PERSPECTIVES
By: Sy In short, no. This statement implies that Christianity is made up, not factual. Explanation of this would be extremely lengthy. But the heart of the question, “Is Christianity’s purpose to comfort people?” The fact is that Christianity does provide comfort, for our future. I can’t deny it. All religions comfort people. Islam promises certain desires, Hinduism offers peace and being able to be good enough to be united with the Brahman, Buddhism offers peace, and Atheism make people comfortable with doing the wrong things with no punishment. Christianity shows us that we are unable to be good enough. All religions have their own way of comforting people. By: Devon Karl Marx famously said, “Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people.” In order to respond to how opinions like this relate specifically to the Christian faith, we’ll examine the following points;
Christian persecution worldwide has reached violent, alarming, and unprecedented heights. Christian persecution right here in the U.S. is primarily social and cultural, but it is still very real and it’s growing rapidly. Jesus said that we should not enter into a relationship with Him lightly but rather we should consider the consequences and “count the cost” (Luke 14: 28-33). Persecution, tribulation, and self-denial are not comfortable costs to have to count. The next point to consider is one of the core tenets of the Christian worldview, that “…without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sin.” Hebrews 9:22. The necessary system of animal sacrifice was a bloody, meticulous, and continual method of dealing with the sins of the people. The ultimate sacrifice of Jesus Himself was excruciatingly painful, violent and humiliating. The blood sacrifice is not a concept that would have been conjured up to comfort people. We all have a choice about whether or not to believe in God and accept the sacrifice Jesus made on our behalf. Those who believe and accept will spend eternity with God in Paradise, those who don’t will spend eternity without God in Hell. This is indeed a comforting thought when pondering our own eternal destiny. However, when we consider the fate of friends and loved ones who have chosen to reject God it is a reality that is painful far beyond what could be described as discomforting. Finally, let’s consider the historicity of the Christian Worldview. The Bible enjoys extensive support from anthropology, archaeology, biology, geology, history and literature. The field of textual criticism also supports the biblical narrative as do extra biblical texts including many of the opposing viewpoint. At the core of the Christian Worldview is the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The minimal facts argument developed by Gary Habermas for the historicity of the resurrection of Jesus is one of the greatest, most solid arguments ever made on the topic. (Read the argument and watch the videos here.) We all know that truth is not always comfortable. The myriad of supporting evidence tells us that the Christian Worldview is true, and that it’s not always comfortable. By: R. T.
Denying the existence of God is the reason for a question like this. When truth is uncomfortable for someone they often choose to belittle it and the people who hold this truth to be valid. God does exist and can be seen in all creation. Criticizing Christians for their beliefs is an easy way to write off God and eliminate the need to follow His laws which allows unbelievers to live life the way they choose without feeling bad about their poor choices. This way of characterizing Christians was promoted by Sigmund Freud and Thomas Nagel. In his book, The Future of an Illusion, Freud wrote: “They are illusions, fulfilments of the oldest, strongest, and most urgent wishes of mankind... As we already know; the terrifying impression of helplessness in childhood aroused the need for protection – for protection through love – which was provided by the father.... Thus the benevolent rule of divine providence allays our fear of the dangers of life.” This seems to indicate that Christians are inferior in most every way so they create God to help themselves through life. Christians need protection and to be emotionally coddled. 