One of the greatest blessings God Almighty bestowed upon the wretch Tim Wikiriwhi was to have the honour of enjoying Dr Dennis Spackman as my local Pastor and Bible teacher.
This blog post cannot do justice to his memory.
IMO He was New Zealand’s Greatest Theologian.
Hopefully someone sometime takes the trouble of fully expounding and recording his contributions to Christian truth in New Zealand.
This is just a small tribute.
Tim Wikiriwhi.
King James Bible believer.
Dispensationalist.
Libertarian.
Bible Believing Ministries Dr. Dennis Spackman Read more here
Dr. Dennis Spackman, M.D., graduated from Open Bible College International in the 1980s. He lived in New Zealand where he practiced medicine for many years. He and his wife, Rowan, as well as his brother, Neil, who handles all his books, study materials, including over 6000 taped Bible studies. Dr. Spackman started a church in NZ.
Read more here
The Blood of Jesus Christ and the Virgin Birth (Lesson One)- Dennis Spackman, M.D.
Read here
Bible Believing Ministries Promotion of Dennis Spackman
Read more here
NZ Beacon
A Protestant Bible Believing Publication Since 1982 standing upon and for the Authorised English text of the 1611 Holy Scriptures
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 04, 2006
Certainty of the Words of Truth
Dr. Dennis Spackman, a prominent figure in the New Zealand Authorised Bible camp, has brought out a further printing of his book “The Certainty of the Words of Truth”
Read more here
I don’t care what People say about Alex Jones…. The man is a patriot Freedom lover and broadcasts a lot of truth.
Part of how the enemies of freedom work is to castigate their opponents as nut jobs so that they can then shut them down and the people will not even flinch.
Yes he has some wild ideas…. big deal…. who doesn’t?
Yet by far the majority of what he says is spooky accurate.
You just have to filter out the wheat from the chaff… and not be so foolish as to close your ears.
Weigh each claim on its merits… ditching the dross… but being smart enough to grasp when the facts bear him out .
This video below is important. esp because it is another example of information the Globalists (at Youtube) have done their best to blank out.
Before Trump, I said that The Obama regime was at war with the American people and now they are back to pick up where they left off under Biden.
They are today looking at creating laws to ‘break up Trump supporter networks’.
This is no joke.
Having swindled the democratic process (Biden/Ardern/etc) their next step is to label their political opponents dangerous ‘Enemies of the state’, shut down their coms, and round them up.
This began immediately when that Nut job Communist AOC said she was ‘terrified of being around Republicans’ and that they had ‘tried to have her murdered.’ re: the Antifa/BLM Agent provocateur’s who embedded themselves in the Capitol hill protests and caused all the violence for the purpose of making the pro Trump movement look like terrorists.
This is all part of a Machiavellian scheme that is being played out with frightening attention to detail.
The same meticulous process is being played out across western nations while their sheepish populations slumber.
Ardern has been sowing these seeds since the Christchurch attack here in NZ (dangerous hate groups/ white supremacists), and we are witnessing an escalation on silencing anyone who is critical of the expansion of Maori separatist powers.
They have just knock John Banks off his public platform for speaking the truth.
Like Trump, Not even Bank’s historical Mana has saved him… and he looks like a stunned Mullet… all apologetic… absolutely incapable of defending himself.
Where is the public outcry against this Cancel culture/ deplatforming?
Where is the backlash against the companies who threatened to pull their advertising from Mediaworks?
The freedom movements are state of lethargy and stupor.
Like stunned rabbits.
There is no freedom movement in New Zealand!
When will the people wake up and march on parliament?
Oh that’s right Ardern has already put ‘Covid 19 legislation’ in place to deploy the Army against us, and the police are already conditioned to looking at protests as criminal activities instead of the people exercising our legitimate rights!
We are in Deep shit.
The Beast system is right at our door now.
Only by genius and bold moves will there be any hope of us getting out of this mess.
We are at the point where Freedom activists must be prepared to risk our lives and liberty for the sake of the cause… just as has been the case in so many Nations where the socialists have the Power and rights have been crushed….
Photo Martin Luther King led a successful peaceful movement to end Race segregation in America.
Had he been alive today without doubt he would have outright condemned the Violent and Riotous Communist Hate Group Black Lives Matter.
We have historic exemplars to follow.
The Leaders of all the Great peaceful movements who shun violence at all costs… instead they faced the wolves as lambs… and prevailed.
True ‘Civil disobedience’ is not violent or destructive.
It is simply unity of action and non-compliance articulating unassailable reason.
All the physical power is on our enemies side… yet the Truth and Justice are all on our side!
They are spiritually powerful… and our greatest advantage.
