Category: apologetics

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apologetics revelation

How to Understand Strict Old Testament Laws.

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I had a revelation about Old Testament law years ago. It came after reading a verse by Jesus where he says: “Man is not made for the Sabbath, but the Sabbath was made FOR MAN.”

I began to think of the different laws and commands and guidelines issued in the Bible in a new light, as if they were given for our own benefit, one way or another.

And this brought me to “the law,” as it were, which seemed harsh, strict, and imposed discipline on the community and the small nation.

It was actually the story of the man gathering up sticks on the Sabbath outside city limits that altered my view on all of this. I mean, why was it such a dastardly deed on HIS part? A man was found wandering outside the city limits, and he was collecting sticks on the day of rest. Moses ordered the man to be stoned.

The answer is that, for a small nation surrounded by larger and more powerful enemies, where each boy and man is a soldier as well as a citizen, STRICT MILITARY LAW must be observed.

You may see these rules and laws as hyper-puritanical, but they had to be. An outside attack or war could come at any moment, and the people needed to be sober and vigilant at all times.

TODAY we consider these laws abusive or immoral. But we are not in the same context or situation as the Hebrews were 2 thousand years ago, where perhaps these laws were necessary for the survival of the tribe/nation. Remember: the Sabbath was made FOR MAN.

But what does that even mean?

Well, how could the sabbath, or a day of rest benefit a man?

Well, that seems obvious. Men who overwork themselves, and put in 7 days a week at 12 – 16 hours a day will quickly find themselves exhausted, physically sick, and in distress mentally and emotionally.

Men should definitely have a day off, or a day of rest. This is just a common sense principle.

So, now we can understand why Christ said that the Sabbath day was made for man, or for his own well-being.

To quickly go back to the example of the man collecting sticks, we have to remember that a small, wandering desert nation will be responsible for its own defense. Every man is a citizen, but also a soldier.

In the military, almost anywhere in the world, if a soldier breaks the rules and guidelines set out, and deserts his post, and he is caught doing so, his punishment will be severe. And everybody understands this. But when atheists and skeptics look to the old testament law, they seem to forget just exactly what the situation was that the ancient Hebrews lived within, which was a cold, ruthless, dangerous existence, where they are always teetering on the edge of annihilation or destruction.

They must always be sober, at the ready for a skirmish or a surprise assault by a neighboring tribe.

It must be understood that they must be a warrior society. They have no other choice in such a dangerous world.

Their lives are defined by constant war. Their world is dog eat dog. Not at all a situation we are familiar with from the cozy comfort of our air-controlled bedrooms.

So, the next time you read or hear about a non-intuitive command or law in the bible, and immediately draw back from it, being repulsed by the harshness of it, stop and ask yourself what function this law might serve in that ancient society. Ask yourself why this law was given, and how it would benefit this society to institute it. Always remember that their world was much, much different from the sterilized one you live in.

If you are going to judge, judge correctly. Inform your assessment with context. Understand that the Sabbath was made for man. Man was not made for the Sabbath.

Reasons to Believe
Why all Christians should Oppose Big Government
If there is No God…
Revival is coming.

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Categories
apologetics atheism

Why God Doesn’t Heal Amputees

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In a previous blog post, I tackled this question directly, explaining that God does heal amputees, giving them and millions of others the greatest and most evident miracle one can find on earth. You can read this post here.

But the fact is, amputees aren’t in need of healing. They are not sick, by definition. They are disabled. But there is no disease present to be tackled by an immune response. Therefore, healing is not necessary.

What amputees may desire is regeneration of limbs. But unfortunately for us, in human beings, limbs do not regenerate. They do not grow back. Therefore there is no normal and natural healing process. So when an atheist speaks of a healing, there is no standard present in humans to account for what he is talking about. This is important, that there is no natural expectation for this kind of healing in the world. Given this, they go on to demand a supernatural intervention of which there is no precedent, either in the natural world and in the biblical literature, as well.

Fact is, nowhere in the biblical covenants is there a promise of the regeneration of amputated limbs or missing limbs. This is not an example of God’s failure, but of an atheist understanding of the covenant contract between God and man.

But wait. Hold out on all of this.

The Bible does say that nothing is impossible with God.

There have been a few reports of amputated limbs growing back throughout human history.

Probably the most well-known is called The Miracle of Calanda. It is even documented in a Wikipedia article here.

“The Miracle of Calanda is an event that allegedly took place in Calanda, Spain in 1640, according to 17th century documents. The documents state that a young farmer’s leg was restored to him after having been amputated two and a half years earlier.”

That said, it is important to note a differentiation between an expectation of healing and an expectation of extraordinary miracles. There are many documented healings in the biblical canon. They are healed of fevers, of epilepsy, of colds and viruses and deafness.

