Six Answers from Theism 03

[0:00] The preceding half-dozen objections to the existence of God given by atheists express the core of their position. Each objection they have given will now be addressed, and listeners are asked to give thoughtful consideration to the objections of the atheists and the responses forthcoming from theism.

[0:21] Both factions are soberly reminded of what is at stake, no matter which position one accepts. The first atheistic denial of God's existence claimed the universe to be eternal, having no point of origin.

[0:38] If not that, then the lone second possibility would be the universe somehow created itself without any intelligence or personal involvement from any being.

[0:52] Theism regards both of those assertions to be logically and philosophically unacceptable. Why? Because such would have required impersonal, unintelligent matter being responsible for the origin of all matter, living and non-living, material and immaterial.

[1:13] But absolutely nothing works in that manner. For instance, we can see an intelligent being making a chair, but we fail to see a chair making an intelligent being.

[1:30] Non-life simply cannot produce life, no matter the length of time involved. The second objection of atheists is called the hiddenness of God.

[1:58] Theists say God is not at all hidden. He has been historically noted from the time of creation as revealed in Psalm 19 with, The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament shows forth His handiwork.

[2:14] God's personal interaction with the first humans and other human encounters throughout the Bible are carefully recorded beginning with the Genesis account. They are then more fully revealed through His incarnation in the person of Jesus Christ.

[2:30] Theism concludes that God created the heavens and the earth, including all life forms and matter. So while the universe did not always exist, its originator did.

[2:45] When interviewing the noted atheist philosopher Bertrand Russell, the interviewer asked him, Dr. Russell, if you should be wrong about God not existing, and you one day stand before Him and hear Him ask you why you did not believe, what will you tell Him?

[3:04] Russell replied, I will tell Him He did not give me enough evidence. Well, God will not be satisfied with Russell's answer.

[3:15] Because in the New Testament, Romans chapter 1 tells us, The invisible things from the creation of the world are perceived being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse.

[3:31] If Russell says the evidence was incomplete, while God says it was complete, even to the extent that man is without excuse, each can decide whom to believe.

[3:43] The third objection relates to the biblical sources revealing God's existence. Atheists view them merely as the writings of men who assigned divine authority to them.

[3:57] But it must also be asked, Is it the atheist or the theist, who has spent the greater amount of time and effort actually engaging the Bible?

[4:09] Theists have meticulously examined this book for centuries. In addition, logical arguments for its origin and authenticity are readily available from libraries throughout the world and online.

[4:23] True, there are items in it that appear contradictory if viewed superficially. For instance, the requirement of animal sacrifice in one part of the Bible is met in another part of the Bible with those sacrifices being forbidden.

[4:41] A closer examination, however, reveals it not to be contradictory, but an obvious progression. Originally, animals were required for sacrifice to atone for the sins of humans under the Mosaic Law.

[4:56] And they were clearly foreshadowing the future sacrifice of Christ as the Lamb of God. His death, constituting the ultimate payment for humanity, rendered all subsequent sacrifices null and void.

[5:12] The progression from animal sacrifice to that of Christ is unmistakable. What appears contradictory is, in reality, an intended prediction, provision, progression, and fulfillment.

[5:31] By spending adequate time in the Bible, which most atheists who are merely looking for a gotcha are unwilling to do, it soon becomes apparent this is no mere human book.

[5:46] True, it was necessarily penned by humans in order to give it the needed human dimension so we humans could identify with it. But as regards its authorship, that is another matter.

[5:59] One human penman, the Apostle Paul, wrote the words found in 2 Timothy 3, stating, All Scripture is given by inspiration of God. Followed by the Apostle Peter, who wrote, For no prophecy ever came by the will of man, but men spoke from God, being moved by the Spirit of God.

[6:22] One scholar, after many years of study, concluded the Bible is a book such as man could not write if he would, nor would not write if he could.

[6:35] And multiplied millions have voiced that same sentiment over thousands of years. And what explanation can we give, other than that of a divine origin, considering so many radically changed lives?

[6:50] It is well known how its message has accomplished miracles in changing people's lives in ways that are never duplicated on the couch of any psychiatrist.

[7:02] Clearly, the Bible has us pegged. It tells the truth about us, pulling no punches.

[7:13] And at times, it presents an ugly but accurate picture. Yet it often records ugliness turned into beauty via spiritual regeneration and a whole new life.

[7:28] A most dramatic example of that was one who spoke from personal experience that wrote, Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation.

