Posted on 08/01/2006 12:42:58 PM PDT by Mr. Silverback
In the first chapter of their new book, 20 Compelling Evidences that God exists, Ken Boa and Robert Bowman write, “We don’t mean to discourage you from reading the rest of this book. But in the interest of full disclosure, we should tell you that, in a sense, there is only one good reason to believe that God exists: because it’s true.”
That statement is both profound and well expressed. Unfortunately, these days it’s not the kind of statement you can make in public without having scorn heaped upon your head. As the authors jokingly point out, the popular viewpoint regarding truth is, “Anyone who believes that he is right and others are wrong is intolerant.” Now that’s self-contradictory on its face, but it’s almost certain to be thrown at you if you assert a truth claim.
That’s why Boa and Bowman have titled their book 20 Compelling Evidences that God Exists—because they recognize that for any claim to truth to be taken seriously in today’s culture, it needs solid evidence to back it up. As the authors write, “There are many such evidences, but they all have value because they help us see that the God of the Bible is real.” In fewer than two hundred pages, they clearly and concisely examine some of today’s most pervasive worldviews and their flaws. Then they present their case for God’s existence and His revelation of Himself through Jesus Christ.
What kind of evidences are they talking about? There’s an amazing variety. They don’t state it right upfront, but they are organizing their “20 compelling evidences” in a way that takes readers through the doctrines of creation, fall, redemption, and restoration—the four basic elements of the Christian worldview that I set forth in How Now Shall We Live?
They start with evidence about the universe and the origins of life. And they talk, for example, about how finely our solar system and our planet had to be calibrated to support life. At “an extremely conservative estimate,” they say, the probability of our planet being capable of sustaining us is about one in a billion. It had to be at just the right place in the solar system, which had to be at just the right place in the galaxy. Even the expansion of the universe had to happen at just the right rate in order for all of us to be here today.
From evidence about the universe, the authors move on to evidence of humanity’s sinful nature; then evidence of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection; and finally, evidence of those who have lived and died for Christ. Examining concepts ranging from Greek philosophy to archeology to the Big Bang theory to postmodernism, the authors make a powerful case for the existence of a loving Creator.
In short, I highly recommend Boa and Bowman’s book. They provide in a very readable form an excellent apologetic resource for Christians wondering how to defend their faith in a world that’s “tolerant” of everything except Christianity.
Ken Boa is a great apologist—one of the most engaging and popular teachers in our Centurion’s training program. You can visit our website, BreakPoint.org, to find out how you can get 20 Compelling Evidences that God Exists. While you’re there, be sure to check out some of our other Christian worldview resources.
The "alternative view" is not even remotely correct.
The "Dark Ages," as they are currently understood, never existed. They are a myth.
The time prior to the Renaissance was a time of immense intellectual activity and growth. The Catholic Church, far from suppressing new ideas (another favorite myth) founded many universities and facilitated learning on a dramatic scale. It was the Church that preserved the writings of the ancients, which otherwise would have been lost forever.
The Renaissance was a direct result of the intellectual outpouring of the middle ages, erroneously dubbed the "Dark Ages" by those who don't have a clue.
Not a compelling argument for a divine creation given that there are quite probably trillions of planets in the universe.
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Arguing after the fact that something is against all odds is pointless. As an example I once stepped out of a dressing room in a gym and had to pass back through the weight room to reach the outside door. As soon as I stepped through the door I stopped and did a double take. Just to my left was a little man doing butterflies with two small dumbbells. He had not been in the building when I entered the dressing area a few minutes earlier. He was a shipmate from a Navy ship on which we had been stationed fifteen years earlier, we had even been assigned to the same department and slept in the same berthing area. He grew up five hundred or more miles away from me. He had happened to be passing through this small town and used his guest privileges from another gym. What are the odds against that? Obviously a string of events had to happen at just the right time and in the right sequence or we would never have seen each other. It doesn't matter because it had already happened.
Well, they can be demonstrated, but even Richard Feynman thinks they are beyond ordinary human comprehension. There is simply nothing in the macro world of our everyday experience which prepares us to visualize such things. They are just plain mysterious, or as Einstein put it, "spooky."
