I was on an extremely secular college campus last week. I am planning to gain college credit by CLEP-ing every two weeks at this college, which means I’ll be there often…
Upon arrival, the place looked respectable, with a postmodern art sculpture outside and plants everywhere. As I walked inside, the smell of cigarette smoke mingled with the indoor Subway, loud music blared and people were dancing on the tables. Teachers and staff in inappropriate clothing joined in the fun, stealthily grabbing food from the Subway and throwing it around. A guy walked around with a large portable karaoke system and described every woman he walked past. Some random guy called out BINGO numbers to no one in particular. I was able to find one staff member watching two homosexuals “interact”; and asked her for directions to the testing center. “Don’t take the stairs, they are not safe,” she cautioned me first.
As I waited for the elevator to take me up to the testing floor, some black guy in an oversized letter jacket saw my Star-Of-David necklace and called me a ‘(expletive) Jew-lover’.
The place was a zoo. I’ve heard of such things ever since I was youngin- college campuses are for wild parties, college campuses are for goof offs, college campuses are godless folks who want to avoid deep thinking… the list goes on.
We see the secular mindset overtaking people everywhere. It seems rampant, especially in places like this.
I also saw a student services board that clearly defined the topic I’m continuing on: demographics. The said board had numbers and addresses of relevant services for students. One under women’s services was the local Planned Parenthood, located conveniently 1-1/2 miles from campus.
It seems bleak to see such behavior, to notice troubling (literal!) signs, to hear things some liberals say. But… aren’t they aborting their offspring? What type of people are having babies?
From my observations:
-In Shipshewana, IN; I played a game with myself all day to count heads in Amish family buggies, broods of kids in flea markets, and families in stores. Most buggies had 3 to 5 kids in them.
-In our Christian homeschool group, I went through the directory and counted kids per family, then averaged the number out. I came up with 4.36.
-At a Christian camp I went to this summer, 1/3 of the people came from families with 5 or more kids. They were all “average” Christian people, too.
-My friends from a particular activity I did when in school were all unsaved/humanistic in thinking. Some were only children, others were the eldest of 2 or youngest of 3, but never more than that. My friend “Yvonne” was teased about her large family of 4 kids.
The point I want to make is simply: The secular folks aren’t having enough kids. Lookwhois. Though the humanist scholars are producing disciples now, these disciples won’t produce kids later.
It’s been an interesting week for snail mail at our house. Besides a few (really expensive) clothing catalogs a day; we’ve received some religious material as well.
Last week, we received a Qu’ran and two booklets about Islam from an organization that vowed (at a recent large meeting in Chicago) to spread Islam.
Today, the most peculiar book arrived. The title is simply “Earth Blessings.”
I thought “Oh boy.”
The subtitle is: “Prayers For Our Planet.”
I thought “This will be fun.”
The book is actually a devotional for the use of “helping people know their oneness with God, that they may open themselves to the presence of God and recognize divinity in all circumstances.”
It is full of ‘Christian’ devotionals that sound more like affirmations for inspiration or mantras New Agers use to encourage their meditation towards higher consciousness. Included at the end of the devotionals are Bible verses.
“I am blessing the world with my loving, faith filled thoughts and prayers.”
“My environment – the climate, Earth, and life that surround me- is continually blessing me. Everyone, everything in all of creation, is interconnected, and there is an exchange of good…Genesis 1:31.”
Another:
“I have faith that all things are possible with God in the midst of me.
There is nothing which I cannot overcome since God in the midst of me is all powerful. I have supreme faith in God and unswerving faith in myself…I have abounding faith that God in me does all things well. I have faith in fellow man. I know that God in him is now exalting him to a consciousness of better and nobler things…Proverbs 28:20
Some other mantras and excerpts:
“I am a spiritual being with a true talent for right thinking and living. I have not begun to realize my spiritual powers. I have truth inside of me… Romans 12:2″
“How I wish I were a lake.”
“I may at times become so caught up in my daily routine that I forget to stop and become aware… that God is continually creating my world. I experience God through nature.”
“I tenderly care for the earth with love and poise.”
“I am thankful for all the gifts I see in nature.”
The funniest devotional was “Orderly Weather” I’ll admit I laughed until my side cramped up:
“I bless the weather with divine love. Whenever these words flow from my mind and heart, a new attitude toward weather conditions is established through me. God’s love working through me helps me to respond to all types of weather with poise and calm. I sense a new security wherever I go because I know that the blessing I give makes safe and harmonious my way regardless of weather conditions.”
Whoa.
