Posts Tagged ‘Christianity’

The Maranatha Manuscripts

Posted: 02/04/2017 in Absolute Truth, bias, Christian Doctrine, Defending the Faith, Defense of Doctrine, Divine Revelation, folly of atheism, irrefutable truth, Justified Faith, Natural Revelation, Preaching the Gospel, presuppositional apologetics, presuppositions, self-deception, special revelation, Ultimate Authority, Witnessing, worldviews
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(A series of scripted correspondences from a ‘Heavenly helper’ to a Christian Soldier)

[Letter 18]:

Greetings Soldier,

Regarding your last correspondence; I assure you that you’re doing fine. No need to be concerned about the empty allegation that you are engaging in a double standard or being ‘unfair’ in your requests for the unbelievers to provide their worldview’s objective, consistent basis for the existence of preconditions of intelligibility (which must be appealed to and utilized in order to even begin to hold a rational discussion). Besides, as should be crystal clear by now, the unbeliever has no way of justifying such an allegation to begin with, since there can exist no objective standard of logical ‘fairness’ in a worldview without God. Not only that, it should also be pointed out that you have already provided the justification for how abstract, universal, invariants are justified in the Christian worldview, from the get go (as they are a reflection of the abstract, universal, invariant nature of the God of the Bible). Perhaps it would be helpful to remind those making the allegations of how discussions work: you provide your logically defensible argument, they provide theirs, and THEN they are compared and contrasted via internal critique to see whose is true.

Of course, because the unbeliever has no rationally defensible argument or justification to support their belief in abstract, universal, invariants (logic, truth, knowledge, etc.) there can really be no discussion at all, since they must borrow these concepts from the Christian worldview in order to even begin to levy any argument against the Christian worldview. Needless to say, in doing so, they are assuming the truth of the very thing they are trying to refute and, subsequently, destroying their own position. This only further substantiates the undeniable reality that Christianity is true by the impossibility of the contrary (since the contrary position cannot be rationally defended and always ends in some form of absurdity). Don’t ever be shy about exposing this for the unbeliever’s own benefit. Here to serve,

Your Heavenly ‘Angent’

The Maranatha Manuscripts

Posted: 02/03/2017 in Absolute Truth, Biblical inerrancy, Christian counterfeits, Christian Doctrine, Defending the Faith, Defense of Doctrine, Discipleship, Divine Revelation, jehovah's witnesses, Jesus Christ, Michael the archangel, New World Translation, presuppositional apologetics, presuppositions, self-deception, special revelation, The Bible, Ultimate Authority, Witnessing, worldviews
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(A series of scripted correspondences from a ‘Heavenly helper’ to a Christian Soldier)

[Letter 19]:

Greetings Soldier,

I am very pleased to hear about your face-to-face witnessing encounter with Mr. Reardon, the Jehovah’s Witness who came to your door today. As you have rightly guessed, this type of opportunity is never an accident, but is ordained and overseen directly by God the Father. No doubt you knew that something was amiss with Mr. Reardon’s point of view when your casual discussion about God, the Bible, and Jesus Christ became a means for him to insert strange ideas about Jesus being Michael the Archangel, the Bible being unreliable, and there being no such thing as eternal punishment, etc. As you know by now, these heresies are but a few of those taught by the Jehovah’s Witnesses–a counterfeit Christian cult very much like the Mormons.

