Is there any meaning or purpose to human existence?
I’m bad to the bone.
I know this. Some might say I am unfit to write this blog article about Easter. They may be correct.
Just recently I was proscribed medication to lower my blood pressure. It’s high.
It’s partly to do with my age, partly my genes, but mostly to do with my bad habits… too much craft beer… too little sleep, etc.
Though I am a happy person, I am highly strung, and don’t ever relax… even when I’m chilling… I have inner tension at all times.
I find myself holding my breath.
Though I am ready to meet my Maker, I don’t want to die. I have a young son I wish to finish raising, and I believe I have more to contribute to society and in sowing, watering the soil for the Gospel.
My chief inner contradiction is that I’m an optimist in outlook, yet being proscribed heart meds has done nothing to alleviate my life-long fatalism.
By fatalism I esp mean my ever-present sense of approaching demise.
Optimism and Fatalism in one bag means I’m happy, yet always have a sense of urgency that I must take care of business before I check out.
I may live 20 more years, or I may not last out the day.
I have faith that if Today is the day… then praise the Lord… it’s my day! Thanks for a wonderful life. Thanks for the grace that has given me these decades, these friends, this family.
This is not a sympathy seeking ‘poor me’ article. I’m not a victim. I own my own circumstances.
I needed to say these things for context of the real message I wish to make for my Easter 2023 Blog article.
In my family, and in my associations, I’m the Black Sheep of my generation. I accept this because my thoughts are often the polar opposite of my peers. I am grateful most of them have grown to appreciate that’s just how I roll, and chuckle whenever I open my mouth. I have little doubt most question my IQ and believe I am ill informed.
Yet… and here is the punchline… to maintain even this strained relationship, requires I keep expression of certain forbidden opinions to a minimum.
For context most of my Family are Socialists politically, and Atheists spiritually. Many of my friends and colleagues are A-Political/ A-religious… so they are not open to free discourse on these subjects. They tolerate me as long as I don’t get ‘Preachy’.
I fully understand that nobody should harass others on subjects they prefer to avoid… yet still The years pass by quickly and is it not sad to think you have wonderful friends and family yet never have been able to fully discuss such essential aspects of life?
It is especially hard when you have dedicated your life in the pursuit of truth… and have discovered mind-blowing facts and arguments that you must keep to yourself for fear of being scorned and outcast by hard hearted loved ones who have no intention of challenging their own entrenched beliefs.
Remember my opening paragraph how I have a sense of urgency… and a repetitive source of despair in my life is watching my loved ones… friends, associates, and Family either sailing away never to be seen again… or pass away without having communicated with them truths I believe are essential to their Eternal well being. My own time is limited too. When I pass away my opportunity to persuade my people to Trust in the Cross of Christ, and in the miracle of his resurrection will be finished.
Yet I still have a bag of wind left in me, and I will take the opportunity that Easter long weekend provides to openly speak today.
I’m a Libertarian Christian, which means I believe in self responsibility and religious liberty.
This means I know there are limits to my duty, and ability to communicate truths to others.
The Bible says not to cast our pearls before swine… where they will not be received with gladness, but instead simply be trodden underfoot.(don’t take offence… it’s only a metaphor)
The Bible talks about the heart condition of lost souls.
Some have been softened… some are good fertile soil in which the seed of the Gospel can take root and flourish. Others cannot receive the seed.
This is my Easter message… An appeal to anyone reading this article who is honest enough to admit the origin and meaning of life has alluded them so far… to dare to remove the Blinders that prevent their minds from being able to take Christianity seriously. Ideological blinders that render them incapable actually contemplating the possibility, that Christ really was the Son of The Almighty… God Incarnate…. Sinless… and that he willingly went to the cross to suffer a criminals death… a redemptive sacrifice…. paying for the sins of humanity.. and rising from the dead on the third day day as proof of his victory over both sin and death… and that whosoever chooses to believe that gospel… shall be freely forgiven of all sin, and shall enter God’s presence in perfect newness of eternal life.
It’s a fantastic mind-blowing thing to even contemplate!
How can *that* possibly be true?
Is not that a demonstration of humanities wishful thinking and capacity for believing absurdities?
Easter cant be relevant in 2023…. can it?????
I once thought that way.
I have written several accounts of my own conversion from Militant Atheism to Christianity (links below) and it remains vivid in my mind the process… indeed the moment the scales fell from my eyes.
I won’t repeat what I have said elsewhere except to say the miracle of my own conversion depended first of all upon unusual circumstances that caused me to unwittingly lower my cognitive shield and actually give Christian apologists a fair hearing.
Holy Smoke!
For the life of me I never dreamed that I would be persuaded to believe the bible!
