Featured "Listening to young atheists, Lessons for a stronger Christianity"

This is the adam of your imagination, not the Adam of the Scriptures. You will go no where in the Scriptures for information on Adam's "parents." It must all be imagined according to the whims of atheists. Do you still deny the verity of my rather terse summary of your position: Genesis is best interpreted by atheists?

Your real faith is in Evolution. You did not choose to believe it. You just do. You're compelled to believe it. The "evidence" to which you've been exposed and had explained to you demands it. You can do no other.

You say you believe in the Virgin Birth and the Resurrection because you chose to believe them. That is not real faith. You could take it or leave it, just as you do the testimony of Moses in Genesis.

A real faith possesses an individual. He does not choose it.

"Quantum" faith, indeed.

 

Hi QF, I was referring to what the linked article said, which was long on fun and games, i.e. high entertainment value) but short on providing answers to difficult questions. We have Christians on this forum who advocate lying for the sake on not hurting feelings. Others say, in effect, two wrongs make a right. Still others say the ends justifies the means.

I believe we can know (or think we know) spiritual truths. For example Job 38 teaches we (mankind) do not know how He (God) created everything. Thus to take statements shedding light on the process of creation, and make dogmatic statements, is errant but not lukewarm.

I remember when someone asked a Republican, what do you mean by family values? The answer was "whatever you think it means."

Jesus spits lukewarm out of Him mouth.

The NET footnote says this about the lukewarm comment: "Instead, the metaphor condemns Laodicea for not providing spiritual healing (being hot) or spiritual refreshment (being cold) to those around them. It is a condemnation of their lack of works and lack of witness."

 

How to answer "hard questions."

1) Why Christianity? Why not Buddhism? Why not Islam?
All other religions provide a works based system, where you earn your way to heaven. Christianity provides a faith based system where Jesus bought you your ticket, provided you believe in Jesus with all your heart as the Christ and Son of God. Jesus demonstrated He is the truth by rising from the dead.

2) I don't see why there us evil in the world because of Gods gift of freewill. When God made us he put in every fault into us, there is no random effect he can give us that will make us create faults on our own. First lets come to an understanding of “evil.” Evil is something that goes against your expectations and desires. Thus if a tornado strikes your house, you would say that was an “evil” wind.
But say two soldiers meet on a battlefield and one soldier shoots and kills the other. The soldier being killed would consider the act evil, whereas the one who made the shot would consider the shot good because it protected himself and his comrades in arms. So what is evil in your eyes (i.e. the tornado that destroyed your house) would not be evil in the eyes of God, just part of the harsh environment that sustains us yet gives us reason to seek God as a refuge. So with this insight, natural calamity would be considered evil by mankind, but would not be evil from God’s perspective. Next we have the evil men choose to do. They covet and steal, and they know it is wrong because they do not want their stuff stolen. Here you argument is with whether God is omnipotent, whether He can create a purview where we make choices not dictated by our past. Whether we can do again what we have done, or walk away from the past and try something new. I believe we can. I believe “exhaustive determinism” is a fiction. And the bible says things happen by chance, i.e. not prearranged.

3) If I choose good actions i still am highly likely to get bad things to happen to me, what is the sense in that? Why wouldn't you reward the good people and make sure the sinners don't hurt the others. This is the generic question, why did God do this and not that. The very concept of God is He does as He pleases and He reveals His choices to us, but does not tell us why He made those choices. Here your argument is with God’s sovereignty, with you limiting God to what seems right in your eyes. In your view there are “good people” but since everyone is a sinner God does not see it your way. He will provide justice for all, and mercy for the chosen ones who trust in Jesus. That is the plan, but do not expect justice in this life, only in the next.

4) Heaven and hell also doesn't make sense to me. I can live a perfect life giving to charity, helping every person I can, and never hear of "God's word" and I would end up in hell. But, I could kill millions and millions of people and as long as I believe in Jesus and God I automatically go to heaven. Yes those who die in unbelief go to “hell” where they receive perfect justice; they are punished for their misdeeds. And yes, killers can turn to Jesus and receive forgiveness, but it is God alone who accepts or rejects their faith, so a hypocrite phony will not fool God. So going to heaven is not automatic if you profess to others you believe in Jesus, you must belief from the heart in the eyes of God.

