When it comes to argumentation, there are a number of logical falicies which are employed on a regular basis. In an argument, these false reasonings may seem very convincing, however they do not stand up logically.
One employed all too often in debates between skeptics and Christians is the technique of "attacking the person." This is when someone makes a statement, claim, or argument, and instead of focusing on the viability of their claim you choose to attack the person MAKING the claim. So, for instance, let's say that I make an argument defending the historicity of Jesus' ressurection. After I have said my peice, you come back to me and say, "Well you failed your college history class, so why should I trust what you have to say?"
The fact is that, if my claim stands up to reason, it really bears no relevence how poorly I have done academically.
There IS one sense, however, in which the skeptic has some justification in attacking the believer, and that is this: if what we believe is true, then our belief should affect our lives and our actions. Christ, through us, should be forming us to the image of his likeness. If we attack the opposition with hostility in a mean-hearted way, we falsify our claim that our belief improves us.
That said, it is vital that we pick the battles that are worth fighting and those that are dead-end arguments. For instance, one of the biggest battlefields of debate both within the believing camp and outside of it is the argument over Creation versus Evolution. Now I do not mean to belittle the effort that some believers put into the research, study, and forming of their beliefs on this issue. However, I think that this debate may be hurting us more than it is helping. Even if I am able to come up with incontroverible proof of a created universe, I have ultimately not brought my opponent to Christianity. I have not even begun. Many, many belief systems have a Creator God.
Put another way: if you prove every aspect of Christian faith to someone EXCEPT Christ, you have not brought them to Christianity. If every aspect of belief falls away, EXCEPT Christ, Christianity still stands. Our faith stands or falls on nothing more or less than the person of Christ. He is the manifest image of God who came to earth and walked among us. He is the tactile, verifiable or falsifiable peice of evidence that stands behind all of our claims, and when we engage the skeptic, we must always bring the discussion to His Person.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Friday, March 25, 2011
Let God be True and Every Man a Liar
There are certain arguments against the Bible and Christianity that you don’t become aware of until you engage the skeptics. One such argument that I ran into recently was the claim that “The Bible says that God is a liar.”
This surprised me a bit, because it wasn’t an argument I had heard before, and I could not recall off the top of my head any instance in which the Bible might have stated or even indicated this.
My atheist acquaintance was kind enough to illuminate me. He pointed to the following passages:
1 Kings 22:23
Now therefore, behold, the LORD hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these thy prophets, and the LORD hath spoken evil concerning thee.
Ezekiel 14:9
And if the prophet be deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I the LORD have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand upon him, and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel.
2 Thessalonians 2:11-12 (King James Version)
11And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
12That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
I was, believe it or not, very happy to have him bring this up. Each of these passages is a perfect illustration of a danger which directly relates to atheism, that is this: if God presents you with a truth, and you choose to disbelieve that truth, God will eventually bow to your disbelief with the consequence that truth itself is removed from you. In the absence of truth, all that remains is a lie. We see this principle of God “giving people over” to their sins throughout the Bible, but I feel it is best encapsulated in the statement that Paul made in Romans 1
18For the wrath of God is revealed from Heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness, 19because that which may be known of God is manifest in them, for God hath shown it unto them.
20For from the creation of the world the invisible things of Him are clearly seen, being understood through the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse.
21For when they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God, nor were thankful, but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
22Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
23and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man, and to birds and fourfooted beasts and creeping things.
24Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonor their own bodies among themselves.
Before we explore this principle any further, let’s look at each one of those passages about God’s supposed lying in context.
The first passage comes to us from the first book of Kings. In this passage, King Ahab of Israel has made an arrangement with King Jehosophat of Judah to go into battle together against the troublesome Syrian army. In case you aren’t terribly familiar with Old Testament history, there was a split in the leadership of Israel after the death of King Solomon. The nation was split into Israel to the north, composed of ten of the twelve tribes, and Judah to the South, composed of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin.
Since the split occurred, Israel remained in constant rebellion against God, worshipping whatever pagan idols the neighboring countries were worshiping. As bad as all the kings were, the worst of them was Ahab, who was militantly against God, and tried to wipe out all of his prophets and worshipers.
Now Israel and Judah did not typically get along, however in this instance, the Syrians were such a powerful threat, that they decided to join forces. This kind of action had previously been forbidden by the Lord, who did not want Judah to have anything to do with Israel. In other words, Jehosophat should have known better.