2 Timothy 1:7 says: “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” God has provided the answer to Freud’s text, Christian’s are given a sound mind through faith in Him and the Holy Spirit. We do not need to be coddled! In Nagel’s book, The Last Word, he made it clear that he didn’t want there to be a God: “I want atheism to be true and am made uneasy by the fact that some of the most intelligent and well-informed people I know are religious believers. It isn't just that I don't believe in God and naturally hope that I'm right in my belief. It's that I hope that there is no God! I don't want there to be a God; I don't want the universe to be like that.” I think this clearly shows that he would rather do the things that please himself and deny the existence of God to comfort himself. He indicates that Christians are intelligent and that makes him uncomfortable in his own beliefs. What he doesn’t seem to understand is his way of thinking doesn’t compare to the God of the universe, we see this in Isaiah 55:8-9: “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.” As Christians we choose to walk by faith in Jesus Christ and to submit our will to His in all things. Submission to God takes strength because we all want to do what pleases ourselves but to submit to God is selflessness. Psalms 128:1 says: “Blessed is every one who fears the Lord, Who walks in His ways.” It is a great joy and honor to submit to our wonderful God and our faith in Him is not a crutch but a blessing beyond measure! PERSPECTIVES
By: JT When you have a door, you can have many people with the a key to the one door, but the key is the exact same for each person. You can’t just choose a random key on your ring and plug it in the keyhole and expect the door to open. The same is true for Jesus and heaven, there are many people in the world of have Jesus in their heart, who is the key, and that is the only key that will work for the door to heaven. You can’t take Buddha and expect him to open the door for you, he cant, he isn’t the key. By: Sy The law of non-contradiction says that ideas the contradict each other can’t both be correct. They may even both be wrong, but not right. An example is that the earth can’t be a sphere and and cube at the same time, it must be one or the other, or neither. The same is true for religions. Islam and Christianity have contradictory beliefs such as Christians believe that God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are a trinity and Islam says that it is the worst sin in the world to believe in a trinity. They can’t both be right. Some say that all religions are all the same. They are not. Buddha does not offer salvation, Judaism doesn’t believe that Jesus was God, Islam seem to target the foundation of Christianity, and Hinduism has more than a few gods. In this case, the real question is which religion can be proven to be historically accurate. Which can be scientifically proven, and which makes the most sense. Jesus is the only way because we can prove that he existed, did miracles, rose from the dead, and confirmed the entire rest of the Bible (Old Testament). Islam does not offer salvation. Judaism missed Jesus when he was here. Buddhism didn’t become a religion with a God until after Buddha died, and Hinduism has far too many gods and no honest form of salvation. By: Devon The question itself presupposes the core tenet of the Christian worldview; that a man named Jesus died a substitutionary death in our place to pay for our sins. With that foundation in place, we will then examine the following points to answer the question about why adopting that worldview is the only way to get to heaven;
While we have the option to either believe or not believe the words Jesus spoke, we can’t believe that adopting the Christian worldview is just one way to get to heaven. That would violate the law of non-contradiction which states that opposite ideas can’t be true at the same time and in the same sense. Either Jesus is the only way or He’s not. He can’t be just one of many ways, that’s a logical contradiction. If there was more than one path to heaven, why did Jesus have to suffer and die a horrible death? If there was something we could do to save ourselves then why did God send His son to die in our place? The only logical reason why God would send His son to suffer and die, and the only logical reason why Jesus willingly submitted to this solution is because it was the only solution. There was no other way. All worldviews are exclusive. Islam says that only Muslims will get to heaven. Buddhists and Hindus have exclusive beliefs about heaven. Atheists believe that we cease to exist all together when we die. Every world view believes it is the “only way.” Theistic religions (Christianity, Judaism, Islam) are the only worldviews that offer us a choice about where we go when we die. Christian theism is the only option that is not a merit based system. Christianity says that no one can bear the burden of being “good enough.” For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23 And yet it is the only option that offers a full pardon for our sin – because of the sacrifice that Jesus made on our behalf! That’s why He is the only way! Consider these questions; Do you believe that moral crimes should be punished? Have you ever committed a moral crime? Would you like a full pardon? If so, Jesus is the only way. By: R. T.
