Remonstrance

(In response to Jake’s original Blog click link for details…)

I think your teacher didn’t know about this fact, as Joseph explains to his brothers:

²⁰ “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive.  Genesis 50:20 (NASB)

How could your professor think “God has caused evil to happen” when Joesph clearly says “you (my brothers) meant evil against me” ? Of course, you don’t even need Gen.50:20 to know who kidnapped Joseph and sold him into slavery - just read the story.

It seems strange to ascribe evil to God simply because He was merciful enough to turn evil into a good outcome, as He did with Joseph.  If I rescue someone from a kidnapper, turn a tragedy into victory, how can I possibly get blamed for the tragedy? What a whacky world! The rescuer is the tormentor?

The same warped thinking twists Rom.8:28 into a claim that God causes evil just because he promises to bring about good? One thing for certain Rom.8:28 does not say: “God causes all things.” That would severely abbreviate the verse.  Rather, it says “…causes all thing to work together for good…” Clearly it’s a promise of deliverance, but somehow it got twisted into the opposite: a dark, foreboding God who causes evil. Even more bizarre, if the verse indeed claims that God causes evil, then the conditional clause in the verse is very uninviting: “God causes evil…only for those who love God!” I, for one, would be sure not to love God, lest He cause me evil!

Your professor is so confident that Judas held absolute power over the crucifixion of Christ - I just don’t get it.  It means God is so weak that He “required the evil of Judas” to accomplish His will? Consider how spineless and impotent God is who waits at the mercy of this feeble Judas, a man who flip-flopped in his convictions to betray Christ — and hung himself? Such a bewildering view of God I think requires a scriptural citation to support his claim that Judas was God’s only possible opportunity to trigger the crucifixion. But the opposite is true: Christ was surrounded by enemies and the threat of arrest quite apart from Judas.  All the Jewish authorities were united and energetically scouring Jerusalem, looking for Jesus to arrest him, and only someone unfamiliar with the historical record (or ignoring it) would think arrest was impossible without the collaboration of Judas.  It’s ironic your teacher concluded Christ was “stupid” in view of his high esteem of Judas!

Nonetheless, it can be fairly said the God “causes evil” indirectly because He did authorize Sovereign Free Will. The same is true every time a married couple brings new life into the world, knowing this baby will some day become an adult and make Sovereign, Free Will choices.  If my son Kyle turns out to be a serial killer, it can be said that Dar and I indirectly but ultimately caused it - however, we would not be responsible for such a beast (if he becomes one) since he exercised his own Soveriegn Will.

PS: I think it’s obvious that I really enjoyed your article…

Current mood: Cool

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Check it out!

For the past 600 years God pulled off a Hidden Advent in China, according to a new religion called The Church of the Almight God and it’s now available on the Web.

Ok, it is a hideously ugly Web site, but it does come with a million new words from God! You gotta love the Web - each week you can get the latest available translation delivered in English - straight from the original Chinese language! For Chinese language scholars, the original writings in the native tongue appear side-by-side with the English (the translators acknowledge their imperfections, thankfully, because the English is horrendous).  Here’s something we should research: is it a million new Chinese words or English words?

So what’s God’s new million words called? “The Voice From the Throne.”  Ominous! This time God provided a Forward to the new book! (But then he left out the dedication page!) Another convenience: The Voice comes in articles, not books like the last time.

Here’s what The Voice says to humanity - put this on the refrigerator, it makes a great memory verse:

No matter what, you should not intentionally contradict the word while you clearly know it is the truth.

The Voice is so strict - no intentional contradictions, “No matter what!” (What will Randy Campbell do now?)

Ok, so here’s something amazing - in the Chinese Advent, God either lost or forgot his name, because now it’s just “God” - but not Jesus Christ, according to The Voice:

This is a duty for all who are waiting for the return of Jesus on white clouds. We should remove the scales from our spiritual eyes and not become entrapped by those words that mount the clouds and ride the mist. You should carefully consider the actual work of God, and examine the practical aspect of God. Don’t always forget yourselves and drift on all day long, always expecting that the Lord Jesus, sitting on a certain white cloud in heaven, suddenly descends to be among you to receive you who have never known him, nor seen him, nor known how to obey his will. You had better think about something realistic!

Having refuted those “words that mount the clouds” about Jesus, The Voice says the Hidden Advent is “the practical aspect of God” - which means that someone or something has been moving around in China for the past 600 years - yet without any outward appearance!

Therefore, with respect to whether or not it is the flesh that God’s Word has become, the key rests with his substance (work, word, nature, and many other aspects), but not with his outward appearance.

“The key” is flesh without “outward appearance.” Ingeniously irrefutable! This explains why there’s no pictures! Bogus Bummer! I so wanted to see if the Hidden Advent looks like a hippie or not…

Ah, not to worry, The Voice says later, because the Hidden Advent does have flesh after all!

If the flesh does not possess the substance of God, then he will certainly not be the Word of God that has become flesh. There is no doubt about this point.

That clears up the doubt! (But where’s the pictures!?) If this all sounds confusing, here’s why:

Millions of voices are calling out to you, but it is hard to arouse your heart and your spirit.

I swear, The Voice has been to my house when it’s filled with Kyle’s teenage friends!

It’s really quite impossible to fathom the Hidden Chinese Advent because it’s a real mess, The Voice explains:

We should all be aware that people who are of flesh have all been corrupted by Satan.

An apt description of the Hidden Chinese Advent, wouldn’t you agree?

(PS: Don’t I get some stars for this?)

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Here’s a conversation between me and an old friend which started because he knew I’m "religious" and he’s about to have another kid, so he thinks my "religiousness" will bring him some "good luck"…

havranekc:	oh going to have our second boy on the 21st .. put in a good word for him okay?
kxmccallum:	oh no kidding!
havranekc:	Matthew is his name
kxmccallum:	i will be praying for you charles
havranekc:	not me Matthew!
kxmccallum:	…and for your family & newborn
kxmccallum:	but definitely for you, too
havranekc:	save it for the family
kxmccallum:	you need to find the lord
havranekc:	oh i give thanks, that’s enough I think
kxmccallum:	you’re the biggest influence in the family
havranekc:	I don’t like to ask favors…figure being alive is a pretty good gift
kxmccallum:	you need to receive christ’s forgiveness and receive him into your heart
havranekc:	forgive me for what??? Some sin of my forefathers? (ie, Adam) I have no concept of it
kxmccallum:	Blaise Pascal: "Our hearts have no rest until they find their rest in God"
havranekc:	You’re saying, just dont’ worry & god will take care of things?
kxmccallum:	Oh Charles, charles… why get so bitter at someone offering you their kindness?
havranekc:	not bitter, just plenty of others could use it more than I
kxmccallum:	well, they’re a different topic
havranekc:	I’m happy to have health and family. anything beyond is shere indulgence
kxmccallum:	well you know there’s more to life than mere existence
havranekc:	I know, I have fun…i don’t expect anything. I give thanks, not sure what else there is
kxmccallum:	you just described the life of crabgrass …no meaning, purpose, direction, fulfillment, power, insight, no future…
havranekc:	oh I have those things. it’s all based on propagation
kxmccallum:	you’ve resigned yourself to mere existence
havranekc:	yes, in order to propogate…it’s the only logical purpose I see to life.
kxmccallum:	the life of crabgrass
havranekc:	pretty much.
havranekc:	but i can have fun, which is the gift
kxmccallum:	read the 1st chapter of my book
havranekc:	crabgrass is not aware(well probably not)
kxmccallum:	"aware" of what?
havranekc:	of being alive, enjoying it
kxmccallum:	"being alive"… i don’t know about that… my crabgrass looks pretty happy when the sun comes out in a primitive sort of way
havranekc:	to be aware of ones surroundings, reacting to changes, that sort of thing. Doesn’t explain a life of misery, so I’m pretty lucky
kxmccallum:	"lucky" to exist? yuk
havranekc:	lucky to not have amiserable existance…I suppose even the worst of times there is good
kxmccallum:	well ok, but you were created for much more than that… and the funny thing is, you know there’s more
havranekc:	well you can try and make the world a better place, but that just ties to propogation for me
havranekc:	without no good there is no bad etc Ed.Note: Charles is a Post-Modernist
kxmccallum:	you’re aware that eternity exists
kxmccallum:	it’s not so pointless
havranekc:	it may or may not exist.
kxmccallum:	but you know it exists
havranekc:	until I see it I won’t know 100% for sure. Wishing it’s there is great
kxmccallum:	you’re a creature created to long for eternity in your heart
havranekc:	well oddly enough.. saw this thing on blackholes which somewhat validate dmy theory on life being never ending, no end no beginning of god part of the universe Ed.Note: Charles is blowing smoke
kxmccallum:	well, that’s one way to deal with the knowledge of eternity…but again, it’s not really much of an eternity you’re grappling with…
havranekc:	eternity of happiness sounds good, but I just have no concept of such an existance
kxmccallum:	read the 1st ch of my book
havranekc:	eternity of misery doesn’t sound right either, why would a god like to punish something god created forever? Ed.Note: Charles is contradicting himself here and later, and I didn’t catch it at the time! He pretends he’s happy, but here acknowledges he’s not…
kxmccallum:	it’s an eternity of purpose, accomplishment, relationships, etc
kxmccallum:	misery?
havranekc:	hell
kxmccallum:	but…but i thought you were happy
havranekc:	I meant about the whole heaven hell thing
havranekc:	it’s for eternity per some religions
kxmccallum:	what god calls hell, you probably wouldn’t call it that, tho…you would probably feel more comfortable in god’s hell than having to put up with him in his heaven
havranekc:	eh.. I’m mr happy thoughts. I don’t like dwelling on bad things.. usually not much purpose in it…remember the ‘rule in hell vs serve in heaven’ bumper sticker?
kxmccallum:	finding purpose has purpose
havranekc:	welp, not going to dwell on a bad afterlife, and not going to think too much about the afterlife while I’m in this life.
havranekc:	have to worry about here and now vs something I can’t truely control
kxmccallum:	that’s usually the way teenagers deal w/ life, charles
havranekc:	sounds good.
havranekc:	teenagers go to heaven too I’m sure
kxmccallum:	hmmm… a little immature, however…
havranekc:	or very mature how many happy old people do you know? do the happy ones worry about death?
kxmccallum:	i’m sure you’ll be displeased if your son(s) live their lives without caring about tomorrow
havranekc:	as long as he handles today correctly that’s fine…the rest falls into line. More decisions you make the better
kxmccallum:	ok, i get it…
havranekc:	I float with it….
kxmccallum:	well, maybe you’re right and everything will be whatever it is
havranekc:	pure randomness may be gods will, who knows.
kxmccallum:	…i think it takes alot of effort to arrive at a life of non-purpose
havranekc:	I have a purpose. To propogate. If nothing else you have the will to stay alive and to procreate
kxmccallum:	the amount of mental gymnastics you put into your life of non-direction is almost religious…and i know it’s gotta be hard, too ’cause you’re going against your innate personhood
havranekc:	eh sort of I suppose, but then again, the good things in life don’t come easy
kxmccallum:	no they don’t … if this is all there is, boy… it really sucks
kxmccallum:	meaningless suffering
kxmccallum:	pointless existence
havranekc:	obviously I look ahead, otherwise i wouldn’t be where i am, but i try and stay focused on what i can influence
kxmccallum:	crabgrass propogation
havranekc:	who says pointless? this may be just temporary. What happens then will happen then.
kxmccallum:	dreams without purpose
havranekc:	we could just be nurons firing in a larger brain. a day dream
kxmccallum:	it’s a heartbreaking existence without god, that’s a fact
havranekc:	k…
havranekc:	Not real worried about it. God gave me skills and opportunities.
kxmccallum:	anyway, just read my 1st chapter charles
kxmccallum:	it wont’ be your doom & gloom… who knows? it may even stir some interesting questions…
kxmccallum:	k dude,i gotta get this project out still tonight!
havranekc:	it’s tempting, but I really don’t want to deal with those questions at this time. I have enough on my mind and still clearing things from the distaster
kxmccallum:	i do enjoy talking w/ you tho
havranekc:	always a pleasure
kxmccallum:	yeah, i understand dude, i’ll be praying for you!
havranekc:	family!!!
kxmccallum:	& them too!!

