Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Pearls Before Swine

There comes a time in having discussions with unbelievers about God, that believers have to realize the person they are contending with has no interest in the truth. They are so committed to their unbelief that they reject everything you present. They reject these things not with facts that disprove that which you have presented, but mere opinions and conjecture are thrown at us in a condesending tone.

The book of Proverbs gives some sound advice concerning this. In Proverbs 16:22 ; Understanding is a wellspring of life unto hom that has it; but the instruction of fools is folly.

Who is the fool, the believer or the unbeliever? Psalm 14:1 says the fool has said in his own heart there is no God. That would be your average everyday atheist who mocks the scriptures. And these fools mock the scriptures out of a refusal to understand the point of the scriptures in context. God said the sum of His word is true, not just some of His word.

Proverbs 23:9 says to speak not in the ears of a fool, for he will despise the wisdom of your words.
Therefore certain individuals who continually mock and scorn the word of God will no longer be given a voice on this blog. Dont get me wrong I want unbelievers to question and challenge what is said here in hope that they may also come to a knowledge of the truth. But when I time after time present irrefutable evidence and certain individuals merely cast it off as meaningless, that tells me these individuals have no interest in truth. They are puffed up in pride and full of themselves making themselves out to be wise they become like fools p(Romans 1:22).

Jesus said this in Matthew 7:6 Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet and turn again and rend you.
I get angry when fools mock God, but I need to be careful myself not to enter into sin as a result of that anger. This is why Jesus also said if you go into a town and they dont receive your message, shake the dust of your feet and leave that town. Therefore I am metaphorically shaking the dust off my feet and walking away from these individuals. Not only because they spoke to me with no respect or courtesy, but also because they rejected The Way, The Truth, and The Life. I pray one day the Lord brings them to the end of themselves and causes them to cry out to Him in repentance that the blood of Christ will wash away their sins.

Friday, October 28, 2011

The F.A.C.T.S. Evidence That Proves The Bible To Be True

*FOREKNOWLEDGE OF GOD. The first proof that the Bible is true is found in prophecy. Man has always tried to supernaturally predict future events. However, man has failed miserably in this area. The Bible however has been, and continues to be 100% accurate in its predictions proving it was not just written by man, but God wrote it through man. Bible prophecy is specifically detailed and predicts events hundreds, and even thousands of years in advance.
*We know through archeological proof that the Old Testament was written long before Jesus was born. In the Old Testament there are over 300 specific predictions about the 1st coming of the Savior. It predicted when He would come, where He would come, how He would come, how He would die, the things He would do, and how the world would respond to Him. These predictions were written in such detail, that no one could have just arranged to fulfill them and then claim to be the Savior of God. Jesus of Nazareth fulfilled all of the prophecies that concerned the first coming of the Savior. No person in history has ever fulfilled any of these predictions.
Here are just a few prophecies regarding the Savior:

Isaiah 53 - Predicted the Savior would be rejected and killed for our sins.
Psalm 22 - Predicted the crucifixion hundreds of years before crucifixion was even invented
Zechariah 12:10 - Predicted that God Himself would be pierced
Zechariah 13:6 - Predicted the Savior would be wounded by His own people
Daniel 9:25-26 - Predicted the exact day the Savior would present Himself as King of the Jews and that He would be killed right after. Scholars have discovered that this prophecy predicted that the Savior would be executed in April of 32 AD, the exact time Jesus was crucified.
Genesis 22:1-19 - A predictive model of how God would sacrifice His son on that same mountain
Genesis 5 - The Gospel message is spelled out in the meanings of the names of this geneaology. Adam =Man/ Seth= Appointed/ Enosh=Mortal/ Kenan=Sorrow/ Mahalalel=The Blessed God/ Jared=Shall come down/ Enoch=Teaching/ Methuselah=His death shall bring/ Lamech=The despairing/ Noah= Rest and comfort.This geneaology spells out this phrase: Man is appointed mortal sorrow, the blessed God shall come down teaching that His death shall bring the despairing, rest and comfort. This is the Gospel message.
Psalm 41:9 - Predicted the Savior would be betrayed by a friend
Isaiah 22:21-25 - A predictive model of how the Savior would be crucified for our sins.
Zechariah 11:12 - Predicted exactly how much money the Savior would be betrayed for.
Psalm 16:10 - The Ressurection of Jesus from the dead
Here are some prophecies that are being fulfilled in our time:
Isaiah 11:10-12 - Predicted the re-establishment of Israel as a nation. This happened in 1948
Zechariah 12:1-3 - Predicted that Israel would be the center of conflict for the entire world. 9/11 and all Islamic terrorism is a result of the conflict that surrounds the land of Israel.
Daniel 2 - Predicted that the Roman Empire would break into pieces and then reform in the end times. The European Union is the fulfillment of this prophecy.
Matthew 24:7 - Predicted that there would be a major increase in occurrence and severity of natural disasters in the world. We see this happening right before our eyes.
Revelation 13:16-18 - Predicted the mark of the beast. Microchip technology is already being used, and would solve many of the worlds security problems if implemented. Soon it will replace money and credit cards just as the prophecy describes. This microchip is being placed under the skin and will then be scanned to retrieve the identity information needed.
2nd Peter 3:3-7 - Predicted that many would mock and persecute Christians. In other nations like Iran, North Korea, China, and others, Christians are persecuted today more than ever.
Matthew 24:4-5 - Predicted that many false religions would use the name of Jesus Christ in order to deceive people. Today every religion has their own version of who Jesus Christ was.

ARCHEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE. We know all these prophecies were written before Jesus came because of discoveries like the Dead Sea Scrolls. These were a collection of ancient scrolls containing Old Testament books and other biblical commentaries. When these scrolls were scientifically dated, they were found to have been written 200 to 300 years before Jesus was born. These writings also match the scriptures we translate our Bible from today. This proves that the Old Testament has not been changed over the last 2200 years. Man made religions like Islam base their entire purpose on the false premise that the Bible has been changed. However the Dead Sea Scrolls prove that God has kept His word in tact.
*He has done the same with the New Testament as well. The New Testament is by far the most copied and documented book in all history. We have found fragments of copies dating back to the first century. We also have the writings and teachings of the early church fathers. In these 1st and 2nd century writings they quote New Testament scriptures and list what New Testament books were accepted as scripture. This proves that the entire New Testament was written well within the 1st century. In fact most of the New Testament has been proven to have been written within 30 years of the crucifixion of Jesus. Critics often challenge when the New Testament was written, yet have no evidence to back up their claims. Critics also like to challenge how much the New Testament has been changed. Again the writings we have today match the writings we have that date back to the 1st century. The grammar and language of the Bible has changed, but the message has not changed.There have been countless archeological discoveries that date back to Biblical times, and these discoveries have only confirmed the Bible to be true. No discovery has ever successfully disputed what has been written in the scriptures.

CHURCH HISTORY. It is an established fact that has been proven historically and archaeologically that the early church grew by the thousands and within the first 20 years after the crucifixion of Jesus. It is also a fact that people were becoming Christians all over the Roman empire and into Asia within these first 20 years.How did this happen so fast? They did not have email or television back then so how did all these people hear about Jesus? The hundreds of disciples and the 12 apostles who witnessed the resurrected Jesus Christ gave up their careers and their homes and traveled throughout the known world speaking to people. In doing this, these disciples were putting their lives on the line daily. Many were imprisoned, tortured and put to death for spreading the Gospel message. These were the same people who ran away when Jesus was arrested. Many of them denied even knowing Jesus for fear of their lives. However after the tomb of Jesus was found empty and these people saw the risen Christ, they gave up everything to declare to the world that Jesus is the savior.
*Some will say that many people have given up their lives for their religion. It happens everyday in the Muslim world. Well the people who are blowing themselves up today have obviously been deceived into believing an evil lie. The first disciples of Jesus and his apostles witnessed with their own eyes Jesus crucified. Three days later they witnessed Jesus risen from the dead. They even touched him and ate with him proving he was not a ghost. If this was a lie, the apostles and disciples would have known because they were there. If it was a lie, why would they then give up everything and be put to death? They had nothing to gain. The money they received was used to feed the poor. None of them got rich off of the money people were giving them. What would be the point? They all knew they would eventually be put to death for spreading this strange message we call the Gospel. However, by comparison people like Mohammed (The creator of Islam) spread their religion with force. If you did not convert to Islam, he would have you killed. Mohammed gained riches and great power through the spreading of his religion. Jesus and his followers gained no power or wealth but were killed for spreading a message of faith, hope, and love.
*Some will say that the church came centuries later. However through archeological discoveries, we know the church was very widespread within the 1st century. Something had to have caused the church to be born. The only possibility that explains the rapid and widespread growth of the Church throughout the world and throughout the centuries, is the fact that Jesus did rise from the dead and the Holy Spirit has called all people to salvation through Jesus Christ.
Without a risen Jesus Christ there would be no church.

