Former Atheist Quotes a Former Agnostic

As another put it, this is a quote from a former agnostic writer (Malcolm Muggeridge), quoted by a former atheist turned Christian apologist (Ravi Zacharias). I hadn't ever put those two together before. That makes this quote all the more powerful to me.

"We look back upon history and what do we see? Empires rising and falling, revolutions and counter-revolutions, wealth accumulated and wealth dispersed. Shakespeare has spoken of the rise and fall of great ones that ebb and flow over the moon.

I look back upon my own fellow countrymen of England, once upon a time dominating a quarter of the world. Most of them convinced in the words of what is still a popular song that the God who made the mighty, shall make them mightier yet. I’ve heard a crazed, cracked Austrian announce to the world the establishment of a German Reich that would last a thousand years. I’ve seen an Italian clown saying he was going to stop and restart the calendar with his own ascension to power. I’ve seen a murderous Georgian brigand in the Kremlin acclaimed by the intellectual elite of the world as wiser than Solomon, more humane than Marcus Aurelius, more enlightened than a shokah. I have seen America more wealthy and in terms of military weaponry more powerful than the rest of the world put together. So that had the American people so desired, they could have outdone a Caesar or an Alexander in the range and scale of their conquest.

All in one lifetime. All in one lifetime. All gone - gone with the wind.

England, part of a tiny island off the coast of Europe threatened with dismemberment and even bankruptcy. Hitler and Mussolini dead, remembered only in infamy. Stalin is a forbidden name in the regime he helped form and dominate for over 3 decades. America is haunted by fears of running out of the precious fluids that keep her motorways roaring and the smog settling, and the victory of the Don Quixotes of the media as they charge the windmills of Watergate.

All in one lifetime. All in one lifetime. All gone - gone with the wind.

Behind the debris of the fallings of our solemn supermen and imperial diplomatists, lies the gigantic figure of one person; because of Whom, by Whom, in Whom, and through Whom mankind may still survive. The person of Jesus Christ.

The nature of sin… the nature of suffering… the nature of salvation… the nature of reality…
The person of Jesus Christ.

I have bent my knee to Him and I found in Him, everything."

The American's Creed

This quote is from Steve Turner who brilliantly summarizes North America's position on Religion. I originally heard this quoted by Ravi Zacharias in his Podcasts ("Let My People Think" and "Just Thinking"). Ravi also uses this quote in his book entitled, "Can Man Live Without God?"

Creed
by Steve Turner

This is the creed I have written on behalf of all us.

We believe in Marx, Freud, and Darwin.
We believe everything is OK
As long as you don't hurt anyone,
To the best of your definition of hurt,
And to the best of your knowledge.

We believe in sex before, during, and after marriage.
We believe in the therapy of sin.
We believe that adultery is fun.
We believe that sodomy is OK.
We believe that taboos are taboo.

We believe that everything is getting better,
Despite evidence to the contrary.
The evidence must be investigated
And you can prove anything with evidence.

We believe there's something in
Horoscopes, UFOs and bent spoons;
Jesus was a good man
Just like Buddha, Mohamed, and ourselves.
He was a good moral teacher.
Although we think His good morals were bad.

We believe that all religions are basically the same
At least the one that we read was.
They all believe in love and goodness.
They only differ on matters of
Creation, sin, heaven, hell, God, and salvation.

We believe that after death comes the Nothing
Because when you ask the dead what happens, they say nothing.
If death is not the end, if the dead have lied,
Then it's compulsory heaven for all
Excepting perhaps Hitler, Stalin, and Genghis Khan.

We believe in Masters and Johnson.
What's selected is average.
What's average is normal.
What's normal is good.

We believe in total disarmament.
We believe there are direct links between warfare and bloodshed.
Americans should beat their guns into tractors
And the Russians would be sure to follow.

We believe that man is essentially good.
It's only his behavior that lets him down.
This is the fault of society.
Society is the fault of conditions.
Conditions are the fault of society.

We believe that each man must find the truth that is right for him.
Reality will adapt accordingly.
The universe will readjust.
History will alter.

We believe that there is no absolute truth
Excepting the truth that there is no absolute truth.
We believe in the rejection of creeds,
And the flowering of individual thought.

P.S.
If chance be the Father of all flesh,
Disaster is his rainbow in the sky.
And when you hear:

"State of Emergency!"
"Sniper Kills Ten!"
"Troops on Rampage!"
"Whites go Looting!"
"Bomb Blasts School!"

It is but the sound of man worshiping his maker.

The News is Both Bad and Good

The Bad News - We're All Sick
When God created the world one specification of His design was that all living things reproduce each after their own kind. Before the fall of man if Adam & Eve had reproduced they would have produced sinless children. However, they didn't have children until after they sinned and were cursed. Therefore, since they had a sin nature prior to reproducing, Adam & Eve's "own kind" was a human with a sin nature - a sinner.

