A moral argument for the existence of God

 

There is information in every cell, this requires intelligence

 

How about this argument for the existence of God?

 

Antony Flew: Going were the evidence leads

 

Richard Dawkins and Cultural Christianity...It won't work

 

When the chips are down...people believe in God

Christianity Thrives in China Despite Persecution

This is a quote from a magazine called The Economist. The date of the article is November 1, 2014…

“Yang Fenggang of Purdue University, in Indiana, says the Christian church in China has grown by an average of 10% a year since 1980. He reckons that on current trends there will be 250m Christians by around 2030, making China’s Christian population the largest in the world. Mr. Yang says this speed of growth is similar to that seen in fourth-century Rome just before the conversion of Constantine, which paved the way for Christianity to become the religion of his empire.”

So, in the world’s largest country (by population)—which is also the world’s largest Communist (atheist) country—Christianity is surging to the point that China is likely to become the largest Christian nation in the world. That is amazing, to me.

This is a country in which (according to the same Economist article) “perhaps as many as half a million Christians were harried to death, and tens of thousands more were sent to labour camps…” under the rule of Mao Zedong. In other words, Christianity not only continues but, in fact, thrives despite significant difficulty and persecution.

“…I will put my hope in God!” Psalm 42:5

Atheist Regimes Offer Evidence That We Need God

The fact that many of us do not have a great memory for history means we may assume God can be abandoned by a culture and it won’t really matter. Atheistic regimes, however, have been, by far, the most murderous in human history. 

We can walk away from God and convince ourselves there will be no significant consequences.  But that will be a serious mistake. Abandoning God matters. I’m urging us to remember history and think carefully.  If you know me, you know I am not a doom and gloom kind of guy.  Really.  I’m not.  I prefer happy messages, pretty rainbows, splashing in the waves and joking around.  But, I promise you, we will find that a godless culture won’t bode well for us.

Atheist Governments In The 20^th Century:

Mao Ze-Dong (China, Tibet)     49-78,000,000 murdered

Jozef Stalin (USSR)       15,000,000 murdered

Pol Pot (Cambodia)      1,700,000 murdered

Kim II Sung (North Korea)   1,600,000 murdered

Tito (Yugoslavia)          570,000

[NOTE: These sad numbers represent atheist leaders killing their own citizens.  And there are more, but you get the point… ]

“The total body count for the ninety years between 1917 and 2007 is approximately 148 million dead at the bloody hands of fifty-two atheists, three times more than all the human beings killed by war, civil war, and individual crime in the entire twentieth century combined.” Vox Day

I don’t write this with a self-righteous attitude.  I’m not wagging a finger at anyone.  In fact, I was hesitant to post this message.  But I’m writing it because I think it’s important to know these things.  My intention is to say this humbly and lovingly:  We need God.

Review of Book: Not God's Type

Check out my review of "Not God's Type" by Holly Ordway...

                   Click here for link to review on Amazon!

God, Christopher Hitchens & Cancer

Christopher Hitchens, is one of the world’s most well known and outspoken atheists.  It would probably be fair to say that Hitchens is not just a person who does not believe in the existence of God, but that he is “anti-God”.  I heard him say, one time, that it’s not just that he doesn’t believe that God exists, but that he hopes God doesn’t exist.  He does not want the existence of God to be true. 

Hitchens has recently revealed that he has cancer.  It is a form of cancer that does not have a high survival rate.

Hitchens was interviewed by Anderson Cooper on CNN and in the interview he makes it clear that this stark and sobering confrontation with his mortality has not changed his stance regarding God.  He and Cooper talked about the fact that many people are praying for his physical healing and his spiritual well-being.  Hitchens says that he is fine with people praying for him if that makes them feel good.  But he added that he will not be participating in any prayers.  At that point, Cooper smiled, nodded his head, and closed the interview with a prayer.

(Not really.  But it would have been great if he did, huh?)

Hitchens is well-known for the sharp aggressiveness of his anti-theism and in true Hitchens fashion, at one point in the interview, he referred to prayers as “incantations”.  He didn’t really smile when he said it, but considering the famous Hitchens wit, I took that choice of words to be a mildly humorous jab, on his part, at the whole silly idea of prayer.

As I watched the video of the discussion between Hitchens and Cooper, I kept thinking, “I wish he would acknowledge that he feels some sense of softening in his stance toward God.”  That did not come across at any point in the interview.   

I thought about something written by St. Augustine, “Thou hast made us for thyself O God, and the heart of man is restless until it finds its rest in Thee.”  I wonder, is there a part of Christopher Hitchens’ heart that is restless for God?  Oh, I know that he would probably say I’m deluded for even asking such a ridiculous question.  But is there a tiny kernel of belief down deep in his heart that, perhaps, has just been rejected and denied so frequently that he doesn’t even recognize it anymore?