TRUTH. There are literally thousands of religions in the world that all claim to know the truth. However, they all contradict each other in some way, so they cannot all be true. Truthfully either all the religions of the world are false, or all are false and one is true. Logic demands that they cannot all be true. Neither can there be more than one that is true. By its definition, truth is narrow. All the religions of the world have similarities, but they all have significant differences. So how can we possibly know what is true? Well when it comes to Christianity, it's very easy. Christianity depends entirely upon the life and claims of this man Jesus of Nazareth.If we prove or disprove the claims of Jesus, we will arrive at the truth regarding this faith. When it comes to Jesus, we know he existed. There are countless proofs by religious and non religious historians that testify to a man named Jesus who led this Christian sect. So our question is, who was he? Was he just a man, or was he God in the flesh? We only have 3 options when faced with this question. He was either a liar, a lunatic, or he was indeed Lord of heaven and earth.
*Was he a liar? He made several claims to being God in the flesh. We have to ask why would he lie. When people lie, they are either trying to gain something for themselves or they are protecting themselves or someone else. Was Jesus trying to gain something? No, in fact he knew that by him making these claims, he would be rejected and killed. Jesus did not have any possessions, so he gained nothing except for his own crucifixion. Was he trying to protect himself or anyone else? No, in fact the claims he made put himself and his disciples in great danger. So we know Jesus was not a liar.
*Was he a lunatic? Jesus spoke with absolute clarity and insight. He never contradicted himself, and he debated and silenced the most brilliant men of that day. There have been many lunatics who have come along and convinced people to follow them. However when hearing these people speak, it is easy to find contradictory speech, and no insight into our human nature. These lunatics also gathered their followers and isolated them from the world, so the brainwashing process would not be interfered with. Jesus spoke openly and in public and called his disciples to preach openly and in public. Jesus also performed many miracles, of which thousands witnessed. No lunatic could have achieved all this.
*The only option left is that Jesus is Lord of heaven and earth. Jesus said "I am the way, the truth and the life, and no man can come to God except through me." This disqualifies all other religions. Jesus is the truth.

SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE- There have been many scientific discoveries over the past few centuries. These discoveries were actually written about in the Bible thousands of years ago! Here are a few examples:
Dinosaurs - Job 40:15-24 What animal has a tail like a cedar tree?Dinosaurs were not discovered until the 1800's. The book of Job was written over 3000 years before this discovery.
Earth revolves around the sun- Isaiah 40:22 ("Circle" in the original Hebrew language and context means "Circuit," which speaks of the Earth's path around the sun) Isaiah was written around 2000 years before men like Copernicus and Galileo proved this fact.
The Universe is expanding -Psalm 104:2 This was only discovered in the last century. The book of Psalms was written 3000 years ago.
Micro-organisms - Hebrews 11:3 Hebrews was written in the first century, yet this scientific truth did not become known until the 19th century.
The effects of a nuclear explosion - 2nd Peter 3:10 In the 1st century AD, Peter describes a tragic event that will happen on earth which sounds exactly like a nuclear explosion. This of course was written long before nuclear weapons were invented.
The water cycle - Ecclesiastes 1:6-7 and Job 26:8
Our DNA, disproves evolution - Genesis 1:20-28 The theory of evolution has been proven faulty with the recent discoveries associated with our DNA and how fossils are dated.
The Big Bang Theory demands a creator - Genesis 1:1 Only a creative personal God could have created the universe and life from nothing. God has always existed and never had a beginning. Scientists have proven that the universe did have a beginning. God caused that beginning. Scientific theories change everyday, but the Bible has never changed, only proven right

These are the FACTS. Now make your decision. Are you going to believe God's proven word, the Bible, and repent of your sins? Just Ask Him to come into your life and He will.

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

A Question Of Origins

Evolutionists eventually admit they cannot explain what caused the universe to come into being. To use their language, they can't explain what caused the Big Bang. They also admit they cannot explain what caused the evolutionary process to begin. I find this interesting because they claim evolution to be a fact of biological history. We also do not observe Darwinian evolution happening. Oh yes we see examples of changes within species through natural selection, but we have never observed a transformation of one species into another. We do not observe new DNA information being introduced. We see variations on information that was already present in the DNA. So evolutionists cannot explain how the universe or evolution began. We also do not observe evolution. So how can this be considered a fact? It sounds more like a faith to me. We don't see Jesus physically today. We cannot explain how Jesus was born. We cannot explain how God is eternal. However we can explain how faith in Jesus began. It began with a well documented and witnessed historical event. The crucifixion and with that the resurrection of Jesus. Nothing else can explain how the origins of the church. So the choice is yours. Either way it is a step of faith, however chosing evolution is a greater step of faith than trusting in Christ and His word. You may question why both cannot be true. They both cannot be true because Jesus Himself endorsed the writings of Moses as the word of God. If we trust in Jesus, then we acknowledge He is God in the flesh. Moses wrote of the creation in such a way that it cannot be compatable with evolutionary theory. Death did not exist until man sinned in the Garden of Eden. Likewise God said He created each creature after its own kind. It does not say he created one creature that became other kinds. So the question is simple. Trust the word of God or the words of man. The words and theories of man are proven wrong everyday, God's word has never been proven wrong. Remember you can't know who you are if you dont know who you came from.

