Scientific Foreknowledge in the Bible 1

The Bible is inspired by God and not the personal opinions of more than 40 authors who wrote it over about at 1’500 year period.
The Bible gives us scientific information that was revealed long before mankind discovered or verified it through extra-Biblical means.

The stars are too great in number to count

Genesis 15.5: He took him outside and said, Look up at the heavens and count the stars- if indeed you can count them. Then he said to him, So shall your offspring be.
Jeremiah 33.22: I will make the descendants of David my servant and the Levites who minister before me as countless as the stars of the sky and as measureless as the sand on the seashore
Hebrews 11.12: And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore

Discovered: In the 19th century AD with the advent of powerful telescopes. Prior to this, most thought there were no more than 6’000 stars (what could be seen with the naked eye from all points on the earth).

I'm sure God likes that we discover His creation. To glorify Him, to give Him all honour and praise! Amen!

From Crescent Moon to Morning Star

I found this testimony some years ago surfing in the net, looking about a story for my English Class. In that time I was involved in a discussion about Islam and the Biblical Truth. This testimony about a Turkish woman who converted to Jesus Christ teached me a lot of religious things without the modern touch of "fundamentalism" as it reigns today...

From Crescent Moon to Morning Star
I was born and raised in Turkey in a secular family. Growing up as the middle child of the family I never understood my parents love and care for us. My aunt, known as one of the "funniest" members of the family joked with me over the years asking, what special reason I had to be loved by my parents. Since my sister was the first born, and my brother was the "baby" and "the son", nothing was left for me. She did not understand the deep impact of her jokes on me and I never understood why I wasn't loved. Nobody knew that I needed the truth explained to me; that I needed to know that my parents loved me just because I was their daughter. For years I felt rejected and unloved. As time went on, the only purpose of my life became trying to earn my parents' love.

When I was five years old my parents couldn't find a nanny to take care of me while they were at work. My mother, who was an elementary school teacher, started to take me to the school where she taught leaving me in one of the first grade classes. After this my days were pretty routine. I was in class during the day, and at home I played with my books. I didn't know how to read yet, but I would look at the letters and make up stories based on how they were shaped. One day when I was looking at my books, all of a sudden the letters made words rather than pictures, the words made sentences, and I no longer needed to make up stories - I could read them. My parents rejoiced when they discovered that I learned to read "all by myself".

Near the end of the school year my mom's school was going through the yearly teachers' evaluation. One day the principal of the school came to my class with an Evaluator. I was the only one in the class who could answer their questions. When my parents heard about this they were surprised and quite pleased with me. So, along with everything else I learned in first grade, I learned that the easiest way to earn my parents' "love" was to be successful at school.

This discovery changed my life dramatically. From that day I became very competitive, doing better was my only desire - better than my classmates, better than my siblings, and even better than myself. As a result, I became one of the best students in my school. My dad loved science and planted that love in me at a very early age. He seemed to accept me regardless of my performance, but I felt like my mom's love was dependent on my achievements. Thus, my father became a good friend but I isolated myself from my mother.

When I was getting ready for the college entrance exams, my big dream was to get into a biology department. I found I was fascinated with nature, and this, together with the love of science that I had learned from my father, fueled my desire to study biology. When the results of the exam were posted, I found out that I was qualified to be in the Biology department, my third choice. Upon my father's request my first two choices had been the top medical schools of Turkey. I was so excited and happy. I could hardly wait to give the good news to my parents.

However a big disappointment was in store for me. The idea of having a daughter in medical school was so appealing to them that the news that I had "only" qualified for biology was a letdown. Their disappointment showed me that I had failed, first in my studies, and then in not being able to earn their "love". I had worked so hard for such a bitter ending. So when I started college my heart felt sour within me.

But when I began college things within me started to change. I was spending the majority of my time immersed in my biology books, and was awed by the complexities and perfection of life on a biological scale. I realized that I loved learning purely for learning's sake and not in order to gain my parents' approval. I was growing up! So my bitter feelings shortly were crowded out by overwhelming enthusiasm.