Obviously, I don’t know and Hitchens would be likely to say that the only “tiny kernel” he is aware of is the one I refer to as my brain.  (See how good Hitchens is?  He’s even got me hurling insults at myself.)

At one point in the interview, Hitchens assured Cooper that if word spreads at some later date that Hitchens has made some kind of religious conversion it will only be at a point in the illness where he has lost his rational capacities and become delusional.

There’s a part of me that likes to think that if I could talk with Christopher Hitchens, perhaps, I could say something to him about God that could be persuasive.  But, of course, I immediately snap back to reality and realize that is an arrogant and presumptuous thought (my second one this week).  Hitchens is highly educated and extremely well read and he has, no doubt, encountered excellent arguments for God in his many years of reading and study.  Also, Hitchens has debated some outstanding Christian apologists in which he encountered sound arguments for God from brilliant thinkers.  And none of this has changed his mind.

It’s a sad thought, but some people really do come to the end of their lives rejecting God.

But I can pray.  Hitchens even said that if it makes people feel good to pray for him, we should go ahead and do so.  Well, you know what?  It does make me feel good.  I am inclined to pray for his physical health and for his spiritual well-being.  

And, you never know.  Sometimes God can bring about events and circumstances that no one on earth could have ever planned or imagined.  There are events or circumstances that can happen which completely revolutionize a person’s thinking and worldview.  It seems like that’s the kind of extraordinary occurrence that would be required to change Christopher Hitchens’ mind.  Boy, it sounds impossible, doesn’t it?  But for those of us who believe in God, Jesus said this, one time, “with God all things are possible!”

P.S. Christopher Hitchens’ brother, Peter Hitchens, wrote a book that was released earlier this year about his (Peter’s) transformation from atheism to Christianity.  It is an excellent book entitled:  Rage Against God.  I recommend it.  I wonder if, perhaps, Christopher is reading it.  Hey, with God, all things are possible.

He's Glad To See The New Atheist Books?

Christian philosopher and mathematician, William Dembski writes something that surprised me, at first, he says that he was “gratified to see the recent rash of books by the ‘neo-atheists’.”

Hey, wait a minute, a “Christian” was “gratified” to see a whole new batch of books denouncing God by atheist writers like Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens and Sam Harris?  Why would he be glad about that? It seems like a lot of Christians are upset about these books.

Here’s Dembski’s explanation: “These books would be unnecessary if Christianity, and theism generally, were not again a live issue.”  In other words, Christianity is not dead—God is not irrelevant, even within the intellectual community—belief in God is a valid, potent, and important issue in our world. The fact that these atheist writers are spending their time and energy churning out books AGAINST God, in a sense, helps to further verify the vitality of God!

Ah, that’s an interesting way of looking at it, huh?

How Does A Guy Who Doesn't "Know Anything", "Know" So Much?

This is a review of the movie/documentary "Religulous" by Bill Maher.


I thought “Religulous” would be more antagonistic toward religion than it was. Oh, don’t get me wrong, Bill Maher makes it very clear that he does not like religion, actually, that’s probably putting it gently. He believes religion is a significant aspect of what’s wrong with our world. If he doesn’t say it in those exact words, that’s the basic gist of his message.

And it’s not just that he doesn’t like religion, he feels that religion is a form of stupidity that no rational, thinking person could possibly accept. In fact, often, his argument against the religious beliefs that he encounters is simply to smirk and have the attitude of, “Oh, come on . . . !”

But even allowing for all that, the movie wasn’t quite as mean-spirited toward religion as I thought it might be.

I, also, thought “Religulous” would be funnier than it was. There were some moments and there were a few good lines. One of the lines that made me laugh was when Maher was describing his experience in catechism class, as a kid. He referred to it as “vast stretches of boredom punctuated by moments of sheer terror.”

But, let’s face it, religion and religious people provide lots of material for comedy—and I say that as a devout Christian believer and pastor of a church. In fact, there are a number of “Christian” comedians who have mined church life and the basic Christian experience for great hilarity. Although, come to think of it, people probably find comedy at the expense of their religious experience to be much more palatable if it comes from another believer who is basically saying, “Aren’t WE pretty funny, sometimes?”

Well, I got a little sidetracked, there. My point was that “Religulous” had some amusing moments but for a movie about the pitfalls of religion, made by a well-known professional comedian, I thought it would be funnier. [Before I submitted this review, I read a few of the other reviews and noticed that many of them considered “Religulous” to be very funny, even, “hilarious”. So I guess we see, once again, that “comedy”, like “beauty”, is very much in the eye of the beholder.]

