The following argument has been in my mind for decades… ever since I was converted from Atheism to Bible believing Christianity.
I am not a trained academic or Logician myself, Yet have attempted to solicit dialogue on my conjectures from several ‘Trained academics’ yet so far have had no response.
Thus I have never received any Rebuttal that might dissuade me from my conclusion… simple Atheist assertions that ‘God does not exist… or Satan does not exist’ are not arguments but groundless (and in my opinion erroneous) claims, and this post will attempt to prove the idea that even if I cant say Satan’s existence today is knowable… that at one point back in history of all reality… his existence was a certainty.
The following is an expanded form of my assertion, just to lay down the framework/ context of my contentions plainly.
That I say Satan’s existence is a Logical necessity is based upon the Title Jesus Christ called Satan… “The Father of Lies”… ie Satan *invented Lies* and deception… or at least he was the first *to actually lie*… and this brings up the principle of non-materialist *Free will*.
Christ calls himself… The Way… *The Truth* and the life and the Bible says that *all things were created by him and for him*, and many Infidels who cannot get past their notions of Determinism therefore argue that ‘if the God exists… then *God himself* is responsible even for Satan’s lies… because God made Satan, yet as I have already said they are unable to accept any notion of any created being having autonomous free-will that may differ from the ultimate will of God himself.
Yet the concept of Free will is fundamental to Christian Morality… It permeates the whole Bible from the very Beginning when God commanded Adam not to eat of the forbidden fruit, and it is what makes us *morally culpable* for our own actions while exonerating God for giving us the Liberty to make choices … for good or ill.
“…And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” (Gen 2)
The Fallen Angel Satan entered the garden and deceived Eve… Adam then chose to disobey the commandment of God Almighty and ate of the Forbidden fruit… and then tried to blame God for what happened by saying “… And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.” (Gen 3vs 12)
Yet God was not responsible for Adams choice to mistrust and disobey God… even though God did create *the possibility* for Adam to so choose… It was Adam who was the free will moral Agent who made the choice and that is why Adam was morally culpable… and God without blame.
God is completely within his right to so order his creations of both the Angels and Humanity with the *potential to sin against him*… Not making us *mere robots*… but True *Children* whose love and ongoing obedience to his Divine rule is not something imposed upon us by our nature… but something *real* and special… and moral… none the less this requires having so ordered things that *the potential to rebel against God* was an inescapable necessity to the dynamic of being able to freely submit to his Sovereignty.
So Like the temptation of Mt Everest in the distance calling vain Men to their doom… trying and Conquer its peak… so to Did God create *the potential for Evil*… for Rebellion… yet that was only as a counterpoise for Freewill love and submission.. not because he *wanted* anyone to rebel… yet still to have *Loving Children* rather than Robots… God Deemed this risk to be worth it… and their would be few honest people who would prefer to be like Ants… wholey driven by their instincts and physical drives, than to be as they are… with Freewill to determine their own lives and activities… Taking credit for their own virtues and successes.
Now I have laid out the groundwork, I can address the main point of which the Title of this post… God Created The Highest Heaven… God Created The Holy Angels and that was When Satan was ‘Lucifer’… the highest Angel in that Order of beings.
I have already explained that God created them with Freewill and gave them the scope to exercise this essential component of their being for which they were created.
An unknown length of ‘time’ passes, and then God Created ‘the Heavens and the Earth'(yet not Mankind)…. and it was sometime after this that Lucifer became jealous of God… and desired to be worshiped… and that is when Evil grew in his ‘heart’ and he chose to Rebel against God.
This is when Satan decided to start telling lies… To corrupt many of his fellow angels into following him instead of God Almighty.
So While the *potential to tell lies* had always existed in counterpoise to being able to tell the truth…. Satan was the first Being to *ever exercise* that potential… he became ‘The father of Lies’.
and it is here that I now posit my Logical challenge… We exist in a reality in which *Telling lies* is a fundamental fact of Human existence… liars exist… Down here on Earth Lies are a currency as often traded in as the truth, which of necessity raises the question… who… in the entire existence of all reality… was the first being to ever tell a lie?
We know that because lies exist today that somewhere someone back in eternity past *must have been the first Lying being*… and it is this Being The Bible calls *Satan*… the Father of Lies.
Satan is therefore a Logical necessity!
And Satan is the Being responsible for Bringing All Evils into the world… even though We as Freewill moral agents are responsible for our own choices to follow Satan’s lies rather than trust in God Almighty.
This is a fundamental Dynamic to our existence!
Change my mind!
Satan Laughing… spreads his wings.
Some Atheists may say… “The father of Lies must have been a human being”… I admit that this ‘Idea’ is worth contemplating… yet when you consider that there is virtual universal consensus on the conjecture that the Human race has not existed for very long… and that even the Earth has not existed for ever… and that Most Atheists also harbour Ideas that we are probably not the only intelligent beings in the universe ( that this is a belief for which they dont have any more *Physical evidence* for such alien beings than I do for Satan seems to escape them… they base their conjectures on no more firm unproven rationale than I do for mine)… yet still does not their own conjectures make the notion that ‘the father of lies’ must have been a Human being uncertain?
Could not *another being* that pre-dates Humanity have told the first lie? (He would then be Satan!)
And then Atheists have an even greater problem… *How lies*… or even *telling the truth*… can even be concepts… if we exist in a Purely Materialistic Reality in which everything is inextricably locked into a chain of physical causation right back to the big bang?
Tim Wikiriwhi.
Christian Libertarian.
Dispensationalist.
King James Bible believer.
Last night I came home with my son Roman when my wife announced to him… “It’s Halloween!”.
I had just finished a short Father/Son discussion in the car about this subject with him saying that Halloween is about evil things, and that Christians ought not to celebrate it, yet that because our God is stronger than the powers of darkness we have nothing to fear from it.
I had just stopped off to buy a few beers, and had contemplated buying some sweets to give to the kids that knock on the door… yet I decided against it… we were not going to do the Halloween thing…. yet that changed as soon as we walked in the door.
My Wife knew Roman was looking forward to it, and she had bought a few treats to hand out…. I was not going to argue about it… and I did not even protest when she asked me if I had any Ghoulish accessories I could put at the letterbox to let kids know this was a ‘Trick or treat’ house.
I had a genuine Pig’s skull and a ‘Chrystal skull’ Vodka Bottle that I painted white with red eyes and these were placed on our letterbox.
Nor was I done yet, and I hastily created the ‘Happy Halloween’ poster (Below), and as you can see for yourself, my intention was to take this opportunity to tell any of the neighborhood kids who showed up trick or treating( and their Guardians) that Jesus loves them!
I personally think this is the best way for a Christian to deal with this Pagan celebration… esp if they have young kids too, because it teaches them many valuable lessons that I believe are important about Christian tolerance, Liberty, and conduct.
Christianity is not properly *Anti-Everything*… anti-Fun… etc.
I am not saying that Christians who refuse to have anything to do with Halloween are doing anything *intrinsically wrong*, as long as they are abstaining from a desire to please God, rather than from some sort of Pharisaic legalism that thinks Halloween should be illegal, and that Children who dress up as Ghouls are some how *worshiping Satan!*
That is delusional… and Medieval!
That most Christians today tolerate things like Halloween is Far more within the Spirit of Love and Grace… ie… truly Christian Civility… than earlier times when The church Tyrannized over society and Burned witches, and heretics at the stake… Tortured and maimed Thieves… etc.
So many Pharasaic type Moral legalist Christians dont grasp what the Gospel of grace is all about… or how living by grace in the fellowship of the Mystery is supposed to be vastly different than living as an Old Testament jew under the Law!
Our Apostle Paul had to constantly tell his spiritual children not to return to the Yoke of Bondage… the Law…(Galatians 5) and he even said that *We can even eat meat that has been offered to Idols!*(1 Corinthians chapter 8)… such is the great liberty we have in Christ under Grace!
Thus there is no reason why a Christian cant attend a celebration, a wedding, etc when invited by his non-christian neighbours… even if the food has somehow been consecrated to a false God!
And this is another important fact of Liberty we Christians ought to understand today… That we have nothing to Fear from the powers of Darkness!
“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”(2Tim1vs7)
It is pure superstition to think that by allowing your kids to dress up for Halloween that somehow you are inviting Satan into their lives… Because *OUR GOD IS GREATER* than Satan and his demons.
“Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.”(1John4vs4)
Taken in totality The Christian does not have to fear being ‘defiled’ or ‘cursed’ by his unbelieving heathen neighbours…
We can Love them any use every opportunity that presents itself to practice Christian love, Liberty, and Grace!
Matarehua/ rotokakahi This Epic Painting by my Cousin Jae Jae Wickliffe
I do not deny the reality of spiritual things… far be it! I am no Materialist. I have personally experienced a spiritual encounter, and I study phenomena that does not fit the materialist paradigm, from freewill, to Near death experiences, etc… all the things that Materialists must arbitrarily delineate as ‘Illusory’… yet I am careful not to be carried away by delusional hokus pokus.
In My library of History, Philosophy, Religion, and Law I have a Buddha, some African ‘Fetish’ looking wooden carvings, an Aztek God… among other things.
I have recently acquired a large painting of a Taniwha… a Water spirit… and guardian that My People believed lived in their Lake (above)…. and I fear no ill from any of these things… they are a part of History, and culture… and it is important to me that I teach my 8 year old son that Christians should not behave superstitiously towards such things, and to understand them… not fear them or be ignorant about them.
The most important thing being that I educate my son in Biblical truths, and Ethics… and set him an example by my personal walk… so that he sees how important The Lord is to me, and how I implement Christian values in my life… Loving my neighbours… being heroically Good in spite of hardships … To have fun! and enjoy life… to have grace… to be wise… Appreciating the many blessings we enjoy… asking The Lord to help us live as a good Christian… to revere the wisdom of the scriptures… and not being superstitious about things like Halloween.
If you raise your children right they will be able to navigate themselves in this world even after you have gone… even if they stray yet still will they have a light shining in the darkness to where they can find their way again… The sure foundation you taught them, and your own personal example.
Next Year I hope to have greatly improved my Gospel poster ready for October31, and also have some cool gospel tracts to give out with the sweets.
By my reckoning we are not going to stop Halloween from being celebrated in our communities so we may as well turn them into an opportunity to share our Saving faith that is so desperately needed by the lost.
Tim Wikiriwhi.
Christian Libertarian.
1611 King James Bible believer, Dispensationalist.
Update: In response to a comment below about ‘All Hallows Eve’ as a ‘historically Christian celebration’.
I appreciate your view… ‘All Hallows Eve’ today can basically be considered the same as celebrating Christmas, and Easter…. Looking back in time we see the Roman Catholic Church ‘Christianized’ all these days, yet the fact remains that these were all Pagan celebrations.