If you wanted to go to heaven when you die, how would you get there? I suppose you would try to be a really good person and do a lot of things that would help you earn your way to this wonderful place. Okay! Let’s take look at this way to heaven. You might spend all your time, your entire life, doing things that are noble that you believe your acceptance into heaven surely must be guaranteed. The day comes for your life to end and now what? Are you sure you did enough and how will you get there? Did you talk to God about this momentous day and are you expecting God to let you in? It seems there could be something missing here! There is no way to know if you did enough virtuous things, no way to know if God will open up those pearly gates for you. This is one of the most important events in your life and you have to be absolutely certain it’s going to turn out the way you are hoping. What if this method doesn’t work? Let’s investigate another way. What you really want is eternal life in heaven, not just getting God to open that gate but also to be able to live there forever. How are you going to achieve this eternal state of living? We’ve already figured out doing good things really isn’t the answer so you will have to ask your god to change your dying body into one that can survive forever. What god are you going to ask to do that for you? Let’s take a look at some well-known religions and see which one offers you the best opportunity to get that eternal body. Hinduism offers reincarnation and the self is one with Brahman, you must do awesome things and take pilgrimages, but illusion prevents you from understanding it. There are about 10 deities that also have alternative avatars and names. It’s hard to say how many gods there really are but you’ll have to choose the right one. Buddhism offers 2 ways: The devotional way and the way of intuitive knowledge. Your obedience to the Four Noble Truths and the Eight Fold Path are required as well. How will you know which way to choose in the end and how will you know if you achieved the goal? Islam says Allah will weight your good and bad deeds in life and decide if you will get into paradise. You must also follow the Five Pillars. Jehovah’s Witness expects you to perform good works of all kinds and ultimately there is no guarantee you will be admitted into paradise because all the “spots” have already been filled. I think we covered this already, that doing awesome things isn’t enough to really get God to open the gate for you. There is no way to really know what your end result will be. I could go through each religion and lay out the requirements for eternal life, but really it’s pointless. Let me explain. You see, all of the other religions are based on someone who died and is still dead, or on a lifeless item crafted by men to represent a god that has never lived to begin with. It’s dead! This is what sets Christianity apart and above all other religions because Jesus is alive! God himself, Jesus, came to earth to become like you, to suffer like you, to feel all the things you feel. God lovingly reached down to us to save us through Jesus, His Son. (Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.) He was crucified and died but here is the huge difference. He arose from death back to life, he defeated death! (Revelation 1:18 "I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.) No other god claims these things. What difference does this make? First of all it’s not what you do to earn paradise, it’s what you have done. What have you done? Have you done anything that is unkind, mean, or deceitful? Have you lied, killed, hated or cheated? We all have! We have an unpaid debt called sin and no one on earth can pay it for you. We need the perfection of Jesus to pay our debts. You see, Jesus lived perfectly and is the only person who could ever paid your debts because God requires perfection to enter heaven. When Jesus willingly surrendered His life on the cross He paid your debts, all of them! You could say to yourself, “My debt is too big!” But Jesus says, “I paid it off.” You can say, “My debt is overwhelming, I’ve done so many terrible things!” But Jesus says, “I already paid for it.” The payment for your sins is offered to you as a free gift, there is nothing you can do to compensate God for it. You can’t earn a gift and it has nothing to do with your worthiness. (Titus 3:4-7 4 But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, 5 not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.) Jesus became the bearer of our sin and took on the wrath of God. (1 Peter 2:22-24 22 "Who committed no sin, Nor was deceit found in His mouth"; 23 who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously; 24 who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness--by whose stripes you were healed.) This brings us back to the question, what difference does it make that Jesus arose from death? Jesus is alive having defeated death and He is offering you this as well. A dead god cannot offer you anything, only a living God can provide you the opportunity to go to heaven, and because He has already defeated death, you can too! He will give you life, a new body and eternity. All you have to do is trust in Him, repent of your sins and accept the gift. PERSPECTIVES
By: Sy A common argument is that since God is all powerful and all loving, that there should be no evil in the world if He truly exists. The situation is much more complicated than that. In the beginning, God made everything including people. God made people special and in His image. One day, Eve, the first woman, ate fruit from the tree that God told them not to eat from. This is the only thing God had said not to do, but they did it anyway. Eve got Adam, the first man, to eat some as well. They then had realized their mistake and hid from God, but you can’t hide from God. God said that there would now be pain death, dangers, and animals would fear people. This is how evil got introduced to the world. The question remains, “If God can tell the future, then why did he put that tree in the garden?” The answer is simple. God wanted us to love Him. For us to truly love Him, then there would also have to be a way for us to not love Him. Eating the fruit from that one tree was sinning against God. Adam and Eve had been told that they could be powerful like God if they had eaten the fruit. They put themselves before God. They did not become powerful because it was a lie from a serpent. We have all sinned against God most simply obvious by looking at the Ten Commandments. Therefore, there is evil in the world. It is all our faults, not God’s. God does not have to be non-existent for there to be evil in the world. By: JT Suffering exists in the world today, not because God allows it, but because of the collective human sin that occur every second in our world today. When God made Adam and Eve, he blessed them with the gift of free choice and they, like us, made a mess of their choices and let evil into the world. Now, God is all powerful meaning that he could destroy evil and sin as whole with a single thought, so why doesn’t he? That would mean that the free choice that he gives all people would be worthless. If you went through life where you were led by the hand and any mistake you made made no impact or had no consequence, what value would your life have or what would you ever learn. God is a loving father who hates to see us suffering, but it is not His fault that it exists, it is our fault and our choices that make it possible for there to be suffering. By: Devon To answer this question we’ll expound upon the following points;
Our Heavenly Father deals with us, His children, in ways that are not unlike we as earthly parents deal with our children here in the world. As parents, we know it is not wise for us to remove any possibility of suffering from the lives of our children. If children get everything they want and are protected from every disappointment and trial they will be spoiled and unprepared to deal with life as adults. Sometimes God allows us to suffer in order to get our attention. Rarely does a person ever become closer to God, learn to lean on Him more and trust Him more fully, during times of peace and prosperity. It is when we experience times of suffering or hardships that we are far more likely to draw near to God. C.S. Lewis said it like this, “Pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pain: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” Also, it is imperative that we know and remember that if we want to live in a world where love is possible for us, we must live in a world where free choice is granted to us. In a world where we are given the freedom to choose between good and evil, people will sometimes make evil choices that will cause suffering. However, if we did not have freedom of choice, we would not be able to experience genuine love. Without the freedom to choose between good and evil, right and wrong, we would be robotic, operating on instinct alone and therefore incapable of being able to give or receive love. God wants us to be free to choose whether or not we will accept and return the love He gives us. By: R. T.
