Do They Know that No One Knows

Do They Know that No One Knows

Robert S. Camp

     If one word were chosen to describe the prevailing general attitude theologically, the most appropriate word would be “schizophrenic.” This is not merely to say that one theologian will radically contradict another, but to the fact that a theologian will hold views violently contradicted by other views he also holds. This situation is the rule rather than the exception.

     It is very common to find a leader in philosophy or theology expressing the opposing positions (1) “I cannot accept the Bible fully because it is in opposition to science” and (2) “I cannot accept the proposition that one can have knowledge in religious matters, because I do not believe that one has real knowledge in anything.”

Science is, by definition, that which is known. Skepticism is, by definition, the contention that nothing is known. It is hardly believable that a rational person would claim to hold the position often expressed, “I am a scientist, therefore, I am a skeptic.”

     This schizophrenia is manifest in many facets. Some would contend, “Nothing can really be proved and I will prove that this is true.” Again, “We cannot be certain of anything and I am certain that this is the case.” Other strange positions of a similar nature are, “We ought not to believe ‘oughtness,’” and “It is contrary to the purpose of man’s existence to contend that man’s existence has a purpose.”

     The title of this article expresses one of these contradictions common to the unbelief of today. “Nothing can be known” says the skeptic, and yet he claims to know that nothing can be known. If nothing can be known, then the skeptic cannot know that nothing can be known. It is strange that this is not immediately seen by those who hold this position, but apparently it is not.

      Often when this is pointed out, the skeptic will retreat to another position where he says, “Although I cannot know that nothing can be known, I will contend that I cannot be certain that anything can be known.” Though the skeptic has changed his position significantly, this will not solve his problem because now he is in the position where he must decide if he is CERTAIN that he cannot be certain about anything. Evidently he must retreat from this position also and confess that he cannot be certain that he cannot be certain.

     This may seem to the reader to be an effort to entrap the skeptic merely to embarrass him. However, an analysis of this sequence of retreats by the skeptic reveals the true nature of the position. Although the skeptic’s contention may seem strong, humble and wise in the beginning, the analysis reveals that it degenerates to a point where it is nothing more than an admission of weakness on the part of the skeptic. When the skeptic states his position, “Nothing can be absolutely known,” it first appears to be a profound, universal principle. Yet, in the end, it dissolves into the admission that this particular skeptic is not AT THISTIME sure of anything. The moment he tries to make it universal and absolute, he is violating his own rule.        Thus, the sequence becomes:

            INITIAL STAND: Nothing can be known absolutely by anyone.

            FIRST RETREAT: We cannot know that nothing is known but even if we know something, we cannot be certain that we know it.

            SECOND RETREAT: I cannot be certain that others cannot be certain; I only know that I am not certain that I know anything.

            This last position presents some intellectual difficulties to the skeptic, but these are largely the difficulties one has in trying to precisely express his own confusion.

A Strange Application

            Convictions in the area of science have continued to grow and gain greater acceptance. Today our world is one of science. Medical researchers never seem to culminate their efforts with the conclusion that nothing can be known. New techniques for saving lives are constantly heralded. Recently men have stood on the surface of the moon. At any point in this endeavor, it could have been decided that these efforts would be fruitless since nothing could really be known.

            Examples could be multiplied into the millions, where intellectual leaders of our day have pursued knowledge with never a suggestion that knowledge could not be attained. In religious matters, some seek to hinder this investigation with the fatalistic approach that truth cannot be known.

            This approach seems similar to that of a man who had a red haired brother-in-law, whom he disliked. He contended that all red haired people were lazy, irresponsible, and dishonest but regarded the red haired minister, the red haired mayor, his red haired mother and his red haired son, as exceptions to the rule. Actually, he simply never mentioned the supposed universal rule in their connection. This “universal” rule was applied only to the one special case which suited his purpose.

            It seems a waste of time to try to argue the point that all red haired people are NOT lazy, etc., with a person who obviously does not accept his own contention.

The Special Case

            When the modernists among us make the sweeping generalization, “Nothing can be known certainly,” they do not mean to apply this to the areas of science, nor do they intend to make any applications to their personal experiences, and often they will exclude some fundamental concepts of religion, even some specifically of Christianity (for example, they will say that one can KNOW that Christ in a personal experiences fashion.) This sweeping generalization which first appears to be applicable to all of human experiences is actually intended to be applied only to such things as certain commandments in the Bible. For example, it is the contention that we cannot know that a person must be baptized to be saved. We are assured by them that we cannot KNOW the limits of Christian fellowship.

             It appears that only a few red haired brothers-in-law are meant to be affected by this universal rule.

A Basis for Contention?

            There is one element of this question which does need some explanation. It is known that language is often vague and sometimes ambiguous. It is further known that the mind of man is not capable of omniscience. For these reasons some are frightened that the human mind and communication through ordinary language are not sufficient to assure that God’s will can be communicated and received precisely.

            This is the point that is overlooked. Brother N. B. Hardeman once posed the question, “Is the gospel, as God gave it, appropriate for man, AS GOD MADE HIM?” Both parts of this question are important but the latter part seems to be most often overlooked. God made man and surely God can communicate to man. We all agree that we cannot know everything but this is considerably different from the contention that we cannot know anything.

            The writer knows of an old mongrel dog. This dog is not of superior intelligence even for a dog, yet he can be told to roll over and he will respond by rolling over. In spite of the semantic problems that might arise in simple command, for example, the word “roll” might be variously defined, and the astute could raise a grave question concerning “over” since it could imply “over something,” yet cutting right through these profound problems, going to the heart of the matter, this old mongrel dog responds to the command and does the thing which I desire him to do. Furthermore a system of rewards and punishment may be associated with this so that the dog is rewarded for his obedience.

            I am not going to require this dog to work a problem in algebra because I know the limit of his intelligence will not permit this. Furthermore, although words are ambiguous, because I have a benevolent attitude toward the dog, I am going to use these words in a way which would be most reasonable for him to interpret them.

            Also, although the action required is specific enough that barking will not satisfy the command, sitting up and begging will not do, lying still, refusing to respond, will not be acceptable, nevertheless rolling over from left to right or right to left would be acceptable.

            The main point is that I, the dog’s master, know his limitations and I further know how to communicate with him and what I have reason to expect from his understanding.

            It seems obvious that if a human being can communicate with a dog to such an extent that the animal will respond with the action desired by the human, Man’s Creator can communicate with him so that Man can respond with the actions God desires him to do.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Robert S. Camp was an associate of Dr. Thomas B. Warren along with the late Roy Deaver, Mr. Camp served as a moderator for Dr. Warren in his 1978 debate with Professor Wallace Matson on the Existence of God. 

The Laws of Thermodynamics Do Not apply to the Universe

“The Laws of Thermodynamics Don't Apply to the Universe!”

by	Jeff Miller, Ph.D.

Many in the atheistic community have realized various problems with their theories in light of what we know about the laws of thermodynamics. In order for atheism to be a plausible explanation for the origin of the Universe, matter must either be eternal or have the capability of creating itself (i.e., spontaneous generation). Yet the Second Law of Thermodynamics implies that the first option is impossible, and the First Law implies that the second option is impossible (see Miller, 2007 for a more in depth discussion of the laws of thermodynamics and their application to the origin of the Universe). Upon grudgingly coming to this conclusion, but being unwilling to yield to the obvious alternative (i.e., Someone outside of the Universe put matter here), some have tried to find loopholes in the laws that will allow for their flawed atheistic ideologies to survive.

A common assertion being raised today by some is that the laws of thermodynamics do not apply to the Universe as a whole, and therefore cannot be used to prove that God played a role in the origin of the Universe. More specifically, some question whether our Universe can be considered an “isolated system” (i.e., a system in which mass and energy are not allowed to cross the system boundary; Cengel and Boles, 2002, p. 9). In their well-known thermodynamics textbook, Fundamentals of Classical Thermodynamics, Van Wylen and Sonntag note concerning the Second Law of Thermodynamics: “[W]e of course do not know if the universe can be considered as an isolated system” (1985, p. 233). Dr. Robert Alberty, author of Thermodynamics of Biochemical Reactions, is quoted as saying, “I do not agree that the universe is an isolated system in the thermodynamic sense” (as quoted in Holloway, 2010).

What if the Universe is not an isolated system? How would that fact impact the creation/evolution controversy? First of all, the creationist has always argued that the Universe is not an isolated system, or at least has not always been one. According to the creationist, in the beginning, God created the Universe’s system barrier, then crossed it and placed energy and matter within the system—thus making the Universe non-isolated. So, recognizing that the Universe is, in fact, not an isolated system would really mean that some evolutionists are starting to move in the right direction in their understanding of the Universe! Acquiescence of this truth by atheists in no way disproves the existence of God. In fact, quite the contrary is true. Admission that the Universe is not isolated does not help the case for atheism, but rather tacitly acknowledges a creator of sorts. [More on this point later.]

What this admission would do, however, is make some of the creationists’ arguments against atheism less applicable to the discussion about the existence of God—specifically some of the uses of the laws of thermodynamics and their application to the Universe as a whole. For instance, if the Universe is not an isolated system, it means that something or someone outside of the Universe can open the proverbial box that encloses the Universe and put matter and energy into it. Therefore, the Universe could be eternal, as long as something/someone is putting more usable energy into the box to compensate for the energy loss and counter entropy. Thus, the argument against the eternality of matter by way of the Second Law of Thermodynamics could potentially be null and void. Also, with a non-isolated system, it could be argued that the original, imaginary pre-Big Bang ball (which never actually existed—since the Big Bang is flawed [see May, et al., 2003) was not eternal in its existence. Further, it could be contended that it did not have to spontaneously generate in order to explain its existence. Rather, energy and matter could have been put here from a source outside of this Universe other than God.

