I wrote a devotion about the presence of God in creation, conscience, and character called "On the Boat."
An atheist commented: "Consider the fact that: 1. Nobody has seen god. 2. The only evidence exists in an ancient book. 3. Science, which is proven, contradicts a lot in that book."
Let's look at her points:
1. Nobody has seen the wind, but we believe in it because we see things moving. In the same way, we can see God move in people, cultures and events.
2. Evidence for God exists in the faith of millions throughout history. It's found in changed lives and transformed cultures. And the Bible, that "ancient book," is itself an evidence, having more proof for validity than any other book in history. (See "Is the Bible truly God's Word?")
3. Proven science and history support the Bible. It's unproven scientific theories like evolution that seek to discredit Scripture.
But there is one proven fact: The world's wisdom misleads people. God's wisdom saves people (1Corinthians 1:18-31).
I encourage you to read "On the Boat" to see why God says unbelievers are "without excuse."
------------------
"Evangelistic atheists" have given me material for a number of my devotions:
Misery Loves Company
Dealing With Existential Angst
Use Your Brain
Proud Fools - God Can Use Atheists to Teach Christians
Foolish Reasoning
4 Proofs of God
Steeple
A Fool's Understanding - Psalm 14:1
Bible Love Notes
Great post! The fact that people died for their faith is also very moving evidence too. We are really into creation in our home and the more you learn, the more God is VERY evident. Also, so much of the Bible that historians claim never existed (geographical locations, etc), is also making itself known proving once again that Scripture can be trusted.
ReplyDeleteYes, JES, you are so right--the martyrs are another evidence of the reality of God and the way He offers a belief worth dying for.
DeleteAnd, you're right about the historical evidence too. There have been "authorities" who've claimed that certain places (mentioned in the Bible) never existed. Then, years later, they discover proofs of those places in ancient documents.
Thanks for your added insights.
Gail : )
I love this one. I'm having struggles with my former boyfriend's attitude: he is doing whatever he wants, and he is misled in many painful ways :( world's "wisdom" vs. God's wisdom - how sad that so little realise the difference.
ReplyDeleteYes, Zsuzsanna, It is sad how many are mislead by worldly wisdom. I pray your former boyfriend will find the truth.
DeleteGod bless you,
Gail
Good points, Gail. Very logical affirmations of truth.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Pam.
Delete: )
Thank you for this post! I have never personally "dealt with" atheists, but I'm glad to come across this! It's very interesting that an atheist was on your blog... I hope she was there because she was looking (consciously or not) for something different than what she knew! She definitely would have found it here! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Elizabeth, for the kind words.
DeleteThis was actually a comment on Pinterest. I seem to get atheist comments more regularly on Pinterest than anywhere else I post my devotions. I pray that some of them will think these things through.
God bless,
Gail
I had to share on Twitter and G+. I can never seem to come up with the right arguments when people challenge my beliefs. I'm going to remember that one about the wind! Thank you. (My dad is an atheist and we frequently get into "discussions".)
ReplyDeleteThank you for this post Gail, it's so encouraging. And also some people deny the crucifixion of Christ, but it is written in history as well as in the bible.
ReplyDeleteHi.
ReplyDeleteI am a baby Christian. My youngest sister is living with her boyfriend. Who I believe is an Antheist. He goes on to tell this story. "God created Adam and Eve. Eve had Cane and Abel. The Geology of Father,Son and Holy Spirit. Jesus! If Cane and Abel got married. Would they not have married their sisters In the bible this will be incest? How would as a baby question answer this question? The bible is full of Contractditions. I know God exists. How would you clarify to people of this world? Atheists will challenge you and test your faith.
Dear Unknown,
DeleteCongratulations on your new found faith!!
You ask good questions, and the most important thing you need to know is this:
The Bible is not full of contradictions. That is an atheist argument that has no truth.
The truth is that that Bible is the history of mankind and His interactions with God and you need to understand the full story before it all makes sense.
And when you come to Christ, you understand the "end" - the fullness of salvation, but there are many things that led up to Christ coming.
So, my advice to you as a new Christian is this: If your sister's boyfriend or any atheist asks you a question consider this:
1. Is the question sincere or is it simply a rude remark they are making to try to damage your faith? If they have a sincere question, I would recommend you say, "I'll find out more about that and get back to you." If it's simply a way to mock your faith, I would say, "I don't fully understand everything about my faith at this point, but I trust the everything God does is wise and good. And I'm planning to study God's Word and then I know many of my questions will be answered."