There would be no hope of a violent revolution being successful here in NZ, in fact our enemies would profit greatly should some over-zealous fools attempt to start a civil war.
The Enemies may even *fake* such a situation as pretext to round up ‘the ringleaders and spokespeople’ of the ‘enemies of the state’.
Yet we still could win via peaceful and principled Activism and protest.
History shows this… and every time the Evil system meets a peaceful movement with Battons and tear gas… the more of the general public wake up to the true nature of the struggle.
And eventually ‘People power’ can win the day…
It is our only hope… yet we have no such movement….
We need to start one.
There is good reason why the UN has been labeled as the modern day ‘Tower of Babel’ in that it seeks to place all of the Nations of the world back under one Brutal Godless King to rule them all… just as Nimrod ruled before God broke up his kingdom and scattered the Nations for the very purpose of placing limits on Human Power and Authority.
Nimrod was a type/ an example/ a forerunner of the Antichrist to come.
It is no coincidence that the Socialists seek to reunify that which God himself divided, and to restore the power of a Global Dictatorship.
The socialists are the minions… the children of Satan… doing his bidding,
Satan’s Gospel of Globalism and the New World Order is as we speak going out to all nations… Deceiving and being deceived.
The level of Guile harbored against Good people who stand in the way of the approaching flood… esp against Donald Trump… is at psychotic levels… even among those who ought to know better.
Satan laughing spreads his wings.
One particular group who demonstrate a sever rabidity of the mind and who are incapable of rational thought when it comes to Trump are the Anarchists.
Many of them… most of them (the only one I know of who is not like this is Victor Pross) are completely consumed by contempt as to be incapable of objective discussion… none more so that the petty Self important Anarchist spokesman for American Anarchists Larken Rose.
Now Rose couldn’t think his way out of a wet paper bag… his arguments are always puerile and founded upon falsehoods, and no one displays a complete lack of character better than he as he revels in the ill fortunes of those he despises.
Remind you of anyone?
An example of this is below… Rose Gloating that Legal attempts to expose the Rampant Voter fraud in the US Elections are not meeting with any success.
As usual Rose is full of crap.
One of his Fans shared this with me today to get my reaction, knowing I myself have been a Stalwart supporter of the Case against the Democrat Party of grand Scale Election fraud, and that I have had hopes that this would be upheld in Court… esp the Supreme Court.
Though it looks like my hopes may indeed be dashed I am at peace in my own convictions and faith.
I am not in the dark… as many.
No Irony in Anarchists tell us to trust the System… nooooo.
It still is not game over, yet it does appear that *despite mountains of evidence* and the fact that *Constitutional Laws were violated* and Electoral safeguards were flouted in every way imaginable… that those most trusted to defend the Nation from being taken over by these very means, are themselves either too spineless to make the call, or have themselves been compromised.
Ie they want Trump out… and Biden in… because they have been duped into believing the Globalist lies of Covid, Global warming, and the Great Reset… ie the Supreme Court has become politically activist.
In such cases the last resort is for the people to enact the principles of the 2nd amendment. They have that right… in fact it is a Duty.
To take up arms against the Usurpers.
Ultimately Tyranny can only prevail when the people slumber or have been rendered helpless by Arms control.
It will be interesting to see what happens as until all Legal avenues have been exhausted the Republicans have remained calm, yet now that it looks like they have been betrayed by the Supreme Court… what will the do?
The Supreme court probably has done ‘a Chamberlain’… thinking ‘Peace in our time’ is better than defending the constitution and having a civil war… possibly an end of the Union… and yet It is doubtful they have avoided this.
Some fights cannot be avoided… only delayed… and usually that delay works to strengthen the Evil powers, and weaken the Good… Like the postponement of abolition of Slavery for the sake of the Union simply delayed the war and made it more bloody… So too By allowing Biden and Harris to assume power and ‘act as if they are the legitimate government… and allowing them take command of the Military, and giving them opportunity to pass anti-second amendment legislations… all this serves the power of Evil.
I believe we are witnessing the foundation of the Global Kingdom of the Antichrist.
Evil prevails when good men do nothing… and that is what is happening with respect to the Supreme Court.
There is only a few legal avenues left. Sidney Powell’s court case will be the final hope.
Yet if it pleases God to allow the Prince of Darkness to begin his final infernal plot… even her noble efforts will not prevail against the corruption, and we all better share the Gospel with our friends and loved ones because the Rapture is at hand… the door of Grace is about to close for all those who reject Christ… Strong delusions are afoot so that the wicked might all be deceived and take the Mark of the Beast.
The corruption of Humanity will be complete.
This time will at first appear (3.5 years) the dawn of a golden age as the Antichrist will appear to be a ‘Christ like’ Savoir riding ‘a white horse’… yet he is Satan’s King.