[7:40] Old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new. And who could have been a more unlikely candidate for a radical change inside out than Saul of Tarsus, the persecutor-in-chief of Christ's followers who was to become Paul the Apostle, the proclaimer-in-chief of the gospel of Christ.

[8:07] The Bible's truths have transformed and motivated people to establish hospitals, orphanages, and a multitude of benefits addressing human needs.

[8:20] And the last we knew, atheists are not building hospitals, schools, nor donating their time and treasure. And with their atheistic viewpoint, why would they?

[8:34] Lastly, historically and presently, the accuracy of the Bible's claims have been verified time and again by the spate of the archaeologists and their many discoveries. And while too many to mention, they too are available in multiple libraries and languages that can be accessed online.

[8:53] Also, it ought to be noted that apart from the Bible, there is no other source that explains how the world began, why, what it is about, how we got here, where it is going, and how it will be when we get there.

[9:12] Only in this book, the Bible, will that information be found. Item number four in the atheist list of objections was the all-powerful good God coexisting with evil, pain, suffering, disease, and death.

[9:32] How could such a being, if good and all-powerful, allow these negatives to coexist with His own presence?

[9:44] Theists agree, there appears to be an insoluble problem with their coexistence, but it only appears to be such because together, they provide the cosmic stage for both evil and the goodness of God in ongoing conflict.

[10:02] Thus, from the very beginning, our original parents were not off to a good start. Deceived into disobeying God their Creator, the death they were warned about was imposed upon them.

[10:16] The death of their immaterial spirit came immediately that resulted in guilt, that produced fear, that caused them to hide from their Creator whose presence they earlier enjoyed.

[10:31] Physical death then followed gradually with the aging and debilitation of their bodies. In addition, planet Earth, originally under the dominion of Adam and Eve, was forfeited to the adversary along with all of creation.

[10:47] Consequently, all of life and matter are in a state of entropy. It is the second law of thermodynamics that will not be denied.

[11:00] everything ages and decays, including our body. Despite advances and sophistication of our medical technology, we humans all still die at the rate of one per person.

[11:19] And to the present time, the adversary remains described in 2 Corinthians 4 as the God of this age. But God had promised earlier it would be the offspring of Eve, the anointed one of God, who would one day deliver the death blow to the adversary, ending his reign.

[11:43] 4,000 years later, he arrived as Jesus, the Messiah, Son of God and Son of Man. He who knew no sin would be made sin for you, for me, for the entire world.

[12:02] Jesus experienced the righteous wrath of God poured out upon himself, willingly suffering payment in full for the sins of the world, past, present, and future.

[12:14] And because of who he was, he succeeded in balancing the moral scales of the universe. that is the big picture that changed everything.

[12:29] When Jesus came to earth the first time, it was as the sacrificial Lamb of God placed in a manger and 30 years later, placed on a cross.

[12:43] That remains the centerpiece of the entire universe for all time. You can look it up. You will find it in 2 Corinthians chapter 5.

[12:55] All else, including even the world's wars, are small in comparison to that one incomparable event because on that cross was the Creator Himself incarnated as the God-man, Emmanuel.

[13:14] The hymn writer grasped the significance of it all when he penned those words, well might the sun in darkness hide and shut his glories in when Christ the mighty Maker died for man the creature's sin.

[13:36] Then there is the divine crutch issue. Atheists accuse theists of having a needed sense of emotional comfort by believing God is in charge of our existence which makes coping with life easier.

[13:51] And not only does it make living easier, it also makes dying easier and the belief we will yet live beyond this life. But we theists, we have no problem being accused of our God being a crutch.

[14:07] Not at all. A crutch is a sign of weakness. that puts us in the proper category of creature to which we plead guilty.

[14:22] Yet, to say our seeing God as a crutch is not at all accurate because we see God as far more than a mere crutch.

[14:33] We need more than a crutch. To us theists, He is the eternal omnipotent creator before whose love and wisdom and power we humbly bow.

[14:47] Added to the issue of our dependency is the sphere of relationships. A super critical concept because God also created us with relationships in mind.

[15:01] Such exists within the eternal Father, Son, and Spirit who make up the Trinitarian nature of God. And besides our having the ability to relate to the Creator, He also intended us to enjoy connecting with those of our kind as they in the Trinity interconnect with their kind.

[15:24] And after creating Adam, God said, It is not good for man to dwell alone. I will make a helper fit for him. Eve was created to provide that relational need for man as well as a necessity for producing their kind after themselves.

[15:43] And to this day, humans who possess a loving relationship to the Creator also enjoy the potential for the same with other humans. That is not coincidental.

