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coram_deo 11-Jul-21, 08:22 |
 Misconceptions About The BibleFrom gotquestions.org “Does the Bible condone slavery? There is a tendency to look at slavery as something of the past. But it is estimated that there are today over 27 million people in the world who are subject to slavery: forced labor, sex trade, inheritable property, etc. As those who have been redeemed from the slavery of sin, followers of Jesus Christ should be the foremost champions of ending human slavery in the world today. The question arises, though, why does the Bible not speak out strongly against slavery? Why does the Bible, in fact, seem to support the practice of human slavery? The Bible does not specifically condemn the practice of slavery. It gives instructions on how slaves should be treated (Deuteronomy 15:12-15; Ephesians 6:9; Colossians 4:1), but does not outlaw slavery altogether. Many see this as the Bible condoning all forms of slavery. What many fail to understand is that slavery in biblical times was very different from the slavery that was practiced in the past few centuries in many parts of the world. The slavery in the Bible was not based exclusively on race. People were not enslaved because of their nationality or the color of their skin. In Bible times, slavery was based more on economics; it was a matter of social status. People sold themselves as slaves when they could not pay their debts or provide for their families. In New Testament times, sometimes doctors, lawyers, and even politicians were slaves of someone else. Some people actually chose to be slaves so as to have all their needs provided for by their masters. The slavery of the past few centuries was often based exclusively on skin color. In the United States, many black people were considered slaves because of their nationality; many slave owners truly believed black people to be inferior human beings. The Bible condemns race-based slavery in that it teaches that all men are created by God and made in His image (Genesis 1:27). At the same time, the Old Testament did allow for economic-based slavery and regulated it. The key issue is that the slavery the Bible allowed for in no way resembled the racial slavery that plagued our world in the past few centuries. In addition, both the Old and New Testaments condemn the practice of “man-stealing,” which is what happened in Africa in the 16th to 19th centuries. Africans were rounded up by slave-hunters, who sold them to slave-traders, who brought them to the New World to work on plantations and farms. This practice is abhorrent to God. In fact, the penalty for such a crime in the Mosaic Law was death: “Anyone who kidnaps another and either sells him or still has him when he is caught must be put to death” (Exodus 21:16). Similarly, in the New Testament, slave-traders are listed among those who are “ungodly and sinful” and are in the same category as those who kill their fathers or mothers, murderers, adulterers and perverts, and liars and perjurers (1 Timothy 1:8– 10). Another crucial point is that the purpose of the Bible is to point the way to salvation, not to reform society. The Bible often approaches issues from the inside out. If a person experiences the love, mercy, and grace of God by receiving His salvation, God will reform his soul, changing the way he thinks and acts. A person who has experienced God’s gift of salvation and freedom from the slavery of sin, as God reforms his soul, will realize that enslaving another human being is wrong. He will see, with Paul, that a slave can be “a brother in the Lord” (Philemon 1:16). A person who has truly experienced God’s grace will in turn be gracious towards others. That would be the Bible’s prescription for ending slavery.“ www.gotquestions.org |
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coram_deo 11-Jul-21, 10:09 |
“But if this thing be true, and the tokens of virginity be not found for the damsel: Then they shall bring out the damsel to the door of her father's house, and the men of her city shall stone her with stones that she die: because she hath wrought folly in Israel, to play the w**** in her father's house: so shalt thou put evil away from among you.” (Deuteronomy 22:20-21) Here is David Guzik’s commentary: “This law must be seen in connection with the command in Exodus 22:16-17, which commands that a man who entices a virgin must surely pay the bride-price for her to be his wife. This law in Deuteronomy is directed against the truly wanton woman, who has given up her virginity, yet not claimed her rights under Exodus 22:16-17. She did not value her virginity at the time she gave it up, yet she wanted to claim the benefits of it by deceiving her husband. All this simply reinforces the principle that virginity was valued, highly valued, in Israel. Today, far too many people – especially women – sell themselves cheaply by easily giving away their virginity. A man illustrated this with a true story about a friend who owned an antique store and had a table for sale. The table was worth $600 but was marked down to $300. A man tried to bargain her down to $200, and not only did she refuse, but she realized the true value of the table, and upped the price to its true worth – even when offered $300. The man finally