It may seem like a bunch of funny baloney, but some Christians are lapping it up like thirsty dogs.
There is nothing wrong with saying “Christ in me” or “being a good steward of the earth is important.” We know we mean Holy Spirit’s sanctification and Christ in our hearts through salvation. We know we are supposed to have dominion over the earth in the command from Genesis.
But are we divine? We may be souls, a spirit housed within a body, but we are human as well. We cannot lean out the window and bless the F-3 tornado bearing down on our house with “divine love”. God is in control, and we can respond well to situations by trusting in God. We never become divine. We become immortal upon death, but we never reach a level of divinity. We only become glorified… after death.
No matter how poised or tenderly we hoe and rake the earth, we aren’t anymore at “one” with it than we were if we were planting a tree on it. We’re just called to have dominion. Poise and tenderness is up to you…
There is nothing wrong with being thankful for nature. But who created it? We don’t see divine trees and flowers. We see order. A creator. General revelation is not seeing divinity in something. It’s revealing THE Divine.
We are NOT talented at being good and thinking right things. We are fallen beings. Do you think a lot of good thoughts? Are you selfless or selfish first? We are not good. We have no power. We can do nothing without Christ. We never see Christ on the beach waving his arms back and forth telling his disciples to repeat after him in chanting “I am God.”
Believers of pantheistic worldviews are hard to evangelize; many do believe in Christ as an example of a human that reached divinity. Even this devotional used Biblical texts to point out the “fact” we are called to reach upward, wake ourselves up, and become divine. Usually, these verses are twisted out of context.
And to close, just because I like this relevant video, here is the Extreme Tree Huggers group called EarthFirst! (again).
Some people say “stay out of politics.” I say “let’s get more Christians into politics.” Not just Bible-believing Christians; but strong, well informed, worldview thinking Christians. Besides, I thought this was too funny not to share.
I am watching Sean Hannity on FOX at the moment, and I’d like to re-share a blatant lie from our president:
“My plan says we’re going to put teachers back in the classroom, construction workers back to work rebuilding America, rebuilding our schools, tax cuts for small businesses, tax cuts for hiring veterans, tax cuts if you give your worker a raise,” said Obama. “That’s my plan. Then you’ve got their plan, which is, let’s have dirtier air, dirtier water, less people with health insurance. So far at least, I feel better about my plan.”
Well, I would feel better about my own plan as well.
In our area, a sudden “industrial campus” popped up, we assume it’s from grant or stimulus money. The campus is basically a long drive with lights, shrubs, and a nice sign out front that tells those who pass by what the acreage is for. No industries yet.
It made construction jobs for several weeks, but when the pavement and trees were there and the sign was up, the jobs ended.
So, the long dead end drive sits prettily on perfectly good farmland, with a large sign for cops to hide behind. But no business on this campus. My dad fondly sighs and says “Ah, Obama’s road to nowhere” whenever we drive by.
I recently watched this “evolution vs. intelligent design” documentary from start to finish. I’ve seen this documentary in many fragments, but now I’ve seen it in full. In the light of the recent 120 some comments on evolution vs. creationism/ID, I wish I could’ve seen this before!
Like Indoctrination, these are copy/paste from my notes during the movie. Quotes, clips,
—
“Science is not free.”
Paraphrased, an evolutionist: “In our country, you are free to say whatever you want.”
“How about publishing something about ID for Smithsonian?”
“Well, obviously there’s something going on there that’s not right.”
“Like what?”
“I don’t know.”
—
George Mason University advertises “unbridled academic freedom” (something I’ve heard myself).
A professor was fired for mentioning ID…
From there, a considerable list of professors and journalists are listed, share their story of getting fired or persecuted for favoring ID. Some are shown in the dark.
—
So, is there a debate?
“ID is boring.”
“ID is an excuse.”
These are opinions, not the “evidence” they seek.
—
“Religion needs to get to a nice spot on the weekends that makes people feel good but does nothing for their week.”
—-
Darwin and Hitler: Hand in Hand
Ben Stein, (the host and interviewer), goes to Hadamar Euthanasia Centre and talks with a tour guide. The guide is rather in favor of eugenics, as she reveals the center was for humans who were useless eaters and disabled. As Ben Stein questions her about the facility, he asks an important question: “So these people were insane?”
The quick reply: “Of course not. They were sane. They had purposes.”
This is what happens when people think like Darwin: they think of others strictly in economic terms.
—-
Evolution advocates keep a Berlin Wall up around science. They’re like the leaders of Germany wanting to keep contrary ideas out.