Another change that started to occur in me was regarding religious belief. I had grown up in a secular household. Although my family was not religious, we observed all the usual traditions. However, we did not observe the prayer rituals, nor did we fast. During summer vacations my friends went to the mosque to learn Namaz, the Islamic prayer ritual, and to learn to recite the Qur'an. But in our home, we didn't even mention these things. Growing up, I had believed that the universe was formed as a result of the "Big-Bang" and that life was formed through a series of random events. What I believed about God was quite different from my friends' beliefs, too. For me God was created by men. Evolutionary speaking, in all primate societies there had been a need for a strong, unquestioned leader. However, as humans developed the abilities to live outside social groupings, the need for an unquestioned leader disappeared. Because the instinct to believe and obey something unquestionable is still strong, man created God. I was very content with this belief. In truth, I was even proud of my unusual beliefs.

However, my first year in college, I felt that everything I believed was disintegrating in my hands. When I started to take classes like Zoology, Botany, Molecular Biology, Chemistry, and Cytology, I started to realize that life was too perfect to be the product of random events. One day I remember looking through a microscope and watching this little cell with awe, thinking there must be a God, the Creator of this life!

I became very confused. I didn't know what to do. One day - a little embarrassed - I went to talk to my father and told him what I thought. He listened to me carefully, without interrupting, as was his habit, and then answered me with a smile; "I don't want you to be ashamed of your thoughts. If you believe there is a God, go search, and you shall find". Two years of studying and practicing Islam started at this time period.

My interest in Islam pleased my mother's mother the most. She immediately got a Qur'an and books on Islam for me. She brought some Zamzam water, had me drink it, repent of my sins, make a promise to stay away from sin, and recite the Shahada.

Initially, I didn't care much about what Islam and Qur'an was all about. All I wanted to know was God. I learned the basics: memorized suras, learned wudu and prayer, read the Qur'an every Thursday night, fasted during Ramadan.

I studied hard, practiced hard, but only thing that happened in my life was following a different set of rules now. I did not know God anymore than I did the day I told my dad I thought there was a God. I might have become a nicer person at the time, but it was all in my power and initiative. Deep inside me I knew I was no different. On the top of these what I learned from my Islamic books and mentors did not help either. At the end of two years I was quite disappointed - even hurt - by my findings and experiences. After days and nights of struggling with myself, and feeling ashamed that I was wrong, I went to my father and told him that I was not able to find my God. I was heart broken.

The summer of that year, I started to work as a reader at the School for the Blind. There, I met with a lady who was associated with a Hindu group. I was quite excited to hear about this group, and I started to go to their meetings with her. All summer long, I studied with them the essentials of Hinduism - as well as of Buddhism. Because Islam had failed me, I was a lot more reserved about taking a step of faith in either of these. One of the members of this group was also interested in the old Turkic religions, and he helped me to understand the basics of those religions. At the end of the summer, the conclusion of my search was quite clear. All these religions were created by men to bring regulation to society. There was no God. I was stuck with Atheism.

Then followed a time of confusion and bewilderment. All joy and peace left my heart. I had lost hope - hope for the future, hope for finding God, or that there was anything greater than human existence. So, I went back to doing what I knew best, being an excellent student. I thought that I could find satisfaction in myself.

But it didn't work. The inner restlessness that I had grew stronger every day, and I couldn't live with myself anymore. So, I tried other things. You know what a party animal is, right? Well, that was me. Drinking, smoking, rebelling - everything you can imagine! Yet, these things didn't satisfy me. More and more, I knew that I had no peace in my heart. I longed to change--but I didn't know how.

In this sorry state, I finished university. On graduation day, as I was walking downtown, I started to think about my future. I knew that I had a long life ahead of me, but I didn't know what I would do with it. Frustrated, I walked into a store and stood in front of a mirror. As I looked at myself, I realized that I didn't like what I saw. Tears welled up as I considered who I was. This was a turning point for me. I decided that I was going to change my life and be a different person - have a good job, a good career, a good family, and a good income. I looked around at all the ordinary people in the world, reflecting that their lives were no different than mine but that they seemed happy. I decided to try being an ordinary person. So, I quit smoking, drinking, and hanging around those of my "friends" who had that kind of lifestyle. I got my first job, a very good-paying job, in fact. At the same time, I went back to school and earned my Master's degree, and then started to work on my Ph.D. But even all these things didn't satisfy me. In my heart, I fought with myself day and night. In Jeremiah 2:13, God says, "My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water". My heart was a broken cistern, and I tried to fill it myself. As Islam had failed me, I was failing myself.

In September 1992, I was nearing the end of my Ph.D. program when one of my professors in the department told me about a scholarship to go overseas to study for a different Ph.D. First, I thought, "No, I'm about to finish one; why bother starting all over again?" But it took me only half an hour to decide, "Yes, I would like to try". I got the scholarship and quit my Ph.D. program. Leaving everything behind, I packed my whole life into two suitcases and came to the United States to start all over again. I had a feeling that it was going to be different there.

