CXIII. The Atheist Dilemma

Is God real?  This is the question that actually makes or breaks all life.  If God is real then we need to find out what He wants.  If God is real then we need to understand what our future holds.  If God is real then we need to try and do what we can to follow Him.  If God is real we have all the answers to life that we need.  If God is real then we have purpose.  If God is real we have a relationship.  And there can be more that is added to the list but, if God is not real then to be honest nothing matters.  If all we have is this life and no consciousness after we die then why even live this life?  But because there is a God, all things matter.  This causes a dilemma for the atheist.  Most atheists believe in nature as the ruling essence of existence (although they will not acknowledge that specifically) with science as their religion (although they will argue they have no religion) and evolution as their savior. But the same three things that are the basis of their beliefs are also the same three things that are their biggest obstacles.

They cannot answer three questions, realistically.  Yes, they can rationalize their thoughts and use human logic to disregard religion and belief in God, but it always falls short and they don't even know it.  Here are the three questions:

1. What lies on the other side of the universe?  Or Where does the universe end?
2. What is the hardest thing to believe in about God?
3. Where did all life begin?

What the atheist will do with these questions is they will take the first one and say it is a misleading question.  They will claim that you are limiting them in their choices, or they will say "the question implies there is something beyond the natural world, so it is invalid", or they will give you some pet answer that atheists are now using about multiple universes.  That will be discussed later.  For the second question, they will give you reasons about what they dislike about God or what they dislike about what the Bible says. That is not answering the question being asked.  Sometimes they will say you can't prove a negative so they will not answer.  And of course some may say the pet atheist answer of "who created God if He created everything" and think they have a valid point.  This will be discussed later.  Then the third question they will usually hijack.  This one they will either answer with, "I don't know and neither do you", or they will say "I don't know...but it doesn't take a Creator to have life".  Or they will go the whole evolutionary route starting with conditions of the universe and amino acids, and RNA, and energy sources.  Again this will be discussed later.

WMAP

Raisin Bread Analogy

So what is the answer to the first question?  There are only a two choices in reality.  Either the universe is infinite or the universe is finite.  There is a problem for the atheist here.  If the universe is infinite then it goes against the science they believe in.  NASA says it is not infinite.  Steven Hawking says it has a beginning.  The latest scientific model explains that the universe is conical. Cone Expansion Earlier models say it was like a loaf of bread, expanding where it can pushing the oldest stars and clusters of the universe out to the brim. Raisin Bread Theory  But both of these go against infinity as a choice. Even worse, if the universe is infinite then it actually explains one of the issues atheists have with God.  How can God be infinite?  Who created Him?  How can atheists believe what they do if something natural can be infinite and not believe something that is more powerful than nature not be infinite?  The second answer by atheists to this question says that the universe came from another universe and those came from other universes, called Multiple/Parallel Universes.  But the issue doesn't change.  One of them has to be the original.  One of them has to be the first and therefore it all had a beginning and is still not infinite.  So the second option is the only option.  The universe has to be finite.  So, what lies on the outer side of the universe?  What is on the outside of the cone or raisin bread?  Their answer:  absolutely nothing.  Well, that is exactly what the Bible says. Thought XLV.  Strike one.

So, what about the second question?  There are infinite (see what just happened) answers here.  But what usually comes up are things like: if God is real then why do bad things happen?  Or, if God is real then why does the Bible say this or that?  Well, the problem is, even though these questions may have actual answers, it is not answer to the question being asked.  The question is, what is hard about believing God exists, not what issues you have with God.  Here is this dilemma for the atheist. Atheists can not use the argument of if God is real then why do bad things happen because how can you blame God for things if He is not real?  Nature to an atheist is the all-powerful force driving life. If God is not real, there would still be death, caused by nature (the essence of all living to the atheist). yet they still believe in nature.  So if nature causes death then by the same argument they gave about God, they should not be believing in nature.  This is not to presume that death is good because "God did it" or say that death is OK.  That is an issue even Christians have a hard time with and even people like Job had issues with this topic.  No one knows why God does things at times.  But that is not the question.  God is still an option of existence no matter what or how you feel about God.  If you believe that way then you are an atheist but a better term for you would be anti-Theist, Atheism. You just hate God, but turn it into a disbelief.  The second answer they say for this question is you cannot prove a negative, so the burden is on the believer.  But if that is the case then why do so many atheists go to the internet, forums, and discussion boards just to say, "there is no God"?  Why do they burden themselves by going to these places?  In both cases, they are really acknowledging the existence of God.  The most common answer is, "if God created all things, then who created Him?". The answer to that lies in the first question.  If space, which is natural, can be infinite then so can a super-natural being.  Strike two.