You can’t explain all of life with the same idea or concept. Christianity may have one concepts, but presents many ideas. Natural selection applied to all life makes for broken science.
—-
Beware the sound of one hand clapping.
—-
The Origin of Species was written at a time when science wasn’t as developed, based on knowledge of at the time. Applying the concepts within it to now is like uniformitarianism- same since beginning. We know the world has changed since our origins.
—-
In a well known documentary for evolution:
“How did the world begin? Lightning strikes… or whatever it was.”
Real scientific
—-
Asking an evolutionist: “How did molecules begin?”
Evolutionist- “Oh, they latched onto crystals. Crystals open up the way to natural selection through mutations at random.”
“What about the idea of life from non life, how do you answer that?”
“I just told you.”
—-
The documentary closes off with an interview with Richard Dawkins, actually admitting there might just be a designer, and yes, he says, there is a signature in the cell.
“What are the odds of God not existing?”
Richard Dawkins “Not comfortable to put a number on it.”
Some people do not understand why I study other religions.
1: “God said it, I believe it, that settles it for me.”
2: “People should already know there’s a God.”
3: “Just start with the Bible.”
4: “If you don’t use scripture, you shouldn’t argue.”
—-
1. “God said it, I believe it, that settles it for me.”
This sounds relative. I’ve heard some people say this with half the room muttering “Glad it works for you, buddy.” This type of statement makes God sound like an option, not the truth.
2. “People should already know there’s a God.”
Why are you witnessing to them in the first place?! Plenty of people, especially young people, don’t believe in a God- much less an afterlife. This is a laziness excuse.
3. “Just start with the Bible.”
Many people today don’t believe in God. Why would they believe His word if they believe he doesn’t exist? We have to start with common ground here. Use logic, facts, and science. The evidence is greater than you think. We must first reveal the holes in their thinking. Last week, with the evolutionists (which are still commenting every so often ), I asked a lot of questions, and many of them went unanswered or dodged. This is because they don’t know what to say, and probably have never given much thought to their ideas. This is why we should study secular thinkers.
4. “If you don’t use scripture, you shouldn’t argue.”
We hold God’s word in to high a position. We treat it like a love letter, an oracle, a mystical thing that does everything for us. It is indeed, God’s inspired word, relevant, living, and true. We can gain principles from it, learn history, and see God’s plan for humanity. But it doesn’t do everything for us.
We forget that God gave us a mind. We forget we should understand the times and know the culture. It’s all a part of being in and not of.
After you’ve exposed the holes in thinking and false ideas held, then you can take them to scripture and show them the gospel.
{Update @11:10pm October 7: due to the overwhelming amount of comments and the real life I have to live, I will only reply to questions I deem logically reasonable to answer. All polite and expletive-free comments will still be approved, and when I can, will answer the questions contained within comments. If some of my regular readers see something that they want to debate and I haven’t answered/debated yet, GO FOR IT! Your input is appreciated, and it’s a chance for sharpening your dialogue and debate skills!}
Secular-minded individuals have a double standard when it comes to education.
In math class, the whole point is finding the right answer to an equation. 9×9=81. 2+2=4. X-3+2=4. We’re told there’s a wrong answer and a right answer- companies go to great lengths to print nifty things called answer booklets to prove this point. It’s quite easy to see the whole idea of math is to get THE answer. Sometimes there’s more than one answer, but simply any answer will not do. In other words, there is truth.
Then we move onto the touchy subject of science, where these secular thinkers are bent on proving things by science. To say science proves one theory is to say science disproves another. There is an absolute truth, a metanarrative (big story/theory), and a meaning to the method.
Now we arrive at the literary and sociology level. We’re told there are no metanarratives, no real truth. “Everything is relative…” Everything is up to you. You must have choice. You should decide for yourself and let no one tell you what to do.
Now the ultimate question: Could you use the “no metanarrative” view at an evolution debate?
Isn’t evolution a metanarrative? It’s a big story of how the world began!
“That just your metanarrative.” They may reply.
What’s wrong with that view? Do you see the double standard?
“Do not stand at my grave and weep;
I am not there. I do not sleep
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond’s glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn’s rain.
When you awaken in the morning’s hush.
I am the swift uplifting rush
of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night
Do not stand at my grave and cry,
I am not there, I did not die.”
I’ve heard it at funerals of good Christian people who didn’t believe in reincarnation, but this is what the poem implies.
Of course, those redeemed by Christ technically go on to live in heaven and eventually the new earth, but we aren’t found in rain, or in wind, or in snow, or in fields. When we look at the sparkles in snow, we don’t hear people say, “Hey, it’s Grandma.” Or think “Uncle Billy is out there waving in the field!” Those who do think so imply a sort of pantheistic theology.
