You Must Choose A Belief System

All humans capable of higher thought have no choice but to use our brains to choose one of a myriad of beliefs regarding how we came to exist, our purpose here, and what lies beyond our physical death. As you are lying in bed at night trying to fall asleep, these questions raise themselves, and at other times of existential ponderings, such as after a terminal diagnosis of one’s self or loved one, after a tragedy one wants to blame ‘god’ for even though he/she does not believe in a god. Leading us to these ponderings is God’s deliberate design to get you to think about these important things at some points in your life before you die. He values your eternity far more than your comfort in this life. (He certainly values it more than He did His own comfort hanging there on the cross, and the brutal flogging prior that tore his muscles and skin to shreds. The necessity of which we will discuss later.)

He will allow you to exercise your free will however, and drown out these thoughts in distractions (such as career accomplishments, sex, or entertainment), or bury the thoughts in alcohol, or drugs if you so choose. But like a volcano or abscess, these thoughts must come out and be dealt with at some point, and if not in a controlled slow leak as designed (faith pilgrimage), then likely as an eruption in a messy, smelly, ugly fireball of anger during a debate/argument online or in person.

You have finally reached this crucial life junction when you have raised your fist to the sky and shouted ‘WHY?’ possibly accompanied by severe cursing at God (even if you don’t believe He’s real, you will still curse Him). Maybe you will be in a hospital room, jail cell or standing over some loved one’s casket when this happens, but the short answer is often ‘because this is what it took to get your attention.’

For this post, anywhere the word ‘god’ is used, one may substitute the word ‘force’ or ‘power’ to grasp the same point. Occasionally I will not capitalize the ‘g’ in God in deference to those who do not believe in a higher power, let alone one with human qualities.

My point right now is not to convince anyone that the God of Bible is real, but just to get the reader to form an educated opinion on whether the existence of a higher power is more likely than not. Options for one’s belief systems include:

1. No belief in any god or higher power – but a faith that life came about by some other process. Also, that it can’t be known if a higher creative power exists, therefore, humans are not accountable to know about or acknowledge that power even if it does exist. Often subscribers to these faith options are called atheists and agnostics and I am aware there is a spectrum of subtypes of this faith. Their faith in how life came to be follows the arguments and tenets of ‘secular humanism’. They either believe that death is final or one cannot know what lies beyond. Their ‘backup plan’ should they discover, four minutes after their last heartbeat, that there is a God waiting to judge them after all, is the ability to debate that god, that:

It didn’t provide evidence of its existence to humans clearly enough during life to ‘prove’ to people that it existed.
People have so many ideas about who or what god could be that no one can be blamed for not having a firm belief in anything or anyone
If this god was good and all powerful, then it wasn’t worthy of worship because of all the evil and suffering that existed in the world.
Strong, compelling arguments from many learned professors espousing this faith can be vicariously appropriated and used in one’s defense should one find themselves before a god after physical death, who demands an accounting of their lives. Perhaps you imagine that in that event, your defense will be a group project, and you can consult with and present grand and well-crafted arguments, alongside Charles Darwin, Christopher Hitchens, Richard Dawkins, Steven Hawking, Sam Harris, and others.

2. A belief in a higher power(s), (including the possibility that humans are their own gods and brought about creation out of collective consciousness of some kind) that is either –

Not interested or involved in the goings on in the universe one it set it in motion (deism)
Is interested in human, plant, and/or animal lives but not involved
Is interested and involved in human, plant, and/or animal life
Has created an elaborate illusion that we only think we are experiencing

All of these belief systems have something in common- faith. Yes, even belief in nothing is a faith that one is right about there being nothing.