Finally, the third question is one they think they have an answer to.  Where does life begin?  This is where their savior comes in--evolution.  But some of the other answers may be, "I don't know".  That is a good answer but they will feel the need to add, "and neither do you".  Their ego will not just let them say, "I don't know".  Well, we do.  Another answer would be, "a Creator isn't needed for life to begin".  But, that does not answer the question.  Even if evolution was true, it still had to have its start somewhere.  But, it is not true, Evolution.  And for the Christian, evolution is not an option since God did not use it, Theistic Evolution.  Many scientists have stated that life points to a designer.  The atheists now have come up with new theories like RNA World and the Origins of life,  RNA World but again, they only show life itself, not the actual beginning of life.  In the end they can't admit but nevertheless is true, they don't know where life begins.  But we do.  The Beginning.  Strike three.

CX. Science in the Bible.

Did you know the Bible is full of scientific facts that even predate all the fields of science?

Physics says that the whole universe is made up of four things; time, space, matter, and energy.  This is something that even Albert Einstein believed in and was even his foundation for his theory of relativity.  But he was not the first person to write about this.  Genesis 1:1-3 says:

• 1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
• 2 And the earth was waste and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep: and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
• 3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

The very first thing the Bible says in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. So what right? When the Bible says "in the beginning" it is talking about time.  Before the creation there was no time.  He created the heavens (space), and the earth (matter).  Then later God created light.  Light is a form of energy. So the Bible has proven the ideas of Einstein, or maybe Einstein has given scientific validity to the Bible.

Geology says that the all the world's land masses were once connected called Pangaea.  If you look at any map of the world you could see how that works.  Move Africa and South America closer and closer and you can see how the pieces of the puzzle fits.  Alfred Wegener was the first person to have a complete study done on this topic.  But he was not the first person to actually write this idea down.  Genesis 1:9-10 says:

• 9 And God said, Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.
• 10 And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.

Still in the same passage as the ones above Genesis explains the beginnings of the tectonic plate theory.  The whole world was one land mass.  Now, how we got to seven continents is where science and the Bible may disagree but remember which one explained it first.  History says that usually the first source is the best source.  And the Bible says the world was flooded by an underground fountain (the deep) and also rain from the atmosphere.  If the water burst through the ground that would leave voids and breaks in the plates allowing them to slide and collide.  Water is the most destructive force upon the earth, worse than wind or fire.  Water would change the landscape and God would do the rest.

Physics also says that light travels. Again, another idea of Einstein who borrowed the ideas of Ole Roemer, a Danish astronomer in 1675.  James Maxwell from Scotland then discovered that light moves as a wave. And that this movement is constant.  Light is a form of energy and moves at a constant rate.  Were these people the first to write this idea down?  No.  Job 38:19-20 says:

• 19 Where is the way to the dwelling of light? And darkness, where is its place,
• 20 That you may take it to its territory and that you may discern the paths to its home?

Light has a path?  Light has a home?  Yes, because if you go back to the 3rd verse of the whole Bible God created the light.  It had a beginning and has been moving ever since.  The home of light is from God.  The light spiritually speaking is Jesus.  He is the beginning.  It comes form Him.

Geography (and satellites) tells us the earth is round.  Well, duh, we can see that now.  But many people from the past, and some may have been believers, had thought the earth was flat.  But, that was mostly a theory by seafarers and not the average person.  But that's not the point.  Galileo and Copernicus were two scientists who first started to publish their ideas about this topic.  Unfortunately, there were many religious leaders who denied this claim and punished Galileo and they were wrong to do so.  If the religious leaders really knew what the Bible said Galileo may have made even more discoveries.  But was he the first to write this all down?  No.  Job 26:7-10 says:

• 7 He stretches out the north over empty space and hangs the earth on nothing.
• 8 He wraps up the waters in His clouds, and the cloud does not burst under them.
• 9 He obscures the face of the full moon and spreads His cloud over it.
• 10 He has inscribed a circle on the surface of the waters at the boundary of light and darkness.

There was a circle on the surface of the waters.  This circle is referring to the rest of the earth and its atmosphere. The boundary of light and darkness shows the separation between the atmosphere of the earth and the rest of space.  But what about the earth's location compared to the rest of the universe?  Verse 7 says the earth hangs on nothing.  Sure sounds like space.  And later on in Job it even names two specific stars, Pleiades and Orion.