bought the table for $600, and certainly treated it like a $600 table – because its worth had been fought for. Many women who know they are being treated shabbily by men have contributed to the problem by selling themselves cheaply.” enduringword.com As to any alleged double standard that punishes the woman but not the man for sexual immorality, consider verses in the very same chapter of Deuteronomy: “If a man be found lying with a woman married to an husband, then they shall both of them die, both the man that lay with the woman, and the woman: so shalt thou put away evil from Israel.” (Deuteronomy 22:22) “But if a man find a betrothed damsel in the field, and the man force her, and lie with her: then the man only that lay with her shall die. But unto the damsel thou shalt do nothing; there is in the damsel no sin worthy of death: for as when a man riseth against his neighbour, and slayeth him, even so is this matter: For he found her in the field, and the betrothed damsel cried, and there was none to save her.” (Deuteronomy 22:25-27) |
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coram_deo 11-Jul-21, 10:28 |
“For every one that curseth his father or his mother shall be surely put to death: he hath cursed his father or his mother; his blood shall be upon him.” (Leviticus 20:9) David Guzik’s commentary on the Holy Bible (link given below) is a wonderful resource to counteract misconceptions about, and misrepresentations of, the Holy Bible. Here is Mr. Guzik’s response to Leviticus 20:9 “b. Curses his father or his mother: This wasn’t merely saying something bad about or to one’s parents; it was likely the calling down of a death-curse on them. i. “Elaborate curses, many of which appear to have the nature of magical spells, were current in the ancient Near East, and amongst superstitious people often worked with devastating effect since in the eastern mind the curse carried with itself its own power of execution.” (Harrison) c. Shall surely be put to death: Even considering that this law applied to an adult child who threatened their parent, this was still a severe law. Yet according to Deuteronomy 21:18-21, and as it was practiced in ancient Israel, it had a built-in protection for the rights of the child. i. Deuteronomy 21:18-21 states that the parent did not have the right to carry out this punishment, but they had to bring the accused child before the elders and judges of the city. This meant that the parent – against all customs of that time – did not have the absolute power of life and death over their children. ii. As a practical matter, the judges of Israel rarely if ever administered the death penalty in such cases, yet the child was held accountable.” enduringword.com When an atheist claims something about the Holy Bible, it always (in my experience) lacks context and understanding. |
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coram_deo 11-Jul-21, 15:34 |
Atheists be hankerin’ back to ye olden days ‘cause they can’t deal with or refute the finished work of Jesus Christ, the Saviour of mankind. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me. And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace. For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.“ (John 1:1-17) |
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coram_deo 11-Jul-21, 17:27 |
Fellas, come join us in the 21st century! Or at least try to get to the 1400s. While you’re in the Old Testament, though, check out how God answered Job when Job challenged Him. I believe it’s in the last five chapters of Job. And guess what? The book of Job is thought to be the oldest book of the Bible so that oughta be right up your alley! |
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coram_deo 11-Jul-21, 18:57 |
From gotquestions.org “Is Richard Dawkins’ caricature of the God of the Old Testament accurate? In his 2006 book The God Delusion, and in countless speeches, Richard Dawkins has said, “The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully.” It’s more of a caricature of God than a characterization. Responding to Dawkins’ charges against God is best done by first examining his overarching critique and then working through some of his more specific accusations. Dawkins’ predominant indictment against God is that He is immoral and evil because of the judgments He hands down that involve the killing of certain people. Dawkins arrives at his conclusion through a superficial and excised reading of certain passages in the Old Testament including the flood that destroyed the world (Genesis 6:17) and the expulsion or killing of various people (e.g., Deuteronomy 7:1–2), especially those in the land given by God to Israel (Deuteronomy 20:16–17) and Israel’s national enemies (1 Samuel 15:3). However, reading these passages in their contexts and with an understanding of the history of those ancient civilizations paints a different picture. With a fair treatment of the text, a clear pattern emerges regarding how God arrives as His declarations of judgment on various peoples: • God warns of a coming judgment that will be used to remove a moral cancer from His creation. • Individual judgments are handed down for extreme acts of evil. • Each judgment is preceded by warnings and, often, long periods of time to give the people a