Then Chaos shall descend upon the Earth for 3.5 years and Death, plagues, and destruction shall swallow up Humanity… and the Angel thrusts in his sickle….
When God decides the e3nd of the age of Grace has arrived, these things cannot be prevented.
The Great Lie will prevail… and that is precisely what I am seeing happening right now.
This is a signal for Christians to stop storing up things for the future but instead busy themselves with the gospel that the final remnants of those who are to be saved hear and receive the gospel… for our time is coming to a close.
The faith of many will fail them. Though they will still be saved… ‘the salt of the Earth’ will have lost it’s saltiness’ and the Rot will quickly spread… a spirit of blasphemy and contempt for the Bible will spread like a disease… times will not be easy for the Christians…. until the Day of Redemption… the Rapture.
Tim Wikiriwhi.
Christian Libertarian.
Rev 14
14 And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father’s name written in their foreheads.
2 And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps:
3 And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth.
4 These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.
5 And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God.
6 And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,
7 Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.
8 And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.
9 And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand,
10 The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:
11 And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.
12 Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.
13 And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.
14 And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle.
15 And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe.
16 And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped.
17 And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle.
18 And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe.
19 And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.
20 And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.
“Hate Speech Laws and Blasphemous Libel: A Tale of Hypocrisy.
A few months ago, the Honourable Andrew Little quite rightly proposed a bill that eventually removed the last blasphemy law (s 123 of the Crimes Act 1961) from our statute books.
Before its removal, the effect of s 123 was to make it an offence to vilify or degrade Christianity with an intent to cause serious offence or by abusing sacred objects or beliefs (Bowman v Secular Society Ltd).
Section 123(3) went on to specify: “It is not an offence against this section to express in good faith and in decent language, or to attempt to establish by arguments used in good faith and conveyed in decent language, any opinion whatever on any religious subject”.
Thus the cumulative effect of s 123 was to make it an offence to vilify or degrade Christianity either in bad faith, or using indecent language.
At any rate, the repeal of s 123 was premised on concerns about the right to free expression. The necessary implication being that speech is *protected* notwithstanding that it is expressed in bad faith or indecent language, and vilifies Christianity.
If free speech grounds a right to vilify Christianity in bad faith or using indecent language, there is similarly a right to vilify any other religion in bad faith or using indecent language.
And yet I’m told that the latter would be legally actionable hate speech…”
The pace with which the current Ardern government is moving towards a police state, and the destruction of freedom is truly frightening!
And there seems to be nobody in parliament standing up in opposition to any of it!
The National Party have been hypnotized by the Ardern Cult of Personality… they pander to her every whim!
How the hell they ever expect this sort of Kowtowing to the Liberal agenda will help them get elected into power again is a mystery.
The Lefty infested New Zealand Press are hard at work lobbying for New Hate speech legislation and has acted like a Lynch mob towards Austrailian sports star Israel Folou quoting the Bible on his own social media page. and the condemnation he has received from our New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern herself, with the press goading her… begging her … to label what he said hate speech…here ‘Jacinda Ardern fires back at Israel Folau and social media comments’… while she was restrained by current legal definitions to label what he said as being a crime, she said she called it ‘Damaging’, yet we also know that her government is determined to push through New ‘hate speech’ legislation… with the same callous disregard for the rights of New Zealanders and due process they displayed with the latest Firearms prohibitions, and when you see what her minion Andrew Little thinks constitutes ‘hate speech’ if New Zealanders are not alarmed, and rise up against this abuse of power they truly deserve the expression of being a bunch of Sheep!
Unless new Zealanders wake up and stand against this sort of agenda driven anti-religious liberty… anti Free speech propaganda… Our country is doomed, and our children will not be taught anything other than what the government wants them to learn… and what they are allowed to believe… and think.
What has been circulated in the NZ media about Folou’s ‘Homophobia’ has been absolutely dishonest!
For the record… I’m too a Christian, I do not hate homosexuals, yet I reserve the right to peacefully and freely preach about my Religion and quote the Bible… precisely as I have done for the last 34 years, and no Law from Parliament will stop me from doing this… They will have to arrest me to stop me!
This is precisely what the Right to free speech entails!
Go study the history of religious oppression and the birth of religious liberty in western civilisation… This is where the right to free speech was born!
Look at What Arderns’ Minion Andrew Little has to say about a political pamphlet that was circulated in Point Chev… this is her main man responsible for framing new Hates speech laws!
The Pamphlet called for ‘One law for all’… thats an *inclusive* Ideal in which all peoples of New Zealand are subject to the same laws… no favoritism… no discrimination… and yet he has called this *Racism*!
