During the Christmas holidays, I had the opportunity to participate in an online forum that was hosted by atheists. In my preparation for my internet radio show BACK TO BASIC, I was reading a lot of articles about how atheists were selling a lot of books and becoming very popular.
So I followed one of the links I found on an atheist website and joined in on the conversation. What an eye opener! I have never been the subject of so much hate and venomous speech in all of my life, and I wasn’t always a Christian and used to live a pretty worldly life.
While on the forum I was bombarded with questions about my beliefs and faith in God. When I would answer, I was told that I was ignorant, I didn’t know what I was talking about, that I needed to drink Drano to prove my faith in God. One person even wanted me to move a mountain with my faith.
One of two major discussions that were taking place was my view of scriptures. I explained to them that I approach scripture from the standpoint that it is the word of God, and that God is real and sovereign in the universe. I further explained that I came to that conclusion through careful study of the scriptures.
So as you can imagine, that’s when the insults started. That’s when the whole discussion broke down. The atheist started to point out that the Bible is full of contradictions and could not be believed and that was proof that there is no God. Further more they contended that the contradictions in the Bible were already proven and that nothing anyone could show them would change their minds. They told me that creation was a myth because you could not reproduce it in a lab. They were serious on this point (evidently scientific observation and discovery are not valid methods.) To me that was a sad state to be in intellectually. I am always opened to be proven wrong when it comes to what I believe, because I want to be right with God.
When I was pressed on what method I used to come to my conclusions about the scriptures, I shared with them a hermeneutic that I use;
- Lexical-syntactical method-
This method looks at the words used and the way the words are used. Different order of the sentence, the punctuation, the tense of the verse are all aspects that are looked at in the lexical syntactical method. Here, lexicons and grammar aids can help in extracting meaning from the text.
- Historical/cultural method-
The history and culture surrounding the authors is important to understand to aid in interpretation. For instance, understanding the Jewish sects of the
- Contextual method-
A verse out of context can often be taken to mean something completely different from the intention. This method focuses on the importance of looking at the context of a verse in its chapter, book and even biblical context.
- Theological method-
It is often said that a single verse usually does not a theology make. This is because Scripture often touches on issues in several books. For instance, gifts of the Spirit are spoken about in Romans, Ephesians and 1 Corinthians. To take a verse from Corinthians without taking into account other passages that deal with the same topic can cause a poorer interpretation.
- Special literary methods-
There are several special literary aspects to look at, but the overarching theme is that each genre of Scripture has a different set of rules that applies to it. Of the genres found in Scripture, there are: narratives, histories, prophecies, apocalyptic writings, poetry, psalms and letters. In these, there are differing levels of allegory, figurative language, metaphors, similes and literal language. For instance, the apocalyptic writings and poetry have more figurative and allegorical language than does the narrative or historical writing. These must be addressed, and the genre recognized to gain a full understanding of the intended meaning.
That was not good enough for them, because they felt that took to much time to go through the Bible with. I stated this and other methods are generally used on the fly as we read and we only need to stop when we don’t understand what we are reading. I then pressed them for an answer as to what method they use to study the Bible with and one of them and I’m not kidding said “ I read it and if it makes sense to me its correct and if it doesn’t then it is false and not to be believed” Wow, talk about self dilution and intellectual arrogance.
On the subject of intelligent design verses evolution, it got even worse. First, they said intelligent design could not be proven because it could not be reproduced in a lab. Look to my earlier comment on scientific methods. Although all of nature and the universe cry out about intelligence behind it, they stuck fast to their beliefs that there is no God, therefore no intelligent design. Now I don’t care what suppositions you make to try to answer what ever questions you have, but to be intellectually honest, when your suppositions can’t be proven, then they need to be abandoned.
Evolution is about discovering the origins of life not matter how much atheist want you to believe otherwise, i.e. Charles Darwin’s “Origin of the Species.” This is where, the theory of evolution evolved (pun intended).
Creation science is about exploring the theory that the universe was created, and that it has an intelligent designer behind it, God. There is nothing wrong with either approach to the origin of life, but when evolution is taught as fact, when it has not been proven as fact, this is wrong and deceitful. I would say the same for creation science. From what I have read about both subjects, there is more evidence for creation than for evolution, and from my stand point and beliefs, creation happened just as God said it did. This is not based on blind faith, but on a faith that is backed up by proof and facts.
I also pointed out that Paul told the roman Christians; Rom 1:18-24 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them.
And this brings me to my title of this article. Throughout this whole process of debate with atheist, it forced me to re-research what I believed, and reaffirm that God is who he says he is, and that through patient thoughtful, careful study of the scriptures, That God supplies the proof of his existence.
So I thank the atheist who helped me reaffirm my faith in God. My prayer for them is that they someday come to have the faith and belief in God the way I do, through careful thought and study of the scriptures.
Dan Clements is a member of the Constitution Party and the host of BACK TO BASIC a Christian/political internet talk show. You can listen to Dan from 9pm-midnight EST. M-F at www.constitutionalwarrior.com