But then there is another, higher level of miracle. This concerns the dead being raised, or someone being taken up to heaven. These are remarkable events, rare and infrequent.

I believe there is a reason for this. It really comes down to choice, and free will, and the ability and freedom to choose your own spiritual fate. If physical and extraordinary miracles were commonplace, this trend might or would impinge on a person’s ability to freely choose or reject God and his gospel message. The truth is that, believing in God means to believe in love, in Christ, in the gospel message, more than anything else. There are no shortcuts to heaven. There are no cheat codes. God probably wants your heart, and not just your head.

If you saw a man’s limb regrow under the hand of a prophet, by force of natural logic, you would have to believe. And you would have missed the point of the scriptures and God’s message completely. Which is all about charity, personal sacrifice, love, kindness, and the church.

Now, there is a reference in the New Testament to the loss of a limb. Jesus says:

“And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.”

Notice that Jesus says that when you lose an arm or a leg, it has perished. Things that perish do not often return, if they ever do. They become nonexistent. There is nothing left to heal.

What atheists are really asking for is equivalent to asking that a man blown to a million pieces by a landmine be re-cogitated magically. This is a ludicrous ask, as such a man has already perished. He is gone. He has died and is awaiting judgment.

I also want to make the point that our sufferings on this earth are negligible, in the grand scheme of things. If a child is missing an arm for his childhood, and dies, and has 3 billion years in heaven whole and complete, do you think he or she will consider his time maimed on earth to be significant in any way?

Almost definitely not.

That said, some miracles require more faith than others, as Jesus constantly said: “according to your faith” it will happen to you, this when He performed miracles. I believe that it is possible for a man’s limb to be regenerated by faith in God, but who has that kind of faith? It is possible to part a sea, and it was done only once, but who has that kind of faith?

I suppose it is not hard to have faith if the Son of God is physically present in front of you.

Furthermore, we must remember that God always works persuasively, and not coercively, so as to not violate our right to freely choose to serve or reject Him.

Looking deeper into this topic, I discovered that most limb loss is due to diabetes. The loss of a limb itself does not pose a threat to a being’s life or eternal salvation. There is almost always an underlying illness, of which amputation is a treatment, in most cases.

Now, one last point is that, Jesus did perform miracles in front of many, sometimes. And still people would not believe on him. Maybe it is no different today. If you witness a miracle right in front of you, you can always justify it somehow, or explain it away, or ignore it, and many did exactly this.

In that case, a genuine miracle is of little evangelistic value. Maybe it violates freedom to reject God or choose God. Maybe it doesn’t.

Maybe this will answer the question for you:

Why won’t God heal amputees?

He will, one way or the other, sooner or later.

Why Won’t God Heal Amputees? Part 1

A new Argument for the Existence of God

Why do the Godless Converge in Cities?

Categories
apologetics atheism

Why Won’t God Heal Amputees?

healing image.

I recently scanned over a ridiculous website called whywontgodhealamputees.com, run by “Marshall Brain.” Upon reading over it, I found what I expected to find, which was a flurry of rather simplistic and juvenile arguments against the existence of God. So I’m taking my shot here.

First of all, thousands upon thousands of amputees have been healed by God. God heals broken souls and spirits. He does this every day through his Holy Spirit. Each time it happens, it is a genuine and remarkable miracle. Bad people, thoroughly debauched and given over to evil– become saved and turn their life around, and experience a miraculous transformation at the heart level. This is actually the greatest evidence for God’s existence that there is.

This is not something to push away with a wave of the hand.

I have never seen a truly bad person have a change of heart except through a religious, spiritual experience with God. I have never heard or seen of a person struggling with a sexual sin overcoming it by anything but a miracle.

For example, in state after state, un-american leftists and socialist democrats have banned the use of secular and religious programs that help people overcome their sexual issues. They have recognized that all of their science and their whole psychological field is powerless and ineffective in helping these people, though they want to be helped.

Yet within the church, you will find former homosexuals and thousands upon thousands who overcome sexual fetishes. You will hear their testimonies and witness the newfound joy in their lives and on their faces.

You keep looking at missing arms and legs. I give you Nick Vujicic, missing arms and legs, he is a christian preacher and evangelist, who believes in physical healing, to boot!

What is it that secular atheists offer people with broken souls?

They offer them drugs. Anti-depressants. Anti-psychotics. They offer to fully transform them into drooling zombies.

They offer them bread, a monthly check from the government, a lonely existence on the margins of society.

They offer them a quick path to nihilism and existential sickness.

With all of their degrees, their higher learning, and all of their science, they have never once been able to turn a bad man into a good man. They have never once, in the history of mankind, been able to affect a real and lasting change of heart.

All they offer are new social programs that cost hundreds of millions of dollars, the money being poured into high crime areas for decades with no visible positive effects. They have built thousands of prisons for those sick in their souls. They have turned countless people suffering from anxiety into drug addicts, alcoholics and into the homeless.

