In the garden of Eden, Adam and Eve were given the option of at least two extraordinary trees: the Tree of Life (ToL) and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil (ToK). The fruit from the ToL must have been really rich in anti-oxidants and other nutrients because by eating the fruit you would live forever.
Awesome.
The fruit from the ToK must have been full of omega-3s because it increased your “knowledge.” The fruit also killed you.
Not as awesome.
Satan promised Eve that she would be “like God” when she ate from the forbidden fruit; also, that she would be smarter and that God didn’t want her to be that way. We definitely know that becoming more like God from eating the fruit was a lie, but what about the knowledge part?
Online and in real life, I have run into an increasing number of atheists. They all seem to have one general idea about Christians: we’re stupid.
You see, to an atheist, Christians seem to have one answer for everything: God did it. And that just doesn’t jive with their scientific method. (In my opinion, we’re not being stupid or ignorant when we give this answer for this is what our textbook, the Bible, tells us about creation.) I wish I knew better how to communicate with them in their language so that they could understand that Jesus loves them. To me, faith and God make so much sense! The information in the Bible has logic to it.
I think that the devil is very crafty, but he has a very singular and repetitive technique. He’s still convincing people to eat from the Tree of Knowledge over the Tree of Life. People are giving up life! He’s got people believing that we need knowledge over Life AND that you can’t have Life and knowledge. I think that God wants us to be more like Him, and have Life eternal, and grow in wisdom.
“But grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be glory both now and forever! Amen” – 2 Peter 3:18
So my question to you, dear reader, is: Is “God did it” a good enough answer?
Stanley Pomianowski,
Church Member and Guest Blogger
Thank you Stanley... Personally I think that "God did it" is a good answer. FOR ME! Because I know what my God did, I know what HE has done for me and for the world because I have a RELATIONSHIP with HIM. This may sound very "simple", but how are we going to tell someone to love, and have faith in a God of whom they DO NOT WANT A RELATIONSHIP with? In the above verse it states to "grow in grace and KNOWLEDGE of our Lord... " As Christians I believe that we need to introduce God to those non-believers around us, tell them about what God has done for us. Let God's love shine through us so then they will want to KNOW what we know, and have what we have. What I have is a wonderful relationship with my Lord and Savior, that is what I try to show when I tell the world what HE has done in my life.
ReplyDeleteStan, I have a different perspective on this. You see, I used to deny the existence of God. I also studied science seriously in both high school and college. In fact, my first career goal was to become a neurochemist (that didn't work out, obviously). One of the things that kept me from returning to Christianity for a long time was the supposed conflict between science and faith.
ReplyDeleteBut after years of meditation and consideration, I realized that there is no gap between science and faith. Both Christians and "rationalists" make this mistake. The purpose of science is to explain the way the univese works. From a Christian perspective, science uses His gift of rationality to explore God's creation.
A fundamental premise of the scientific method is the assumption that you don't know the answers. So while science has developed the big bang theory, for example, an honest scientist will tell you that we still need an explanation for what happened before the big bang - who lit the fuse? Likewise, we still need an explanation for exactly how life started on Earth.
From a Christian point of view, we must acknowledge that God's ways are not our ways, that we cannot hope to completely understand how He made the universe, that there are things to explore and learn about His creation, and that gaining understanding of His ways does not diminish His glory in any way.
We also have to undestand that the Bible is concerned with truth, not scientific fact. It is true that God parted the Reed Sea for Moses. But, scientifically, how did He accomplish it? Did He use the winds? The tides? Or did He use an unusual force, something we don't see every day? All of these are possibile answers, and if God used the tides and winds to part the Reed Sea, it's no less of a miracle.
As Christians, we are charged with representing Christ to the world. We are also charged with being wise. I think it's not wise to assume that a single pat answer, "God did it," is going to be the answer to every reasonable question a seeker may have. We need to be prepared to support our faith without jargon or pat answers. There is enough mystery in the universe that anyone can get to the point of "I don't know," whether the topic is the creation of the Universe or their own personal story.
So while "God did it" is the truth, we need to work with seekers and the curious to get them to the point where they can have the faith to beliebe that God did it.
Hey thanks for responding!
ReplyDelete"Science without religion is lame. Religion without science is blind."
-Albert Einstein
I have to go back to trying to reach atheists. Sometimes I literally lose sleep thinking about how impossible it is to reach them and how much they seem to hate Christians. I try to work out arguments in my mind that will convince them that Christianity rocks.
But alas, no one has ever become a Christian because they lost an argument.
My point in all of this is that if you really want to reach atheist is you have to be like Jesus and go to them where they're at (learn something about the big bang theory and evolution) and not argue with them but love them. I may never be able to beat them in an argument but I might be able to win them to Jesus.
-Stanley Pomianowski
I think there is a common perception, at least among those that don't believe, that religion is unreasonable and science is reasonable. If this perception is true then religion should be abandoned immediately.
ReplyDeleteThankfully its not true.
Christianity is not the refuge for those that are unwilling or unable to think, and if there is a God then "knowledge" does not stand in opposition to him.
I don't think unbelievers will be convinced by repetitively saying "God did it", nor will they be moved to faith by arguing them into some inescapable corner. I pray that argument can be replaced with reasonable discourse, and blind faith replaced with the love of Christ.
John