Before you come to a conclusion - check the evidence!

Not so long ago I read a piece on ‘The Bible Society’s debt to Arthur C Clarke' in the Independent Newspaper. The author had obviously carried out some good research about the society and highlighted some key statistics which would be very interesting to a number of people.

I was then quite amazed that the writer then chose to violently misrepresent the teaching of the very book that the society has spent so long translating and making available to the world. For example he chose to ignore that the Bible and Christianity had developed more education programs, opened more hospitals and changed more societies for the good than the current world atheistic belief has ever done. 

Societies that have been successful (in theory) in establishing an atheistic state have generally produced as corrupt societies as capitalist ones but they have neither been ultimately successful or survived in the long run. All of this however only looks at the outcomes of the opposing world views without actually discussing the validity or plausibility of the views. 

Consider for a moment the genuineness of the biblical documents; the writer called them ‘stories, myths, legends etc. I would have imagined that any intelligent person would accept the validity and historicity of the Bible. Even Professor Dawkins accepts the validity of the record and recommends that every child should read it (“Richard Dawkins, the atheist author of The God Delusion, believes that children should grow up reading the Bible”. The Times May 10th 2007) despite the fact that he does not like what it says. The biblical record has been consistently proven to be accurate in terms of history, archaeology and even in the realm of science despite the fact that the modern scientific world view is split between evolutionary belief and the biblical record of Creation (see The Genesis Enigma: Why The Bible Is Scientifically Accurate by Dr Andrew Parker, published by Doubleday). 

In terms of the New Testament record, especially regarding the life and death of Jesus of Nazareth and the claims to his resurrection, there is clear evidence and logic that it speaks the truth even if many do not wish to follow through with the logical question that ‘if this actually happened what does it mean for me?’ Many clever people have attempted to discredit and disprove the historical accuracy of the account of the resurrection of Jesus Christ but have been persuaded by the evidence that he must have risen from the dead (A couple of examples come to mind; see the end of this article for details). How an individual responds to that information is up to them but I believe that the evidence is there to be found. 

As far as the conclusions regarding the Old Testament I do understand the concerns and issues unbelievers have with what seems to be the severity of the God of the Bible. I am not sure if you have read the whole biblical record and sought to understand the complete picture before coming to a conclusion. A careful analysis of the Bible will show that among many things God is both holy (just, righteous and morally pure) and loving. One characteristic does not cancel out the other; in fact his goodness and love of what is right demands that he deals justly with acts of sin and wrongdoing. 

Where people assume that God is acting out of order a careful analysis of the facts will persuade them that he was acting to maintain what is right. If a judge in our times was confronted with evil behaviour, child abuse, rape or one of a whole range of anti-social behaviours that were illegal and detrimental to the good of society we would not question his ‘goodness’ when he passed sentence and 

enforced a punishment that met the severity of the crimes. But when facing the examples of God’s judgment on nations who engaged in the very same activities we question his goodness because he acts justly and righteously to deal with behaviour which breaks his laws and damages society. I am not sure if we are being consistent in our approach to the issues.

Ultimately God has revealed Himself in the Bible and is warning us that we are in danger of his coming justice and judgment as a result of our moral defection and sin (all of us). He has made provision for us all to flee from his coming judgement through the sacrifice of His own dear Son, Jesus. His offer to clear the legal case against us and to offer us pardon, forgiveness and salvation is 

still on the table. That doesn’t sound like a vengeful, demanding, capricious, merciless and tyrannical God to me. 

This is the alternative argument to the atheistic viewpoint: people should know what it is so that they can decide for themselves where the truth lies. 

Note referred to: examples of legal minds who set out to disprove the resurrection and were convinced that it must be true – this is a limited list, there are many more examples. 

Dr. Greenleaf, Royal Professor of Law at Harvard University, was one of the greatest legal minds that ever lived. He wrote the famous legal volume entitled, A Treatise on the Law of Evidence, considered by many the greatest legal volume ever written. Dr. Simon Greenleaf believed the Resurrection of 

Jesus Christ was a hoax. And he determined, once and for all, to expose the "myth" of the Resurrection. After thoroughly examining the evidence for the resurrection — Dr. Greenleaf came to the exact opposite conclusion! He wrote a book entitled, An Examination of the Testimony of the Four Evangelists by the Rules of Evidence Administered in the Courts of Justice. In which he 

emphatically stated: "it was IMPOSSIBLE that the apostles could have persisted in affirming the 

truths they had narrated, had not JESUS CHRIST ACTUALLY RISE  FROM THE DEAD , . . ." 