Why, oh why, is there suffering in the world? It’s ugly and painful, heartbreaking and destructive, it brings sadness, hopelessness and anger. It just doesn’t make sense why a loving God allows all of this heartache. Let’s draw ourselves back to a larger view of suffering. How did it start and why? God created a perfect world and created perfect humans to live in it. When Eve chose to disobey her Creator and let Satan deceive her, this is the moment sin entered the world and this is what allows suffering to exist. Everything changed from perfection to approaching disaster. Satan brought this disaster upon us maliciously and purposefully. This is his plan for you, to bring pain and agony to your life in every way he can devise. (1Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.) God only wants to give you peace and hope, (Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.) but we want to shake our fists at God and angrily convict Him with our hearts (Jeremiah 17:9 "The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?), “How can You allow this!” We prefer a God that we can hold accountable and in turn bring Him down to our level, “Guilty!” We also believe He isn’t so powerful and amazing because He can’t seem to stop all this hideous suffering, He’s ineffective and therefore not worth believing in. Pride is revealed in these wrong views of God and suffering. (Psalms 10:4 The wicked in his proud countenance does not seek God; God is in none of his thoughts.) We are so very prideful, believing we deserve an easy life, a painless existence, a utopia of all that is good and pleasant. Suffering is not good or evil in itself, it doesn’t exist on its own but dwells in the hearts of sinful men, born of Satan and delivered by us to one another with indifference. But God uses these ugly painful experiences for great good. (Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.) Pain draws us inward causing us to ask why this is happening, we want to know how this serves any purpose. We wrestle with our very soul, wondering if God caused this. “Why me? Why this? Please take this ugliness away!” Suffering points us toward God and urges us to make a decision of belief or allow ourselves to suffocate in unhappiness, self-pity, and bitterness. Satan is claiming you! Taking possession of you fully. He is deceiving you! (2 Corinthians 11:3 But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.) Inside what we really want is comfort, nearness to God and nearness to someone who can save us. When something is tempered, like metal or chocolate, something is blended into it to bring it hardness or a more desired consistency. Suffering is God working in you, tempering you. When suffering is added to men it brings about something better in the end, something stronger and more beautiful. Soldiers are tempered by combat, it gives them wisdom, strength, courage and the will to prevail and win against the enemy. God is tempering us, adding some of His Son, our Suffering Savior, to make us stronger and so much more courageous. (Psalms 66:10 For You, O God, have tested us; You have refined us as silver is refined.) When we realize God is real and there waiting for us, we will want to snuggle up to Him and begin to learn who He is and why we exist. We were created for His pleasure and to serve Him. Suffering brings us to His feet in humbleness and love, eager to know Him with all our heart. (1 Peter 5:10 But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.) God uses suffering in the world for good even though Satan means it for evil. Satan HATES you! He wants to destroy every cell in your body and drive you to an anger filled grave without God. Don’t allow him to win, be refined by God like gold and let Him temper you to become a mighty soldier for Christ! (James 1:2-4 2 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. 4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.) God is not wanting to save you from suffering but to save your soul from eternal torment. His great wisdom and love, even though sometimes painful, will change your suffering into eternal life if you will allow it. (John 3:16-17 16 "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 "For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.) |
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