It was different in the U.S., and I didn't like it. Honestly, I hated it with a passion. I didn't know any English, I didn't know the culture, and I didn't know anybody there. Everything was so strange to me. I asked myself again and again, "I had everything I needed back home, so why did I come here?" Of course, I didn't know the answer, and I didn't even know if there was an answer. But I didn't go home. I studied English, tried to understand American culture, and made some friends in the dormitory. It so happens they were all born-again Christians who talked about their faith with me. They were all very nice, helpful, smart, religious ... and very brainwashed! I didn't believe that one could be smart and religious at the same time. Since they had helped me to adjust to my new life in the U.S., I decided I could help them to see that they were all deluded.

If you are going to fight against something, you need to know it well, so I asked them to give me a Bible. Knowing that I would find contradictions and inconsistencies, I started to read it. However - and there's really no other way to describe it - a miracle happened! Each day, the words brought more and more peace to my heart and hope for my life. Also, Christianity deeply impressed me because of its differences from the other religions that I had studied. It was unique in a lot of ways, but four of them were particularly important to me.

First, Jesus was the only one who claimed to be the only way to God. What confidence that gave me! This was no vague instruction on how to reach God. This was a certain path. Jesus says, "No one comes to the Father except through me".

Second, people's sins could be forgiven without the need for good deeds to cancel them out. In every other religion, one has to be punished for the sins one has committed, but in Christianity one's sins can be forgiven. Having lived in sin as long as I had, I knew that I could never finish paying the penalty for them. I needed forgiveness. Human beings, in their weakness, don't know the real meaning of forgiveness, I think. This generous forgiveness can only come from God.

Third, one doesn't have to work for one's salvation. Salvation is by the grace of God. My whole life, I had tried to earn the peace and hope that I longed for but saw that I didn't have. Therefore, it was very meaningful to see that God was reaching out to me instead of my trying to reach Him.

Fourth and last, God loved me as I was. I didn't have to do anything to earn His love. This was quite new to me. I discovered that I was important to God just because I existed. It seemed to me that this truth was different from other religions.

I became convinced that Christianity was not a man-made religion. So, I continued to study the Bible, more and more enthusiastically. On February 6, 1993 while I was reading my Bible, a verse greatly impressed me: You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit - fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name... " (John 15:16). Then, I realized that I found the answer to my question. I had come to the U.S. because God had chosen me and had brought me there so that I could come to know Him. That day, I prayed and accepted Jesus as my personal Savior.

That night, as I prayed and accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior, I was very restless. I tried to sleep, but questions kept bothering me all night long. "Was I being culturally assimilated?" "Was my conversion a result of cultural shock?" I got up in the morning and decided that I might be going crazy, but I couldn't do anything about it other than wait and see. A few months later, God answered my questions again. He showed me that even as long ago as when I was 12, He had chosen me and had been preparing me for His kingdom. At that time, I had a dream in which I was swimming. It was very dark, without any stars in the sky. After swimming for a while, I stopped and looked up at the sky. Suddenly, I saw a star shining. I closed my eyes and made a wish. I said, "Morning Star, teach me the secret of life". When I woke up, I was deeply affected by my dream. I told my family and my friends about it, but nobody seemed to care. Because I took the dream so seriously, I was even mocked about it. A few days later, however, I forgot about the dream.

But the dream did not forget me. About a month later, I had it again. Although I thought it was strange, I didn't really think about it much. But then, a few months later, the same dream came again. I kept having this dream for years almost every other month and this pattern continued until a few months after my conversion, when I read Rev. 22:16, which says, "I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star". After reading this verse, I realized that God had been working in my heart for years and that He is a living God. He had brought me to this point to teach me the secret of life - eternal life. That very day, I decided that I would dedicate my whole life to God and follow Him wherever He might lead me. Now, my deepest desire is to follow my Lord as long as I live. In case you're wondering. I've never had the dream again - when the sun rises, one blows the candle out.

After I became a believer in Jesus, my life changed significantly. In the beginning, my family rejected me, but over the years, they observed the positive changes that happened in my life. A couple of years after my conversion, my mother told me that when I first told her that I had decided to follow Jesus, she thought that she had lost her daughter, but now, she knows that she has received back a better one. She tells me now that she believes this has been the best thing that ever happened to me. For years, I didn't believe that my mother loved me, and I hadn't forgiven her for that. But with God, all things are possible. Now, my mom and I are best friends, and she has a desire to know more about God and Christianity.

