Friday, October 23, 2009

10 Questions 6-10



Question number 6) “Why didn’t any of Jesus’ miracles in the Bible leave behind any evidence?”
Interesting question, well, some of his miracles were healing people, those people then became believers, who influenced others around them to also become believers so that by today we have over one Billion Christians -- if that’s not evidence, I don’t know what you’re looking for -- Jesus’ footprints from walking on water?




Question number 7) “Why do bad things happen to good people.”
Bad things happen to everybody, but once again, show me someone who is truly good. There is no such thing as “good on the whole” or “basically good”; bad things and good things happen. What I’d really like to know is why good things happen to bad people? There are some evil, evil people out there that are BILLIONAIRES! This life happens the way it happens, but ultimately we’re going to end up face to face with a God who is going to judge our souls and our hearts. At that point you’re going to find our just how good you think you are verses how good God thinks you are.

Question number 8) “How do you explain the fact that Jesus has never appeared to you?”
Speak for yourself. Once again the author has mistaken that since Jesus has not appeared to him, Jesus therefore hasn’t appeared to anyone. The fact is that after the resurrection, Jesus appeared to tens of thousands of people, and when he appears bodily again, it will be to end the world and cast all unbelievers into the lake of fire. I would think that as an unbeliever, the author should be careful what he is asking for. The mistake is also made in the assumption that the only way Jesus could prove his existence to anyone is to appear bodily. Again, this is foolish. We are all aware of the existence of people we’ve never met (both contemporary and historical) because of the tangible evidence of their existence. I suppose the author might deny the existence of John F. Kennedy on the same grounds.

Question number 9) “Why would Jesus want you to eat His body and drink His blood?”
Again, I’d like to know what Bible you are reading because Jesus clearly points out the symbolic nature of the bread which was BREAD and the wine which was WINE -- not flesh and not blood. The symbolic nature is that when you eat bread and drink wine OR eat an apple or have a drink of water, you are putting something inside your body. It is inside you, it is now part of you, and will now work through you -- that is what Jesus wants. He doesn’t just want us to know about Him or be friends with Him; He wants to be inside us; He wants to be so much a part of our lives that we consume Him so that He is inside of us and therefore, controlling and motivating us so that our actions reflect this fact.

Question number 10) “Why do Christians get divorced at the same rate as non-Christians?
The reason is because most of the people claiming to be Christians today are not truly Christians. The word “Christian” means to be “Christ-like” anyone who is like Christ would not get a divorce. Now some of these people might be saved, but please, be careful when you call them Christians. In the instance of a genuine, true Christian that gets in a divorce, I’d like to take a look at their spouse and see just how hard-hearted that person might have been. When you have two people that are totally committed -- totally and thoroughly committed to the will of Christ and that spend daily devotions together seeking the will of God and praying together, the statistics on divorce are less than 1 in 2000 -- not even one tenth of one percent!

4 comments:

Kwame E. said...

The apostle Paul was blameless before he became a Christian:

<<4Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more: 5Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, [of] the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; 6Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. 7But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.>> (Philippians 3.1-7)

Moreover, Christ himself apparently says that there are people who are good: <<44But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; 45That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.>> (Matthew 10.44-45)

So one should not be quick to dismiss the idea that no one on earth is good.

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<<The reason is because most of the people claiming to be Christians today are not truly Christians. The word “Christian” means to be “Christ-like”....>>

Where is the evidence that this word, as used in common parlance, carries the intension *Christ-like*? Or where in the dictionary will one find an entry on the word "Christian" where the definition "Christ-like" appears?

This is borders on being a commitment to the No True Scotsman logical fallacy.

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Please bear in mind that many Bible errantists and naysayers are hip to objections like these and also reject them for reasons which, honestly speaking, are actually valid. This guy who wrote to you and sent the video actually appears to be lightweight in his field of work.

D.B. said...

Kwame, here are a couple other versions with the Phil 3:6
NLT - Phl 3:6 - And zealous? Yes, in fact, I harshly persecuted the church. And I obeyed the Jewish law so carefully that I was never accused of any fault.

NIV - Phl 3:6 - as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless.

Also, I think that Christine is talking about the goodness we have apart from Christ. And if we compare ourselves to God's standard, we fall short, particularly when James tells us if we break one part of the law, we are guilty of it all.

Nice post, Christine. Thanks for sharing it.

Kwame E. said...

<<Kwame, here are a couple other versions with the Phil 3:6
NLT - Phl 3:6 - And zealous? Yes, in fact, I harshly persecuted the church. And I obeyed the Jewish law so carefully that I was never accused of any fault.

NIV - Phl 3:6 - as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless.

Also, I think that Christine is talking about the goodness we have apart from Christ. And if we compare ourselves to God's standard, we fall short, particularly when James tells us if we break one part of the law, we are guilty of it all.

Nice post, Christine. Thanks for sharing it.>>

Right, I also thank you for the post, Christine.

But getting to the rest of what you were saying, Derrick:

1) Of course there are multiple standards of things called "good" in this universe.

2a) How helpful is this fact if the Bible sits there describing particular unbelievers as righteous regarding the law (which came from God) and some folks as good?

How about those other renderings of this passage? NIV, ESV, NKJV agree with KJV; NASB suggests, at best, that fellow religious leaders found Saul positively blameless regarding obedience to Moses such that Saul was also blameless in obedience to God (since the Law demanded holiness in general) which in turn meant that Saul the persecutor was good in the relevant sense of the word; and then there's the NLT, which stands more or less by itself. I'll let you do what you will with this rendering.

2b) How helpful even in a rhetorical sense is it to dismiss absolutely and not particularly the concept that there are good unbelievers? If we stop, take a deep breath, and get back to basics and are honest with ourselves, we all know that there are "good" people out there who don't go to church and aren't even Christians.

There are people out there who give to the needy and act honestly and fairly. These folks have a property or attribute which is called civil good, but the minute one denies that such persons should be called good, and denies them this directly in their face, he sounds like has no touch with reality, period.

But this is, in my view, one of the big problems with Christian apologists today: folks sometimes sound like they have no touch with reality. Bear in mind that I'm not talking about whether or not their claims sound credible--we all know that Christianity will never be considered credible by everyone. But there is a difference between: a) sounding world-wise, with an understanding and wisdom that rises above this; and b) sounding like someone who denies the nose on his face and questions why anyone would even suggest there was a nose there. If you want to be "winsome and attractive" as Greg Koukl would say, well, there's a way not to be so winsome.

And you see this in certain forums I think. For example, someone says, "The Bible contradicts itself." A Christian responds, "Nah-ah, there are no contradictions in the Bible!" And then everyone busts out laughing at this second claim when they all have at their disposal a laundry list several-hundred-items-long where there are pairs of supposedly contradictory Scriptures. And here is such a pair: Matthew 10.10 and Mark 6.8. And indeed, one does look like a fool if he blithely declares "No contradictions in the Bible!" without proceeding to offer some sort of acknowledgement of what is at least the appearance of inter-contradictons.

So all I'm asking is please, please, let's give no room or no excuse for negative or unflattering characterizations of Christians; and please be prepared for all advanced-level attacks that can come your way.

Kwame E. said...

And again, my comments aren't meant to dissuade or discourage anyone from expressing either their feelings or what is on their mind. Don't be bothered by me; I am nothing.

However, to offer what I think is constructive criticism is something I do from time to time. I think everyone should do the same; people don't do this enough, in fact.