The ‘Prudence’ of Roman domination and Empire was not to absolutely annihilate the institutions and customs of the nations they Conquered by sword, or by Saint…. but to *assimilate* them so that the people did not feel absolute subjugated (less alienation…less likely to rebel… easier to rule)… and of course more likely to embrace the Catholic faith and submit to the Pope.
Protestants historically have challenged all these types of Popish additions to the Christian faith yet slowly have assimilated these themselves so that it is rare that a christian does not celebrate Christmas with a decorated tree (Pagan), or Easter with chocolate Rabbits and eggs (Pagan)…. and it appears that even Halloween is now becoming the Norm too… despite all its Wikken and occultist trimmings.
Though personally I am uncomfortable with all this business, nonetheless there is a futility in trying to avoid it all, and still retain the christian spirit of Love, and grace… just as futile as trying to get the names of the days of the Week changed from their Pagan origins… etc etc….
I think The important thing is to be aware of the history behind all this stuff, and to teach our Children the truth… without becoming fanatically legalistic… trusting in the Grace of God (as prescribed above).
“Has anyone provided proof of God’s inexistence? Not even close. Has quantum cosmology explained the emergence of the universe or why it is here? Not even close. Have our sciences explained why our universe seems to be fine-tuned to allow for the existence of life? Not even close. Are physicists and biologists willing to believe in anything so long as it is not religious thought? Close enough. Has rationalism and moral thought provided us with an understanding of what is good, what is right, and what is moral? Not close enough. Has secularism in the terrible 20th century been a force for good? Not even close, to being close. Is there a narrow and oppressive orthodoxy in the sciences? Close enough. Does anything in the sciences or their philosophy justify the claim that religious belief is irrational? Not even in the ball park. Is scientific atheism a frivolous exercise in intellectual contempt? Dead on.”
David Berlinski
“If somebody says something to me particularly stupid, yet they say it with Proper Grammar… Then I immediately assume the following…What Graduate school did you attend?…”
Dennis Prager.
“The Chaotic forces have taken over education…”
Watch this great video (below)
Idiot hippies are calling this “Environmental art…
No!
You superstitious fools!
Atheist *Scientists* argue… and they would know… because they are so much smarter than idiots who believe in ‘Intelligent design’… and…. you are not *qualified enough* to have any contrary opinion of weight…. they say this is ‘simply’ a natural occurrence… no design… fully explicable via the laws of gravity, mass, motion, etc.
Pay Homage to Multiverse theory!
We just so happen to live in a universe where this happened…. randomly… without a creator…
Dont argue… you are ‘Anti-science’… (and probably a terrorist)
Just believe….
I have been wanting to do a Blogpost on Objective Truths vs Subjective whims for a long time, yet like so many super important topics… I have procrastinated out of fear of not doing these subjects justice.
Esp in relation to my Belief in the Objective reality of Hell… despite not liking the doctrine at all… and wishing it were not true.
I esp want to talk about how a keynote of a Subjective whimsical thinker is that they refuse to believe in anything they find repugnant… esp if admitting ‘their’ possibility will have implications for themselves that they do not want to deal with.
Fear and loathing.
They are like the Ostrich who seeks to hide from any scary reality by putting their heads in a hole in the ground.
There are *many unpleasant realities* and any rational Cosmology/ belief system must be strong enough to encompass these dark truths.
‘The Problem of Evil’ ‘Theodicy’ being one of the greatest of all Theological/ philosophical topics that challenges the faith of many in Divine Providence and goodness, and many think the Doctrine of hell is likewise a fatal proof against the Goodness of the Lord God of the Bible.
Tonight after work I came across the ‘Meme/post’ (At Top) by one Matthew Joseph on a Facebook Group I belong to called ‘Psychedelics and Philosophy’, and as you can see the question Matt put forward perfectly dovetails with these topics, and without saying too much in this introduction… I hope that intelligent readers will be able to follow my rationale as it flows in the dialogue… despite the fact that during the ‘debate’ comments get inserted in.
It is a raw ‘real world’ conversation… not a fabricated dialogue designed by a clever writer to display their philosophical eloquence… its a battle of words between two antagonists… a bible hater vs myself… a King Jame Bible believer.
I will however just make a few quick points before I post the dialogue.
1. From what I have already said above you can see what motive I had for entering on a discussion of the question posed by Matt. It was not as he says… that I was ‘assuming’ some sort of personal attack, but that my initial comment (which is important because I maintain it’s position throughout the whole dialogue and my later comments are all in context of it) was a sincere attempt to draw attention to ‘Why some people believe heinous things’.. and that it is far more dangerous to assume that all heinous things ought to be automatically and subjectively disbelieved.
2. I admit to making some bold assumptions from the get go… as to why Matt may have posted this question… assumptions founded upon years dialogue, study, etc… and from the reaction that swiftly followed my original comment It becomes clear that my assumptions were perfectly correct.
Matt *Is precisely the sort of person I suspected*… yet still it was not my original intention to get into a bun fight… though once the first bun was thrown at me… I was more than ready to retaliate in kind!
3. With these things in mind I hope by the time any reader traverses this dialogue that they will see that Matts final assertion my arguments are all ‘Non sequitur’ is simply another denial of the fact that I was on point the whole time…
My ongoing comments must be taken *In context* of his comments… He fails to appreciate how he himself fills in the sequence of my reasoning… justifies my progressive assumptions, and makes full vindication of my original comment.
Thus I assert it was Matt who started the petty nastiness… Matt immediately responded in a derogatory manner… debasing the conversation by calling me a ‘Jack ass’… hoping to shut me down… not because he could rebut me… but because he did not like my original moot defending belief in the Bible and hell.
I assert that Matt said almost nothing that equates to a rational argument, and that at all points he displayed the Subjectivity of a God hating sinner… a lost soul who does not want to contemplate the possibility of facing Divine judgement and hell, and in fact he has nothing of substance to offer on the topic of belief.
He only wants to believe things that are non-threatening… non-challenging to his modus opperandi… and esp dont lay moral weights upon his back.
Matt is a Hater of The God of the Bible… and thinks Christians are Freaks.
Atheists like to make their own rules.
Even though their world view is ultimately nihilistic… morally sterile and devoid of value they still like to think of themselves as ‘Good people’…and that they are the ‘defenders of truth’, etc.. so they claim to sit on the Lofty Ground and pour righteous indignation down upon the religious.
It’s all Absurd and inconsistent hypocrisy with their own professed beliefs… yet very necessary for their self delusion.
Matt asserts that I went for his throat from the get go.
Yet still He has given me his permission to include his name and though one of his friends jumps in… he says little of substance and I have left his name in there too.
The whole dialogue is Screen shots… verbatim… Pettiness and all.
I assume only 3 mad people will read it in full… yet I intend to use this conversation in the future debates and discussions.
Now the debate is over, and I dont hold any ill feelings, and it is not my intention to use this blog post in malice against him, and in fact I offer an Olive branch to him and will post him the link to this blogpost and have already invited him to make critisisms and defend himself in the comments.
I hope that he will re-consider my arguments.
I dont want him to go to hell.
I dont want *anyone* to go to hell!
Yet I wont deny its objective reality because it was taught by Christ and is in the Divine Revelation… The King James Bible.
One of my most heavy burdens is watching as my friends and family…one by one… enter eternity Rubbishing Christ and assuming Hell and Judgement are not awaiting them.
It breaks my heart when they make it clear that they do not even wish to discuss this topic with me.
That Hell is real is why Christ gave his life on the Cross!
And To prevent people going to hell is not achieved by denying it’s existence… but by preaching the gospel of Gods Grace!
Preaching The Cross.
Matt will not know that I was once an Militant Atheist myself… so I appreciate how *alien* the spiritual truths of the Bible appear to the Natural man… the Materialist.
It has been argued by atheists that Jesus was immoral because he preached about hell, and that to their thinking eternal damnation in torment is too horrific an idea to be expounded by any Good person.
I admit it is a truly horrific proposition and I understand why even many Christians today try to do God a favour by denying the doctrine of hell… saying it is false teaching… bad interpretation, etc.
They want to removed hell because of the obstacle to faith it represents.. and they wish to escape the burden of arguing that God is moral to eternally Damn sinners … that is a hard thing to sell!
, yet I Choose to trust the Bible, and I argue that irrespective of my personal feelings… that *If hell is an objective reality* then I must Trust that God is Righteous in all his judgments, and that it would be immoral for Christ *not to preach about it*… not to warn sinners they were in danger… and it would be immoral for me to go along with the charade that hell does not exist!
Christians who are swayed against the doctrine of hell because of the difficulties it presents are infact involved in a form of Idol making.
They seek to make an Image of God more pleasing to their subjective desires and vain ideas rather than worshiping the God of the Bible… as he has revealed himself to truly be… including his holiness and abhorrence of sin and evil…
Look at all the vile evil in the world!
Look at the wickedness and perversion of humanity!
With one breath Atheist point at Wars and Tyranny… all the suffering of the weak at the hands of the strong, and accuse God of not caring about evil… yet with their next breath they condemn the Doctrine of Divine judgement!
They say The God of the Bible is outrageously Jealous and angry and that his judgments are too harsh!
Am I the only one who sees the contradiction and hypocrisy of the infidels?
Richard Dawkins pandered to the seething rage of millions of Atheists against God and his judgement, and instead of boldly standing on the scriptures and counter-striking with the Doctrine of the Love, Grace, and mercy of God… many Christians Retreated in the face of such an onslaught… just as they have shamefully done on so many issues vital issues like accepting ‘Evolution’… like accepting that Rationalist position on the Scriptures as merely a human construct full of Myths, and Superstitions.
And when they have removed Hell from their beliefs… they also have removed the greatest moral burden and impetus to preach the Gospel of Salvation to the lost!
God’s Judgement is evidence of the *Moral weight* and *Value* and Meaning he places upon Human life and action.
God takes our existence and activities very seriously!
God has managed to show his mighty wisdom and Both Judge and show mercy!
Remember that God himself is not willing that any should perish, and that he commended his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners , Christ died for us.
Those that end up in Damnation *choose their fate*… by rejecting Christ and the mercy of God.
So here it is…. “Let he that hath an ear to hear… let them hear”.
Tim Wikiriwhi
Christian Libertarian.
Update: After posting the link to this post to Matt and his friends, he responded with more vitriol and personal insults displaying he is completely incapable of being rational on this topic.
And his friends weighed in too and it is telling that in more that 70 comments that were made… at no point did any of them actually address the content of my argument… and focused on pouring out guile on me personally.
They even wheel in some guy they think is a Philosophical ‘Heavy weight’… yet he proceeds to act as ‘amateur hour’ as the rest!
‘Tim is a Maniac’
‘Tim’s post is too long’
‘Tims writing is shit’… etc etc.