chance to repent. For example, the people of Noah’s day were warned about impending disaster for hundreds of years. The Canaanites were warned over 400 years in advance of God’s judgment on them (Genesis 15:13–16). • The presence of “good” or “innocent” people in the situation delays or stops judgment altogether. For example, before judgment fell on Sodom and Gomorrah, Abraham asked God, “Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked?” and was told that if God found only ten righteous people in those cities, He would withhold judgment (Genesis 18:22–32). • A way of escape is usually provided. For example, the Bible records that families were many times given the option to flee a land being conquered by God’s people. Only those who disregarded that option received judgment. • A person or a group of people can be redeemed from the culture receiving a judgment from God (e.g., Rahab and the city of Jericho in Joshua 2). • Finally, after the warnings and after the offer of mercy, judgment falls on a morally perverse, recalcitrant people. If the evil actions judged by God in the Old Testament were catapulted into the twenty-first century and broadcast around the world, there would be a global outcry for strong military action to put an immediate end to the atrocities. The world at large would not stand idly by while a nation openly practiced child sacrifice, genocide, human trafficking, and the torture of criminals and war prisoners. If human beings call for severe judgment on national evil, why should God be criticized for carrying it out? What about some of the other aspects of Dawkins’ caricature of God? Is God misogynistic? No, the Bible says women are equal to men in nature (Genesis 1:27), in value of life (Exodus 21:28), in redemptive status (Galatians 3:28), in spiritual gifting (1 Corinthians 12:1–10), in political leadership (Judges 4:4–7), and in business leadership (Proverbs 31). Is God infanticidal? No, God declares nothing but love and protection for children, including the unborn (Exodus 21:22–25). The only children to experience judgments from God in the Bible were those whose parents resisted God’s calls for repentance or expulsion from their land. Is God filicidal? (The reference here is likely to God’s telling Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac.) No, God is not filicidal. Being omniscient, God knew what would happen and that Isaac would not die, but He allowed the episode to be played out to foreshadow the death of God’s Son in the future. Is God homophobic? No, He offers His grace and redemption to everyone, including homosexuals (1 Corinthians 6:9–11). Is God racist? No, He is the Creator of all, and all are made in His image (Genesis 1:27). Racism directly violates the golden rule of loving your neighbor as yourself (Leviticus 19:18). Caricatures of God as a racist usually revolve around Israel driving out other nationalities from their lands; however, it should be noted that 1) such judgment was carried out only in response to the people’s sin; 2) Israel was held to the same standard and was often punished in the same way (Deuteronomy 9:4–5), so there was no racial favoritism. Regarding God’s mercy, a little-known fact of the Bible is that the word mercy, as it relates to God and His creation, is used only 70 times in the New Testament but 290 times in the Old Testament. In other words, the Old Testament speaks of God’s mercy four times more often than the New Testament does. The mercy and love of God were well-known in Old Testament times. The prophet Jonah knew of God’s mercy very well—and he scorned it, at least on one occasion. God had directed Jonah to deliver a warning of judgment to Nineveh, and Jonah resisted at first. Later, Jonah reveals why he had been so reluctant: “I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity” (Jonah 4:2). Jonah did not want the Ninevites to be saved, but he knew God, in His mercy, was going to save them. The true God does not resemble Richard Dawkins’ caricature of Him in the slightest. Dawkins’ critique of the God of the Bible serves to show how he and other militant atheists feel about God and His authority. Their view can be summed up in this statement: “There is no God—and I hate him!” “ www.gotquestions.org |
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coram_deo 11-Jul-21, 19:13 |
Also: It’s quite unfair to look only at one side of an equation - to focus solely on God’s actions while completely ignoring the actions of human beings (the gotquestions.org response references this point as well.) It’d be like someone saying that a man grabbed an 8-year-old boy so hard that the man dislocated the boy’s shoulder. And then everyone condemns the man as a monster. But what if the 8-year-old boy had run onto train tracks and the man had run after him and rescued him from an oncoming train? Suddenly the monster is a hero. |
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coram_deo 14-Jul-21, 10:22 |
