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May 27, 2005 Well I did it. I shouldn’t have, but I did. I read his column. Keith Cantrell, in his May 26th column seems to believe that Christians don’t believe 2+2 =4. Myself, being a product of the American public school system of the 1950’s through “Class of 1970”; I can honestly state that even as a truly born again Christian, I believe 2+2=4. Keith wrote: “In the continuing debate between science, religion and philosophy it is inevitable that some people would try to distort the truth. This is unfortunate but understandable since human beings tend to avoid admitting they are wrong especially when their beliefs are long-standing and define who they are. It is frightening for us to give up what we once held dear to embark on a new, unknown path to freedom and dignity. Franklin D. Roosevelt said it well when he said, "All we have to fear is fear itself." Now, I agree that there are plenty of people out there “trying to distort the truth. True people of faith do not “fear” these people though. Using a quotation concerning war is very appropriate. Christians are told we are in a continuing spiritual warfare against all kinds of principalities, powers, rulers in dark places and even spiritual evil from religious pulpits. We are admonished by God to protect ourselves with a spiritual armor that includes the offensive weapon of the Sword of the Lord. (Ephesians Chap.6) Do beliefs “define” people? Well, what of disbelief? Isn’t that as definitive? I do not personally know any of the unbelievers in this forum of thought and debate and I would be ashamed to try to “define” any of them without personally knowing them and speaking with them. I believe you get your best definition of any person by staring them straight in the eye and listening intently to the inflections in their voice; although e-mail traffic can be an excellent indicator too. And what of “paths”? Keith talks of a “new, unknown path to freedom and dignity.” There is no one more free than the born again Christian, and how much more dignity can one attain being considered a child of the King of Kings? Paul wrote that a Christian should “stand fast in the “liberty” wherewith Christ has set us free and be not again entangled in a yoke of bondage.” Keith continued: “It is in that spirit that I seek the truth. However, my commitment to the truth will most certainly endanger my presuppositions and assumptions. In other words, in my pursuit of truth I need to be prepared to give up my beliefs when the facts prove that I am wrong. So, let's begin by defining the concept of faith. Now, I do not believe Keith was being honest in this paragraph. His pre-suppositions were already in place as shown over the remainder of his column. His “assumptions” were already well set and his column was meant entirely as a debate against people of faith in the True God of Heaven; the God of the Hebrew/Christian Scriptures. He was not going to give any ground because he had already defined his opposition as those who are wrong. Keith continued: "Faith," it says in the Book of Hebrews, "is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen." In other words it's believing in something even though you have no evidence to support your belief. It is trusting in something when you can do nothing else. The danger, of course, is that you become susceptible to believing things that simply aren't true. This is where faith runs into trouble.” Keith gets the Hebrews quote correct; but his personal understanding of the meaning of the words is only a bit skewed. “Faith” is an actual substance. It is a proof. It is “the evidence” that God exists and is in the business of saving souls. The unbeliever has no substantive means of even upholding a personal morality without the author of morality and God knows this. That is why salvation is a “free gift”. If God did not freely offer and give faith to his children, no man would ever be saved. The whole testimony of the Book of Hebrews is a testimony of Jesus and how he is the “better” than the entire world’s former ways of trying to approach the True God of Heaven. It would be a wise person who read the entire letter in context and did not try to take single verses out of their context to try to make an incorrect point. Keith went on: “I've had fundamentalists and evangelicals assert that simple faith is enough for them. They claim that to believe is all that is necessary for their faith to be true. However, a simple look at this concept shows that it is obviously false. Without evidence or proof it would be foolish to believe anything, but this is exactly what religions ask you to do. Just believe in god. Just believe in original sin. Just believe in miracles. Just believe in the resurrection of Jesus. Just believe in heaven. The problem, of course, is that none of these things is true.” The last sentence in the paragraph shows us that Keith has his mind made up. Now, I cannot speak to his experiences with “fundamentalists” and “evangelicals”; because I am unsure that Keith knows the difference, or that there are some evangelicals that are very fundamental. I do not claim myself an evangelical, but I am a “literalist” who believes the Hebrew/Christian Bible is the Word of God; not men. The claim that “faith is all that is needed” may seem simplistic; but salvation is deliberately simplistic so that all men can hear the gospel and understand and believe. If the gospel were made complicated, many fewer souls would find the “path of freedom and dignity”. Keith changed his path in the middle of his thought and says: “but this is exactly what religions ask you to do.” This is incorrect. There are many “religions” out there that could care less about faith in Jesus. It is God himself that calls men to faith. The