Do You Know What Happens?

When an atheist is complaining how God (I know, there's no consistency to what atheists think) isn't running the world the way that the atheist thinks He should, it's important to ask that person how s/he would run the world if s/he was God. Do you know why it's important? Because the only answer that the atheist can give is to say that our Creator should have created us as robots. So true is that statement that I've encountered a couple atheists who said they'd actually prefer to be robots. These two atheists said they wished that God had created us as robots so that humans would no longer perpetrate violence against one another. In their minds God should have just programmed us to be good. I find this absolutely fascinating and wish I could spend some time with these two people.

Think about it! To want to not have freewill, is to want to not be human, for it is surely freewill in concert with the ability to reason that separates us from the other animals on this planet, animals who operate only by instinct. And as far as quality of life goes, even lower animals are infinitely better off than Robots. It boggles the mind that atheists exist who not only want to be robots, but God's robots no less. Who can understand the mind of the atheist?

The irony here is that atheists, those who perceive themselves to be the most rational among us, would also lose the concept of rationality. On a determinism that is unique to robots, that loss would be exponentially beyond the determinism to which atheists are now implicitly committed. This is because at the very least, rationality requires the ability for discernment, reasoning and powers of argument. If we are causally determined to think and act as we do then the conclusions we reach are also determined by the same causal laws of the world that are working in combination with our physiology.

That's what atheists leaders mean when they say that the “I” or “consciousness” or “free-will” do not exist. That's what they mean when they say that once computers are sophisticated enough (machines programmed by us) those computers will appear to possess consciousness. 

On determinism, our conclusions are not the result of reason or rationality but of the chemical makeup of our brains at that given moment. How much more so for those who are created to be “good” to others.

I suppose that atheists could point to their irrational, incoherent belief system as proof that we really are controlled by determinism? Nevertheless, people who believe they live in a natural deterministic universe, and who express outrage over the behaviours of another person or community should be seen as rather emotionally unbalanced individuals.

Now, recall the atheists I mentioned that would rather be robots incapable of doing wrong. They'd rather be robots than humans because they recognize the truth that humans can exercise freewill and therefore can potentially inflict excessive harm on other humans. Both of these atheists said that being created robots would allow them to be morally responsible beings.

This is incorrect.

There is no morality or virtue without a freewill choice to not be moral or virtuous.

Actions have no moral value when there is no choice to do anything other than the “right” thing.

Without freedom to choose right from wrong, good from bad, we cease to be human beings.

It's one or the other.

We are either created human, or we lose freewill.

We are either created human or we lose the ability to be morally good.

Atheists accuse God of creating evil, yet Evil is simply the choice to misuse our free-will. Or, if you like, evil is the choice to use our free-will in a manner that our Creator has prohibited. What's more, just because the option of evil exists doesn't mean that we have to choose it. Atheists of course say, “I don't need God in order to be a good person.” The next question to ask is, “So why aren't you a good person? You don't even live up to your own moral code let alone that of your Creator.”

Through our faith in Jesus, God will remove the dominion that sin holds over us in our natural state. Is that the right way to go about achieving His goal? Could there have been a better way? Well, we don't have a complete, clear and concise picture of what that goal is but, God obviously decided that it was worth the risk to give us that option in order to achieve the ends that He has in mind. Your Creator isn't asking you to like that plan, but remember:

“One day every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.”

Because God is all powerful, He CAN rid the universe of evil.

Because God is all good, He WILL rid the universe of evil.

Yes, there is still evil present in the universe. Nevertheless – at the end of history,

God CAN and WILL rid the universe of evil, and all those who side with evil against their Creator will be banished for eternity.

He promised to do that and He showed us His bloodied corpse as a deposit and guarantee that He will fulfil that promise. 

Naturalism, I believe, is often driven by fear, fear that accepting conceptual pluralism will let in the supernatural.”

Hilary Putnam in “Naturalism in Question”

Are You Open-Minded?

People of the world say that being open-minded is a sign of something good. A sign of intelligence, even. Well, if you'd seen open-minded people from a counsellor's chair you might just change your mind. 

