The Atheist Arguing Job.
Part One
“The Lord said to Satan, “From where have you come?” Satan answered the Lord and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.” And the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?” Then Satan answered the Lord and said, “Does Job fear God for no reason?” Job 1:7-9 (ESV)
It is not every Sunday that one would hear their pastor telling them to download something that does not reflect the Gospel of Christ but this has happened in my church. “If you have an i-pod, i-touch, i-pad or some other i-gadget you may want to go to the i-store on i-tunes and download the i-app titled “The Atheist Pocket Debater” and give it a read” my pastor said in a roundabout way. Not that I do everything he challenges me to do but this one? So I downloaded it on to my i-gizmo and it has made my eyeballs stand straight out.
This i-book is one of the top selling applications in the i-world, competing with the Bible, and they say it is like “an atheist Swiss army knife” all for only three dollars. This is a complication of arguments against the existence of God and has been put together by Jason Hagen. A professional musician and successful real estate business owner who just happens to believe that there is no God!! I have spent some time browsing through my download and I ain’t too happy with Jason. It’s not that I have a personal ax to grind with him, however Jesus will, but there is a part of this debater that I cannot let go of…and I only have had this application for an hour. So here is my problem.
In a part of the debater, titled “Anti-theist Sermons” the writer begins his argument by stating that many sermons have been based on the story of Job. The story is “a fantastically mythological” one and has a moral to it. But there are “glaring flaws” to it, such as “supernatural deities are placing bets on human suffering.” I am not too sure how many sermons the author has heard on Job but I do not recall the ones I’ve heard (which are very few) ever saying that this is a bet. To engage in a bet would have meant that God was taking a risk to gain something. That is not God at all. The Creator of the universe does not need to risk anything for anyone, Period.
As the introduction went on the author states, “Job was a righteous man. (How righteous was he?)” Well I guess since we live in a fallen world it would be for the unsaved to wonder about being righteous. Later on in the authors argument he criticized the animal sacrifices that God required to cover the sins of men. He calls Him the God of the Old Testament and that most humans find animal sacrifice repugnant and repulsive. “Why is it that spilling the blood from a living creature, whether animal or human, is the action needed for God to grant forgiveness?” He accuses God of having “quite an ego” and that God is “very concerned with his vanity.” Oy vey!!
There is more to this ‘Anti-theist” argument and I will share that tomorrow but recognize that there are these kinds of views out there and that they are growing in popularity as time goes on. It is up to the Christians of this world to continue to stand up and take these arguments to task. Even if the mass media does what it can to shut down the Christian perspective, we need to press on. It is my prayer for the New Year that the Christian community remains dedicated to this purpose. Because when we stand in front of Him and we are asked, “What did you do with and for Jesus Christ?” we will have an answer worthy enough to enter the Kingdom. – Chris Hughes is a graduate of the Colony of Mercy and a regular contributor for Freedom Fighter e-votional
Digging Deeper: Proverbs 27; Zechariah 1-4; Revelation 18
Dig This Quote;
“While Job beheld the harmony and comforts of his sons with satisfaction, his knowledge of the human heart made him fearful for them. He sent and sanctified them, reminding them to examine themselves, to confess their sins, to seek forgiveness; and as one who hoped for acceptance with God through the promised Savior, he offered a burnt-offering for each. We perceive his care for their souls, his knowledge of the sinful state of man, his entire dependence on God's mercy in the way he had appointed.”
Matthew Henry Concise
Determined Digging: Level 1: Acts 1:8; Level 2: John 1:8-14
Determined Praying: Believing supplications are forecasts of the future. – C. H. Spurgeon
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