Posted on 05/19/2013 4:54:01 AM PDT by NYer
Ping!
James 2:19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. 20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?
Thomas Aquinas arrived at the same conclusion 800 years ago. If we use our senses and look around the only reasonable conclusion is that God exists.
A famous theologian (forget which one) suggested that we simply ask the unbeliever to prove there is no hell. We sees glimpses every day. We all know death and disease and mutations should not be, which is why so many work to eradicate the effects. If it was natural, why bother? Especially for the evolutionist.
He traded one form of unbelief for another. The lost suppress the truth in unrighteousness. It takes the Holy Spirit to open ones eyes to the triune God.
A case for God: In the complexity of the universe, what if one piece of the puzzle was missing. What if there was no gravity, what if there was no weak force, what if there was no DNA, what if there was no hydrogen, what if there were no protons, what if there was no fusion to power the stars, what if there were no synapses, what if time didn’t exist? Everything is necessary and in balance. Liberals exist to give a face to subversive evil. (Had to stick that in, just in case someone was wondering)
Things (i.e., science) have always been that way; the atheists simply have ignored the scientific principle that you can't prove a negative. When an atheist says, "God doesn't exist" you simply have to say, "Prove it." When the atheist invariably resorts to crowning himself the intellectual superior in the debate:
Some critics suggested Flew's mental capacity had declined...
play the game in his realm by pointing out that his philosophy (science) requires that a) Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof, and b) You can't prove a negative.
Keli Kilohana, I am amazed that there are some believers who cannot rejoice when an unbeliever takes a step closer to the truth.
By the way, the James passage you quote was in regard to so-called Christians who claimed to be Christian because they believed in God, yet demonstrated no evidence (works) in their lives to indicate that they truly repented or had the Holy Spirit living within their hearts.
I pray the Mr. Flew, who said he is studying the claims of Christianity, will take that final step of trusting in Christ as his Savior.
Remember when Jesus said to one who was seeking answers from
Him - “You are not far from the Kingdom of God”. Rejoice in Mr. Flew’s step toward the Truth and pray that he will continue to the completed truth in Jesus as the Truth.
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re: “He traded one form of unbelief for another. The lost suppress the truth in unrighteousness. It takes the Holy Spirit to open ones eyes to the triune God.”
I say the same thing to you as I said to Keli. So, Mr. Flew’s step closer to the Truth that there is a God who created the Universe is trading one form of unbelief for another??
Some “Christians” are so sour and dour that they cannot rejoice when a lost sheep begins to turn toward Real Truth?
Yes, Mr. Flew is not there yet, but he at least is doing what Paul mentions in Romans 1 - he is seeing the “clear evidence of God’s existence in God’s creation”.
Lord Above, crghill, have a little grace and mercy. Pray for Mr. Flew to continue to seek the Lord - he even admits that he is studying the claims of Christianity - at least he is looking in the right direction.
Your Calvinism is showing as well. No freewill.
I think the origins of the laws of nature and of life and the Universe point clearly to an intelligent Source. The burden of proof is on those who argue to the contrary. —Antony FlewIt's interesting to me that an intelligent and accomplished man would take a lifetime to come to such a simple, and (according to scripture) self-evident conclusion.
Also, in that he doesn’t mention it here, the writings of Roy Abraham Varghese and Gerald Schroeder, were also primarily convincing to him.
“I pray the Mr. Flew, who said he is studying the claims of Christianity, will take that final step of trusting in Christ as his Savior.”
Flew died several years ago. He made no public confession of belief in Christ, but God is merciful. I hope God took into account that Flew was genuinely interested in the truth and (it seems) wanted to know it with all his heart.
re: “Flew died several years ago. He made no public confession of belief in Christ, but God is merciful. I hope God took into account that Flew was genuinely interested in the truth and (it seems) wanted to know it with all his heart.”
I didn’t know that and sorry to hear of his passing. He did mention in the interview that he had been examining the Christian faith. One can only hope that he took the final steps to Jesus before he died.
Why is it, that proof of ones belief is even considered to be necessary?
Yep, this has been my path as well. In trying to understand the physical world and the rules by which it operates, I was lead to the Designer who built it and wrote the operating system.
The last book I read, "Heaven is For Real: A Little Boy's Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back" and current book I'm reading, "Heaven is Real, But So is Hell" have given me the answers I've been looking for to prove the truth of their titles.
And, both have more than lived up to their titles. After all I've learned through study and experience, I am 100% convinced of the reality of Heaven, Hell and the wonders and the consequences laid out in the Bible.
It's absolutely real. And we are almost out of time.
Flew is lucky to have found the truth before it was too late. I found way more than I wanted to know about what happens to atheists, and everyone else who turns away, by reading "My Descent into Death: A Second Chance at Life'.
Parts of his experience still shake me when I think about it. I think at some level I know his experience was real and awaits me, too. It waits for all of us who take that path.
God exists and loves you no matter if there are 100 billions believing that or no one. However, when someone with insight and dedication starts with atheistic beliefs and for intellectual reasons alone understands his error, then it is remarkable and might be informative to others, who struggle with the same error.
Mr Flew died in 2010. I’m comforted to know that not one of God’s elect will be lost. It is my hope he is among them.
Lastly, freewill assumes one can choose perfect good. My bible says that mankind was born into sin and is a slave to it until set free by Christ. I’ll keep my soteriology.
Indeed. That is Catholic teaching on free will: we have it solely because Christ gives it to us.
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