My conversion took many months of discussion, argument, presentation of historic and scientific facts… the miracle being that I even gave them 5 minutes of my time to discuss matters I strongly considered to be beneath contempt, ridiculous, false.
My testimony today is to tell my reader that there is overwhelming evidence and logic to Believe the Gospel is true… in spite of how incredible it appears to the atheist mind that is trapped in the false materialist paradigm.
My Easter appeal to the gospel is for any honest atheists, or people of other faiths, Is to ‘seek with an open heart… and ye shall find’… yet should you harden your own heart and remain of closed mind… there is nothing I can do. If my appeal falls on deaf ears, it is not me you have rejected… but Jesus Christ and the Love, Grace, and mercy of the Almighty.
One truth that weighs heaviest in my own soul is the knowledge of my own wickedness… my own unworthiness.
When I was an atheist I had absolutely no sense of my own spiritual corruption. I thought reality was ultimately A-moral… a nihilistic reality in which Human individuals were valueless and meaningless in a cold and indifferent Universe.
You can’t understand the importance of the cross unless you first have a realisation of your own fallen Moral condition.
Our Evil deeds really are evil, and God is not Mocked… Divine Justice is a real thing. And we will all have an appointment with the Great Judge, and will give account as to our acceptance or rejection of Christ’s work of Atonement on the Cross.
Some undoubtedly will say I’m employing fear-tactics to cajole feeble minds into religious subjection.
I know that is a thing, yet If what I am saying is Objectively true… it matters not whether or not the facts are pleasing to our personal inclinations… The truth is the truth irrespective.
God sets the terms and conditions for Salvation, not us.
It is the nature of fallen humanity to rebel against the Sovereignty of the Almighty. That is a piece of Deep irrefutable psychology. Know thyself! Understand how your deep innate nature pre-conditions your thoughts.
We are all children of Fallen Adam and eve.
These are Facts of Reality.
Facts of History.
Facts of Science.
Facts of knowledge founded upon personal experience.
The explanatory power of the Bible has no equal.
The Materialist cosmology/faith is utterly inadequate and filled with absurdities.
It cannot be honestly entertained by informed thinkers in the light of Modern science.
My advise is you go spend some time on Youtube listening to high caliber Christian apologetics, such as William Lane Craig, and Gary Habermas debating the likes of Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, etc.
The Truth is there ready and waiting for you to descover… and have your mind blown!
Christ is worthy of worship.
I’m not worthy to worship him.
My only hope is that his grace is sufficient for a wretch like me.
The Easter Story specks of the Love of God towards us sinners.
Will it still be legal to celebrate Easter in 10 years time?
The light is fading.
Satan Laughing spreads his wings.
To my last breath I will declare Jesus is Risen!
Amazing Grace!
How sweet the sound!
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found.
Was blind but now I see.
I belong to a ‘Physics’ social media page.
On it a certain person seeking to justify belief in the Natural Unguided Evolution of everything posted the following….
Do you consider the following scenario impossible, and if so , why? I think the following scenario is possibly true:
“We are all part of the same universe that appears to trend towards disorder in the forward direction of time, following laws of nature. And we are all subject to “mistakes” that a universe makes as it does its thing. And we are all subject to “successes” that a universe makes as it does it’s thig. And what one of us perceives as a “mistake” , another may well perceive as a “success”. All as the universe (with us as a part of it) continues simply doing it’s thing, following laws of nature.
@Tim Wikiriwhitagging you as this is the main post requested.”
He also attached the following video…
***********
I begin my critique….
Ok…. very interesting Ideas… yet when you analyze the premises we do not find true ‘Chaos’… but a chain of causation. Materialistic Determinism.
There is a lot going on here… for example the multi-pendulums appear to be behaving quite differently when in reality they are all obeying the same ‘natural laws’… so it is wrong to see this as any significant difference… or chaos.
The Lady says @ 3:18 ‘Our Future has not been written yet’ … which is contradictory to the fundamental premises…. for if we could describe the infinitesimal differences between the starting points of the pendulums, and other conditional differences they encounter (including Einsteinian level fluxations) in their motions… we could predict where their motions into the future and explain why they appear very different…. ‘no real chaos’ involved.
Under this cosmology everything we see in this universe must be explicable via an unbroken chain of natural causation all the way back to when the Big Bang exploded… including what you perceive as all your personal virtues… and vises…. unfulfilled hopes and dreams!
It is because things like Objectively binding morals and values cannot be derived from Materialist premises that those who are committed to the materialist idea are forced to arbitrarily deem such things to be illusory.
In the same way any notion of ‘Beauty’ also must be ultimately meaningless…. for beauty is a value judgement that has no place in the cold reality of Elements and motion… and yet we have a perception of Beauty.
now the ultimate question is this… can such ‘Chaos theory’… as enunciated in the video… working with the materials we find in this universe… have sufficient explanatory power to answer how it is we humans exist on this planet… orbiting the Sun?