Chemistry says that all matter has weight and mass.  Mendeleev put together our first periodic table labeling the elements in order of mass in 1869.  He claimed all elements had an atomic weight based on protons and neutrons. Even air, or oxygen, hydrogen and nitrogen if you will.  Was he the first to say that air has mass? No.  Job 28:25 says:

• 25 When He imparted weight to the wind and meted out the waters by measure

God gave weight to air and He set the gases into motion.  We all know from meteorology and Frances Galton in the 1860's that air masses move in two patterns; high pressure systems and low pressure systems. One moves clockwise, the other moves counter clockwise.  Was he the first to say this?  No.  Are you seeing a pattern here?  Ecclesiastes 1:6 says:

• 6 Blowing toward the south, then turning toward the north, the wind continues swirling along; and on its circular courses the wind returns.

Oceanography says the ocean currents moves in circular patterns such as clockwise and counterclockwise. called sea currents.  Well guess what?  Psalms 8:8 says:

• 8 The birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea, whatever passes through the paths of the seas.

The seas have paths.  Matthew Maury in 1825 discovered this.  But not before the Bible mentions it.

There is even more that can be added, such as the Bible stating there are physical laws of the universe, explains the 2nd law of thermodynamics, that we are in a 3 dimensional existence, there are seasonal changes, and last but not least even explains the big bang.  Genesis 1:1 says that in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. But where and from what?  The answers are from somewhere in His power and from nothing.  All of a sudden there was light, time, matter, space, motion, energy, laws, everything we know...from nothing, hence a big bang.

And get this, most of this is found in the Old Testament in either Genesis or Job, the two oldest books written. Almost 3500 years before Newton wrote his laws. Before any field of science was developed. Before we knew anything about the stars and gravitational pulls God had already written down or explained these things to us.  All we need to use is trust the Bible is real because if it isn't then neither is science.  So the answer to the title question is the Bible, but don't exclude science.

CVI. The Great Debate

On February 4, 2014 the debate of our times took place in Petersburg, Kentucky.  A modern version of the Scopes Trial, if you will took, place between Bill Nye, an American student of science and educator and television personality and Ken Ham, an Australian student of science and founder of Answers in Genesis and the Creation Museum.  It was cordial with both sides addressing each other with respect and allowed each side to completely have their own time.  The debate was of course between evolution and creation and focused on the topic of "can creationism be considered viable science?".  That calls to mind the poll that was taken here a few months ago and that basically describes what the actual underlying topic was about.  Can God be proven?  Here are the results:

• 50% said Yes. But faith is also needed with science.  This is the correct answer.  Faith and science can go hand in hand.  They were never meant to be opposite of each other.  But the problem is in today's world as Ken Ham stated in the debate the world has drawn a wedge between them and makes it look like they can not coexist (paraphrased).  Science was created by God, i.e., He set laws in motion.  Gravity, speed of light, elements, and life forms were all from Him.  Our faith tells us more though.  Science we use to prove things.  Faith we use beyond what we can prove.
• 12% said Faith is all you need to prove God.  This being a Christian site and many of the followers are Christian makes it simple to understand many would pick this option.  But this is a biased opinion and in not viable to "prove" God.  Faith is all you need to see God but not to prove the physical existence of Him, especially since He is spirit.
• 6% said Yes. He left scientific evidence for us.  If this was the case then all would believe.  Yes, there is a lot of evidence that points to a Creator (more later for that point) but some things it takes the spirit of God to understand.
• 0% said No. Science refutes God.  Absolutely not.  The only ones who would say this are those who have been blinded by their own humanism thinking they have enough intelligence for the whole world, while not admitting it.  Those who would have chosen this option try to make believing in God a matter of rationality.  As in if you believe in God then you are not a reasonable person.
• 0% said Doesn't matter.  Then why the debate? Why is faith and science always clashing.  Why do people get so offended and uptight when discussing these two topics at the same time?  If anyone picked this one it's because they do not care about anything.  If you do not care about where you came from then you would not care about what you are doing or where you are going.
• 12% said Not sure. Understood.  This topic for those who are neither strong in their faith nor rely upon scientific fact will look at both sides and struggle with it.
• 18% said Other.  These people are crazy.  What would be a 3rd option?  They won't be back to read this anyway.