As they are gathering to go up to battle, Jehosophat insists that they consult the prophets first. This is consistent behavior recommended by the Law of Moses, so Jehosophat is at least paying some lip service to God. Ahab parades in all of his yes-men prophets, who serve the idol Baal. Each prophet says the same thing: go up and fight the Syrians. You will be victorious.
Jehosophat quickly realizes that none of the prophets represent God, and so he asks Ahab if there is a prophet of the Lord available to consult. Previously in the book, Ahab has made it his policy to kill all the prophets of the Lord he can find, but he is able to find one named Michaiah. Ahab warns Jehosophat ahead of time that Micaiah never tells him what he wants to hear. When they ask Michaiah, the prophet responds “Go ahead and fight the Syrians, you will be victorious.” He must have said it sarcastically, because Ahab immediately recognizes that he is not being sincere with them, and threatens him if he doesn’t tell the truth.
At this point, Micaiah tells a very odd story about a bunch of spirits gathered together before God. God asks which one of them would be willing to go and be a lying spirit in the mouths of all the prophets to convince Ahab to go up to battle so that he might be killed. One of them steps forward and volunteers, hence the consistent prophesy of all the prophets of Baal.
One of the prophets slaps Micaiah, saying “Which way did the spirit go from my mouth to tell you this?” Then Ahab has Micaiah locked up and tortured. Then he goes up to battle and dies.
Let me pause at this point to mention that when we see prophecy occur in the Old Testament, it tends to occur in one of two ways: either the prophet is given a vision (such as occurred in the case of Micaiah) and then relates the vision in his own words, or the prophet is “filled with the Spirit” and speaks Gods words directly. In this case, Micaiah knew from his vision that God wanted Ahab to go up to fight the Syrians and die. This may explain why his initial response to the question was the same lie that the false prophets had told. It is important to note that he was not speaking directly for God at the time, though.
The second passage comes to us from the fourteenth chapter of Ezekiel. Historically, Israel was in captivity to the Babylonians at this time. Some of Israel’s elders come to the prophet Ezekiel looking for some oracle from the Lord. As they approach, God speaks to Ezekiel to tell him that these Hebrew men have adopted the worship of Babylon’s idols, and asks Ezekiel if such men deserve the truth of God. Then God speaks audibly through Ezekiel to tell the elders that first they must destroy their idols and turn their hearts back to God. Until they do, no prophet will speak to them. If a prophet is somehow foolish enough to try to prophesy to them, God will make certain that the words he speaks are NOT the truth of the Lord, and judge that prophet along with the idolaters.
The final passage comes from Paul’s second epistle to the church at Thessalonica. This epistle was written primarily because this church had begun to spread rumors that the end of time was near. This was resulting in a great deal of distress among the church members. Paul wrote this epistle to correct this error in thinking. In this passage he is mentioning one of the signs that the end of time is near will be the revelation of “The Man of Sin.” This is the person more well-known as the Antichrist. What Paul explains to us in this passage is that the period of time between the resurrection of Christ and the coming of the Antichrist has been for the benefit of the entire world, that everyone should have a chance to hear and believe in the message of the gospel. When the end of time finally DOES come, everyone will have had the opportunity to believe and repent; so that those who are still unbelieving at this time have willfully turned away from the truth. We see this in verse ten where it states, “with all the deceit of unrighteousness in those who perish, because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.”
The passage goes on to state that God will remove his truth from the world at this time, resulting in a strong delusion.
In each of these passages, we see the exact same principle. The people being "lied" to are in willful rebellion to God. Moreover, they were openly offered the truth and the opportunity to follow it, and they outright rejected it. In the first passage Ahab, a man who had been mercilessly killing prophets of God and had sought his council from false prophets worshiping idols was STILL given the truth, and rejected it.
In the second passage, the Jewish elders, who had the writings of Moses warning them away from idolatry were in rebellion, worshipping idols, and God told them outright that they would need to abandon their idolatry and come back to their worship of God before he would speak to them.
In the final passage, the people, having been exposed to the gospel for their entire lives, eagerly followed after the Antichrist, outright rejecting the truth they had been offered. So the truth was removed from them.
This just highlights the amazing constancy of the Bible. The atheist just pulled passages from three separate texts with entirely different authors that were separated by hundreds of years of history, and each one illustrates the EXACT SAME principle.
This just highlights the amazing constancy of the Bible. The atheist just pulled passages from three separate texts with entirely different authors that were separated by hundreds of years of history, and each one illustrates the EXACT SAME principle.