You did the right thing by clearly stating and defending the Christian doctrine that Jesus Christ is, in fact, God (the Son) and showing him where this is plainly stated in John 1:1. Of course, the JW organization has altered this Scripture in their New World Translation (NWT) version of the Bible to read ‘the Word was a God’ instead of ‘the Word was God’ as plainly stated in the Biblical text (as confirmed by the thousands upon thousands of early New Testament manuscripts still in existence today). You also did the right thing in asking for his manuscript evidence for the changes made in the NWT and the many discrepancies between it and the early Biblical manuscripts. Of course, this is devastating to the JW position and teaching, since they have no manuscript evidence for their alterations of the orginal Biblical texts (demonstrating that these changes were made arbitrarily in order to support the corrupt teachings of the JW organization). The fact that the discussion ended in a friendly, amicable way is definitely a positive, as is the fact that you two have exchanged phone numbers.  This will keep the door open for future conversations and will hopefully provide the means for Mr. Reardon to at least be exposed to Biblical truth, which will challenge his current beliefs and, as a result, will hopefully bring him to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Indeed, there is much at stake here since the difference between the JW position and the Christian position is more than just a trifle, since this fundamental flaw in their view of who Jesus Christ is actually results in them preaching ‘another Jesus’ than the one revealed in the Bible and, subsequently, ‘another gospel‘. Needless to say, both of these heresies are expressly forbidden in Scripture and carry the severest penalty of rendering those who engage in them ‘accursed’ from God the Father. In light of the fact that Mr. Reardon has already texted you some Scriptures which he erroneously believes supports the JW doctrine that  Jesus is Michael the Archangel, here is my suggestion for a response to him:

~Mr. Reardon,

I reviewed the Scriptures you texted to me and they definitely confirm the existence of angels and even the archangel Michael, but none of them even so much as hints that Jesus Christ and Michael the archangel are one and the same. In fact, almost all of Hebrews Chapter 1 is devoted to making a clear, unmistakable distinction between Christ and the angels, telling us in v. 4 that He is ‘better’ than them and then in v. 5-6 it is revealed that He is far superior to them since none of the angels are the Son and ALL of them worship Him (this would necessarily include worship from the archangels, such as Michael, as well). Other Scriptures such as Isaiah 44:6 and Revelation 1:17-19 provide us with crystal clear instances of both God the Father (Jehovah) and Jesus Christ describing themselves as ‘the first and the last’ (a title that is only ascribed to God and no one else), clearly demonstrating that Christ is indeed God the Son and one person in the Holy Trinity.

The one Scripture that keeps coming to mind, though, is John 1:1. If that verse is not altered to include the indefinite article ‘a’ before the word ‘God’, then none of the doctrine of Jesus being Michael can be true (since that verse would be plainly stating that He is God as also confirmed in Isaiah 9:6, 1 John 5:7, Hebrews 1:3, John 10:30, John 20:28, Matthew 2:11, and Matthew 28:9). Therefore, my question to you, again, would be simply to ask what the manuscript evidence is for the inserstion of the indefinite article ‘a’ into John 1:1, as well as the other textual alterations made in the NWT? I know you would agree that folks should not arbitrarily alter God’s divinely revealed Truth–however, as it stands, one can make a rock-solid case against the NWT and the JW’s that these changes were made for the sole purpose of attempting to make the Bible support the specific theology of the JW organization rather than relying on the Biblical text alone as the basis for arriving at correct theology (via a natural, straightforward reading and understanding of it). Also, given that the NWT is a subsequent work produced by adding new information to the Bible (much the same as the Book of Mormon and the Muslim Koran), how does a JW explain the discrepencies between the Bible and the NWT given the presence of over 40,000 pre-NWT manuscripts of the Bible in existence today which do not contain the alterations found in the NWT? Thank you in advance for your consideration of these very important questions.

I think this adequately sums up the main objections to the JW viewpoint and also demonstrates that it is ultimately founded upon a non-Biblical foundation. As such, the JW’s are not relying upon God and His Word as their Ultimate Authority but, rather, they are holding their own ideas and reasoning above that of God and the Bible. In the end, this worldview has the same rational defects (and the same eternal consequences) as all other non-Christian ones. Pray earnestly for Mr. Reardon to come to his senses and repent before it is too late. Here to serve,

Your Heavenly ‘Angent’

The Maranatha Manuscripts

Posted: 02/01/2017 in Absolute Truth, Biblical Creation, Biblical inerrancy, Charles Spurgeon, Christian Doctrine, Defending the Faith, Divine Revelation, Encouraging words, folly of atheism, Justified Faith, presuppositional apologetics, presuppositions, self-deception, special revelation, The Bible, Wise words, Witnessing, worldviews
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(A series of scripted correspondences from a ‘Heavenly Helper’ to a Christian Soldier)

[Letter 21]:

Greetings Soldier,

Yes, your suspicions are well founded! We angels do find it very strange, indeed, that anyone would ever willfully deny the existence of God. Remember, we behold His very face in heaven, and there is no shortage of glorious revelation of Himself for those living upon the earth. As one of your great preachers of the past, C.H. Spurgeon, so eloquently stated:

“Atheism is a strange thing. Even the devils never fell into that vice, for the devils believe and tremble.”