Most people aren’t aware that the term open-minded comes from the Hebrew term for empty-headed. It describes someone who is so lacking in wisdom that s/he is unable to discern between good ideas and bad and is therefore accepting of all ideas.

In Luke 24:25 the account is told how after His resurrection, Jesus came along side two men who were walking on a road that led to a town call Emmaus. It was about 10kms from Jerusalem. Without recognizing that Jesus was in their midst (after all, who rises from the dead?) the men spoke of Jesus' crucifixion, death and and His missing body. They were puzzled because even as many Jewish people today, these men believed that Jesus, the Messiah would come as a political leader of Israel. They believed He would come in power with armies to overthrow their oppressors.

Jesus explained to these two men all that had been said about Messiah in ALL of the Old Testament and showed them that they were just plain wrong about the appearance of the Messiah. Well, as many people know, once we believe one thing, it’s very difficult to accept that we are wrong and begin to believe another. That is why “Jesus opened their minds so that they might understand what He’d been saying.”

Reality is, without God opening our minds to His reality, understanding the Bible is, as one person put it, like reading a sundial by the light of a quarter moon. Only the Spirit of God can open our minds to understand what the Scripture is saying. In fact, not understanding the core message of the Bible is a sign that we are on our way to hell.

“The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him and he cannot understand them because they are spiritually discerned. The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing.” 1^st Corinthians 1:18; 2:14.

You know how atheists rarely venture outside of the Old Testament lest they run into teachings of Jesus that convict them of a deep need for forgiveness? And you know how atheists accuse Christians of cherry-picking verses to make our case? Do you think atheists ever do the same thing? Like, have you ever seen them ranting about this?

“Do not defraud or rob your neighbour.

“Do not make your hired workers wait until the next day to receive their pay. “If one of your fellow Israelites falls into poverty and is forced to sell himself to you, do not treat him as your neighbours treat their slaves. Show your fear of God by not treating them harshly

Leviticus 19:13,25,43

Immense riches are seldom possessed by leaders of countries or corporations without the oppression of their citizens, employees or investors. Immense riches are seldom gained without the willingness to rape and plunder the earth. Unlike their neighbours, and unlike our modern industrial societies, people in ancient Israel (those who atheists call dim-witted bronze-age goat herders) were to make sure they did nothing to take advantage of each other.

Peace, Mercy and Justice were then and are today to be the hallmark of God's people.

Hard To Defend

I've said in other places that when someone does something to hurt us, we know in an instant that what they've done is wrong – objectively wrong. We don't have to think for even one second if this is something that society approves of or if it is sanctioned by the law. We know experientially that objective morals, values, obligations and duties exist. Yet atheists struggle with this concept because if the universe arose by natural means then objective morality simply cannot exist. The reality of Objective Morality makes atheism hard to defend. For example:

“I think there is a certain degree of plausibility among atheists in the view that without some kind of transcendental intelligence in the universe there can be no objective moral laws. Moral laws are maxims which tell sentient beings that certain actions are to be deemed moral or immoral. But how could such laws exist in the absence of a mind or sentience in the universe at all? Are moral laws objective in the way that laws of nature are? They don't seen to be, for few would argue that the law “murder is wrong” existed in some Platonic realm of ideas when galaxies were forming over ten billion years ago and there was no sign of consciousness anywhere in the universe.

The use of the word “law” implies and objective existence of unchanging moral maxims independently of sentience. Yet it appears that there can be nothing objective about so-called “moral laws”, because it seems absurd on its face to say that maxims which tell sentient beings that certain actions of sentient beings are moral or immoral could exist in the absence of an even greater sentience.

It seems to me that all ethical codes must ultimately be man-made, and thus there could be no objective criteria for determining if human actions are right or wrong. Admitting that moral laws are man-made is equivalent to acknowledging that ethical rules are arbitrary and therefore human beings are not obligated to follow them.

