Here is a great interview of Dr Kenneth Samples talking about how he became a Christian and why he believes.
Friday, July 12, 2013
Why I Believe | Reflections
Here is a great interview of Dr Kenneth Samples talking about how he became a Christian and why he believes.
FacePalm of the Day - Debunking Christianity: God's Burning Orphans - The Problem of Divine Hiddenness
Debunking Christianity: God's Burning Orphans - The Problem of Divine Hiddenness
The thing that seems to be completely lost on most Atheists, like the one who made this video, is that they don't understand Christianity. No where in the entire Bible does God tell us that he is obligated to save anyone! By default, every human being sins and deserves to go to hell. Bottom line. God would be fully justified if every human being ended up in hell - including me and you. The guy in the video is indeed correct about "free will". It's not an issue here but not because of the reasons he thinks. None of us are freed from sin except by Jesus. This means that while you reject God, you ain't free - except which sins you voluntarily do. As for the "good" things you may do best thank God for His mercy that you were allowed to do them - but it's not enough to keep you out of hell without Jesus.
The other bone of contention this video brings up is that the video author thinks that God has not done enough to make himself known to everyone. I agree. God has revealed himself to humanity the way He has wanted to on His terms not ours. We may not have free will because our servitude to sin, but God is not fettered as such. Look at what the Bible say.
24 “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. 25 And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. 26 From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. 27 God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. 28 ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’[b] As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’[c]
29 “Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by human design and skill. 30 In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. 31 For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.” - Acts 17:24-31
Paul in his proclamation was clear: God placed each one of us in the best possible circumstances to easily find Him so that we would seek Him out and the God is not far from either one of us. God is calling for each and everyone of us to repent. Want proof? Look no further than Jesus' resurrection from the dead.
18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.
21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.
24 Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25 They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen. - Romans 1:18-25
God has clearly made His existence known through what He has created. We have no excuse for unbelief. How does faith come in?
1 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. 2 This is what the ancients were commended for.3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.
4 By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead.
5 By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death: “He could not be found, because God had taken him away.”[a] For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. 6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. - Hebrews 11:1-6
Lastly, the example of the burning orphans is really bad and shows that the guy in the video has no idea what Christianity is teaching. This is what the metaphor should be. We are not like sweet innocent orphans. Imagine a house full of mass murderers, liars, cheaters, rapists, molesters, and people guilty of manner of evil. The house catches fire because the people inside set the fire. It's not a fireman, one whose job and obligation it is to put out fires and save lives, but one who is completely innocent who decide to save the undeserving people in the burning house although it will cost him his own life. That is what Jesus did. Given that everyone in that house deserves death and suffering, I see no problem with Jesus electing the ones he saves. He is just and free to do it according to his own will. Neither you nor I have the right to select who lives and who doesn't but God does and remain perfectly just and merciful!
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