This is picture that was tweeted today on Twitter. It's a Venn Diagram the suggests that Jesus has somethings in common with Zombies, Frankenstein, and vampires. To make the alleged parallels clear
let me summarize them.
Assertion: Jesus and Zombies share resurrection .and convert many mindless followers as possible.
Zombies are not resurrected from the dead. They rise from the grave in the same decaying bodies that were buried. Jesus was raised in a glorified body and will never ever die again. Zombies convert people by infection and people become mindless after infection. When you follow Jesus Christ you find your mind - not loose it.
Assertion: Jesus is like Frankenstein because both were resurrected from the dead and townspeople feared and revered him.
The problem with Frakenstein's rising from the dead was that he was no raised but multiple bodies dug up and stitched together. Just which person's soul did the monster get from the people stitched together? No like Jesus at all. Yes the villagers feared Frankenstein but they wanted to kill him not worship him. Common folks loved and worshiped Jesus throughout his ministry. It was the religious leaders who feared and hated Jesus.
Assertion: Jesus is like Dracula because they both convert mindless followers and towns people feared and revered them, and they resurrected from the dead.
There are several problems with this logic. First vampires are undead - soul-less - and not alive. Jesus was dead and then he is alive. Again vampires gain followers by taking their minds. Jesus gives us a mind better that the one we had. Third, townfolks in the vampire myths don't love or worship Dracula - he is hated. The common people revered Jesus it was the religious leaders that hated Jesus.
I noticed that it was two YouTube videos from a show called Atheist Experience. I am grateful to get that videos for I did indeed learn a lot. I'd like to share the insights I have gained. First Ecclesiastes in the Bible is correct there really isn't anything new under the sun. None of the arguments that the atheists used were new. I've heard them all before. It's been 2000 years. Does anyone really think that they are going to come up with a new objection that no Christian has heard before or rebutted? The reason why I think these arguments don't go away but keep getting trotted out is because they are effective when Christians don't know what the Bible says or have thought through the issues that are brought up. I have compiled a list of things that stuck out to me. I will provide each point and then comment on why Christians don't buy the argument.
1. Matt Accuses God of having bad moral standards:
a. Slavery
b. Genocide
c. Human Sacrifice
Let's define terms. Slavery - means one person owning another person as property.
Genocide - the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of an ethnic, racial, religious, or national group.
Human Sacrifice - ritual killing a person to please a deity.
In order for Matt's accusation to stand he has to prove that the Bible tells people to commit these acts. I don't think he can do it. He tried for a couple of them.. So for now I will focus on those.
2. Asks if the Bible is an accurate representing God
This is a trap that many Christians stand for. We say "yes" it is and it sets us up for next point:
3. Insinuates that God commands/condones/endorses a-c
The idea is that to catch the Christian flat-footed because many don't know what the Bible says about these subjects and attempts to make a Christian question what the Bible says.
4. Atheist said that 10 commandments enbdorses slavery but when asked where he corrects himself and says the law gives rules and laws concerning slavery and he gives the example of Jepthah offering a human sacrifice.
If you listen to what an atheist says carefully, he will invariably make a mistake on what the Bible says somewhere in misspeaking something but will rake you over the coals if you make a similar mistake. Matt insinuates that Jephthah won his war on his enemies because he promised to sacrifice the first things that comes out of his house when he gets home if he wins. The story is found in Judges 11. When you look at the story you can see that Matt is less than accurate. I agree that when Jephthah made that oath knowing that he was going to sacrifice a person, he just never thought it was going to be his daughter. Jephthah opened his mouth in verse 30 but God did not ask for a burnt offering or a human sacrifice of any kind. Jephthah made a vow and in his cultur e he had to keep it. God was innocent of all of that. Leviticus 18:21 tells us what God really think about human sacrifice:
Do not give any of your children to be sacrificed to Molech, for you must not profane the name of your God. I am the LORD.
