A dear friend of mine who is a part of our church sent me an email this morning from an old friend who once had been a believer but now is an atheist. This dear guy was extremely intelligent and now was what he termed a "Secularist".
Over the past 25 years, I have had many a debate with atheists. It almost never ends up going anywhere, as though they say they are 'open', the fact is there is this undercurrent of intellectual pride that runs underneath, very, very innocuosly, almost undetectable. God resists the proud. He gives grace, believing grace, to the humble.
Paul the Apostle dealt with many of these, the intellectually proud, especially in Greece, which was a bastion of 'intellectualism'. Romans 1 deals with how foolish the Gospel seems to the intellectual, YET, it is the power of God to those who are humble enough to believe.
This may sound a little kooky, but I am firmly convinced that there is a real, malevolent, spirit that has taken the person captive. It is seducing, and will attempt to pollute even the most sincere believer who opens themselves up to listen. Thus, they become clouded, confused, and lose their joy.
Anyway.....
As I told one guy I was debating with in London last year, "What will you do with Jesus???" Beyond the NT, Tacitus, Josephus and other historians talk plainly about the fact not only of his existance, but of his miracles and death on a Cross. They talk about his teachings, and His claim to be Lord. Some of the greatest minds of history have tried to disprove Christ's coming, and were converted (CS Lewis, Augustine, etc..).
"I guess you are just smarter than all those before you??" I asked one guy in particular.
He literally cussed me out, saying "You are G...D MAD!!!! You are out of your f...bleep bleep.. mind!!"
Nice guy.
Anyway, the question always remains: "What will you do with Jesus of Nazareth? Who is He, really??" Stephan Stewart sent this to me last week. Take 2 minutes to educatate yourself. We face the greatest apostacy history has ever known....
Grace,
PB
FOX NEWS
June 24th, 2008 12:44 PM Eastern
By Cal Thomas
Syndicated Columnist/FOX News Contributor
I am shocked and appalled over a newly published survey by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. It finds most Americans believe there are many ways to salvation besides their own faith. Most disturbing of all is the majority of self-identified evangelical Christians who believe this.
Apparently they must think Jesus was a liar, or mistaken, when he said: “I am the way, the truth and the life; no man comes to the Father but by me.” Look it up.
This theological ignorance is a product of several things. It is surely a product of biblical illiteracy by people who don’t read, or selectively read scripture. It is also fallout from the political correctness vice that says you are intolerant if you believe anything to be true, because people who have another truth, or no truth, might feel bad and experience rejection.
If they feel rejection now, wait until they hear “away from me, I never knew you.”
Tolerance is a good thing. People should tolerate and respect people of different faiths, or no faith. But watering down your own set of professed doctrines in order to appeal to the lowest spiritual common denominator is akin to Peter denying Christ three times.
If there are many paths to heaven, Jesus suffered and died for nothing. He could have stayed in heaven, sent down a book of sayings and avoided crucifixion. Orthodox Christians have always believed – and their Bible teaches them — there is only one path to heaven and it is through Jesus Christ and him alone. One can believe whatever one wishes, but you can’t be considered a Christian without believing in this fundamental doctrine.
Christian churches have a lot of work to do in addressing biblical illiteracy, ignorance and, yes, heresy, in their midst. They might want to pay more attention to fixing what’s gone wrong among their members before expending too much energy on politics and politicians.
