An
Answer to the "Free-Thinker's" Non-tract - Part I
Paul W.
Davis
Copyright 2005
All Scripture is the King James
Version, 1769 Edition
As with any answer, it is best to
begin at the beginning. It is not often that I do this, but this
is somewhat irresistible as the introduction contains
contradictions in itself. Therefore, the introduction to this
tract is where we will begin. After addressing the introduction,
the "contradictions" will be addressed and explained.
The introduction of non-tract No. 5 states:
"Paul said, "God is not the author of confusion," (I
Cor. 14:33), yet never has a book produced more confusion than
the bible! There are hundreds of denominations and sects, all
using the "inspired Scriptures" to prove their
conflicting doctrines.
Why do trained theologians differ? Why do educated translators
disagree over Greek and Hebrew meanings? Why all the confusion?
Shouldn't a "divinely inspired" document be as clear as
possible?
The problem is not with human limitations, as some claim. The
problem is the bible itself. People who are free of theological
bias notice that the bible contains hundreds of discrepancies.
Should it surprise us when such a literary and moral mishmash,
taken seriously, causes so much discord? Here is a brief sampling
of biblical contradictions."
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The very beginning sentence begs the question: If there is a God
(and there is), isn't there also a Devil? If you are going to
argue against the existence of God, shouldn't you also argue
against the existence of the Devil as well? How is it that the
Atheist always argues against the existence of God, but NEVER
argues against the existence of the Devil (or Satan)?
Perhaps it is because the Devil, who is the author of confusion,
is heavily influencing their thinking. After all, the Scripture
(the Bible) plainly states:
And the servant
of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men,
apt to teach, patient, In meekness instructing those that oppose
themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the
acknowledging of the truth; And that they may recover
themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive
by him at his will. (II Timothy 2:24-26)
If we notice, the above passage states that those that oppose
themselves (the lost) are taken captive by the devil at the
devil's will. The fact that Satan uses snares to do this makes it
impossible for the individual to know that Satan is influencing
his or her thinking. As a testament to the Scripture's honesty,
the Bible is plain that even born-again believers can be
unknowingly influenced by the Devil. There are three prominent
instances in Scripture. The first is the incident with Peter in
Matthew 16:
From that time
forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go
unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief
priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third
day.
Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far
from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee.
But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan:
thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things
that be of God, but those that be of men. (Matthew
16:21-23)
What makes this all the more amazing is that shortly before this
incident, Peter was the one that declared that Jesus was the
Christ, the Son of the Living God.
When Jesus came
into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples,
saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?
And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist:
some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.
He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?
And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son
of the living God.
And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon
Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto
thee, but my Father which is in heaven. (Matthew
16:13-17)
By the way, it should be noticed that in the last statement by
the Lord Jesus Christ, that He stated that discerning who He is,
cannot be accomplished by men's methods. Rather, the discerning
of who the Lord Jesus Christ is, both then and now, strictly by
revelation from God. For one to know with certainty that the Lord
Jesus Christ is God in the flesh cannot be accomplished except
through the operation of faith. Which leads us to a short rabbit
trail that will be examined more fully later, that is: How does
one obtain faith?
So then faith
cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
(Romans 10:17)
It is not a matter of how much you hear, rather, are you willing
to hear and consider what God has to say about man (and thus you)
and man's condition and what God has done about it, as it is
written:
Come now, and
let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as
scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like
crimson, they shall be as wool. (Isaiah 1:18)
Now, let's return to the subject of being influenced by the
Devil. The second incident is with James and John, the sons of
thunder. We should ask the question of just where their attitude
came from as we consider this passage.
And it came to
pass, when the time was come that he should be received up, he
stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem, And sent messengers
before his face: and they went, and entered into a village of the
Samaritans, to make ready for him.
And they did not receive him, because his face was as though he
would go to Jerusalem.
And when his disciples James and John saw this, they
said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from
heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did?
But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what
manner of spirit ye are of.
For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to
save them. (Luke 9:51-56)
It should be obvious, the manner of spirit they were of was
demonic. They, without realizing it, were being influenced by the
Devil.
The third incident is also with Peter just before the Lord's
crucifixion.
And the Lord
said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have
you, that he may sift you as wheat: But I have prayed
for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted,
strengthen thy brethren.
And he said unto
him, Lord, I am ready to go with thee, both into prison, and to
death.
And he said, I tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow this
day, before that thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest me.
(Luke 22:31-34)
Of course, we should all know what Peter ended up doing: He
denied the Lord Jesus Christ just as the Lord had told him he
would.
Now, this being the case with those who are born of God, just
what chance do those who are not the Lord's stand against Satan
and his wiles. Again the Scripture states:
But if our
gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god
of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not,
lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image
of God, should shine unto them. (II Corinthians
4:3-4)
By the way, the god of this world is Satan, by right of conquest.
However, in returning to the issue at hand we find that the Lord
Jesus Christ spoke of the Devil when He rebuked the
Pharisees:
Ye are of
your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye
will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in
the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a
lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of
it. (John 8:44)
Now, I have a couple of questions: Have you ever been lied to?