From a purely scientific perspective, one of the problems with claiming that the Universe is not isolated is that such an assertion presupposes the existence of physical sources outside of this Universe (e.g., multiple universes outside of our own). And yet, how can such a claim be made scientifically, since there is no verifiable evidence to support such a contention? Stephen Hawking has advanced such an idea, but he, himself, recognizes the idea to be merely theoretical (Shukman, 2010). Speculation, conjecture, assertion—not evidence. As Gregory Benford wrote: “This ‘multiverse’ view represents the failure of our grand agenda and seems to me contrary to the prescribed simplicity of Occam’s Razor, solving our lack of understanding by multiplying unseen entities into infinity” (Benford, 2006, p. 226). Belief in the multiverse model is like proclaiming the existence of fairies just because you can imagine one. But such speculation is hardly scientific evidence—and that is the problem.

What does the scientific evidence actually convey today? We live in the only known Universe, and it had to come from somewhere. That is a fact. If the Big Bang occurred, and all matter and energy in the Universe—everything that exists—was initially in that little imaginary sphere the size of the period at the end of this sentence (or much smaller, depending on which “expert” cosmologist you ask), by implication, the evolutionist admits that the Universe is of a finite size. That is a fact. A finite Universe is an isolated system. Since the Universe as a whole is the only true isolated system, the laws of thermodynamics apply perfectly. That is why some reputable scientists examine the evidence, draw reasonable conclusions, and articulate statements in reputable textbooks like the following:

• “Isolated system: It is the system which exchange [sic] neither matter nor energy with the surroundings. For such a system, the matter and energy remain constant. There is no such perfectly isolated system, but our universe can be considered as an isolated system since by definition it does not have any surroundings” (Senapati, 2006, p. 64, emp. added).
• “A spontaneous process in an isolated system increases the system’s entropy. Because the universe—our entire surroundings—is in contact with no other system, we say that irreversible processes increase the entropy of the universe” (Fishbane, et.al., 1996, p. 551, italics in original).

The truth is, if one is unwilling to accept the existence of God, yet desires to accept the laws of science, one must conjure up other options for how the Universal box could have been legally opened and its contents altered. Envision several atheists sitting around a table speculating options, no matter how wild, in order to avoid conceding the existence of God, and you will have a clear picture of how many in the scientific community operate today. “Okay, people. How did we get here? Think!” “Other universes?” “Maybe.” “Nothing put us here?” “Not bad.” “Aliens?” “Why not?” “The God of the Bible?” “Shut your mouth. You are unscientific. Leave the room.” How can evolutionists like Richard Dawkins and Stephen Hawking safely postulate the existence of alien creators without being laughed out of the spotlight, while creationists get expelled from the scientific community for recognizing the reasonable answer to the matter of origins (Stein and Miller, 2008; BBC News, 2010)?

Ironically, when the atheistic community asserts alleged creative agents outside the Universe, they tacitly acknowledge a creator of some sort. What is the difference between these concessions and the true Creator? Why not accept the God of the Bible? The answer is obvious. Their brand of designer comes packaged without the demands and expectations that come with belief in God. Very convenient—but sad and most certainly unscientific.

Note also that accepting the possibility of alternative creative causes leaves atheists with the same problem with which they started. They claim to use the laws of physics to arrive at the multiverse conclusion (Shukman, 2010). But if the laws of physics apply to their conclusion about multiple universes, why would the laws of physics not apply to those universes? If the laws of science apply to those hypothetical universes (and it would be reasonable to conclude that they would since, according to atheists, the universes interact), then the matter of origins has merely shifted to those other universes. How did they come into being? There are still only three options—they always existed (in violation of the Second Law of Thermodynamics); they created themselves (in violation of the First Law of Thermodynamics); or they were created. The laws of thermodynamics still echo the truth from the remotest parts of the created order: “You cannot explain it all without God in the equation!”

The truth is, the scientific evidence leads unbiased truth-seekers to the conclusion that there simply must be a Creator. How do we know that the laws of thermodynamics are true on Earth? No one has ever been able to document an exception to them (except when divine miracles have occurred). They always hold true. Why does the same principle not hold when observing the rest of the Universe? As Borgnakke and Sonntag articulate in Fundamentals of Thermodynamics concerning the First and Second Laws of Thermodynamics:

The basis of every law of nature is experimental evidence, and this is true also of the first law of thermodynamics. Many different experiments have been conducted on the first law, and every one thus far has verified it either directly or indirectly. The first law has never been disproved.... [W]e can say that the second law of thermodynamics (like every other law of nature) rests on experimental evidence. Every relevant experiment that has been conducted, either directly or indirectly, verifies the second law, and no experiment has ever been conducted that contradicts the second law. The basis of the second law is therefore experimental evidence (2009, p. 116-220, emp. added).

There has been no verifiable evidence that the laws of thermodynamics have been violated throughout the Universe. Sure, there has been speculation, conjecture, and theory that it “could” happen. Yet, through it all, the laws still stand unscathed. Granted, atheists may cloud the air when they blow forth their unreasonable, unproven, jargon-filled, imaginary fairy-dust theories, but when the fairy-dust settles, the laws of thermodynamics still declare the truth to all who will listen (Psalm 19:1). The scientific evidence shows that there is unmistakable order and design in the Universe. Design implies a Designer. The God of the Bible. Now that’s scientific.

REFERENCES

BBC News (2010), “Hawking Warns Over Alien Beings,” April 25, http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/8642558.stm.

Benford, Gregory (2006), What We Believe But Cannot Prove, ed. John Brockman (New York: Harper Perennial).

Borgnakke, Claus and Richard E. Sonntag (2009), Fundamentals of Thermodynamics (Asia: John Wiley and Sons), seventh edition.

Cengel, Yunus A. and Michael A. Boles (2002), Thermodynamics: An Engineering Approach (New York: McGraw-Hill), fourth edition.

Fishbane, Paul M., Stephen Gasiorowicz, and Stephen T. Thornton (1996), Physics for Scientists and Engineers (New Jersey: Prentice Hall), second edition.

Holloway, Robert (2010), “Experts on Thermodynamics Refute Creationist Claims,” http://www.ntanet.net/Thermo-Internet.htm.

May, Branyon, et al. (2003), “The Big Bang Theory—A Scientific Critique,” Reason & Revelation, 23[5]:32-34,36-47, May, http://www.apologeticspress.org/articles/2635.

Miller, Jeff (2007), “God and the Laws of Thermodynamics: A Mechanical Engineer’s Perspective,” Reason & Revelation, 27[4]:25-31, April, http://www.apologeticspress.org/articles/3293.

Senapati, M.R. (2006), Advanced Engineering Chemistry (New Delhi: Laxmi Publications), second edition.

Shukman, David (2010), “Professor Stephen Hawking Says No God Created Universe,” BBC News, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11172158.

Stein, Ben and Kevin Miller (2008), Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed (Premise Media).

Van Wylen, Gordon J. and Richard Sonntag (1985), Fundamentals of Classical Thermodynamics (New York: John Wiley and Sons), third edition.

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Copyright © 2010 Apologetics Press, Inc. All rights reserved.

God's Judgement and These United States

     "God is judging these United States."  This statement seems to be gaining ground within and without the Brotherhood.  I have heard it proclaimed from pulpits, in Bible classes, on internet blogs, and social media.  This claim that is being made is what is called in philosophical terms as a "Positive Knowledge Statement".  This means that the person who is affirming the statement has knowledge that the claim is true and can backup the claim with evidence in support of said claim from the Scriptures (this is a Biblical topic so the evidence must come from the Bible).  If the claim cannot be supported by the use of Scripture then the claim is arbitrary meaning that it is just the opinion of the one stating the claim.  In fact this type of claim would be irrational and unreasonable.   If the claim is an arbitrary claim should it be preached from the pulpit as truth?  Of course the answer would be no.  This does not mean that it cannot be discusses in a class setting in which others can inquire as to the reason-ability of their claim.  Is this an arbitrary claim?  Can it be backed up with evidence from the Scriptures?  This is the aim of this blog post.  To answer these questions.  

     As I examine this claim, I believe that there is a hidden logical fallacy involved.  Sometimes in our quest for the truth it is helpful to "rearrange" the statement into a question.  This type of "rearranging" is common in  other fields such as physics.  It is known that those who try to solve some of the most difficult equations sometimes make use of imaginary numbers such a negative 3.  In doing this It provides insight to assist them in solving the problem.  Of course in the end they must revert back to real numbers but this "rearranging" helps.  So it can be with logical fallacies as well.  If we "rearrange the statement "God is judging these United States" into a question format we can see the fallacy.  "Is God judging these United States".  When presented this way we see the fallacy of a Complex Question being made.   

  The complex question fallacy is committed when a question is asked (a) that rests on a questionable assumption, and (b) to which all answers appear to endorse that assumption.

Examples
     “Have you stopped beating your wife?”
     This is a complex question because it presupposes that you used to beat your wife, a presupposition that either answer to the question appears to endorse.
     “Are you going to admit that you’re wrong?”
     Answering yes to this question is an admission of guilt. Answering no to the question implies that the accused accepts that he is in the wrong, but will not admit it. No room is left to protest one’s innocence. This is therefore a complex question, and a subtle false dilemma.