Friday, August 12, 2011

The New Atheism

The New Atheism
Part 1 and 2
By Tim Schaertel
July, 2011
The New Atheism
One of my life verses is 1st Peter 3:15
1Pe 3:14 But even if you should suffer for doing what is right, you are blessed. Never be afraid of their
threats, and never get upset.
1Pe 3:15 Instead, exalt Christ as Lord in your hearts. Always be prepared to give a defense to everyone
who asks you to explain the hope you have.
1Pe 3:16 But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak
evil of your good conduct in Christ will be ashamed of slandering you.
• The Greek word here in the King James for answer is “Apologia” which means “A
defense”
◦ This is where we get the word Apologetic
◦ We are not apologizing for our faith, but giving a reason why we believe
◦ We are not walking in blind faith, but a reasonable faith
▪ Isa 1:18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as
scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as
wool.
• The Hebrew word here for reason is “Yakach” which means: to argue
for, to dispute, to convince, to plead.
• If we have no evidence for our faith, how can we argue, dispute,
convince, and plead with people
▪ Heb 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
• Though we don't see God, we have evidence for Him, and have His
substance through faith
• This means we experience God working in and through our lives
confirming our faith.
• We are called to give a defense as to why we believe the Gospel
• Why would God tell us to defend why we believe?
◦ 1st He tells us this for our own benefit.
▪ When we know what we believe and why, we are that much more confident in our faith
and will be able to stand stronger when the enemy, the world, and the flesh come
against us.
▪ Why do you think God went to great lengths to proclaim the future in advance through
His prophets
▪ He did it to prove Himself to us. To prove that the Bible is indeed His word.
▪ Prophecy alone does not cause us to believe, but it gets our attention, and draws us to
Him.
• In John 4:9-29 we read about how a Samaritan woman encountered
Jesus, and did not take Him serious until He revealed things to her that
He knew about her, that no one could know.
• She perceived He was a prophet and from that point on took Him
serious
• It was then that Jesus convicted her of her sin, and she then recognized
Him as her Messiah
• Joh 4:28 The woman then left her waterpot, and went her way into the city, and
saith to the men, Joh 4:29 Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I
did: is not this the Christ?
• A lot of people poo poo talking about prophecy, but Jesus did often to believers and
unbelievers
• Prophecy is one aspect of giving a defense of our faith.
◦ Our personal testimony is another aspect
◦ Historical testimony, Israel, Archeology, scientific insight, and moral truth are
some other topics we can use to defend our faith.
Now I said all that to say this:
There is a new religion out there. It is called the New Atheism.
• This is not the Atheism that just says they don't believe in God, but are Biblically illiterate
• This New Atheism is made up of intellectuals who are well versed in scripture and are
extremely aggressive towards the word of God
• Their sole purpose is to “Prove” to people that Christianity is a fairy tale.
• They also try to make the case that Christianity is dangerous and doing extreme harm to society
and the world.
• It is not something we can just ignore, because the leaders of this religion have become
evangelistic in that they are going around the world, writing books, making movies, and other
multi-media approaches to spreading their gospel. Their gospel being there is no god.
• Their main “Prophets” have become very well known, especially among young people.
• They are called the Atheistic 4 horsemen of the Apocalypse
◦ Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, Sam Harris, and Daniel Dennett
◦ Chances are you may have heard of at least one of the books written by these men
▪ “The God Delusion” by Richard Dawkins
• Interesting name he chose. I think he chose it not realizing it is a true Biblical
statement
• 2Th 2:8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume
with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
2Th 2:9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and
signs and lying wonders,
2Th 2:10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish;
because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
2Th 2:11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should
believe a lie:
2Th 2:12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had
pleasure in unrighteousness.
• In context this is speaking of The Antichrist, but it applies to Richard
Dawkins in that...
• 1Jn 2:18 Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist
shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the
last time.
• So Dawkins is an antichrist? He is being empowered and led by the same spirit
of Antichrist, that being Satan.
• Dawkins has rejected God because of his love for sin, and like Pharoah, God has
given him over to his sin and hardened his heart.
• This does not mean he still won't someday repent, and we should pray for him.
▪ I have encountered those who have embraced the teachings of these men
▪ Unless we are well versed in what the Bible really says, the arguments these
guys bring forth will cause us to stumble
▪ We need to be prepared to meet these attacks brought forth by these men
head on so that we can adequately make a defense for the hope that dwells
in us.
Psa 14:1 The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.
They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.
• The Hebrew word here for fool is “Nabal” and can mean stupid, but a more
accurate definition is a wicked or vile person
• So God is denied, because of a love for sin, not because of intellect. There are very
simple and extremely intelligent people who are Christians. Likewise there are
people who are just dumb who are atheists, but also very intelligent atheists.
• The only thing they have in common is love of sin.
◦ In fact there are many in the church who are practical atheists, in that they deny God exists
not by their words, but by how they live their lives.
◦ The unrepentant sinner who claims to believe in God is just as much a fool and an atheist as
the person who says there is no God, because they live their lives as if there is no God.
So these New Atheists have put together a more aggressive attack and agenda
• They have an intellectually targeted attack and here are the weapons:
◦ The so called immorality in the Christian doctrine and Biblical text
◦ True science refutes Biblical account of universal history
◦ So called Christians commit atrocities more so than atheists
◦ Biblical contradictions discredits the Bible as the inerrant word of God
• Lets look at the Morality argument.
◦ The New Atheist says the Bible endorses slavery, killing children if they talk back to
parents, slaughtering women and children in war, killing your bride on the wedding night if
she is found to not be a virgin, and discrimination of women.
◦ They say Jesus and Paul also endorsed these things
◦ The New Atheists claim that they are truly moral because they do good works to relieve
suffering, while religious people do good works for a reward in heaven.
◦ The Atheist says if God is real, He is immoral for allowing such suffering in the world.
• Slavery:
◦ Exo 21:2 If thou buy an Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve: and in the seventh he
shall go out free for nothing.
◦ Exo 21:20 And if a man smite his servant, or his maid, with a rod, and he die under his
hand; he shall be surely punished. Exo 21:21 Notwithstanding, if he continue a day or two,
he shall not be punished: for he is his money.
◦ Eph 6:5 Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with
fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ;
◦ Col 3:22 Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh; not with
eyeservice, as menpleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing God:
▪ So whats the deal, is not this immoral, because we all in this country have
testified that slavery is evil.
▪ First the slavery we practiced in this country, was based on skin color.
• God said we are all created in God's image and equal
• Col 3:11 Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision,
Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.
• Eph 6:9 And, ye masters, do the same things unto them, forbearing threatening:
knowing that your Master also is in heaven; neither is there respect of persons with
him.
• Slavery allowed under God's law for Israel was a type of welfare system.
◦ If someone could not pay their debt, they would go into slavery to work off the
debt. Regardless of how much they owed, after 7 years they were to be set free.
◦ This made Jews very intent on staying within their means.
◦ What if we had such a program today. Do you think we would have the debt
problems we have, if their was an actual consequence for that sin of not counting
the costs.
◦ Today people are in debt their entire lives, so tell me who is really free. The
individual trying to pay off the high interest rate on their loan or credit card, or
the person who made some mistakes, but became a slave for 7 years, and is now
debt free, and no longer a slave.
◦ The legal threat of physical discipline kept slaves from being disobedient and
not paying their debt
◦ A greater punishment is a greater way to discourage crime.
◦ The slave owner should not want to hurt the person, because he is helping the
slave owner, so the slave had value, but also the law prevented abuse of slaves.
◦ So this is not a moral issue, but a cultural issue that God allowed due to the
sinful nature we are in.
◦ American slavery is not the same. That was based on the slaves not being equal
humans because of the color of their skin.
◦ This idea was supported by Darwinian Evolutionary theory. Published in 1859
• Killing of disobedient children and physical discipline of children;
◦ Deu 21:18 If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey the voice of his
father, or the voice of his mother, and that, when they have chastened him, will not hearken
unto them:
Deu 21:19 Then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the
elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place;
Deu 21:20 And they shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and
rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton, and a drunkard.
Deu 21:21 And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die: so shalt thou
put evil away from among you; and all Israel shall hear, and fear.
• This is a preventative law, meant to cause children to take God's law seriously
◦ If we still had punishments like this, we would have no need for jails, and crime
would be virtually non existent
• The Jews had received so much from God, and to whom much is given much is
required. This means the consequences are greater for sin.
• It shows how serious God is about His law
◦ Today people disregard God's law because they have no understanding of the
consequences for violating His law.
◦ Today people are not thankful for the abundant mercy and blessings in their life, but
instead have become spoiled rebellious children
• It is actually immoral to bring up your children without discipline and our society is
crumbling because our youth have not been disciplined.
• If children were allowed to get away with rebellion, it would have spread like a virus and
destroyed Israel much sooner.
◦ It has only been a 50 to 60 years in this country that physical discipline
has been condemned, and look at how our society has crumbled
morally.
• This preserved the nation of Israel for thousands of years.
• Pro 13:24 He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him
betimes.
• Pro 22:15 Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall
drive it far from him.
• Pro 23:13 Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod,
he shall not die. Pro 23:14 Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul
from hell.
• Pro 29:15 The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his
mother to shame.
◦ These scriptures all point to chastening, or disciplining your child to
keep them in line.
◦ This is to be done in love, but not wavering
▪ Eph 6:1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right.Eph 6:2
Honour thy father and mother; (which iged in sex, and the male children that would
grow up to carry on the Midianite culture in the midst of Israel.
▪ God had mercy on the women who had abstained from sex.
▪ God commanded this judgment, not Moses, therefore God who creates life also has the
right to take it as He sees fit.
▪ He dealt swiftly with this cancer of the Midianite idolatrous influence to preserve Israel.
▪ Today there is no command of God to bring judgment upon the nations as He did with
Israel, as He Himself will do that when He returns.
▪ There are religions today like Islam who claim their god commanded them to kill
innocents.
• It goes back to recognizing the true and living God as opposed to a man made god.
• Islam is based on an unfounded, unproven, false god
Killing of your bride if found on wedding night to not be a virgin.
• Deu 22:20 But if this thing be true,(That the groom finds his bride is not a virgin) and
the tokens of virginity be not found for the damsel: Deu 22:21 Then they shall bring out the
damsel to the door of her father's house, and the men of her city shall stone her with stones
that she die: because she hath wrought folly in Israel, to play the whore in her father's house: so
shalt thou put evil away from among you
◦ This again has to do with God keeping His chosen people faithful to Him, and
swift consequences prevented what we find to be the norm in todays society.
▪ Though the consequences of unfaithfulness for the Jew was swift, we also find examples
of mercy, which we know is also just as precious to God as justice is.
▪ Lets look at a very famous event for insight into God's heart
• Mat 1:18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary
was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the
Holy Ghost. Mat 1:19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man , and not willing
to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily.
◦ Joseph was called a just man because he did not pursue the full
consequence the law called for. This does not mean he violated the
law, it means he had compassion and mercy on Mary.
◦ Jesus did the same thing with the woman caught in the act of
adultery. He called for those who had no sin to cast the first stone,
and they all walked away.
▪ This is the whole point. God wants us to recognize sin and how serious it is
to Him.
▪ But God also wants to pour out His mercy on us, and wants us to cherish
that mercy
▪ God wants to pour out His mercy through His people
◦ Th e Pharisees were more focused on the law because it gave them
power, though they themselves violated the law.
▪ Mat 23:23 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe
of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of
the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to
leave the other undone.
• So you see these were issues of God trying to teach His people the reality of
righteousness, justice and mercy.
END OF PART 1
THE NEW ATHEISM PART 2
So what about the discrimination of women?
Why are women to be submissive to men, not allowed to teach or speak in church?
• Eph 5:22 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. Eph 5:23 For
the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the
saviour of the body.
• 1Ti 2:11 Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. 1Ti 2:12 But I suffer not a woman
to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.
At first blush these verses seem discriminant towards women, but this is do to a lack of
understanding of context. Lets look at each of them.
• Eph 5:17 Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.
Eph 5:18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;
Eph 5:19 Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody
in your heart to the Lord;
Eph 5:20 Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ;
Eph 5:21 Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.
• Clue #1 to understanding this is that husbands and wives are to submit to each
other in fear of God
Eph 5:22 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.
Eph 5:23 For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is
the saviour of the body.
• God has chosen the man to be responsible and accountable for the spiritual
leadership in the home.
◦ He did not choose them because they are any better or smarter than women, for the same
reason His chosen nation Israel was no better or smarter than other nations.
◦ Both Men and women were created in God's image
• Submission then becomes a walk of faith for women as long as the man is not
leading them into sin.
◦ If the woman disagrees with her husband in something, she submits to his will as long as he
is
submission to the Father.
Eph 5:30 For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.
Eph 5:31 For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and
they two shall be one flesh.
Eph 5:32 This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.
Eph 5:33 Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife
see that she reverence her husband.
• This scripture was not intended to be focused on who is superior, but that 2
become one as Jesus is in perfect unity with the Father.
Now lets look at the other scripture.
• 1Ti 2:9 In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with
shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array;
◦ This is a simple issue in that spending excess time doing these things reveals
that you want to be looked at and admired by others. Not a Godly trait.
◦ This is not to say that women should not wear make up and jewelry, it is
simply something that was out of balance in the environment Paul and
Timothy were ministering in