They don’t have or possess the ability to heal anyone.

They have never witnessed a miracle or performed one because they don’t have the holy spirit of God inside of them.

A man who loses an arm or a leg is not sick. He is not in need of healing. Jesus himself said that it is better to be without a hand or arm than lose your eternal soul.

In all, they ignore the miracles that are all around them, focusing only on physical losses. They are the blind leading the blind. They have ears, but cannot hear. They have eyes, but do not see.

Part 2 is here!

If there is No God…
Faith Keeps the Human Race Going

A Thought on White Privilege

A link to the page of “Marshall Brain”

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apologetics atheism Uncategorized

Why Atheism is Wrong in Two Worlds

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We have all heard about the “assumption of atheism.” It is the idea that, all things being equal, one is born with an assumption of atheism, and that this is man’s initial resting state, as it were. This post is not designed to be a logical rebuttal to this idea, as William Lane Craig has annihilated this premise here. But in thinking about this, it is difficult for me to imagine a world where atheism comes naturally, in fact. So what we have here is a tale of two worlds.

The first world is pre-industrial. You are born before the titans of industry, before the highways and automobiles and the airplanes and the digital age. Before the theory of evolution, before Einstein, before the professional naturalists and trained philosophers. All we had was common sense, accumulated wisdom in holy texts, and a wide array of philosophies in their infancy stages We herded sheep and made campfires. We sharpened sticks, slept on rooftops, and some even lived in caves.

In this world, superstition is prevalent.We know this as a historical fact. Hell, even cro magnum man and the neanderthals showed signs of having superstitious beliefs and afterlife ideas about death. I’m not sure that atheists will challenge this idea. If you were born in these times, it is likely you would believe in gods, the arrangements of funereal stones, the afterlife, and some form of magic or prayer.

It is interesting to note that we find religion appearing in different parts of the world, independent from each other.

So, let us fast-forward to today.

Atheists don’t see God anywhere, or room for superstition anywhere in our modern world of big tech, big science, theoretical scientists and modern philosophical thought. Though, to be fair, more than a billion people do. The common atheist line here is that the common man is uneducated, ignorant, clinging to his relics, religion, the bible, and his guns. The modern evangelistic atheist is an elitist, privileged to hold beliefs that the common man isn’t savvy enough to own, and capable of affording a belief system that the lumpen masses cannot.

Everything can be explained, they might say. They speak of the “god of the gaps,” which is the idea that in the gaps of our knowledge of how the world and the universe works, believers use God to fill in those gaps. They also claim that these gaps are becoming smaller and thinner all of the time. They speak of the march of knowledge, even.

But the point is, even in today’s world of science and discovery, there is a lot of room for belief in God. Because with the progress of science, theology itself has kept pace, arm in arm and neck in neck. Theology has evolved and matured with the advance of secular knowledge. In fact, in my opinion, they have not merely kept pace, but superseded the march of atheism.

Right off the top of my head, I can come up with 4 or 5 arguments for the existence of God, all taken seriously in academic, theological and philosophical studies. There are new arguments arising each year. Even old, antiquated arguments that are hundreds of years old are being constantly resurrected, updated, upgraded and being thrown back into play. I have two posts right here at John Claudio world where I creatively free write and document reasons to believe, some questionable and others not.

So basically, in all, when you consider all of the philosophical arguments, the prophetic evidence, the witness of personal testimonies, and all of the modern-day logical work, you find that, in some ways, faith in God is easier to justify today than it was 1,000 tears ago. 1,000 years ago, God only had gap-filling power, much like the theories of atheists today. In today’s world, you have a plethora of arguments in the positive for the existence of a God, that don’t seek to be explanatory, or gap-fillers, but seek to prove, through logic, philosophy and theological work, that God exists and Jesus is the Son of God.

There are more and better reasons to believe in God now, than there were in the old, ancient world.

The fact that the old philosophical formulas are still in widespread use today by theologians and philosophers are evidence of their natural, long-term immunity to serious critique. Instead of dying off, they have grown stronger and become more-defined through time. They have been strengthened by opposition, and some of their formulations have evolved under scrutiny, but still they persist to exist as a gadfly in the atheist’s ointment.

This is hardly an exhaustive list, but here are 8 arguments for the existence of God.

  1. The cosmological Argument
  2. The moral argument
  3. The teleological argument
  4. The Ontological argument
  5. The argument from Design
  6. The argument from Consciousness
  7. The argument from Testimony
  8. The Argument from Faith

Here is a small list of helpful philosophical resources:

William Lane Craig’s Reasonable Faith.

Inspiring Philosophy’s You Tube channel.

Christian Philosopher Robert Koons.

