Posted on 05/13/2007 4:22:19 AM PDT by Kaslin
Paul (not the lead singer of the Beatles, but the apostle Paul) states that God has made Himself known, via creation, to all men. According to the apostle, God’s revealed Himself not just to Christians and to Jews, but to every one everywhere (see Romans 1:18-21).
This means that from Jo-Jo the Brazilian monkey boy, to the Cameroon pygmies, to the whiny lesbian agnostic smoking clove cigarettes at Starbucks, to the beer swillin’ dillweeds (What’s up, dudes? I’ll see after I pen this column! Keep ‘em cold.), to the brooding British atheists, all people know God exists—even if they can’t really put a finger on some of the finer points of His person.
Yes, through what has been made, God has plastered on the souls of earth’s citizenry the general revelation that He’s present. In addition, they also know when they’re being a jack ass and when they’re being cool (more on that next week).
I know the above 411 hurts the atheists to hear, seeing that they’ve staked so much of their imago on God’s non-existence. But c’mon, you know there’s Someone “out there,” so cut the crap, shave your goatee and find some other way to pick up chicks—okay, James Dean?
Look, if Paul’s right and people know that they know Him (even if it’s in some dull sense of the word), why do some trip over themselves and tie their brains in knots in order to curb this knowledge? Why do people go nuts looking for loopholes and supposed contradictions in the scripture, hypocrisies within the church and some shared semblance to an ape in order to convince themselves that God’s not here, there or anywhere and never has been nor ever will be?
Is it because . . .
They are Johnny Quest truth seekers looking to answer man’s $64,000 question?
They are evolutionary luminaries uncommonly endowed with more smarts than us poor cattle and are here to help us club foot our way up the Darwinian ladder and away from such primal fairy tales? Or is it simply because . . .
The existence of God, His standards and a day of personal accountability really, really, jacks with their efforts at autonomy and their chances of getting laid tonight?
The apostle Paul states it’s the latter.
Atheists, according to Santo Pablo, have suppressed the truth because God really cramps their style. It’s hard to persistently indulge the appetites of the flesh if there is a holy God to whom you must give account. The truth is that all men, who have not bowed their knee to God and His way, hate Him and are intrinsically geared against God. (I know that’s tight, but it’s right)
Jesus put it forcefully up fallen humanity’s tailpipe when He exposed why men reject the knowledge of God when He said, “Men love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil. For everyone who does evils hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed” (Jn. 3.19-20).
This is easy math, folks: A man who has no remorse and thus no desire to repent from his sins is probably not going to be a big advocate for the existence, person and work of God.
You know that all the various no-God arguments—which, to be sure, are fun to debate and write about and blah, blah, blah—actually stem from the root of the atheist’s refusal to curtsy to what he already internally knows is true. It is this denial and refusal to embrace the general knowledge of God given through creation that officially pisseth off the Lord thy God and puts the atheist in a precarious position. My advice to my atheist buddies is this: you’d better pray to God that you’re right and that He doesn’t exist—because if you’re wrong, eternity is going to be rough.
To be continued . . .
Doug Giles is the creator and host of The Clash radio shows, winners of seven Silver Microphone Awards and two Communicator Awards in the last three years, and a contributing columnist on Townhall.com.
Well, my FRiend, that’s called Faith. And it’s impossible to please God (or even find Him) without it. I can’t see, touch or smell Him but I know He exists. My spirit is in touch with His Spirit and it witnesses to me that He IS.
Why? How about two and a half centuries ago in time of Voltaire and Hume? Maybe two centuries ago people did become a little more enlightened with the atheist depravations of the atheistic French Revolution so apparent to the memory of most but then the depravations of atheistic Communism should be in yours.
The Bible actually looks more reliable today than then. Secular scholarship shows the writing to be reliable. The universe has been shown to have a beginning and end (unlike the learned consensus circa 1807) and life can't spontaneously generate.
And the Jews once again rule Israel.
Remember the "burden of proof" rules from your Logic 101 class?
You are the one making fantastical claims!
Your bagpipes are deafening
I wouldn’t expect Ginsburg to be Christian, for example.
Ginsburg wasn't on the court in 1973
I'm all ears.
Even without another, more plausible, explanation, the G-d hypothesis is a very assailable explanation.
So, assail it. Quit p___syfooting around and serve up the goods. Now, its late here in TX and I have work tomorrow, so my part in the dialogue may be delayed.
;-)
(I knew you'd move the goal post -- by your standard, nothing taught as history in any classroom in the world is fact. And the only difference in the documentation of Jesus death and resurrection and Caesar's death is the outlandish and fantastic claims made by Jesus folowers, which happen to be corroborated by some of his enemies].)