1Ti 2:10 But (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works.
• Good works is Godly make up and jewelry
1Ti 2:11 Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection.
1Ti 2:12 But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.
• So does this mean women cannot serve in ministry?
◦ No it means women are not to teach men, or usurp authority over men in the church
◦ This does not mean women cannot be bosses at work, or president of the USA.
▪ God has given us examples of women in civil authority like Deborah in Judges 4:4.
• She was a judge in Israel and a prophetess
• So she actually served in civil authority and in spiritual ministry as a prophetess
◦ There are many examples of women serving in ministry: Miriam (Exodus 15:20), Huldah
(2nd Chronicles 34:22), Anna (Luke 2:36), Priscilla ( Acts 18:26), and Phoebe (Romans 16:1)
▪ In these examples women were raised up to serve God, but did not have authority over
men serving God.
1Ti 2:13 For Adam was first formed, then Eve.
1Ti 2:14 And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.
• So Adam was not deceived, but he failed to lead. Therefore God is continuing that
responsibility that Adam had. When men fail to lead spiritually, sin enters in.
◦ This is the order God has created, just as God the Son follows the Father.
◦ This scripture is also more of a command to men to be responsible for the spiritual well
being of their wife, then it is a limit to a womans role.
• And isn't this more of cultural command, because we have women preachers
today?
◦ This is not a cultural commandment, as Paul links this command to a principle established
back in the garden
◦ Paul has eluded to some requirements being merely cultural, but there is no such
disclaimer on this issue.
▪ 1Co 11:14 Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a
shame unto him? 1Co 11:15 But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her
hair is given her for a covering. 1Co 11:16 But if any man seem to be contentious, we
have no such custom, neither the churches of God.
◦ Therefore, it is still not God's will for women to teach and usurp spiritual authority over
men.
1Ti 2:15 Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and
holiness with sobriety.
• This does not mean eternal salvation as we are not saved by works
◦ This salvation has to do with women's unique calling that men do not have, just as men
have the calling to leadership in spiritual things.
◦ The word saved here means to do well, or be whole, or fulfill your unique purpose
▪ This purpose is very special, in that God has given women the priviledge of
bringing a life into the world.
◦ What about women who cannot have children?
▪ God has unique callings for them as well, the childbearing calling applies to most
women.
• So the New Atheist has no leg to stand on when using morality to attack the Bible,
because God established what is moral, and what is not.
• When an Atheist uses a moral argument to support his point he is in great
contradiction.
◦ If there is no Ultimate authority, then there is no universal defined morality
◦ The Atheist tries to stop suffering. This is good, but he is expressing the law God has
written on his heart, rather than the morality of atheism
▪ Rom 2:14 For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things
contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: Rom 2:15
Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing
witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;)
▪ This scripture by itself eliminates any moral argument the Neatural being in a natural world
through observation and experiments.
◦ The claims of the Bible have not been scientifically dis-proven,
▪ Therefore disregarding these claims as possible explanations of our reality
is being scientifically dishonest.
• If our true origins are discovered, then we will more accurately interpret things we
find in the physical and natural world.
• However now when we find a bone, we presume it is a product of evolution and we
presume it to be millions of years older than it may actually be.
When it comes to this definition of science there is a major flaw.
• This definition uses the term natural world and physical world. But how can we
positively identify the reality of our natural and physical world, if we have no idea
how our universe formed.
• New science proclaims evolution to be pretty much a fact, yet they cannot explain
what caused evolution.
• IF WE CANNOT CLEARLY DEFINE ORIGINS, WE CANNOT CLEARLY
UNDERSTAND WHAT WE OBSERVE.
◦ On top of that, we do not actually observe evolution.
◦ We observe natural selection, but not one species changing to become another.
▪ Natural selection are minor changes within a species, based on DNA information that
was already present in the DNA code.
▪ Evolution states that mutations introduce new DNA information, and this is how they
explain how they got so smart.
• We are all a result of billions of random mutations that luckily caused us to be able
to reproduce, have immune systems, digestive systems, nervous systems, eyes,
fingernails, eyebrows, taste, sexual pleasure, smell, lungs, legs, feet, teeth, voices,
hearts, blood, veins, livers, kidneys, etc...
◦ Oh and luckily we have trees to create oxygen for us to breathe, plants and other
foods to help us have all the vitamins we need, water to be hydrated because we
are made of mostly water, and I could go on
◦ The absolute lunacy that we are some biological accident is the epitome of
foolishness
▪ Psa 139:14 I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made:
marvelous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.
• The New Atheist claims there is an abundance of evidence for evolution, but this
is dishonest
◦ There is an abundance of evidence evolutionists interpret to point to evolution.
▪ Poodles did not evolve into great Danes, yet in a few thousand years, and evolutionist
will discover the bones of these dogs and claim the poodle evolved into the great Dane
▪ They find human bones and skulls having different shapes and sizes and claim this as
evidence for evolution.
Evolution is not biblical.
• God created each after its own kind
◦ Gen 1:21 And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the
waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and
God saw that it was good. Gen 1:22 And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and
multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth. Gen 1:23 And the
evening and the morning were the fifth day. Gen 1:24 And God said, Let the earth bring
forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth
after his kind: and it was so. Gen 1:25 And God made the beast of the earth after his kind,
and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and
God saw that it was good. Gen 1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our
likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air,
and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon
the earth.
• We also know that death did not exist until sin entered the world through Adam and Eve.
◦ Rom 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so
death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: Rom 5:13 (For until the law sin was in
the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Rom 5:14 Nevertheless death
reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of
Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.
Though the Bible was never intended to be a scientific text book, we find amazing
scientific insights within its pages. Here are just a few...
• Dinosaurs, Job 40:15-24
• Earth is a sphere, Isaiah 40:22
• The universe is expanding, Psalm 104:2
• Micro-organisms, Hebrews 11:3
• Effects of a nuclear explosion, 2nd Peter 3:10
• The water cycle, Ecclesiastes 1:6-7, Job 26:8
• The law of causality requires an eternal creator for this temporal universe., Genesis 1:1
The New Atheists attack the credibility of Christianity by pointing out horrible things
Christians have done and said.
• This is really a silly argument, because the entire Bible points out the failings of
Gods most faithful.
◦ Rom 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
▪ This is the whole point of scripture, that all sin. Christians are sinners just as Atheists
are.
▪ The difference is that Christians are on a repentant path towards God
▪ Atheists celebrate their sin, and ignore the law written on their hearts.
• The Crusades, Abortion doctor murderers, Holy wars, Television evangelists,
Sexual molestation of children by priests, and pastors, church scandals, hatred
being spewed from churches like the Westboro Baptist church, etc...
◦ These are all examples the Christ rejecting world use to mock Christianity.
◦ None of these examples are representative of following Christ, which is what true
Christianity is.
• Noah, Abraham, Job, Moses, David, Solomon, Peter, Paul, and John all
misrepresented God in some way.
◦ This is why we need to have faith in the cross, because we have all fallen short in our own
righteousness.
So when the New Atheist uses Christian misrepresentation as an evidence against
Christianity, they are only confirming the central tenant of Christianity that only by
faith in Christ can we be saved.
Finally, the New Atheist will use textural criticism to try and disprove the Bible.
• They claim there are many contradictions within scripture which they say proves the Bible was
not divinely inspired, but is a flawed work of man.
• The or is well exposed and documented, as is any translation
issue.
▪ The central doctrines of the Bible are never challenged by any copyist error
• It is not rational to disregard the amazing supernatural aspects of scripture like
prophecy, because of a few grammatical errors made by ancient scribes.
• The New Atheists foolishly disregard prophecy by saying the writers simply wrote
in the fulfillment of prophecy.
◦ This is foolish, because the entire basis of Christianity is the life, death and resurrection of
Jesus Christ.
◦ If Jesus did not do the things the New Testament says He did, the church would have never
gotten started.
◦ There would have been no reason for the first believers in Christ to give up their lives and
voluntarily be persecuted for becoming a Christian.
◦ There was no worldly reward for their conversion. Therefore the motivation of the
thousands that became Christian in those first few years had to have been based on eye
witness proof of the life, death and most importantly, the resurrection of Christ.
▪ 1Co 15:14 And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also
vain.1Co 15:15 Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified
of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not.
1Co 15:16 For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: 1Co 15:17 And if Christ be
not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.
• Atheists mock prophecy because they say there are no prophecies that give
specifics or dates
◦ Daniel 9:24-27 gives a detailed specific prophecy that gives an exact timing of when the
Messiah would come. Jesus fulfilled this prophecy to the day.
◦ The prophecy also predicted Jesus would be executed, though He was innocent.
◦ The prophecy also predicted that shortly after the execution of the Messiah,the city of
Jerusalem and the temple would be destroyed.
◦ This prophecy single handedly proves the divine authorship of the Bible, as we have
documented evidence that these prophecies were written in Daniel long before these events
happened
◦ We also have modern day fulfillment's that include:
▪ the re-establishment of the nation of Israel, (Isaiah 11:10-12)
▪ The push towards a one world government, (Daniel 7:23, Revelation 13:7)
▪ Israel being the center of conflict in the world, (Zechariah 12:1-3)
▪ The world would come against Israel.(Zechariah 12:1-3)
▪ Natural disasters, disease, false prophets, famine, terrorism, wars all get worse like a
woman having birth pains (Matthew 24:4-8)
We see all these things happening at once. There is no way Christians could arrange to
fulfill these prophecies. This goes way beyond coincidence. This proves Bible period.
In conclusion:
• New Atheism is just another false religion
◦ Religion is something that dictates the direction of your life. It is what you consider most
important. It is the motivational factor behind your decisions.
▪ The New Atheists attack Christianity and no other faith because it is the truth.
▪ Atheists deny Atheism is a religion, yet attest that Buddhism is. However Buddhism
does not believe in a god, but is an atheistic philosophy
▪ The Humanist Manifesto of the early 1970's said secular Humanism is a religion. They
only recently changed that so they can spread their beliefs in schools.
• Darwin is one of the great prophets for Atheists, yet Darwin believed humans who
have weak DNA should not be allowed to reproduce
◦ Margaret Singer was also an atheist. She founded Planned Parenthood, which originally
was designed to promote the Eugenics movement.
▪ Eugenics intended to dictate who was allowed to reproduce and who was not in the
interest of creating a superior race.
▪ Evolution was the key inspiration behind this so called scientific movement.
The New Atheism is an emotional attack on the truth of God disguised as an intellectual
and scientific movement. Upon further investigation you will find that scripture in
Psalm 14:1 is profoundly true.
Psa 14:1 The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done
abominable works, there is none that doeth good.20is an atheistic philosophy
▪ The Humanist Manifesto of the early 1970's said secular Humanism is a religion. They
only recently changed that so they can spread their beliefs in schools.
• Darwin is one of the great prophets for Atheists, yet Darwin believed humans who
have weak DNA should not be allowed to reproduce
◦ Margaret Singer was also an atheist. She founded Planned Parenthood, which originally
was designed to promote the Eugenics movement.
▪ Eugenics intended to dictate who was allowed to reproduce and who was not in the
interest of creating a superior race.
▪ Evolution was the key inspiration behind this so called scientific movement.
The New Atheism is an emotional attack on the truth of God disguise2C and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified
of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not.
1Co 15:16 For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: 1Co 15:17 And if Christ be
not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.
• Atheists mock prophecy because they say there are no prophecies that give
specifics or dates
◦ Daniel 9:24-27 gives a detailed specific prophecy that gives an exact timing of when the
Messiah would come. Jesus fulfilled this prophecy to the day.
◦ The prophecy also predicted Jesus would be executed, though He was innocent.
◦ The prophecy also predicted that shortly after the execution of the Messiah,the city of
Jerusalem and the temple would be destroyed.
◦ This prophecy single handedly proves the divine authorship of the Bible, as we have
documented evidence that these prophecies were written in Daniel long before these events
happened
◦ We also have modern day fulfillment's that include:
▪ the re-establishment of the nation of Israel, (Isaiah 11:10-12)
▪ The push towards a one world government, (Daniel 7:23, Revelation 13:7)
▪ Israel being the center of conflict in the world, (Zechariah 12:1-3)
▪ The world would come against Israel.(Zechariah 12:1-3)
▪ Natural disasters, disease, false prophets, famine, terrorism, wars all get worse like a
woman having birth pains (Matthew 24:4-8)
We see all these things happening at once. There is no way Christians could arrange to
fulfill these prophecies. This goes way beyond coincidence. This proves Bible period.
In conclusion:
• New Atheism is just another false religion
◦ Religion is something that dictates the direction of your life. It is what you consider most
important. It is the motivational factor behind your decisions.
▪ The New Atheists attack Christianity and no other faith because it is the truth.
▪ Atheists deny Atheism is a religion, yet attest that Buddhism is. However Buddhism
does not believe in a god, but is an atheistic philosophy
▪ The Humanist Manifesto of the early 1970's said secular Humanism is a religion. They
only recently changed that so they can spread their beliefs in schools.
• Darwin is one of the great prophets for Atheists, yet Darwin believed humans who
have weak DNA should not be allowed to reproduce
◦ Margaret Singer was also an atheist. She founded Planned Parenthood, which originally
was designed to promote the Eugenics movement.
▪ Eugenics intended to dictate who was allowed to reproduce and who was not in the
interest of creating a superior race.
▪ Evolution was the key inspiration behind this so called scientific movement.
The New Atheism is an emotional attack on the truth of God disguised as an intellectual
and scientific movement. Upon further investigation you will find that scripture in
Psalm 14:1 is profoundly true.
Psa 14:1 The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done
abominable works, there is none that doeth good.20is an atheistic philosophy
▪ The Humanist Manifesto of the early 1970's said secular Humanism is a religion. They
only recently changed that so they can spread their beliefs in schools.
• Darwin is one of the great prophets for Atheists, yet Darwin believed humans who
have weak DNA should not be allowed to reproduce
◦ Margaret Singer was also an atheist. She founded Planned Parenthood, which originally
was designed to promote the Eugenics movement.
▪ Eugenics intended to dictate who was allowed to reproduce and who was not in the
interest of creating a superior race.
▪ Evolution was the key inspiration behind this so called scientific movement.
The New Atheism is an emotional attack on the truth of God disguised as an intellectual
and scientific movement. Upon further investigation you will find that scripture in
Psalm 14:1 is profoundly true.
Psa 14:1 The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done
abominable works, there is none that doeth good.

