Dr. Walter Martin did a lot of debates on the John Ankerberg Show. I've listened to him examine the doctrines of Jehovah's Witnesses, 7th Day Adventists, Mormons and others. I always admired his approach to Christian apologetics. He always, always anchored his responses on Scripture. He could debate with laymen, scholars and scientists.
When I tell people about the Lord, I can tell them about my faith and my hope that they accept the gift of salvation. Often I run into people who disagree with me and many of those people are well-versed in Scripture. Those are the ones who will try to tangle me up in theory and language and anything else they can to justify their disbelief.
Recently, I spoke via comments with a man who does not belief in God, does not want to believe in God and, yet, is angry that if there is a God, his deceased parents are suffering. What I would like to say to him is that, we cannot know whether or not our unbelieving loved ones accepted the truth of God before they passed or not. For all I know, my grandfather may have, before he passed, came to the knowledge that there is a God. I pray that he did. As for the man I have shared comments with on this blog, my heart aches for him and I hope that he realizes that we don't - we cannot - know what my loved ones or his believed at the moment they passed. There is still hope & I know that God is a merciful God. (I always think of the story of the men who worked all day and were paid the same wages as the men who came to work later in the day. Some of of come to believe long before we pass into death, but those who come at the last moment are given the same mercy and forgiveness as we are!) I desperately wanted to give him some kind of hope and love to rest in, but I couldn't find a way around his arguments. I will continue to pray for this person, but in the meantime, I thought that I would post for him (and others), this session by Dr. Martin.
Dr. Martin passed away some years ago, but many of his debates are still around via the Ankerberg Show. I found this YouTube audio of him addressing (apparently on a college campus) seven atheistic arguments. They are posted by user Christian Roadwarrior & I am so grateful to have found them. I hope they are a blessing to someone.
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Thursday, September 3, 2009
I don't feel no ways tired,
I've come too far from where I started from.
Nobody told me that the road would be easy,
I don't believe He brought me this far to leave me.
That's always been one of my favorite gospel songs. "I Don't Feel Noways Tired," sung by James Cleveland.
But there are times when I do feel tired. Weary. There is such an atmosphere of sin in this world that there are days when I feel I am struggling for spiritual breath.
Still, I know God is with us. Even in my weariness there is proof of God. He told us that these times would be. We know from the Bible that people would be proud and cruel and stubborn. So, I am listening to these words from the song:
Peace
--Free
Friday, August 28, 2009
Conversation & Comments (re: question for atheists)
Because Blogger won't show more than 5 comments on a post, and because I am having an interesting conversation (via comments) with someone, I am going to put the recent comments here in this post.
I have to say that the commenter - Brian - is being very civil & I appreciate that. I appreciate being able to ask questions and have an intelligent conversation with someone who has such different beliefs from my own. If nothing else, this shows that people can differ and be respectful. A lot more of us could take a lesson from this.
(So, Brian - I'm going to be deleting some of our old comments as we add new ones, but they will be shown and updated in blog posts.)
Here are the comments so far:
I have to say that the commenter - Brian - is being very civil & I appreciate that. I appreciate being able to ask questions and have an intelligent conversation with someone who has such different beliefs from my own. If nothing else, this shows that people can differ and be respectful. A lot more of us could take a lesson from this.
(So, Brian - I'm going to be deleting some of our old comments as we add new ones, but they will be shown and updated in blog posts.)
Here are the comments so far:
***
-
"If it could be proved to you that God is, would you be glad?"
Depends entirely what kind of god exists.
"Do you believe you are without a soul?"
Depends on what you define as a soul. If you have one, I hope it's testable. - ***
-
Brian:
You really haven't answered either question. I still don't know whether you be glad of God's existence, and I still don't know whether you think of yourself as having a soul.
As far as my soul being "testable," I believe my salvation eliminates the testing. I have been accepted and redeemed by the Creator.