Here’s a good answer: “Who created God? A common argument from atheists and skeptics is that if all things need a cause, then God must also need a cause. The conclusion is that if God needed a cause, then God is not God (and if God is not God, then of course there is no God). This is a slightly more sophisticated form of the basic question “Who made God?” Everyone knows that something does not come from nothing. So, if God is a “something,” then He must have a cause, right? The question is tricky because it sneaks in the false assumption that God came from somewhere and then asks where that might be. The answer is that the question does not even make sense. It is like asking, “What does blue smell like?” Blue is not in the category of things that have a smell, so the question itself is flawed. In the same way, God is not in the category of things that are created or caused. God is uncaused and uncreated—He simply exists. How do we know this? We know that from nothing, nothing comes. So, if there were ever a time when there was absolutely nothing in existence, then nothing would have ever come into existence. But things do exist. Therefore, since there could never have been absolutely nothing, something had to have always been in existence. That ever-existing thing is what we call God. God is the uncaused Being that caused everything else to come into existence. God is the uncreated Creator who created the universe and everything in it.” www.gotquestions.org |
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coram_deo 04-Aug-21, 19:56 |
An atheist strongly criticized God after reading a devotional I posted a while back. First I’ll post the devotional; then I’ll summarize the atheist’s criticisms of God and then I’ll offer my thoughts on his criticisms. Here’s the devotional, which was from Joseph Prince Ministries: “But the Lord is with me as a mighty, awesome One. Therefore my persecutors will stumble, and will not prevail.” (Jeremiah 20:11) Do you know that the best time to thank Jesus for His presence is when you don't "feel" His presence? When it comes to the presence of Jesus, don't go by your feelings. Feelings can be deceptive. Go by His promise that He is Immanuel—God with us! Have you heard the story of a groom who approached his pastor almost immediately after his wedding ceremony? He went up to his pastor and said, "Pastor, can I talk to you for a second?" "Sure," the pastor replied. The groom said, "You know what, I don't feel married." The pastor grabbed him by the collar and growled, "Listen, boy. You ARE married whether you feel it or not, understand? Just take it by faith that you are married!" You see, my friend, you can't go by your feelings. You go by the truth and the truth is this: God promised, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." So the best time to practice His presence is precisely when you feel like Jesus is 100,000 miles away. Remember that feelings aren't based on truth. God's Word is truth! Soon after I graduated from high school, I took on a part-time job to teach in an elementary school where I was placed in charge of a class of 10-year-olds. I remember one day, when I was practicing His presence, I knelt down in my living room and prayed, "Lord, I just thank You that You are always with me." As I was on my knees, the Lord told me to pray specifically for one of the girls in my class who had been absent from school that day. Now, it is very common for kids to miss class now and then for various reasons, and I had never been led by the Lord to pray specifically for any of them. This girl was the first! The Lord told me very clearly to pray for His protection to be over this girl and to cover her with His precious blood. The next day, there was a big commotion in the school and I found out that the girl had been kidnapped by a notorious serial killer that very afternoon when the Lord had told me to pray for her. The killer, Adrian Lim, had kidnapped several children to be offered up as sacrifices to the devil. He believed that Satan would give him power when he offered the blood of these children to him. Over the next couple of days, this girl from my class was all over our national media because she had been miraculously released. Sadly, she was the only girl released. All the other kidnapped children had been brutally murdered. When she returned to class, I asked her how she came to be freed. She told me that her kidnapper was "praying" over her when suddenly he stopped and told her, "The gods do not want you." She was quickly released that evening. Of course, you and I know why the "gods" didn't want her—she was covered and protected by Jesus' blood! Listen to what I am saying here. In America today and around the world, the devil is trying to destroy a new generation because he is afraid that the young people of the new millennium are going to take over the world for Jesus. That is why we have to cover our children with Jesus' protection. I am sharing all this with you because I want you to see the importance and power of practicing His presence. As a teacher during that time, my class was my responsibility, just like my congregation is my responsibility today. Think with me: How in the world, with my finite knowledge and intelligence, could I have known that one of my students was in grave danger? It is not possible! But because the Lord, who knows all things, was with me, He enabled me to make a difference in my student's life. Similarly, whatever role or vocation you are in, whether you are a schoolteacher, business leader or homemaker, I want you to know that Jesus is with you and He wants to make you a success. Now, remember, all this happened to me before I became a full-time pastor, so please don't think that this unmerited favor from Jesus is only for pastors. Beloved, His unmerited favor is for you. The Lord Immanuel is with you.