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

When God Kills Children

I often hear people mock the morality of the Bible by pointing to passages where God commanded Israel to go to war against its enemies and kill all its men, women, children, and livestock. From the perspective of an unbeliever who also does not believe in life after death, I can see why they would find this horrific.

However, the reality is that there is life after death and the only thing in question is where we will go. This fact that God commanded Israel to kill women and children I contend was not immoral, but an act of great mercy.

You see the Bible teaches that children who have not reached the age of accountability (which varies from person to person), are covered by the blood of Jesus Christ. If these children were allowed to live and grow up in their Pagan culture carrying the bitterness that Israel killed their fathers, they most certainly would have rebelled and fought against the God of Israel. At that point they would be at the age of accountability and if they died in that sin they would have been condemned to Hell. However, because God took them before that could happen, they were ushered into heaven by God's grace and mercy. This is a decision that only God can make, so this does not justify abortion. God never commanded the USA to kill millions of babies in the womb.

As for the adults of these lands, they had plenty of time to repent, but persisted in attacking Israel, so God brought judgement upon them. Again, God will judge each of those people according to what they knew as well.

So using the morality argument to take apart the Bible is a losing battle, because unbelievers do not take into account there is more to our existance than just what we see in this life. God sees the whole picture and acts in the interest of eternal purposes rather than just what benefits us in this life.

Additionally, God does not command the church to kill anyone. He only worked this way with Israel on a national level to protect His chosen people and chosen land. He did this to keep the line to the Messiah pure, and to establish His prophetic purpose. Again this was a different dispensation, so the moral laws of God remained the same, but the consequences for their violation were different.

Friday, June 3, 2011

A Letter To An Atheist

I recently had the painful joy of listening to an audio book called "Letter To A Christian Nation" by Sam Harris. I found it painful to listen to because of the arrogant tone filled with misrepresentations of my faith. I found it a joy because as I began to meditate more on some of the issues brought forth by Mr. Harris, and my faith in Jesus Christ was only strengthened, which I'm sure was not the author's intention. No his intention was clear, he wants his book to convert people to atheism.

It was a well written representation of the faith of an atheist. You may be confused by the term "The Faith of an atheist." However, after hearing the case presented by Sam Harris, I am convinced that he is a very faithful man. He is committed to his belief that the God of the Bible, or any god for that matter does not exist. This belief is not based on any evidence he has that God does not exist, only on his personal belief. He is committed to spreading the gospel of evolution. He is equally committed to eliminating any religous influence or representation in government. He is also committed to a fully secular world because he believes faith in any god is dangerous, and is holding back the advancement of humanity in many ways. In fact he even makes the case that Christian faith is actually immoral in several instances. In reality he is trying to impose his faith on others through government. Atheism is a faith in the sense that it makes us all our own gods with our own standards of what is good and what is bad. If you are an atheist, you answer to no higher authority of morality than yourself, which I find scary. So what he is trying to do is no different and no more or less dangerous than Christians imposing our faith into government. He makes the claim that his view is based on evidence and fact, but all of the points he asserts with great conviction were not backed up with any sort of objective evidence. He failed to provide any evidence as to how he knows there is no god, and all religions are foolish.

You see this is an act of faith on his part. He readily admits he cannot prove there is no god. He also admits that he cannot explain the origins of the universe or even how evolution got started. These are crucial points to skip over in making the type of bold assertions he makes in his book. So if his beliefs are based on his own personal faith and not fact, then what gives him the intellectual right to say Christianity is "False?" That is not a rhetorical question, it is an actual question. I will assert what the Bible says about atheists, and I will back it up with evidence that shows we can trust the Bible. Sam Harris backs up his claims with his own interpretations and opinions to back up his claims. Why should I trust or believe anything Sam Harris has to say. He cannot even tell us how the core of his faith (evolution) began. The Bible however provides prophetic, archaelogical, historical, philisophical, and scientific evidence that it indeed is a credible and trustworthy source for the truth about our common existance.

Though Sam Harris seems to be a very intelligent and well read individual, he does make several errors in his understanding of faith in the God of the Bible. So I will begin a series of responses to the points Sam Harris made in his book.

Sam Harris attacks several areas of the Bible that have to do with the consequences for violating the law under the covenant given to Israel through Moses. For Example: “We read the Golden Rule and judge it to be a brilliant distillation of many of our ethical impulses. And then we come across another of God’s teachings on morality: if a man discovers on his wedding night that his bride is not a virgin, he must stone her to death on her father’s doorstep (Deuteronomy 22:13-21).”

Sam Harris is making the point here that decrees like this are immoral. He goes on to make assumptions that Christians believe this verse applies to how we are to conduct ourselves. First of all this consequence for sin was not part of the universal moral law God gave, it was part of the judicial penalties He called for to be enforced by Israel. The Church has no mandate to stone anyone for violating the law of adultery. God deals with each person individually with great mercy and grace. God delt with Israel as a nation under strict observance of His perfect standards of righteousness to show us how serious He is about sin. To the extent that we are offended by God's judgement, is equal to how far we have fallen from God's love of righteousness in our hearts.

Sam Harris is missing the point of the Old Testament law and the righteousness of God. Harris is applying his own standard of good to these issues. His implication is that pre-marital sex is not bad enough to warrant the death penalty. That point fails to prove any sort of immorality in the scriptures. The law was given to show us God's standard of morality and how serious sin is to Him. The law also gives us an appreciation for God's mercy through Jesus Christ, because we are all deserving of death for the sins we have willfully comitted. There is an example of a woman caught in the act of adultery, yet Jesus did not condemn her. Scriptures say that Jesus did not violate any aspect of the law. This shows us that stoning this woman was not part of the law, but was the judicial penalty for breaking the law. Jesus being God, chose to have mercy on that woman, as he has mercy on His church today. The covanent was given to Israel to show us what we deserve. Scripture is clear about this, in fact Paul the Apostle goes to great lengths explaining this concept. The fact that Sam Harris does not get it, does not prove that the God of the Bible does not exist. It just shows that Sam Harris is judging right and wrong by his own corrupted standard, and not by the standard of his Creator and Savior. More to come...

Thursday, May 19, 2011

A Message To All Bloggers

Although I greatly appreciate any comments, questions or even disagreements anyone may have, I am not doing this blog to be mocked or insulted. I do not tolerate any inappropriate language. If one does engage in this behavior, I have no reservations about deleting any comments written in such a tone. If one chooses to engage in this type of communication it means to me that this person has no interest in seeking truth, but in fact is so full of pride, they have convinced themselves they know it all. Not to mention the lack of common decency in treating another human being with respect. I apologize to those who have commented in a civil and respectful tone, for this posting.

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Science and Philosophy Require the Existence of God

When dealing with the universe we have only two options to explain how the universe came into being. We know that the universe itself is not eternal. There is an abundance of evidence that supports the fact that at some point in time the universe did not exist and then did. The law of causality requires a deeper explanation for the genesis of the universe than the big bang theory. The big bang theory does not define a cause, but only a process. If something like the big bang happened ( which is a weak theory in and of itself), a cause is still required. This means a self existent, eternal designer is required. We can't just say this dependent universe came out of another dependent universe. At some point an eternal, self existent creative designer is required to explain the law and order we observe in our universe.

We also observe a natural moral law that is common throughout creation. Several studies have determined that moral law is not a product of environment, but it is written in our genetic make up. Therefore not only do we have a creative designing force, but we have a personal creator who has shown there is an intention or a purpose for our existence.

The athiest is not thinking this issue through. The athiest is basically saying " Because I cannot see my thoughts, my thoughts must not exist." This is no different than their approach to God. However the natural world has the fingerprints of a personal, moral, and creative designer all over it. To ignore this is called foolishness by the author of the Bible. The apostle Paul declared in Romans chapter one that we can know God exists through observing His creation.

It is actually quite simple. When we look at a painting, how do we know a painter exists. We look at the painting and know in our hearts that someone designed this painting personally and with a purpose. We can't prove scientifically that there was a painter but we know there was one, because paintings don't form themsleves by chance. How much more is this true when we look at the complexity and design of the natural universe. Once the so called athiest comes to terms with the fact the God exists we can move forward and start a discussion about how we can know the God of the Bible is the very God that created our universe.

Friday, May 6, 2011

Are We Better Than Osama Bin Ladin?

In light of the recent events involving the killing of Osama Bin Ladin, I thought it was important to take a sober look at the situation from the perspective of God's Word. Many Americans and others have expressed great joy and actually celebrated the death of O.B.L.. My first response was my personal memory of people in the Middle East celebrating in the streets when the events of September 11th, 2001 happened. I was disgusted with anger then. Today I am disgusted with sadness.

I am saddened by this response Americans have had primarily because God said in Ezekial 33 that He takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. Secondly I am saddened at the spiritual blindness of our nation. Jesus said if we hate someone we are as guilty as a murderer. Most people who reject the Bible reject this statement and defend themselves by saying they would never do what O.B.L. did. I would add that God also said "If not for His grace, we would do the same evil."

Think about it. Lets say you were born in O.B.L.'s family, environement and nation. Already the chances of you becoming a hate filled terrorist has increased signifigantly. Now lets say you also were indoctrinated with the same garbage he was, and you had the same temperment. It is likely you would follow the teachings of Muhammud and become a terrorist unless some eye opening intervention took place.
You see we all have the capacity within us to become something evil. We hide alot of our hate and evil in our thoughts, but God knows our thoughts. God placed us in this society where it is likely we will not be tempted to become terrorists. So then the question that demands to be asked is this: Is God then not just because He allows people to grow up in environments where they can be tempted to be something so evil such as the case with O.B.L.? The answer is no. I can say this because God sees sin as sin. Here in America we sin in our thoughts, in Osama Bin Ladin's world, his sin manifested into his acts. God sees both the same. Therefore we have no right to celebrate the death of a wicked man, because we too are just as wicked. The only thing that could have saved Osama Bin Ladin, would have been him responding to God's call to repentance, and then him receiving Jesus Christ as his savior. I don't know if O.B.L ever heard the gospel, but as far as I can tell, I saw no repentance of his sins. True repentance, would have led him to the cross of Christ. God gave O.B.L. a conscience, so he knew what he was doing was evil. However he hardened his heart to God's love and then was blinded to the truth about Islam. That truth is that it is a religion created by Satan himself.

Most Americans have also hardened their hearts to God and need to repent. For those who claim they are not as evil as O.B.L. and yet live their lives rejecting God's call to repentance; they will end up in the same environment Osama Bin Ladin may have ended up in...The Lake of Fire.

I am sure this may have offended you, but the reality is that we are all dead in our sin, and can only be saved through what Jesus Christ did for us on the cross. We cannot be saved by being religous, and we cannot be saved by just trying to be "Good People." By God's standards, we are incapable of being "Good People." Therefore we need the grace and mercy of God that is given to us through Jesus.

Saturday, April 16, 2011

The Resurrection

With Easter upon us, I thought it appropriate to again explain the importance of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is the greatest evidence we have that Jesus was who He said He was. If this event did indeed happen there can be no other explanation as to how it happened in the way that it did.

First we have the Old Testament prophecies that the Messiah would be put to death (Daniel 9, Isaiah 53, Zechariah 12, to name a few). Then we have accounts of Jesus Himself telling His disciples before hand that this would happen. This is interesting, because if the disciples had made up this whole thing, then why would they make themselves look so thick. Jesus told them ahead of time, and then afterward, the disciples could not believe it had happened. If someone had made this resurrection story up, they would have put themselves in a better light by at least saying they had faith that Jesus would rise after He died just as He said. However, none of the apostles said this.

