Posts Tagged ‘God’

God has given us the privilege of partnering with Him in His eternal work.

The Scriptures describe you this way:

Saints – Colossians 1:2 – We are saints – set apart for His specific work
“To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ who are in Colosse:”

Servants – Acts 16: 17 – sent by God to proclaim the good news
“This girl followed Paul and us, and cried out, saying, “These men are the servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation.”

Planter – 1 Corinthians 3:5 – you are called to plant the seed
“Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one?”

Waterer – 1 Corinthians 3:6 – you are to water the seed
“I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase.”

Laborer – Luke 10:2 – you are to labor in His field
“Then He said to them, “The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”

Witness – Acts 1:8 – you are to tell your story – your eyewitness account
“But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Discerning – Colossians 4: 5 – using wisdom to take advantage of the opportunities to share Christ.
“Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time.”

Dependent – John 6:44 – we bring Christ to the lost – He brings the lost to Christ
“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him…”

Remember:
We bring Christ to the lost
He brings the lost to Christ

Can you think of anything more exciting than being a partner with Jesus Christ in populating heaven? He wants to use you. The question is, “Are you willing to be used?” He’s ready if you are.

Atheists offer many excuses for denying God’s existence and/or not believing in Him. Following is a list of many of their arguments with possible responses after each one. The answers are basic, yet to the point. I have used these responses in actual dialogues with atheists and they have proven effective. However, do not expect atheists to acknowledge that their position is illogical once you have demonstrated flaws in your thinking. You must remember that atheists are unsaved and, therefore, not regenerate. This means that sin has affected their minds. In theology we call this the noetic affect of sin.

Your job as a defender of the Christian faith is too give rational and biblical reasons in support of Christianity. This is not always easy and it does not always go very smoothly. But, if you have answers that you have studied for various objections, then you will be more likely to be able to refute their errors and adequately give a reason for your faith.

1. There is no God
1. This is not a logical position to hold since “to know there is no God” means the person would have to know all things to know there is no God. Since he cannot know all things (if he did he would be God), then he cannot logically say there is no God.

2. I believe there is no God
1. To say “I believe there is no God” is a conscious choice. Then, on what do you base your choice: lack of evidence for God’s existence, logic, faith, or a combination of the three?
1. If lack of evidence for God, then

1. At best all you can say is that you have not seen sufficient evidence so far. It may very well be that there is evidence to demonstrate God’s existence since you have not examined all evidence. Therefore, logically you must be agnostic in that you do not know if there is or is not sufficient evidence for God. (An agnostic does not know if there is or is not a God.)
2. What positive evidence is there that disproves God’s existence?

1. This is not the best response because it is asking the atheist to prove that there is no God. This is equivalent to proving a negative which is almost impossible to do. In other words, how you prove that there are no invisible screaming blue ants ruling the planet Venus? You can’t.

2. Nevertheless, sometimes I will ask the atheists for evidence of his position. My request is mainly for me to discover the intellectual depth of the atheists and I’m speaking with.

3. There can be no such evidence since evidence is physical in nature (evidence is an effect and/or result of something in reality). How could evidence disprove God’s existence who is, by definition, the creator of reality and separate from it?
(I am defending the Christian God as revealed in the Bible).

4. Please tell me what would be sufficient evidence?

1. Note that this is a very good request. A lot of times atheists will negate Christian evidences outright, without even examining them fairly. So, I ask them to tell me what would qualify as sufficient evidence. If the atheists cannot give me an answer to the question, then he has not thought through his atheism sufficiently. If he gives me an answer, then I cross examine his answer. Oftentimes, an atheist will say something like “if God parted the ocean” or “if God came down out of heaven and revealed himself to me,” or “if God did something miraculous that could not explain,” etc. My response is always the same. I challenge the atheist’s objectivity. If there were such miraculous occurrences, wouldn’t the atheist’s presuppositions disallow them? If the ocean parted would he not say that it was a quirk of nature or a hallucination? If God revealed Himself from heaven to the atheist, how would the atheist know it was God? How would the atheist know that he is not, again, hallucinating? The atheists could easily deny miracles as being magical tricks. So, I attack the atheist’s presupposition of naturalism (that all things occur due to natural laws of nature) and try and show him that he has stacked the deck against the evidence for God and that this is a choice made by him.

2. If logic then what logical proof do you have that negates God’s existence?

1. Logic can only disprove theistic proofs that are presented and negating such proofs is not a refutation of all possible proofs since no one can know or present all possible proofs of God’s existence. Therefore, negation of proofs does not disprove God’s existence.

2. If there were a logical argument that proved that God did not exist, it has not yet been made known. If it were known then it would be in use by atheists. But since no proof of God’s non-existence has been successfully defended by atheists, we can conclude that thus far, that there are no logical proofs that negate God’s existence.

3. If by faith, then the position is not held by logic or evidence and is an arbitrary position which is something the atheists like to accuse Christians of.

1. If by a combination of evidence, logic, and/or faith, then according to the above analysis, neither is sufficient to validate atheism.