5) I have a problem with the laws put forth by the Lord. If I work on a Sabbath I should be stoned? If I am disobedient to my parents I shall be tied to a tree and stoned? The law of Moses no longer applies, so for you to have a problem with it is odd. Why not have a problem with the “Law of Christ.” We are under grace, not the Law.
Please go through the book of Matthew, and paraphrase every command or direction given by Christ, there are about 75 of them. Then ask yourself; do I have a problem with one of these?

6)Lastly, I don't understand the significance of Jesus, God created himself in human form, sacrificed himself in human form, then resurrected himself for what? To take away the bad sins and allow people access to heaven? If he really wanted to, and if he was omnipotent, he would just forgive the sins and be a more reasonable God. This is a restatement of the generic question, why did God choose to do this and not that. See answer above.

 

"Ricki Monnier's The Impossibility of God, or Theodore M. Drange's article, "Incompatible-Properties Arguments" are listed in the "New Atheism" article in Wikipedia. This presents a fundamental issue that all believers (young or old) must confront. Here is a blurb I wrote years ago, possibly as a rebuttal to this article (http://www.evilbible.com/Impossible.htm) addressing at least some of the bogus arguments:


WHY GOD IS POSSIBLE

Introduction
Christians consider the existence of their God to be true. This assertion is valid, not solely because of overwhelming evidence for God from nature and the Bible, but also because God’s revealed attributes are consistent, and therefore represent a logical possibility.

Proving that God could exist.
Many Christians, as well as atheists, claim that it is impossible to prove a universal negative. In other words, due to our limited knowledge, it is impossible to prove that God cannot exist. To illustrate the point, because we do not have complete knowledge of the universe, unicorns and dragons may exist somewhere in the universe.

This is true, provided the object of conjecture (God, unicorn, dragon) is logically coherent. If the attributes of the object of conjecture represent a logical impossibility, for example a perfect sphere with eight corners, then logically the object cannot exist.

I intend to show that the attributes and actions of Yahweh represent a logical possibility and therefore the God of the Bible could exist

Defining Yahweh
The Biblical authors have revealed the following attributes of Yahweh: He is a sovereign (Psalm 115:3), eternal (Isaiah 44:6), creator (Genesis 1), all-knowing (Psalm 139:4), all-powerful (Job 42:2), holy (Isaiah 6:1-7), unchanging (Malachi 3:6), just (Psalm 97:2) and loving (First John 4:8) being that exists in three persons (Matthew 28:19; Second Corinthians 12:14).

The biblical authors have revealed the following actions of Yahweh. God created the Universe and God’s creation of the heavens and the earth and everything in them was originally very good (Genesis 1:31). ). Mankind was created so that some would glorify God (Isaiah 43:7). Pain, suffering and physical death existed before Adam sinned (Revelation 21:4; Genesis 3:16). Adam, by disobeying God brought sin into the world (Romans 5:12). ). Sin caused a separation (spiritual death) of mankind from God (Isaiah 59:2). God knew before the foundations of the world He would graciously save all those He would put into Christ (Ephesians 1:4-6; Romans 8:28-30). God provided salvation from both the wages of sin and His just punishment and made the opportunity available (Acts 17:30-31). Even though suffering continues after salvation, we know that it is part of God’s plan to convert others (Romans 8:18-22). People who are unable to put their trust in Jesus will face God’s just punishment, so it still makes sense to sin as little as possible. (You can’t work your way to heaven, but you can dig yourself a deeper pit in hell.) (Luke 12:47-48).

These attributes and actions of God are revealed in the Bible, which Christians believe was completely accurate when originally written and still is completely trustworthy today (Second Peter 1:19-21).

Yahweh’s Activities before Creation
God existed before He created the heavens and the earth. When He did create them, He created space and time. Timeless eternity is a difficult concept to grasp, but I submit that it is not a logical necessity. An attribute of God could be "spiritual time" which would exist before physical time. I am not sure the Bible tells us fully why God created all of creation, but it is clear that planet earth was created for man, and man was created to glorify God. (Isaiah 45:18; Isaiah 43:7). While it can be asserted that God did not need to create creation, it does not follow that God could not choose to create creation, which He did (Psalm 115:3; Genesis 1).