     The proper way to ask is to divide the question into it's two parts.  1) Do you beat your wife?  2) Have you stopped beating her?  1) Are you wrong?  2) Are you going to admit it?  This is the proper way to ask and to find out the truth.  In these two examples when properly asked the one being asked the question has the opportunity to express the truth without implying any quilt.  As is the case with the above claim.  If we answer the question in the negative then it can be implied that we do not believe that God judges nations.  If we answer in the affirmative then it can be implied that we believe that all the horrible things that happen in this nation is the result of God's judgement which may not be the case.  The question can also be broken down into two parts.  1) Does God judge nations?  2) When does God judge nations?

     The answer to the first question can be answered in the affirmative.  Many times in scripture we find God either judging the nations as with the nation of Israel, Sodom and Gomorrah, the Great flood of Noah, the Edomites,  the nation of Rome,  etc...  In fact several of the OT prophets spoke of this.  The answer to the first question is undeniable by anyone who reads the OT.  It is yes, God does judge nations.

     The answer to the second question "When does God judge nations", cannot be so easily answered if it can be answered at all.

     To start our investigation, let us look at Ezekiel 14:13-20;
 
     " Eze 14:13  Son of man, when the land sinneth against me by trespassing grievously, then will I stretch out mine hand upon it, and will break the staff of the bread thereof, and will send famine upon it, and will cut off man and beast from it:
Eze 14:14  Though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness, saith the Lord GOD.
Eze 14:15  If I cause noisome beasts to pass through the land, and they spoil it, so that it be desolate, that no man may pass through because of the beasts:
Eze 14:16  Though these three men were in it, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, they shall deliver neither sons nor daughters; they only shall be delivered, but the land shall be desolate.
Eze 14:17  Or if I bring a sword upon that land, and say, Sword, go through the land; so that I cut off man and beast from it:
Eze 14:18  Though these three men were in it, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, they shall deliver neither sons nor daughters, but they only shall be delivered themselves.
Eze 14:19  Or if I send a pestilence into that land, and pour out my fury upon it in blood, to cut off from it man and beast:
Eze 14:20  Though Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, they shall deliver neither son nor daughter; they shall but deliver their own souls by their righteousness."

     Some would say that this would tell us our answer, it is when the land (people) sin against the Lord grievously.  They would tell us that these United States have reached that point.  Has it?  Based upon what scriptures?  Look at I Peter 3:18-22;

     "1Pe 3:18  For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:
1Pe 3:19  By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison;
1Pe 3:20  Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.
1Pe 3:21  The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:
1Pe 3:22  Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him. "

     One of the things that I believe we do not have the answer to is the longsuffering of God.  We can look at the longsuffering of God as a glass of water.  Exactly when does it reach the rim of the glass?  In order to make the "positive knowledge claim" that God is judging these United States would mean that we know for a fact when the glass becomes full.  This would require some kind of revelation from God.  He has chosen not to disclose this to us in His word (cannot be found).  The only way that this claim could be made is to also claim special revelation from God, which we know does not happen today.  Therefore to make such a statement would be arbitrary at best and therefore not in the realm of rationality.

     One item of interest while we are on this subject.  We do have Biblical examples of nations that God did judge which can help us to determine what Ezekiel meant by  "when the land sinneth against me by trespassing grievously,".  In Gen. 6:5 we read;

     " And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually."

     Does this describe the condition of the United States?  Are the thoughts of the people of the United States evil continually?  To be fair and honest, I would have to say no.  Does this mean that it cannot become so, no.  Yes, the United States does have its problems, but there is still good in her.  For example, I personally know of atheists whose morality (although not to God's standard) is to a level that I would argue is no where near that of those in the days of Noah.  In fact, some do oppose abortion for any reason.  These same atheists donate to worthy causes, give of their time, do not drink or curse for that matter. 

     Look at Gen. 19: 1-9

     " 19:1  And there came two angels to Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom: and Lot seeing them rose up to meet them; and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground;
Gen 19:2  And he said, Behold now, my lords, turn in, I pray you, into your servant's house, and tarry all night, and wash your feet, and ye shall rise up early, and go on your ways. And they said, Nay; but we will abide in the street all night.
Gen 19:3  And he pressed upon them greatly; and they turned in unto him, and entered into his house; and he made them a feast, and did bake unleavened bread, and they did eat.
Gen 19:4  But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old and young, all the people from every quarter:
Gen 19:5  And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them.
Gen 19:6  And Lot went out at the door unto them, and shut the door after him,
Gen 19:7  And said, I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly.
Gen 19:8  Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes: only unto these men do nothing; for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof.
Gen 19:9  And they said, Stand back. And they said again, This one fellow came in to sojourn, and he will needs be a judge: now will we deal worse with thee, than with them. And they pressed sore upon the man, even Lot, and came near to break the door."

     The situation that existed in Sodom and Gomorrah is a horrific one indeed.  This was ACCEPTED PUBLIC RAPE.  Not only that but also homosexual in its nature.  Do we need to even ask the question as to whether or not this describes the United States?  No need for further discussion. 

     Another thing that Peter informs us is that sometimes God has a plan for certain nations.  In the days of Noah God waited until His plan for Noah had come to fruition.  It was only after the completion of the ark did God send forth His judgement upon the world.   This would not be the only time that God would act in such a manner.  Look in Hab. 1:6-10;

     " Hab 1:6  For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, which shall march through the breadth of the land, to possess the dwellingplaces that are not theirs.
Hab 1:7  They are terrible and dreadful: their judgment and their dignity shall proceed of themselves.
Hab 1:8  Their horses also are swifter than the leopards, and are more fierce than the evening wolves: and their horsemen shall spread themselves, and their horsemen shall come from far; they shall fly as the eagle that hasteth to eat.
Hab 1:9  They shall come all for violence: their faces shall sup up as the east wind, and they shall gather the captivity as the sand.
Hab 1:10  And they shall scoff at the kings, and the princes shall be a scorn unto them: they shall deride every strong hold; for they shall heap dust, and take it."

     The message of Hab. is clear.  God will raise up a nation that is even more wicked then God's own people and have them deliver His judgement upon them.  God had a plan for a very wicked nation.  It was not until after this was accomplished that God sent forth His judgement upon them.  We could continue with Dan chapter 2 in which the four kingdoms are prophisized  to come and go due to God's providence.  The Babylonians, the Medes and Preds, the Greeks, and the Romans.  All would be raised up by God for a certain act and then suffer His judgement.  The acts were an accumulation of things to make ready our Lords arrival upon this earth in the form of Jesus Christ.  The bottom line is clear, sometimes God has a plan for a nation and judgement will not come upon it until God's purpose for it is fulfilled.  Question, does or did God have a plan for the United States?  If He does or did, What was it?  We need to determine these two questions in order that we may know if the act has been accomplished.  If the act has not been accomplished then God's judgement is not upon the United States.  These questions need to be answered before we can come to any solid conclusions about the judgement of God.  Again, the only way that man could answer any of these questions would be if God has given him some sort of special revelation apart from the scriptures (which again we know does not happen today).  Anything else is just opinion and should be left at that.

     So, Is God judging these United States?  No one knows.  There are simply to many unanswerable questions to make a clear statement about the topic.  Yes, God does judge nations, that is not the question.  Problem is, it is the only question that the Scriptures answer.  As to when God sends His judgement, that belongs to God and should remain there.  But, it does lead into a very interesting question, If the United States continues down the path that it is on, God will send His judgement upon it, then what should be the focus of the Brotherhood?????  We will examine this nest time.

THE NATURE OF EVIL

The Nature of Evil

Thomas Bart Warren

December 24, 2009

 

The most powerful argument atheists have to wield against the existence of God is the occurrence of evil in the world. Scottish philosopher and atheist David Hume suggested that a supernatural being which is both omnibenevolent and omnipotent could not exist since neither man nor animal is happy while on this earth. Further, Hume echoes the argument of Greek philosopher Epicurus by asking, "Is he (God) willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is impotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Whence then is evil?" (43). It is the contention of these two men, and many who have followed since, that the statements "God exists" and "evil exists" are logically inconsistent thus proving that God does not exist. If it can be shown (as I sincerely believe that it can) that these two statements are not logically inconsistent, then, the atheistic argument will have been defeated.

 

Classes of Evil

It is common for theologians and philosophers to refer to evil as being synonymous with that which causes human suffering. It is important to distinguish between natural or physical evil and moral evil. Natural evil chiefly refers to suffering and pain that mankind experiences due to physical calamities (tornadoes, earthquakes, famine, etc.) or diseases such as cancer. Moral evil is understood to be the result of the misconduct (sin) of mankind.

 

While the Bible teaches in numerous passages (Romans 8:18; 1 Peter 5:10) that there will be occasions that humans suffer during their lives on this earth, it also plainly teaches that sin is the only intrinsic evil (1 John 3:4; Romans 3:29; 4:15). Natural disasters and human suffering are not evil in and of themselves. In his book Have Atheists Proved there Is No God?, Thomas B. Warren contends:

 

Neither pain nor suffering is intrinsically evil. Nothing that merely happens apart from some connection with a will can have moral predicates. Before the question, "Is pain an intrinsic evil?" can be answered properly, two further questions must be asked: "To whose will are you attributing it?" and "Is it in harmony with God's will?" (that is, does it contradict sonship or brotherhood, does it affect fellowship with God? Does it violate his will?). To say that a state, thought, or action is intrinsically evil is to say that some will brought it about and that it is out of harmony with God's will, that is, it is unfilial and unfraternal - in short, that it contradicts God’s will as revealed in the Scriptures. (40)

 

Though not intrinsically evil, natural disasters and suffering may be viewed as the instrumental result of sin. Referring to the fall of man recorded in Genesis 3:1-19 the apostle Paul writes, "Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned" (Romans 5:12). [All scripture references are taken from the New King James Version unless otherwise noted.] It is to be understood that, ultimately, humans endure suffering because of involvement in sin. At one time there was not sickness or disease to be experienced on this earth. But as Wayne Jackson states, "no longer having access to the tree of life, Adam and Eve became prey to weakness, disease, and death; and through them, we are likewise heir to such misfortunes" (5).