5. The Christian did not seem to know this or have an answer to the challenge that there is a human sacrifice in the Bible. This is because a lot people don't read the Old Testament.
6. The atheist does not accurately explain the Bible or God's character
7. Accuses God of not caring about what you do but only what you believe.
This is not true. Look at James 2:19-27
19You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder. 20You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless[a]? 21Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 23And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,"[b] and he was called God's friend. 24You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone. 25In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? 26As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.
I know whar rhe objection is: "But Paul wrote that we are saved by faith not by works!" Such an easy non-contradiction! Paul was talking about ceremonial traditions like circumcision or not eating meat on Tuesdays and Fridays. James was referring to doing good and helping people and stop sinning. Look up the Greek words in the lexicon and you will find the word Paul used for "works" is different than the word James used although the King James Version translates both words "works".
8. Accuses no good Moral standard in the Bible.
This is a straw man. The question is by what standard is Matt measuring morality? And what make his standard better? He shares many of the same moral standards that the Bible calls good. For example, he thinks murder is wrong. He agrees that lying is bad. So unless he wants to argue that this is bad morality, he can't say that there is no good moral standard in the Bible.
9. Lists genocide, slavery, infinite punishment and rewards for finite beings is a sin
I sure would like to understand how Matt comes up with the idea that the Bible teaches all of that as being good. He also throws in a major objection against Hell in that he does not believe the punishment fits the crime and even denies that a crime has been committed. He does not believe that any of our sins are really that bad. I'm sure he would agree that executing an innocent man is infinitely unfailr. That tells us how bad our sins really are. Our sins are so bad that it equals the need of an innocent man to be tortured to death to balance the debt. Our sins are not finite. Besides who says that people stop sinning in hell. They will be sinning forever.
10 Lists failure in creating a system with standard that no one can hold
Again, Matt is making a mistake in thinking that we are anywhere close what God is. God is so much more Holy than us that there can be no relationship because he cannot lower the standard and still be Who He is!
11.Butchers the Trinity
Matt shows not understand on what the Trinity is. He said that God had to sacrifice himself to himself. He is confusing Jesus' personhood with God's being. I've written heavily on this and have linked many great articles to this blog if you need more information.
12. Accusses God of being evil because he won't get rid of the devil
I'm amazed that Matt thinks that getting rid of the devil would get rid of evil. Nope. In order to get rid of sin and evil he would have to wipe out every man, woman, and child off the face of the earth.
13. Children analogy comparing hell to locking your children in the basement, torturing them forever
A better analogy is not children being locked away being tortured but muderous, raping , thieves with no redeeming qualities. This better describes the kind of soul buning in hell. I know what you are thinking: I haven't raped or killed anyone. Under God's standard the thought is just as bad as doing it yourself. But you have coveted another person's possession - theft. You have hated someone - murder. You have lusted after another person who does not belong to you as a spouse - adultery/rape.
14. Claims morally superiority
Given the comment above about how sinful we are from a Biblical viewpoint, who still wants to claim to morally superior to the God of the Bible? Not me...and in all honesty not you.
15. Tries to use guilt that we don't want to tell people that if they deny Christ that they will go to hell.
No compassionate person really likes the thought that people, some of whom they like as people, will be going to hell because they deny Christ. That is what the Bible says. Christians need to tell people the truth and not try to sugar coat it. Yes, you deserve to go to Hell. We all do! The thing is you have a way out. God has provided a passover lamb to take your place on the altar - Jesus. And because He rose from the dead, you too can rise...if you trust him and put your faith in him. This is what is in the Bible. Like it or lump it.
16. Defines Apostasy as the unforgivable sin.
The unforgivable sin is not apostasy it's blaspheming the Holy Spirit. Biblically speaking a born again Christian cannot die an apostate. If someone turns away from God, they were never saved in the first place.