My answer is an emphatic No!
There is a missing essential paradigm…
I will speak more of this tomorrow… yet lets contemplate the Space Station…. How it orbits the Earth… How in doing so it fully complies with the Laws of Nature…. and yet while it does not contradict the Laws of Nature… it’s existence cannot be explained in purely natural terms… via a chain of causation that leads back to the Big Bang.
There is a special element that needs to understood…. and I will leave it here… and carry on tomorrow.
Just one or two or three more things to ponder… What was the cause of the Big Bang… from where did this universe ‘pop’ into existence? And what prevents your rationale from hanging upon the absurdity of ‘Infinite regression’? For If this universe is not eternal… it had a beginning… and if it had a beginning it must have had a cause… was there by your reckoning… an infinite chain of causation? Or Ultimately do you accept the necessity that there exists *some un created Ultimate reality*?
For the first question of Philosophy is …. ‘why is there something rather than nothing?’
I like to chillax and contemplate this mind blowing relationship and the appreciation that everything is in motion… Craft IPA in hand.
This is obviously an artistic child-like interpretation… very simplistic yet one step above the usual static Sun conception.
Not to scale… and only contends with the Sun, Earth, and Moon… so no ‘orbital plane’ (which itself is only something relative to a static Sun… and which ought to inspire awe given the whole conglomerate is in serious motion) .
All the bodies themselves rotate.
These simplified types of visual still have value, helping us expand our notions and make them more sophisticated, and yet we would be very disturbed should such a visualisation be made to scale… with the correct motions for example the Sun does not travel in a straight line but itself follows an orbital curve.
Yet I am not sure anything better than this abstract conception could be presented in this format?
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
Helical pitch greater than the diameter.
The distance between the Sun and the Earth is way off,(proportional to the diameter of the Sun), the Earth and Moon are at least 10x too big by the same measure, and the ‘pitch of ‘the helical Screw’ @ 800,000/hour ( year length) ought to be about 7x the Orbital circumference length of the Earth about the Sun, which would barely be recognisable as comparative to this artistic impression… placing our helical path at an extreme acute angle comparative to this… esp so if our orbit is not in fact perpendicular to the suns motion … as this diagram suggests… which is also probably an inaccurate simplification.
If our orbit is skewed to the Suns motion, then for an outside observer moving in parallel to the Sun it would appear that at times we would be accelerating slightly past the moving Sun, and then dropping behind it…
Trying to visualise the actual motions is mind-bending… esp how far out into space the gravitational effects of the Sun extends… dragging even Jupiter along for the ride… at breakneck speed!
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.
My kind of guy!
Kent E. Hovind (born January 15, 1953) is an American Christian fundamentalist evangelist and tax protester. He is a controversial figure in the Young Earth creationist movement whose ministry focuses on denial of scientific theories in the fields of biology (evolution), geophysics, and cosmology in favor of a literalist interpretation of the Genesis creation narrative found in the Bible. Hovind’s views, which combine elements of creation science and conspiracy theory, are dismissed by the scientific community as fringe theory and pseudo-scholarship. He has been criticized by Young Earth Creationist organizations like Answers in Genesis for his continued use of discredited arguments that have been abandoned by others in the movement.
Hovind established Creation Science Evangelism (CSE) in 1989 and Dinosaur Adventure Land in 2001 in Pensacola, Florida. He frequently spoke on Young Earth creationism in schools, churches, debates, and on radio and television broadcasts. His son Eric Hovind took over operation of CSE after Hovind began serving a ten-year prison sentence in January 2007 for federal convictions for failing to pay taxes, obstructing federal agents, and structuring cash transactions.
“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)
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.
Today was a day of Bad weather and mixed emotions.
I was proud to ride with a group of conscientious Bikers who took time off work and braved the wind and rain to ride for Justice for Moko… a Beautiful three year old boy who endured horrendous treatment at the hands of Adults whom were entrusted with his care… and was robbed of his life.
Today, all through the country Kiwis gathered outside their local courthouses as this is the Day his Killers are to be sentenced for their unspeakable wickedness.
I ask myself what further proof of Humanity’s pitiful and morally lost condition, and alienation from God could possibly be demanded from unbelievers …. as evidenced by such unconscionable crimes as this…. committed against the most innocent????
Sufficient is the Evil thereof!
8:30 First meeting point. Cock and Bull Pub. Pukete.
Second meeting point. Hillcrest.
Moko was failed at all points… by everyone… except his sister who did everything she could to raise the alarm… yet nobody rescued Moko.
He has become yet another victim of New Zealand shameful record of Child abuse and murder… and worse still… his murderers were allowed to ‘plea bargain for themselves a lesser sentence of Manslaughter instead of Murder!