These are the whole tenor of my detractors ‘arguments’ against me… quite pathetic… very telling about their personal spiritual condition.
Of course ‘indifferent’ dialogues of noble and pure thinkers are Myth.
Fantasies invented by philosophers… In the real world most contentious Dialogues are full of ugliness, and so this dialogue fits in well with ‘Keeping it real’.
Anyway here is the discussion … and I will have to add some more of the later comments… I do know it’s ‘quite long’ in today’s short ‘attention span’ culture, yet I think the subject is worth taking time to ponder.
Hero Christian Biker and NRA member Stephen Willeford.
We are a race of fallen beings occupying a world locked in a spiritual battle between Good and evil… this much is certain… and yet just as a person who is born blind cannot know the difference between night and day, so too many people are completely oblivious as to what is *Really going on* …oblivious to what it means to be moral free agents walking upon the Earth living out … and why there is Evil in the world.
Many People look at such evil events as happened in Texas… or having suffered some terrible injustice mistake these things as Proof that there is no such thing as divine justice… no real value or point to human existence or human suffering… and no code by which a person ought to live that may be used to distinguish what is Objectively good from what is evil.
The Darkness and nihilism seeps in.
Some souls… by the Grace of God are not beyond salvation, and though they may wander in darkness for much of their lives eventually they see the light and start to walk towards that light, others may get glimpses of that light… yet because they actually enjoy the darkness… or because they dont think they need the light… purposefully turn their backs.
And still some … because their hearts are filled with contempt and malice…and Ego… Become Evil personified… Monsters whose Evils are on such a scale that sickens all but the hardest of hearts… and blackest of souls.
It all comes down to Choice…. and faith.
This post is not going to expound on that theme to any great depth (I will attach links at the end), yet that opening paragraph had to be said to give context to the Horrific events of Terrorism going on all over the world as we speak, and in particular the Murder of 22+ Christians in a church in Texas by a psychotic Christian hating Atheist out on a personal vendetta… yet this Devil met his Nemesis in the Person of Stephen Willeford… a Christian Biker who rides with the Baptist Church… A man who ran out of his house in bear feet towards the sound of Gun fire while jamming a handful of rounds into the mag of his AR. (ArmaLite Rifle)
Evil Bastard Devin Kelley.
Where was God when all this was happening?…. mocks one of my atheist friends.
God sent one of his Christian soldiers into the nightmare… Stephen… a member of the NRA (an ex instructor)… knew what his Moral Duty was… he did not allow fear or concerns for his own safety be his dominating value, but his love of humanity… and this was an hour his moral weight was being tested… and in an exploit of bravery that is deserving of both Christian and Biker communities highest esteem … and in full accord with both fraternities Codes of conduct, this barefoot Christian Biker engaged the fully armored terrorist mass murderer in a close quarter gunfight and drove him from the scene… and from the testimony of the pursuit that he and another Brave man have retold… it is most likely that One of Stephen’s shots found its mark… The Terrorist crashing and dying a few minutes away from the scene.
Here we see two different world views… two different sets of values at play… One Full of Evil… the other Full of Good… and I feel sorry for anyone whose personal world views blind them to such Patently obvious and objective truths.
Do you think This atheist killer who took pleasure in slaughtering Christians in their place of worship expected to face Divine judgement for his crime?
Boy was he in for an unpleasant surprise!
And this is an important truth to appreciate… No Evil will go unrewarded.
God will judge us all.
Watch the Video interview below… All this is there… yet I wanted to make this Personal tribute to this Hero, and a short rebuttal to my Atheist friend who Mocks God’s existence because of the Evil choices Humans are free to make.
Peggy.
When Evil is at it’s worst… so too do the hero’s…. The best of Humanity ,,, among the most ordinary folk *also* come to the fore….
I must pay tribute to Peggy Lynn Warden
“SUTHERLAND SPRINGS, Texas — Among the horror of the worst church shooting in American history is the story of a woman who made a simple decision.
She would not let the gunman take her grandson.
Peggy Lynn Warden, 56, was among the 26 victims of the massacre at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, on Sunday. Her brother, Jimmy Stevens, said she used her body to shield her grandson, Zachary Poston, 18, when the gunfire erupted…”
This is what it means to be truly a moral and loving person…living in a spiritual realm where Morality really counts!
Anyone can feign being a good person when the going is easy… its when Evil is afoot that a persons Mettle is truly tested… their values shine forth.
Absolutely Essential principles were clearly demonstrated by these events.
What is needed to halt ‘Evil men with guns’… or rampaging Cars…etc *Is Good men with Guns*… and here we see why an AR is not as it is falsely called ‘An assault rife’ but a valuable too of Defense!
It was his AR that gave him the advantage he needed to drive off this Psycho in full battle dress… Kevlar Body armour and Helmet.. yet who only had a pistol, which though a lethal weapon is far harder to deliver accurate shots esp in the heat of battle.
It is also a testament to the Wisdom and justice of the second amendment right to bear arms… for self defense, as everybody know that the Nutbar Left… and their Political ambitions are to take away guns from law abiding citizens… esp the AR… and we clearly see there that Had not Stephen had both the means of defense and the willingness to risk his own life for others… that most likely more people would have died… and the purp may have even escaped… to rampage elsewhere… before the Police could intervene.
His truck was filled with guns and ammo.
Official reports however say his death was ‘self inflicted’… should we automatically accept this on the word of the Police? These days that is a dubious assumption! And from the preparedness and actions of this Evil Child-killing scumbag it is far more likely he would have tried to shoot it out to the bitter end…going down in a hail of bullets rather than cowardly ending his own life.
I think he was Dead before the cops arrived at the scene.
Johnnie_Langendorff… Drove his truck with Stephen Willeford in high speed pursuit of the killer.
People use Guns everyday in self defense in America yet as this goes against what the lefty media and Liberal agenda attacking the constitutional rights to bear arms these daily events don’t receive anywhere near the sensational and skewed Media reporting as happens when guns are used in mass killings.
Many innocent People are alive today… and many would be killers, rapists, etc are dead because of the Americans right to bear arms for their own defense… yet why is it when you try and communicate this with Sheeple who think guns are evil… all you get is a cross eyed dopey stare and a smirk?
Their anti-gun arguments are quite frankly infantile, on every level… and yet because of the prevailing numerical popularity of their mindset in countries like New Zealand there are Crime waves of armed Robbers robbing Dairies and Gas stations… Liquor store workers get bashed and murdered because the thugs know their victims will be defenseless… have been rendered ‘sitting ducks’… by the legislators… who then carry no remorse or responsibility for the injustice they are party to!
When governments criminalizes the right to self defense, and denies the right to bear the means to do so, good people become the prey of violent criminals… Like lambs to the slaughter…
Apart from the fact that we can attribute the rise of violent crime *directly* to Oppressive Nanny state laws like the war on drugs, alcohol and cigarette Tax hikes, and apart from the fact that the second amendment was written to guarantee that Evil oppressive Governments cannot lawfully dis-arm the people, the truth is when you outlaw guns… they dont just ‘Vanish’ …. you create a society in which *only criminals have guns*.
Thank God Stephen Willeford had an AR!
Ride On Brother!
And Salute to Peggy Lynn Warden… who gave her life for her grandson.
Dont let the haters win… Keep the faith!
Tim Wikiriwhi
Christain Libertarian.
New Zealand Biker.
This subject is in the very first rank of importance.
In writing this I hope to be able to communicate with both Believers and Unbelievers… which is difficult because the two extremes favour different approaches… one tends to run away when bible verses are deployed… assuming they are about to subjected to a nutty Bible bashing, yet the other tends to think that unless a post has a bible verse every second line that the post is some sort of Satanic plot!
Yet as has become my style, I will speak in plain ‘Natural’ terms as much as possible yet will stitch in scripture as I deem appropriate.
I believe this topic has value both as a means by which both Unbelievers and believers may gain important insights.
The whole theme is very much one of the most essential aspects of the proper relationship of any thoughtful person to the Almighty.
I will talk about how to deal with ‘struggles and issues’ in believing in Gods good character in due course, yet first I must present the basics of why Faith in his good character is essential.
There are many many vitally important reasons why it is *Faith* that puts us in the right relationship with God, and why he has made it the key to our relationship with himself.
One of the most interesting.. and telling facts is that *Faith in Gods Good Character* has always been… and always will be essential… even after/when we are in his very presence and have walked and talked with him simply because of our Limited capacity for knowledge… and his Infinite Divinity.
There will never be a time when we have full understanding of all things about the Almighty, and thus even though we may have a massive understanding… and countless proofs of his Good character… there will always exist a gap between what we know of him… and his full Glory… and thus Faith will always be needed to bridge this gap.
Then for the well versed and philosophically minded it is also understood that ultimately… all our knowledge… even scientific knowledge rests upon unproven assumptions that are accepted by faith!
At the very heart of the History of the Philosophy of science was the foundational ‘articles of faith’ that came directly from monotheism and is why Theists were responsible for the birth of modern science and why they occupy the Chief seats and hold the chief honours for virtually every branch of modern science… as the Founders.
Primarily the impetus to scientific discovery and secular explanations was born of the belief in a single Creator of everything who made the universe and ordered it according to Divine plans that may be rationally understood, and that the universe functions via Fixed Divinely established Laws… that Man may investigate and understand… because these laws are themselves rational and a testament to the truth and rationality of God Almighty.
Facts like this are not open to debate as they stand as Empirical reality… facts of the history of the philosophy of science… rather than on mere hypothetical intellectual ideology and bias.
One of the greatest delusions people like Hitchens, Dawkins, or Tyson have foisted onto the gullible atheist sheeple is the notion that the advance of Science has been synonymous with the advance of atheism… and the discrediting of faith in the Bible.
So far-be-it from being true that Christian faith… is as Atheists present the idea … as being a ploy to suck in the gullible to abdicate their minds and blindly swallow the delusions of religion… these atheists are displaying an abject ignorance of the dynamics and logic that underpins the Christian call to faith.
That *some False Prophets and priests may plot that way is not a justification to say *All Faith is Irrational and for fools*… and in fact to be an Atheist requires a heck of a lot of faith!
Atheists like Dawkins, Hitchens, and Harris display both rank ignorance and patent dishonesty when they fail to acknowledge the debt science owes to Theistic cosmology.. yet of course their entire arguments fall over if they were to admit the truth!
They prefer to sell books like ‘The God delusion’… ‘God is not Great…how religion poisons everything’ etc etc.
And millions of chumps who hunger for any reason not to believe the bible swallow their Atheist delusions by the ship load.
Most of these people have blinders over their eyes and hands over their ears… they cannot be reached via reason… and in fact Spiritual truths are completely alien to them.