And that wasn't all.

After my conversion, my family was greatly distressed. They thought that I had brought shame on our family. They thought that we were born as Muslims and destined to die as Muslims. Not only my family, but also many of my friends rejected me. Sometimes, the things I went through lay so heavily on me that many times a day when I thought about my situation, I felt weak and helpless, but I also felt that God was in control. Since the day of my conversion, I have learned what it means to trust God with my life. This takes a lot of faith, but I have learned to live on God's provision "day by day". Exodus 16 talks about how God provided for the Israelites day by day when they were in the desert. In the past, I used to think that the Israelites were being ungrateful for God's provision, but as I learned to live on God's provision day-by-day, I understood that, physically and emotionally, this is a difficult place to be. Yet, through it all, I have been thoroughly blessed spiritually.

A lot of people ask me if becoming a Christian has been worth it. I have asked myself the very same question many times. I love traveling, and I travel a lot. One day while driving alone to give an academic presentation at a national conference, I was trying to practice my talk. But my mind was focused on problems I was facing as a result of my conversion. Suddenly, my disappointments and my fatigue overwhelmed me. Then, I remembered a game (that helped me cope with difficulties) that I used to play a long time ago, a game based on 'dreaming'. When I was five, I was in my grandma's home for summer vacation. One morning, I woke up and found bubble gum all over my bed and on my face. I was pretty sure that my sister had done it. As a little girl, I used to think that my sister was responsible for all of the bad things in the entire universe. I called my aunt and started to complain about my sister. But she didn't listen to me. I think that she knew that my sister was not responsible for all of the bad things that happened in this universe, especially the ones related to me. She took me to the sink and started to clean me up. Angry with me, she spanked me a few times, saying that I wasn't supposed to go to bed with bubble gum. I kept telling her that I didn't chew gum, which was true. But she wasn't listening. It was obvious that we had a communication problem. Then, I stopped listening to her and started to try to make myself believe this was not real, that I was only dreaming. I wanted to wake up and find everything fine. But I didn't wake up. Years later, when my father died, I thought of this incident. As before, I tried to make myself believe that this was not real. In the morning, I was going to wake up, and Dad was going to be with us, and everything was going to be fine. But once again, I didn't wake up. So, that day when I was traveling to the academic conference, I thought, "Yep, this is a dream. I will wake up, the problems will be gone, and everything will be fine". Then, immediately, I realized that if I woke up, my faith would be gone too. I would lose my relationship with God. Suddenly I knew that it was worth going through all the problems I have. I would even be willing to endure a lot more in order to have my relationship with God through Christ.

My prayer for you is that you can experience the fullness of eternal life in Christ Jesus in your personal life.

Hatice
http://www.answering-islam.de

I believe

I believe in God, in the One and Holy. He revealed His existence and eternal Love in His word, the bible, which is the ONLY Word of God. I believe in His own sun, Jesus Christ. He came on earth to show us the way to Heaven - He is God and Man together and died on the cross for all our sins. He is my personal Savior und my Master. I will follow Him, loving Him with my soul and my spirit. He lives in me since 1990 and the Holy Spirit guides my life.
It is not easy to follow Him, crucifiying all days my own flesh, which is condamned to death. But in Jesus Christ I am a new creation and I can grow up spiritually in His amazing Grace.
Halleluya.

"Why I am an Atheist"

Saturday, May 19

Why I am an Atheist

by Abacquer on Sat 19 May 2007 01:17 PM EDT

From Atheism to Catholicism:

My journey to atheism took about 25 years. It was not a journey fraught with disaster (any more than any average person's life is) but it was not exactly easy. In 1967 I was born, as all babies are, an atheist. My parents were Roman Catholics, and fairly devout ones at that.

Over the next 17 years or so I was indoctrinated into the Roman Catholic religion. I remember many, MANY, Sundays in church when I was younger. As my parents became busier and busier with work and life in general, we went to church less and less. Which was fine with me. I was hyperactive and having to sit in an uncomfortable pew while an old guy babbled for an hour on a Sunday morning was very difficult for me. Eventually our trips to the church were only occasional, Christmas, Easter, etc.--the big holidays.

