Monday, November 19, 2007

That we may know Him

I'm not religious. In fact, I find that religion gets in the way of the truth. If you have read the bible, you know that Jesus Christ spent a lot of time trying to show the religious people of the day, that he was the answer for the questions that plagues man- what is meaningful? Is life coherent? Is there any purpose?

I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No man comes to the Father except by me. ~ Jesus

The pharisees challenged Jesus, without knowing him. They did not know who he was, just as many don't know who he is now.

The real problem was not one of intellect. It was (and is) a problem of the will. The pharisees spent all their energy trying to devise a way to kill Jesus, and did not care to listen to what he had to say. Many people today are the same way. They claim to have intellectual reservations, but do not bother to research the historical accuracy of the accounts.

The idea of a real God who is intimately involved in our lives, can be somewhat disconcerting.
That is, before you know him. I'm sorry to say that many Christians don't spend enough time KNOWING Him, myself included. We forget that it is about a relationship with our Savior.

That we may know Him.


Monday, March 05, 2007

A Conversation with an Atheist

The following is a mock converstation between an atheist and a christian.

A. How can you believe the bible? It's written by a bunch of people, many who didn't ever see what happened.

C. Have you ever read the bible?

A. Yes... I read a few chapters here and there.

C. How do you justify not believing it?

A. It is logically impossible. The things it says happen... I like to think of myself as an intelligent person. I mean, it's okay if you want to believe it, but I think it's an offense to reason to argue that "God" created everything in six days "poof" and here we are... plus science gives reasonable evidence for evolution.. all the bones found, and carbon dated have told us the hard cold facts.

C. You suggest it to be logically impossible... do you have infinite knowledge of our universe?

A. No.

C. Then how can you logically argue or prove the impossibility of that which you do not know?

A. In science we use reason and empirical data to arrive at the conclusions of life.

C. That's fair, but reason and empirical data measures the physicality of life, not the essence of it. If you have a family, a mother, father, and two children, and one of the children dies in a car accident, the data reassures the family that 4-1 is still 3. But that is not sufficient to describe the true emotion and nature of the loss.

A. So, are you suggesting that life is based on feeling?

C. No, I'm suggesting life is based in and around relationship, and the Lord I serve created us to join in a beautiful relationship with him. We broke that relationship by sin, and He came in the form of man to repair that which was broken.

A. I still don't understand how you can believe in "God" when he hasn't made himself known to man; he hasn't poked his head through the clouds... if He is real, why doesn't he just show himself?

C. That's what I was alluding to early, God's nature is to reveal himself to us... but because he created us, he knows our responses better than we do. God did more than poke his head through the clouds; he was born into the world that we might know him. He lived among us, and taught us his precepts. He is embodied by logos (greek), the spoken word, that became flesh and dwelt among us. If we cannot believe this, then we will not believe, even if he poked his "head" through the clouds.

A. Okay... whatever. I still don't see how a loving, kind God, could allow a world like this to exist. Look at all the evil in the world.... what is the evidence for God's existance?

C. It is not by reason alone that we can come to understand what God allows to happen. If we could understand that, then we would be God ourselves and have no need for him. The evidence for him is clearly seen in the miracle of creation, in our ability to think, our desire to create order, to live in a coherent universe. Science points to God, in the intricacies of snowflakes, and by the laws by which the universe opperates. The world, however, is not now how it was when God created it. Sin has entered, and all of creation groans with the weight of it. So the evil is the result of the broken relationship, the result of a rejection of the good.
God is allowing all of this for a season, that all who respond to his nearness can enter in to the joy of the Lord. It is by his mercy that he tarries.

A. Okay, you said it's not by reason alone?? What then...faith?

C. Yes, faith. Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. It is rationally believing that there is Someone in who all reason lies, and in whom Reason itself originates. It is the desire to know this One, and recognition that He is worthy to be praised. It is the ability to say that my reason is not infinite, not self-sufficient, but I know that there is a Reason beyond my reason, that can explain all that is, and can make all things new. Faith is taking my reason and using it to determine that there must be a greater Reason than that which I can determine. He tells us: lean not unto your own understanding, but in all your ways acknowledge Him... he will make our paths straight. He will take the confusion and disillusionment and bring a clarity beyond what we ever could have imagined it to be. The knowledge of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

A. Well, you've said a lot. I agree that there is a need to recognize that we cannot understand everything... but that does not mean you should be justified in making up a God, to explain everything. You're parents were christians, that's why you are.

C. What did your parents believe?

A. They didn't believe in "God" if that's what you mean... I don't know what they believe.

C. Is that why you don't believe in God?

A. No. I've had the education to know that God doesn't exist.

C. Okay... well, yes my parents are Christians. And for a long time I was a "christian" because they were. I didn't understand what it meant. Now, I've had the education, through reading God's word, to know that He is real. We cannot logically conclude that because a truth has been passed down, that it is merely tradition. Science, Math, Language are all real things that have been shared. If something is true, you want to share it with your children. That does not make it any less true.

A. Point taken, but you are still lacking in evidence.

C. Do you know everything?

A. We have been over this....no. And neither do you.

C. Correct. Can we, for arguments sake, assume that you know half of everything.

A. I guess...?

C. Is it possible that God exists in the half that you don't know?


(to be continued)

Friday, January 19, 2007

A New Year

"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."
- 2 Cor 5:17

It's been quite a while since I have posted... I'm still here, just getting busier (and more unorganized) than I had anticipated.
College is getting the better of me now- with six months left, it's hard to believe all of my formal education will officially end. I guess, when you are in school for your entire life, it becomes a way of life. It will definitely be different once I enter the real world.

Anyways, I appreciate everyone's comments, and I apologize to those of you who commented and never heard back from me. I am planning to continue this blog with a similar dialogue, discussing who Christ was, who He is now, and what it means to us. I will discuss this in light of scripture, and different opinions of those who are well-versed in the bible and historical facts to hopefully present meaningful proof for you. I hope to have engaging discussions with anyone who is interested.

So, more coming soon!!!

Thanks,

Tichius