 

The Best of All Possible Worlds

German philosopher Gottfried Leibniz is known for postulating that since God is infinite in knowledge and power, He could have created an infinite number of universes. Since the present universe is the one He chose to create, in spite of the evil and suffering that exists, it must be the absolute best of all possible worlds (Koestenbaum 132).

 

One characteristic of an ideal world would be for its inhabitants to have absolute free will, the ability to make any and all moral choices. The Bible plainly teaches that mankind has been granted freedom along with the opportunity to choose obedience to the Heavenly Father (Galatians 3:26-4:6; Matthew 11:28-30). Next, an ideal world would be orderly and adhere to natural laws. The same axe blade that is used to chop wood can be used to destroy human life. One cannot expect intercession each time an instrument is used in an instrumentally evil manner. The result would be chaos. In like manner one cannot expect the creator of this world to act in an irrational way. God cannot make a "married bachelor" or a "round square" just as he cannot make a human with free moral agency choose good actions over bad ones. To do so would be to violate His very nature as well as the laws of the universe. Another characteristic of the ideal world would be one that contained, as phrased by John Hick, an "epistemic distance" between God and man. Meaning that God must be hidden to the extent that man is not coerced or forced to perceive the reality of the creator. Hick contends that God "must be knowable, but only by a mode of knowledge that involves a free personal response on man’s part" (317).

 

Warren summarized why our present world is ideal when he wrote:

 

It seems that when we arrive at the description of a world in which man could best live as a free and responsible person, that description fits the world we presently live in: it is one which provides man's basic needs, it is teleological (created by God for the purpose of being a "vale of soul-making" for man); it is law-abiding (not chaotic and arbitrary), which it must be if it is to provide an environment for a rational, moral response by man (thus allowing the possibility of sin, pain, and suffering); it is challenging (allowing man to choose suffering over sin); and it is one which allows man to learn the things which he needs most to learn (including the possibility that man can learn the will of God). (Atheists 54)

 

The Moral Argument

When undertaking the study of the nature of evil, one should note that the very idea of evil implies the existence of God. No law can be violated if there is no objective standard with which to appeal, having each individual to be his or her own standard. Passages such as Romans 1:19, 20 and 2:14, 15 indicate that mankind is instilled with a sense of moral "oughtness" which must be the work of a supernatural creator. Mac Deaver has pointed out that:

 

Human nature if not in the image of God would not make possible a knowledge of a moral distinction between a good action and a bad one because qualitatively there would be no difference. Without God as explanation, conscience is reduced to the level of chemical properties, and the guidance of the conscience would be a chemical guidance - not a moral one. (86)

 

The apostle Paul referred to the moral oughtness that is instilled in man as he debated with the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers in Athens. He said, "He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us" (Acts 17:26-27).

 

The moral argument is so strong that it has led such famous thinkers as Immanuel Kant, who highly criticized the ontological, cosmological, and teleological arguments, to conclude that the idea of a supreme being cannot be realized by man himself. Kant believed that "it is morally necessary to assume the existence of God" (Stumpf 322).

 

Warren constructed one syllogism for this argument as follows:

1. If the moral conduct of a person, society, or other specified group can come under genuine criticism, then there must be some absolute, objective standard which exists (i.e. the nature of God).
2. The moral conduct of a person, society, or other specified group can come under genuine criticism (i.e. Nazi Germany).
3. Therefore, there must be some absolute, objective standard which exists (i.e. the nature of God). (Flew 172-73)

Conclusion

The law of rationality insists that one can only draw such conclusions as are warranted by the evidence. Indeed, the word of God demands that each one of us be a logical and rational thinker (1 Thessalonians 5:21). The material put forth has shown that the statements "God exists" and "evil exists" are not logically inconsistent. Thus one can know that the omnibenevolent and omnipotent God of the Bible exists. How awesome to proclaim, "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows his handiwork, day unto day utters speech, and night unto night reveals knowledge" (Psalm 19:1-2).

 

Works Cited:

Deaver, Mac. "Why Ethics Without God is Impossible." Biblical Ethics. Ed. Terry Hightower. Pensacola: McGary, 1991.

 

Hick, John. Evil and the God of Love. London: Macmillan, 1966.

 

Hume, David. "Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion." God and the Problem of Evil. Ed. Wayne Rowe. Malden: Blackwell, 2001.

 

Jackson, Wayne. Fortify Your Faith . . . in an Age of Doubt. Stockton: Pledge, 1974.

 

Koestenbaum, Peter. Philosophy: A General Introduction. New York: American, 1968.

 

Stumpf, Samuel Enoch. Socrates to Sartre: A History of Philosophy. New York: McGraw, 1975.

 

Warren, Thomas B. Have Atheists Proved there Is No God? Nashville: Gospel Advocate, 1972.

 

The Warren-Flew Debate on the Existence of God. Moore: National Christian, 1977.

Is God Immoral for Killing Innocent Children?

by	Kyle Butt, M.A.

Dan Barker and many of his atheistic colleagues claim that atheism offers the world a superior system of morality when compared to the moral system presented in the Bible. In fact, near the end of Dan’s ten-minute rebuttal speech during our debate, he stated: “We can know that the atheistic way is actually a superior intellectual and moral way of thinking” (Butt and Barker, 2009). One primary reason Dan gave for his belief that the Bible’s morality is flawed is that the Bible states that God has directly killed people, and that God has authorized others to kill as well. In Dan’s discussion about Abraham’s sacrifice of Isaac, Dan said that Abraham should not have been willing to obey God’s command. Dan stated: “By the way, Abraham should have said, ‘No, way. I’m better than you [God—KB], I’m not going to kill my son’” (Butt and Barker, 2009).

In his book godless, Barker said: “There is not enough space to mention all of the places in the bible where God committed, commanded or condoned murder” (2008, p. 177). The idea that God is immoral because He has killed humans is standard atheistic fare. In his Letter to a Christian Nation, Sam Harris cited several Bible verses in which God directly or indirectly caused people to die. He then stated: “Anyone who believes that the Bible offers the best guidance we have on questions of morality has some very strange ideas about either guidance or morality” (2006, p. 14). In his landmark atheistic bestseller, The God Delusion, Richard Dawkins wrote the following as the opening paragraph of chapter two:

The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully (2006, p. 31, emp. added).

After listing several Old Testament verses pertaining to the conquest of Canaan, Dawkins referred to God as an “evil monster” (p. 248). Christopher Hitchens wrote that God’s actions and instructions in the Old Testament had caused “the ground” to be “forever soaked with the blood of the innocent” (2007, p. 107).

Is it true that atheism offers a superior morality to that found in the Bible? And is the God of the Bible immoral for advocating or directly causing the deaths of millions of people? The answer to both questions is an emphatic “No.” A close look at the atheistic claims and accusations will manifest the truth of this answer.

ATHEISM CANNOT MAKE “MORAL” JUDGMENTS

The extreme irony of the atheistic argument against God’s morality is that atheism is completely impotent to define the term “moral,” much less use the concept against any other system. On February 12, 1998, William Provine delivered a speech on the campus of the University of Tennessee. In an abstract of that speech, his introductory comments are recorded in the following words: “Naturalistic evolution has clear consequences that Charles Darwin understood perfectly. 1) No gods worth having exist; 2) no life after death exists; 3) no ultimate foundation for ethics exists; 4) no ultimate meaning in life exists; and 5) human free will is nonexistent” (Provine, 1998, emp. added). Provine’s ensuing message centered on his fifth statement regarding human free will. Prior to delving into the “meat” of his message, however, he noted: “The first 4 implications are so obvious to modern naturalistic evolutionists that I will spend little time defending them” (1998).

It is clear then, from Provine’s comments, that he believes naturalistic evolution has no way to produce an “ultimate foundation for ethics.” And it is equally clear that this sentiment was so apparent to “modern naturalistic evolutionists” that Dr. Provine did not feel it even needed to be defended. Oxford professor Richard Dawkins concurred with Provine by saying: “Absolutist moral discrimination is devastatingly undermined by the fact of evolution” (Dawkins, 2006, p. 301).
If atheism is true and humans evolved from non-living, primordial slime, then any sense of moral obligation must simply be a subjective outworking of the physical neurons firing in the brain. Theoretically, atheistic scientists and philosophers admit this truth. Charles Darwin understood this truth perfectly. He wrote: “A man who has no assured and ever present belief in the existence of a personal God or of a future existence with retribution and reward, can have for his rule of life, as far as I can see, only to follow those impulses and instincts which are the strongest or which seem to him the best ones” (1958, p. 94, emp. added). Dan Barker admitted this truth in his debate with Peter Payne, when he stated: “There are no actions in and of themselves that are always absolutely right or wrong. It depends on the context. You cannot name an action that is always absolutely right or wrong. I can think of an exception in any case” (2005).

If there is no moral standard other than human “impulses and instincts,” then any attempt to accuse another person of immoral behavior boils down to nothing more than one person not liking the way another person does things. While the atheist may claim not to like God’s actions, if he admits that there is a legitimate standard of morality that is not based on subjective human whims, then he has forfeited his atheistic position. If actions can accurately be labeled as objectively moral or immoral, then atheism cannot be true. As C.S. Lewis eloquently stated:

My argument against God was that the universe seemed so cruel and unjust. But how had I got this idea of just and unjust? A man does not call a line crooked unless he has some idea of a straight line. What was I comparing this universe with when I called it unjust...? Of course, I could have given up my idea of justice by saying it was nothing but a private idea of my own. But if I did that, then my argument against God collapsed too—for the argument depended on saying that the world was really unjust, not simply that it did not happen to please my private fancies. Thus in the very act of trying to prove that God did not exist—in other words, that the whole of reality was senseless—I found I was forced to assume that one part of reality—namely my idea of justice—was full of sense. Consequently, atheism turns out to be too simple (Lewis, 1952, pp. 45-46, italics in orig.).