My Dad had converted to Catholicism from Protestantism so that he could marry my Mom. He made clear to me in a number of conversations that his belief was not strictly Catholic. The most memorable conversation was one where he described a sort of "Gaea Hypothesis" where the Earth itself was what we think of as "God", a living organism with a desire to reproduce, which is why it had evolved humans, so that we could journey to other worlds and bring life there.

Dad loved Carl Sagan, and I have fond memories of watching Cosmos with him. I understood some of it, but not all of it due to my youth. When Carl gently explained with his "why not skip a step?" lecture about God and the origin of the universe, I didn't realize I was being exposed to atheistic cosmology. (For those of you that missed it, you should check it out, Carl was a wonderful teacher.)

My Mom, a good Irish woman, worked hard to keep my Catholicism strong. She sent me to CCD (Sunday school) until I flat out refused to go. Even as a believer, Sunday school seemed to be a joke... what a waste of time. And as previously stated, she got me to church for many years, right up to first communion and beyond. By the time high school rolled around, my parents were less than impressed with the local public high school that my sister had attended 7 years prior (apparently there was a lot of drugs there and other unpleasantry), so they decided to send me to a parochial school.

Catholic school was very different from public school, but even as an atheist now, I am pleased to report that my education there was of high quality. There was no shirking of evolution (it was a Catholic school, after all), and I remember only a couple teachers whom I felt really didn't belong there. The indoctrination, at the time, didn't seem like indoctrination. It is only in hindsight that I can see how Catholicism was drilled into me on a daily basis. By this time my family were not regular churchgoers, and the school priest was concerned about the fact that I would not be confirmed. So he encouraged me to seek confirmation on my own, which I did. I was confirmed with the name "Peter" and from that point on actually went so far as to add Peter to my name as a second middle name. Asked to sign anything I would write Charles Douglas Peter ... I thought it was pretty cool to have a second middle name, and wearing that name was like wearing a badge of my Christianity--Peter, the rock, upon which Christ built his church.

For a time, I began going to church again by myself--I was highly motivated (by guilt) to do right by God. But I had been motivated by guilt my entire life, and in experiencing the sorts of things every young boy experiences at one time or another, I was wracked with it. I agonized with guilt over the normal feelings a male experiences. I spent many a quiet hour alone and near tears over the eternal damnation that awaited me as a sinner. You see I was terrified of confession... I couldn't possibly sit in a little black room with a priest who knew me and pour out all my terrible sins, I just couldn't possibly do it. I would never be able to look him in the eye again. I tried to explain to one of my relatives once that I didn't like confession, and was informed "Well then, you're a heathen" much to my dismay. Thus when I went to confession, I stuck to stuff that was pretty unremarkable, and left the booth each time knowing that not all my sins had been forgiven. How draconian a system of forgiveness! I can't just drop to my knees and ask for it? An all-powerful being who already knows of each of my sins, and can read my mind and see how tormented I am, but who can't forgive me unless I go to the nearest service center and speak with a representative?

By my senior year in high school, with some of the early angst of puberty behind me, I was beginning to mature into an adult. At that time, I came to a decision that brought me peace. "When I go away to college," I thought to myself, "I'll take a weekend and drive really far, far, away from anyplace I've ever been, or will ever go again, and I'll finally confess these sins to a priest who I will never have to look in the eye afterward." Knowing I wouldn't have to carry this weight forever, that there was a way out, made me feel much better about it. The road to God's kingdom was clear, all I needed was a car and a tankful of gas. This decision brought me great peace, and with the guilt in check, I suddenly became much happier. I began to get along with the other kids better, and even became somewhat respected as an individual by my peers. I also stopped going to church, figuring I could take care of all that when I went on my "religious retreat next year".

To Nondenominational Christianity:

And so I went off to college. And there I became friends with people of all different creeds including agnostics and atheists. It was an exciting time and I was finding many new schools of thought that fascinated me. I was growing. It was in college that I came to understand that the "sins" I had been beating myself up over for years were an extremely normal part of boyhood. Before long I felt quite silly for agonizing over them, which in turn made me even happier. I decided to put the religious retreat on hold until I figured out where my life was going.

Over the next couple years I concluded that the problem was organized religion itself. I had become aware of the sordid history of my church, and of other churches and religions, and came to the conclusion that it was my personal relationship with God that mattered. I changed from Catholic to simply "Christian". I was very familiar with the bible, having spent years studying it, and felt I could try to live by some of the precepts set forth by Christ, seek forgiveness from God directly, and ignore all of the hateful crazy stuff that the bible was so rife with.