Yahweh’s Creation includes Pain, Suffering, Death and the Capacity to Sin
In order for some of mankind to glorify God, we needed the capacity to choose to love God. This capacity carries with it the ability to choose to love oneself or other stuff. Without pain, suffering and death, the likelihood of anyone choosing to love God would seem to be low. In fact, it would approach a logical impossibility to envision God creating man to glorify God without pain, suffering, death and the capacity to sin. But once the relationship is established, then, like the pains of childbirth, pain, suffering, death and sin can be eliminated (Rev 21:4). Sin increased pain, suffering and death (Genesis 3:16; Genesis 6:5-7). God also causes or allows harm to individuals or groups in order to help whom He chooses, all those who place their faith in Christ. Since God has a purpose in allowing pain, suffering and death for the brief time of our lives, in order that we can choose with understanding between fellowship with God and separation from God, it follows that some of God’s love is tough love (Romans 8:18-22).

Yahweh’s Eternal Punishment is Just
For those of mankind that were unable to obtain mercy by placing their trust in Jesus Christ, God will judge them and punish them. They all get justice, no more and no less. They have no second chance, they will always, eternally, be separated from God. The Bible does not make clear what the mix will be, between possible quick annihilation for babies, kids and those without knowledge, and long suffering for those without excuse. But since, whatever it is, it will be just, the assertion that it is unjust is illogical. Whatever it is like, it will be a place where those that go there will regret not trusting in Jesus when they had the chance (Psalm 97:2; Luke 16:19-31).

Yahweh’s Word is Understandable
Even though the original manuscripts of the Bible have been lost, the accuracy of the currently available copies is sufficient for God’s purpose. While our understanding of the text is imperfect, by study and reasoning together, Christians can gain a sufficient understanding of God’s standards, commands, teachings and love to be transformed, renewed and conformed to the image of Christ (Romans 8:28-31; Second Timothy 3:16-17).

Yahweh’s Word contains Difficulties
The Bible contains difficult passages that seem to contradict other passages or are otherwise hard to understand. Most of the difficulties can be resolved through interpretation. In order to accurately handle the Word of God, we must study it in broad scope; what is this passage saying, how does this fit within the overall presentation of the Book, and how does this fit with the rest of the Bible; and we must study the passage in detail considering the literal, grammatical and historical aspects of the passage (Second Timothy 2:14-16). For example, the Bible does not teach that we should hate our parents and honor our parents, which is a contradiction. Instead it teaches we should love God more than anything else and hate the things that come between God and us (Exodus 20:1-17; Luke 14:26). And God does not eternally punish sons for the sins of their fathers, but the sins of fathers will hurt their families (Ezekiel 18:20; Deuteronomy 6:1-3). If you are looking for apparent contradictions in the Bible, you can find them; but with God’s help, if you are looking for consistent truth, you can find it (First Corinthians 2:7-14).

Yahweh is All-knowing and expresses Emotion
Human emotion is usually triggered by unfolding events. So why would God, who can knows all things about the individuals He is interacting with, display emotion? Possibly to present His revelation in a manner that hits close to home, or is memorable. God is jealous (Exodus 20:5), teaches us that idolatry is a big deal with God. God is furious (Deuteronomy 29:24-29), God takes vengeance (Deuteronomy 32:41) and saved from the wrath of God (Romans 5:9), all teach that the wages of sin is death, that punishment is certain, and that we should seek mercy in Jesus Christ. Additionally, actual emotion can be triggered when considering a past event so knowing something does not preclude emotion (Genesis 6:6).

The Conclusion of the Matter
I have offered arguments, at least in part from scripture, for the possibility that the God of the Bible can exist because His acts and attributes are consistent and represent a clearly logical possibility. Once you brush aside the contention that the God of the Bible is a logical impossibility, you are left with the evidence, to borrow a phase, that demands a verdict. God is possible, and if we study the evidence, a wonderful possibility exists that we might just decide to turn from our self-serving life and place our faith in Christ.