reasoned it out, etc. To take a simple example, how many times have gotten angry at a loved one or a friend, and afterwards regretted it, wishing you had better self-control. Who was in charge then? You or your passions? Well, your passions, of course.
Whether it is our ambitions for money, power, for things, a desire for friends and popularity, etc. our desires and passions can enslave us just like they did that bird. People who pursue riches become slaves to those ambitions. There are many tales of rich people so greedy for their money were never free to spend it because of their own greed. They lived like paupers, or at least cheapskates, in order to keep the money. They were enslaved by their own greed, rich but never able to enjoy the money they so desparately desired.
And yet people like to think they are free in their abilities to choose for themselves, and consequently opposed any idea of God being over them, being answerable to Him. It doesn't matter whether there is proof of His existence or not. People will not have God over them. I, at one time, didn't want God over me. And, consequently, I would refuse to believe no matter what evidence was presented.
And it isn't a matter of the validity of the evidence for God. It is very valid. Very logical. Very reasonable. Very scientific. I find the problem is more like the one expressed by an evolutionist who essentially said "There are many problems with evolution, but the alternative is unacceptable, so I must continue to believe in it nonetheless".
The alternative was creationism and the belief in God. To this person that was an unacceptable alternative. And so they continued to believe in what was admitted as a problematic theory. I appreciate this because this was my condition at one time. The idea of Christianity, its dependence on a God and a Saviour, was abhorant to me on so many levels. My mind was simply closed to it. It was "unacceptable".
But the evidence was always there. It required a change in my heart and my attitude. Once I started examining the evidence without rejecting it out-of-hand, I soon came to realize that my previous perspectives and understandings were all very wrong and that the truth was in God and His Word (the Bible). And the beauty was that through Him I became truly free, because though answerable to Him, I was freed by Him to no longer be a slave to those same passions that have enslaved us all, whether rich, poor, man...or bird... Unlike with my own sinfulness, as Jesus said, His yoke is easy and His burden is light. The yoke and burden of our own natures is far from light or easy.
Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. - John 14:6
So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed. - John 8:36
If I were to ask them directly (and I have in some cases) the answer would likely be (and has been) that there is no proof for God or the Bible, that it isn't logical or scientific. A common response I've received is "I am a scientist..." after which some statement is made that suggests that one who adheres to the science method cannot believe in God. This, of course, is silly, as there are many really scientists who firmly believe in God. But that isn't what I want to focus on.
What I want to focus on is why the idea of believing in God--and specifically in Christianity--is so ridiculous to the unbeliever.
Is it because there is no proof? Those who do not believe would say there is no proof. This, however, is simply not the case. There is so much evidence it isn't funny. Many would disagree, but that doesn't make it any less so.
Is it because science is the antithesis of faith and spiritual beliefs? This is also not the case. As I stated above there are scientists who believe. And though I am not a formal scientist by trade, I also am a scientist. My work in technology involves the application of Computer Science. I am a student and lover of the world and method of science. I apply its methods daily and read of its works frequently.
And yet I believe in God and His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. With all my heart, mind and soul.
So where is the problem, really? The problem lies somewhere else.
Now, you may ask, how can I say this? Isn't this an almost arrogant statement? Yes, I could be, accept I know this first hand. I know this because of my own life.
I can still recall that time in my life when I was a firm disbeliever. I used to look at the Bible and think it the most ridiculous book there could be, created by people, having nothing to tell us about God--if He was even there. No, I was never an all-out atheist, but was agnostic for certain. And there was a time I was close to being atheistic. The phrase "born-again Christian" brought nothing but a distasteful sensation to my mouth. I thought such people were nutcases.
But then I was confronted with the truth in a way I never had heard. It was during a period in my life when I was not being judgemental. I wasn't "seeking", but I wasn't closed to anything either. I was willing to listen to what others had to say for what it was without dismissing it out of hand. I was willing to contemplate it and consider it. For a long while I did disagree with what I heard. But that eventually changed.
I became a Christian. I believed in what God said about Himself and about His Son, about my state as a sinner, and my need to find salvation alone in His Son Jesus Christ, through His sacrifice on the cross. I believed (and still do) that Jesus rose again three days later and is alive even today.
How did I make this transition? How did I go from stanch skeptic to all-out believer?
The evidence didn't change, though I did learn more about it. The nature of the information I had access to didn't fundamentally change. The Bible didn't change. The world didn't change. What changed?
I did. My attitude did. Before I became a believer, nothing anyone said to me would have ever changed my mind. No amount of proof or evidence or exposure to Christian things would have changed my heart. I've seen this very thing in other people I know. It wasn't a lack of evidence that was standing in the way. The evidence was always there.
