Check out my new blog update. This is my first blog video titled “What God is Not.”
I learned today that it’s not easy to shoot a quality video. Much respect to those who do this on a regular basis. Forgive me for the focus part way through. Cheers!
Category: Faith and Reason (Page 8 of 8)
When I was an undergrad student I was surprised at how many of my professors proudly wore their atheist badges with great pride. With great enthusiasm some even preached personal atheist manifestos with evangelical fervor.
Prior to my acceptance of Christianity I had been convinced that to believe in God is to sacrifice intellect. In other words, if I wanted to be smart (or appear smart) I had to dismiss belief in God as superstition. God has no place in serious academia. Ironically, I soon came to realize how non-intellectual this position is.
Here are THREE REASONS why Christianity can encourage your intellect.
Courtesy of Demletrich Baker from Flickr.com
A Conversation with Christopher Hitchens
Recently I have been reading the writings of the New Atheist writer Christopher Hitchens.
I would like to take a moment to explore a question that he poses in his book god is Not Great.
God is Not Great…?
In chapter 13 of his book Hitchens asks the question, “Does religion make people behave better?”
Courtesy of Stefan Kunze from Unsplash.com
Does God answer our prayers?
When I was seven years old I would walk to school on my own. The walks were boring and uneventful. One day I had an exciting idea. In order to pass the time I would pretend to be the genie from Aladdin. At the time Aladdin was my favourite show. I just loved how the genie had so many magical powers and he was able grant wishes instantly. All Aladdin had to do was rub a shiny golden lantern and out of it came the blue genie offering to grant any wish.
I walked to school pretending I had amazing powers. I saved people from distress, convinced people to do my bidding, and turned animals into toys.
Giving Up
Can it be that sometimes we treat God as the genie from Aladdin? A mystical entity that grants our wish whenever we call on him.
Photo by Milada Vegerova from unsplash.com
Belief in the God of the Bible can easily be dismissed by current scientific observation or future scientific discovery. The God of the Bible is merely a placeholder in a “gap” that has not yet been explained by scientific observation. Whether it be Zeus, Santa Claus, the Flying Spaghetti Monster, or the God of the Bible, they can all be explained away by scientific observation. This is referred to as the “god of the gaps” argument.
I will share with you 3 reasons why I believe the “god of the gaps” argument is falsely used against Christianity.
- Science and God do not oppose each other. I will not speak in great length on this as I devoted two posts to this subject, Is God Dead? and God’s Great Canvas. But allow me to leave you with the following question:
Photo by Ryan Wick from Flickr.com
If the God of the Bible can be explained away by scientific observation then why are there leading scientists who are openly and confidently Christian?
If their belief in God is not valid then these men and women of great intelligence are the equivalent of a 6 year old who refuses abandon his belief is Santa Claus. Despite catching his father putting presents under the Christmas tree at 2a.m. in the morning and shamelessly splurging on a plateful of homemade chocolate chip cookies with a 2 litre carton of milk.
As I walked into the Sistine Chapel my eyes immediately gravitated to the ceiling. There it was. Michaelangelo’s masterpiece illustrating major events and players in the Bible.
Fighting my sore neck I struggled to keep my eyes glued to the ceiling. SMACK! A strong palm slapped me on the back, nearly causing me to sprain my neck and fall on my face.
“Buongiorno!” A bearded man in his early 60s yelled in my ear. Noticing that he was wearing a tour guide’s uniform I decided I would politely entertain what he has to say. “My friend! Is this painting not beautiful? Just look how the different atoms arranged themselves to form this masterpiece.” The man proclaimed in awe as his eyes were glued to the ceiling.
Photo by Alex Krivec from Flickr.com