This being so any reader who has even reached this paragraph in my post and is honestly contemplating what I am saying… has hope!… as their hearts are not as hard as impregnable stone.. and they are more open to Objective discourse.
The Bible’s call to faith is not only Philosophically profound, it is also beautifully exemplified in its explanations as to how and why the world is the way it is…warts and all.
That Faith has always been… and always will be essential is shown to be true by the Fall of Lucifer… who was not like us in that we have never seen God…. He not only existed, came and went from the very presence of God… he also held the most exalted place in the hierarchy God had established In Heaven… and on the original Pre-Adamite Earth.
Lucifer had it all…. except the worship that was due to God alone.
It was the dark seed of Pride in Lucifer that caused him to feel he was worthy of greater honor than what he received that caused him to hate God… ie he began to question the goodness of God’s character.
Satan Seethed with envy… and was overcome with a delusion that God was treating him unjustly.
And Lucifer began to tell them (The Angels) lies.. and so under the weight of his Cunning…it was a naive lack of faith that allowed him to deceive many of the Angels into rebellion against God… and as Satan later on… also deceive Adam and Eve into disbelieving Gods word.
… yet I will mitigate the fall of the angels and of Adam and Eve in this one sense… ‘They were like Children in their innocence’… apart from the wiles of The Devil… the father of Lies…these matters might never have entered into their minds before Lucifer sowed his own mis-trust in the goodness of God’s character into their hearts… like a disease.
Yet still had they maintained faith in the goodness of God, Satan would never have been able to cause them to sin….
That Trust in God’s Good character and his right to be Lawgiver and Judge is clearly seen in the test and singular law that God gave to Adam with respect to the Tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil.
Adam (and Eve) were free to enjoy the fruits of the Garden except the one in the midst which God deemed to be prohibited… and it is a prima facie demonstration of how Satan works.
Genesis 3 King James Version (KJV)
1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
From the above we see that Satan was able to sow distrust in Eve about God’s Good character by suggesting God was deceitfully withholding good things from them and had lied to them!
Satan said “Ye shall not surely die…” in direct contradiction to Gods word… and instead of trusting in God Good character and right to make binding laws upon them… she was decieved by this ruse… and fell into sin.
^ in those few words we find why Faith between Conscious Moral Free agents and our Creator is essential… even when unlike today… Humans and Angels dont have to have faith in God’s existence because they experienced him empirically!
They walked at talked with him!
In those few words we also find the key modus opperandi of Satan!
If he can get you to question the Good character of God Almighty and get you to think that God’s word cannot be trusted… Satan has you exactly where he wants you… and in such a condition of accusation against God… Against his word… and against his right to be Moral Lawgiver and Judge… it is impossible for you to please God!
You have switched rolls!
You now claim to be the Judge of the Almighty!
You now think *you can decide* whether or not you will be subject to his Laws and Authority!
You doubt the truthfulness of his word.
And that Satan is now ‘the God of this fallen world’ is demonstrated every day by the perverse Global phenomena of Mankind in their arrogance asserting that The Lord is Unjust… that his judgments are unfair and tyrannical… and that Mankind ought to be allowed to write their own rules… if any!
And there is plenty of Material for the children of Satan to continue to employ to ensure the next generations perpetually believe the God of the bible is a moral monster!
And it is Godless Humanity that have turned this world into a cesspool of filth and violence!
The Height of Human vanity, depravity, and delusion knows no bounds!
I will add links to this post that will some degree expand on many of the monumental points that I have touched upon above only briefly, yet without making this post extremely long I wish to tie in all this with some personal dilemmas I myself wrestle with… and how … knowing the dynamics of faith … I choose to deal with them.
The philosophical and explanatory power of the Book of Genesis is so Gigantic as to be a fingerprint of divine truth!
When contemplated with a sober mind it is not surprising that this text has remained one of the Greatest philosophical/theistic texts of all time!
Not only does it enunciate with clarity the origin of the Universe and humanity, but of equal importance it explains one of the great challenges to faith in the goodness of God’s character… the existence of Evil… and what we today describe as ‘Natural calamities’.
These are things that Satan, and his children constantly use as wedges… as darts … to fire at the innocent and unlearned… and the foolish and rebellious… to undermine any faith they might entertain that God is Good and just.
These accusations require their own rebuttals and The bible contains sufficient facts and demonstrations That God is Holy, Just, and Loving, etc… none the less it cannot be denied that there are things not only in reality but especially within the scriptures that even bible believers like myself *Dont like*… and these test my faith… yet I do not do what so many so-called Christians do… and that is deny the validity of these scriptures… and come with sophisticated excuses why they should not be believed!
The last century saw a massive falling away from bible believing faith… a sad and unnecessary retreat in the face a relentless rationalist onslaught.
Many Christians were deceived into believing the theory of evolution was a scientific fact that conclusively disproved the story of Adam and Eve.
Many were fooled by sophisticated arguments that the God of the Old testament was Cruel and unjust… these people succumbed to the wiles of the devil and instead of clinging to the scriptures and trusting in Gods Goodness and supreme Justice… they caved in and abandoned the very core of their faith.
Had they held fast to their faith… they would not have had to endure long before the evidence would mount up that evolution was a false hypothesis, and that the very complexity of the cell and DNA discovered by the advance of genetics would utterly vindicate the story of Adam and Eve and of Intelligent design. (though of course atheists still refuse to abandon their superstitions and sadly many Christians also have not returned to faith in the book of Genesis as they in fact still have not accepted that a Good God could judge the world by flood)
Now I would never suggest that the question of the existence of Evil and of Natural calamities should never be contemplated!
I believe such questions to be very important… yet we must take extreme care with how we walk on this treacherous soil!
There are great snares and pitfalls that await the stumbling fool.
Satan appears as an Angel of Light!
He and his minions will always present pseudo-moral arguments in accusation of Gods word and contend that believers are guilty of accepting atrocities.
Such as is common with Rationalists who assert the story of Noah’s flood is not only a myth… but also as being a clear demonstration that the God of the bible if he were real… would be a monster!
And falling for these sorts of vacuous… yet powerful delusions has caused untold millions to abandon faith in the Book of Genesis… the very foundation-stone of Gods word!
And I will not deny that the story of the Flood is chilling to the bone!
I will not deny that it would be very satisfying to think that this story is just a fable invented via superstitious and manipulative Priest-craft… and to thereby self-vindicate simply writing the whole business off with the waive of the hand… and then to mock those who cling to these scriptures as Cretins.
And thus thinking we have strong enough science… and moral arguments to subdue *any reasonable debate* We can proudly declare ourselves liberated from Tyranny and myth!
And there is no shortage of Rationalist material… even from so-called ‘Christians’ who argue the Book of genesis is not to be trusted… that it is just allegorical, etc… even though that is not how Jesus or Paul our Apostle saw the Book.
They were Bible believers!
They Knew God was Holy, and just in his judgement, and that his word is trustworthy!
Abraham lived Post Noahs flood… there was probably plenty of empirical evidence for the Flood all about him and when God called him to leave Ur and go to a land in which he would show him… and that God would bless him and make his children innumerable… Abraham believed God and it was counted unto him for righteousness… saith Paul
Yet still!
Knowing all these things does not fully take away many things that I struggle with… things that I still dont like… things I know are true… yet wish were not.
Yet I accept that Reality and Moral truth are not Subject to my will, and that there are many Objective truths and realities that do not require my assent.
I know that any person who cannot accept the possibility of such objective realities … and still not trust in the Good character of God … but deem anything they dont like as proof that Either The God of the bible does not exist… or that if he does… then he is Not loving and good… to be the height of vanity and self delusion!
These people are the very definition of subjectivists … the very height of Ego-mania… in that they think they… in their ignorance and folly… can stand in judgement of the Almighty!
They have fallen into Satan’s trap.
And the greatest proof of this can be easily found when you investigate what ground it is upon which they base their own moral authority!
Any cursory examination of their moral foundations reveals their feet firmly ensnared in a swamp!
Ie They have no higher moral ground upon which they can justly claim to stand in moral Judgement of the character of God!
And when I read the scriptures I find that most.. if not all the objective realities and Biblical truths that I dont like are also things that God himself has expressed great sadness… such as the Righteous judgement of the lost in eternal torment… and in particular of many of my own friends and family whom I love and sympathize with!
and it is when contemplating this that I begin to understand the terrible burden that is God’s alone to bear.
Who among us would desire to Judge the deeds of humanity with Absolute justice?
None of us are even worthy to throw a stone at an adulterer.
Such Judgments can only be done without hypocrisy by an absolutely Holy Judge.
Yet still who would deny that Evil cannot be allowed to go unpunished?
Indeed another of the great deceptions of Satan and his minions has been the accusation that God seems to allow so much wickedness to prevail… and go unpunished.
Here we expose another gigantic hypocrisy and contradiction in the Atheists contentions against The Lord.
With One hand they curse him for letting the destruction and misery upon the innocent of Sin go unpunished, yet on the other they Curse God for executing Judgement and justice upon the wicked!
Though I would dearly love to believe in the Heresy of *Universal salvation* …. or that the Damned will simply be annihilated… etc etc… I know that this is not the true doctrine of the scriptures… and it is out of the knowledge that Judgement is coming for the lost… for their wickedness… esp the wickedness of rejecting Christ’s sacrifice on the cross… that I busy myself with trying to share the Gospel of the grace of God, and attempt to win souls to faith in the trustworthiness of the Bible as a Divinely inspired and preserved Revelation from God to us.
This entire post has been written in the hope that even a few souls might grasp the truth… and share it with their friends, neighbors, and loved ones.
I am painfully aware that I am a very unworthy vessel of these truths… and that many of my own character faults and evils do not reflect well on Christ or the Gospel… nonetheless I dare not remain silent… my time is short… and my burden is heavy with Fear for the lost… esp for My Friends, neighbors, and loved ones.
I also have no doubt that some of my interpretations and assumptions are still cloaked in ignorance… and I look forward to the day that God himself dispels many of my fears with his light.
Even though I know the gospel truth… That Christ has taken away my sins upon his cross…I still fear my own evils and worry about standing before the Holy and Almighty God… the righteous Judge of the wicked!
All I can do is trust in the gospel truth… and rest in my faith in Gods Mercy and grace is sufficient for a wretch like me!
When I am confronted by challenging moral criticisms or supposed scientific ‘facts’ that are presented as ‘proof’ the Bible is in error for which i have no immediate counter-argument, I have learned to rest in my faith and to search out an answer… and in the 30+ years that I have been a Bible believe *Never* has any such challenge ever proven to undo my rational belief in the scriptures.
Most Often it is not long before the supposed ‘Evidence’ against the Bible is exposed as vacuous… sometimes it may take years before I discover the answer and yet sometimes the criticism is found to be valid yet in these cases they expose an error in my own thinking… and actually help me to discover greater truths that were there all along in the Bible… yet may have been buried under some false doctrine I had picked up along the way!