I would say it's the opposite. To believe that a complex being that could create all this, trillions of stars, galaxies, life forms, etc. would actually care about the trivialities of your life (like if your favorite player catches a touchdown pass), sure sounds a lot like arrogance to me.
Consider the little child. The arrogance of assuming godhood, to 'know' there is no god has not crept into the little child's heart yet, so the little child instinctively has faith and it drives their life daily, even in unconditionally loving his parents and trusting their guidance.
Unless of course if that child is born (like most children in the world) into a non-Christan home, then they have "instinctive faith" in some other God(s)
Argue if you will, but to proclaim there is no God is to at once dispaly a pernicious arrogance ... and it would be so easy to just state 'I don't know'.
I don't know and neither do you, but all evidence points to either no supreme creator or one that's not involved and all current religions were created by man.
... we have the evidence of a democrat party proving that failed leadership
That Democratic Party is made up by a big majority of Christians, let's not forget Jimmy Carter was the most Religious President of the 20th century
and basing their empowerment upon the blood of more than 44 million alive innocent unborn fellow human beings.
The majority of the innocent unborn human beings whose blood was spilled were aborted by a Christian mother.
Well yeah, don’t’ ya know, once upon a time there were never any murders, no adultery, no wars, no theft, no racism and the world lived in a perfect Christian utopia for a 1000+ years, then Charles Darwin came along and ruined it all.
And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Avenge the children of Israel of the Midianites .....Lots of bloodshed follows.......And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Take the sum of the prey that was taken, both of man and of beast.......And levy a tribute unto the Lord of the men of war which went out to battle: one soul of five hundred, both of the persons, and of the beeves, and of the asses, and of the sheep Take it of their half, and give it unto Eleazar the priest, for an heave offering of the LORD.
Look up what a heave offering is and what you would have to do to a person to do it, it's not pretty
That sounds like encouragement to me
Wow, it is interesting to see someone assert that the majority of aborting women are christian women. Enough, you've sent me for a bath with your filthy assertions.
You've made my point. Faith is what you have absent proof. There is no proof so one has to have faith.
There is lots to read about competing ideas. The big bang theory is well documented. If you want to fault it by asking where the bang came from, tell me where your G-d came from.
"..., nothing taught as history in any classroom in the world is fact. And the only difference in the documentation of Jesus death and resurrection and Caesar's death is the outlandish and fantastic claims made by Jesus folowers, which happen to be corroborated by some of his enemies].)"
There is a big difference between the claim that a Roman politician was knifed by pretenders to the throne and the claim that a crucified man rose from the dead. If you wrote that you scrambled eggs this morning, I'd believe you. If you wrote that you had laid eggs this morning I would not.
Can you give me an explanation for the existence of universal, invariant, abstract entities? I’m not asking you to explain if they exist, I’m asking you to account for their existence. We would both agree that they exist as we both can add, subtract, multiply and divide.
They built high places for Baal in the Valley of Ben Hinnom to sacrifice their sons and daughters to Molech, , that they should do such a detestable thing and so make Judah sin.
>>I don’t think the passage from Paul-(you quote)- means going for the lowest common denominator.<<
Exactly right. To suggest otherwise is to deny that the power of God’s word, through the Holy Spirit can work in anyone.
Churches don’t need to conform to culture in order to be effective. Likewise, God’s word does not need to be cheapened in order to reach out to teens and the lazy. The problem is not with the church, but with the people who reject God.
>>My youngest son likes to ask, “Whats the downside to believing in God?”
“Whats the downside to believing that Jesus Christ died for your sins?”<<
Great questions to ask when witnessing. I like “Why is it such a bad thing that God is in control?”
Either way, the answer is the same. Accountability. The lost don’t like to think that they will be held accountable for their sins on their last day.
>>You shall not murder.
Yes, we’ve had a recent decline in the murder rate.
You shall not commit adultery.
Hard to tell, but it looks like this is more prevalent and openly accepted in the country.<<
Don’t forget that Christ expanded on these to include sins of the heart. Hating your brother is the same as murder, and looking at someone with lust in your heart is the same as adultery.
Given the increase of secular therapy, ‘anger management’ classes, and the heavy use of pornography in this country, these two have risen the most.
These abstractions do not actually exist; they do not occupy space and are not made of matter or energy.
I agree that they are real, however.
And, so what that these abstractions are real?
The universe has rules and it is ordered. Going from this observation all the way to the conclusion that God exists will require more proof than anyone has ever provided in all of human history.
My proof is the absurdity of the contrary. God is real, He created the world and all that is in it, logic and abstract rules of thought represent His nature and thinking as revealed in the Bible. Any other explanation will fall into logical absurdity. However, you are welcome to raise the ones you like and we can discuss them.
Loved your homepage!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.