***
(1)
The
Atheist
Now,
the "thinking", "moral" atheist has
the "short term" hope that by living a "good" life
he will contribute to society, making this life a better
time for all
and then at death "it" is all over!
He,
having no belief in God or an after life, has no hope for the long term where he
expects to simply rot in the grave, dying like any other
animal. But, of course, he also hopes he is correct, that there is no God and
therefore no judgment.
(Interesting series, of thought provoking
"drop down" questions.)
The agnostic, claims to
believe there is a God, but that he has no way of
"knowing" Him. He probably hopes that, by living a
"good" life there will be some sort of reward
for him in the unknown here-after.
Both the atheist and the
agnostic can have serious failures and disappointment in this
life. And may, as a result, live desperate lives
expressing their hatred toward the Christians and the God
they don't "believe" in.
Some, often use
considerable foul languages and curses, discussing
their belief, or ridiculing others, giving evidence of
the disappointment, and frustration caused by their
belief.
Many atheists are quite "evangelistic" and spend considerable effort, hoping to win religious persons
(primarily targeting Christians), over to their belief .
While this, obviously
gives them considerable pleasure, at least some of them,
feel they must justify this activity, by saying they
hope to improve life for all, by converting people
of "faith" away from dangerous religions that
they claim "smother" mankind.
The atheist
accuses the true Christian of being delusional, believing
in "fairy tales". However he, lives in his own
delusion;
He claims that
Jesus never lived in history. Some
go to great lengths to "paint" Jesus
out of existance!
He comes very
close to denying that
the Old Testament is a document of ancient
history. He discredits Josepheus' testimony. He ignores volumes of archaeological proofs, Dead Sea Scrolls proof etc.
He claims that the
New Testament was totally contrived by some author
that constructed it to record the many fulfilled prophecies of
the Old Testament.
If he has ever
reviewed even six or so, of the hundreds of fulfilled prophecies that set aside the Bible from all other
writings, he snaps his mind closed to this
astounding proof of the Bible's trustworthiness.
Really, no man could ever have authored the
Bible, without God's inspiration!
He refuses to
acknowledge the difficulty to accomplish such a deception
while at the same time weave in the content that
is rated to be some of the best literature in existance.
He overlooks the
miracle of the preservation of
the Bible, as it has been the intent of numerous powerful persons to utterly destroy it for the past 2000 years. It angers
him that it remains the most widely bought and
read book each year!
So, in his deluded
thinking, he has essentially "desposed"
of the Bible, he then in much the same way,
ignores and distorts the benefits Christianity
has accomplished in following its teachings;
He ignores that
thousands, perhaps millions, have
gone from defeated lives of desperation,
addiction, anger, abusive behaviour, etc. to
lives of decency and useful victorious living by
following the Christian faith and the truths of
the Bible.
What inane, empty
blustering is exhibited, as he insists
that, if God exists, He would instantly answer
any prayer for any request, right now, so he
could believe! Stating this, he is telling the
God, in whom he doesn't believe, what He should
do!
He ignores, that
thousands of brilliant, (many lettered Creationist scientists) (some of them former atheists) have
converted to creationists. Read the Testimonies of 20 former atheists, now
Christians!
He ignores the thousands over
the centuries who have died horrible deaths
rather than deny their Christian faith.
He ignores that we
have thousands of agreeing manuscripts
(copies) of the original text of the New
Testament that have been preserved, as well as
the Dead Sea Scrolls authenticating the Old
Testament.
And, as he ignores
the above, he blames the Bible and its teaching
for all the failures of the men who have mis-used
and abused the powers they have assumed as they
identified as "Christians" within "Christianity".
He eagerly seizes
upon "big bang" and
"evolution" theories and the billions
of required years of earth's existance, to avoid
the obvious, easy evidence of a Designer who brought about (created) the millions and millions of wonders we see
on this tiny globe, let alone out there in the,
seemingly, infinite universe.
But as one person
observed, "I don't have enough faith to be an
atheist!" They
have to believe "real hard"!
Yes, though many
atheists are brilliant and have produced
outstanding accomplishments, they, in their
spiritual delusion are described in the 14th
Psalm which says, in part, "The fool
has said in his heart, 'There is no God'"
Being deluded, the
atheist hopes for death to
end it all! He marvels at the wonders of the
universe, as we do, expecting it to continue for
more "billions" of years. Yet, he
believes and hopes the soul of
humans, who he acknowledges is the highest, most
intelligent personage, in his "known"
universe, will "vanish" at death! Huge delusion! No real hope! Only false hope!
Yet, there
is real hope, even for the atheist!
One of the best
explanations of the Christian faith is the 35
minute streaming video, "The Ultimate Question"!
