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Saturday, October 23, 2010

What is Atheism?

An excellent overview of what it means to be an atheist.

HT: CommonSenseAtheism

7 comments:

  1. That sums it up very nicely. There is nothing more to add.

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  2. Ken I initiated a discussion about definitions of atheism and agnosticism using this video and as always would be interested in your input. See here. Cheers.

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  3. "How many people have been deceived to think that the word of God (the Holy Bible) is just some ancient script which can't be trusted? Satan instills in people a hunger for signs and scientific evidence for the existence of God for them to be convinced. The Bible teaches that faith is not by sight (refer to 2 Cor. 5:7 and Hebrews 11:1), instead it's from hearing the word of God (refer to Romans 10:17). However, Satan is trying to redefine faith by propagating the false notion that faith has to be based on sight (by what you are able to see). There are so many things invisible to the naked eye of a human because of our limitations to all of our senses. Just because we can't perceive something with our senses, doesn't it mean it doesn't exist. For example, quarks, electrons, atoms, nucleus, DNA, cell organelles, various gases, components of the light spectrum (X-rays, gamma rays, UV rays, infrared light), different radio frequencies, different audio frequencies, electromagnetic waves, etc. can't be perceived with our senses. There are so many living organisms that can't be perceived with our senses like bacteria, viruses, parasites, fungi, etc. Who can see everything in outer space with their naked eye? They exist regardless of us being able to perceive them. Science and technology enables our naked senses to perceive and understand about all of these things. You need specialized microscopes to visualize things which are too small to see for the naked eye. You need telescopes to see things in outer space. Likewise, in order perceive a spiritual being like God, you need faith. Faith is the special tool you need to perceive God with your spirit. God is an invisible Spirit, hence, there's no technology that can be developed to aid our senses to perceive Him. He is a spiritual being, and hence, we can only perceive Him by our own spirit through faith. God has given us His word (the Bible) in order that we can spiritually hear His voice. When you read the Bible (by sight) or hear someone speaking from the Bible, God's word will be propagated through those bodily senses and be transmitted to your inner bring (your spirit) in order that faith may come to you.
    God enabled the writer of Hebrews to see the truth that we and the rest of God's creation were created from things which are unseen (refer to Hebrews 11:3). Our bodies are composed of quarks, electrons, atoms, nuclei, cell organelles, DNA, etc. None of these things can be visualized by the naked eye. Yet, the writer of Hebrews confidently wrote that verse as he trusted in God's inspiration. He had faith that everything which God inspired and revealed to him was true, even though he wasn't given the full understanding and details as we understand through science today. The writer of Hebrews (just like other people in his time- which was about 2,000 years ago) had no idea regarding the modern scientific terms and explanations to describe the composition of our body, yet even he knew by faith that God had created humans from things which they couldn't visualize and fully understand. Notice how God revealed this truth 2,000 years ago through the Bible and how it's taken the span of another 2,000 years for humans to discover and grasp the scientific evidence we're able to perceive and understand today. God has revealed even a more profound truth in Acts 17:28 and Colossians 1:17 that we are held together, live, move, and exist in Him. When will science be able to grasp and understand that? Will it take another 2,000 years or is that even possible to understand by human wisdom?

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  4. (continued- Part 2)

    Colossians 1:15 states that Jesus Christ is the visible image of the invisible God (the Trinity). When God the Father sent His Son, Jesus Christ, as the visible image (flesh/human form) to the earth 2,000 years ago, many people still doubted Him, despite all the miracles He performed. They kept asking Him for a sign and Christ said that the only sign He would give to such people is the sign of Jonah- i.e. Jesus dying and being buried for 3 days and then resurrecting on the third day (refer to Matthew 12:38-40). Despite even that sign, many people refused to believe in Him back then and even now. Why didn't all of the Jews in Israel as well as the Romans come to their senses after they found the empty tomb which was guarded by Roman soldiers? It just shows that no matter how many miracles and signs you give to such skeptics, nothing will ever satisfy them. Their refusal to believe in God is what keeps them trapped in a state of unbelief of trying to redefine faith by sight (signs/physical evidence) and human wisdom- the trap of the devil (refer to 2 Timothy 2:23-26). No one can perceive God without faith and a clean heart (refer to Hebrews 11:6 and Jeremiah 29:13). Unbelief and sin is what prevents our spirits from perceiving God. People back in Jesus' time were looking for a powerful and political figure who would exercise authority and judgment. Jesus' First Coming wasn't to exercise his political power and world dominion. It was to address the problem with our sinful state and to bring a solution through it to His redemptive work on the Cross of Calvary. The world today continues to look for a charismatic political leader who will bring prosperity and peace to the world. Since Satan has been influencing the world to base their faith on sight and human wisdom, the world will be deceived in the future by a false messiah- the Antichrist (during the Great Tribulation) and the False Prophet."

