The Atheist Arguing Job.
Part Four
“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.” Romans 1:18-20 (ESV)
There is one last thing to cover to from this “Atheist Pocket Debater” that I thought I should speak on. It’s titled “Pascal’s Wager” To give you a background on this; it is an argument that comes from the 17th century French philosopher Blaise Pascal and it goes something like this. If you don’t believe in God and you’re right, when you die nothing happens. BUT, if you don’t believe in God and you are wrong, you will suffer forever in eternal damnation or Hell; why not just believe and play it safe? Plus you will get to go to Heaven. Got it? Do you agree with it? I don’t!! There is no heart in it. Doesn’t say a thing about the condition in which to believe with, does it? So we will get to Heaven…just because? Nonsense!!
As I read on, the comment comes up that if you believe you wager (I don’t like that wording) or risk nothing. If you don’t believe, you risk eternal damnation. Then the debater asks which versions of God and Hell are correct. They bring out the contrasts between Judaism, Christianity and Islam and if you were to throw that into the mixing bowl, like the way the debater does, you will get the kind of disbelief that the debater wants to bring out. You might be inclined to think that Jesus was just a good man with some good teachings and that the Bible is corrupted. But that isn’t truth, is it? That is a potpourri of man’s unwantingness of being held accountable to a triune God. Period!!
The debater brings up the matters of prayer between the three heavy hitters of religion. As a Christian we pray to Jesus to avoid Hell. Muslims pray to Jesus they go to Hell. Jews pray to Jesus they waste their time. Then they ask the questions, ‘What do you do? Which rules are correct?” Once again I will say that if we were to take all of this and put it a “Magic Bullet” blender like we see on T.V., we would get the kind of disbelief that is needed to understand the confusion of who to pray to. But for us, if we have a true sense of the surrendered heart, who to pray to and what to pray for is right down the narrow roadway with His arms stretched wide open. Amen!!
Then here it comes, that cop-out of a statement that the world leans on like a crutch. “How about just being a good person and enjoying your life? If there is a God, it seems to be a fair wager (really not liking that wording) that God is certainly more concerned that you were a decent person in your life, and will spare you Hell.” Hogwash!! I would like to know the definition of a decent person. You can get a different answer for every occasion couldn’t you? Well just turn to page two (which is titled “By believing, we are sacrificing too much) on the debater and they will help you comprise yourself to almost every humanist thought pattern that will keep you in the bondage of sin possible. Every Christian, Jew and Muslim can have their beliefs flush down the drain if any of them were surrender over to what is on that page.
But there is a glimmer of truth at the end of this article…”And if I did just pretend to believe, wouldn’t God know that I was a faker, just going through the motions to avoid Hell?” Yep!!! That has been the most truthful thing I have read in this debater. The one thing I have gotten by looking into this debater is that there are people around us that will spend more energy avoiding God than surrendering over to Him. I appreciate that my pastor challenged our church to take a look at this application for our i-gizmo’s. I might ask you to do the same. After all, we all need to defend the work of Calvary and that requires being armed. So make sure your Sword is sharpened and ready for battle this New Year. – Chris Hughes is a frequent contributor to our Freedom Fighter e-votional and a graduate of the Colony of Mercy
Digging Deeper: Proverbs 30; Zechariah 13-14; Revelation 21
Dig This Quote: Even if you are trained in many of God’s ways, as John was, you are still likely to have an opportunity to be offended with Jesus. If you truly love and believe on Him, you will fight to stay free from offense, realizing His ways are always higher than yours. Also, if you are going to obey the Spirit of God, people will be offended by you. Jesus said in John 38, “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So everyone who is born of the Spirit.” Some will not understand you as you move with the Spirit. Don’t allow their unpleasant response to deter you from what you know in your heart is true. Don’t abort the flow of the Spirit for the desires of men. The Bait of Satan -- John Bevere
Determined Digging: Level 1: Acts 1:8; Level 2: John 1:8-14
Determined Praying: The nature of the divine goodness is not only to open to those who knock, but also to cause them knock and ask. -- Augustine
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