October 1st, 2009
Time for some navel gazing. I mean why do I do it? What is it about people who so desperately cling to the notion that Jehovah does not exist that so fascinates me? Is it because I have been there and I have seen the light? It sometimes seems so utterly futile to go to these places and say anything. I keep asking myself: What is it that they cannot see? I cannot go through my day without seeing the Holy one of Israel everywhere I look.You are probably wondering where this is coming from. Over the years I have had many fruitless discussions with people who deny the existence of Jehovah. So when Vox has one of his many posts on Atheism I like to grab my popcorn and watch the fur fly. Well today Vox posted the second letter from an atheist who wanted to have a polite and reasoned discourse with Vox on why he is a Christian. One of the main reasons Vox cited was that evil existed and Christianity provided a remedy for it. Ok, well and good, but Luke (the Atheist) made an incorrect assumption on what Christians believe about the nature of evil.
“Or consider Buddhism. Buddhism claims that suffering is the result of desire. Most philosophers today would essentially agree. Contrast this with the Christian concept of evil as a roaming magical force that hunts us down and seeks to destroy us. Which is more plausible?” Lukeprog
He equates evil to the description of Lucifer in the scriptures as a devouring lion. This is simply incorrect. It is a common misconception by those who are either too lazy or to intellectually dishonest to find out the truth on what the Bible says about evil. While it is true that Lucifer is evil he is not the source of evil. There is no one source it simply exists. The very nature that we have a choice brings the capacity for evil into play. In our own hearts lies the source of all evil. We do not need some “devil” to incite us to perform evil, we are quite capable of it on our own. That is not to say that, Lucifer and his minions do not work at providing our evil desires with all manner of “yummy” treats. The fact is that he can not make us do evil, we still have to cross that bridge when we get there.
October 1st, 2009 at 2:47 pm
The problem with Luke is that he often uses what I call “mainstream” misconceptions. Obviously, we live in an age where biblical study has lost much of its value and is instead interpreted by means of how that passage makes them feel. No concern for the intention of the author, the culture etc is shown. When confronted, he tries to say that the Bible has so many different interpretations and since yours is just another theory on the table, it is not any less Christian than their belief.
I just cringe at the total disregard for Biblical Interpretation. He’s another case of someone who is ignorant in biblical theology, and then tries to attack a straw man. I’m a bit angered by this because he doesn’t wish to apply the same methods of reasoning to theology that he so often boasts in other areas like philosophy. He instead relies on what OTHERS think of the Bible rather than what the Bible is trying to say to US. Good post BTW, I agree 100%.
October 2nd, 2009 at 12:58 am
I don’t think of evil as a thing in itself. I think of it as similar to darkness. There is no such thing as dark, only an absence of light. Similarly, evil is a lack of goodness and is the default state without the extra energy added by goodness(light) Might not be entirely correct, but an easy enough visualization.
October 2nd, 2009 at 1:00 am
OT:
On Luke’s blog you wrote The point is that our faith is in vain without the death and resurrection of Yeshua.
I believe fully in the resurrection of Christ, but I really don’t understand how that changes anything. A Passover lamb was required to save us from the Destroyer but that lamb was never resurrected. As Yeshua was our sacrifice it was the shedding of His blood that saves us, not anything that happened later. In fact, I have not seen any prophecy stating that he would be resurrected other than the dichotomy of the two different appearances, which again, I completely believe in. Okay, correction, Yeshua himself spoke of it and noted that Jonah was a type, but I am not sure that anyone would have picked that up outside of His showing it, and I am not aware of any other OT prophecy regarding it. Anyways, I don’t think that my faith would be affected if He had not come back to life right away and didn’t until He reappeared or instead came back in an angelic form (for lack of a better term)
So in short, how does the resurrection fit in and why is it really important?
October 2nd, 2009 at 7:33 am
I could be wrong, but I believe the resurrection is important for a number of reasons. One, it signifies Yeshua’s command over death, giving further proof that he was who he claimed to be and that he had power even over death. Another is symbolic – in his death and resurrection we also die and are reborn. I say symbolic, but I believe it goes much deeper than that – Yeshua’s resurrection was necessary for our eventual resurrection. Although it has been a while since I’ve read them, I’m fairly certain there are relevant passages from the Bible that might give you more insight on this – hopefully someone with a better memory can point you in the correct direction.
October 5th, 2009 at 7:37 am
Like Erik I tend to think of evil as not so much an entity to itself but as the absense of good (which I equate to the absense of God – James 1:17). Similar to how there is absolute zero at which point it can get no colder or darkness being the point where there is absolutely no light and it can get no darker it seems, to me anyway, that evil can be characterized as the absense of good.