***
-
"You really haven't answered either question."
Because your questions don't have enough information.
You replied, yet you STILL haven't given me enough information.
Describe what kind of god. Describe what a soul is.
THEN I might be able to answer your questions.
***
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My statement "If you have one, I hope it's testable" was ambiguous. I didn't mean "If you have a soul, I hope it's testable" -- I meant "If you have a definition of 'soul,' I hope your definition is testable."
That is, if you define what a 'soul' is so I can answer your second question, it would be very helpful if your definition of 'soul' is clear enough so I can do some sort of test to see if I have a soul. Even better if I can do a test to see if other people or animals have souls, too.
***
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I believe my soul is what I am. Many people think of themselves as a body with a soul. I believe I am a soul with a body.
You probably know that, as a Christian, I believe that. I'm not familiar with what the atheist defines as a soul. That's why I am asking for your definition of these things. (And, no, I don't believe that animals have souls.)
Since my belief of what the soul is ties to God, I am trying to understand what the atheist definition of "soul" is. Do you understand what I mean there?
***
Brian Westley has left a new comment on your post "To The Atheists":
"If the atheist is wrong OR right, he has lost eternity."
Nonsense.
If the atheist is right, THERE WAS NO ETERNITY TO "LOSE".
"The Jews, like a lot of other ppl, don't believe that Jesus is the Messiah. If they believed Jesus is the Messiah (the one they have waited for), they would worship him as God too. Idolatry is worship of FALSE gods."
But now you're ignoring the possibility that YOU are wrong.
Like I said, suppose BOTH of us are wrong, and the Jews are RIGHT.
In THAT case, YOU are practicing idolatry. I am not. I am better off than you, because I'm an atheist.
But you aren't even addressing this as a possibility. If Christianity is false, worshipping Jesus is worshipping a FALSE god.
Posted by Brian Westley to Free & Faith at August 28, 2009 6:05 AM
Brian Westley has left a new comment on your post "To The Atheists":
"If the atheist is wrong OR right, he has lost eternity."
Nonsense.
If the atheist is right, THERE WAS NO ETERNITY TO "LOSE".
"The Jews, like a lot of other ppl, don't believe that Jesus is the Messiah. If they believed Jesus is the Messiah (the one they have waited for), they would worship him as God too. Idolatry is worship of FALSE gods."
But now you're ignoring the possibility that YOU are wrong.
Like I said, suppose BOTH of us are wrong, and the Jews are RIGHT.
In THAT case, YOU are practicing idolatry. I am not. I am better off than you, because I'm an atheist.
But you aren't even addressing this as a possibility. If Christianity is false, worshipping Jesus is worshipping a FALSE god.
Posted by Brian Westley to Free & Faith at August 28, 2009 6:05 AM
***
(NOTE: The above comment didn't get posted b/c of the comment limitations. I got it from my email about the posting.) My response:
Brian - You say "If Christianity is false," but my whole point all along has been that you and I know what I believe (that Christianity is NOT false).Yes, if I am wrong, then I am worshipping a false god & I would have lost all. I understand that. The belief that I am NOT wrong is where my faith comes in. But my questions to you are all based on my curiosity about "What if" I am right & you are wrong.
In the case of you & I both being wrong & the Jews being right, I am in the same position as I would be if the Hindus are right, or any other non-Christian belief system is right. Lost. But, again, this is where my faith comes in.
Brian - You say "If Christianity is false," but my whole point all along has been that you and I know what I believe (that Christianity is NOT false).Yes, if I am wrong, then I am worshipping a false god & I would have lost all. I understand that. The belief that I am NOT wrong is where my faith comes in. But my questions to you are all based on my curiosity about "What if" I am right & you are wrong.
In the case of you & I both being wrong & the Jews being right, I am in the same position as I would be if the Hindus are right, or any other non-Christian belief system is right. Lost. But, again, this is where my faith comes in.
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