‘All is of one, for life is an energy that is fixed and you do not die, your energy only renews itself in a new form’ view.
I’m afraid someone wrote this wanting to bring comfort to those suffering a loss of a dear one. This is a critical point for those suffering loss- a point where they either cling to The God or adopt a new view. Satan could easily trick people into believing false ideas through poems such as these.
Which leads me to the question, is there a wrong kind of comfort?
If so, what kind of comfort should we give?
—-
BTW~ I’m officially a college freshman! I’m studying for my first CLEPs- English Comp and Natural Science. I hope to be a sophomore by spring.
“This book jerked me awake to realize I think like a godless liberal, with a fragmented worldview.”
To expand on my short rant, let me offer a short word of warning:
This book had me returning to paragraphs, re-reading sentences multiple times, and even writing things down. It’s not an easy read book on Christianity (think CrazyLove or Set Apart Femininity)- my mind often hurt after three phrases. My feelings were hurt, my brain was stretched, my thinking was fixed (or close to, I’d say). My heart is happy.
To further explain, for those not yet curious, or those who think “Laura? Liberal? I thought Laura meant conservative…”
I didn’t think Kant, Derrida, Newton, Descartes, Socrates, Foucault, Huxley, Dawkins, or any of those die-hard secular minded folks and I had anything in common. Especially parts of worldviews.
Don’t know what I’m talking about? You really need to read this book.
Why would a good God allow bad things to happen? -or- Doesn’t evil mean there’s no God- at least a perfect, loving God?
First of all, God knew when he created Lucifer that he would one day fall, and eventually take humanity down with him. He couldn’t have created an eventual evil world without knowing he would redeem it. His nature is perfect goodness. God is the “father of lights” and his word guides our feet like a light. It’s been said countless times for ages and ages that evil is darkness- black magic does harm, criminals causing harm have “dark minds”, etc. God is light. How could he let the two co-exist?
Is light the absence of darkness or is darkness the absence of light? Light can’t be where total darkness is. Dark can’t overtake light. Light penetrates things. You can bring in light to make a room brighter, but you can’t take darkness out by flipping a darkness switch. You can turn off the light, but you’re still using light. Even when you turn off your lights at night, your eyes adjust and we can still see things. You might not see them as clearly, but the point is, light overtakes darkness. Turns out the two aren’t so interdependent- if so at all. In order for evil to exist, there had to have first been good to be opposite of. Could God create evil? More on that below
The spirit of the question “How could God let the two coexist if they don’t depend on each other?” is summed up thusly: God is letting the two remain. If there was no evil, there’d be no need for Jesus. Well, why doesn’t God destroy evil? If God were to rid of all the evil in the world, he’d have to rid of us too. I’m not sure what agnostic or atheist or sane person would want to be first in line on the day God purged the universe of evil.
Humans with the nature of sin tend to do a lot of bad things to each other. They kill each other like they have no conscience. Hence, we could call this evil ‘moral wrong’ for it defies some kind of standard (see first chapter in Mere Christianity for more).
But of course, we have criminals who have odd feelings of pleasure when hurting innocent people, such as cult leaders who indotrinate followers to give up young girls for rape, or guerillas who force young boys into fighting violent gang wars or drug wars (like the LRA), or people who like to kill babies.
We also have bad things that happen almost naturally, like the Japanese tsunami or famine for lack of rain. They don’t appear to have a purpose other than to cause havoc and injure people. We can label this natural evil. The video below sums it up:
“People starving in the streets/Cuz they can’t get enough to eat from God.”
Logically, they’re asking “Why would a good God allow evil? Why would he make food and then not let the people in his image eat it?”
Their reasoning goes like this:
If God were good, He would destroy evil.
If God were powerful, He could destroy evil.
Evil hasn’t been destroyed.
So there’s no God.
—
Knowing the logic we learned from above, let’s answer the question:
Could God create evil?
NT Wright:
The entire canon of Scripture tells a story which, from a bewildering variety of angles, is all about what God is doing about evil. (From Evil and the Justice of God, 76)
“All things were made by him…” All means all, right?
From “got questions?”
Question: “Did God create evil?”
Answer: At first it might seem that if God created all things, then evil must have been created by God. However, evil is not a “thing” like a rock or electricity… Evil has no existence of its own; it is really the absence of good. For example, holes are real but they only exist in something else. We call the absence of dirt a hole, but it cannot be separated from the dirt. So when God created, it is true that all He created was good. One of the good things God made was creatures who had the freedom to choose good. In order to have a real choice, God had to allow there to be something besides good to choose. So, God allowed these free angels and humans to choose good or reject good (evil). When a bad relationship exists between two good things we call that evil, but it does not become a “thing” that required God to create it.