Quote: “The pamphlet titled One Treaty One Nation, calls for an end to state partnership with Māori, scrapping the Waitangi Tribunal, Māori electorates and wards and says Māori have benefited from colonisation lifting them out of “a violent stone age existence”.
Andrew Little who is overseeing a review of hate speech in the wake of the terrorist attacks told the Herald his view was the pamphlet is racist.
“It peddles myths about pre-European Maori society that historical scholarship does not bear out. If it demonstrates anything, it is that the author of it is an ignorant fool.”
****
How Arse-backwards and hypocritical could anyone possibly be???
The Man is worse than an imbecile!
Hes a Dangerous Political snake… and if he thinks by writing legislation that outlaws political opinions that disagree with his own patently wrapped Ideas he has another thing coming!
Little is suggesting this pamphlet calling for one law for all is written by some nutcase when in reality it is expressing a view that is held by a great portion of New Zealanders including many respected politicians more than his equal and many other prominent and intelligent New Zealanders.
The Principle of Racial equality is neither ‘Anti-Maori’ nor Fringe!
It is a legitimate Political position held by thousands of New Zealanders, well reasoned, and has been a foremost topic of elections for the past 50 years!
Does Andrew Little think he can impose his own liberal apartheid views by labeling opposition as hate speech?
As a Libertarian… I reserve my right to propagate the Idea of *One law for all New Zealanders* and to fight for the Principle of Justice… *Racial equality before the law*… just as I have done for the past two decades, and no new ‘hate speech laws’ written under the excuse of the Christchurch atrocity
will silence me from condemning the apartheid state that Ardern and Little are now at the helm!
I dont care if Andrew Little believes that Fighting for Racial equality is somehow ‘Anti-Maori’ and Hate speech!
It is not hate speech! I do not Hate Maori… I am a Maori myself!
I want what is best for them and all the people of New Zealand, and I condemn as unjust and an absolute failure the current Apartheid syatem that has not lifted Maori out of the gutter of our Social statistics, but has been a gigantic extortion racket!
I will not stop… I will never cease from seeking to expose the dishonesty of the Governments False revisionist history that seeks to deceive New Zealanders into accepting the lie that the Treaty of Waitangi created a two tier Racial system rather than uniting *all the peoples of New Zealand as one people under one law and one sovereign with equal rights* The Government will have to arrest me and throw me in jail because I will never stop using my natural right to freely speak the truth!
I declare that the current policies of Waitangi separatism are Evil!
So New Zealanders… will you surrender our country to such evil and tyrannical powers as have manifested themselves under Jacinda Arderns Psychotic Government????
I wont!
I have Children and Grand children who I want to live free and know the truth!
Id rather die in jail that surrender Political Freedom and My faith to the evil powers that threaten these most precious of values!
Will I have to rot in a dungeon as a political prisoner for New Zealanders rights to free speech and the principle of racial equality before the Law???
That this is even a possibility shows how dangerous to rights and freedom this new proposal for hate speech legislation is!
We can be sure that Little’s new Hate speech laws will result in a wave of censorship and Punishment for Thought Crimes… maybe the will force some of us to drink Hemlock for not worshiping the State Gods and Corrupting the Youth!
Political writer Dr Muriel Newman has written about these things in an article named ‘A totalitarian state’ and I quote…
“Calls for restrictions on free speech by radical Government MPs should raise the alarm about our future. While the Bill of Rights protects our freedom of thought, expression, and association, as we have already seen through the Censor’s bans, these rights are fragile and can easily be taken away.
Laws to protect New Zealanders from ‘hate’ can already be found in the Crimes Act, Harmful Digital Communications Act, Human Rights Act, and the Sentencing Act. If the Government is committed to stronger deterrents, they simply need to enforce the existing laws.
Already the call for action against ‘hate’ since the Christchurch attack has resulted in people losing their jobs for making thoughtless remarks, websites being blocked, and a social media crackdown being implemented. It may also have been responsible for a man losing his life.
New Zealanders who value the freedom and liberty that underpins our society should strongly oppose new laws to ban ‘hate’. Such laws, that would enable the Police to act against anyone expressing ideas contrary to those deemed acceptable by the Government, have proven to be a disaster in countries where they have been introduced, over-criminalising the population and allowing vexatious complainants to destroy lives. “…
I concur with Muriel, and implore the People of New Zealand to rally and protest against this Hitlarian Drive against Freedom in our country!
Do you want your children to grow up free?
Do you reserve the right to teach them your own Values and beliefs?
Or do you surrender these priceless things .. and give your children’s minds to the State to brainwash them with the beliefs and ideals these Political psychopaths running the machine?
Satan laughing spreads his wings.