How an Atheist Argued His Way Back to Christianity
Reasons to Believe
A New Argument for the Existence of God

Categories
apologetics creative essays prose poem Uncategorized

Reasons to Believe

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I believe in God because it is natural for me to do so. It is oh-so-human to believe in God, almost as if we, as a race, were born to believe in God. You cannot separate human history from the history of religion. To separate my mind from faith in God would be a perversion of the way things should be. I would become divorced from the evolutionary history of the human race, and what it means to be human.

I believe in God is because I became a Christian first. The gospel message of Christ found a home in my heart, and confirmed itself within me. I became a believer in this beautiful moral code, first. This is truly the first step of faith.

The heart came first, and then my head simply followed. I found a way to justify belief in God because I was in love. It happens every day, that people put their trust in something bigger than themselves, whether a marriage or a cause. They begin to develop confidence in this greater thing. It always starts with a seed of faith.

I believe in God because I took a small leap of faith in order to get where I really wanted to be, where my heart already was. Jesus said that the Spirit would convict the world of sin. I felt that guilt that draw on me to repent.

I believe in God because of the presence of the Holy Spirit who teaches me, guides me, counsels me, and advocates on my behalf. He is very much a person within me. I am always aware of his good nature, unspoiled by the corruption of the flesh. He is pure, righteous, innocent and clean.

I believe in God because I am so much more than an ape. I am no mere animal. I can ponder the event horizon of a black hole, and think on its intricate mysteries. I can pray to God, appreciate the form and concept of God. I can approximate God’s size and depth. I am not animal, but like a little god myself. And so I believe in my Father, God himself.

I believe in God because the infinite universe allows the existence of a God. The illimitable amount of space allows God freedom to exist in this or any other possible universe. And if the universe is real, and in reality can allow a God, than a God is probable, given an endless amount of time and space and possibilities.

I believe in God because there are dozens upon dozens of arguments for God’s existence. However, there are no arguments for atheism, for God’s non-existence. On the other hand, there is a voluminous library of arguments for God and Christ that you could build a foundation of faith upon.

I believe in God because I can find God inside of me. He is not out there somewhere, beyond the stars, or in the seventh heaven, even, but inside of every one of us that are saved. I believe in God because I don’t have to go far to find Him. I just look within, and find his Kingdom and all its glory inside of my spirit.

Again, I believe in God because I can find the Kingdom of Heaven inside of me. I have always known goodness, spiritual righteousness, and what godly love looks like, even as a young boy. What I thought true religion should look like I later discovered that Christ taught exactly that. Our spirits confirm that God is real, and that God is good.

I believe in God because, though God is indescribable, and his awesome grandeur cannot be translated into a recognizable form, still, I understand what and who God is through an intuitive understanding. It is almost as if I was designed to understand God, to know Him, to talk to Him and mentally appreciate Him. I cannot draw him, but I get him. I cannot imagine his form but I feel Him.

I believe in God because of the proof of the spirit. If you cannot find your spirit within your body, then you cannot find yourself. You do not know yourself if you cannot find yourself. If you believe that you have a soul, or a spirit, then you believe in the spiritual realm.

All of that, to say–If the spirit exists, then the spiritual world exists.

I have no choice but to believe in God, really. I believed in myself once, my own ways, my own thoughts, and all of that. I believed in human ways, secular thought, creative philosophy, and so on. It led me to self, but it also led me to self-destruction. Without God, and His ways, I don’t even exist. Therefore, I have no choice but to believe in Him.

I believe in God because of the existence of reality. Existence itself is God-dependent. Existence cannot exist of its own will or purpose. Existence cannot have being without God’s Being flooding it, permeating it, so to say. Otherwise, existence would simply not be upheld. Existence would simply not be colorized and filled out.

I believe in God because of the miracle of the Bible. The Bible is perfect, holy, anointed and irreducibly complex. It could not have come about by natural means because there are no intermediate transitional forms of revelation to be studied. Its revelation about God appears suddenly and fully formed in the historical record.

The Bible. Either none of it is true or all of it is true. If one miracle is real, then all of the miracles happened. Therefore, only one miracle needs to be proven. All of the others are then accepted on faith. And the likelihood that all of the hundreds of interconnected miracle stories being fake are minuscule, if not completely improbable.

I believe in the devil because of the argument from death. Death exists. Beings should not die, being in league with time, which will never end. Therefore death was manufactured by someone or something, and the devil seems the likeliest answer. Therefore the devil exists, and he brought death to the world.

But the biggest reason I believe in God is because God believed in me, first. There is no other explanation for my existence, unless the universe itself is malicious and cruel. I could only have been created for redemption, to be saved. Otherwise, I am the best I will ever be, and others, too. And that is not a good sign for the world.

Without God, we are the devil.

Let us not believe that, friends.

Go to Part Two

If there is No God…
Faith Keeps the Human Race Going

A Thought on White Privilege