God is a God of truth. In John 18:37, Jesus says to Pilate, “To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is on the side of truth hears My voice.”
21She cries in the chief places of concourse, in the openings of the gates; in the city she utters her words, saying,
22"How long, ye simple ones, will ye love to be simple, and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?
23Turn you at my reproof: Behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you; I will make known my words unto you.
24"Because I have called and ye refused, I have stretched out my hand and no man heeded,
25but ye have set at nought all my counsel and would have none of my reproof,
26I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh,
27when your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind, when distress and anguish cometh upon you.
28Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me,
29because they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD.
30They would have none of my counsel, and they despised all my reproof:
31therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own ways, and be filled with their own devices.
32For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them;
33but whoso hearkens unto me shall dwell safely, and shall have quiet from fear of evil."
The truth God offers us is a privilege. God will offer it freely, He will pursue us with it, but you can only reject it so often before the privilege of truth is removed. If God tells us the truth, and warns us of the consequences of denying it, He is just.
Let God be True and Every Man a Liar
There are certain arguments against the Bible and Christianity that you don’t become aware of until you engage the skeptics. One such argument that I ran into recently was the claim that “The Bible says that God is a liar.”
This surprised me a bit, because it wasn’t an argument I had heard before, and I could not recall off the top of my head any instance in which the Bible might have stated or even indicated this.
My atheist acquaintance was kind enough to illuminate me. He pointed to the following passages:
1 Kings 22:23
Now therefore, behold, the LORD hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these thy prophets, and the LORD hath spoken evil concerning thee.
Ezekiel 14:9
And if the prophet be deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I the LORD have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand upon him, and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel.
2 Thessalonians 2:11-12 (King James Version)
11And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
12That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
I was, believe it or not, very happy to have him bring this up. Each of these passages is a perfect illustration of a danger which directly relates to atheism, that is this: if God presents you with a truth, and you choose to disbelieve that truth, God will eventually bow to your disbelief with the consequence that truth itself is removed from you. In the absence of truth, all that remains is a lie. We see this principle of God “giving people over” to their sins throughout the Bible, but I feel it is best encapsulated in the statement that Paul made in Romans 1
18For the wrath of God is revealed from Heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness, 19because that which may be known of God is manifest in them, for God hath shown it unto them.
20For from the creation of the world the invisible things of Him are clearly seen, being understood through the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse.
21For when they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God, nor were thankful, but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
22Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
23and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man, and to birds and fourfooted beasts and creeping things.
24Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonor their own bodies among themselves.
Before we explore this principle any further, let’s look at each one of those passages about God’s supposed lying in context.
The first passage comes to us from the first book of Kings. In this passage, King Ahab of Israel has made an arrangement with King Jehosophat of Judah to go into battle together against the troublesome Syrian army. In case you aren’t terribly familiar with Old Testament history, there was a split in the leadership of Israel after the death of King Solomon. The nation was split into Israel to the north, composed of ten of the twelve tribes, and Judah to the South, composed of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin.
Since the split occurred, Israel remained in constant rebellion against God, worshipping whatever pagan idols the neighboring countries were worshiping. As bad as all the kings were, the worst of them was Ahab, who was militantly against God, and tried to wipe out all of his prophets and worshipers.
Now Israel and Judah did not typically get along, however in this instance, the Syrians were such a powerful threat, that they decided to join forces. This kind of action had previously been forbidden by the Lord, who did not want Judah to have anything to do with Israel. In other words, Jehosophat should have known better.
As they are gathering to go up to battle, Jehosophat insists that they consult the prophets first. This is consistent behavior recommended by the Law of Moses, so Jehosophat is at least paying some lip service to God. Ahab parades in all of his yes-men prophets, who serve the idol Baal. Each prophet says the same thing: go up and fight the Syrians. You will be victorious.
Jehosophat quickly realizes that none of the prophets represent God, and so he asks Ahab if there is a prophet of the Lord available to consult. Previously in the book, Ahab has made it his policy to kill all the prophets of the Lord he can find, but he is able to find one named Michaiah. Ahab warns Jehosophat ahead of time that Micaiah never tells him what he wants to hear. When they ask Michaiah, the prophet responds “Go ahead and fight the Syrians, you will be victorious.” He must have said it sarcastically, because Ahab immediately recognizes that he is not being sincere with them, and threatens him if he doesn’t tell the truth.