It is my opinion that while she is correct about the Ideals of Capitalism and Freedom, Ayn Rand’s philosophy ‘Objectivism’ takes individualism to perverse extremes and in so doing has committed great disservice to the Libertarian cause.
She was a Megalomaniac says the late Nathaniel Branden, and by my reckoning… a Narcissist… and her cult attracts a high percentage of Disciples with similar Sociopathic tendencies.
Unfortunately The reputation of Objectivism has become entangled with that of the Libertarian movement.
Having usurped a position of authority in the Libertarian movement Objectivist teachings and character have caused the Libertarian movement to stink… All the High Ideals of Libertarianism have been sullied because of the delusion that Libertarians are selfish and dont give a toss about the poor, and as long as this is how the Voting Public veiws Libertarianism… There will never be a Libertarian Government elected into office.
Objectivists tend to drive out other types of Libertarians as it takes a very thick skin to bear their Obsessive derision of Religion and glorification of egotistical arrogance.
The accusation that ‘Libertarians are selfish bastards who dont give a shit about the poor’ is a characteristic easily assumed by Socialists and others who have the unpleasant misfortune of talking with an arrogant Randiod Egoist.
Though it is a terrible accusation… this sort of Critisism is often received by an Objectivist as a badge of Honour to be worn with pride! They think concern for others is a vice.
They assume they are imitating their Glorious master who teaches them to be absolutely impervious to the opinions of others.
Central to her Philosophy is also Militant Atheism…’Religion is the root of all evil’ type mentality that is not only overt, but also needs to be appreciated to understand that her Individualism is underpinned (and distorted) because of her Atheism.
Ironically I was prompted to write this blogpost critisising Rands contention that ‘selfishness is a virtue’ after having a Facebook conversation with an Objectivist who shares few (if any) of these common Objectivist traits, and is prepared to Diverge from Rand’s Rabid Anti-theism… Australia’s Colourful champion of Liberty… Prodos Marinakis.
From his comment below you can see for yourself he is willing to be honest and critical about the Objectivist movement.
He’s a very likable Guy.
As Facebook friends I saw one of his posts on ‘The political Compass’ which is a better ‘graph’ on which to plot peoples Political persuasions rather than the ridiculously simplistic Far Left to Far Right Linear graph that is adored by the Mainstream who only seek to maintain the two party system.
These ‘Left and Right’ parties dont like the ‘political compass’ because it outs them as anti-freedom Authoritarians.
Having answered a questionnaire to ascertain his political leanings… the result was plotted on the compass. Below is Prodos result…. and I’ll let our conversation carry on from here… yet for the record I myself am a Bible believing Christian and an Independent Libertarian activist.
*****
…Prodos Marinakis
Political Compass Test — just for fun.
Mine is below. Similar score to Milton Friedman.
More “conservative” than “libertarian”.
https://www.politicalcompass.org/test
Tim Wikiriwhi:
I’m not surprised by your result Prodos given how highly you regard Rand.
I think she distorts peoples views about the virtue of Charity and the vise of selfishness, whereas I highly Regard Jesus Christ and St Paul… and it will be no surprise to you that I usually register as a left leaning Libertarian.
And yet now having completed this test (above) I too have come out a Right leaning Libertarian … making a mockery of my earlier comment… 🙂
In fact We virtually got the same coordinates…[ Both Libertarians rather than Authoritarians …I was slightly to the left of Prodos… yet still on the right side of the spectrum]
Like me you were probably uncomfortable with the Direction of some of the questions and were forced to make some choices without the opportunity to explain your reasoning…
Prodos Marinakis:
Tim, thanks for sharing your Political Compass results & for your comments — both before and after doing the “Political Compass” test.
I’m very glad to see that we got such similar results. You are more surprised by that than I am, since I believe I understand you, better than you understand me.
You wrote, regarding Ayn Rand:
“I think she distorts peoples views about the virtue of Charity and the (vice) of selfishness …”
Well, to talk about Ayn Rand (or Jesus) and not get bogged down, it helps to have specific quotes and to also put them into the proper context. True?
Personally, I consider Charity to be a virtue — provided it’s not tainted by the Kantian notion of altruism (which, despite the modern Church’s reliance on this evil concept, is in fact a post-Christian and anti-Christian invention of Auguste Comte from the 1830’s).
As for “selfishness” as a motive … that term, in Ethics, usually refers to a bad motive.
Calling someone “selfish” usually means that they’re benefiting themselves — even when it’s at the expense of others. And they’re benefiting themselves in a way that’s indifferent to other people.
Yet, there is nothing in Ayn Rand’s fiction or non-fiction that advocates or esteems THAT kind of “selfishness”.
On the contrary, being “selfish” in the Ayn Rand sense — as she explained in The Virtue of Selfishness and encapsulated in her saying: “There are no conflicts of interests among rational men”.