By the time college ended, my beliefs had changed again, mostly through discussions with my fiance, who was raised Lutheran. I felt that the basic moral code of Christ was mostly a good one and had become aware of just how poorly people who were supposed to be exemplary Christians understood his teachings and how they were in many ways waving the banner of Christ while behaving in an exceedingly unchristlike fashion. In that sense, his "church" didn't survive very long after his death, and transformed into something else. I was aware that many had called themselves messiah and there was no more reason to believe in their divinity than in Christ's. It amused me that if Christ lived today, he'd have been shouted down as a long-haired beatnick hippie liberal. I was aware of just how much of the story of his life was now in doubt, much of it having been edited in order to fit with earlier prophecy.

To Deism:

I was no longer a Christian. I thought that perhaps a God existed, but it seemed to me a being who had created the entire universe would have far, far, too much on his mind to worry over poor little me. It was silly. Apart from the love and support of my friends, family, and fiance, I was on my own. There was no almighty being who was checking off an attendance sheet every Sunday, and counting every time I looked at the fanny of a lovely lady and felt desire. All those years of agonizing guilt were years WASTED. How differently my life might have turned out had I not been so weighted down with the assured eternal torment that came with thinking boobies were interesting. But I was not angry at God, or the church, or Catholicism, or my parents. I was only angry with myself, for not coming to the realization sooner. At this point I was wavering between Christian and Deist. I still believed there probably was a God, but he was nothing like any God humanity had ever imagined. The very idea that a man or woman could "tell you about God" seemed ludicrous. Our knowledge of the universe was absolutely paltry. There were planetoids circling our own sun that we hadn't discovered yet, and we had not discovered a single extrasolar world for lack of equipment capable enough. And yet our sun was one of billions, in a galaxy that was one of millions of billions of galaxies... the universe was, for any practical purpose, infinite. And some dork with a 2000 year old book written by sheepherders is going to tell me he knows the mind of the God that created more than he could ever be aware of? Puhlease.

The following year we got married. We both felt, for our families' sakes, that we should marry in a religious ceremony. It seemed easier to do that than to explain to our parents that we didn't share their religious convictions. And, I had a certain attachment to my old church. Even if I didn't believe anymore, I loved the old building, and remembering eying the architecture with wonder as a young boy. So we jumped through all the hoops and did the pre-cana classes and finally got married after five years together. Being married didn't change anything about our feelings for each other, we were already devoted to one another and for years had shared a single apartment and checking account. Over the next few years I continued to grow (or shrink if you prefer) theistically.

To Agnosticism and finally Atheism:

Shortly after marriage I left deism behind and moved to agnosticism, and then finally to atheism. This last leg of the journey was achieved simply through study and keeping an open mind. I spent many nights pondering the existence of a God. Many Christians feel that atheists are people who were molested by priests or who had something really bad happen to them that made them doubt God. But my journey to enlightenment simply came through thought and reason. Not once did I ever come to the conclusion that God didn't exist because of bad things that happened to myself or others. My mind, and the minds of great thinkers, set me free from belief in a deity. And it was in freedom that I began to grow more than I ever had before.

That final transition from agnosticism to atheism did not come from arguments considering the likelihood of God, as put forth so eloquently by Dr. Richard Dawkins, but simply from an understanding of belief and science. Nothing had ever sprung into existence from belief, and primitive humans, seeking to explain the world around them, had come up with beliefs based on their limited experience to explain their world. There was a god of thunder, and a god of the river, and a god of this and of that, a final go-to place to explain that which was as yet unexplainable. These gods were inventions, we know that now, and we assuredly believe that our particular god is nonetheless real. Why? The universe existed for billions of years before humans did. Life existed for millions of years before human did. There are almost certainly other worlds out there with life on them somewhere. Why would we imagine that their God is our God?

It became clear that God is a product of man, and he still exists as a go-to for those questions that still are not answered and to comfort us. Through a god and afterlife, we are eternal, our consciousness the manifestation of an immortal spirit that will rejoin its loved ones who have passed on before when we die. The God hypothesis makes us live forever. And further, it addresses the common lament that life is not fair, God will mete out justice. If an awful, evil man becomes powerful and lives a long happy life hurting others, we can take solace that after death, he will be brought to account for his transgressions. The God hypothesis makes life fair. This is why the God hypothesis exists--to make us feel better. It is a comforting idea, in my opinion. But that doesn't make it true.