If there truly are cases of justice and injustice, then God must exist. Furthermore, we will show that the God of the Bible never is unjust in His dealings with humanity. On the contrary, the atheistic position finds itself mired in injustice at every turn.

STRESS “INNOCENT”

Generally, the atheistic argument against God’s morality begins with blanket statements about all of God’s actions or commands that caused anyone to die. When the case is pressed, however, the atheistic argument must be immediately qualified by the concepts of justice and deserved punishment. Could it be that some of God’s actions were against people who had committed crimes worthy of death? Sam Harris noted that he believes that the mere adherence to certain beliefs could be a legitimate cause for putting some people to death (2004, pp. 52-53). Almost the entirety of the atheistic community admits that certain actions, such as serial killing, theft, or child abuse, deserve to be punished in some way. They do not all agree with Harris that the death penalty may be appropriate, but they would argue that some type of punishment or preventive incarceration should be applied to the offender.

Once the atheistic community admits that people who break certain laws should be punished, then the only question left to decide is how they should be punished and to what extent. Atheists may quibble with God’s idea of divine punishment, but it has been sufficiently demonstrated that their arguments cannot be reasonably defended (see Lyons and Butt, 2005, 25[2]:9-15; see also Miller, 2002).

Knowing that the idea of justice and the concept of legitimate punishment can be used effectively to show that their blanket accusations against God are ill founded, the atheists must include an additional concept: innocence.

The argument is thus transformed from, “God is immoral because He has killed people,” to “God is immoral because He has killed innocent people.” Since human infants are rightly viewed by atheists as the epitome of sinless innocence, the argument is then restated as “God is immoral because He has killed innocent human infants.” Dan Barker summarized this argument well in his debate with Peter Payne. In his remarks concerning God’s commandment in Numbers 31 for Moses to destroy the Midianites, he stated: “Maybe some of those men were guilty of committing war crimes. And maybe some of them were justifiably guilty, Peter, of committing some kind of crimes. But the children? The fetuses?” (2005, emp. added).

It is important to note, then, that a large number of the instances in which God caused or ordered someone’s death in the Bible were examples of divine punishment of adults who were “justifiably guilty” of punishable crimes. For instance, after Moses listed a host of perverse practices that the Israelites were told to avoid, he stated: “Do not defile yourselves with any of these things; for by all these the nations are defiled, which I am casting out before you. For the land is defiled; therefore I visit the punishment of its iniquity upon it, and the land vomits out its inhabitants” (Leviticus 18:24-25, emp. added).

Having said that, it must also be recognized that not all the people God has been responsible for killing have been guilty of such crimes. It is true that the Bible documents several instances in which God caused or personally ordered the death of innocent children: the Flood (Genesis 7), death of the first born in Egypt (Exodus 12:29-30), annihilation of the Midianites (Numbers 31), death of the Amalekites (1 Samuel 15), etc. Using these instances, atheists claim that God cannot be moral because He kills innocent children. Atheists then insist that modern-day atheism would never approve of such, and thus atheism is morally superior to the morality of the biblical God.

ATHEISM HAS NO MORAL QUALMS ABOUT KILLING INNOCENT CHILDREN

A closer look at atheistic morality, however, quickly reveals that atheists do not believe that it is morally wrong to kill all innocent children. According to the atheistic community, abortion is viewed as moral. In his debate with John Rankin, Dan Barker said that abortion is a “blessing” (Barker and Rankin, 2006; see also Barker, 1992, pp. 135, 213). One line of reasoning used by atheists to justify the practice is the idea that humans should not be treated differently than animals, since humans are nothing more than animals themselves. The fact that an embryo is “human” is no reason to give it special status. Dawkins wrote: “An early embryo has the sentience, as well as the semblance, of a tadpole” (Dawkins, 2006, p. 297)

Atheistic writer Sam Harris noted: “If you are concerned about suffering in this universe, killing a fly should present you with greater moral difficulties than killing a human blastocyst [three-day-old human embryo—KB]” (2006, p. 30). He further stated: “If you are worried about human suffering, abortion should rank very low on your list of concerns” (p. 37). Many in the atheistic community argue that unborn humans are not real “persons,” and killing them is not equivalent to killing a person. Sam Harris wrote: “Many of us consider human fetuses in the first trimester to be more or less like rabbits; having imputed to them a range of happiness and suffering that does not grant them full status in our moral community” (2004, p. 177, emp. added). James Rachels stated:

Some unfortunate humans—perhaps because they have suffered brain damage—are not rational agents. What are we to say about them? The natural conclusion, according to the doctrine we are considering, would be that their status is that of mere animals. And perhaps we should go on to conclude that they may be used as non-human animals are used—perhaps as laboratory subjects, or as food (1990, p. 186, emp. added).

Isn’t it ironic that Dan Barker protested to Peter Payne that God could not cause the death of an unborn human “fetus” and still be considered moral, and yet the bulk of the atheistic community adamantly maintains that those fetuses are the moral equivalent of rabbits? How can the atheist accuse God of immorality, while claiming to have a superior morality, when the atheist has no moral problem killing babies?

In response, God’s accusers attempt to draw a distinction between a “fetus” in its mother’s womb, and a child already born. That distinction, however, has been effectively demolished by one of their own. Peter Singer, the man Dan Barker lauds as one of the world’s leading ethicists, admits that an unborn child and one already born are morally equivalent. Does this admission force him to the conclusion that abortion should be stopped? No. On the contrary, he believes we should be able to kill children that are already born. In his chapter titled “Justifying Infanticide,” Singer concluded that human infants are “replaceable.” What does Singer mean by “replaceable”? He points out that if a mother has decided that she will have two children, and the second child is born with hemophilia, then that infant can be disposed of and replaced by another child without violating any moral code of ethics. He explained: “Therefore, if killing the hemophiliac infant has no adverse effect on others, it would, according to the total view, be right to kill him. The total view treats infants as replaceable” (2000, p. 190, emp. added; see also Singer, 1983).

He went on to argue that many in society would be aghast at killing an infant with a disability like hemophilia—but without good reason according to his view. He argued that such is done regularly before birth, when a mother aborts a child in utero after prenatal diagnosis reveals a disorder. He stated:

When death occurs before birth, replaceability does not conflict with generally accepted moral convictions. That a fetus is known to be disabled is widely accepted as a ground for abortion. Yet in discussing abortion, we say that birth does not mark a morally significant dividing line. I cannot see how one could defend the view that fetuses may be “replaced” before birth, but newborn infants may not (2000, p. 191, emp. added).

Singer further proposed that parents should be given a certain amount of time after a child is born to decide whether or not they would like to kill the child. He wrote: “If disabled newborn infants were not regarded as having a right to life until, say, a week or a month after birth it would allow parents, in consultation with their doctors, to choose on the basis of far greater knowledge of the infant’s condition than is possible before birth” (2000, p. 193). One has to wonder why Singer would stop at one week or one month. Why not simply say that it is morally right for parents to kill their infants at one year or five years? Singer concluded his chapter on infanticide with these words: “Nevertheless the main point is clear: killing a disabled infant is not morally equivalent to killing a person. Very often it is not wrong at all” (p. 193, emp. added).

It is clear, then, that atheism does not have moral constraints against killing all innocent babies, but rather only those innocent babies that the atheistic community considers “worthy” to live. How in the world would a person make a moral judgment about which children were “worthy to live?” Singer, Harris, and others contest that a child’s age in utero, mental capability, physical disability, or other criteria should be used to formulate the answer. Dan Barker has given his assessment about how to make such moral decisions. He claimed that “morality is simply acting with the intention to minimize harm.” He further insisted that the way to avoid making mistakes in ethical judgments is to “be as informed as possible about the likely consequences of the actions being considered” (2008, p. 214).
Using Barker’s line of reasoning, if God knows everything, then only He would be in the best possible situation to know all the consequences of killing infants. Could it be that all the infants born to the Amalekites had degenerative genetic diseases, or were infected with an STD that was passed to them from their sexually promiscuous mothers? Could it be that the firstborn children in Egypt, or Abraham’s son Isaac, had some type of brain damage, terminal cancer, hemophilia, etc.? The atheistic community cannot accuse God of immorally killing infants and children, when the atheistic position itself offers criteria upon which it purports to justify morally such killing.

Once again, the atheistic argument must be further qualified. The argument has moved from: “God is immoral because He killed people,” to “God is immoral because He killed innocent babies,” to “God is immoral because He killed innocent babies that we feel would not have met our atheistically based criteria for death.” Ultimately, then, the atheistic position argues that atheists, not God, should be the ones who decide when the death of an innocent child is acceptable.

ATHEISM TAKES “ALL THAT THERE IS” FROM INNOCENT CHILDREN

As with most logically flawed belief systems, atheism’s arguments often double back on themselves and discredit the position. So it is with atheism’s attack on God’s morality. Supposedly, God is immoral for killing innocent children. Yet atheists believe the death of certain innocent children is permissible. Have we then simply arrived at the point where both atheistic and theistic morality are equally moral or immoral? Certainly not.