Here to serve,

Your Heavenly ‘Angent’

The Heart of the Matter

Posted: 05/15/2015 in Absolute Truth, atheism, Biblical inerrancy, Christian Doctrine, Creation vs. Evolution, Defending the Faith, Defense of Doctrine, Divine Revelation, evolution, folly of atheism, Jesus Christ, Justified Faith, Moral absolutes, presuppositions, secular humanism, worldviews
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Some time ago I was engaged in a very lively debate, regarding the validity of the Christian worldview vs. non-Christian worldviews, over at Debate.org. Believe it or not, a very simple challenge, put forth to those who hold to worldviews which deny the God of the Bible, turned into a discussion thread of over 800 comments (well above the norm)! I have included the link to the discussion for anyone who is interested in seeing how non-Christians fared when asked to account for the most basic, fundamental concepts (i.e. logic, truth, knowledge, the foundation of the scientific method, etc.), required for making sense of the world around us, in their worldview. Warning: it ain’t pretty!

http://www.debate.org/forums/Religion/topic/55783/

NOTE: What you’ll notice in these types of discussions is that those who deny God and the truth of the Bible will always ultimately be reduced to ‘vain and foolish’ reasoning, just like Scripture states (Romans 1:18-22, I Corinthians 1:19-20). In particular, notice how the unbelievers’ positions are always shown to be based upon nothing more than blind-faith and mere opinion, having no logical foundation whatsoever upon which to rest. As I always enjoy pointing out, that is the very definition of an irrational (and, therefore, untrue) position. The more familiar Christians become with these arguments, the easier it is to then (hopefully gently) expose the errors in the unbeliever’s reasoning and to pull down the ‘intellectual strongholds’ that prevent them from considering and, subsequently, receiving the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Remember, no one will receive with their heart what their mind rejects as false, making the mandate of 2 Corinthians 10:5 especially relevant to us today:

Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

I welcome your thoughts.

Dead Men DO Bleed!

Posted: 03/14/2014 in Absolute Truth, Defending the Faith, Ultimate Authority, worldviews
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Interesting title, huh?  Now that I have your attention, please consider the following illustration:

Once upon a time, a young man believed he was dead.  For months, his friends and family tried desperately to convince him that this was not the case, but to no avail.  Finally, at their wits end, they decided to take him to see the family doctor in hopes that he could offer some sort of medical counsel to help the young man come to his senses.  After two unproductive hours of talking with the young man and reasoning with him using the latest medical journals, charts, and photos, the good doctor had an idea!  “Son, do dead men bleed?”  He asked.  The young man thought for a moment and then responded, “well, if a person is dead, there is no heartbeat to pump the blood and, therefore, no blood pressure to force the blood out of the body, so, no, dead men do not bleed.”  Upon hearing this, the doctor took a needle and pricked the young man’s index finger.  As the blood began to ooze from the small wound, the young man grabbed his finger and cried with great excitement, “well, what do you know! Dead men DO bleed after all!”

The point (pardon the pun) is, it is impossible to convince somebody of something that they do not wish to be convinced of, no matter how much evidence is provided to them or how valid it may be.  After all, many of the people who witnessed Jesus’ miracles were the same ones who demanded His crucifixion.  Why do you suppose they were not convinced by the marvelous feats of the dead being raised and the blinded eyes receiving sight in their presence?  It was simply because they did not WANT to be.  Likewise, the young man in our story had a predetermined belief which he was unwilling to surrender, despite being shown ample proof that it was false.  The overwhelming evidence given to him did not change his mind, but, rather, his mind changed the evidence to make it fit his presuppositional bias (now there’s a mouthful!).  Presuppositions are the most foundational assumptions/beliefs that we each hold, and through which we examine and interpret the world around us, including any (and all) evidence presented to us.  For instance, Christians begin with two basic assumptions which form the basis of our view of the world (our worldview).