Bill Nye and many others have a hard time with the faith part.  This biggest obstacle it seems is finding evidence without the Bible or using any faith.  One of his major points that he kept coming back to was how he "as a reasonable" man can see how creation is a viable theory to how we got here.  What people like him do not understand is that when they try and use reason they they themselves are using their own personal faith.  All they do is replace creationism with humanism.  They rely upon man's fallibility to explain an infinite universe.  In the debate he brought up how the universe shows signs of being older than the what a literal interpretation of Genesis says.  For example:  How could  light from a planet that is 13 light years away be seen by human eyes if we have only been in existence for 6000 years?  Here is where faith comes.  But, it will be foolish to those who try to disprove God.  When God created Adam, He created him fully developed, not as a child.  Adam was a man with a fully developed body, brain, and could take care of himself.  If there was a doctor and would have been able to do an operation on him he would have found that Adam would have appeared to be a man of maturity even though he was only 1 day old.  The same it was with the universe.  God created the universe with all the laws of science in place.  The first words were "Let there be LIGHT".  And light was everywhere throughout the universe, in place, spread out farther than we will ever know, even perhaps passed the 13.4 billion light years we assume.  Was there a big bang?  Sure.  Out of nothing, in one split second all that we know and beyond came into being already in place and fully developed.  This was one of the main points Bill Nye could not answer when questioned.  What was it before the big bang.  He said, he did not know.  There is the most compelling evidence for a Creator.  Something had to start the big bang.  There had to be something before there was all of this.

 

The one thing that Bill Nye could not do during the debate was refute the existence of God.  And no scientific study nor any scientists will ever be able to do that.  At one point in the debate he argues the Bible and its authority calling it an ancient book.  Funny how he and his like rely on other old things but not this one.  Arguing against God may not have been the topic but rest assuredly it was one of his goals:

http://www.glennbeck.com/2013/09/16/bill-nye-religion-is-the-enemy-of-science.

 

This is not to say that Ken Ham is correct on everything.  However, since he does not deny the existence of a Creator then his starting place in finding all the right answers has more authenticity.  It is when he adds his own personal feelings and ideas that it becomes no better than the secular sceince field.

Science should be embraced.  The scientific method can and should be used when all possible.  But when there are no answers that science has to offer and an ancient book has aldready been written years before any scientific discovery had been made explains it all then that is where faith comes in.
 

For more about evolution and a more accurate understanding of creationism, read the following Thoughts:

http://ideasoftimreligion.blogspot.com/search/label/Evolution
http://ideasoftimreligion.blogspot.com/search/label/Creation

LII. Existence is Futile

Age old question: Why are we here?

Why do we exist? Are we doomed to death? If God knew we were going to sin then why did He create us? And if sin sends us to hell then does that mean God created us to be doomed?

This is a huge argument that the atheist will use. They claim that if God is a loving God like Christians claim He is and since He is supposedly all-knowing then how could He create someone He will eventually condemn to hell? Apparently, He isn't as loving as Christians claim He is. And if one aspect of God that Christians claim isn't true then how can any of His aspects be true? Therefore there is no God.

First of all read this post: http://ideasoftim.blogspot.com/2010/03/64-rationalize-liberal-thinking.html and then read the rest of this thought. To the atheist there is no answer that will suffice but for the rest of us here is a shot at it.

Why were we created? We were created for multiple purposes. The biggest reason is to one day be a companion with God. But while we are on earth we are here to worship and love God. We are here to help one another because we are not perfect beings. We all hurt and need to be companions for each other as well. But if we aren't perfect then why didn't God just create us perfect or create us to be placed in heaven to begin with and not here first? To put it into human analogy, have you ever painted, sculpted, baked or done anything that involved creating something? What you have created is from you, of you, by you and mostly for you. But it can never be you. It takes on your personality. It takes on your essence. Those who see your creation know that it came from you because it is a reflection of you. But it is still not you. The artist loves his creation. The writer would love to become part of his book and react with his characters that he created, even though he may know the disposition and fate of his characters.

God did not create us perfect beings because there would have been no real love or relationship between Him and His creation. He gave us a free will to choose to have that relationship or not. Yes, God knows what your future is. But fore-knowledge is not predestination. Fore-knowledge means you allow things to happen which means real love has a chance to happen. Predestination means He caused it to happen. (It is in the opinion of this writer that predestination is not accuracte) Predestination takes away the feeling of real love or the choice to have real love. This idea causes the atheist to hate God. The feeling of predestination causes despair.

Remember the artist can not become part of his creation but God can and did. He chose to become one of His own and lived among us. He felt the same things we do. He hurt and loved the same things we do. He witnessed the same joy and atrocities we do. He became part of us to show His creation He understands who we are and why we are the way we are. Even better He made a way for us to become part of Him.

XLV. The Dark Side

Close your eyes for 5 seconds and reopen them. Go ahead, no one is watching. What did you see? Nothing right? But was there really nothing there? No. There was something. There was still a thought going through your mind somehow. There may have been a memory flashing in. There may have been sound on the outside that you could hear. The wind was blowing somewhere. Electricity was flowing from one place to another. Your blood was still pumping. There is more than just darkness. Even though you shut your eyes and saw nothing there were things still going on around because in this universe there is no such thing as nothing!