“ The atheist questioned why God didn’t save all the children who had been kidnapped and murdered or why God didn’t kill the serial killer before he could murder any children or why He didn’t change the heart of the serial killer. Some interesting things here: 1) The atheist never criticizes the serial killer who is the one responsible for the murder of the children (except, obviously, the girl he freed.) Instead, the atheist blames God and God alone (whom He doesn’t believe in.) The atheist also never blames Satan. If the atheist is going to interject God into this tragedy, he’s got to interject Satan as well if he wants to be Biblically accurate. 2) The atheist presumably believes this life on earth is all there is. And he’s certainly entitled to that belief. But if he’s going to introduce God into the equation, he has to introduce an eternal afterlife in Heaven as well. A human being, if they’re lucky, will live to 100. 100 years compared to eternity is like a drop of water compared to the ocean. In fact, that comparison is faulty because eternity by definition lasts forever so a comparison of a drop of water to all the oceans of the world is still not enough. 3) For the atheist’s questions to be fair, he has to also concede that Heaven is an exponentially better place than earth. Again, if he’s introducing God into the equation, he’s got to introduce Heaven and eternity as well. This is one of the descriptions of Heaven that is in Revelation, the final book of the Bible: “And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.” (Revelation 21:3-4) So is the atheist willing to reframe his question as: Why would God allow someone to leave this sin-wrecked and often miserable earth to live for an eternity in a place of unspeakable bliss where their loved ones will soon join them? 4) Sin and evil exist in the world (through no fault of God’s) and the consequences of sin do not neatly impact only bad people. The consequences of sin affect good people as well, which is why sin is so terrible. A husband who cheats on his wife isn’t just impacting his wife, he’s impacting his kids (and their futures) as well. 5) God gave man free will - the power to love Him or reject Him, the power to do good and the power to do evil. Some people choose the latter. Does the atheist expect God to micromanage the world to the point where sin only affects bad people? And how would that impact man’s free will? What if the atheist wanted to have an affair, but God stopped him because that sin would cause his wife to divorce him and negatively impact his kids. Would God be interfering in the atheist’s free will to have an affair? 6) God’s ways are above our own. Job in the Bible was a righteous man who went through terrible suffering. The suffering became so bad that Job questioned whether God was just. But some Bible enthusiasts think God used Job’s suffering to show that not all suffering is the result of sin; that it’s possible for righteous people (like Job) to suffer too. And God may have intended for that message to be understood by mankind as preparation for Jesus Christ coming to earth because Jesus was completely sinless and yet suffered not only crucifixion but being whipped to within an inch of His life before He was crucified. If the Jews did not have Job as an example, they may well have thought Jesus Christ must have done something terrible to anger God and His whipping and crucifixion were punishment from God for that. The above is just to say that God’s purposes and ways are beyond our understanding. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:8-9) I like the comparison of a bear whose paw is caught in a steel trap in the woods. A park ranger who goes to free the bear’s paw likely will cause the bear pain in the process, but the ultimate result (the paw being freed so it can heal) is something the bear can’t comprehend. The bear only sees the pain about to happen. I once received a devotional that had this sentence in it that I thought was very good: “If God can be fully proved by the human mind, then He is no greater than the mind that proves Him.” Ditto for God’s ways, imo. 7) What is God’s plan regarding mankind? Is it not that everyone should be saved? “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9) The saving of the girl in that devotional through the power of Jesus’ blood likely led someone to salvation (and depending on how much publicity the story got, probably many more than one were saved.) 8) Like it or not, Satan has power and authority in this world, though he’s on a leash held by God. Consider these verses from the Bible: “Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.” (Matthew 4:8-10) <<If Satan has the power to give kingdoms, he must possess them.>> “Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:” (Ephesians 2:2) <<“The prince of the power of the air” is Satan.>> “Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me.” (John 14:30) <<The “prince of this world is Satan.>> I may post more on this later but wanted to put down some initial thoughts. |