Second, the apostle Paul in 1st Corinthians 15 explained how if Christ is not really resurrected from the dead, their preaching is in vain. That is so true. Paul was an accomplished Pharisee. If this was a lie, (which he would have known it was, being a supposed eye witness of the resurrected Jesus) why would Paul give up his career, his devotion to his God, his lifestyle, and ultimately his life to spread this crazy story about a guy who claimed to be God. Thousands of people don't just get up and follow that story, especially when they could be killed for doing it. These were not thousands of weak minded people, they were mostly Jews. Jews are tough and very stubborn. They are devoted to their heritage and culture and don't easily give it up. I have yet to hear a reasonable explanation for how the church took form so quickly in the first century under extreme persecution. There is an abundance of historical documentation outside the Bible that the church was growing by the thousands well within the 1st century AD. This documentation also testifies to death of Jesus, and miracles He performed. If, as some skeptics claim, the resurrection account is a mere legend, then the church would not have spread throughout the Roman Empire within 30 years of Christ's resurrection. So the argument that the Gospels are exagerations of what really happened does not hold water, in light of the fact that there was no reason for anyone to become Christian unless the resurrection had indeed happened as recorded in the Gospels.

Some other evidence we can point to includes the fact that the Jews and Romans could have ended this Christian movement by just showing them the dead corpse of Jesus. This never happened obviously. So what then, did the apostles steal the body? Again this does not explain why anyone would believe them. Not to mention they had nothing to gain by making this story up. Thye certainly would not have been able to convince the thousands upon thousands that converted within those first 30 years.

We also have no conflicting accounts of what happened. If indeed the apostles made this stuff up about Jesus healing people, walking on water, and rising from the grave, there would have been people who would have spoke up and denounced what the apostles were saying. We have no such account.

We also see the conversion of skeptics like Paul and James who were not followers of Jesus until after they saw Him resurrected. We also see a change in the apostles behavior after the resurrection. They feared for their lives and ran when Jesus was arrested. After He rose from the grave, the apostles boldly proclaimed the Gospel even after they were arrested and beaten.

The bottom line is that there is no other explanation for the rise of the church and the historical accounts we have other than the fact that the resurrection of Jesus did occur just as it is recorded in the New Testament. This is wonderfully joyful news, and should invoke a response on our part to get serious about our relationship with God through our savior Jesus Christ.

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Skepticism

A good friend pointed out a mistake I have made in my posts and comments. He told me that when I say "Skeptics say," I am implying all skeptics believe this and I am making skepticism seem wrong. I agree with his criticism of me, and will be more careful how I phrase my points. I never intended to lump all skeptics together or imply that all skepticism was wrong.

In fact skepticism is a Biblical principle. The center scripture of this blog; 1st Peter 3:15 is based on having a healthy practice of skepticism, so that you may be able to explain why you believe what you do. The writer of Acts also pointed out the importance of skepticism.
Act 17:10 And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews.
Act 17:11 These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.

The Bereans were skeptical of what Paul was saying and searched the scriptures to make sure he was rightly representing the word of God. It was skepticism that caused me question my own beliefs and see if this Bible stuff had anything to it. It is skepticism that has strengthened my faith as I have sought out answers for all those doubts and questions I have had. I am very skeptical of most so called Bible teachers, because there is a lot of flat out false teaching out there. I am even skeptical of some of my own Pastor's views from time to time.

This skepticism is not based on any great wisdom I have, but on what the Bible actually says. Many people disregard the Bible because so many churches have different interpretations of what it says. However, I have found in most cases where churches diagree on doctrines, the disagreements are not based on an ambiguity in scripture, but in a refusal to accept what the scripture says on the matter. Core doctrines are not open for interpretation, the Bible is clear in almost every case. This is why skepticism is so important. A lack of skepticism in the church causes people to blindly follow leadership that is not representing God's word. The Westborough Baptist Church is an example of this. This heretical church is an agent of hate, not the love of Christ. There are many examples I could cite, but suffice it to say that a lack of honest skepticism in the church has given the church a bad name.

There is a balance however. I also have spoken with individuals who are skeptical just because they refuse to even entertain the possibility they might be wrong about something. Some may even accuse me of this. I admit I have been overly passionate in some discussions I have had about God. I am sure in some cases it was more about my pride than my desire for truth. I have been convicted of this on a couple of occasions, and I admit I was wrong in the tone I took. Believe me I am convinced that the Bible is indeed the word of God. I have many reasons for this. This does not mean I claim to know everything. I know I lack understanding about certain things. However I have experienced God intervening in my life on a daily basis for over 10 years. Because of this and the evidence I see in scripture, I don't believe anything will destroy my faith. I do pledge, however to listen to all points of view with an open mind and an open Bible.

Saturday, April 2, 2011

How do We Know God Exists

Many people question the very existance of God because they don't see Him. But we never question the existance of gravity or the wind. We don't see these things but we see what they do. The wind moves the trees, and gravity keeps us from floating away into space. So in that way what do we see God doing?

Well we must begin with the fact that we live in a finite universe. This means that our universe had a beginning and will have an ending. The law of thermodynamics states that all things in our universe are slowing down and decaying or dying. This is strong evidence that space, time, and matter in our universe had a beginning. If the universe was eternal, then things would not be dying. We also see that the universe is expanding out from a central location. This indicates a starting point. Every starting point or beginning requires a cause.

Skeptics will say "Big deal, that just supports the Big Bang theory." No it does not. The Big Bang theory basically says there was some cosmic cell of energy that exploded, and thus all the planets, stars and laws of the universe formed by accident. The first question I have is where did this cosmic cell of energy come from. The second question I have is that this theory violates the universal law of entropy. This law basically says that all things move from order to chaos. However the Big Bang theory reverses that law.

What does this have to do with God? Space, time, and matter are complex things that are held together by laws and ordered systems. We do not observe complex things like these forming by accident. We only see order created out of chaos by an outside intelligence who had a purpose for creating such an order. For example a computer could never have formed without a personal creative designer who had a purpose for it. Yet skeptics attribute much more complex systems such as life, space, time, and matter to a natural accident.

When we look in the mirror and see our eyes, and think about our inner systems such as our immune, digestive, nervous, and reproductive systems, we have to know these things were creatively designed. To attribute the complexity needed for life to exist to a series of accidents and coincedences is in my opinion the greatest folly of mankind. God is that intelligent designer. He has given us all kinds of clues to His existance. Creation is just one evidence. Some may still wonder why we can't see God. God is spirit and sin has blinded us from being able to see Him in spirit. Faith is the only path that will cure our blindness. No I have not seen God physically but I have seen Him working intimately in my life through answered prayers, His word speaking to me in amazing ways and just through amazingly coincedental events in my day to day life. I see now that these events are not coincedences but Godincedences.

You want evidence of God, just look at the complexity of nature and how everything works together. The laws of the universe require us to know there is a God. We are created by God with a purpose. That purpose is revealed to us in the Bible.

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Extra-Biblical Sources

Skeptics often discredit the Bible because they claim there are no extra-Biblical sources that confirm accounts found in the Bible. One thing we have to remember is that the Bible is not just one book. It is a collection of 66 books by over 40 different authors from all walks of life. If the New Testament had never been canonized we would have several different testimonies of what actually happened in the life of Jesus. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul, James, and others all recorded their testimony of the facts. Written documents must be given the benefit of the doubt before disregarding their content. Only when the content is proven false should the content be then discarded. Yet when it comes to the Bible, it is often just personal opinion that skeptics use to justify officially disregarding the Bible as a serious historical document.

Anyway the collected accounts we find in the New Testament are not enough. Skeptics want more accounts. This causes me to ask, how many accounts are enough to establish a credible historical document. Unfortunately we will never know, because we only have the accounts of the writers of the books that have been collected to form the New Testament. Or do we?

Although there are no other known contemporary writings describing the life of Jesus, we do have extra-Biblical accounts that come only a few decades after the life of Jesus. This would be like a historian today writing about former President Ronald Reagan. There would be little doubt as to the credibility of the account unless there were obvious fabrications. Regarding Jesus and the early church movement we have these non-Biblical, and some non Christian sources:
-The Babylonian Talmud (written A.D. 70 TO 100)
Testifies that Jesus existed, was crucified on the eve of Passover, performed miracles (sorcery), led Jews away from their traditions.

-Historian Josephus and his Antiquities 94 AD
Testifies that Jesus existed, performed miracles, had loyal followers, and was crucified by Pilate.

-Tacitus Annals 115 AD
Testifies to the life and death of Jesus, his many followers, and even hints at the resurrection with his words "The pernicious superstition." Obviously, he did not believe it, but knew about it showing how this superstition had spread throughout the Roman empire so quickly.

There are others like Pliny the Younger, Suetonius, Phlegon, Lucian of Samosata, Emperor Hadrian and others. All of which do not prove what we read in scripture but testify to the certainty that Jesus did some sort of supernatural acts, had many followers, and was crucified. So what? You may ask.