But ethics does not come into play in the history of the universe until very recently – when Homo sapiens appeared. It is possible that moral laws have existed since the Big Bang, but that they could not manifest themselves until sentient beings arose. However, such a view implies that there is some element of purposefulness in the universe – that the universe was created with the evolution of sentient being “in mind” in the mind of a Creator. To accept the existence of objective moral laws that have existed since the beginning of time is to believe that the evolution of sentient beings capable of moral reasoning (such as human beings) has somehow been predetermined or is inevitable, a belief that is contrary to naturalistic explanations of origins which maintain that sentient beings came into existence due to contingent accidental circumstances.

If moral laws are part of the natural universe then the universe cannot be unconscious – it must be, in some unknown sense sentient.”

Keith Augustine in Defending Moral Subjectivism

“Obedience to authority saves many lives.”

Sophocles

What's The Point?

Do you ever wonder about that? Is there a point to this existence? Seriously? What are we doing here? What are we supposed to accomplish? And if there is something that we're supposed to accomplish how do we figure out what it is?

I read somewhere that the apostle John, the man who wrote the Gospel of John, 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd John, and Revelation, the man of whom it was said, 'He was the one who Jesus loved,' I read somewhere that as he was being carried into his last gathering of Christians (Church) he was asked, “How are we to live?” And, according to the account, John replied, “Love one another. Do this and it will be enough.” Of course John got that idea from hanging around with Messiah Jesus, Who has said to all of us who claim to follow Him, “Love others as I have loved you.”

Sounds like a good idea - right? Here's the catch. Jesus loves His enemies. He came to pay the penalty for our sins while we were/are still His enemy. And then He said, “Even pagans can love those who love them. but I say, love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you. Pray for those who persecute you.”

Well, I'm coming up to completing 63 years on this earth, 32 of those years trying to learn what that means to be a follower of Jesus. And as near as I can figure out, Jesus has asked us to do the impossible. It is simply not possible to love others as Jesus loved us – not I must add – without Jesus pouring His love into us first.

In order to love others as Jesus loves us, we must be enthralled with, and staggered by the character of our Redeemer, our Lord and our Saviour. Our love for Jesus must be such that everything we think, do, and say is motivated by this love for Christ. The peace and security from being in that kind of a relationship with one's Creator must be the core of what drives us. In order to love others as Jesus loves us, we must be regularly humbled by the grace of our Creator. Our hard and evil hearts need to be softened every day by spending quality time with Jesus. That is the only way that we as humans who are corrupt to the core can have developed within us a heart of tenderness, patience, forgiveness,and mercy.

When we love others as Jesus loves us, we do not love out of an inner need to please or to be accepted. Instead this other love is a natural consequence of an inner love for and from our Saviour. For how can we encourage others to forgive when forgiveness is not part of our own life? How can we encourage others to live lives of integrity if our own life is filled to the brim with inner contradictions? In order to be able to love others as Jesus loves us, we have no choice but to meditate on the presence and promises, and daily care that Jesus provides for us. As James 1:17 says, “ALL good things and EVERY perfect gift is from above. Coming down to us from the Creator of the universe in whom there is no shifting or changing like shadows.”

So difficult is the command of Jesus to love others as He loves us that both Richard Dawkins and Chris Hitchens recognized and admitted that it is impossible. Their choice of course is to reject the concept wholesale. We as followers of Jesus don't have that choice.

It is only Jesus' love that is working in us that can protect us against all the other potential idols of this world that vie for our attention and devotion. It is only when we worship our risen Lord that we will be able to guard ourselves against self-esteem and self-glory that is destroying not only humanity but the planet itself. Only a person who is marinaded in Jesus' love who can be turned into a humble giver of grace. Only deep gratitude for a suffering Saviour can make a person willing to suffer for one's enemy. Only a person who has “found contentment in any situation,” that can absorb hatred with no loss to self. It is only when we've been broken by the reality of our forgiveness that we can give grace and mercy to those to whom God has called us to serve. It's only when “my hope is built on nothing less,” that we become free from building the foundation of our identity on the sand of worldly value.

What's the point of this existence? The point is to glorify our Creator by loving others as Jesus loves us – sacrificially, eternally, unconditionally.

It is only when we experience, on a daily basis, the love of Jesus, the peace of His forgiveness and the hope of new character that we become passionate for others to experience the same rescue.