Not to mention the whole model of Free Market Capitalism.
It is true, however, that Objectivism tends to underrate the value and virtue of Charity.
When a writer uses a word (or an expression) it’s important to understand what THE WRITER meant by that word (or expression).
When Jesus says “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s” … we need to study what Jesus meant.
For instance he didn’t mean (as one of my colleagues recently argued) that Jesus is a supporter of taxation and “Big Government”.
(better leave it there for now as I have to cook dinner!)
🙂
Tim Wikiriwhi:
Prodos, I think you have a better grasp than the average Objecitivist because you differ from the average in two aspects.
1. You dont have an innate hatred of religion and so you dont ‘need’ to ‘prove’ it is ‘Evil’… and that gives you a far more objective view when discussing such matters, and (2) this is a corollary (or complimentary) of the fact that you are not afraid to diverge from the Orthodox dogma of the Cult.
Now One of the reasons I accuse Rand of Sophistry is because she trains her disciples to Bastardise the English language by arrogantly abandoning accepted meaning of terms… Re-defining words to mean something other than what they have been historically understood to mean and then proceeds to pretend she can prove the whole world was wrong … *and that she is some sort of Mega-genius* when in fact she is a fraud who has literally re-written the rules.
…often giving terms the very opposite meaning… and most importantly… she has ‘Pre-loaded’ the new meanings so that they will now appear to mathematically add up to the conclusion she wants to achieve… eg ‘that selfishness is now ‘a virtue’…. Objectivists dont even speak the same language… they are disconnected from the historical dialogue and dont even realise they have been swindled… mainly because they share Rands hatred of Christianity and are consumed by their own Egos… and think they too are super geniuses… ‘John Galts’ far above the average savage…. This is not the mentality of ‘Objectivity’… but a type of psychosis that blinds the mind of those who are not aware of what game she is playing.
Now though I know what her nefarious motives were… to discredit Charity… esp religious charity … therefore casting a devious lie to destroy faith in the goodness of Christ and the Christian faith… I can entertain her ‘Revisions’ and understand her silly definitions of ‘Rational selfishness’ vs ‘Irrational selfishness’ …(obviously by her reckoning the historical meaning of selfishness *was this irrational selfishness* and nothing more… not independence… not self-reliance… not self responsibility… and certainly not slavery to the collective!), yet her distortions of Egoism and selfishness, and twisted ideas about altruism as a form of slavery rather than voluntary Individual virtue of charity have contorted the average Objectivists views on Capitalism and Voluntary community Action.
Objectivists are always praising Blatant *Greed*… Rand has crippled their minds so that they are incapable of forming moral arguments that condemn Largess by CEOs at the expense of the well being of the average worker … because the average Objectivist cant understand that simply because a person may have the liberty to act a certain way… that this does not of necessity make it Just, or wise, or of Good character.
Likewise Objectivists tend excuse themselves from supporting worthy voluntary associations and community activities under the pretense that to ‘feel obliged’ to contribute is some sort of ‘psychological slavery’…. yet if any free society is to function it will rely Heavily on exactly these sorts of virtues and voluntarily self imposed moral duty’s.
These are my thoughts on why I suggested that On the Libertarian spectrum I would expect myself to be to the Left of you (Prodos), though I appreciate you are not ‘the average Objectivist’…. yet still your thinking will be ‘coloured’ to some degree by Rands Bents.
I have seen many of your posts that I have enjoyed very much in particular many that could not have been written by the’average Objectivist’ because they are Antireligious-lite… even commending… and that is not a common trait in the Cult.”
******
That is where I’ll finish this dialogue with Prodos.
I think think he is is a very interesting, and intelligent Man… a Champion of Liberty… a Man of Reason… who in my opinion avoids sycophantic Rand worship.
Someone a Christian can have a meaningful discussion with… free of petty conceit.
Despite the fact that Long Blog posts are unpopular, I do need to make one further clarification, and that is to say that though Christianity regards Charity as one of the highest virtues, and that People tend to associate this as a mentality common among left leaning political supporters, that it is a grievous error to automatically assume this means Christians ought to be socialists!
The notion that Christ was a socialist has been around for a long time, yet was systematically propagated and grew predominant among Western Christians in the 20th century when Communists infiltrated the churches and began to systematically sway Christians into supporting socialism… despite their Nations Prosperity,Freedom and capitalism being founded upon Christian protestant political reforms and values of Individual Rights, Private property, Hard work, Thrift, Voluntary charity, Honest Free-trade, etc.
This is quite a complex conundrum to untangle, yet when properly understood the confusion and false teaching gives way to definite clarity and broad understanding.