Well with these facts established, we need to ask, why did the Christian religion not die with Jesus. After all the whole thing falls apart if He is not really resurrected. Why would anyone continue to volunteer to be persecuted for something they knew was not true? It does not make sense that this was some sort of political rebellion, as their own doctrines and teaching promoted submission to authorities, yet did not promise loyalty to any government outside of the Kingdom of heaven. The movement was too large and happened too fast for it have been some sort of fluke created by people who had lost their sense of reality. When we look at the origins of the other major religions, we see a lot of political and social motives behind their growths respectively. Yet Christianity is void of this motive for at least the first 2 centuries. So why would thousands upon thousands leave their traditions, homes, families, and protection to live underground. Their reward was to be hunted down by Romans and or Jews, and be crucified, burned alive, fed to lions, or another horrible death.

The skeptic will say people die for many reasons even today. Yet masses of people do not voluntarily die for no reason whatsoever, which is what these people would have been doing if Jesus was not risen. The known truth that Jesus had risen from the grave is the only thing that would cause a first century Jew or Greek to make such a lifestyle change. Muslims today die for their religion, because they have been deceived by a false prophet from centuries ago. The first thousands of Christians would have witnessed Jesus themselves, and would have been able to see the lie if it was a lie.

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

How did Judas Die

Many skeptics point out that Matthew and the writer of Acts (most likely Luke) contradict eachother regarding how Judas died. Matthew states that he hung himself. Acts says that he fell headlong into a field and his guts spilled out. What is not said what actually killed him the hanging or the fall. This means both descriptions could have happened even though only one of these events would have actually killed him.

There is no contradiction here because the account in Acts is not pointing how Judas died, but where he ironically ended up. You see the field Judas' body fell in after he hung himself was the field the pharisees bought with the money Judas received for betraying Jesus. Peter mentioned it this way in that he was pointing out how Judas would rot in the fruit of his own sin.

Judas hung himself and at some point the branch he hung from broke allowing his body to fall. He most likely landed on some rocks or something that would have caused his guts to spill out of his body. There is a second illustration provided here by Peter for us to discover. Jesus has many nicknames and one of them is the Branch. Judas killed himself physically and spiritually by breaking the branch and falling into his own sin.

So you see this is obviously not a contradiction, but a teaching illustration meant to remind us of what Judas did to himself by betraying his savior and what will happen to all who reject Jesus. Those who claim this to be a contradicction have not really read the accounts and thought about the two perspectives. It is interesting how skeptics will scoff whether the account is identical or harmonized. Skeptics are looking for a reason to accuse, they are not seeking truth.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

2nd Response to Method Skeptic

You said:
STOP. First, millions of people all over the world have given their lives for millions of causes, so someone's strength of belief or willingness to die is worth precisely zero when it comes to evaluating whether their claims are TRUE. Your statement “would not have given their lives for Christ if,” is completely false.

This point you bring up is meaningless. My point is that the disciples would have known if Jesus truley did miracles. They would have known if He died and rose from the dead. They were there. No one who knew the ressurection was a lie would give up their lives to gain nothing which is what they did.

You said;
The point about hearsay is that a certain select number of people in history supposedly got it straight from the horse's mouth. The rest of us, on the other hand, are not only expected to take their word for it, not even their firsthand word for it. All we’ve got is this crummy book, with all its glaring flaws.

Do you believe George Washington was president of the USA. Obviously you do, but you were not there. You trust that information, yet you were not there. Hmmm. Oh and what you call a crummy book has only predicted the future accurately hundreds of times throughout history even up until today. This crummy book has changed lives, and given the hopeless true hope. I'm sorry you see no value in it, but the flaws you are referring to are not found in scripture, but they are in your own heart. I can see this just in the angry tone you have taken with me in these few posts. If this book is so obviously flawed, why would you bother to waste your time to debate with an idiot like me?

You said:
I repeat: you have it utterly backwards. I started from a position of faith, of belief, and through reading and study and following the evidence came to the conclusion that the Bible is a work of historical fiction. You have the end of the road confused with the beginning

Well if you had true faith, it would have been established on God's word. Your faith was not in His word, but more likely you had an emotional experience, or you trusted in the church you were brought up in. As for you following the evidence, well lets just say I doubt that. Are you an Aramaic scholar. Have you actually studied the Bible, or did you just believe what Athiest.org fed you. Or maybe you took some religious classes in some liberal college. If I am wrong, I am sorry, but I have spoken to so many people who sound like you, and usually their information comes from a source that rejects the Bible not because of evidence against it, but because it is a book full of miracles like Jesus walking on water or rising from the dead. However to deny these miracles, is to deny life and the origins of our universe, because these are miracles as well.

You said:
Your personal self-loathing is irrelevant, though I hope you get some counseling. I do hope you’re not gearing up to tell me how much I must love sin, because that would be an ad hominem attack as well as an incoherent statement, and you’d never go there, right?

I did not loathe myself, I loved my life, but thanks for your sincere concern. Linking the validity of the Bible to your love of sin is not an ad hominem. It is a valid point, because the Bible is all about people rejecting God's word because of their love of sin. Now are you saying you do not love your sin?

you said:
And again, I say: if this book is the preferred vehicle for an omnipotent, omniscient being to transmit the most important information in the universe, he did a pretty asinine job of it--why should God Almighty's inspired word have any need for broader apologetics?

To be honest, God's word does not need apologetics. God can reach people in many ways and does. He so chooses to use things like apologetics because of our lack of faith. If you actually studied and understood His word, you would marvel at its beauty, power, design, and brilliance. If you study it to prove your own agenda, you will never see these things.

You said:
By the way, your skills at picking things out of context and reading your own preconceived notions into things are as sharp as they ever were--I've read your posts on biblical "prophecy," and that's a perfect description of your work. Much of Christian commentary on most any subject, actually. Disgust over the rampant intellectual dishonesty among prominent Christian "thinkers" did much to push me away from the faith.

Ok, tell me where I misquoted or misrepresented what scripture says.

Monday, March 14, 2011

Response to Method Skeptic Comments

Thank you for your comments.
You said: Revelation is necessarily a first-person experience, for anyone else, it is hearsay...

Let me begin by saying I agree with you. Paul, Peter, Thomas, and all the rest would not have given their lives for Christ if they did not have a 1st hand revelation given by God. Now you may say Muslims today are dying for their god today, does that testify to the idea that muslims have also had a personal revelation given by God? Well, Jesus said you will know them by their fruit. Muslims dying for their faith are doing so because they are trusting only what they have been told. They are not questioning their religion. They are doing these things not for others but for themselves, because they believe their death will assure sex with virgins and mansions in heaven. Jesus and His 1st disciples were put to death for spreading the message they had received. God has chosen to use both the testimony of others and personal experience to draw us to faith. That is good, because if my faith was based only on my own experience, then I could question myself as being crazy. However, when I hear the testimony of millions of others who have had the same type of experience, it encourages and strengthens my faith.

When I came to faith in God, it was originally based on a personal revelation God gave me. My motive here is not to intellectually save people. My motive here is to break down walls people like my self built up. The walls I built in my own mind blinded me from even considering the possibility that the Bible could be true. I like you had hundreds of reasons to believe the Bible was flawed or just totally false. However, these reasons I had for rejecting the God of the Bible were based on my own collection of misinformation that I had been fed. It was also based on my own selfish love of sin. I did not have an understanding of scripture in context. I would pick things out of context, and read into things. In doing this I missed what the original point of the scripture was. It was only when I let go of my pride and pre-conceived notions of God that He responded to me, when I asked Him to reveal Himself. Ever since then I have been studying the Bible and searching out the answers to all those doubts and questions I had about His word.

Let me also point out that salavtion is not dependent upon how much you know about scripture. Salvation is dependent upon faith in God. God has given us natural knowledge, it is called our conscience. We all know naturally that we have sinned. The reality is that I am no more righteous in and of myself than a mass murderer. If it was not for the grace of God, we all would have the capacity to do such evil. We do not commit such evil because we have been brought up in a positive environment with a chemical balance in our brain that makes it less likely that we would do such a thing. But God is responsible for my environment and my chemical balance. THIS IS NOT TO SAY THAT GOD CREATED MASS MURDERERS. Man created sin, not God. Through God's influence in the world He has kept mankind from destroying himself which is in our sin nature. So the fact that you and I are not mass murderers is a reason for us to give thanks to God for His influence on our hearts. However, Jesus said if w so much as hate someone, we are in danger of the same judgement as a murderer. Hate for someone in God's economy is the same as murder. We look at these things different, but the only difference between someone who hates and a murderer is God's influence in that person's heart preventing him from acting upon that hate.

The only way we can be healed of this disease we have inherited called SIN, is through faith. Faith causes us to deny our natural selfish tendencies, and reach out to our creator. When we do that, God responds to us by revealing Himself to us in an intimate and personal way.

As for your question. You are making a few assertions based on speculation. For example you assert the disciples did not speak Greek. I'm not sure how you could possibly know that. They lived in the Roman empire where Greek was the primary language. But aside from that. Even if they did not speak Greek, it does not matter, because in context of the entire account, it is obvious what Jesus is saying here. Jesus goes on to define what He meant in verses 5 and 6, where He points out that we must not only be born in the flesh, but we must be born of Spirit of God in order to get into heaven.