(Simon Greenleaf, An Examination of the Testimony of the Four Evangelists by the Rules of Evidence Administered in the Courts of Justice, p.29). 

Dr. Greenleaf concluded that according to the jurisdiction of legal evidence the resurrection of Jesus Christ was the best supported event in all of history! And not only that, Dr. Greenleaf was so convinced by the overwhelming evidence, he committed his life to Jesus Christ!). 

Dr. Benjamin Gilbert-West and Lord Littleton were from Cambridge. They were so fed up with Christianity they wanted to destroy it, they took leave of absence to study and write books to refute both the resurrection and the conversion of Saul of Tarsus. As a result of their study, they too became ardent believers and wrote: "Reject not, until you have examined the evidence." 

Dr. Frank Morrison, a lawyer and engineer, was brought up in a rationalistic background. He liked Jesus, but thought the resurrection was a myth that was tacked on. He, too, wanted to write a book to refute it, but in the process of writing, he like the others committed his life to Christ. His findings are in the book "Who Moved the Stone"? 

One thing that really drives me mad!

I really don’t know about you, but one of the most maddening things that I find about people is that they don’t listen and don’t follow instructions. We all know that happens so often in everyday life. We know that people are told things and they don’t even listen. It could be to do with our health or our money but we often ignore the advice that we are given. Or sometimes people are given guidelines but they ignore them and just do it their own way.

I am writing to point people to what God says in the Bible. But God wants them to listen and to follow His instructions for life. For instance Jesus said one day, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes to the Father, but by Me” (John 14.6 – the Bible). If you follow that instruction you will become a Christian, a follower of Jesus Christ.

If you come to understand that Jesus is the Son of God you’ll believe what he said. He said I am the way to God, you can’t come to God any other way. Why then do people go to religion? Why do people try all sorts of different things? One reason is that we all have a deep desire to know the truth. We also have an innate impulse to recognise and worship a greater being. Many years ago Dr Billy Graham asked an anthropologist why do all humans worship, no matter the culture, the civilisation, the time period or the level of intelligence or sophistication? The conclusion was nature not nurture - it is in our nature to do it. 

Peter (one of the early preachers) he said, “Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men where by we must be saved” (Acts 4.12 – the Bible). Peter doesn’t give you a choice or alternatives. He says on the authority of what God has said in the Bible there is no other way of salvation.

We need to be rescued, we need forgiveness, we need to be brought to God and there’s only one route because God decided it and it’s through faith in Jesus Christ.

Would you rest on the work Jesus did when He died on the cross. I wonder if today you would simply hear the voice of God and refuse to harden your heart and do what He says:

• Turn from your sin
• Obey the gospel
• Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.

I know that for most this all seems very narrow minded and prescriptive! Somethings in life are like that! You don't get a range of options on how to deal with cancer; you follow the tried and tested route to get rid of it and hopefully survive and enjoy life for a little longer. The same can be said for many things in life. The issue of your soul, your spiritual health and God is so important that to be safe you need to go down the prescribed route. God says if you follow my instructions you’ll be saved. I trust that God will richly bless you today.

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Atheism proven wrong...again.

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greatnews4all: Atheism proven wrong...again.: Atheists very often say that belief in God is a science-stopper, that is, when Christians see something they don't understand they just ...

Does God tell lies?

Does God tell lies? - Open Air Preaching in Liverpool City Centre

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How to win a debate?

There have been a number of interesting debates in the UK in recent years between theists and atheists. The following summary of the debates is not mine but it makes for interesting reading.