Have you ever thought about what nothing (real nothing) is? It is void of all known things. Time, space, dimensions, laws are all void in a real nothing. It is something we really can not comprehend because we are in existence. But where did we come from? How did we come into existence? You know the answer. Just say it. God. What did He create us (the universe) out of? Nothing!!

But, some who read this may answer about where we come from as:

1. primordial soup
2. from something else
3. it doesn't matter, it is nonsensical
4. i don't know

Well, there are some problems with these answer. Let's take them one by one:

1. Primordial soup-Everything that was made is a huge accident. The laws of the universe just by happen chance formed into consistency and never contradict each other. Out of chaos came harmony. We are here because for some reason an accident happened and we are now caught in this vast experience of existence created by...nothing. How can something so extensive in time, distance, and mass come out of nothing? It can't. There had to be something before something. Of course the atheist will cry foul here. Wait and listen for it. "who then made God?", "infinite regression", "the chicken or the egg?" To understand where the designer came from is not in the capability of the creation itself. A car can not understand the mechanic. A piece of art can not understand the artist. They are two totally different dimensional beings. Convenient isn't it, atheists, non-theists? But it is the truth. God was never designed. Again he is in a higher dimension we can not know until we are with him (or not). Time is a figment of man's imagination. It was made by man to separate days and nights, years and decades, to count his own days. God does not have time. He was always here and always will be. That is why he is called the great "I AM". Time does not really exist. We made it up.
2. From something else-Humans came from a lower form of primate which came from a lower form of mammal which came from reptiles, amphibians, birds, fish...the amoeba. With each new species of development cam a higher form of intelligence and complexity. If we are so advanced then why all of the mutations that destroy people? Is that a higher form of species? No. Where is the newest form of primate? The only thing we keep finding are primates of the past. When will we see that next evolutionary process starting to take place? Plus, even if evolutionary process is accurate, then where did the first species come from? Oh yeah...see point #1.
3. It doesn't matter. It is nonsensical. There was a big bang and that is it. Everything before this bang is irrelevant. Irrelevant to what? The beginning of our existence answers all the questions we have. If there is a God that created then we can trust the Bible and what it says. Jesus is LORD, Savior and will return. If there isn't a God then our whole lives are nonsensical. Why are we here? And if there isn't a God, how did we get here? Oh yeah...see point #2.
4. I don't know. The best answer out of the four. At least it's something to work with and not argue about. It has no wrong conclusion and perhaps has an open ended process of learning about all of it.

Here is the point: those who do not believe in the existence of God are saying whether they admit it or not that this "something" we know as our entire existence, i.e.; time, life, space, etc., came out of nothing. Not the concept we know as nothing with our eyes shut but out of complete nothing, void of all things possible. Some will say that is not what they believe but there will not be another answer given. Now how is that saner than believing in a loving Creator who wanted us to love for Him and gave us a free will. This is where the "prove God exists" argument comes in. Read the following then: http://ideasoftimreligion.blogspot.com/2009/06/xxxiv-atheist.html

VII. Poor Adam

Can you imagine being the beginning of something perfect and everything you did would cause the universe to spin in one direction or another? Can you imagine being the one who got to name all of the known universe? Can you imagine being in control of everything on the earth? Can you imagine living forever in God's Paradise made just for you? Can you imagine being the cause of death of each and every thing on the earth?

For 6000 years Adam has had to have this over his head. He has had the sentence of death for every human placed upon him since the day he sinned. Can you imagine living 900 years and seeing the destruction that one action of yours caused? He witnessed Paradise lost as he was banished from it. He witnessed animals who were once his companion turn on him in fear. He witnessed innocence being lost when Eve had to cover up. He witnessed the earth decay and now he had to toil to keep it alive. He witnessed pain caused by childbirth. He witnessed his own son murder another son. All he had to do was listen to one command. He was allowed to do anything he wanted except one thing. Do not eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. This one disobedience sent the rest of the human race spiraling downward to hell. What kind of life could Adam have lived with all of this on his shoulder? A redemptive one!

Just like all Christians and those who believe in the Almighty El Elyon, he has a redeemer. He was given the promise that there would be a seed that would crush the serpent's head. Adam knew that one day he would be redeemed. We may sin. We are no better than Adam. We may fall away everyday. But, there is a redeemer! There is one who has paid the price for our sin. We are His. We have been paid for. The second Adam has come and has restored Paradise. If you are eating from the wrong tree then put down the fruit and eat from the Tree of Life.