The bible says that if anyone says they are without sin, the truth is not in him. Since God is just and cannot dwell with us due to our sin, He must deal with us justly and hand down the punishment for sin. The bible says that the wages of sin is death... This is speaking not only of a physical death, but also a spiritual death - or to be eternally removed from God. The absence of God exists only in Hell.
Fortunately for all of us, it doesn't end there. That same verse goes on to say ...BUT, the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Eternal life is living forever with God (just as He intended when He created us). This is the exact opposite of eternal death (the absence of God in Hell).
So if you now find yourself asking "What gift is the bible talking about?" The answer is simple. We have established that God is a just judge and therefore must deal with our sin justly by handing down the punishment for sin. We deserve Hell, as we choose to reject God and continue to be "Children of Wrath" who are at war with God. The required price (eternal death) is impossible for us to pay.

The Good News - There's a Cure
God's free gift to us is that He sent his son who knew no sin to step down off his throne in Heaven, come down to Earth as a man, live a sinless life and therefore not being deserving of Hell as we are, and then to pay our fine for us. Jesus did that for us. The bible says that God loved the world so much that He sent his only Son to die in our place and pay the required price for our sin, so that WHOEVER believes in Him will not have eternal death, but will have eternal life (Paraphrased by FP - Ref. John 3:16). This act of Jesus paying our price satisfied the just nature of the God in that the price required to be paid for our sin was paid in full at the death of God's son.
But Jesus didn't just die. He went on and overcame the power of death once for all by not allowing death to be his end. Just as He said he would before He died, He rose again on the 3rd day. The price for our sin was paid in full by His Son's undeserved death and acceptable by God as proper and complete payment for our sin. All we have to do is to receive Him (accept His free gift) and He comes into us and makes us a new creature. At the split second that this happens, we are justified, and all of Heaven begins to rejoice as the new Christian's name is written down in the Book of Life.
The bible says, it says to as many as receive Him, to them He gave the power to be called the sons of God. Once we have received Him, we are joint heirs with Christ. That makes us sons of God. When each of us dies, we will face God (the just judge) on judgement day. God will look at the Christian, and He will see His Son in us, because we have been justified which means God looks at us "just-as-if-I'd" never sinned at all. He will open the Book of Life and find the Christian's name written in it.

"Well done, thou good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy Lord."

Sin and Consequences

Sin is the opposite of righteousness, just as evil is the opposite of good, just as darkness is the opposite of light. Without sin, one wouldn't know what righteousness was. An example of this is the handicapped child who doesn't know they're handicapped until they see someone who isn't handicapped. Before they see someone who isn't handicapped they see being handicapped as being normal. To put it simply, the existence of sin & evil allow mankind to recognize it as such by contrasting it against the righteousness and goodness of God. Does this mean that we should try to sin as much as possible so that God is shown as all the more righteous? The Apostle Paul would say, "May it never be!" One reason is because light and darkness (evil and righteousness) cannot occupy the same place at the same time. God cannot abide where sin is present which is why he created a place to send the sinful so as to be separate from God. That place is called Hell.

A Child Was Born, But The Son Was Given

Who was Jesus Christ?
People often wonder why the Bible presents the life of Christ four separate times in the gospel books of the New Testament (Matthew, Mark, Luke, & John). If you ask this same question I want to challenge you to re-read them with the following in mind:
1. Matthew was a Jewish tax collector for the Romans prior to becoming a follower of Christ. Tax collectors weren't liked by the Jews, because they would over-tax the people and keep the extra money in order to become wealthy and live like Kings. God inspired the author to write the book of Matthew in such a way as to portray Jesus as a King.
2. John Mark served with his cousin Barnabas & the Apostle Paul for the first part of Paul's missionary journey. God inspired John Mark (probably through Paul) to write the book of Mark in such a way as to portray Jesus as a servant. Personally, I think John Mark saw Jesus as a servant because John Mark would have been striving to see those attributes that he had in common with Jesus.
3. Luke was a physician. God inspired Luke to see Jesus as a man. From His birth, through His life, to His death Dr. Luke was given the ability to give a completely new perspective on the life of Jesus, based on his profession.
4. John was self-titled "the disciple that Jesus loved". John was inspired to see Jesus as God.

Who is Jesus Christ?
The prophet Isaiah said, "unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given..." Look at that closely. The child wasn't given, nor was the son born. The Son of God wasn't a created being that needed to be born to exist. A child needs to be born to exist. Isaiah was saying that the Messiah would be fully God and at the same time, fully man.
Who is He? He is the King of the Jews, He is the King of Israel, He is the King of righteousness, He is the King of the ages, He is the King of Heaven, He is the King of glory, He is the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords. He is the single most powerful being that has ever existed, or will ever exist. He is my King, my Savior, my Redeemer, my Rock, my Shelter, my Father, and my Friend.