One primary difference between the atheistic position and the biblical position is what is at stake with the loss of physical life. According to atheism, this physical life is all that any living organism has. Dan Barker stated: “Since this is the only life we atheists have, each decision is crucial and we are accountable for our actions right now” (2008, p. 215, emp. added). He further commented that life “is dear. It is fleeting. It is vibrant and vulnerable. It is heart breaking. It can be lost. It will be lost. But we exist now. We are caring, intelligent animals and can treasure our brief lives” (p. 220). Since Dan and his fellow atheists do not believe in the soul or any type of afterlife, then this brief, physical existence is the sum total of an organism’s existence. If that is the case, when Barker, Harris, Singer, and company advocate killing innocent babies, in their minds, they are taking from those babies all that they have—the entirety of their existence. They have set themselves up as the Sovereign tribunal that has the right to take life from their fellow humans, which they believe to be everything a human has. If any position is immoral, the atheistic position is. The biblical view, however, can be shown to possess no such immorality.

PHYSICAL LIFE IS NOT “ALL THERE IS”

Atheism has trapped itself in the position of stating that the death of innocent children is morally permissible, even if that death results in the loss of everything that child has. Yet the biblical position does not fall into the same moral trap as atheism, because it recognizes the truth that physical life is not the sum total of human existence. Although the Bible repeatedly recognizes life as a privilege that can be revoked by God, the Giver of life, it also manifests the fact that death is not complete loss, and can actually be beneficial to the one who dies. The Bible explains that every person has a soul that will live forever; long after physical life on this Earth is over (Matthew 25:46). The Bible consistently stresses the fact that the immortal soul of each individual is of much more value than that individual’s physical life on this Earth. Jesus Christ said: “For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matthew 16:26).

Although the skeptic might object, and claim that an answer from the Bible is not acceptable, such an objection falls flat for one primary reason: the skeptic used the Bible to formulate his own argument. Where is it written that God is love? In the Bible, in such passages as 1 John 4:8. Where do we learn that the Lord did, indeed, kill or order the death of babies? Once again, that information comes directly from the Bible. Where, then, should we look for an answer to this alleged moral dilemma? The answer should be: the Bible. If the alleged problem is formulated from biblical testimony, then the Bible should be given the opportunity to explain itself. As long as the skeptic uses the Bible to formulate the problem, we certainly can use the Bible to solve the problem. One primary facet of the biblical solution is that every human has an immortal soul that is of inestimable value.
With the value of the soul in mind, let us examine several verses that prove that physical death is not necessarily evil. In a letter to the Philippians, the apostle Paul wrote from prison to encourage the Christians in the city of Philippi. His letter was filled with hope and encouragement, but it was also tinted with some very pertinent comments about the way Paul and God view death. In Philippians 1:21-23, Paul wrote: “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor; yet what I shall choose I cannot tell. For I am hard pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better” (emp. added).

Paul, a faithful Christian, said that death was a welcome visitor. In fact, Paul said that the end of his physical life on this Earth would be “far better” than its continuation. For Paul, as well as for any faithful Christian, the cessation of physical life is not loss, but gain. Such would apply to innocent children as well, since they are in a safe condition and go to paradise when they die (see Butt, 2003).
Other verses in the Bible show that the loss of physical life is not inherently evil. The prophet Isaiah concisely summarized the situation when he was inspired to write: “The righteous perishes, and no man takes it to heart; merciful men are taken away, while no one considers that the righteous is taken away from evil. He shall enter into peace; they shall rest in their beds, each one walking in his uprightness” (57:1-2, emp. added). Isaiah recognized that people would view the death of the righteous incorrectly. He plainly stated that this incorrect view of death was due to the fact that most people do not think about the fact that when a righteous or innocent person dies, that person is “taken away from evil,” and enters “into peace.”

The psalmist wrote, “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints” (Psalm 116:15). Death is not inherently evil. In fact, the Bible indicates that death can be great gain in which a righteous person is taken away from evil and allowed to enter peace and rest. God looks upon the death of His faithful followers as precious. Skeptics who charge God with wickedness because He has ended the physical lives of innocent babies are in error. They refuse to recognize the reality of the immortal soul. Instead of the death of innocent children being an evil thing, it is often a blessing for that child to be taken away from a life of hardship and evil influence at the hands of a sinful society, and ushered into a paradise of peace and rest. In order for a skeptic legitimately to charge God with cruelty, the skeptic must prove that there is no immortal soul, and that physical life is the only reality—neither of which the skeptic can do. Failure to acknowledge the reality of the soul and the spiritual realm will always result in a distorted view of the nature of God. “The righteous perishes...while no one considers that the righteous is taken away from evil.”

We then could ask who is moral: the atheist who has no problem approving of the death of innocent children, while believing that he is taking from them the only life they have? Or an all-knowing God Who takes back the physical life He gave the child, exchanging it for an eternal life of happiness?

WHY NOT KILL ALL THE CHRISTIANS AND BABIES?

Once the atheistic position is forced to concede that it advocates the killing of babies, and that if there is an afterlife, then the biblical description of God’s activities could be moral, then the atheist often shifts his argument in a last ditch effort to save face. If death can be, and sometimes is, better for the innocent child or for the Christian, why not kill all children and execute all Christians as soon as they come up out of the waters of baptism (see Lyons and Butt, n.d.)? The atheist contends that if we say that death can be a better situation for some, then this position implies the morally absurd idea that we should kill every person that death would benefit.

Before dealing with this new argument, it should be noted that we have laid the other to rest. We have shown that it is impossible for atheism to accuse God of immorality in His dealings with innocent children. Since atheism’s attack against God’s character has failed on that front, the maneuver is changed to accuse the follower of God of not carrying his belief about death to its alleged logical conclusion by killing all those who would benefit. One reason that atheists argue thus is because many of them believe that humans have the right to kill those who they deem as “expendable.” Of course, atheism does not base this judgment on the idea that certain babies or other innocent people would benefit, but that society at large would benefit at the expense of those who are killed. Here again, notice that God is allegedly immoral because He “sinned” against innocent children by taking their lives; yet atheism cares nothing for innocent children, but for the society of which they are a part. In truth, atheism implies that once a certain category of people, whether unborn babies, hemophiliacs, or brain-damaged adults, is honestly assessed to be “expendable,” then humans have the moral right, and sometimes obligation, to exterminate them. The atheist berates the Christian for not taking his beliefs far enough, in the atheist’s opinion. If certain people would benefit from death, or in atheism’s case, society would benefit from certain people’s death, then the atheist contends we should be willing to kill everyone who would fall into that category. If we are not so willing, then the atheist demands that our belief involves a moral absurdity. Yet, the fact that death is beneficial to some cannot be used to say we have the right to kill all those that we think it would benefit.

What Humans Do Not Know

One extremely significant reason humans cannot kill all those people that we think might benefit from death is because we do not know all the consequences of such actions. Remember that Dan Barker stated that the way to make moral decisions was to “try to be as informed as possible about the likely consequences of the actions being considered” (2008, p. 214). Could it be that human judgments about who has the right to live or die would be flawed based on limited knowledge of the consequences? Certainly. Suppose the hemophiliac child that Singer said could be killed to make room for another more “fit” child possessed the mind that would have discovered the cure for cancer. Or what if the brain-damaged patient that the atheistic community determined could be terminated was going to make a remarkable recovery if he had been allowed to live? Once again, the biblical theist could simply argue that God is the only one in the position to authorize death based on the fact that only God knows all the consequences of such actions. The atheistic community might attempt to protest that God does not know everything. But atheism is completely helpless to argue against the idea that if God knows everything, then only He is in the position to make the truly moral decision. Using Barker’s reasoning, when God’s actions do not agree with those advocated by the atheistic community, God can simply answer them by saying, “What you don’t know is....”

It is ironic that, in a discussion of morality, Barker offered several rhetorical questions about who is in the best position to make moral decisions. He stated: “Why should the mind of a deity—an outsider—be better able to judge human actions than the minds of humans themselves...? Which mind is in a better position to make judgments about human actions and feelings? Which mind has more credibility? Which has more experience in the real world? Which mind has more of a right?” (1992, p. 211). Barker intended his rhetorical questions to elicit the answer that humans are in a better position to make their own moral decisions; but his rhetoric fails completely. If God is all-knowing, and if God has been alive to see the entirety of human history play out, and if only God can know all of the future consequences of an action, then the obvious answer to all of Barker’s questions is: God’s mind.

Additionally, there is no possible way that humans can know all the good things that might be done by the Christians and children that live, even though death would be better for them personally. The apostle Paul alluded to this fact when he said that it was better for him to die and be with the Lord, but it was more needful to the other Christians for him to remain alive and help them (Philippians 1:22-25). Books could not contain the countless benevolent efforts, hospitals, orphanages, soup kitchens, humanitarian efforts, and educational ventures that have been undertaken by Christians. It is important to understand that a Christian example is one of the most valuable tools that God uses to bring others to Him. Jesus noted that when Christians are following His teachings, others see their good works and glorify God (Matthew 5:13-16). Furthermore, the lives of children offer the world examples of purity and innocence worthy of emulation (Matthew 18:1-5). While it is true that death can be an advantageous situation for Christians and children, it is also true that their lives provide a leavening effect on all of human society.

Ownership and Authorization

The mere fact that only God knows all consequences is sufficient to establish that He is the sole authority in matters of human life and death. Yet, His omniscience is not the only attribute that puts Him in the final position of authority. The fact that all physical life originates with God gives Him the prerogative to decide when and how that physical life should be maintained. In speaking of human death, the writer of Ecclesiastes stated: “Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it” (12:7, emp. added). The apostle Paul boldly declared to the pagan Athenians that in God “we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28). If God gives life to all humans, then only He has the right to say when that life has accomplished its purpose, or under what circumstances life may be legitimately terminated.