[Take that, you "blashpher.}
Strange post. Are you denying the Old Testament? There are many accounts where "God" said all the children deserved death and urged on the Israelites to rape girls.
In the myth of Noah's Flood, unborn babies were killed; newborns were drowned; toddlers and 4-yr-olds were killed. And you claim this is a tale that teaches 'morality'. Surely you are not serious.
As to who is a blasphemer or heretic, Martin Luther, originator of Protestantism, was called both. Luther won out, because there are now 189 churches based on his foundation. They disagree amongst themselves, of course. There seems to be lots of money in one-way tickets to an imaginary heaven.
Thank you for that. Very interesting.
As another poster showed, the Declaration of Independence, among many other writings of the Founders, is loaded with theistic language.
There were very few avowed atheists at the time the Constitution was drafted. The article you cite, indeed the entire Constitution, makes absolutely no mention of atheists or pagans. The intent was to see that membership in any particular sect was not required for office, because there were many sects in America at the time, almost all of them Christian.
Your reasoning is exactly that of the liberals who find imaginary justifications for abortion, property seizures, unconstitutional governmental programs, etc.: You read in things which are not actually in the text.
Christians are theists.
Will you own up to your mistake?
"Strange post. Are you denying the Old Testament?"
Much of the OT is superceded by the New Testament, at least for Christians.
"And you claim this is a tale [Noah's flood] that teaches 'morality'.
I never said any such thing.
And just where do you get your concept of "morality" which tells you that part of the Bible is "immoral?" Did you get a special revelation on that? Did you conjure it up in some purely logical, utilitarian, objective way? If so, tell us exactly how you did that. Maybe we should get you to come up with a set of moral commandments, since you don't have to rely on "myths" to get yours.
What does tax cuts have to do with anything?
Obviously, you are as ignorant of physics as you are of geology and evolution.
Ever heard of quarks? They have 1/3 charges.
And nobody, not even Jesus, had the slightest clue about electrons or atoms. Not the slightest clue about energy. Not the slightest clue about democracy.
"Arbitrary units" make me think of "pyramid inches".
When I look at the beauty, intricacy and mathematical patterns in nature .... This is one good reason God exists. Generally speaking people in cities (man's creation) are Godless compared to people in rural locales who live surrounded by God's creation
It isn't just "creationists" who make these estimates. Physicists and cosmologists think that tiny changes in a number of fundamental physical constants (like the charge of the electron, etc.) would have resulted a universe in which life of any kind would be impossible.
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Without entering into the question of Gods, what makes a physicist or cosmologist believe that he is capable of determining whether an alternate universe could support life?
Right, whatever you say. Fans oscillate, why not universes?
LOL, very funny stuff.
Well, no, to the best of my knowledge. The definition of `deists' and `theists' were argued during the Age of Enlightment in the eighteenth century. Both posited something like the `indifferent watchmaker' versus the `concerned watchmaker' wherein the universe was created and then merely observed by its Maker.
Neither was interested in any form of organized ritual of worship.
"Christians are theists"
Is that some sort of indictment?
"As to who is a blasphemer or heretic, Martin Luther, originator of Protestantism, was called both. Luther won out, because there are now 189 churches based on his foundation. They disagree amongst themselves, of course. There seems to be lots of money in one-way tickets to an imaginary heaven."
And who did Luther "win out" over, and in what way? Of his contemporary opponents, both the Catholics and Calvinists are still around. And what documentation do you have that there are 192 distinct Lutheran churches? Can you tell us what the differences between them are, and how you know they are distinct?
As for the slur about money in religion--there are a lot easier ways to make money than being a Christian minister, let alone a missionary in the Third World, the operator of a soup kitchen, a Salvation Army worker, etc. Many of them live in near poverty, esp. the Catholic "religious," like nuns. In fact, they take vows of poverty. Living among lepers in Calcutta, the way Mother Theresa did, is not exactly what most materialists dream about. Of course, she found it a joy anyway.
Indictment? Naw, I thought it was common knowledge.
What makes you believe Christians are not theistic?
Each one of us is different......it's called DNA. So I guess there must be some Divine Design involved.
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