Perhaps a further illustration will help. If a person is asked, “Does cold exist?” the answer would likely be “yes.” However, this is incorrect. Cold does not exist. Cold is the absence of heat. Similarly, darkness does not exist; it is the absence of light. Evil is the absence of good, or better, evil is the absence of God. God did not have to create evil, but rather only allow for the absence of good.
God did not create evil, but He does allow evil. If God had not allowed for the possibility of evil, both mankind and angels would be serving God out of obligation, not choice. He did not want “robots” that simply did what He wanted them to do because of their “programming.” God allowed for the possibility of evil so that we could genuinely have a free will and choose whether or not we wanted to serve Him.
Let’s go back to the logic:
If God were good, He would destroy evil.
If God were powerful, He could destroy evil.
Evil hasn’t YET been destroyed.
Therefore, in the future, God will destroy evil.
If a person is going to answer this theological question correctly, he should study the theology surrounding evil. We’ve glanced at creation- where God said “It’s good.”
It’s called the new earth. Christianity is based on the Bible: God’s drama of redemption. It’s not some fuzzy love letter to us, though some parts are lovely. The bible is there to answer the big questions, to show us what He’s up to next. If people would only pick it up and read it like they meant to learn instead of “getting something out of it.” That’s another story.
Okay, so God and evil are here. He’ll destroy it someday.
Then why does he let me suffer? Doesn’t he care?
On the cross, Jesus felt all our sin and anguish, he was paying the pricefor everyone. ALL our sin. That’s nearly 7 billion of us now, maybe couple more billion. You know how bad it feels to sin and feel horrible about it. How about times 20,000,000,000-ish?
Isaiah 53:4-5
Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
But he was wounded for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his stripes we are healed.
When people are suffering, we can first of all help them by shutting up. Never say “Oh, it’s okay…” or start quoting Bible verses at them. When the time is right, gently tell them that Jesus felt the sin and sorrow himself. Our God suffers with us.
Today’s post on Islam is more the general sort- my points are taken from a short and thin IVP book that was published 39 years ago. The booklet is called “Know the Marks of the Cults” and this one hundred page wonder cost me 10 cents at a thrift store. The examples Dave Breese used are outdated- he incorrectly calls Muslims “Mohammadans” and talks much of Krishna Consciousness – but the 12 truths are pretty sharp. The basic points make good headings for what I’m going to share today!
His first point is Extra-Biblical Revelation
All cults claim to have some kind of new truth from God himself. Islam specifically states the Qur’an is the FINAL word of Allah. Cults also claim to respect the teachings of the Bible, and respect the Bible- and even say the Bible is true.The point is, they like the Bible but their new revelation is true. To me, that seems kind of weird. If you believe firmly that God has inspired you to write something better over the Bible, why not diss the Bible completely? Many Muslims I know of believe they should read the Bible (specifically the OT), but not hold the beliefs within. Strange, since their book is better than all the rest.
Secondly, the last we’ll talk about today, is False View of Salvation
Muslims believe sincerely saying “There is no God but Allah and Mohammad is his prophet” will make you a Muslim. It’s funny to note that Muslims believe everyone is born Muslim. What do they need the mantra for?
In order to be saved, Muslims must do good all their life- obey the Qur’an and fulfill the 5 pillars of Islam. Dying in jihad guarantees paradise.
When you start jumping through hoops (first, become one of us; second, do these things; third, do these things; lastly, die in jihad) You don’t know if you’ll ever make it up to heaven- or paradise, in this case. Isn’t that the point of ‘religion’? To save yourself? Why bother with religion when it makes you stressed out and worrisome? Why do good things for others when you only want to save yourself? This type of religion doesn’t even make you feel good- it’s not even a crutch to get through life!
Hi! I'm Lauralea- an ambidextrous uber-joyful Christian who apparently blogs. I enjoy reading, the 40's, deep thinking, drinking mochas and worldview study.
A Word of Warning…
In four years of blogging, one's view of life is molded and shaped by God's Spirit and much learning. Please note that I no longer agree with everything, or advocate some ministries I spoke of in my first years of blogging. Thanks for understanding!
-- Lauralea--
), I asked a lot of questions, and many of them went unanswered or dodged. This is because they don’t know what to say, and probably have never given much thought to their ideas. This is why we should study secular thinkers.