The Key is to understand the dispensational scheme of the scriptures and how things fit in properly with the plan of God.
Reading the Bible there are verses in the Gospels, and early Acts that appear to the unlearned to support the idea that Jesus was anti-wealth and promoted ‘Communism’… yet such an interpretation fails to take into account what Jesus was offering the Jews at the time, and that these instances… such as when he told the Rich young man to sell all his possessions and give the money to the poor… and follow him… are not representative of the future Kingdom Christ had come to establish but was a special time of transition … from the Kingdom of Mammon… into the Messianic Kingdom of God on Earth whereby these injunctions were tests of worthiness to enter his kingdom… repentance for rebellion and sin… and a willingness to forsake the gains achieved under Mammon.. wealth… power… social status… and to enter the kingdom ‘Naked’… fully trusting that Christ would reward them when he had overthrown the Romans and established his rule in Jerusalem.
And here is the real Jam: Christs Kingdom will not be a Communist Utopia!
There will be private property!
The Lazy will not reap the harvests of the Virtuous and hard working, etc!
So the Important thing to appreciate about Christs Message to the Jews at that time and his injunctions to Sell their possessions, and have all things common, and to Turn the other cheek, and to endure persecution unto the end were not instructive of how his Kingdom would function… but tests of Faith and repentance… ie to be found worthy to enter his Kingdom The Jews had to have faith Plus works!
When this is understood the claim that Jesus promoted Socialism collapses… and is exposed as a wicked false doctrine used to deceive Christians for Evil political ends.
Sadly this False doctrine has been very successful with millions of Deceived Christians voting for Big Government Nanny State socialist Tyranny instead of for Liberty and self responsibility guided by personal ethics.
How Ironic that these Christians fail to see they are unwitting supporting Leviathan… enthroning the all powerful State as God… Mammon!
As this Blog post is already too long I will simply ad links to some of my other Blogposts that go into more detail about Christs Kingdom ministry to the Jews… and how that differs from the Christian Age of Grace that we live in today… which is a different dispensation, and has a different gospel..
I will add a link here to show that true Christian Charity is vastly different from the Atheist pseudo-morality of Socialist Tyranny and the forced redistribution of Wealth via welfare…
And finally below is a Link to a speech I delivered in 2006, at the Tenth anniversary of the now disbanded New Zealand Libertarian party… ‘The Libertarianz’ in which I tried to expound why I thought Rabid Objectivism needed to take a back seat to a more Humane and tolerant activism if the party was to have any hope of success at the polls… as can be seen from the date posted to the blog was in 2012… and I was still very angry about what had happened to the Libertarianz party… I was of the opinion that Objectivism was/ had suffocated the party.
I saw the party as becoming little more than a propaganda machine to further the Atheist Cult of Rand… I had already walked away from it by then.
Fanatical Objectivists have convinced themselves that by coining the phrase ‘Egoism’ that they can escape the the accusations of Egotism! another example of Rand’s Sophistry are work!
Egoism… self worship…they say is the highest Individual character trait!
New Zealand still needs a Libertarian Political Choice… yet if this is ever to rise again lessons need to be learned from the Objectivist Dominated Libertarianz party.
If a New Libertarian party is to rise it cannot become a recruitment tool for the Cult of Objectivism… Rands Philosophy cannot be adopted as the last word on Party Policy… and certainly Objectivist Intolerance towards religious views or Charity… cannot be allowed to set the tone of Party Literature and conduct.
A far more Libertarian and enlightened Character and charter needs to be set and presented to the voting public…one in which Libertarianism is expounded that shows Liberty is far more compassionate and Humane than Socialism ever was… and when you Look a a guy like Prodos Marinakis and his moderated style of Objectivism compared to the Rabid Rand worshiping Egoist and Millitant Atheists… the contrast is stark.
Its the difference between an enlightened and Tolerant, and thinking Libertarian… from an indoctrinated Fanatical Zealot of a God hating Cult of selfish arseholes!
This Caricature of Rand and Objectivism may be an exaggeration yet it is not wholly Unjustified as anyone who has had anything to do with the Objectivist movement will tell you… and you can read about just how delusional Rand was in person by one of her closest and most dedicated disciples… Nathaniel Branden… Read “My Years with Ayn Rand”.
When Judgement day comes for Any Rand she will be exposed as a fraud… In Reality she was not Great at all but a Delusional Woman full of the worst Character traits… and her toxic beliefs bring out the worst in those that are deceived by her.
Fortunately there are some New Zealand Objectivists and Libertarians who share the same virtues as Prodos… those that are prepared to think for themselves more and quote Rand less.
Any New party would need to maintain a separation of the Church of Ayn Rand and State… as much as a separation of any other personal ideology.