But, that brings me to my final point about the movie. In some ways, it probably wasn’t as funny as one might have expected because there’s a serious edge to it; there’s a “message” to this movie. Throughout the movie, Maher, describes himself as someone who is merely asking questions, a doubter, a skeptic, he refers to himself as someone who “doesn’t know” and he insists that none of us can really know with any degree of certainty about the big issues that religion raises. And, yet, the flaw in Maher’s logic is that he actually does claim to know some things. And his movie has an agenda that is driven by the fact that he is certain of some things, foremost among the things that Maher knows is the “truth” that ALL religions are wrong, false and ultimately very bad for our world.

If you think about it, that’s quite a vast, comprehensive and impressive thing to “know” for a guy who “doesn’t know” but is merely asking questions.

Dan Marler
Oak Lawn, IL

If You Listen Carefully, You Can Hear The Atheists Screaming

What if a highly respected, well-known, Oxford-educated, atheist philosopher changed his mind, late in his career, and decided that he, now, believed in God?

You say, “Well, he would probably write a book with this kind of sub-title: ‘How The World’s Most Notorious Atheist Changed His Mind.’”

You’re right. And that brings us to Antony Flew’s book and this review.

This book is a little bit autobiography and a good bit of philosophy with a little bit of the philosophy of science. (It’s everything I can do to resist some kind of reference to: it’s “a little bit country” and “a little bit rock and roll”.)

Flew provides a good bit of information about his background, and this helps the reader see the larger context of his life. I found this to be interesting.

To those of us who believe in God there is great satisfaction in the fact that Flew stresses, numerous times, that one of his guiding intellectual values has long been to follow the evidence wherever it leads. And “the evidence” has led him to this conclusion: “I now believe there is a God! So there!”

Alright, if you look in the book the “So there!” part isn’t really included in the text. But, in my imagination, it’s a nice little shot.

Flew provides his evidence for belief in God and makes a good argument.

It is also interesting and satisfying to theists that Flew credits recent scientific advances as a significant factor in his opinion regarding the existence of God. This is satisfying to theists because sometimes belief in God is portrayed as an entirely unwarranted; blind leap of faith; embraced by uneducated people—usually wearing no shoes or socks; with no rational basis whatsoever.

Since I’m a Christian, I found another line in the book to be quite pleasing. Flew says about Christianity, “If you’re wanting Omnipotence to set up a religion, this is the one to beat.”

I know, I know, atheists and non-Christians will find that to be ridiculous and aggravating. But, it’s still true that he wrote it. So there!

The book has two interesting appendices, one written by Roy Abraham Varghese, who is the co-writer of the book and one written by Bishop N.T. Wright. Bishop Wright’s essay on “The Self-Revelation of God in Human History” is outstanding.

Dan Marler
Oak Lawn, IL

Are You Ready For Some Verbal Judo?

Review of "The Irrational Atheist" by Vox Day.

Sarcasm? Check.
Witty jabs? Check.
Tender words of warmth and kindness? Check. (Not!)

Vox Day’s “The Irrational Atheist” is a little edgier and a little more aggressive than most books that could be labeled “Christian apologetics”, but that’s part of what makes it interesting to read. And Vox’s logical critique of Dawkins, Harris and Hitchens is sort of like a philosophical straight jab to the solar plexus. Can you tell I’ve been waiting for a long time to be able to throw some martial arts references into a book review?

Day actually extends a little more respect to Daniel Dennett because Dennett’s “Breaking The Spell” is “substantially different than” the books written by Dawkins, Harris and Hitchens. Although Day strongly disagrees with Dennett’s conclusions he feels that Dennett, at least, offers a “reasonable perspective” and that Dennett’s “intellectual honesty” is “refreshing”.

Day gives a strong argument for atheism’s failure as a worldview and particularly it’s failure as a political system by sharing some of atheism’s sad history. Yes, there are some stains in Christianity’s history, as well. That can never honestly be denied and Day addresses that subject. But it’s fair to do a little comparison. Over the course of more than 300 years 3,230 people were killed in the Spanish Inquisition. That’s 3,230 too many and it’s an embarrassment to Christians. But compare that to this: “the total body count for the ninety years between 1917 and 2007 is approximately 148 million dead at the bloody hands of fifty-two atheist [regimes], three times more than all the human beings killed by war, civil war, and individual crime in the entire twentieth century combined. The historical record of collective atheism is thus 182,716 times worse on an annual basis than Christianity’s worst and most infamous misdeed, the Spanish Inquisition.”

Is “The Irrational Atheist” gentle? No. Is it convincing? Yes.

Dan Marler
Oak Lawn, IL

Note: Day uses a few swear words in the book. If that would be offensive to you then you shouldn't read "The Irrational Atheist".

http://www.visitusonline.org/