In addition to the fact that God gives life and, thus, has the authority to take it, He also has the power to give it back if He chooses. Throughout the Bible we read of instances in which God chose to give life back to those who were dead, the most thoroughly documented example of that being the resurrection of Jesus Christ (Butt, 2002, 22[2]:9-15). In fact, Abraham alluded to this fact during his preparations to sacrifice Isaac. After traveling close to the place appointed for the sacrifice, Abraham left his servants some distance from the mountain, and said to them: “Stay here with the donkey; the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you” (Genesis 22:5). Notice that Abraham used the plural pronoun “we,” indicating that both he and Isaac would return. The New Testament gives additional insight into Abraham’s thinking. Hebrews 11:17-19 states: “By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten...accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead...” (emp. added). Since God gives physical life to all, and since He can raise people from the dead, then any accusation of injustice that fails to take these facts into account cannot be legitimate.

CONCLUSION

It is evident that atheism has no grounds upon which to attack God’s character. Atheists contend that a loving God should not kill innocent babies. But those same atheists say that killing innocent babies could be a blessing under “the right” circumstances. Atheists contend that God is immoral for taking the lives of innocent children. Yet the atheist believes that it is permissible to take the lives of innocent children, when doing so, according to their belief, means that those children are being robbed of the sum total of their existence. Yet, according to the biblical perspective, those children are being spared a life of pain and misery, and ushered into a life of eternal happiness. Atheism contends that its adherents are in a position to determine which children should live and die, and yet the knowledge of the consequences of such decisions goes far beyond their human capability. Only an omniscient God could know all the consequences involved. The atheist contends that human life can be taken by other humans based solely on reasoning about benefits to society and other relativistic ideas. The biblical position shows that God is the Giver of life, and only He has the authority to decide when that life has accomplished its purpose. In reality, the atheistic view proves to be the truly immoral position.

REFERENCES

Barker, Dan (1992), Losing Faith in Faith: From Preacher to Atheist (Madison, WI: Freedom From Religion Foundation).
Barker, Dan (2008), godless (Berkeley, CA: Ulysses Press).
Barker, Dan and Peter Payne (2005), “Does Ethics Require God?,” [On-line], URL: http://www.ffrf.org/about/bybarker/ethics_debate.php.
Barker, Dan and John Rankin (2006), “Evolution and Intelligent Design: What are the Issues?,” [On-line], URL: http://www.ffrf.org/about/bybarker/ID_Debate.mp3.
Butt, Kyle (2002), “Jesus Christ—Dead or Alive?,” Reason & Revelation, [On-line], URL: http://www.apologeticspress.org/articles/121.
Butt, Kyle (2003), “Do Babies Go to Hell When They Die?,” [On-line], URL: http://www.apologeticspress.org/scrspeak/2003/ss-03-18.htm.
Butt, Kyle and Dan Barker (2009), Butt/Barker Debate: Does the God of the Bible Exist? (Montgomery, AL: Apologetics Press).
Darwin, Charles (1958), The Autobiography of Charles Darwin, ed. Nora Barlow (New York: W.W. Norton).
Dawkins, Richard (2006), The God Delusion (New York: Houghton Mifflin).
Harris, Sam (2004), The End of Faith (New York: W.W. Norton).
Harris, Sam (2006), Letter to a Christian Nation (New York: Alfred A. Knopf).
Hitchens, Christopher (2007), God is Not Great (New York: Twelve).
Lewis, C.S. (1952), Mere Christianity (New York: Simon and Schuster).
Lyons, Eric and Kyle Butt (no date), Receiving the Gift of Salvation, [On-line], URL: http://www.apologeticspress.org/pdfs/e-books_pdf/Receiving%20the%20Gift%20of%20Salvation.pdf.
Lyons, Eric and Kyle Butt (2005), “The Eternality of Hell: Part 2,” Reason & Revelation, 25[2]:9-15, February.
Miller, Dave (2002), “Capital Punishment and the Bible,” [On-line], URL: http://www.apologeticspress.org/articles/1974.
Provine, William (1998), “Evolution: Free Will and Punishment and Meaning in Life,” [On-line], URL: http://eeb.bio.utk.edu/darwin/DarwinDayProvineAddress.htm.
Rachels, James (1990), Created from Animals: The Moral Implications of Darwinism (New York: Oxford University Press).
Singer, Peter (1983), “Sanctity of Life, Quality of Life,” Pediatrics, 72[1]:128-129.
Singer, Peter (2000), Writings on an Ethical Life (New York: Harper Collins).

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Copyright © 2009 Apologetics Press, Inc. All rights reserved.

TheTransendetal Argument for the Existence of God

The question that is commonly asked is this, "Does God exist?" is probably the most important question that a person can ask.  This question should never be taken lightly (as is today by many).  This question has to do with the very existence and destination of every living human on the face of the earth, not only in the present but also in the past and in the future.  If this question is not answered properly, the destiny of the individual is at extreme risk.  The question must be answered properly.

Not only the above question, but also the question of "Are the Scriptures the inspired Word of God?".  This question is on par with the above in terms of importance.  Again, this question has to do with the very nature and destination of every living person that has walked the face of the earth.  To answer this question improperly even if we answer the above question in the proper manner puts the destiny of the person in extreme risk.

The following study has to do with the Transcendental Argument for the existence of God and the Inspiration of the Scriptures.  It is a lengthy study and it will challenge the way in which we think.  It took me a long time to get my head wrapped around the concept as I imagine it will you also.  The important item to understand and remember is the fact that this argument has no refutation.  I have seen and listened to a few debates in which this argument was presented.  It was laughed at, ridiculed, made fun of, but it was never refuted. Since this seems to be the case, I believe this to be the best argument that can be given.

I have attached links to this study as follows (it will be important to start at part one and proceed in numerical order).

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8

I pray that this study will help the Kingdom

Examples of the Transendental Argument

Introduction
    1) As we have studied, we can see that we have a good reason for the Christian faith.
    2) It is the only world view that is consistent, non-arbitrary, and can account for
         reality.
    3) A few things to clear up first
        A) The claim that the Christian faith needs no defense
        B) Evidence first verses the Bible first
    4) Does the Christian faith need to be defended?
        A) Many claim that the faith needs no defense.  It is only a matter of belief and
             that is all that can be said.
        B) Yet I find it strange that many people never consult the Bible for an answer
             to this question.
            1) If the Bible is our ultimate authority and we know that it is the source
                 of truth, then we should be able to find the answer within its pages.
            2) II Peter 1:3 informs us of the truth that God has given to us all things
                 that pertain to LIFE and GODLINESS.
        C) This position is not consistent with God’s revealed truth
            1) I Peter 3:15 tells us that we are to always be ready to give a defense
                 of the faith that we have.
            2) Those who ask us if we have a reason for our faith ARE TO BE
                 GIVEN AN ANSWER.
            3) This indicates that we should indeed have a reason for our faith.
            4) Throughout our study, we see that we indeed have a very good reason
                 for our faith.  Without the Biblical God, we could know absolutely
                 nothing.
            5) Our reasoning presupposes Biblical faith.
            6) The notion that Christianity cannot be defended is not consistent with
                 the teachings of God.
    5) Evidence first
        A) If we are to be ready at all times to give a reason for the faith that we have,
             What kind of reason should it be?
        B) We have already seen that the evidence first approach will not rationally
             resolve world view issues.
        C) Everyone interprets the evidence in light of their world view
        D) Evidence can be very useful when we agree on how it should be interpreted
        E) But when the question is “How evidence should be interpreted?” the evidence
             first approach will always fail.
        F) This approach also commits the pretend neutrality fallacy.
    6) The Bible first approach
        A) Since we are told to be ready to give a reason for our faith, and the evidence
             first approach does not answer the underlying question, what options are
             left to us?
        B) The Bible first approach is what we have been studying in this class.
        C) We could restate the ultimate proof as such “The Bible must be the ultimate
             standard because no other standard can make knowledge possible.
            1) The Bible must come first, it must be presupposed before we can
                 properly evaluate the evidence.
            2) Notice that this approach does not make use of evidence per say, but
                 since all evidence must be interpreted through an ultimate standard,
                 we must always start with the Bible when we look to the evidence.
        D) This simply means that the Bible is foundational in all our thinking, it is the
             ultimate standard.
            1) When we argue for the truth of the Bible, we must begin our argument
                 by presupposing the Bible as our supreme criterion for evaluating
                 all the facts.
            2) We will be accused of circular reasoning, but we have already
                 shown that such reasoning is logically necessary and not fallacious
                 if done properly.
            3) Everyone must appeal to their ultimate standard even when defending it
            4) As we have seen it is only the Bible that can do this successfully!