“In religion and politics, people’s beliefs and convictions are in almost every case gotten at second-hand, and without examination, from authorities who have not themselves examined the questions at issue but have taken them at second-hand from other non-examiners, whose opinions about them were not worth a brass farthing.” (Mark Twain aka Samuel Clemens)

Twain’s statement describes the classic position of vicarious victory – a skeptic (or passionate but ill-prepared believer for that matter) has not conducted any research themselves, but simply ascribes to the presumed conclusions of others with more letters after their last name, who they presume to be an intellectual superior (read ‘high priest of the faith’) whose opinion should be revered because of common collegial opinion, number of papers published, number of lectures given, celebrity/popularity, or other status whether scientifically valid or not (even Oprah Winfrey is often cited as an authoritative source by some skeptics for crying out loud). The critic (or believer) who practices vicarious attribution simply is LAZY and fails as an investigator, attorney, judge, and otherwise. Their attribution of arguments presumably ‘won’ by ‘their side’ is used as ammunition but fails the major tests of scientific methods.

A geneticist for instance may not be able to prove DNA developed ‘by chance’ over time, can’t explain precisely in detail how adenine, thymine, guanine, and cytosine came about without an architect’s hand, but wishes it to be so much that he sees everything through that ‘wishful thinking’ lens, hoping (having FAITH in) his views to be true and the existence or need for a god can be disproven. He has faith in the beliefs of his fellow scientists however, who honestly are just as lost as he, but he takes comfort in the work of the paleontologist (of whose specialty the geneticist knows little) or the geologist, or cosmologist, astronomer, particle physicist, zoologist, botanist, and other scientists who also clamor for the ‘there is no god’ position, all putting their FAITH in the gestalt of their collective ‘learned’ opinions, hoping their case can be won by ‘preponderance of their opinions’ since their arguments for spontaneous generation are without merit. This argument is similar to the old joke ‘Buddhism must be right because a billion Chinese can’t all be wrong’. But there are an even more Muslims. Want to bet the Muslims agree that Buddhism must be right because it has so many believers? And how does that make the hundreds of millions of Hindus feel?

Sheer number of adherents, no matter how (pseudo) intellectual their opinions sound (even with a British accent) does not improve the merits of the atheists’ argument.

Likewise, if you are a believer you must perform due diligence about your own beliefs, and get rid of your own ‘wishful thinking’ lens that distorts your argument. Dig deep. Mull over the points and arguments the skeptics make. Ask yourself if you mainly believe because your parents believe or if you have had a life changing encounter with God for yourself. Then dig into the veracity of the texts your belief system declares holy, how did they come about?, How did the lives of the ‘authors’ reflect what they proclaim to believe? (Check for hypocrisy). Research things for yourself like C.S.Lewis, Josh McDowell, Art Katz, and Lee Strobel did (all atheists at one time who set out to disprove God, then fell in love with Him). As Dr. Chuck Missler says, “Be a Berean” referring to Acts 17:11

“Now these (Bereans) were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily, to see whether these things were so.”

They didn’t just take Paul’s word as truth, they didn’t check their brains at the door of their church, they researched everything diligently and carefully, as you should too.

In the end, God will take all the critics on, calmly, confidently and without fear that He will be proven not to exist. If you are a die-hard skeptic, He has been preparing his case against you already, patiently anticipating every argument you will make when you stand before Him and providing a detailed rebuttal for every point. He will replay every moment in your life, and likely allow you to relive those moments (think of Scrooge and the Ghost of Christmas Past) where you had opportunity to get to know Him but refused.

You won’t win a debate with God (or a war, as Psalm 2 describes) but everyone looking at eternal separation from the one who made them will desperately try.

Four minutes after a skeptic’s final heartbeat, when the brain is finally starved of oxygen and dies, releasing the soul to stand before God, they will discover that there is in fact a God who will now hold them accountable for their lives and failure to truly delve into the intricacies of their own beliefs. I think that as a matter of mercy, to convince them that they’ve had a fair trial, they will be welcome to pool all their resources to present and argue their case before God about how they never had enough evidence to believe in God and because of that, why they should not be held accountable after all to Him.