Which is where the science comes in. Science and good old Occam's Razor. A hypothesis only becomes a theory through testing, and the God hypothesis is untestable. First of all, most religions make quite clear that their gods will not abide being tested. Why? Because testing yields no confirmation. Get 10,000 believers together and have them pray over a guy with no legs and he will not grow new ones. Ever. Believing doesn't make things happen. Herbert Benson's recent study of believers praying for heart surgey patients found no positive effect on the outcome of the surgery and even had a slight negative effect for those patients who knew they were being prayed for. Secondly there is no evidence. Such evidence that has turned up (such as the Shroud of Turin) has failed under scrutiny. You can't get from hypothesis to theory without observable and verifiable evidence. Thirdly, the predictions of the God hypothesis are nonfalsifiable since there is no way to communicate with those "in the afterlife". Instead such predictions are painfully ambiguous so as to be rationalized easily, and serve as raw materials from which charlatans can build a living preying on the gullible or the bereaved. Which brings me back to Occam's Razor... the God hypothesis is an incredibly complex answer to the origin of humanity, whereas Darwin's elegant theory of natural selection and evolution is a very simple one--one that makes predictions which stand up to testing, and for which there are mountains of supporting evidence. Occam's Razor cuts away the God hypothesis, leaving the simpler and scientifically sound evolutionary explanation. There simply isn't any good reason to assume the existence of a supreme being until such time as evidence is discovered to support it.

And so I dropped the (perhaps somewhat pretentious) "Peter" from my name, and went back to being just Charles Douglas. So much the better, as Douglas is my father's name, and he was the saintliest person I ever knew.

Enlightenment:

Without a poorly fitting fairytale stretched over it, bursting at the seams, the world finally made sense. Things snapped into place and became clear. I could now ponder the origins of morality, religion, science, humanity, and the universe without the blinders of faith. I could consider modern moral questions (such as gay marriage, abortion, and so forth) without the infernally nonsensical mandates of the Judeochristian deity. I was happier than I ever remembered being, finding a remarkable peace that did away with guilt. I was an atheist, happily married to another atheist, and together we could do much good for our fellow humans, and lead productive and joyful lives together. It was only after becoming an atheist that I began studying some of the atheist literature that was available, becoming more familiar with Carl Sagan, Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins, George H. Smith, Jonathan Miller, and the witty and caustic Christopher Hitchens. (I confess that I have not read all these authors.)

Some years later our daughter was born, and we agreed to raise her in a world without superstition and supernatural nonsense. She would be taught that she should be a good person all on her own, without a scary boojum that was going to "get her" if she didn't. I think it was good for her, because she is like me, a creature of guilt, and I am so happy to see that she isn't crushed under it like I was. Are we indoctrinating her? Perhaps. Young minds need instruction. So we teach her how to be a good human being and leave it at that. I've made quite clear to her that when she is older, if she decides to pursue a religion of one sort or another, I will love her every bit as much. The only thing I ask is that she wait until she is older to make that decision, so that she makes it with an adult mind, instead of a childlike one. Perhaps I needn't worry so much. When her world had a Santa Claus and tooth fairy in it, she viewed the possibility of God as somewhat greater than zero. When she was freed of those illusions her worldview became much more pragmatic and she seems happier with the knowledge that the world makes sense, even if life isn't fair and is sometimes very sad.

It was shortly after my kid was born that I made it clear to my parents that I was not a Christian. Mostly because my Mom kept hinting at a "christening" for my daughter. When was the baptism going to happen? And so forth. My family has respected my choice to varying degrees of worry, my father being the clearest. He summed it up quite succinctly: "your Mom doesn't like it but it doesn't matter to me." My Dad was incredibly broadminded and thoughtful, deeply philosophical, and just all around great. I really miss him. My wife's family is similarly mostly respectful of her choice, except for one of them who is convinced that I "corrupted" her. (This person would doubtless be surprised to know that Patty was an atheist long before I was.)