The barrier was in me and in my heart. I didn't want to believe.
That's right. I didn't want to believe. I wanted to believe what I wanted to believe. I thought I full understood the nature of the world and was completely convinced of it. But this wasn't even the problem. The problem was that I didn't want anyone to be my master besides myself.
The biggest obstacle I now see I had was the idea of being subservient, even a slave, to another. In this case God. As well as the idea of being dependant on Jesus Christ utterly for the future and eternal condition. This idea was anathema to me.
I was all I needed. My mind. My effort. My strength. My intelligence and reasoning. My power. There was no God. There was no need for God. I was all I had and all I needed to empower and direct my future. That was true freedom. Anything else was slavery to an unseen God and that was unacceptable. W. E. Henley wrote the poem Invictus which speaks of being the "captain of one's soul". It is a "hymn" to the ability to choose and to decide one's own life for oneself, as I read one person say.
The fallacy, however, is even when we think we are free when we are doing are own thing apart from God, we in fact are not. I definitely wasn't free then. Before God I was a slave. Worse was I didn't even realize it. I thought I could do what I wanted, how I wanted, when I wanted. But in fact, I couldn't. I was a slave to my passions, my desires, my ambitions, my emotions.
W.L. Barnes in his book Free as a bird illustrates this with story of a bird who had decided to make their bird feeder his territory and guarded it fiercely. The bird was like the man of Invictus with his head unbowed, doing what he wanted to matter what. He chased away any other intruders. He guarded his territory and protected it. In the end, however, he was not free. Because of His own choices, he was not actually free. He couldn't leave the feeder because he had to always guard it. And when he was chasing away one intruder he was risking allowing in another. He couldn't go anywhere else. He had to always be with the feeder. He had made himself a slave to his own choice--a selfish one, in fact--and though he felt strong in his assertion of his own choices, he was a slave to that assertion. He life was governed by his choices. He was now no longer free to make any other choice, unless he could let go of the desire to dominate the feeder, which we wouldn't. He wanted to be free to go elsewhere, but also wanted to dominate the feeder. He couldn't have both. And, consequently, he made himself a slave to his own passions. Had he but let go of that selfish ambition, he could have been free to go elsewhere and still enjoy the food while sharing it with the other birds. He could have had the food and been free to soar elsewhere as well.
You see, we humans like to think that--apart from God--we are getting to do our own thing. In reality, we are not. We are like that bird. How many times have you done something mainly because that is what your emotions or desires drove you to, and not because you felt it was the best thing for you, because you reasoned it out, etc. To take a simple example, how many times have gotten angry at a loved one or a friend, and afterwards regretted it, wishing you had better self-control. Who was in charge then? You or your passions? Well, your passions, of course.
Whether it is our ambitions for money, power, for things, a desire for friends and popularity, etc. our desires and passions can enslave us just like they did that bird. People who pursue riches become slaves to those ambitions. There are many tales of rich people so greedy for their money were never free to spend it because of their own greed. They lived like paupers, or at least cheapskates, in order to keep the money. They were enslaved by their own greed, rich but never able to enjoy the money they so desparately desired.
And yet people like to think they are free in their abilities to choose for themselves, and consequently opposed any idea of God being over them, being answerable to Him. It doesn't matter whether there is proof of His existence or not. People will not have God over them. I, at one time, didn't want God over me. And, consequently, I would refuse to believe no matter what evidence was presented.
And it isn't a matter of the validity of the evidence for God. It is very valid. Very logical. Very reasonable. Very scientific. I find the problem is more like the one expressed by an evolutionist who essentially said "There are many problems with evolution, but the alternative is unacceptable, so I must continue to believe in it nonetheless".
The alternative was creationism and the belief in God. To this person that was an unacceptable alternative. And so they continued to believe in what was admitted as a problematic theory. I appreciate this because this was my condition at one time. The idea of Christianity, its dependence on a God and a Saviour, was abhorant to me on so many levels. My mind was simply closed to it. It was "unacceptable".
But the evidence was always there. It required a change in my heart and my attitude. Once I started examining the evidence without rejecting it out-of-hand, I soon came to realize that my previous perspectives and understandings were all very wrong and that the truth was in God and His Word (the Bible). And the beauty was that through Him I became truly free, because though answerable to Him, I was freed by Him to no longer be a slave to those same passions that have enslaved us all, whether rich, poor, man...or bird... Unlike with my own sinfulness, as Jesus said, His yoke is easy and His burden is light. The yoke and burden of our own natures is far from light or easy.
Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. - John 14:6
So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed. - John 8:36
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