They will be welcome, and given thousands of years if needed (the afterlife is eternal after all), to try and try again to present compelling arguments against the existence of God, or of his Son, Jesus Christ, or why there was never enough compelling evidence for a thinking, intelligent critic like them to believe, or why they do not need a Savior to cover their sin debt, or why, based on their clever, intelligent, witty arguments, they should be given a pass now and allowed into God’s heaven, which they now see clearly does exist, without having to bend the knee and heart to Jesus Christ.

John 5:40 – (NASB) “ .and you are unwilling to come to Me, that you may have life.”

That’s it in a nutshell. Plain, foolish stubbornness. The skeptic is unwilling to even consider that God is telling the truth, so visceral is his hatred for the thought of being accountable to someone they think is unfair, or who has the gall to allow people they perceive as innocent to suffer on earth. (The root for this sense that God is unfair rests in a misunderstanding about the curse of sin we are all immersed in, all suffering at times from the sinful actions of others, sometimes for our own sins. But God did not create sin – just provided the payment for it. And looking back – ‘the sufferings of this present time do not compare to the glory that is to be revealed to us.’ (Romans 8:18)

Man’s (and woman’s) stubbornness to refuse to approach God and humbly ask Him to reveal Himself to them is an issue of condemnable pride. I am reminded of the story of a beautiful house overlooking Mount Blanc in which the shutters to the windows facing that beautiful scene are always shut. The owner of the house (the owner of YOUR house (read ‘soul’)) voluntarily refuses to look upon the beautiful sight that gives inspiration (in this case salvation), willfully blinding themselves to its power and beauty. All because Darwin and Hawking and your friends might make fun of you for doing so. You won’t be welcome in their enlightened circle of intelligent people anymore. You will be cast out of the group whose high opinions you value more than God’s own opinion of you, and for that choice one will be eternally separated from God.

‘Fools’ like me, who were willing to suffer scorn for our faith, will inherit eternal life by the One who created life, the very life whose mysteries you try to ponder how could have come about ANY way other than God, so you have an excuse not to believe which means you don’t have to be accountable to the One who made you. The real fool is the one who actually believes that hogwash and denies what he/she knows to be true deep inside and always has since childhood.

God promises that all those who diligently seek Him, will find Him. Cry out to God to reveal Himself to you, then pay attention closely.

“Ask and it shall be given to you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it shall be opened.” (Matthew 7:7,8)

“And this is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.” (I John 5: 14,15)

“But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all men generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.” (James 1:5,6)

“Suffer not the little children to come to me, for such is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 19:13,14)

‘Unless one becomes such as one of these (little children), he cannot enter the kingdom of heaven.’ (Matthew 18:3)

God will decimate the skeptics’ arguments patiently, one by one, until the last skeptic is left exhausted, gasping, and pleading for grace. And then I imagine, God will show at least some measure of grace, proving Himself to possess all the attributes of a fair and loving, yet just God. All those judged by God, after having as many years as needed to prepare their case, and being allowed to call Charles Darwin, Albert Einstein, Stephen Hawking, Friedrich Nietzsche, Christopher Hitchens, Richard Dawkins, and anyone else they want to summon to their defense.

‘The fool says in his heart, there is no God.’ (Psalm 14:1)

“professing to be wise, they became fools” (Romans 1:22)

“I say this in order that no one may delude you with persuasive argument…. See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the traditions of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.” (Colossians 2:4, 8)

God may start His reply with Romans 1:18-23,25 – “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which I known about God is evident within them: for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God, or give thanks; but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.” “For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever, amen.”

Those verses perfectly describe Darwinism/Neo-Darwinism. Satan’s goal since the garden of Eden was to get mankind to shed his/her identification of being made in the image of God (which is what drove his jealousy to hate us to begin with) and focus on being like lower created beings, of which he is superior. In this way, Satan could ensure he would always be superior to mankind. Mankind had a choice to follow God or follow the snake – he chose to follow the snake and debased himself as a result. Yes, we were still created in God’s image, but we forsook that and preferred to grovel with the animals. We lost a lot of glory when that decision was made. Some speculate we were once clothed in light as Jesus is described as being clothed in Revelation, but that light was removed, then we perceived our nakedness. Therefore, God made the first blood sacrifice on our behalf to clothe us, foreshadowing the blood sacrifice He would later make to cover our sins.