It is always wonderful when I learn new, and deeper truths as they tend to increase the harmony of the scriptures and dissolve cloudy areas that needed exposing to the light of truth.
So it is that the Christian and Bible believer has nothing to fear from giving skeptical arguments a fair hearing.
For me this has been an ongoing process that has strengthened my trust in the scriptures and made me wiser.
^Not anonymous! Its Proverbs 3vs5,6!
That is in essence the Ultimate position of Faith for the humble soul who knows the limits of his own wisdom yet understands the Truth… that the bible is to be believed… for valid reasons.
I know that I dont know everything, and that I must trust in God in respect to my struggles… and to hold tight to his word no matter what storms of controversy I must face.
I do know God Almighty is Holy, Just, Loving, and good, and that as God he must judge sin… and yet out of love has provided a way for the humble who admit their own sin to be forgiven and saved… by pure grace.
“For God commendeth his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners…. Christ died for us”
“And whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved”.
“Faith is the power of an optimistic possibility thinker whereas Doubt is the power of a pessimistic impossibility thinker”
Robert H Sheuller.
The Greatness of the Bible in its explanatory and Value instilling powers is truly Mind-blowing!
Esp when compared to the inescapable nihilism which is what atheism offers!
Faith must overcome skepticism.
Compassion must be stronger than Hatred.
Hope must be greater than despair.
Trust in Gods Word and Good character must overcome the wiles of the Devil.
We have Jesus Christ…and the Gospel of the grace of Grace of God.
Tim Wikiriwhi
Christian Libertarian.
King James Bible believer.
Dispensationalist.
Today I want to make my rebuttal of a friends defense for Larkin Rose’s expressed position on God/ Deism.
Larken Rose Recognizes the fingerprint of Intelligence within the incredible design of living things yet appears ambivalent towards any further thought or discussion about the ramifications of this Revelation.
He reminds me of the late A Flew… the once High priest of Atheism who in the face of the discoveries of Modern science esp the complexity of living things abandoned his Atheism for belief in Intelligent design… yet never made the full traverse to Bible believing Faith in THE LORD.
Flew was an honest thinker yet ran out of Time…whereas Larken Rose still has time to discover the truth… yet his attitude appears to me to be that of a Man who does not really want to go down that road…and I question his motives.
I argue why Deism may once have been forgivable/ understandable in the distant past, yet is inexcusable today, and that now Reason and Logic are on the side of the Theist.
While both entail the belief in a Creator God, what distinguishes Deism from Theism is that Deism rejects Divine interventions in the affairs of Men… No Miracles to circumvent the laws of Nature… and esp No Divine special Revelations to mankind.
It will be necessary for me to skip over large portions of history and related material for the sake of brevity such as the Deism of the 18th century.
(I will have to do a separate Blog post on these important aspects of this topic at some later date, and insert a link to it here)
Watch Larken Rose Here…
*********
Ten or more years ago I was asked to debate Hamilton based Atheists for the existence of the Christian God.
One of my opponents was Garry Mallett from Act.
Now The only reason I have mentioned this debate is because the 2nd part of my argument was the logical assumption that *If there is in fact a God (in the Full context of the word) and that he made us human beings…as Rational, conscious beings… that it would be a reasonable assumption to think that surely he would communicate with us some how… who he is… why he made us…etc rather than just leaving us Ignorant about such things.
That was my premise for why it is rational to at least consider the possibility that the Bible’s claim to be the Divine Revelation from the Creator of the Universe to be a plausible possibility at least… and that the honest thinking person having first concluded that the Universe and Living things are best understood as the products of intelligent design… that following upon that, that The Bible answers the questions that naturally flow on…. The *Who* is this Great designer of the Universe… and what message does he have for us… his Conscious Rational Moral Free Agent Creations… and most importantly… that such a Revelation is precisely what the rational mind would expect from the God who is there… rather than silence.
This is an argument that places Theism as superior to mere Deism and in fact renders belief in Deism today to be a cop out…poor reasoning at best… mostly willful ignorance.
Deism and Theism both draw upon what has been described as ‘Natural religion’… Ideas about God derived from looking at Nature… looking at what has been described as ‘The Book of God’s works’.
Yet Theism makes an additional claim that we have a second Book that we may also gain direct and infallible knowledge about God.. The Book of his actual words.
Deism/ Natural Religion is great up to certain point, yet severely limited as it can never tell us Human beings *who God is*… only that he is there… and that he is super intelligent and super powerful, and that there is some sort of Objective moral law which We Human beings ought to at least try and live by… that gives our Moral sence some legitimate foundation and purpose… rather than simply being some sort of illusion… mere sentiment… mere feelings.
An Idea such as ‘Kharma’, or ‘Reaping what you sow’… These are the sorts of ideas human beings have arrived at via contemplating nature… ‘Do unto others as you would have done unto you’ … ‘Be Good’… we know that’Theft is evil’…because we hate it when someone steals from us… so dont steal from others… yet still none of this has anything higher than our own opinion to rest upon… or the opinion of ‘wise others’… and is therefore not impervious to arguments of evil men that assert that all such moralizations are vacuous.
Dark minds may posit the question… Maybe the Deity is Malevolent?
Do not Floods and Earthquakes signal that our creator is far from a caring God! ????
Is the only Moral Rule …contrary to what the wowzers would have us believe…that the Strong may subject the weak?
Are they trying to subject the strong to whiles of the weak?
What the heck is really going on?
Deism cant definitively answer this… yet it gives those whom cling to it a certain self-justification for not being Nihilistic… for claiming they are Moral and good. (something that is necessary because of what the bible describes as our innate knowledge/ consciousness of Good and evil)
“For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:…”
St Paul. Romans 1:20.
Yet Deism says *Nobody can claim to really know*.
Now I love many of the Great heathen thinkers of classical times, whom both believed a God exists, and that Humanity should be moral, and because of the times and places in which *they lived* I accept that they really had taken ‘Natural religion’ to its highest forms and that they had no ‘Rungs upon which they could possibly ascend higher and closer to God’, and that they were Good, wise, Moral men…In the context of how good any man might be under such circumstances. (Separated/ aliens from Israel, mostly living before the advent of Christ)
It is at this plateau that many of the Great Heathen moral thinkers had arrived.
The Stoic Marcus Aurelius is supposed to have said…
Though Aurelius lived post-Christ and had ‘herd’ about the Christians and held negative opinions about them, I am not sure to what degree he had any real first hand communications with them, or any familiarity with the Old testament/ Book of Genesis, thus I tend to consider his situation as very similar to that of the *Pre-Christ* Gentile thinkers… Aliens from the Divine revelation.
He was a very interesting thinker…God will judge him. Here is an interesting link to this Topic
Now As a Christian Theist who believes the Bible, I know there are Mountains of the most vital truths missing from this Natural/Deistic Faith position because I have the Divine Revelation… The Holy inspired and preserved words of God Almighty himself esp the Facts That Humanity is under a curse because of our Sin, and that our Sin separates us from God and puts us in danger of His Judgement and Damnation.
*It is possible*… because it is so obvious… without the aid of scripture to apprehend by the power of reason alone Humanities fallen/ sinful condition… our wickedness… our depravity… our Cruelty…. and perhaps from this a rationale may be conceived of the need to somehow appease the anger of the God(s)… for justice sake… all sorts of weird Ideas have been proposed… *Yet via reason it would be impossible to conceive of the doctrine of Christs virgin birth, and substitutional atonement for our sins, and resurrection*…from nature alone.
Indeed many Naturally minded people find these Doctrines repugnant… which leads to my main contentions for this blog about Deists living today in western civilization… and their willful ignorance/ rejection of the Divine Revelation… the Bible in which all these doctrines are laid out in the most Logical fashion from the very beginning in Genesis.
As I have said Deism is severely handicapped to what degree it can reveal the nature of God to us… limited in its certainty of moral precepts, etc, none the less *Today*…far from these limits as being considered by trendy thinkers as pitfalls… these people actually *enjoy* them!
Most of these are people *Today* … follow a trend that became fashionable from the end of the Great reformation who… for various reasons…good or bad… *hate organised religion* (which tends to be where Theistic claims of having ‘Divine revelation’ are most prevalent) … they also enjoy what they see as ‘the Freedom to do as they please… the only moral restraints being their own conscience… and esp that Deism can make no emphatic claims of Divine Judgement for moral failures… it cant even emphatically state the validity of any Human Judgement derived from Nature.
They will say that ‘Reason’ is the only Authority they will subject themselves to, and as they have reached to limits of Reason… they cannot be subject to any higher Moral authority or law.
Philosophers love to quote Hume … “you cant get an ‘Ought from an Is”.
Its Funny though that ordinary people seem to be able to do just that without much trouble appealing to sentiment… they are not moved by arguments that say we can have no confidence in these… in fact to my thinking …the rational approach to this mystery of consciousness to the ideas of Good and evil is not to say ‘We cant ever know’… but instead to set out *in faith* on a Pilgrimage to discover some means by which our sentiments can find Objective validation… It is a quest of discovery for the Divine revelation from the Intelligent Creator whose existence is testified to by his Natural handiwork.
And It is an Irony that in a work by the great skeptic himself David Hume called ‘Dialogues concerning Natural religion’ in which there is a debate about the existence of God, in which Hume deploys his skeptical arguments in the person of ‘Philo’, yet stunningly… in the final analysis his Book ends by giving the victory to the Theist ‘Cleanthes’!
My contention at the Debate was that not only did the Deity Communicate his existence and expectations of Humanity via Prophets and the written word… He intervened into Human affairs in the Most personal manor…. He visited us… and Walked among us… God was manifest in the flesh.
“Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken:…”
Now when you add up all the components I have briefly discussed above you ought to be able to grasp why it is that I myself am a Theist… a Bible believer… That the fact that we westerners have easy access to the King James Bible and the book of Genesis therein, that willfully seeking to remain ignorant of the Divine revelation is inexcusable… and why it is that I have a pet dislike for modern Deism… esp its corruption/heresy of what I call Christian Deism which I see as a pathetic retreat from true Christian Theistic faith…caused by a weakness in faith and Bad reasoning… in the face of Atheist sophistry. (Topic for another Post)
I actually struggle to contain my contempt!
I need to take 5… and chill… and remember that it is only by Gods grace that I myself am a Christian at all.
I need to remember *How alien* I once was… How utterly incapable of apprehending the existence of God let alone the truthfulness of the Bible!
It is with all this in mind that I decided to keep calm and write this post..