First, we assume that God exists and secondly we assume that the Bible is His inspired Word.  It is through the ‘lens’ of these two assumptions that we then begin to reason and form our conclusions about the universe in which we live.  That’s why Christians and unbelievers can examine the exact same piece of evidence and then reach two totally different conclusions about it; it’s because we have two completely different starting points from which we perform our assessment of the evidence we are given.  

Whereas the Christian begins with the previously mentioned assumptions about God’s existence and the truth of the Bible and then reasons from that position,  those holding to anti-Christian worldviews assume the contrary (i.e. God does NOT exist and the Bible is not true) and then proceed to reason from that position.  Therefore, the real issue is not one of evidence at all, but of those foundational assumptions through which we interpret the evidence in the first place (our presuppositions), and whether or not they are logically sound and rationally defensible.  First, let’s examine the Christian presuppositions to see if they pass this test:

  1. God Exists:  This presupposition is justifiable/provable after the fact, in that God has revealed Himself to all mankind both directly and indirectly via natural and special revelation.  Natural revelation is God’s revelation of Himself by natural means (through His Creation), while special revelation pertains to God’s revealing of Himself via supernatural means (the Bible, His Spirit, and His Son, Jesus Christ).  Through these avenues, God has made it possible for us to be certain of who He is and what He expects from us with regards to our behavior, reasoning, and salvation.
  2. The Bible is true:  This assumption is also provable after the fact, by the impossibility of the contrary.  That is, the contrary position (i.e. The Bible is not true) ends in absurdity and irrationality, which makes it false.  Consider what the Bible says about this in Romans 1:21-22:

Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools

According to Scripture, when someone rejects or fails to acknowledge God and the truth of the Bible as the foundation of their thinking and reasoning, we can expect their thoughts to become ‘vain’ and ‘foolish’ (illogical).  Let’s see if that’s what we get when we examine the unbelievers’ presuppositions that God does not exist and the Bible is not true: First, it should be pointed out that, when someone makes these assumptions, they are forced, by default, into the position of embracing evolution as the means and mechanism by which life as we know it exists on earth today (as opposed to the Biblical account of creation as found in Genesis).  As such, there are several other assumptions that they also have to accept as a consequence of this position.  Namely:

  • In the beginning there was nothing.
  • Nothing somehow turned into something.
  • The something which came from nothing somehow blew up and became everything.
  • Life somehow arose from that non-living matter
  • Randomness somehow became ordered.
  • Intelligence somehow came from non-intelligent matter.
  • Morality somehow evolved from amoral matter.
  • Absolute (unchanging), immaterial (not made of matter), universal (applying everywhere and at all times) laws of logic, math, science, and morality somehow came from a strictly material, constantly changing, random chance universe.

The problem with these assumptions is, they are all unjustified and unjustifiable.  Each of them is contrary to sound reasoning and good science, as they are not consistent with reality nor are they based upon ANY observable data or evidence gathered through actual repeatable testing and experimentation.  Rather, they stem from a flawed belief system about the unobserved past and, as such, are based upon nothing more than blind faith.  It should be pointed out that believing something and acting upon that belief with no logical reason for doing so is but one form of irrationality.  This makes those who hold to anti-Christian positions alot like the young man in the story above;  they do so in spite of any logically sound reasons, not because of them.  Without exception, this is the sad end result when one abandons the absolute Truth of God and His Word in favor of ANY competing non-Christian worldview (including those which advocate the existence of a ‘deity’ other than the God of the Bible).  I think the following quote from Christian Author Ken Ham sums this up nicely.  He says:

It’s not a matter of whether one is biased or not.  It is really a question of which bias is the best bias with which to be biased.

Just as the idol Dagon was physically reduced to rubble in the presence of God’s holy Ark of the Covenant (see 1 Samuel Chapter 5), so the false ideologies of our day are exposed and eviscerated by the ‘quick and powerful’ Word of that same living God.

For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.  Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?                                                      ––1 Corinthians 1:19-20

 

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