Apologetics, debates and atheists

Do you ever feel like you have to "defend God"?

When other people scoff at your beliefs or dismiss them as weakness or fables, it is natural to want to defend those beliefs.

In reality, we aren't so much defending God as we are trying to justify why we believe what we believe.

Right here I’ll stop and make one point very clear; the belief system I am addressing is that of taking Jesus at His word.  That He is, as He declared, the Truth and the ONLY WAY TO HEAVEN.   That God, in the Beginning, Created the Heavens and earth and everything in it.  That our faith must be in Him, not in our church doctrines, our own feelings or the philosophy of others.

Recently on a Facebook post, a well meaning and very polite atheist expressed the opinion that Christianity is as easily dismissed a religion as any other religion practiced on this earth.

I shared some basic Truth, which he, as expected, dismissed or ignored while pressing forward, gearing up for a “fun” debate that would waste out time and perhaps only serve to supply him with some entertainment.

I spoke the Truth in Love and made it clear I would not join him in a debate, as Truth is not open to debate, it STANDS on its own.  Jesus needs no apologies and God certainly doesn’t need me to defend Him. (I did declare I would pray for him, did pray and will continue to pray that the Holy Spirit would deliver him from blindness).

According to the revelation shared by the Apostle Paul, it is both unnecessary and an exercise in futility to spend time on what he calls “endless genealogies” or “vain jangling”. 

Take a look for yourself:

1Timothy 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Savior, and the Lord Jesus Christ, which is our hope;

2 To Timothy, my own son in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord.

3 As I asked you to abide still at Ephesus, when I went into Macedonia, that you might charge some that they teach no other doctrine,

4 Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith: so do.

5 Now the end of the commandment is love out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned: (unfeigned is ‘not false’)

6 From which some having swerved have turned aside unto vain jangling;

1Timothy 6: 20  O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called:

21 Which some professing have erred concerning the faith. Grace be with thee. Amen.

Indeed, there are many mysteries that only God Himself knows and we are ignorant of their origins or how they affect our world and our hearts.  God, being God and Creator, is naturally superior to that which He created.  That is difficult for many to accept or comprehend.  They prefer to bring God down to their own level, debate lofty truths that we have no control over as though they did control them, and reject the very premise of a Creator that would make them not completely and absolutely autonomous in their own being.

As if, in rejecting the existence of God, they could actually diminish or dispel His existence and influence upon the earth and the creatures He created.

IT REMINDS OF THE JOKE ABOUT GOD AND THE SCIENTIST.

That’s the biggest problem with every argument I’ve ever heard from one who dismisses the existence of God.  All argument begins precisely with what God has already provided; LIFE.  They live because God made, formed and created man to begin with and gave man free will to choose to worship and trust God the Creator.

I have always had a problem with lies.  It stems from a childhood that was filled with them, and caused me fist clenching tooth grinding frustration that is with me to this day. When I was raising my children, I used to tell them that as long as we had the truth of any situation, no matter how bad or devastating it might be, we could deal with it.

That is the same way I view the Bible.  I may not understand all of it, I may not even want to agree with all of it, but since it is Truth and it reveals nothing but Truth, there is something substantial to deal with whatever the circumstances. 

Those who reject the Truth – and we should understand that Truth is not a “what” but a “Who”- Jesus Himself! – those who reject that Truth have no premise, no foundation to stand on.  So anything they come up with may or may not resemble reason or logic; BUT IT WILL NOT BE TRUTH.

To be sure, faith is a difficult thing.  Centuries of scholars have written discourse after discourse about it, refuting it, defending it and discussing it at length.  One post here can't even begin to deal with the intricacies of faith and I am not going to try.  What I will say is this; you don't have to have rock solid faith in and of yourself when your faith rests on the Rock Solid foundation of Christ.

When we consider faith only from our own perspective, then losing it, if only for a time at different times, is almost a given.  When things are going well faith is easy and strong.  

When the going is hard, the stuff of life deals us a blow or a defeat or failure, if your faith is based on how "good" you are treated, how often you get not just answer to prayer, but the answers you want - if faith is based on anything other than JESUS CHRIST THE SAVIOR, your faith will fail you.

When you recognize that faith in the Truth is based ON that Truth and not your circumstances or your feelings, you discover faith is steady, stable and continually growing stronger in every situation.

Faith is: