Faith versus Fact...

Interestingly I note that humanists are adamant that the rationalism provides absolute proof that their is no God and that evolution is the truth. I fail to see how this could be the case when mankind is unable to leave the Earth and incapable of time travel.

Scientists are able to observe and experiment with fossil samples and to reconstruct the skeletons of perished ancient animals. They can postulate what would seem to be a rational explanation for the existence of various species but really are stretching to explain how life came to be or has developed.

The greatest stumbling block to evolution is the theory that it is only possible given a huge span of time and the reason that it is a stumbling block is that man has only been a part of the puzzle for a comparatively short time. We have only had the technology to enable us to begin to research evolution for less than three hundred years. So how can we say with any certainty that evolution is the only theory that accurately explains the rise of life over billions of years.

Even those who are not overly religious are reaching for other explanations. Perhaps alien seed ships came through and sowed life on Earth and millions of other planets or maybe ancient aliens had a hand in the formation of early human development and societies here on Earth.

Life is complex and increasing in complexity and any fool can see that it would have taken a being or beings of considerable intelligence and skill to map it out and to initiate the whole process of life and the living world. Regardless of what or who these beings were and what they were called.

 In reality intelligent design is a better fit for the processes that run our universe and the evidence that we have only to look up to see. Personally I have faith that the God of the Hebrews is the one true God = Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

The Information Super Highway: A Feast of Information with a Dearth of Truth

I am a teacher and I often talk to students in what could be termed a teachable moment. It's that time when the discussion turns to a subject that is often not a part of the curriculum but is something the students want and need to discuss.

A few days ago the conversation led to religion and being a Christian you would think I could contribute to that discourse. However, pickings were slim because I was not talking to someone who needed to know something. I was talking to some people who knew quite a lot about many things but who didn't understand the quality of the information they had. A veritable famine in the midst of a feast.

The conversation ranged over Christianity, the Crusades, Buddhism, Paganism, the responsibility of Christianity for Wars; If there was a God how could he let there be famine, disease and pestilence.

All that I could say was that I am a Christian and I believe in the Almighty and that He is a just God. I also said that God allows these things to happen because He doesn't have a choice. Satan usurped humanities birthright in the Garden of Eden and God has no choice but to allow this state of affairs to persist because the devil is the Prince of this World. However it will not stay this way forever.

It rapidly became apparent in this conversation that the Wikipedia, Yahoo, Google network of information allows us access to a huge amount of information. The problem is that we tend to accept that knowledge as absolute truth.  However as many intellectuals in the educational institutions are keen to point out it is hard to separate fact from hearsay.

This whole mess of a conversation gave me pause to think about how we can effectively share the truth of the gospel with people who know so much and so little at the same time and I came back to the beginning of my Christian walk. Firstly, you pray that God will bring the people He needs you to speak with to you. Secondly, base your conversation on verses of scripture, for instance:

 Matthew 7  ¹³ “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. ¹⁴ For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.

Share scriptures and lead them back to the truth. As the intellectuals point out the Internet has a huge amount of information but to truly know the facts you need to go to more accurate and acceptable sources. For the Christian this means searching the bible for the real facts and trusting the Holy Spirit of God to apply to the hearts of the lost. God reaches out to those who seek him and those who seek Him shall be found of him.

Jeremiah 29:13 You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.