Humanist and atheist, Bertrand Russell, wrote in Why I am Not a Christian: "Man is the product of ... accidental connections of atoms ... no fire, no heroism, no intensity of thoughts and feeling can preserve an individual life beyond the grave, and ... all the labour of the ages, all the devotion, all the inspiration, all the noonday brightness of human genius are destined to extinction in the vast death of the solar system. The whole temple of man's achievement must inevitably be buried beneath the debris of a universe in ruin. All these things, if not quite beyond dispute, are yet so nearly certain that no philosophy that rejects them can hope to stand. Only within the scaffolding of these truths, only on the firm foundation of unyielding despair can the souls' habitation henceforth be safely built."
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“The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to Repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9
Oscar Wilde claimed that suffering proved that a good God does not govern the world. If God cannot stop the suffering, then He is not all powerful. If God will not stop the suffering then He cannot be good and loving. The faulty logic and wrong conclusion evidenced by Oscar Wilde is quite common. Many question God’s goodness, power, or even existence, because of suffering in the world. Poverty, disease, war, natural and man-made disasters – why does God not bring it all to an end? WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CHRISTIANITY AND ALL OTHER RELIGIONS? “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.’” John 14:6
Time and again we hear people say: “All religions are the same! Why do you insist that yours is the only right one?” “How can you be so narrow minded, bigoted and intolerant to believe that Jesus is the only way to God?” The extra-ordinary attempt by US president Barak Hussein Obama to deflect attention from violent Islamic Jihad by condemning the Inquisition as “evil done in the Name of Jesus Christ”, should make us take a fresh look at the Inquisition:
One of the re-occurring accusations against Christianity is that Christians are responsible for: "The Inquisition!" Some people see Christianity as some kind of intellectual suicide. A blind leap of faith.
However, Christianity is a reasonable Faith. It is based on incontrovertible, historical facts. Christianity is not a blind leap into the dark. It is an intelligent step into the light. There is nothing virtuous about gullibility. We are not proclaiming faith in faith. It is all too possible to be sincerely wrong. Our faith needs to be in the facts that God has revealed in Scripture and in Creation. To view the video of this presentation on Vimeo, click here. To view this message as a PowerPoint, click here. To listen to the audio of this message on SermonAudio, click here. Unique Identity The betrayal, arrest, trial and execution of Jesus of Nazareth, was unique. It was not His actions that were in question, but His identity. The charge laid against Christ by the Jewish Sanhedrin was blasphemy. The testimony on which He was convicted was concerned with His identity as the Messiah. The interrogation by the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate and the inscription and proclamation placed on His Cross at the execution, dealt with the identity of Christ as the Messiah, the Son of God, the King of kings and Lord of lords. The Illegal Trial The trial of Jesus of Nazareth was completely illegal. At every point it broke the laws of Israel as well as the laws of Rome. It was illegal to conduct a trial at night. It was also against the law to conduct a summary trial without any warning, or opportunity, for the accused to prepare a defense or seek positive character witnesses. At any trial the accused was to be granted an opportunity to prepare a defense and heralds were to be sent out into the area requiring anyone who knew anything positive about the accused to come forward and testify. There was no opportunity granted for appeal. There was no delay between the arrest and trial, between the trial and verdict, between the verdict and sentencing and between the sentencing and execution. Within less than a 24-hour period, Jesus was arrested, tried, condemned, sentenced to death and executed. This blatantly violated all due process of law.
Oscar Wilde claimed that suffering proved that a good God does not govern the world. If God cannot stop the suffering, then He is not all powerful. If God will not stop the suffering then He cannot be good and loving.
The faulty logic and wrong conclusion evidenced by Oscar Wilde is quite common. Many question God’s goodness, power, or even existence, because of suffering in the world. Poverty, disease, war, natural and man-made disasters – why does God not bring it all to an end? |
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