Living as an Atheist:

Living as we do, in liberal Massachusetts, where the basic humanist tenet of "live and let live" is alive and well, we are not persecuted for our lack of faith. We get along well with our neighbors and friends, and pretty much don't talk about faith unless the subject comes up. So far so good, but I read too much of the news not to see that atheists are persecuted in our nation. It is perfectly acceptable to say "I hate atheists" and to express any number of ludicrous stereotypes about people like me. George Bush senior once expressed his opinion that American atheists should not be considered citizens of the USA. My daughter still has to profess a belief in God each morning during the pledge of allegiance, or feel like an outsider among her peers and risk intolerant treatment. Every bit of currency in my pocket shrieks YOU ARE NOT AN AMERICAN at me with its boldfaced assertion that Americans "trust in God". In a court of law, my testimony must be sworn truth before a nonexistant sky-fairy or it is immediately cast into doubt. But that's fine. Most Americans are Christian, and though all these things violate the separation of church and state, I'm prepared to overlook at least the latter two. I know I am a good American, and that my testimony is just as accurate without fealty to some nebulous deity. The pledge bothers me because it is a form of indoctrination, but there are far bigger fish to fry right now. Just take a peek at George God-Told-Me-To-Invade-Iraq Bush for a minute to see how theistic thinking threatens us all when we fail to respect the wall of separation between church and State, erected by the esteemed Thomas Jefferson who was a Deist, not a Christian.

I know too many good people of faith to disparage faith itself, I can only disparage what some do in the name of it. And thus I believe that as long as people aren't actively trying to convert me or persecute me, they are welcome to their faith. I wish them nothing but joy of it. But at the same time I feel a little sad. Although it is a perhaps comforting thought when stepping out on a gorgeous sunny spring day to hear the birds singing that God made that day for me, and has a plan for us all, knowing that it all just happened according to basic laws of nature makes the day and my chance to enjoy it that much rarer and more special for me, and helps me appreciate it in a manner that a theist cannot. What a precious, rare and wonderful world we all live on!

But that's okay. What's important is that we each find our happiness while respecting each other. Maybe I'm an optimist, but I ultimately believe that humanity will mature and either move beyond theism, or at least move to nonconfrontational theism that concerns itself only with the metaphysical, and leaves the physical realm to science. It won't happen in my lifetime, but I'm doing my part to make it happen by being a good moral atheist and raising another good moral atheist. As a good (atheist) friend of mine once taught me, it was Ghandi who said You must be the change you wish to see in the world, he was right. So that's what I'm doing.

Peace.

Pluperfect: Becoming what God has already made you

By bhull - Posted on May 7th, 2008
plu·per·fect (pl-pûrfkt)
adj. More than perfect
Become what God has already made you
Pluperfect describes the healthiest context in which the Christian can pursue their formation in Christ. It recognizes that God has already provided and planned a life for His children. Romans 8:28-30 identifies the transformation process that originally was set outside of time and space. God sees everything contemporaneous, therefore, he sees us as already complete, perfect, lacking in nothing. Think of it as a vertically stacked reality, much like Ephesians 2:10 describes that God created good works for us to do before the world began. Augustine said, “There was, therefore, no time before you made anything, since time itself is something you made.” [1] The ancient idea that God saw everyday of our lives before we were made fits this reality.[2]God then sees us in our final condition as made in and conformed to Christ’s image. It is in this context then that the pressure is off, because God has promised to complete his work in us.[3]It is in this context of acceptance and confidence that an apprentice of Jesus can sustain uncomplicated obedience to Christ for a lifetime. It frees one from legalism and the need to compete with their darker nature and its legalistic expectations. The mystery and romance in our relationship to God is that we are already what we are to become. But our reality in time and space is the process called discipleship or spiritual formation.
Pluperfect sets outside of time and space, then we proceed to our reality which is to engage the world of time and space. What Jesus meant when he said, “ For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” [4]was a different kind of perfection, one accomplished outside of the best human competency. It is a quality of life that begins internally and reveals itself socially through the human body to the world. For that reason, its reach and power far exceeds the mere limits of even the best human competency. This does not mean however, that reason, discipline, effort, and skill are any less apart of formation in Christ, in fact they are essential.
The life of discipleship is one that requires effort, it also includes discipline, suffering and service. Many burn out, or get discouraged and drop out because they can’t sustain the effort on the basis that they aren’t up to speed, they should have been further along by now. While some of that may be true, the pluperfect idea is the one that can keep them going. Because transformation in Christ is
1. A life long process
2. Its goal is the image of Christ
3. It is radical and internal
4. It includes the development of the spiritual heart
5. It finds it purpose in uncomplicated obedience
6. It requires sustained effort
7. There will be suffering
8. Tools and structure are required
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[1] Augustine’sConfessions page 267
[2] Psalm 139:16
[3] Philippians1:6
[4] Matthew 5:20RSV