Answers to Objections: Does God Exist? Are Miracles Possible? Is God a Murderer?Atheists, people who deny the existence of god or any spiritual dimension at all, often claim to be experts at science, which is debatable. However, it is clear that most atheists, even those who claim to have been Christian do not have an accurate understanding of theology, especially the attributes of the God of the Bible. Therefore, I have noticed from observing atheists' arguments against the existence of any god on several Facebook groups, that even though they usually think that they arguing against the existence of the God of Bible that they are not in fact arguing against an accurate representation of the God of Bible. It seems that they misrepresent the God of the Bible and then argue against the misrepresented view of God which they themselves created. This is know as the straw man fallacy.
On the other hand, I co-authored a book, entitled Christianity: Reasons for Faith (the only general apologetics book ever written in the Cambodian language) with a medical doctor/missionary who also earned a Bachelor’s in Biblical Studies and Theology. Currently, my friend is a professor at the University of Cincinnati Medical School. I also helped found a Christian school with another medical doctor/missionary who also earned graduate degrees in theology and served as the director of a Bible school in Cambodia for many years. Both of these men were both experts in science and theology and so they were committed believers and effective missionaries. The “god” which the atheists argue against is infinitely smaller, weaker, less intelligent, and is never given the benefit of the doubt on any question of goodness or character. They spend a lot of time lambasting God’s “cruelty” in the Flood and the Canaanites. They automatically deny the possibility of miracles because miracles, according to them, violate the laws of physics. Of course when Christians point out, that if there are “laws” of physics that there must be a “lawmaker.” they usually get angry. We also need to point out that scientists only discovered the laws of physics, they did not establish them. Let’s take a look at the main attributes of God which Christian theologians have known about for more than a thousand years from intensive Biblical study. Heres is an adaptation of a summary by the Christian Research Institute.
Objection #1: There is no direct scientific evidence that God exists. Answer: God is entirely distinct from the universe as carpenters are distinct from the houses which they build. God has no body or parts, and is immaterial, being a simple and infinite being of spirit. Therefore, there is no scientific instrument that could detect such a being. For example, if you only have a radio with an AM receiver which has a range of 100 kilometers, could you deny the existence of AM radio stations on the other side of the planet? Could you deny the existence of FM radio stations, television stations, or WIFI signals? Objection #2: Miracles are not possible. If the God described in the Bible exists, (see Objection #1 above) then God is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent, eternal, the creator of all that exists, and more. The biggest reason why secularists and atheists deny the possibility of miracles is because miracles supposedly “break” the laws of physics and nature. However, we need to remember that scientists do not set the laws of physics and nature, they only discover them. God, the creator, is the one who set or made the laws of physics and nature and He exists both, outside of, and superior to them. Just as human governments set laws such as speed limits and traffic laws and then exempt their police officers from obeying those very same laws, God and anyone He designates can be exempted from the laws of physics and nature according to God’s will. Objection #3: God is a murderer. To answer this objection, we need to first define the term, “murder.” According to www.oxforddictionaries.com murder is, “The unlawful premeditated killing of one human being by another.” 1. God is not a human. 2 Jesus Christ, during his time on earth in human flesh never murdered anyone. 3. God, as the morally perfect creator, is the one who created all of the moral laws, which humans, His creations, live by. There are many governments around the world, which have laws against murder and also have laws requiring that criminals who are convicted of crimes, such as murder, receive the death penalty. The moral gap between humans and God is much greater than the gap between humans and their government. The gap is even greater than the gap between a baker and a loaf of bread. In the case of God commanding the Israelites to kill the Canaanites and other groups in battles (Deuteronomy 20:17), let’s imagine the following scenario in a bakery: A baker, bakes a baguette (Israelites) and a croissant (Canaanites etc.). The baguette is good quality. The croissant is bad quality. The baker uses the baguette (Israelites) to sweep the croissant (Canaanites) into the trash can. In this case the killing of the Canaanites was not “unlawful” because God, the creator, has the right to set all laws and to punish (or dispose of) those creatures who disobey His laws. We may not like the fact that God is of unequalled power, but in the words of Narnia: The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, “He isn’t a tame lion (Aslan=God). …But He is good.” Source: https://www.equip.org/article/the-attributes-of-god-what-are-the-attributes-of-god/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nxw3DC_faQA
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Darryl RecordA Christian Apologist, Author, Missionary, Husband, and Father. Darryl has an MA in Christian Apologetics from Biola University (CA), an MA in TESOL from Azusa Pacific University (CA), and a BA in Political Science from Truman State University (MO). Note: Please share these articles as conversation starters on important topics, even if you disagree with them. Just state why you disagree and go from there. My hope is that they will help English-speaking Christians share their personal faith and beliefs on important topics with their non-Christian loved ones.
For Non-Christians and Christians Outside the USA: Please consider these articles as a gift to you sponsored by others. For American Christians: If you are blessed, encouraged, or even challenged by these articles, please make a tax deductible donation of any amount via the "Become a Financial Partner" button above, as God leads. Your finances will be used to continue and expand our apologetics, discipleship, evangelism, and other missionary ministries in Cambodia and globally (without charge to the recipients). Some missionaries who have been professionally trained as musicians etc. compose, perform, and sell their music in order to help fund their mission work. Decades of research, education, and a lot of money has been invested in me so that I am capable of communicating on these topics on a professional level. For me, these articles are my songs. Songs are often a "cry of the heart" which cannot be suppressed. I have tried my best to remain silent on these issues in the past. God may lead me to be silent again in the future. At this moment, I cannot be silent. I have come to the conclusion that when the Bible says, "the workman is worthy of his wages," (1 Timothy 5:18) that this truth does not ONLY apply to pastors. I believe that it ALSO applies to fairly tipping our waiters and waitresses etc., for their services. This is especially important if they depend on this for their income. If this offends you, then that is only indication that my articles are not valuable to you, therefore no "tip" is requested. Archives
October 2019
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