I) The Bible’s Standard for Reasoning
    1) This idea that we cannot know anything apart from God is not a modern claim, it
         is contained in scripture
        A) Proverbs 1:7, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: but fools
             despise wisdom and instruction.”
            1) We must begin with a reverential submission to God as revealed in
                 His word in order to have knowledge.
            2) If on rejects the instruction and wisdom of His word, they are reduced
                 to foolishness.
        B) Romans 1:18-23
            1) Everyone has an innate knowledge of God
            2) This is why everyone knows about the laws of logic, uniformity, and
                 morality.
            3) But, as indicated, they suppress this knowledge in unrighteousness
            4) They do not acknowledge God as the foundation of knowledge, and as
                 a result, their thoughts are reduced to foolishness
        C) Colossians 2:3 “In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”
            1) All wisdom and knowledge is deposited in Christ (Verse 2)
            2) We cannot have knowledge apart from Christ.
            3) Verse 8 warns us about being robbed of these very treasures by
                 accepting secular standards
                 “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain
                 deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world,
                 and not after Christ.”
            4) Our way of thinking, our philosophy, must be according to Christ
                 and therefore according to His revealed word.
            5) Any other standard is merely empty deception
        D) I Cor. 3:19 “For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God.  For it is
              written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness.”
            1) The evidence first approach is really a secular position in that it states
                 that man is able to come to correct conclusions about evidence without
                 God.
            2) Again we can see that this is foolishness.
        E) Eph. 4:17-18 “This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth
             walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their own mind, having the
             understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the
             ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart.”
            1) We are not to think as those in the secular realm think.
            2) We cannot start with the presuppositions of the world and expect it
                 not to have a damaging effect.
            3) This approach would have us attempt to show that the Bible is true by
                 starting from another standard.  The neutral standard.
            4) If it were possible to prove the Bible from another standard, then the
                 Bible could not be true!!
                a) Prov. 1:7
                b) Col. 2:3
            5) I Cor. 1:21 “For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom
                 knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save
                 them that believe.”
        F) If we argue that the Bible is true on the basis of some piece of scientific
             evidence, then we are teaching people that the Bible is less foundational
             than human understanding of scientific evidence.
        G) We would essentially be teaching that man’s ability to understand the evidence
             is the ultimate standard and not the Word of God.
        I) This kind of thinking can and does have serious consequences
            1) Using this kind of thinking, we are raising a generation of people who
                 do not accept the Bible as the ultimate standard!
            2) They only believe the Bible if it fits their own personal interpretation
                 of the evidence, and if the Bible does not fit, the Bible is the one that
                 gets reinterpreted and not the evidence.
            3)This is the main reason that so much incorrect doctrine is being allowed
                 into the church.
                a) Instrumental music
                b) Woman in roles of authority
                c) Homosexuality
                d) Fellowship with denominational groups
            4) Eph. 4:12-15
        J) Examples of
            1) Gen. 3:1-7
            2) Luke 16:19-31
            3) II Peter 3:1-10

II) The Apologetics of Christ
    1) Christ constantly used the Bible first approach when dealing with those around Him.
    2) He seems to never use evidence to show who He was.
    3) In all aspect, Christ presented the Biblical world view when encountering those
         who questioned Him.
    4) Christ never once attempted to first establish the truth of God’s word by an unbiased
         evaluation of the evidence.
        A) Matt. 4:1-11
            1) When Satan tempted Jesus in the wilderness, Christ’s approach was
                 scripture first
            2) Satan tried to tempt Jesus using the 3 lines of temptation that he uses
                 on all individuals, the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the
                 pride of life.
            3) In all three of these attempts, Jesus never gave up the surpremecy of the
                 Scriptures in His thought process.
        B) Matt. 12:24-29
            1) Here we find Jesus using the strategy that we have been discussing
                 that of “Don’t answer, answer”.
            2) He did not accept there foolish standard, but then He showed them the
                 silliness of their position by showing what would happen if it were true.
            3) He pointed out that a kingdom that is divided against itself could not
                 stand.
            4) He showed them the inconsistency of their position.
        C) Matt. 21:23-27
            1) Here we find the chief priests asking who gave Christ His authority to
                 teach the things that He was teaching.
            2) Jesus knew of their foolish standard so He did not answer them
                 according to it, but showed them the inconsistency of their position.
            3) He asked them a question “The baptism of John, whence was it? from
                 heaven, of men?”
            4) By asking them a simple question, Jesus exposed the error in their
                 thinking.
            5) If they answered ‘from heaven’, Jesus could simply ask them why they
                 did not believe what John was saying about Him
            6) If they answered any other way they knew the reaction of those that
                 believed that John was a prophet of God
            7) This one simple question neutralized their position and left them
                 unable to answer Him.
        D) Matt. 22:23-33
            1) The Sadducees had the world view that there was no resurrection of
                 the dead
            2) This was an attempt to ensnare our Lord or try to confuse Him in
                 order to show that He was not who He said He was.
            3) Jesus did not accept the error of their thought process, instead
                 He answered with the Bible first approach
            4) He indicated to them that they did not know the scriptures nor
                 the power of God.
            5) He then shows them their error by quoting from Ex. 3 Which shows
                 that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are still alive somewhere even though
                 they had been physically dead for a number of years.
            6) This shows the error of their thinking in the fact that if they are still
                 alive somewhere, which gives credence to the resurrection.
            7) Verse 34 indicates that given this response, the Sadducees were
                 silenced they could not make a defense of their position .
                a) If they denied what our Lord had said, they would be going
                     against plain scripture.
                b) If they accepted His answer, they would of necessity have
                     to change their world view which they were not able to
                      do, hence they were reduced to being foolish.
        E) Matt. 23
            1) This entire chapter shows the inconsistency of the scribes an Pharisees
            2) Christ never tried to show that they were wrong by the force of evidence
                a) the things that they were doing has a bad outcome.
                b) Showing the statistical data and comparing different things.
            3) He used the Bible as His standard in His reasoning.
            4) In doing so Jesus showed them the foolishness of their world view.

III) The Apologetics of Paul

    1) Acts 17:16-34
    2) Paul also used the Bible as his ultimate authority just as Christ did (I Cor. 11:1)
    3) He presented the Christian world view, internally critiqued the secular world view and
         used the strategy in his response
    4) Here we find Paul reasoning with the people and not employing the “pull at the
         heartstrings” approach.
    5) Paul begins by analyzing the world view of his critics (17:22-25)
        A) He notes that the Athenians were religious in the sense that they worshiped
             idols.
        B) One was to the unknown God
        C) He uses this concession to begin presenting his world view by going back
             to Genesis and explaining to them that God is the creator of all things.
        D) He then corrects their erroneous view of deity by pointing out that the
             creator would not dwell in temples or need to be served by humans hands
             since it is God who gives life and breath to all.
    6) Verse 26-28
        A) He continues to present the Christian world view by showing that we are all
             descended from Adam and indicates that God has been sovereign in human
             history and that He is not far from us.
        B) He also points out that in God we live and move and exist which is a fact that
             the Athenians already knew.
        C) Paul also points out the fact that the Athenians world view cannot account for
             this.
            1) Their world view was one in which the gods were made of gold and
                 silver.
            2) They were made by human hands
            3) Their world view could not make sense of this fact.
            4) Paul is showing here that it is only the Christian world view that can
                 make sense of this fact.
        D) Paul really drives this fact home when he uses the Athenians own poets to
             confirm what he was saying.  The implication here is the fact that they already
             knew this to be true (Roms. 1:18-21)
    7) Verse 29
        A) Paul here points out that it is only the Christian world view that can make this
             intelligible.
        B) The Christian view states that God made man in His image.
        C) Yet the Athenian gods were made of gold, silver, and stone.  They were
             created by man.  How could we be their offspring?
        D) Paul is showing the inconsistency within their world view.
    8) Verses 30-31
        A) Paul continues his presentation and teaches that all should repent and turn
             back to God because God will judge the world through Christ.
        B) He ends his speech with the Resurrection of Christ.
            1) Notice that Paul does use the Resurrection of Christ as evidence of
                 Christ’s deity, but only after he had given his listeners the proper
                 frame work im which to interpret that evidence.
            2) He had already shown their world view to be incorrect and that it
                 is only the Christian world view that is correct.
            3) He showed them that the Christian world view is the only world view
                 that can make sense of the things that they already knew to be true.
    9) Going back to the beginning
        A) Paul provided the Biblical background to understand the theological
             implications of the resurrection.
        B) By going back to Genesis, he showed that God is the sovereign Creator and
             thus had the right to set the rules.
        C) Many today start with the crucifixion and resurrection in their communications
        D) This is not effective if the person does not have the correct interpretive frame
             work.

        E) Sometimes we must go back to Genesis and explain Christianity from its
             beginning.

IV) The War of World Views

    1) There is a war going on all around us today
        A) It is a battle of ideologies
        B) It is a battle of competing authorities
        C) One says that mankind is the final authority
        D) One says that God and His word are the final authority
    2) The problem with world view is that they are all based on autonomous human
         reasoning.
        A) Unfortunately the human mind is not up to the challenge
        B) We have limited experience
        C) We do not always think properly
        D) Apart from God and His word, how can we be certain about anything?
        E) With finite knowledge, how could we ever know for certain that there is not
             some undiscovered fact that refutes what we think we know?
        F) If we invent our own ultimate standard for truth, how could we ever know that
             it is correct?
    3) God’s nature
        A) God’s nature is quite different.
        B) He does not observe and learn about the universe the way that we do because
             He does not have our limitations.
        C) God, by virtue of His nature, already knows everything(Col. 2:3), and thus
             only He is in a position to be absolutely certain about anything on His own
             authority.
        D) Since this is the case, we must learn to base our thinking on God’s word and
             refute those who would challenge their maker.
    4) II Cor. 10:3-5
        A) The key is to submit our thinking to Christ
        B) Our apologetic is not merely a defense of the biblical world view, but an
             application of it.
        C) Knowing that a reverential submission to God is the beginning of knowledge,
             we can expose the absurdity of rejecting God and reduce the critic to
             foolishness.
Conclusion

    1) This is the ultimate proof of creation.
    2) The bible is not proved externally by some greater standard of knowledge, It proves
         itself.
    3) Only the Biblical world view is able to provide a rational foundation for all human
         experience and reasoning while passing its own criteria.
    4) Other world views turn out to be mere idols, failing to provide a basis for knowledge
         and refuting themselves in the process.
    5) Biblical creation is proved by the fact that if it were not true, we could not prove
         anything at all.