[15:57] It is intentional. So, we theists, particularly all who are recipients of the salvation Jesus provided through his death on the cross, we enjoy a relationship with God that atheists cannot.

[16:13] Yet, that too can change. Atheists can also have that, but not through their atheism. This is why relationships are everything.

[16:29] Nothing was more in the heart of God than the restoration of broken relationships. The Father sent his Son into the world to make man eligible to reconnect with God and also connect in a loving way with fellow humans.

[16:50] But if that provision is ignored or rejected, an estrangement continues not only between man and God, but between man and his fellow man, and this is what we continue to the present day.

[17:08] So, God as a crutch, oh no, he is so much more than a crutch, and all who have put their trust in him as our substitute and Savior from sin are so very grateful.

[17:24] Finally, where is the atheist regarding human moral standards for living in our present world if there is no God? Who makes the rules?

[17:38] The atheist replies with, we humans make our own rules. We are each our own gods, so to speak. We are, to quote the poet, the captains of our fate and masters of our destiny.

[17:54] Atheists are, of necessity, humanists who regard man to be the measure of all things. Thus, man sets the standards for right and wrong according to the demands of the ever-changing culture.

[18:07] And in stark contrast, the singular authority appealed to by Christians starts with, in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

[18:19] Genesis 1.1, plus visible evidence of creation, has satisfied theists regarding God's existence for thousands of years. Committed to the concept that everything that had a beginning must have a cause, theists see God as the only exception being the eternal, necessary, uncaused, first cause.

[18:45] Because someone or something had to exist before the beginning began. and someone suggests intelligence while something does not.

[19:03] An intelligent thing could not be responsible for creating intelligent beings. As mentioned earlier, we can see an intelligent being making a chair, but we fail to see a chair making an intelligent being.

[19:20] And while we theists credit the origin of the universe to an intelligent, infinite, personal God, atheists must credit its source to an unintelligent, impersonal source, or the fallback position of the universe having always existed.

[19:40] And to insist the universe has no origin but always existed, still remains logically and philosophically indefensible. That, plus all of history, verifies the necessity of life to produce life.

[19:57] Again, non-life cannot produce life no matter the length of time involved. At the beginning of this article, you were asked to give serious consideration to both positions set forth by atheists and theists.

[20:15] The consequences are monumental with both positions and eternally so. The so-what factor looms very large with whichever choice is made.

[20:31] Apparently, a man named Blaise Pascal agreed. Pascal was a French intellectual born in the 1600s, and he distinguished himself in mathematics and philosophy.

[20:43] Despite physical maladies that claimed his life at the age of 39, he still managed to impact European thought.

[20:54] His better known dictum to this day is called Pascal's Wager. In it, he stated, if we believe in God and he does not exist, we lose nothing.

[21:09] If we believe in God and he does exist, we gain everything. Well, while true to a point, it needs elaboration.

[21:21] The impression given is that mere belief in God's existence is all that is required for the gaining of everything. And while that certainly is the first step, belief must be followed by something more.

[21:36] The letter inspired by James in the New Testament tells us in chapter 2 that even the demons believe God exists and they tremble. But demons cannot be said to be those who gain everything.

[21:53] Those who do gain everything have added to their belief in God's existence the critical key provision God has made by which everything is gained.

[22:07] that provision found many times throughout the New Testament is as the Apostle stated in 1 John chapter 5 saying, and this is the testimony that God gave us eternal life and this life is in his son.

[22:26] Whoever has the son has life and whoever does not have the son does not have life.

[22:38] The life of which he speaks is eternal life. That is the gaining of everything. Do you have the son?

[22:51] Clearly here and in many like passages it is not merely believing God exists but believing that he also gave his son who was willing to be given to actually pay the penalty for our sins.

[23:08] And by that substitutionary death of Jesus, God his father was then justified in opening wide the gates of heaven to welcome all who receive Christ as the full payment for their sin.

[23:25] And right now, you may be hearing this for the first time and are beginning to make some connections. Or you may have heard it many times without doing anything about it.

[23:42] But you may if you wish. And that too will be explained shortly. For too long, atheists have assured themselves there is no hard evidence available that verifies God's existence.

[24:00] Thus, the claim for atheism remained intact and seemingly unassailable. evil. But that has all changed.

[24:13] And the change came about through a most unexpected, unlikely source. Not at all from a religious source, but from a completely secular source.

[24:29] And whatever could that be, it will be presented and explained in the next segment. Thank you and we have well let's say 2016 why is a random time but it will be something A 21 vendo and An told and an an An An two years ago know se happiness family may are going to an an