RE: Prove Christianity, not Theism in General
March 22, 2013 at 1:38 am
(This post was last modified: March 22, 2013 at 1:40 am by Lion IRC.)
I dont rely on the teleological or cosmological or ontological arguments.
I dont base my relationship with God on debates between Bart Ehrman and William Lane Craig or the carbon dating of dead sea scrolls.
The God of the Bible is manifest to Christians as a personal reality whether atheists believe or not. Christians have personal direct evidence that is corroborated by millions of others. And they are ''anchored'' to it (as Christian author Max Lucado would say) in three ways..
Anchor point #1 – My life is not futile... there IS something which you can grip when facing the surging tides of futility and relativism. Someone is in control and you have a purpose. Atheists have only themselves and the mirror they look into when seeking a ''purpose''.
Anchor point #2 – My failures are not fatal. There is always hope. Yes, we all sin - do stuff which we morally regret - but sin is not a terminal illness anymore than atheism is a life-sentence. It’s not that He loves what the sinners did, but He loves who you are. You are His. The one who has the right to condemn you provided the way to acquit you. You make mistakes. God doesn’t. And he made you.
Anchor point #3 – Your death is not final. You can anchor to the same stone that was rolled in front of Jesus' tomb. It’s large. It’s round. And it’s heavy. It blocked the door of a grave. It wasn’t big enough, though. The tomb that it sealed was the tomb of a transient. He only went in to prove he could come out. And on the way out He took the stone with him and turned it into an anchor point.
Ideas paraphrased from one of my favorite books, ''Six Hours One Friday'' Max Lucado.
Publisher: Thomas Nelson 2009
I dont base my relationship with God on debates between Bart Ehrman and William Lane Craig or the carbon dating of dead sea scrolls.
The God of the Bible is manifest to Christians as a personal reality whether atheists believe or not. Christians have personal direct evidence that is corroborated by millions of others. And they are ''anchored'' to it (as Christian author Max Lucado would say) in three ways..
Anchor point #1 – My life is not futile... there IS something which you can grip when facing the surging tides of futility and relativism. Someone is in control and you have a purpose. Atheists have only themselves and the mirror they look into when seeking a ''purpose''.
Anchor point #2 – My failures are not fatal. There is always hope. Yes, we all sin - do stuff which we morally regret - but sin is not a terminal illness anymore than atheism is a life-sentence. It’s not that He loves what the sinners did, but He loves who you are. You are His. The one who has the right to condemn you provided the way to acquit you. You make mistakes. God doesn’t. And he made you.
Anchor point #3 – Your death is not final. You can anchor to the same stone that was rolled in front of Jesus' tomb. It’s large. It’s round. And it’s heavy. It blocked the door of a grave. It wasn’t big enough, though. The tomb that it sealed was the tomb of a transient. He only went in to prove he could come out. And on the way out He took the stone with him and turned it into an anchor point.
Ideas paraphrased from one of my favorite books, ''Six Hours One Friday'' Max Lucado.
Publisher: Thomas Nelson 2009