2. For someone to believe there is no God is to hold that belief by faith since there is no evidence that positively supports atheism and there are no logical proofs that God does not exist. Also, the atheists must negate evidences for God, but since he cannot know all evidences for God, then he must, by faith, conclude that no evidences exist.

1. This is done by induction. In other words, he has not experienced sufficient evidence for God’s existence. Therefore he concludes that there is none. He has taken a very small portion of existence, namely his own, and tried to assert that in the whole of existence, there is no God. this is not a logical inference on his part.

2. At best, all the atheist can do is say he has not seen sufficient evidence for God’s existence and that he must logically remain agnostic since it is possible that such evidence exists and he simply has not discovered it yet.

3. There is no evidence for God

1. This is not a logical position to hold since to know there is no evidence for God’s existence necessitates that the person knows all possible evidences for God’s existence. Since he cannot do this (if he did he would be God), then he cannot logically say there is no evidence for God.

1. Note that this response is identical to the first one above.

4. I have not seen sufficient evidence for God’s existence.

1. To say you haven’t seen sufficient evidence for God’s existence is a more intellectually honest position, but it is really a form of agnosticism which maintains that God is not known or knowable while admitting the possibility of God’s existence.

2. If a person has not seen sufficient evidence for God, then it means he has not yet seen all evidence and there might be sufficient evidence. This would mean that God may indeed exist and the person really is an agnostic concerning God and his atheist position is inconsistent with his statement.

5. I lack belief in God.

1. To lack belief in God appears to be a defensive position since the assertive atheist positions are wrought with logical problems (shown above). If the atheist says he “lacks belief” in God, then it appears his goal is to maintain a position that is “unattackable” since by lacking belief, he lacks a position and has no position to attack.

1. The problem is that “lacking belief” in God is an intellectual position made by a choice to “lack belief.” Therefore, it is a position since it is the result of a choice. Any position held, must have reasons or it is not a position. It would be nothing. The atheist who asserts that he lacks belief is asserting a position of lack of belief.

2. After a person has been exposed to a concept, he invariably categorizes the concept. He might accept it, rejected, or determine that he needs to learn more. Either way, a person once exposed to the concept does something with that concept. Therefore, to lack belief in God is actually a position that has been chosen by the atheist who uses this excuse.

3. My cat lacks belief in God as does my computer. Are they also atheists? Therefore, simply lacking belief is not a sufficient statement to describe the atheist position since it can include animals and inanimate objects.

4. If you say that “lacking belief” refers only to yourself as a human being, then see point A.

6. I don’t believe in God.

1. Is this a choice you have made? If so, why? What made you not believe in God?

2. Is there a logical reason that you do not believe in God? Can you please tell me what it is?

1. This is a very good question to ask an atheist. His response could take you into many different directions. Be ready to listen well, think clearly, and respond politely to what he says.

7. Naturalism is true; therefore, there is no need for God.

1. Naturalism is the belief that all phenomena can be explained in terms of natural causes and laws. If all things were explainable through natural laws, it does not mean God does not exist since God is, by definition, outside of natural laws since He is the creator of those laws.

2. Some might say that if all things can be explained via natural laws, then it means there is no evidence for God.

1. But, can all things be explained by naturalism? No, because naturalism has not explained all phenomena known today, nor can we assert that all things in the future will be explained via naturalism because we do not know all phenomena that can and will occur. Therefore, it is not a fact that naturalism can explain all things. To say it can, is a statement of faith. Therefore, God is not negated via naturalism.

8. Evil is in the world, therefore God does not exist.

1. Aside from the discussion of what constitutes evil and what justifies an atheist to have a standard of morality, that which is called evil in the world may very well have a purpose. For example, the evil of sending Jesus to the cross resulted in the redemption of Christians. Therefore, we could see an example of an evil that has led to greater good. Furthermore, many philosophers and theologians have discussed this through the centuries and the common consensus is that to say that God does not exist because evil in the world is an invalid argument.

2. If evil in the world means that God does not exist, then does the existence of good in the world mean that God does exist?

3. By what criteria do you, an atheist, judge what is evil? At best, your atheism can only provide a relativistic moral system. You have no objective standard by which you can judge what is right or wrong. All you can do is say that you think something is evil or that you believe it is evil. At this point it becomes nothing more than your opinion of what evil is and why God does not exist because of what you define as evil.

1. Atheists often will raise such issues as murder, child-abuse, etc., as examples of evil in the world. At this point, it is best to admit that such things are evil but that you know they are evil because God, in the Bible, declares them to be such. Again, point out to the atheist that he has no standard by which to judge the morality of either the Bible or society.

9. I believe in one less God can you do.

1. Since I believe in only one God, and you believe in none, then that is a true statement. Nevertheless, it does not validate your atheism any more than me believing in one more God than you do.

———————— Focus Points ————————

1. It is not logical to say that “there is no God” since to say “there is no God” means the person would have to know all things to know there is no God.

2. Asking an atheist what evidence would be sufficient to demonstrate God’s existence is often a very good question to ask.

3. To lack belief in God is as much an intellectual position as denying God since people make decisions about ideas.

4. Animals and inanimate objects also lack belief in God. Therefore, to say one lacks believe is to identify with animals and inanimate objects.