In regard to this particular question: When the world began, God had to allow marriage of brothers and sisters because there were so few people alive, but as the population grew, that was no longer necessary and no longer best. Incest in modern times produces children with mental problems, but God is God and He made sure that didn't happen in the beginning. Incest in modern times produces unhealthy relationships, but when the earth began, God made sure that wasn't true. Incest in our time is against God's laws and totally unnecessary, but that doesn't mean it was against God's laws in the beginning when it was necessary.
Your sister's boyfriend is acting as if God is unable to start a world and bring it to maturity. When a child is an infant, we feed that child and change his diapers. When the child grows, we no longer do those things.
Your sister's boyfriend's question is like saying, "Why do you put diapers on a baby when you don't put diapers on a grown man?"
I would avoid this man's questions if all he is trying to do is damage your faith. Let me give you a good sight online where many of these types of questions are answered: GotQuestions.org.
I will reply in another comment below and give you the full text answer to this question from this site, and I recommend you go to that site for future questions. Just put your question in a search and it should come up.
God bless you! Stand firm!
Question: "Why did God allow incest in the Bible?"
DeleteAnswer: There are numerous examples of incest in the Bible. The most commonly thought-of examples are the sons/daughters of Adam and Eve (Genesis 4), Abraham marrying his half-sister Sarah (Genesis 20:12), Lot and his daughters (Genesis 19), Moses’ father Amram who married his aunt Jochebed (Exodus 6:20), and David’s son Amnon with his half-sister Tamar (2 Samuel 13). It is important to note, however, that in two of the above instances (Tamar and Lot), one of the parties involved was an unwilling participant in the incest—better described as rape in those cases.
It is important to distinguish between incestuous relationships prior to God commanding against them (Leviticus 18:6–18) and incest that occurred after God’s commands had been revealed. Until God commanded against it, it was not incest. It was just marrying a close relative. It is undeniable that God allowed “incest” in the early centuries of humanity. Since Adam and Eve were the only two human beings on earth, their sons and daughters had no choice but to marry and reproduce with their siblings and close relatives. The second generation had to marry their cousins, just as after the flood the grandchildren of Noah had to intermarry amongst their cousins. One reason that incest is so strongly discouraged in the world today is the understanding that reproduction between closely related individuals has a much higher risk of causing genetic abnormalities. In the early days of humanity, though, this was not a risk due to the fact that the human genetic code was relatively free of defects.
Another consideration is that incest today almost always involves a pre-pubescent or powerless victim, and the perpetrator is abusing his or her authority with the goal of unilateral sexual pleasure. By that standard, the “incest” of the Bible has nothing whatsoever in common with modern-day incest. There was no power difference between Cain and his wife, for example; the goal of Abraham and Sarah’s marriage was to create a family. Intermarriage among close family members was a necessity in the generations immediately following Adam and Noah and was not a sinful perversion of sex.
It seems that, by the time of Moses, the human genetic code had become polluted enough that close intermarriage was no longer safe. So, God commanded against sexual relations with siblings, half-siblings, parents, and aunts/uncles (Genesis 2:24 seems to indicate that marriage and sexual relations between parents and children were never allowed by God). It was not until many centuries later that humanity discovered the genetic reason that incest is unsafe and unwise. Genetics was not an issue in the early centuries of humanity, and the marriages that occurred between Adam and Eve’s children, Abraham and Sarah, and Amram and Jochebed were not selfish pursuits of sexual gratification or abuses of authority; accordingly, those relationships should not be viewed as incestuous. The key is that sexual relations between close relatives were viewed differently pre-Law and post-Law. It did not become “incest” until God commanded against it.
No. 1,what of me that doesn't feel his presence, everything which I do is a result of my actions, everybody feels the presence of same air, but not of same God, Muslims feel different, Christians, Hindus, all feel different, why?,the description you gave this God, means his presence should be so great that everyone feels the same thing, why is he hiding?
ReplyDeleteHi Chinonso,
DeleteHe isn't hiding from you. You are hiding from Him.
And your question about different Gods is pretty basic logic:
There are right ways to believe and wrong ways to believe, and God doesn't force Himself on anyone. And left to ourselves, we are more apt to choose the wrong beliefs because we're sinful and choose sin and error more often than righteousness and truth.
He's present and available to all, but only those who truly seek Him will find Him.