Walter Boyd writes "At the Cambridge Union Society in October 2011, William Lane Craig and Peter Williams took on a couple of atheists (Ahmed and Copson) on the motion "This House Believes that God is not a Delusion". The Christian side "won" the debate as far as votes cast. The debate is somewhat cerebral and philosophical but makes for interesting viewing all the same (if you have a lot of time on your hands!) http://www.reasonablefaith.org/media/craig-williams-vs-ahmed-copson-cambridge#ixzz2KVzVpf8M

In November 2012 a debate took place in the Oxford Union between three Christians and three atheists. John Lennox started with a 15 minute speech in which he set forth Jesus and the resurrection. Richard Dawkins can be seen in the audience but did not take part. I believe the most interesting contribution to the debate was a short speech from Peter Hitchens (former atheist, and brother of deceased atheist Christopher Hitchens). He takes into the 3 atheists before him and gives them what he calls a "Christian kicking"! His argument is that they don't want there to be a God on moral grounds, not intellectual ones. I believe this 8 minute speech is well worth a quick listen at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnIH4gomOqc.

Last month, on Jan 31st 2013, the former archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams joined up with a Muslim scholar and an atheist, to oppose the motion of Richard Dawkins and two other atheists that "Religion has no place in the 21st Century" (the motion was defeated). http://www.richarddawkins.net/news_articles/2013/2/1/three-articles-about-richard-s-31-jan-debate-with-rowan-williams It is not a particularly interesting debate, except for the fact that Richard Dawkins, rather than properly addressing the motion, went off into a rant against Christianity. Here are two Dawkins's quotes from the debate that expose his bitter opposition to both the doctrine of sin and the inspiration of scripture.

Said Dawkins, the God of the Christians is " ...obsessed with sin. Sin, sin, sin, sin, sin. The obsession of the Christian God. Interested in nothing but the sins, including private acts which do nobody else any harm; of the members of one in particular species of old world primate on one small planet, orbiting one rather small star, amid a hundred billion stars, somewhere in the outer suburbs of one ordinary galaxy among a hundred billion galaxies...the God of the Christians is supposed to have cared so much about the sins of this one species of old world African ape that He sent His own Son...down to earth as a blood sacrifice; a divine scapegoat in order to be tortured and killed for the sins of the world - or even the sins of one particular man, Adam who, as we now know, never existed - a somewhat empty gesture to die for the sins of somebody who never existed...[Theologians say] we are suffused with sin, we are born in sin, we are sinful unless we plead forgiveness. That is not a very humane, not a very pleasant, not a very moral doctrine, and I think that the idea of a blood sacrifice is perhaps even worse." 

Later in the debate Dawkins said, "The very idea that because there are mysterious things that we don't understand in science, somehow means that we're going to find wisdom in a collection of bronze age books, is palpably absurd."

Winning the debate is not going to convince the majority to take Christianity seriously but the truth is that the truth of scripture stacks up and often those who oppose Christianity resort to silly arguments out of frustration and anger. What do you believe? Do you know? You'd better find out as time is running out. 

To be blunt the ultimate advice you will ever hear is this "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved" (Acts 16.31).

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No one can be certain that there is life after death!

I hear a lot of people saying that you are welcome to your beliefs about God, the afterlife, judgement for sin etc but you can't be sure. The main logic behind this is that we only get one chance at life and that no one comes back to tell us what is on the other side.

All of this of course is true if you only have access to personal experience but of course we have far more than that. We have a vast history of people who have not just anecdotal evidence but personal history and experience with God.

As a Christian I have become convinced that the bible is the word of God. You would need to read it for yourself and do some research to check this out. Most people say that they don't have time to do this. BUT if your future destination in the next life hangs on the truthfulness of this book then it would be wise to look into it seriously.

History has proven the bible to be trustworthy and to date no freshly discovered fact has proven it wrong. The bible speaks about matters of ordinary life as well as about spiritual issues. Archeology, geography, medical science to name a few have eventually proven that the bible was accurate. Let me give you one example. In Leviticus 17.11 the bible states that 'the life of the flesh is in the blood".  This was stated thousands of years before medical science discovered the vast plethora of things that blood contains to maintain human life. I could on... about the planetary system. the water cycle, oceanic currents and much more.

My point is that if the bible can be trusted in things that we can verify it gives us the confidence to trust it in areas where we have no expertise i.e. the spiritual.

As I close may I state some of the things the bible does say about the unknown.

And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: 28 So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation (Hebrews.9.27)

Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, 29 And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation (John 5.28,29)

And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved Acts 16.31

It is all true. I trust that you will be richly blessed as you consider this blog.

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