Why do I care?
Because Jesus took the punishment I rightly deserve, which satisfied His Father who is just, and then beat it by overcoming it, the bible says I am now joint heirs with Jesus. His righteousness is accounted to me & therefore my sins are not counted against me. On judgement day, there won't be any charges brought up against me. It will be just as if I'd never sinned because when God looks at me, He will see His Son in me. He will see that His Son has already paid in full the consequence for my sin back at Calvary. He will see His Son's redeeming blood on the lentils and doorposts of my heart, soul, mind, & strength and His judgement will pass over me. Therefore, I don't need to fear death. I don't need to worry about my earthly reputation or what other people think about me. I don't need to worry about trying to become successful. My reward is that one day, I will get to meet Jesus Christ face to face and I'll have all of eternity to fall at His feet and thank Him for what He did for me. There is NOTHING that this world has to offer that makes me more successful than that.

Where did God Come From?

In our everyday experience, just about everything seems to have a beginning. In fact, the laws of science show that even things which look the same through our lifetime, like the sun and other stars, are running down. The sun is using up its fuel at millions of tonnes each second since, therefore, it cannot last forever, it had to have a beginning. The same can be shown to be true for the entire universe.

So when Christians claim that the God of the Bible created the entire universe, some will ask what seems a logical question, namely ‘Where did God come from?’ The Bible makes it clear in many places that God is outside of time. He is eternal, with no beginning or end He is infinite! He also knows all things, being infinitely intelligent. Is this logical? Can modern science allow for such a notion? And how could you recognize the evidence for an intelligent Creator?

By definition, an infinite, eternal being has always existed no one created God. He is the self-existing one the great ‘I am’ of the Bible. He is outside of time in fact, He created time. You might say, ‘But that means I have to accept this by faith, as I can’t understand it.’ We read in the book of Hebrews, ‘But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him’ (Heb. 11:6).

But this is not blind faith, as some think. In fact, the evolutionists who deny God have a blind faith. They have to believe something that is against real science namely, that information can arise from disorder by chance. The Christian faith is not a blind faith it is a logically defensible faith. This is why the Bible makes it clear that anyone who does not believe in God is without excuse: ‘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’ (Rom. 1:20).

(exerpt taken from Ken Ham's Blog entitled, "Is there really a God? How would you know?" First published:Creation 20>(3):32–34June 1998)

The Genesis

Noun: Genesis (geneses, jinises) - A coming into being.
I submit, the beginning or the foundation upon which a thing is built. All questions in life can be answered by looking to their genesis, their beginning, the time at which they came to be - their foundation. For that reason I want to make sure my first blog entry (my test run if you will) will lay a proper foundation, so that what I write, will be true and structurally sound.

What I believe:
I'm a Christian and as such, I believe that God exists. I believe the existence of God can be proven. I believe that God is omnipotent (all powerful), omniscient (all knowing) and omnipresent (able to be everywhere at one time). Since I believe that God is omniscient, I believe that He knows the beginning from the end and therefore we have no reason to doubt ANYthing he says. I believe that every word He has given to us was given for a reason. I believe that the Bible is His inerrant Word, written by men who were inspired by Him. I believe that before anything was, God was. I believe that God created the world in six 24-hour days. I believe in one triune God consisting of three equal parts (Father, Son, & Spirit) that make up one being. I believe that salvation is a free gift given to all, but rejected by most. I believe that we don't deserve salvation, nor is there ANYthing either in whole or in part that we could do to earn it ourselves. I believe in both the sovereignty of God as well as His creating mankind with free will. I believe in the existence of angels & demons, good & evil, Heaven & Hell. I believe we are all created equally, but have different roles that human nature has falsely dictated as some being superior to others. I trust in God's promise because Jesus paid the price for my sin by conquering death, a price I couldn't pay on my own, I'm going to Heaven when He says it's my time. I believe I can't wait to see Him face to face.

What I don't believe:
I don't believe in evolution. I don't believe God is unknowable. I don't believe in purgatory, valhalla, or nirvana. I don't believe that Satan was the brother of Jesus. I don't believe that any part of the triune God is a created being. I don't believe ANY good person has ever existed outside of Jesus Christ. Outside of God and his promises, I don't believe in absolutes. I don't believe in the infallibility of the Pope. I don't believe there is any human without sin. I don't believe God and Allah are the same being. I don't believe there is no afterlife. I don't believe Buddha, Joseph Smith, or Mohammad were prophets nor do I believe they are in Heaven today. I don't believe that yoga exists without Hinduism, nor Hinduism without yoga. I don't believe in reincarnation, transcendental meditation, or the New Age Movement. I don't believe in Postmodernism and/or the need for seeker churches. I don't believe it is the Christian's responsibility to convert ANYone. I don't believe people are born gay. I don't believe that life starts only at or after birth.

This will be my first blog entry attempt and will be left on this page whether archived or not to represent who I am and my position on anything.