Recently A friend of mine tried to justify the Deism of one of his Favorite thinkers Larkin Rose, which I had critisised as being pathetic… because he refused to make the most basic inference that Intelligent design demands *GOD* and that from this obvious conclusion… if he was an honest thinker… would demand he then begin a personal pilgrimage to discover *Who* this Grand designer is.
My friend began to repair to the arguments *of Classical Deism* and the limits that Logic faced in that direction… as if that excuse… which of course appears quite valid when looking back to heathen lands… and times before Christ… aliens to the Divine Revelation, Yet This blogpost is my express rebuttal to that argument when applied to modern thinkers like Larkin.
It is invalid for Thinkers today to simply rest on that ancient Plateau… because they live post Christ and have access to the Bible and history.
This makes them fully culpable for rejecting Jesus Christ.
Socrates on the other hand was not privy to the Bible… and I even conjecture that he would have become a Christian had he been given the opportunity… so many of his conclusions about Divine things being in perfect harmony with the scriptures… that he never had opportunity to read.
I say that If Socrates would have considered the Gargantuan explanatory power for the first chapters in the book of Genesis…plus all the rest… the Biblical explanation for the existence of Evil…The explanation of why God has separated himself from mankind… why we die… why there are Natural disasters, etc etc that it is very possible that he would have realised that this divine revelation gives a great logical basis for Biblical theistic faith when one applies it to the world about him.
That in fact the Bible *Is the Revelation* of the Intelligent designer of everything…his message to us his creatures… esp telling us *Who he is*… and what is *Really* going on.
So I question why it is that though Larken Rose sees through the delusion of atheistic evolution, he still is apathetic towards discovering *Who God is* and challenge him to Read the King James Bible… to really contemplate it’s message… and that in doing so he would no longer be in a position to argue that Logic ends at the plateau of Natural religion.
The Bible is a logical extension from the Plateau at the top of the Mountain… upwards out of the stratosphere all the way… a direct line of communication to the Deity… a logical vindication of Bible believing christian Theism.
Of course Satan and his minions have been attacking the Bible, and via sophistry undermining faith in its veracity as The Bible is the Ultimate Fortress of God for the believer. It is the Ultimate Lighthouse in the storm of life Shining its beams upon the treacherous Rocks of peril, and a Guide of Safe passage… salvation to every soul who sees its light and navigates into the Harbour of God’s love and Grace.
Satan is the enemy Of God and Men’s souls…The Father of Lies… it was by cunning craftiness that he was able to deceive Eve, and get her to disbelieve Gods word and to Eat of the forbidden fruit, and he has been at this game the whole time… Deceiving… yet the word of God remains like a Rock
Happy Resurrection Day!
Tim Wikiriwhi.
Protestant, 1611 King James Bible believer, Dispensationalist, Christian Libertarian.
The last paragraphs of Humes Dialouges concerning Natural religion…
If the whole of Natural Theology, as some people seem to maintain, resolves itself into one simple, though somewhat ambiguous, at least undefined proposition, That the cause or causes of order in the universe probably bear some remote analogy to human intelligence: If this proposition be not capable of extension, variation, or more particular explication: If it affords no inference that affects human life, or can be the source of any action or forbearance: And if the analogy, imperfect as it is, can be carried no farther than to the human intelligence; and cannot be transferred, with any appearance of probability, to the other qualities of the mind: If this really be the case, what can the most inquisitive, contemplative, and religious man do more than give a plain, philosophical assent to the proposition, as often as it occurs; and believe that the arguments, on which it is established, exceed the objections, which lie against it? Some astonishment indeed will naturally arise from the greatness of the object: Some melancholy from its obscurity: Some contempt of human reason, that it can give no solution more satisfactory with regard to so extraordinary and magnificent a question. But believe me, Cleanthes, the most natural sentiment, which a well-disposed mind will feel on this occasion, is a longing desire and expectation, that heaven would be pleased to dissipate, at least alleviate this profound ignorance, by affording some more particular revelation to mankind, and making discoveries of the nature, attributes, and operations of the divine object of our faith. A person, seasoned with a just sense of the imperfections of natural reason, will fly to revealed truth with the greatest avidity: While the haughty Dogmatist, persuaded, that he can erect a complete system of Theology by the mere help of philosophy,
KS 228
disdains any farther aid, and rejects this adventitious instructor. To be a philosophical Sceptic is, in a man of letters, the first and most essential step towards being a sound, believing Christian; a proposition, which I would willingly recommend to the attention of Pamphilus: And I hope Cleanthes will forgive me for interposing so far in the education and instruction of his pupil.
D 12.34
Cleanthes and Philo pursued not this conversation much farther; and as nothing ever made greater impression on me, than all the reasonings of that day; so, I confess, that, upon a serious review of the whole, I cannot but think, that Philo’s principles are more probable than Demea’s; but that those of Cleanthes approach still nearer to the truth.
As a Bibliophile few things can compare to the discovery of a Book that contains monumental truths, that have been Forgotten or ignored.
Truths that radically challenge the direction of current politics and thought.
They can be plainly written… innocent of any political motives… yet the weight of their implications for anyone who grasps them are profound.
And it can take *special people* to appreciate how important such works are…. people who appear to have been specially prepared before hand to be able to recognize and understand what is at stake, and to be burdened enough to carry this information out into the world… knowing they will face a hostile reaction from the vested interest of the status quo, and all the people who have been deceived into believing the Falsehoods and revisionist histories which prop up current political agendas.
This Blog post is yet another one of many that though it is of First Rank in importance, I have delayed producing it out of fear that I am too exhausted to do the subject justice… so I have procrastinated.
I have decided that I best approach this subject in two parts… My personal rant being part 1, and the full body of the topic in part 2… with a link to to this first part in the appropriate spot.
I almost chose not to write this first part because of it’s “ME, ME” factor…. “I’m so great” “I’m So Clever!”… which is rightfully cringe-worthy, yet I realized that unless I do write this first part, opportunity to write some valuable insights will missed, as well as some valid explanations as to why I feel compelled to write such things.
Now I could write this in a less grandiose manor, yet again this would miss opportunity to employ literary (and biblical) ‘motifs’ that deserve to be utilised because of their value and thereby kept alive… so let me beforehand apologise for any lofty Flying horses I paint myself riding across the Stratosphere. 🙂
I do so because I think it’s important for Individuals to feel valuable, and that their lives have *Real Divine purpose*… that they have Missions to achieve in this life…. if only they are brave enough to follow their convictions.
Enough said… Here is Part 1… about a plain blue covered little book called ‘The advance of the Missionaries’ by H.C. Fancourt.
A book that deserves to be republished and disseminated throughout New Zealand schools, and Bookstores.
******
‘Black is the new white’. When being a Radical becomes the new conservatism, and requires a new Radicalism to confront it… enter Tim Wikiriwhi.
I am fast approaching 50 years of age, and of Maori descent on my fathers side as my name evidences, yet I am also a Christian, and of Pakeha descent on my mothers side.
I hope mentioning the fact that I am a Christian will not cause too many of my readers to click on the x… yet as my subject in the title says this blog is about a book on Missionary work, I will assume most readers will be prepared for some discussion on religion.
And it is with this in mind that I have decided to weave in some Biblical constructs into my story to flavour it with the concepts of Providence, and that Human individuals each have a Divine purpose and reason to be here on planet Earth.
It is up to individuals to seek out what is their vocation.
So let me breifly explain why I believe the circumstances of my life… though at first glace appear to be full of negativity, ultimately have fitted me to be able to write on the following topic, and embark on such a radical departure from the socially engineered norm.
As I have already said, my Mother was Pakeha, my Father was Maori, and without dragging out the tale, it will suffice to say that My mother left my father when I was about 3 years old because he was a violent drunk.
You can find a more detailed account of this in a speech I delivered >here.
I am not here wallowing in a ‘Poor me’ story… though obviously when these sorts of troubles break up families this can have very terrible effects on Children, and sadly this is a very common horror faced by a disproportionate number of Maori Kids, comparative to other demographics.
This does give me an inside view of such social and individual trauma and how it can affect the development of Maori Kids and their perceptions about life.
One aspect that may be seen as a negative that happens to many Maori children is that my parents break up resulted in us three children being separated also from our Maori whanau, and with the process of time becoming completely alien from that side of our heritage.
We missed out on growing up in close relationship with our Maori kin… and without doubt that is a great loss.
Yet it at this point I wish to introduce the concept that even through bad events and circumstance, that Providence can shine and work for good.
When I and my brother and sister were separated from our Maori whanau and their influence, we were immersed in the Pakeha world and raise under the wing of two of the most wonderful human beings that ever graced God’s own… My enlightened and benevolent Pakeha Grandparents John and Marie Clark.
They were Both Teachers, Both Civic minded and liberal, Compassionate towards Maori, and raised a family of socially conscious children who went on to be Teachers, Policemen, etc.
My Pakeha Grandfather was Loved by the Maori people because he went out of his way to help them, spending many years teaching in Maori communities, he learned to speak Maori fluently, and was given a Taonga of Great Mana… a carved orators stick of which few can compare in power and beauty.
This Taonga would be the highest treasure in our family… it’s significance and meaning inspire awe and reverence for our great Father.
Much Higher than his medal for public service from the PM Geoffrey Palmer.
My Grandparents adopted a Maori child into their family who was the victim of abuse, and he became my much loved ‘Uncle Paddy’.
Granddad Died in 2006 and I have written a short tribute to his memory >here.
So though My parents Divorce had negative aspects… they were greatly mitigated by the positive influences of my Pakeha family… and so my upbringing in the early formative years of my life was separated from my Maori roots.
How this separation has served to prepare me to now help those of Maori Blood, I liken unto the biblical story of Joseph who was sold into slavery by his envious brothers… a terrible thing to happen yet a circumstance that Providence used to save the children of Israel from starvation and destruction in the wilderness.
I would hope my readers are familiar with this historic drama, and those of you who are not should go and read it.
You will find it in your Authorized King James Bible Genesis chapters 37-50.
My point is I believe God/ providence works like this in all our lives… that we experience circumstances to prepare us for our true mission in life.. and make us uniquely qualified for the noble tasks that need men and woman of character and principle to champion.
Thus I was not radicalized with the idea that Pakeha are Greedy Racists that Rob Maori of everything and seek to keep them underfoot.
My experience was the very opposite… that there was a loving and mutual respect between Maori and Pakeha… an enjoyment of each others company…. Co-operation for commonly held ambitions.
I was not raised to think of myself as a Warrior… or that my Race was of any consequence at all.
I was taught to be self responsible and to treat my fellow humanity with respect and equality irrespective of their ethnicity.
