Author:
Wade A. Tisthammer
|
[
Next Thread |
Previous Thread |
Next Message |
Previous Message
]
Date Posted: 09/ 2/03 2:02pm
I read Ben's article on the exchristian website. So here I am responding to it. (Yes, I know now that it’s been on Ben’s website.)
Does anyone who supports the idea that the Bible is infallible honestly expect me to believe that…
…God created the world, knowing full well that most of us would end up burning in eternal hell?
Why not?
…he created it teeming with all sorts of amazing plant and animal life, including dinosaurs, and then shortly thereafter flooded it all and destroyed a devastating amount of them?
Why not?
I know the answers might seem obvious to you Ben, but I want to ask them to explore the issue more deeply here.
…by flooding the world in the way he did, he created a fossil record which clearly seems to indicate that the world is extremely old, yet doesn’t want us to believe this?
…God also created the stars so that light from them would appear to be millions of years old, deceiving us once again?
This applies more to Biblical literalist creationist (which I am not among) but even if I were a total evolutionist I would not inflict this “deceiver” charge anyway. Are we to presume that our theories are so good that, if they are incorrect, God (if he exists) is responsible for our mistakes? Example: at one point in time we thought the world was flat. We were wrong. Is God at fault? At one point we thought it was impossible to run the 4-minute mile. We were wrong. Is God at fault? I think the answer is, no, of course not; we made the mistake, it’s our fault, now we know better. I think we need to take responsibility for our own mistakes and recognize our fallibility. Many scientific theories have been discarded as wrong. If the age of the earth/universe be among them sometime in the future (which I don’t claim to know), we are to blame, not God.
…he wrote a book which is very similar to all other creation and religious mythology, yet expects us to separate this book from the others and see it as perfect and holy?
Well, other factors besides the mere plot of this story come into play when it comes to deciding whether or not the book is correct.
…Jesus came and died on a cross so that people wouldn’t have to go to hell, yet people keep going? Swing, and a miss!
This is perhaps the easiest to rebut. Yes, the story goes “Jesus died so that no one would have to go to hell” but the catch: “by the rules of free will, his sacrifice must be accepted by the individual in mortal life.” So, not everybody goes to hell. It’s not a miss at all (at least not for everybody). But how much it does miss is dependent upon humanity, not God, and in humanity is where the responsibility lies (so the story goes).
…God thinks it’s fine for Bible-believing Christians to believe what they are taught and never ask any meaningful questions
I don’t think God thinks that at all. Myself and many fellow Christians agree with me that one should ask all the tough questions.
…God wrote a perfect book containing all that we need for our lives, yet no one can agree on what that book really says? (even on crucial hell-determining factors like salvation!)
Let me put it this way. The U.S. Constitution is written in English a few centuries ago and fervently read, yet the document is infamous for having many different interpretations of it (confer the Roe vs. Wade controversy). The Bible was written thousands of years ago in a different language from an even more divergent culture and long extinct time period with even more people more greatly fervently reading it. And we shouldn’t expect differing views on how to interpret it?
Even so, the situation is not as bad as it seems. Most passages are agreed upon by most knowledgeable Christians. And even so, we shouldn’t underestimate human fallibility.
…God is all-powerful, but can’t keep us out of hell? (if it is not God’s desire that anyone should perish, then no one should… he’s God!! He can have what he wants!!)
I can certainly see this point of view. If God was all-good, he wouldn’t want anyone to go to hell. I agree. If God was all-powerful, he’d do something about it. I agree. If God existed, all he’d have to do is snap his fingers and nobody would be in hell.
Ever think that reality might be more complicated than that?
Here’s how the story goes. You don’t have to believe it, but here it is: God doesn’t want anyone to go to hell, so he sends his only Son to suffer and die for humanity. The catch: from the rules of free will, the sacrifice has to be accepted in mortal life. If a human accepts this sacrifice, they’re saved. If, for whatever reason, they are told of the sacrifice and reject it, they’re still at risk for the perdition zone.
…God would make it this complicated to know him?
Why not?
[
Next Thread |
Previous Thread |
Next Message |
Previous Message
]
|
Feedback: 