17. Claims that we are saying that exercising free will or having a conscious is what send you to hell
No, failing to accept Jesus is what keeps you on your way to hell.
18. Rejects sin except voluntary willfull ignorance, creduality, limiting the rights and freedoms of anyone to your standards, sacrificing the physical, mental, and emotional well-being of a child in deference to your religion, wasting yor life worrying about and working for an after-life that some told you about
Matt claimed Christianity does all these things but he provided no proof that the Bible says anything like these things. The Bible does not condone any of the things that he says is a sin. I'd like to see him prove that it does.
19. Accuse Christians of not thinking for themselves
Matt expects people to take his word for it that God told Jephthah to sacrifice his daughter, but the Bible says no such thing,. So who is not thinking for themselves?
20. Accuse the Bible of being outdated and irrevalent
Many of the laws and civil codes we live by today were first established in the Mosaic Laws. More universities and hospitals have been founded and established because of Biblical inspiration. I'll take that statement back if someone can show more charitable Atheist organizations than Christian onea.
21. The Bible degrades the value of the human being
I think Matt forgot about Genesis 1:26
Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."
The Bible claims that we are in God's image. How much degradation is that? None look at Genesis 9:6
"Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made man.
22. Christians do not answer questions honestly
Okay let us be blunt. Without Jesus you are going to Hell because you deserve it. That is the bad news. The good news is that you can be saved by faith in Jesus Christ.
23. God wants bootlickers
God loves us. He deserves our love and our obedience in the same way an archetict deserves praise for a skyscraper or a potter for beautiful clay pot. God deserves honor and praise . It's stupid to praise a house or a book without respecting the one who made it.
24. Most people are basically good.
If people are basically good, then why do we have to learn not to lie, steal, cheat but have to be taught to be compassionate and kind even when we don't want to?
Here is the next part of my series on responding to video comments from atheist Sam Harris. In this particular video he gives his view on Christian and Muslim scriptures.
I have several problems with Sam Harris' approach. Second He makes no difference between the Bible and the Koran. You can't equate them. When you have two sources that conflict with one another you are left with one of three possibilities:
a. They are both false.
b. The Bible is true.
c. The Koran is true.
However the possibility that they are both true are off the table. Harris immediately concludes that they are both false but he gives no reason for coming to that conclusion.
Harris makes several assertions without proof. He makes it seem like the The Bible and the Koran are both from the Bronze Age. This is not true. It took over 40 authors writing over a 1500 year-period on three continents from various cultures in three different languages telling a single story which we call the Bible. If you disagree all you have to do is provide evidence that the Bible has conflicts and contradictions - which Harris does not do. As for the Koran it dates no earlier than 500 AD - a lot later than the Bronze Age.
I also must point out that his arguments against the Bible concerning it's content being outdated holds no weight. Most of his complaints center around things like the Mosaic laws requiring women to be virgins when they get married seems to be forgetting details. For example in a society where prostitution is prohibitted (as in the Laws of Moses) then everyone men and women would be virgins when they marry. On top of that how can anyone who has seen the devastation caused by adultery not understand why its death penalty offense? Also how can anyone doubt that our society would not be better if these laws were lived out. Thank God for grace. It is because of grace than many of these crimes no longer have a death penalty.
Another insult that shows little knowledge of the Bible and history is when Harris said that there is nothing of consequence in the Bible and no moral attitude or thought that a man could have come up with. It's one of Christopher Hitchens' favorite challenges. The thing is, I know of a moral command that no human would ever come up with - Jesus said:
43"You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' 44But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. - Matthew 5:43-45
And the first century church was taught:
1If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. 3Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 4Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. - Philippians 2:1-4
The one guilty of cherry-picking and taking scripture out of context are not just some Christians but atheists like Sam Harris. Don't take me at face value. Read the Bible for yourself and consider the culture and history and see how truly relevant they are today. I've just documented several errors that Harris makes, can you really afford to blindly accept everything he said? I can't. Can you?
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