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Tags: existentialism.-hedonism

Ed. note: this lays a foundation for understanding the difference between immaturity and maturity, between immature and mature love.

“The best expression of the aesthetic existence comes down to saying that it lies in the moment” - KIERKEGAARD, S., L’Equilibrie, p. 207.

The here-and-now is a big deal in the postmodern mind, by necessity, since personal experience is the final measure of truth, and hence reality. This undoubtedly explains the mass appeal and rapid dissemination of this world view in American culture, so absorbed we are in the here-and-now. Industries thrive on the fixation with immediacy: fast foods, convenience stores, fast cars and so forth. Everything depends on the moment, and it’s an presumed moral imperative: “Carpe diem!” as the Latin poet said long ago.** It’s an understandable fixation if death means the end of it all, as Paul says:

If there is no resurrection, “Let’s feast and drink, for tomorrow we die!” 1 Corinthians 15:32 (NLT)

What’s wrong with here-and-now anyway? Didn’t Jesus Christ extol it?

“So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.” Matthew 6:34 (NLT)

The problem with here-and-now postmodern living is its naked immaturity. When Christ says “don’t worry about tomorrow,” he’s talking specifically about useless anxiety. The postmodernist, however, dumps all meaning and existence into the here-and-now.

“Everything good is instinct - and consequently easy and free.” - Nietzsche

Nietzsche fits into the American psyche well, although he was German, and although writing more than 100 years ago, modern Americans would love this articulation of lower-brainstem life:

“The use of reason to control instincts is a fatal flaw. Nietzsche calls this decadent.” - Kierkegaard, Dostoevsky and Nietzsche

They say Nietzsche went insane from an STD, but it was probably well underway by that time. To label self-control as “decadent” is a stretch. Nietzsche is a Christian-hater, of course, so his rants are often geared to shock the traditional church.

More than 100 years ago Dostoevsky also captured the future American revulsion with the biblical world view:

“If one has grasped the blasphemousness of such a rebellion against life as has, in Christian morality, become virtually sacrosanct, one has fortunately therewith grasped something else as well; the uselessness, illusoriness, absurdity, falsity of such a rebellion.” - Dostoevsky

The “rebellion” label is well-deserved and worn with pride, especially by those New Testament characters like Christ and Paul, and they were also called absurd, useless and liars by the elitists of their time. Dostoevsky’s slander fits the traditional Kosmos mold from long ago, but his amorality also typifies the postmodern Kosmos today. This here-and-now lifestyle spans the existence of man. It is so ancient its foundational tenants are recorded in the first book ever written in the Bible, around 4,000 years ago:

If you sin, how does that affect God? Even if you sin again and again, what effect will it have on him? If you are good, is this some great gift to him? What could you possibly give him? Job 35:6-7 (NLT)

Therein lies the true cause for the grapes of wrath*: human indifference towards God. Once God is eliminated by whatever means, the road opens for moral drift and, ultimately, the fixation with here-and-now. Some do it by feigning God’s indifference the way all manmade religions do, either by setting him aloof and transcendent as in Job 35, or casting Him as a non-person in the tradition of eastern speculation. Others deny God’s existence altogether, as with modernists. Still others revile His world view, as with the above proto-postmodernists. The result is the same: only I am concerned with my here-and-now, and there my concern must and will lie.