Let’s take just a minute and ponder – What has one gained really if he proves a god was not needed for life to come about? A desolate, pointless existence. Live for pleasure here and now because nothing lies beyond death but blackness.

This blog post will take the reader a few weeks to get through because I am asking you to read the following books thoroughly before you try to make your own points against belief in a higher power. To refuse to do this is evidence that you are lazy. If you refuse to thoroughly investigate an issue, it proves you are biased from the outset. You fail as an investigator, you fail as an attorney, you fail as a judge, you fail as an academician, you fail as a scientist, you fail as a professor.

So you who doubt, here are your reading assignments. I could copy and paste each book (with the authors’ permission) into this blog, but that would be a waste of time and unnecessary duplication of effort. In addition to your reading, visit the Facebook pages of Ravi Zacharias and ‘Reasonable Faith’, and watch Duane Gish of ICR in his many debates posted on You Tube.

These authors below and apologists above have presented excellent points already, and I cannot improve on them by simply copying and pasting. Read these first if you are not convinced that:

There is a supernatural creator for the universe
Of all faith systems, only Christ claims to be God and thus the Creator of the universe, and only Christ came down to man. All other faith systems have man trying on his own effort to reach up to god through ‘good works’.
The bible (66 books by 40 authors written over two thousand years without contradiction) is the revealed word of God, is reliable, declares Christ to be God and the only sacrifice for sins, who rose from the dead, and therefore,
Only Christ provides the way to eternal life.

*Read the following six books first, as they give argument for a higher creative power in general, not necessarily specifically the God of the bible, though that is eventually their conclusions.

In-Depth Creation Basics and Beyond – An in depth look at Science, Origins, and Evolution by Drs. Henry and John Morris, Dr. Randy Guliuzza, (M.D.), et al

The Case for a Creator by Lee Strobel

The Ultimate Proof of Creation by Dr. Jason Lisle

Evolution: A Theory in Crisis by Dr. Michael Denton (M.D. and PhD) – this is perhaps the most unbiased source as the author identifies as an agnostic.

The Long War Against God by Dr. Henry Morris

Meet the Skeptic by Bill Foster

Then read the following books….

Evidence That Demands a Verdict and The New Evidence that Demands a Verdict both by Josh McDowell (yes I am well aware several ‘rebuttals’ have been published about these books and encourage you to read them as well, so you conduct a fair debate).

7 Reasons Why You Can Trust the Bible by Erwin Lutzer

The Case For Christ by Lee Strobel

Without a Doubt by Kenneth Richard Samples

Handbook of Christian Apologetics by Kreeft and Tacelli

When Skeptics Ask by Geisler and Brooks

When Critics Ask by Geisler and Howe

More Than A Carpenter by Josh McDowell

Know Why You Believe by Paul and Marie Little

The Case for the Real Jesus by Lee Strobel

Without a Doubt by Kenneth Richard Samples

Handbook of Christian Apologetics by Kreeft and Tacelli

When Skeptics Ask by Geisler and Brooks

When Critics Ask by Geisler and Howe

How We Got Our Bible by Dr. Chuck Missler (DVD and companion notes available at khouse.org)

Ancient Texts – Exploring Ancient Manuscripts and the Dead Sea Scrolls by Drs. Peter Flint and Scott Carroll (DVD pack)

What is Truth? The Case for Biblical Integrity by Dr. Chuck Missler

The following are also helpful…

The Kingdom of the Cults by Walter Martin, edited by Ravi Zacharias

The Big Book of Bible Difficulties – Clear and Concise Answers from Genesis to Revelation by Geisler and Howe

Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus – A devout Muslim encounters Christianity by Nabeel Qureshi

DVDs and accompanying discussion guides from Focus on the Family…

‘Does God Exist? Building the Scientific Case’

‘Is the Bible Reliable? Building the Historical Case’

And these DVDs from Illustra Media…

The Privileged Planet – The Search for Purpose in the Universe

Unlocking The Mystery of Life – The Scientific Case for Intelligent Design

These authors have done a fine job stating the case for a god (God) to have planned and carried out creation as you experience every day and to reprint all of the salient points here would not only take up too much space but likely tread carelessly upon copyright laws as well. These authors make their livings from their writings, and as much as they might support my position, I will not steal their work.

Get started with your assignment now. Prove to God, who you will shortly stand before, that you TRULY sought the truth and weren’t lazy, that you TRULY considered with an open mind that the bible might be telling the truth, that you diligently sought the truth, not just by studying the above references with an open mind, but by calling out to the creator (Creator) to reveal itself (Himself) to you in a convincing way, as He promises to do.

How much time have you wasted on Facebook or watching TV? Shouldn’t the matter of knowing your eternal destiny not warrant even more time than your entertainment pursuits? How really sure are you that you won’t have to stand before Yeshua (Jesus) and give an account of your life? Your eternity depends on your answer. Research the issue thoroughly while you still have breath and a heartbeat and make it a priority as you don’t know how many more of either you have left. If you’re not sure, then hunt the truth relentlessly like a desperate man fighting for his life. Make it your passion in life to discover the truth and to ask God to reveal Himself to you, and God promises to answer…

‘Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it shall be opened. Or what man is there among you, when his son shall ask him for a loaf, will give him a stone? Or if he shall ask for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Father who is in heaven five what is good to those who ask Him!’ (Matthew 7:7-11)

‘And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who (diligently) seek Him.’ (Hebrews 11:6 NASB)

“But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all men generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.” (James 1:5,6)

“Make your ear attentive to wisdom, incline your heart to understanding; for if you cry for discernment, lift your voice for understanding; if you seek her as silver and search for her as for hidden treasures; then you will discern the fear of the Lord, and discover the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding. (Proverbs 2:2-6)

One day, you who reject Christ will stand before Him and attempt to craft a defense as I have described above. And I will stand as a witness against you in that day, as others who tried to reach you, who will also be subpoenaed to testify at your trial. When asked by God if I declared a reasonable, thoughtful position to my friends and family, I will say ‘yes’ as you are now reading my position and have access to the references that support my position.

Where in the bible does it say people can testify against another at God’s judgement you ask? Why in Matthew 12:42-42 which says – ‘The men of Ninevah shall stand up with this generation at the judgement, and shall condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. The Queen of the South shall rise up with this generation at the judgement and shall condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.”

It is best to avoid a trial altogether. Let Christ take the punishment for your sins, as you cannot. Let all your shame and regret be nailed to the cross along with your Savior. Accept His free gift.

Bottom line – God has already revealed Himself to to everyone…

‘For since the creation of the world HIs invisible attributes, HIs eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.’ (Romans 1:20)

And beyond that He will reveal Himself to you further in a personal way if you ask…

‘For if you cry for discernment, lift your voice for understanding; if you seek her (wisdom of God) as silver, and search for her as hidden treasure.’ (Proverbs 2:3)

Your next assignment is to tell me exactly, in exhaustive detail, exactly how DNA came about without a Creator. Just focus on DNA for now, nothing more, though there is much, much more that you will eventually be required to explain. Step by minute, detailed step, how did the bases of DNA form from absolutely nothing, (there were no atmospheric gases, dirt, water, etc.to start with. If you argue that that is not a fair scenario, then tell me how those basic possible precursor elements came about from absolutely nothing (think vacuum of space)),

Get cracking if you want to disprove the existence of God, because your time in this life is short my friend and is rapidly drawing to a close.