gospel of Christ is the means of that call. No ‘religion” has an exclusive on the gospel. You either accept the historical records recorded in the Hebrew/Christian scriptures or you do not. You should never, ever take a man’s word, or the dogma of any “religion”. Faith in Jesus is very private and personal and individual between any man and God himself. God wrote his message. You all don’t have to read it. I did. I accept, believe and trust it because it is true; Keith’s disbelief notwithstanding. Now Keith will regale us with facts: “Fact, on the other hand, is provable. Something is considered fact not because we believe in it, but because it becomes self-evident by being put to a test. I don't have to believe that 2+2 is 4. All I have to do is put this simple equation to the test. When I take two objects and combine them with two other objects, I end up with a total of four objects. Of course, many scientific truths are more complex than this but it easily demonstrates the difference between faith and fact.” Fact is something that “becomes self-evident by being put to a test”. There has been no book in history subjected to more “testing” than the Hebrew/Christian Bible. There has been no book more “attested” to than the Hebrew/Christian Bible. Now, I will take two objects: The first is me; the unbeliever. The second is God; who called me to faith. The equation is 1+1. The total is ONE. One Holy Spirit indwelt man of faith. Just as God has determined that one man and one woman in marriage equals ONE. When will men come to understand that the entire world’s wisdom is foolishness to the creator of the universe? The wisdom of men applies to men and the spiritual wisdom that comes through belief in Christ belongs only to the truly faithful. The one has nothing to do with the other. Mathematics; to my knowledge, never got a man into heaven. Keith works into his conclusion: “Fiction tends to cloud the issue. Fiction, I like to think, is a product of our imagination. It is the things we make-up in our own minds to entertain ourselves or in some cases to help us understand problems from a fresh angle. Fiction is fun and is a direct _expression of human creativity. It poses a serious problem, however, when humans decide to treat fiction as fact. In order to combat this tendency we developed the scientific method so that ideas could be effectively tested for their veracity. So, fiction helped us describe the universe until science could tell us the truth. This brings us back to the case at hand.” Keith is doing fine until his last sentence. “So, fiction helped us describe the universe until science could tell us the truth.” Actually the age old questions were about good and evil. It was in the writings of Scripture that we know that it is God who knows the name of every star in the universe. I believe scientists and astronomers are still looking through telescopes every night for the same purpose. It was scripture that pointed certain men to belief in the “roundness” of the earth too. I believe that is why certain explorers set out to circumnavigate the earth. I believe science shoots itself in the foot by ignoring scripture in preference to their own imaginations and theories. Ever hear of the “Big Bang”. How about the unproven “Theory of Evolution”? These “fictionalized” accounts of the beginnings of existence are overlooked by the fellow looking for “truth”. The Bible is not a science book. It is a compilation of historical renderings of God’s direct dealings with men. You do not dispute one book when you dispute the bible. You dispute 66 books and more; the secular historical records that support the scriptural references to kings, prophets and the very Son of God on earth. That is quite a bit of factual history to shove into the realm of rejection. Keith concludes: “Faith and fact are not the same thing. Fiction is an entertaining _expression of our creativity and should never be passed off as truth even though there may be elements of truth in it. This can only bring us to the conclusion that religion is myth disguised as truth. In order for us to effectively guarantee our future survival, we need to tenaciously pursue the truth and nothing but the truth. This requires us to give up our faulty faith in non-existent deities and impotent religious doctrines and focus on the truth about our current reality. After all, faith in fiction is really no faith at all.” Forget that fact that Keith hasn’t “proven” that God does not exist. His presuppositions are safe in his own mind because he has relegated thousands of years of human history to the status of “myth”. Jesus said: “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no man comes to the Father except through me.” This is how any individual can “guarantee [his] future survival”. I can certainly agree that all men should “give up their faulty faith in non-existent deities and impotent religious doctrines”. God knows there are certainly a whole lot of those flying around. Faith in science is okay if you need science to save your physical life. True people of the True Faith in the One True God of Heaven know that it isn’t the physical life one needs to be concerned with. It is that spiritual eternal existence that all men need to concentrate on. Faith in scientific fact has nothing to do with your eternal existence. Faith in the Son of God is assurance of eternal life; nothing more and, certainly, nothing less. ------------ About the Author: Michael John McCrae has contributed over 300 articles to Useless-Knowledge.com. Email: macswordV@hotmail.com Tell a friend about this site! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com and are not allowed to be posted on other websites. ARTICLE THIEVES WILL BE PROSECUTED! |
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