And I was encouraged to dream about a future as a Teacher, a scientist… eventually I chose to become an engineer, which is a *secular trade* meaning it is not an atheist trade, or a Christian trade… not a Pakeha trade… or a Maori trade… it is simply ‘A trade’… a set of valuable skills and wisdom that is useful to *anyone* who chose to apply themselves to gaining mastery of the art, and it will enable *anyone* to earn an honest living and support themselves and their whanau, and help them to pursue their dreams and ambitions at their own expense.
Life is *what you make it* So many people wallow in misery because of their own foolish choices and ideas… yet love to blame others.
God was preparing me for my task ahead. I Believe this, yet even if you dont believe in providence, I am sure you can see how circumstances molded *this Maori* to perceive the relationship between Maori and Pakeha New Zealanders as being very different to the political Propaganda of the Maori Radicals and what has become via 4o years of agitation ‘The official line… that Maori are the victims of a Rapacious ‘invasion’ and that all their negative social statistics may be squarely blamed on colonisation and Pakeha Racism instead of their own lack of Ethical self responsibility… their willful dependence on Welfare… their victim and blame mentality… all of which is being fed by a nasty political class of racists who use this misery for their own political ends.
Just how ensnaring and hate-generating such ideas are is reflected in the vehemence of the protester against anyone (like myself) who dares challenge the legitimacy of their outrageous claims.
The mainstream media labels anyone who dares challenge the Official line of pandering to “Maori Treaty grievance” as being ‘Hate speakers’… Racists… dangerous … whose opinions must be suppressed.
So such were the influences of my early childhood.
Yet everything was not Rosy, my mother shacked up with another dangerous psychopath who would take us away from the safety of our beloved Grand parents and traumatize us for years to come… causing all sorts of psychological and physical problems and wounds.
as this has little to do with the topic I will skip it, other than to say that my life has never been plain sailing, and that I myself have traveled a stormy sea….and come very close to ship wreak many times… yet thankfully I have always had … that island of good sence to look back to… that was the values my Grandparents and Pakeha family instilled.
I became a Christian at the age of 18, and thus began my walk with God… I at least knew who he was, though my rebellious nature would take years and years to subdue… and still to this day is quick to sin.
My ongoing saga would involve suffering a personal family break up and several dark years in depression… an outer-body experience in which I became another person… dangerous and filled with anti-social malice.
I did things in this period of darkness completely out of character and this brought me into trouble with the Law.
Things for which I am greatly ashamed of, yet must still own.
Today I have tried yet again to reinvent myself… not to be *That guy*.
I now council men who find themselves in such circumstances to take extreme care not to spiral downward like crashing plane… for it makes climbing skyward again so much harder, and many of the hurtful things that you do to others can never be undone… and you must carry those deeds in your conscience for the rest of your days.
These experiences have given me empathy for the countless lost young men who end up on the wrong side of the law, and a belief that anyone can recover themselves and reform… if they have the will to do so.
After many years of rebellious youth and young adulthood, again Providence would conspire to lead me out of the storms… and teach me the final lessons that I needed to learn so that I would be ready to face the monumental task ahead.
I grew in wisdom of the principles of Christian ethics, and in Political science, and how to apply the principles of ethics to actual outcomes in real time… the apprehension that we exist in a realm of moral cause and effect, and thus the massive implications of our personal moral self- responsibility for our own choices and values we embrace.
For it is one thing to be taught about ethics and values, but quite another to learn how to actually apply them and understand how our ideas impact on our lives.
Most of my life I have lived very much as the socialists tell us things are… Like a little boat with no oars at the mercy of Gigantic waves and Riptides…. a victim of circumstance… rather than circumstance being the great moral teacher… calling each of us to quit moping about… crying about how tuff and unfair life is.. and instead take command of our own vessel and purposely steer ourselves into the wind.
To take responsibility for the sort of person I am…. that my own character is determined by my values and the choices I make.
I am not particularly intelligent, so I learned most of my valuable life lessons the hard way by personal experience, rather than by learning from *other peoples mistakes*… which is far more intelligent.
When I reflect on my own life I see how I myself was contributing to the negative social statistics… yet by the grace of God I have at least been smart enough to learn to stop banging my head and wonder why it hurts… and been led to apprehend the nature of the real issues that face Maori … and others who occupy the blunt end of our society.
My School has not bequeathed me with fancy certificates of learning… no honors… no Initials follow my name.
I dont speak from having sat at the feet of Ivory tower intellectuals… which is another blessing, for the schools of our nation have been filled with the Propaganda mongers of the Treaty grievance industry.
I have learned the true value of the Bible, not just in the salvation of my soul for the next life, but it’s Life saving ethics, and it is at this point that my introduction to this wonderful little book begins, and why I value it among my most precious books, and also why I will be taking the trouble to give my Blog readers a worthy Review.
I have not touched on the doctrines of treaty separatism today or how the malicious doctrines of Maori Radicalism have now become ‘the conservative view’. It has been enough for me to describe my journey and how today *I’m the radical* because the truths I champion are in stark contrast to what is being taught in schools and via the media.
You would think that there would be thousands of Non-tribalist Maori out there with similar experiences as my own, who would agree which what I have said, unfortunately these thousands to great extent have been swept up by the Radicalization of The Treaty separatists as much as those whom have close ties with their tribes. Indeed many of these Maori have been made to feel ashamed because they dont know their Whakapapa… like my Uncle Paddy… and recently the Comedian ‘Gish’ explained these feelings too (see video below).
Because such a large percentage of Maori actually live in cities completely disconnected from their tribal roots… often not welcome there… The separatist movement has invented another Tribe ‘Ngati Urban Maori’…. so they too can join the Grievance band wagon.
So to borrow from the Bible again, I feel a bit like John the Baptist…. alone in the wilderness calling my fellow Maori to ‘Repent’… and make yourselves fit for the kingdom.
Mine is the voice of one crying in the wilderness.
I am appealing to Maori who can see that what I am saying is true… yet of course it is dangerous and alienating to any that would dare stand with me in opposition to the political agenda that grants Maori special rights and privileges… an entire industry and ‘economy’ and hundreds of millions of tax dollars.
Again in regards to the vile racism of the Treaty grievance industry I quote from the book of Revelation… “Come out of her, My people, so that you will not share in her sins or receive any of her plagues.” Rev18vs4.
I want to highlight the truth that Parents, and teachers hold such a massive power over the minds of their children and young people… and that even adults who are ignorant of the truth can easily become the willing victims of evil propaganda that pretends to have their best interests at heart… yet leads them down the Road to hatred… Read about where haters come from >here.
Haters Gina Hate…hate hate, I’m asking you to heed Taylor Swift and Shake Shake Sake it off!
For your own sakes.
My Father disappeared into the South… changing his name to avoid Child support dues… and eventually fathered another little Girl… my sister whom has only recently made contact with us… much to our Joy, and we are yet to met.
She has lived in complete isolation, and so it will be a great day when we embrace.
Also via facebook I have been able to establish contact with many members of my Maori whanau and it is heartening to know that they are open to building closer ties.
I am grateful that in spite my views are in stark contrast to what is considered ‘normal’ and ‘right’ that they have all been very warm towards me which shows greatness on their part, and one of the chief reasons I am writing these blog posts it to try and explain myself clearly to them to hep them understand that I am not the enemy, and that in truth I have the best interests of the Maori people, and all New Zealanders as a whole at heart… because in truth there is no conflict of interest.
Liberty and Justice, and equality before the law serves everyone best.
Life is hard… a struggle, and there definitely are political injustices that make it difficult to climb up out of poverty , yet they are not the injustices as described by the dishonest and deluded socialists… of the Left and Right.
In fact most of the injustices may be squarely leveled at the corrupt Nanny State politics of these socialists themselves!
They tell Maori they are victims, they tell them they are not responsible for their own well being… etc etc that they need to be treated as basket cases…. yet all this is doing is passing the buck and ensnaring Maori further in welfare dependence and Race hatred.
I Seek to absolutely reverse these doctrines of victimism and dependence… yet to do so I must speak Hard truths that require the self-ownership and personal effort and responsibility of each Maori person *as an Individual*.
And at the heart of all this lies the ethics that are integral to Christianity… self reliance, self responsibility.
It was Providence that brought the Missionaries here from England.
God’s Compassion for the Maori.
My next post I want to start explaining the monumental impact of the Christian message upon the Maori people… as it was brought to these islands by the selfless and brave Missionaries who came here not out of greed, or a desire for conquest… but out of Christian Love and a desire to shine the wondrous light, of the gospel and the brotherhood of humanity… and how this Saved the Maori people from self destruction and the misery of the darkest forms of savagery and superstition that were the lot of Pre-European Maori subsistence.
That contrary to the lies of the Anti-colonialist Maori Radicals… that Christianity and British sovereignty raised up Maori out of the most wretched conditions… and that in comparison even the most destitute today are still by far better off than when Tribalism was in full swing, and War, slavery, and cannibalism was the norm.
I have lightly touched on this >here.
I have spent the best part of two decades attempting to share the positive vision I have for Maori that will come by ending racial separatism, and starting a new Era of Self-Reliance and Co operation, and I will continue to do so as long as the evils of Racist treaty separatism continue to destroy race relations in our nation and keep Maori wallowing in self-pity and malice.
These are at the heart of why I seek to promote the truths that are in this little volume… ‘The advance of the missionaries’, and intend to see it in print again, or available as an E Book… and would appreciate any help that people out there can give me.
Please contact me in the comments below, or private message me on Facebook.
So ends my introduction to this subject.
It will appear as a link at the beginning of my next post.
I hope I have stimulated interest in the main body of truth that I hope to share about my topic.
Cheers to my readers who have endured such a long post.
Tim Wikiriwhi.
1611 King James Bible believing Dispensationalist Christian and Libertarian.
More from Tim…
Read my Free Radical article on Bainimarama’s Fijian Coup and The Right of Revolution’ Here:
First Draft: I will work on this and develop it into a much smoother and informative piece.
My Internet commentary and blogging have all been of very poor quality in recent months due to my sleep biorhythms being way out of whack… and I was thinking about how today… Good Friday being the traditional day that western Civilisation remembers the Crucifixion of Christ ought to be a Day that I release some Profound Blog post… given that Christs Crucifixion is supposed to hold such a high place in my personal convictions… yet the truth is I almost could not be bothered to write anything.
Thinking about this some more, I contemplate how much of this is due to my own lack of energy, how much of it has to do with simple apathy… etc… and one other factor came to mind that I think is worthy of making the topic for my 2016 Good Friday rant… because it must rank as the number 1 reason I struggle to find motivation to talk about one of the most important realities of all time…
It is the Hardness of Hearts… the coldness… the depth of Anti-Christ hatred that Christians face whenever they attempt to share their faith… and this hatred hurts the most when it comes from Family and friends… who simply dont want to know.
Having been on both sides of the fence I can sympathize with both camps.