---

* Grapes of Wrath: the title of John Steinbeck famous 1939 novel, which he lifted from Julia Ward Howe’s famous 1861 Battle Hymn of the Republic, which in turn was lifted from the Bible: “So the angel swung his sickle over the earth and loaded the grapes into the great winepress of God’s wrath.” Revelation 14:19(NLT) Additional references: Kierkegaard’s Aesthetic Realm of Existence, Kierkegaard, Dostoevsky and Nietzsche.

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How amazing it is that each night this week the evening news has been devoted to the $1 million homes burning in southern California! Last night 50% of the news was devoted to it! Nobody’s really died, but there’s such a sense of heartbreaking tragedy surrounding the whole debacle!

“It’s the most difficult test of Governor Schwartz’s leadership,” Charlie Gibson reported. Then they zoom in on The Terminator, and a woman reporter is trying to really pin him down on accusations of irresponsibility. He grabs the microphone out of her hand, grabs her arm, and says like The Terminator, ” “Trust me when I tell you — you are looking for mistakes and you won’t find it,” he said. “It’s good news. Trust me.” She shrinks back in terror as he’s about to crush her, or so it seems. Really, this actually happened live, on-camera!

Only in California would you have The Terminator win a governor’s race.

“Vote for me or I’ll crush your arm,” was his campaign motto.

“Trust me when I tell you..”

As the camera goes back to Charlie Gibson, he’s got a weepy multi-millionare family there bemoaning the loss of their estate through the fire.

“I took a year off work to fix up the landscaping of this place,” the millionare homeowner said, shaking his head sadly at the smoldering ruins of his estate. His wife is in tears. “And now look at it… it seems like such a waste of time…”

DUH!

LUKE AT AGE 50

Then a shocker: “Star Wars actor Mark Hamill, Olivia Newton John are among the victims! Even “the homes of Sean Penn, James Cameron and Cindy Crawford” are threatened!

“Our money! Oh, our blessed money! Watch it burn!” That’s Hollywood for you.

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Tags: current events, news

From abcnews.com

I’m sorry I missed it, but apparently Kirk Cameron (child star in Growing Pains) and his evangelist friend Ray Comfort pledged to prove the existence of God, indisputably:

“We’d like to show you that the existence of God can be proven, 100 percent, absolutely, without the use of faith… the number one reason that people don’t believe in God is not a lack in evidence, but because of a theory that many scientists today believe to be a fairytale for grownups.” (see Does God Exist? The Nightline Face-Off)

Their evidence was the classical Teleological (argument-by-design) and a few other standard raps, which are decent arguments, and their presentation sounds reasonable enough, but it was more inductive logic, not deductive. You can’t claim 100% proof through inductive logic.

They also have a few (irrational) quirks:

[Read more →]

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Tags: apologetics, atheism, television, witnessing

In researching the popular Richard Dawkins crusade against (primarily) the Bible, I ran across this amazing video in which Dawkins displays a rather mean-spirited attack against some poor college girl for asking the question: “What if you’re wrong?”

Why didn’t he answer the question? I’ve asked myself if I’m wrong. Someone can ask me the same. Is it forbidden?

He displays the dogmatism of the Dark Ages: dare not ask if I might be wrong! Geesh. The Vatican dealt with Galileo this way.

The crowd’s reaction was scary: they loved his hatred! It was reminiscent of Adolf’s crowd-pleasing outbursts at Nuremberg. He degrades the girl (was she a Christian as he claimed?), and then he rails angrily against the “the joo-joo monster” and “flying spaghetti monster”, but it wasn’t scientific reasoning. It was an incoherent outburst against imaginary beasts. Hitler employed this tactic against Jewish people: lashing out against monsters he labeled “Jews” which don’t exist in the real world.

Just FYI: it’s called the “Straw Man Argument” which is an crude logical fallacy, but it’s also mean-spirited. He pretends the silly “joo-joo monster” is in the Bible, which is unreasonable. It is the classic language of racism.

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Tags: apologetics, atheism, dawkins