My
"Wager" to challenge the
Atheist/Agnostic
If
the atheist's, beliefs are correct and the true
Christian's (mine) are wrong, both of us would
live out this life with the same conclusion -
ending at the grave. The Christian being
"wrong", is as well
off as the atheist.
However,
if the atheist's beliefs are wrong and the true
Christian's (mine) are correct, the atheist, at
death, faces the judgement, (eternal hell) of the
Saviour, God, that he has hated and rejected all
his life! He is facing Him as his Judge.
And
the Christian is welcomed into heaven's bliss!
I
like my odds and pity the atheist's!
In addition, I have had
Christ's support, in this life, for at least 75
years to date!
Of
course, I am familiar with "Pascal's
Wager" which the
atheist often encounters and does his best to
"defang" with little success. It is
similar to my wager, above, except, I have
limited the believer's (my) position, to just one
position, that one, being true
Christianity.
I
am not wagering atheism against one of the many,
or all of the competing religions, that are out
there claiming identity with God or believing in
various gods.
The
wager under discussion is dealing with the
athiest's or the agnostic's unbelief and
my Christianity.
Now, the
True believer "wins" Big!
Romans
8:35-39" Who will separate us from
the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or
distress, or persecution, or famine, or
nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 Just as it is
written,
"FOR
YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO DEATH ALL DAY LONG;
WE
WERE CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED."
37 But in all these things we overwhelmingly
conquer through Him who loved us. 38 For I am
convinced that neither death, nor life, nor
angels, nor principalities, nor things present,
nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height,
nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be
able to separate us from the love of God, which
is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Speed
the Day!
"Since all these
things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort
of people ought you to be in holy conduct and
godliness, 12looking
for and hastening the coming of the day of God,
because of which the heavens will be destroyed by
burning, and the elements will melt with intense
heat!", 2
Peter 3:11-12
Duane
Gilchrist
|
(Interesting series, of thought provoking
"drop down" questions.
Back
to the top
***
(2)
The
Liberal "Christian" and Religionist
The liberal
"Christian" has "settled" into his
convictions, considers himself adequately informed,
probably has some belief in the Bible, and may accept
portions, outside of the "judgment" passages,
as being "inspired".
He
usually is not really believing in the miracles of Jesus
or His endorsement of the wonders of events like the universal flood,
judgment of Sodom and Gomorah, Jonah and the big fish
etc.or the literal return of Jesus as stated in the
Bible.
In his delusion, he hopes
that his good works will
out-weigh his faults. (He probably doesn't see any real
sin in his life). Essentially, while giving "lip
service" to Jesus, even knowing that the Bible
declares that He died and rose from the dead, and is the only way he can have
forgiveness for himself, he is, in reality, hoping that his "good works"
and religious rituals will get him a place in heaven.
Actually, his fate is
described when Jesus said "He never knew"
"him" and he is on the "wide road" to
destruction!
He probably doesn't really
believe that there is a hell, so, like
"Universalists", he believes that somehow God
will allow all into His Heaven. He just ignores the fact
that God has to have some disposition for the
"really bad" people, like Hitler etc.
Of course, he may believe
and hope,
that God, being a God of love, will forgive all, regardless
of their extent of evil.
Believing some level of
this, his faith doesn't impell him toward evangelism, so
he "gets along" pretty well with both the
atheist and other religions. He is a "tolerant" person.
There is the possibility
that he/she, mildly "liberal", will be in the
category of the "Real Christian with little Biblical
knowledge" described a couple steps below.
The "Garden
Variety" Unbelievers
The world is full of
unbelievers who have no real Biblical faith, and have no personal relationship with God. They may believe in God, but have no real
knowledge about Him. They will usually tell you something
like this, "my god would certainly not send someone
to hell". They think they are better than average
and certainly, if there is a heaven, they will go there
at death.
They "believe"
and hope much as the "Liberal Christian"
described above.
(Interesting
series, of thought provoking "drop
down"
questions.)
Other
religionists:
All religions, other than
true Christianity, are based upon "good works"
hoping their reward in an after-life,
is some version of heaven.
Some, cults like Jehovah Witnesses, Mormons and Scientology are
evangelistic in practice. To the extent they work at
this, they hope God
will reward them with salvation. They deny the existance
of hell. So, they hope for entry into heaven for
their good works and "works" of
evangelization.
Real, Christians
with little
Bible knowledge:
Now, there are many
Christians that are not "settled" in the above
described levels of unbelief. They have accepted what
truths of the Bible they have heard. And they gain enough
to make a decision for Jesus as
their Saviour. They have their hope in the evangelistic Biblical
presentation they received and accepted.
They may not have access
to good Bible teaching and may not engage in the debates
and issues raised by un-believers and hardened
"Liberal Christians".
