 |
|
| Vol. 13 No. 4 April 2011 | Page 6 |
|
|
| Vol. 13 No. 4 April 2011 | Page 6 |
Donald R. Fox
People in general believe what they have been taught to believe. The radical orthodox Islamic believer blows himself up, killing many innocent people with the belief he is doing Allah’s will. With this act of brutal violence, he believes he will enter a heavenly paradise. There are folks that believe they have had an extraterrestrial encounter with beings from other worlds. Further, they believe that life on this earth was started by these outer space beings. Some believe that all life started from non-life, from a slime pit, the big bang or the like. Cultism and an array of extreme and outrageous beliefs run amuck in our world. Examples of such beliefs can be presented over and over again. These belief systems have neither firm foundations nor logic. Yet, people believe what they believe.
What I Believe and Why I Believe It
I believe in the God of the Bible, because, the Bible, the Word of God, is the only sacred book that carries within it internal and external evidences. “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth,” (Genesis 1:1). “All Scriptures is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16). “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds” (Hebrews 1:1-2).
Christians Believe in the God of
the Bible Because It Makes Sense
1. We believe in God because atheism, the only other alternative, cannot be proved.
2. We believe in God because it is reasonable to believe that the eternal existence is God – not matter.
3. We believe in God because the universe exhibits marks of intelligent causation.
4. We believe in God because the moral government of the world implies a moral Governor.
5. We believe in God because the majority of scientific men and philosophers in all ages have believed in God.
6. We believe in God because of the abundance of the evidence.
7. We believe in God because all the objections to believing in God lie with equal force against atheism.
8. We believe in God because atheism has insuperable difficulties of its own.
9. Intelligent causation and design is always associated with personality. God must, therefore, be a Personality, a divine Being. (DeHoff)
Works Cited
DeHoff, George. Why We Believe The Bible. Murfreesboro: DeHoff Publications, 1974, 16-26.
D. Gene West
None of us were amazed a few weeks ago when the United States Supreme Court ruled that a municipality does not have the right to force members of a religious body, or those who are campaigning for political office, to register with the municipality before going door to door to spread their faith and/or politics. Every thinking person knew that such demands were unconstitutional and violated the first amendment to the Constitution of the United States. The little Caesars in various municipalities throughout the country, in the name of protecting citizens, like to pontificate regarding the freedoms of others. The court struck all such activity down, and rightly so. As Americans, we have the right to say what we want to say, so long as we are not being slanderous or libelous in our speech. In the opinion of this writer, Americans owe the members of the cult who went to court to protect their right of freedom of speech a debt of gratitude.
Anything that relates to what most Americans would call proselytizing, is looked upon with great disdain today. If one attempts to convert another to his way of thinking, according to the liberal mind set, that person has committed an immensely arrogant sin. Very often, the person who is attempting to persuade another of the rightfulness of his position is inundated with such questions as: “What right do you have to attempt to convert others to your views?” This question can be answered very simply by saying that one has the same right to convert others to his views as the questioner has to ask the question! What right do you have to question my right to convert others to my views? Oh, how the relativist hates such an answer as this. You see, the question he asks implies that no one has the right to question the views of another person, but if you look at his question carefully, you will see that this is exactly what he is doing! If that is the case, why are these people writing all their silly books questioning the rights of others to attempt to convert others to their way of thinking? That is precisely what the relativist is doing with his philosophy. Where did he get that right? If he has that right, why do not others have the same right? When Jesus said, “Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature,” He gave us the right to attempt to convert others to His way of thinking.
This is not just a “God thing.” Atheists do it all the time. An atheist by the name of Michael Martin wrote a book entitled, The Case Against Christianity. In his book, he said that persons who are full of religious zeal may see what they want to see and not what really exists. Such naiveté is humorous. Martin seems to have the idea that an atheist is free from all religious zeal about his views, yet atheists can be as religiously zealous as anyone, and they generally are. If they were not, why are they writing books attempting to convert others to the belief that there is no God? The sword of zeal cuts both ways.
There is nothing more militant and ruthlessly fanatical today as secularism. It is making every attempt to take over the educational system, and in most areas has done so. Have you noticed that today there is nothing wrong with teaching eastern religions in our schools, but it is wrong to have a copy of the Ten Commandments on the wall, which incidentally, come from an eastern religion? This is done in the name of cultural studies. Is Christianity in no way connected with any culture? If we are going to keep religion out of the schools, let us keep it all out! If we are going to let one form in, then let us let all forms in. Atheism is a religion, and so is secularism. They are simply religions without God, which look upon human beings themselves as gods.
Relativism is also a religion whose god is relative. Those who say that Christian’s beliefs are true for some but not for others are not simply neutral, disinterested or objective. They are the evangelists of “anything is right” and the purveyors of a religion that excludes God, Christ and the Holy Spirit, and in their places, with great zeal, they put the god of “you have no right to judge,” or “what right do you have to convert others to your views?” My rights are the same as theirs, and if we are going to take them away, let us take them all away!