    "We're all aware of our own inner being (soul, spirit, heart (not the organ), mind). These things are all invisible. If you dissect the human body, can anyone see these things? No. However, they still exist regardless of us not being able to perceive them with our senses.

    1 Cor. 2:11 (NLT):
    "No one can know a person's thoughts except that person's own spirit, and no one can know God's thoughts except God's own Spirit."

    ***We can only perceive God by our spirits through faith.

    John 4:24 (NLT):
    "For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth."

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  5. (continued- part 3)

    We project our thoughts into physical manifestations through speaking and writing. If we lost our ability to speak because of some pathology in our body (vocal cord damage, nerve damage, etc.), we wouldn't be able to speak to each other or hear our own voices. Likewise, if we had some neurological problem which disabled us from writing, we wouldn't be able to communicate with others through that manner either. If all of our senses and modes of communication in our body were knocked out, it still wouldn't mean that our inner being is paralyzed nor prove that we have lost the ability to think nor prove the absence of our inner being. For example, a mute person is still aware of their own thoughts and self (their own inner being). Just because a person has lost their ability to communicate with someone through their bodily functions doesn't mean that their spirit/inner being is absent from their body. My point in all of this is- our spirit (inner bring) is separate from our body and its senses (refer to Matthew 10:28). Our spirit only depends on our body to interact with the world around us. If our bodies didn't function properly, we wouldn't be able to sense the world around us and neither communicate with each other. However, our inner being would still be in existence. The Bible teaches that God is an invisible Spirit. Our spirits are also invisible. If you dissect the human body, who can visualize a person's spirit? No one can, because it's invisible. The nature of a spirit is invisibility. The nature of the human body is to be visible. Both have different natures. Just because God is a Spirit who doesn't have a human body, it doesn't mean that He doesn't exist (note: God did send His Son, Jesus Christ, in the human form to display to the world the visible image of Himself. Colossians 1:15 states that Jesus Christ is the visible image of God). It means God can't be perceived with our physical senses. Spirits can only be perceived by each other. This means that we can typically only perceive God by our spirits through faith, not by our bodies. The Bible teaches that God's Spirit testifies with our spirits that we are His children when we place our faith in Him and turn away from our sins (refer to Romans 8:16). This is how God interacts with us- the interaction is between His Spirit and our spirits (not our bodies). God is not limited to anything and I say that because if He chooses to, He can let your body's senses experience/perceive Him. I've been fortunate to have experienced God's Spirit at various times in my body as an electrical/tingling sensation flowing through my body (from my head flowing to the rest of my body). However, like I said before, typically, He doesn't do that. God wants us to base our faith in Him not based on sight/other physical senses, but instead base our faith in Him by His word (having faith that God exists based on God's word-the Holy Bible).

    However, Satan has deceived the world to reason based on sight (signs, physical evidence) and human wisdom (evidence based reasoning).

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  6. (continued- part 4)

    1 Cor. 1:18-23 (NLT):
    "The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God. 19 As the Scriptures say,

    “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise
    and discard the intelligence of the intelligent.”

    20 So where does this leave the philosophers, the scholars, and the world’s brilliant debaters? God has made the wisdom of this world look foolish. 21 Since God in his wisdom saw to it that the world would never know him through human wisdom, he has used our foolish preaching to save those who believe. 22 It is foolish to the Jews, who ask for signs from heaven. And it is foolish to the Greeks, who seek human wisdom. 23 So when we preach that Christ was crucified, the Jews are offended and the Gentiles say it’s all nonsense."

    http://theantisatan.blogspot.com/2016/01/believe-in-gods-word.html

    http://theantisatan.blogspot.com/2015/10/what-must-you-do-to-be-saved.html

    http://theantisatan.blogspot.com/2015/11/the-psychology-of-salvation.html

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