And believed the lie? The most accomplished liar in all of
creation, both physical and spiritual, is Satan, the Devil.
How is it that the Atheist never attempts to disprove the
existence of Satan?
By the way, did you know that the Supreme Court of the United
States has declared Atheism to be a religion? However, as you
will see by the following quote from a Atheist reviewing the
video America's Godly
Heritage that the reviewer is not honest about Atheism
being a religion. Please notice the last line of the
quotation.
Claim 1:
"The Supreme Court ruled that Secular Humanism is a viable First
Amendment Religion.
Cases cited: Torcaso v. Watkins (367 U.S. 488), 1961, and an
unnamed 1985 decision.
Torcaso v. Watkins ruled nothing of the sort; a footnote
mentioned "Secular Humanism" as a "Among religions in this
country which do not teach what would generally be considered a
belief in the existence of God [sic]." This did not refer to what
"secular humanism" generally refers to today, but to a church in
California, the Fellowship of Humanity. The footnote cited
Fellowship of Humanity v. County of Alameda, 153 Cal. App. 2d
673, 315 P. 2d 394. I checked the second cite, which is the
_Pacific Reporter_, and found that the Fellowship of Humanity
formed in 1952 and was suing the County of Alameda to recover
property taxes and penalties paid under protest. The California
Appeals Court ruled that this was a legitimate religion and
therefore tax exempt (2-1 decision). (This case was filed
September 11, 1957.) The members of the Fellowship of Humanity
referred to themselves simply as "humanists," not as "secular
humanists." (http://www.skepticfiles.org/atheist/godlyvid.htm)
However, the Fellowship of Humanity still exists, and it has a
website. On its website the following statement is quite visible:
"Humanism
is about what humans ARE and DO at their Best for each other and
all Life Forms without supernatural interventions." (http://www.humanisthall.net/)
Thus to claim that the humanists at Fellowship of Humanity are
not secular humanists is patently absurd. After all, they plainly
state they do not believe in the supernatural (http://humanisthall.net/BYLAWS.htm)
which plainly eliminates a belief in God. Thus, they are secular
humanists as well, and secular humanism is a religion.
This makes one of the primary claims of Atheists a patent lie.
They are influenced by their religion, and their religion
influences their view of the Scriptures.
Contrary to the claim in the introduction to this "non-tract"
where it is stated "People who are free of theological bias
notice that the bible contains hundreds of discrepancies." the
Atheist has a theology. It just so happens that the theology the
Atheist has is one of self. They are their own gods. And they
worship and serve themselves. Quite obviously, there is a head-on
collision with the Bible.
Again, this is not new. In the Bible the Lord Jesus Christ
addressed this very issue with the Jews in John, chapter 10:
Then the Jews
took up stones again to stone him.
Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from my
Father; for which of those works do ye stone me?
The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not;
but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest
thyself God.
Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye
are gods?
If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the
scripture cannot be broken; Say ye of him, whom the Father hath
sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I
said, I am the Son of God? (John 10:31-36)
Here He quoted the Psalms to show them that they acted like they
were gods that could control their destiny and the destiny of
those around them.
I have said, Ye
are gods; and all of you are children of the
most High.
But ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes.
(Psalm 82:6-7)
Again this is stated in Isaiah as the LORD God challenged men
concerning their refusal to obey Him and hear His word. In fact,
this particular challenge sounds very much like the LORD is
speaking directly to the Atheist.
Produce your
cause, saith the LORD; bring forth your strong reasons,
saith the King of Jacob.
Let them bring them forth, and shew us what shall
happen: let them shew the former things, what they be,
that we may consider them, and know the latter end of them; or
declare us things for to come.
Shew the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that
ye are gods: yea, do good, or do evil, that we may be
dismayed, and behold it together. (Isaiah
40:21-23)
Finally, twice in Psalms and once in Romans, the word of God
declares that Atheism is nothing new.
The fool hath
said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt,
they have done abominable works, there is none that
doeth good.
The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see
if there were any that did understand, and seek God.
They are all gone aside, they are all together become
filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
(Psalm 14:1-3)
The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.
Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity: there
is none that doeth good.
God looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if
there were any that did understand, that did seek
God.
Every one of them is gone back: they are altogether become
filthy; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
(Psalm 53:1-3)
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all
ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in
unrighteousness; Because that which may be known of God is
manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.
For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world
are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made,
even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are
without excuse: Because that, when they knew God, they glorified
him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain
in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, And changed
the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to
corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and
creeping things.
Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts
of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between
themselves: Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and
worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is
blessed for ever. Amen. (Romans 1:18-25)
So it is that the Atheist is not honest when he declares that he
has no theological bias. Moreover, the Atheist cannot honestly
declare that there is no spiritual realm in which powers beyond
our control influence what we think and sometimes how we act —
even without our knowledge and understanding that that is what is
going on. In short, until someone on this earth knows everything,
and knows and can prove that they know everything, anyone that
declares that a spiritual world does not exist is lying.
Moreover, we would have to ask what is influencing them to
declare such things.
To be
continued . . .