This is where hope lies and could be the basis for Cooperation between Libertarians of all persuasions.
Getting things all in their correct context and this way Libertarianism will have a much broader appeal… including winning Christians and others out of Socialism and into supporting Freedom where they ought to be. This will only happen when Egoism, and Atheism, and Selfishness are not the defining traits of the Libertarian party… But Enlightened tolerance and adherence to just principles, equality before the Law, and a desire to downsize Government and abolish unjust tyrannical laws and taxes… “He who governs best… governs least”. Thomas Jefferson.
Maybe sometime soon Kiwi Libertarians can have a Reunion… a few Beers… and talk about what could be… what should be in the near future.
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.
“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)
Anthony McClean, Portia McPhail, Anthony Mulder, Tara Gregory, Huan (Tom) Hsu, Natasha Bray, and Floyd Fernandes drowned in the Mangatepopo Gorge. (Stuff)
Today marks the 10th anniversary of the river tragedy that took the lives of 6 Elim Christian School students and their teacher Anthony McClean.
Such a terrible event, Yet from the first time I herd the story of Anthony’s heroic exploit I have been overwhelmed and affected by a sense of awe at his humanity and sense of Christian duty that he demonstrated on this fateful day, and though 6 others lost their lives this blogpost is my personal tribute to him in particular… as an exemplar of character and the sort of loving soul that every parent desires in a tutor of their children.
When the River surged trapping the group in a dire situation, Anthony was faced with a Great moral Dilemma… abandon his pupils and Save himself… or… strive to save a physically disabled student cerebral palsy sufferer Tom Hsu, 16, by tying him to his own back and to risk his own life for their sake.
Visualizing this in my mind, I am transported in time and space to witnessing this act of heroism first hand…and I am overcome.
His heroism cost him his life… they died together… yet ten years later the example he set still moves and inspires me and thousands of other New Zealanders.
It ranks in the highest order of Noble deeds… Christ-like… who said “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends…” John15vs13.
His action is the equal of any Teacher who has in such moments of fate… given their lives for their students, and I am reminded of such stories we often read about when there is a US school massacre… the teachers who put themselves between the killers and their Pupils… May God Bless and Keep them all.
This is the spirit of Altruism… the voluntary self sacrifice of personal benefits… out of love…for the sake of others.
True Heroism is not about personal glory, and is impossible for the person who puts their own life as the highest value.
This is taking the Vocation of teaching to its Highest end… placing the life of your students ahead of your own.
Read quote and close training session.
Teachers like Anthony McClean demonstrate the *Real virtue* of the vocation… Teaching was never about High wages and Fame… and all about being able to fulfill your personal desire to serve others… The opportunity and privilege to instill wisdom and values in the youth under your care… to empower them to take care of themselves, raise happy and healthy families, and to live great and fulfilling lives.
And the best teachers teach the most important lessons of character… by example… living (and dying) by the values they expound.
Teachers who dont have this quality may be technically smart… yet can never be *Great*… and when any troubles arise… even minor troubles… they will put their own interests ahead of your children.
What parent can have confidence in a Selfish teacher to look after their child, and instill values?
Anthony Mulder was one of the Students who lost his life that day… yet not before performing selfless deeds of heroism!
He positioned himself in the torrent and helped his fellow students to get across.
” Kish Proctor and Sarah Brooks, two of the survivors from the canyoning group, said Ant was an inspiration for his selfless, loving nature and steadfast belief in God.
Fellow Elim youth leader and Pakuranga College student Jessica Hancock described him as a “humble, patient, peaceful, generous and loving guy who has changed so many lives”.
Speaking after the memorial service, Ant’s friends said healing moments had been time spent in his bedroom and talking about the good times they shared with him.
Kish said Ant was voted group leader while at the Sir Edmund Hillary Outdoors Pursuits Centre because he was a seasoned tramper and led by example.
“He stood in the middle of the current and helped all of us across it,” he said.”
Let us Remember this Tragic Day… esp the Deeds of these Two Heroes.
Lets us take inspiration from their selfless actions in the Darkest of hours and endeavour to emulate them in our own lives.
And as Christians… we live in the hope of the Gospel.
Tim Wikiriwhi.
Christian Libertarian.
While pondering and contemplating and meditating today, it occurred to me that one of the greatest ‘stumbling blocks’ to confessing faith in the Christian Gospel is the absolutely erroneous assumption by the average bible rejecting lost soul that is the idea that the God of the Bible hates them…because they are sinners… and wants to send them to damnation.
This is a very powerful misrepresentation of the truth!
The Truth is the exact opposite… God Loves them *despite the fact* that they are sinners…and *does not want* them to be Damned!
That is why He sent Christ.
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.