So The Life value of this precious child, and his suffering and murder, was mitigated… de-valued…. and semi-excused!
*And this travesty… this outrage… is one of the main reasons We Bikers decided to Ride… and join the many other New Zealanders who think that this is just not good enough!
Though The evils and responsibility of Child abuse rest with the abusers… and you cannot blame their upbringing, the government, or any other single cause… Justice and deterrence demands that the Rights of Children receive the full weight of the Law and justice system behind them, so that these Monsters think twice… before committing their crimes… and when they do… they must receive full recompense for their Abominable Crimes against the most vulnerable members of our society.
Many would prefer to see these Vile perpetrators hung from a lamp post… yet without recourse to such Medieval punishments… we should at least expect the courts to deliver a sentence of Life without parole.
As one of the Speakers at the Rally whom herself was the victim of a horrendous sexual attack… “No sentence is adequate/ enough”.
Ride Organiser: Shaun Ewok Bryan.
He did a top job of stepping up to organise this ride for Moko in the Hamilton region.
He organised the Patches.
He also spoke to a TV crew outside the Hamilton courthouse about the Bike Run.
Full credit to him!
How New Zealand society is to reduce the incidents of such absolutely shocking crimes is not easy to determine… there are so many factors involved, yet if I was to single out some points of importance for me to would be *Personal ethics* and how our society’s P.C ‘pandering to victimism’… and rejection of what we might call ‘Old school Christian values’, in favour of Liberal de-valuation of the Traditional Family values… the importance of Fathers, the normalizing of Single parent families, Having children out of wedlock… The Socialist Government encroachments, via welfareism, The evils of the lies of Maori as victims of colonisation… even heavy Taxation, and trade regulations …etc etc… all corrode the soul out of our people… create excuses… make life harder than it needs to be… and esp robs people of an inner moral compass.
Too many people today hold to a nihilistic, amoral, ‘It’s all about me’ mentality.
New Zealand needs to stop running to Nanny State and calling for more Rules and regulations, and instead seek a moral re-awakening in *personal ethics and responsibility*.
No doubt many readers will thumb their noses at this notion… yet I believe it 100%.
This cant happen over night… and it will never happen… unless people take a long hard look at where our society is heading in this ‘post-Christian era’.
Do people *hate Christian values more than they desire to fix the monstrous social evils that manifest themselves in such things as Child abuse, Filling Jails, Ever expanding Government Tyranny?
Why is it that *Today’s generation* are thought less fit to handle the same liberties older generations took for granted?
We are witnessing an atrophy in personal responsibility, and an over-reliance on Government… yet Government cannot Save the children from abuse.
*Only a revival of Strong personal ethics* can hope to ensure Children are safe around their custodians.
That’s my 10 cents worth… my start to the dialogue….I’m open to hearing other opinions… this is a conversation our country needs to have.
Great show of New Zealand Bikers!
If there is one thing I regret is not taking more time to meet many of you.
And if I was to add anything else to this list I would add that there are Far too many people in the know… who collude with the abusers… because they seek to hide the shame that they fear will come upon them and their families if they speak up.
*This is a far greater shame!*
The Abuse Needs to be exposed to the light of Day!
The Children whom suffer desperately need someone to speak up for them and rescue them from such horrific treatment… before they too are Crushed… or murdered!
If you know of abuse… yet say nothing… do nothing… then *you are a accomplice* *You are failing the abused children*.
And that is inexcusable.
How can anyone who knows that children are in danger, and suffer… yet does nothing sleep at night????
Child abuse must be reported.
And if there is no time for the Police to arrive… Step between the Child and their abuser!
You may never face a Human Judge for your Inaction… yet like the scum whom Murdered Moko…. one day you will stand before God Almighty and he will judge you for your sins.
*Nobody escapes the justice of Almighty God.*
My Sign. Photo from Labour MP Sue Moroney’s facebook, who turned up in support for the Vigil, and spoke on the Labour party perspective of the current Legal climate under the National government.
“Dreadful weather today, but these awesome people came out to stand up against violence to children and the unbearable rate of murder in NZ. I spoke at this “Justice for Moko” rally where I told those gathered that we should not accept that our children’s rights can be bargained away.”
From >here.
Moko is free now… Safe in the arms of Jesus.
I believe this.
And he will look down on today’s rallies that occurred across our nation and will no doubt smile upon everyone who weathered this Wintry day in Tribute to him.
We are all so sorry that we could not save him from these Minions of Satan… yet we can now make sure we do everything we can to reduce the incidence of child abuse in New Zealand.
Let us not forget Moko.
Amen.
Tim Wikiriwhi
New Zealand Biker.
Christian Libertarian.
