But in other cases like when witnessing to atheists and agnostics , you would need to show the individual the Bible is a reliable historical document before trying to use it as an authoritative text in these types of conversations. Avoiding Apologetics can have dire consequences.
Christianity is under a severe attack in this day and age. High School teachers and College professors endorse Darwinian evolution and try to convince your kids that a Creator was not needed for advanced life to come into being.
Christian philosopher William Lane Craig concurs. If Jesus wants us to have blind faith, then why did He have to fulfill so many ancient prophesies?
The Jews needed the ability to tell truth from falsehood. God gave the Jews a test for the real Messiah to take and if He was able to get a perfect score, then their conclusion would be that He was and is the Messiah.
Jesus had to fulfill each and every one of the messianic prophecies. If He did, then that proved He was the genuine article. Blind Faith can actually be dangerous! Blind Faith can actually be dangerous.
Back in ancient Judaism, the way to tell if a prophet was truly from God was if he gave evidence that he came from God. Well, if his prophecies came true then he was truly from The Lord but if his prophecies were false then everyone knew he was a false prophet and they had him stoned.
In many Christian circles, faith that requires evidential support is seen as weak and inferior. For many, blind faith a faith that simply trusts without question is the truest, most sincere, and most valuable form of faith that we can offer God. Yet Jesus seemed to have a high regard for evidence. Jesus understood the role and value of evidence and the importance of developing an evidential faith.
Warner Wallace. It leaves the Bible without defense, yet Peter directs us to make a defense for the hope that is in us. It means active trust. And trust cannot be conjured up or manufactured. It must be earned. Biblical faith is based on knowledge, not wishing or blind leaps. Knowledge builds confidence and confidence leads to trust. The kind of faith God is interested in is not wishing. It must have reasons. Question even if the very existence of God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blind-folded fear.
You must be logged in to post a comment. Among many other suggested bans, he also wanted to ban these activities, many of which are on the borderline of the rational and the irrational:. To perform magical rites in the name of supernatural power.
To offer ash, talisman, charms etc. Some of this would outlaw everyone from the Saibaba to Baba Ramdev. Once upon a time, shock treatments were prescribed for rational reasons for people with mental problems, too. The only thing to outlaw is cruelty and pain in the name of magical treatment.
To claim possession of supernatural powers and to advertise this claim. Again, this would outlaw all godmen, sufi saints, or any sect claiming miracle potential in their particular patron saint, even when they do no particular harm. How is it a crime to claim reincarnation today, when the same claim made by saints in the past is above board?
Saibaba of Puttaparthi would have been clapped in irons for claiming reincarnation from the Shirdi Saibaba. To sell or deal in so-called magic stones, talisman, bracelets, charms. This is simply impossible to implement, given that all religions everywhere allow commerce in these products. To become possessed by supernatural powers and then pretend to give answers to any questions in this mental state?
Would the Prophet not fall in this category? Would Kali worshippers or Muslims accept this restriction on their practices? The name says it all — and cannot be all that objectionable. Moreover, more bad laws are made with the backing of religion than without it. Would Savita Halappanavar have died in an Irish hospital without a church-backed law on not doing abortions?
Why should polygamy laws be in the statute book at all? The reason is simple: socially accepted ideas sanctioned by religion have to be fought in the social space, and not always by law. Meanwhile, religion, per se, has inched closer to degradation. It has become imperative, therefore, to take stock of the state of religion itself. Four priests in Kerala reportedly blackmailed a mother of two, using the prurient stuff gleaned from her religious confession, which is mandated to be inviolate.
If so, they have not only committed a heinous crime in the eyes of the law but also broken the very foundation of the vocation and the religion they practice. A bishop has also been accused by a nun of sexually assaulting her. Not long ago, a priest in Kerala impregnated a teenage girl and, when she delivered a baby, bribed her father into admitting the blame for the atrocity.
For long, scandals of priest-perpetrated pedophilia have rocked the church globally. To his credit, Pope Francis has ordered the removal from office of 34 bishops in Chile for sexual offences.
No one thinks that hypocrisy, sexual perversions and criminal propensities are peculiar to the clergy only of one religion. It is regrettable that members of all religious communities have been brainwashed into believing that they are being pious in justifying the most unthinkable offences within their folds, and protecting the perpetrators of such crimes. They also believe it is incumbent on them to attack the aberrations in other religious communities.
The truth, however, is that this order needs to be reversed. As Goethe said, if only each man would keep his own door-step clean, the whole city will be clean. If, on the contrary, each one is busy watching the garbage at the door of his neighbour, the city will be choked with accumulating rot.
This is the state of our current religiosity. If there was a spark of reason in our religious outlook, we would have required our religious leaders to maintain a higher level of morality and spiritual nobility as compared to ordinary folks.
We are to be led by them.
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