If they remain at this
level of knowledge and "faith" they are
susceptible to being mis-lead into the un-belief of the
"Liberal Christians".
So, when they encounter
the deceptions of the "Liberal Christian" and
aggressive un-belief, they are at a critical juncture.
If they are truly saved
and have God's hope in their lives, they will, sooner or later come
to hold the beliefs that describe the "born again,
true Christian" seen in the next section.
Otherwise, if they slide
into un-belief it is because, their initial "faith" was insufficient to rate
as true belief. They have been living with a false hope.
Our Lord addressed
this second group, who live with a false hope, in this
Biblical passage:
13"Enter
through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way
is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many
who enter through it.
14"For the gate is
small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there
are few who find it.
15"Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in
sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.
16"You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are
not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles,
are they?
17"So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad
tree bears bad fruit.
18"A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a
bad tree produce good fruit.
19"Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut
down and thrown into the fire.
20"So then, you will know them by their fruits.
21"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will
enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of
My Father who is in heaven will enter.
22"Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did
we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out
demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?'
23"And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew
you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.'"
Matthew 7:13-23
One of the best
explanations of the Christian faith is the 35 minute
streaming video, "The Ultimate Question"!
(Interesting
series, of thought provoking "drop
down"
questions.
Back
to the top
***
(3)
The
"born again", true Christian,
He/she acknowleges
that he is sinful, deserving the judgment of his holy,
righteous God. He has come to this conclusion by the Holy
Spirit's conviction, high lighting the sin in his life, as spelled out in the Bible.
His hope is based entirely on Jesus and
His written word.
One strong evidence that
God authored (inspired) the Bible through the human
writers is the record the many fulfilled prophecies of the Old
Testament.
He has God's word on it that there
is just one way into God's
heaven. He knows that he will not be saved by his "good works".
He believes God is
All-powerful, so it is easy to see that He created the
entire universe by simply "speaking" it
into existance as the Bible declares. Accepting this of
his God, makes it easy for him to believe in the miracles
of the Bible. The skeptic, unbeliever regularly scoffs at
three Old Testament accounts as being impossible. The
well grounded Christian points out that Jesus, his
Creator God endorsed all three during His earthly
ministry. These are the universal flood,
judgment of Sodom and Gomorah, Jonah and the big fish
etc.
Because he believes and
trusts the Bible as God's written word, he has accepted
the free gift of God's
salvation. This resulted from the Son of God, Jesus
Christ, dying in his place,
forgiving him, erasing all his sins,
(past, present and future), obtaining this salvation for
him.
Jesus proved that the
believer's sins were forgiven, paid for and actually
erased, by rising from the dead.
As a result he is born again, has everlasting life,
being instantly delivered from the penalty of sin.
He has the Holy Spirit of God living within, giving him
the relationship with God as a His child, with the power to resist
sin. He has the sure hope of spending eternity with Jesus in Heaven
completely away from the presence of
sin.
As the Bible uses the word
"hope" it often refers to the return of Jesus, when He
will gather all living believers, with the resurrected
believers who have died, giving both glorified bodies in
the wonderful act, called "the rapture", taking us bodily into His Heaven. This use of "hope" is unlike our common usage where we say,
"I hope it doesn't rain on our picnic" etc.
This Biblical "hope" is seen as a secure "hope" simply awaiting God's timing.
He has a secure relationship
with his God and tries to be obedient to the commands of
Jesus, hoping to live closer to His
desires for him. He knows that when he falls short and
does sin, he confesses these sins
to maintain a good fellowship with his Saviour.
He knows he is secure, being spared
future judgement for his
sins. He knows too, that if he is living when the Great Tribulation.
that Jesus spoke about, arrives, he will be spared the worst of
it!
He believes Jesus meant it
when He said, "I am the way, and the truth,
and the life; no one comes to the Father but through
Me". John 14:6.
So, he does not want
anyone to go into eternity with out Jesus, literally
chosing to go to hell. Therefore he is quite evangelistic, urging
others to join him in trusting Jesus for salvation.
One of the best
explanations of the Christian faith is the 35 minute
streaming video, "The Ultimate Question"!
You can Claim this
Written Contract with God!
1stJohn 5:10-13,"The one who believes in the Son of God has the
testimony in himself; the one who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because
he has not believed in the testimony that God has given
concerning His Son. (2
kinds of people!) 11,
And
the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal
life, and this life is in His Son. 12 He who has the Son
has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does
not have the life. 13 These things I have written to you who believe in
the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that
you have eternal life."
Speed the Day!
"Since all these things
are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people
ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 12looking
for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because
of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and
the elements will melt with intense heat!",
2 Peter 3:11-12
Duane Gilchrist
(Interesting
series, of thought provoking "drop
down"
questions.
Back
to the top
|