I understand this confrontation and why the animosity exists (predominantly on the infidel side) … yet also why Christians can be annoyingly persistent, and I believe it is very worth spending some time looking at it.
In the Post-christian Era there has arisen a very unhealthy custom that says Religion and Politics are forbidden subjects to discuss.
It is said that you can believe whatever you want… just keep your mouth shut about it… it is said that ‘Christians’ dont have the right ‘to shove their beliefs down other peoples throats’… yet that same rule does not apply to atheism and the myth of evolution… the adherents of which assert they do have right to shove their atheism down everyone’s throats 24/7… under the excuse and assertion that *these are not religious ideas* but true scientific facts… and as any enlightened person will tell you… Truth and Science must never be muzzled … and anyone who complains must be *anti-science*.
The Duplicity in all this *never occurs* to the Atheist Antichrist.
It certainly did not occur to me when I was a militant atheist.
Reason was *my Ally* I assured myself!
I saw no reason for *me* to listen… be patient… or moderate my responses.
I supposed Religion to be the very definition of Hocus Pocus!
So believe me when I say I empathize with you unbelievers… I know your thoughts…
It never occurs to these ‘victims of religious persecution’ … that involuntarily suffer the onslaught of preachers… that they themselves could possibly be the ones who are superstitious, or that their claims of enlightened objectivity and defense of Freedom and truth… may in realty be nothing of the sort… but instead extremely naive, bigoted, highly Subjective and poorly grounded assumptions… or that such an edifice of assumption could possibly harbor deeper psychological and Moral antagonism to what they imagine as the unbearable ramifications for anyone who would even consider seriously contemplating the plausibility of Christianity as being true.
They make sure that any such confrontations with religious types are kept to an absolute minimum… and if employing some rudeness is necessary to hint at what a waste of time any further conversation on these topics will be… well then… the end justifies the means.
The Christian seeking to share the gospel is up against psychological bents that Close minds tight, and hardens hearts to stone… a hell bet determination to *Never to contemplate life* through the Christian Lens.
Naturally most Infidels recoil at the very notion of self-imposing *any rules and regulations* upon their Libertine desires and selfish ambitions… their universe is morally Sterile.
To such closed Minds the whole theistic Paradigm is completely Foreign… talking about religious concepts is like talking about an alien planet … speaking Klingon… about a completely make-believe dimension… a supernatural dimension.
They are sure that *in the real universe in which we live*… there are no spirits… Prayers dont work…. People cant rise from the dead…. and any talk of God/ Gods/ devils must be the invention of either deluded or devious Idol makers.
It never occurs to them that *Their materialist view of reality* is itself a completely manufactured religious belief and maintained by the very *closed mindedness* that they employ to shut down Christians… a determination never to seriously entertain any arguments Christians employ*… and so it is not necessary to properly analyse any criticism about any so-called scientific evidence for Atheistic Evolution… for it simply *has to be true*… the alternative is too fantastic… too unimaginably horrible to contemplate.
I will hazard to guess that the very length of this Blogpost … on this topic … will be too much to bear for most Atheists whom have the misfortune of stumbling upon it…. such is their apathy towards this Topic… which should in fact be held with the supreme importance that it deserves… yet they will insist this topic deserves about the same amount of diligence as contemplating the possibility that the tooth faerie is real.
Satan Laughing spreads his wings.
People who harbor such incredulity have an impregnable wall around their minds.
They dismiss God with a flick of their wrists and are more concerned about how their favorite sports team is doing.
That is how fickle a foundation the edifice of atheism stands upon in the minds of the great herd… most of them suffer from self imposed intellectual incapacity… they cannot take the subject seriously… at least not on an objective level.
Mostly when they choose to discuss Religion and the existence of God, they seek to force the discussion down a channel that they think re-affirms and validates their psychological need to reject the Christian religion.
“All Wars are caused by Religion”… “Catholic Priests are all pedophiles” ….”Hell was invented to scare people into paying money to the church*…. etc etc
These sorts of Statements don’t bear up under scrutiny and investigation. To the degree that they hold any water at all.. they simply *don’t disprove the Bible or the existence of God*… yet in spite of this observation being true it remains no concern to people who have no intention whatsoever of seriously contemplating the issues. They are smug in their conceits.
Talk to the hand!
Who is trying to convert them into becoming a Pew warming, Pope worshiping pedophile anyway???? No way Jose!
Such are the fantastical images that flash though the atheist mind…. chilling them to the bone.
Their caricature of what a God Botherer is and what that would mean if they themselves were ever to convert!
The Christian is an object of Contempt.
Meanwhile they also be like…. That Guys not a real Christian! whenever they meet real Christians who don’t fit the Bogus Caricature they maintain is what being a Christian is.
Whenever they appear normal, balanced, intelligent, etc.
And irrespective of all this (and much more)… is there not a basic human right to be allowed to ignore religion?
Is it not disrespectful for Christians to try and peddle their wares … like salesmen sell flies… to people who dont want to buy?
To which I answer with an limited affirmation… yes… people are allowed to ignore Christians… they are allowed to exercise their religious liberty… that are even free to believe whatever silly things they like… as long as they do so peacefully.
It is in this environment that the Christian must co-exist in peace with his neighbors, and it is the challenge that this great wall of antagonism that anyone who contemplates sharing the Gospel must face… and it is a daunting task… one that can sap the enthusiasm for the gospel right out of you…. door after door slamming in your face… insult upon insult… for infinity.
*Here we have arrived at some explanation as to why I struggled to bother writing a Good Friday post for today*… why bother when nobody wants to know?
Well ye Infidels… let me cut past a million good explanations and finally answer why A Good friend can become a pesky and annoying Christian… who talks about Miracles, Death, Judgement, etc…. Primarily it is because they care for you!
*They Know* you are blindly walking down the road to destruction.
*And people who care…. true friends… are prepared to be unpopular… are prepared to risk ridicule… *for your sake*… not theirs.
You see that though the Christian has been called by God to share the Gospel, he has also been told *Not to cast pearls before swine*… which means *Dont waste time preaching to people whom behave like pigs… who hate/ despise God and the truth*…. for they will not respect it… but will tread it into the Mud and filth in which they wallow.
So the Christian ought to take extreme care in how he seeks to share his faith and help his friends and loved ones see the light and be saved.
This is the virtue of Meekness… not to be confused with weakness.
In fact Bible thumping Fanatics Do the Christian Gospel a great dis-service when they act militantly, or form Lobby groups that seek the government to impose their beliefs upon others by force of Law… and pay for their schemes by force of Taxation.
It takes Great strength of character to be a successful winner of souls… To hold strong religious convictions, yet still have a soft heart motivated by Love and grace rather than Over-zealous Piety and indignation.
I quite often slip into my bad habit on pouring condescension upon others with whom I have lost patience, or detect traits that I detest. Yet this most often is a sign of my own weakness of character… that I often excuse… because I’m tired.
Yet the Truth is such behavior drives people away from Christ and re-affirms all their negative assumptions about Christianity.
I know I will hang my head in shame on the day that I learn just how many souls my own wickedness and folly has turned people away from Christ.
*Yet still Unbelievers just dont understand that all the bad behavior, hypocrisy, and fakery that Christians are guilty of does not diminish the objective truth of the Bible.
Jesus was not Crucified on a Friday, but on a Wednesday… and while Christians may argue about such things… does not detract from the truth and reliability of the scriptures.
*You are simply making the mistake of judging the Divine truth… by the follies of human beings.*
And so it is a Historic Fact that Jesus was Crucified… because he was betrayed by the Jewish Religious authorities to the Roman OverLords because they thought he was subverting the people from following the Religious traditions and Authority of their Priestly Hierarchy… He had refused to endorse them but instead exposed them as Vipers and hypocrites who taught religious lies.
God allowed their evil ambitions to be fulfilled… because in so doing, it not only proved the truthfulness of the prophecies within the scriptures, but also was part of Gods spectacular secret agenda to Redeem mankind from their Sins!
Christ as The Sinless Lamb of God took upon himself the penalty of our sins (death) and died for us, so that God could then show mercy and grace to whosoever realises their own pitiful miserable sinfulness and desired God to forgive them and save them from the just punishment their wickedness deserves…. eternal separation from God.
Many people find the message of the cross an abhorrent thing… and it is… yet it’s abhorrence correlates perfectly with the wickedness of the world for which was the both the cause and reason for it happening!
It is a testament to how we come to terms with how seriously God weighs our Sins, and how it shows an evil heart if we think that Christ’s sacrifice on the cross is too extreme to pay for our ‘minor indiscretions’. (Read here : Christ’s work of Salvation on the Cross… The Great Equaliser.)
*The Thinking person will see the absolute perfect picture of Human sinfulness in the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ*
*It is the most Believable thing* that is definitive of the evil of humanity… and the longsuffering of God.
This happened folks.
The Crucifixion is History… not fantasy.
Moreover on Easter Sunday *two days time*… is the day we celebrate the greatest miracle of all time in respect to it’s eternal significance… *Christ’s resurrection from the Dead*.
People should go read the Gospels to get the full picture, yet this miracle is not only a historic fact… It altered human history… it literally changed the world, and established Jesus Christ as indisputably *the greatest figure in human history*.
Now dont you think a person of that stature… whose life had such an impact of such fantastic magnitude … and who is the central figure of a Moral philosophy that is Unrivaled… deserves more serious contemplation than the tooth faerie???
Christ did all this to save your sinful soul from an eternity in the lake of Fire.
And all you need to do to be saved is to put your trust in his sacrifice on the cross, and trust that he rose from the dead…. that he really was/is The Christ.
This is what your annoying friend who used to be cool is desperately trying to communicate to you!
Doing their best to awaken your mind… trying not to piss you off… out of love and the knowledge that should you continue to choose to remain in the dark… that your opportunity to be saved will pass, the hour will arrive when you will stand before God as an Antichrist… in all of your wickedness… and you will receive your hearts desire… to forever know not the presence of God… you will be eternally damned.
It does not have to be that way…. you have a choice… it involves your realisation *that you are a sinner*… a member of the Fallen race of beings descended from Adam.
*for those of us who have received the salvation that is in Christ, Death is nothing to be afraid of.
Joy awaits us… and the love of God… and the fellowship of all who chose life over death.
Tim Wikiriwhi.
Christian Libertarian.
Dispensationalist.
1611 king James Bible believer.
P.S
Becoming a Christian does not involve throwing your brains in the tip and swallowing Unicorns!
It actually involves the very opposite.
It is not a flight of fancy… but an awakening.
Read about my conversion from militant atheism to bible believer… My path to Salvation was all about learning, and re-consideration of *all the most essential* questions and topics that a thinking person must face… and nobody was more surprised than myself the day my mind was opened and I could see the truth!
The explanatory power of the Biblical world view is absolute… where Darkness reigns… let there be light!