At this point, Micaiah tells a very odd story about a bunch of spirits gathered together before God. God asks which one of them would be willing to go and be a lying spirit in the mouths of all the prophets to convince Ahab to go up to battle so that he might be killed. One of them steps forward and volunteers, hence the consistent prophesy of all the prophets of Baal.
One of the prophets slaps Micaiah, saying “Which way did the spirit go from my mouth to tell you this?” Then Ahab has Micaiah locked up and tortured. Then he goes up to battle and dies.
Let me pause at this point to mention that when we see prophecy occur in the Old Testament, it tends to occur in one of two ways: either the prophet is given a vision (such as occurred in the case of Micaiah) and then relates the vision in his own words, or the prophet is “filled with the Spirit” and speaks Gods words directly. In this case, Micaiah knew from his vision that God wanted Ahab to go up to fight the Syrians and die. This may explain why his initial response to the question was the same lie that the false prophets had told. It is important to note that he was not speaking directly for God at the time, though.
The second passage comes to us from the fourteenth chapter of Ezekiel. Historically, Israel was in captivity to the Babylonians at this time. Some of Israel’s elders come to the prophet Ezekiel looking for some oracle from the Lord. As they approach, God speaks to Ezekiel to tell him that these Hebrew men have adopted the worship of Babylon’s idols, and asks Ezekiel if such men deserve the truth of God. Then God speaks audibly through Ezekiel to tell the elders that first they must destroy their idols and turn their hearts back to God. Until they do, no prophet will speak to them. If a prophet is somehow foolish enough to try to prophesy to them, God will make certain that the words he speaks are NOT the truth of the Lord, and judge that prophet along with the idolaters.
The final passage comes from Paul’s second epistle to the church at Thessalonica. This epistle was written primarily because this church had begun to spread rumors that the end of time was near. This was resulting in a great deal of distress among the church members. Paul wrote this epistle to correct this error in thinking. In this passage he is mentioning one of the signs that the end of time is near will be the revelation of “The Man of Sin.” This is the person more well-known as the Antichrist. What Paul explains to us in this passage is that the period of time between the resurrection of Christ and the coming of the Antichrist has been for the benefit of the entire world, that everyone should have a chance to hear and believe in the message of the gospel. When the end of time finally DOES come, everyone will have had the opportunity to believe and repent; so that those who are still unbelieving at this time have willfully turned away from the truth. We see this in verse ten where it states, “with all the deceit of unrighteousness in those who perish, because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.”
The passage goes on to state that God will remove his truth from the world at this time, resulting in a strong delusion.
In each of these passages, we see the exact same principle. The people being "lied" to are in willful rebellion to God. Moreover, they were openly offered the truth and the opportunity to follow it, and they outright rejected it. In the first passage Ahab, a man who had been mercilessly killing prophets of God and had sought his council from false prophets worshiping idols was STILL given the truth, and rejected it.
In the second passage, the Jewish elders, who had the writings of Moses warning them away from idolatry were in rebellion, worshipping idols, and God told them outright that they would need to abandon their idolatry and come back to their worship of God before he would speak to them.
In the final passage, the people, having been exposed to the gospel for their entire lives, eagerly followed after the Antichrist, outright rejecting the truth they had been offered. So the truth was removed from them.
This just highlights the amazing constancy of the Bible. The atheist just pulled passages from three separate texts with entirely different authors that were separated by hundreds of years of history, and each one illustrates the EXACT SAME principle.
This just highlights the amazing constancy of the Bible. The atheist just pulled passages from three separate texts with entirely different authors that were separated by hundreds of years of history, and each one illustrates the EXACT SAME principle.
God is a God of truth. In John 18:37, Jesus says to Pilate, “To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is on the side of truth hears My voice.”
21She cries in the chief places of concourse, in the openings of the gates; in the city she utters her words, saying,
22"How long, ye simple ones, will ye love to be simple, and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?
23Turn you at my reproof: Behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you; I will make known my words unto you.
24"Because I have called and ye refused, I have stretched out my hand and no man heeded,
25but ye have set at nought all my counsel and would have none of my reproof,
26I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh,
27when your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind, when distress and anguish cometh upon you.
28Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me,
29because they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD.
30They would have none of my counsel, and they despised all my reproof:
31therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own ways, and be filled with their own devices.
32For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them;
33but whoso hearkens unto me shall dwell safely, and shall have quiet from fear of evil."
The truth God offers us is a privilege. God will offer it freely, He will pursue us with it, but you can only reject it so often before the privilege of truth is removed. If God tells us the truth, and warns us of the consequences of denying it, He is just.
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