Proofs for God
In the face of a new breed of books on atheism, most notably "God is not Great: How religion poisons everything" by Christopher Hitchens and the "God Delusion" by Richard Dawkins - we, as Christians need to hear again the words of Scripture:
"Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts reverence Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to make a defense to any one who calls you to account for the hope that is in you, yet do it with gentleness and reverence; and keep your conscience clear, so that, when you are abused, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame." (1 Peter 3:14-16)
And speaking of the most basic "defense," which is an apologetic for God, most of us can probably say with the writer-convert Andre Frossard "God exists, and I have experienced Him." That is our best defense, or even offense :)
And just like I can say "love exists," not primarily because of a series of argument, but because I "have experienced it," so I can witness to the experience of knowing God. This is what our Sharing Christ series is all about.
BUT. Ah, yes, the long-awaited "but." The Church (the visible communion of those who believe in Jesus Christ) has always valued "reason." So recently I came across a great video by Fr. Robert Barron, a most excellent priest and teacher of the faith whom I had the pleasure of podcast-interviewing him last year, who gives a great series of arguments from reason for God's existence. Its one clip from a series of fifty clips on Christianity called Faith Clips. Enjoy!
Labels: apologetics, atheism, evangelization
posted by Pete Ascosi @ 12:24 PM
2 Comments
2 Comments:
Pete - I just saw an ad for that new book you mentioned by Dawkins. It just looks awful. I hope that the atheists and agnostics are able to meet Jesus before it is too late for them. What do they have to hope for? How can life make sense without God, without the personal God we find in our faith?
St. Paul directed some words toward those who should know better, even if they have never been exposed to authentic Christian faith:
"Since the creation of the world, invisible realities, God's eternal power and divinity, have become visible, recognized through the things he has made. Therefore these men are inexcusable. They certainly had knowledge of God, yet they did not glorify him as God or give him thanks; they stultified themselves through speculating to no purpose, and their senseless hearts were darkened. They claimed to be wise, but turned into fools instead..." (Rom 1: 19-22)
I agree with your comments. And, while on one hand we can scratch our heads and ask "how can atheists and agnostics not live in the knowledge of God - and even more Jesus Christ?" - the other hand is a challenge to us.
"But how are men to call upon him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without some to tell them? And how can men tell them unless they are sent? As it is written, 'How beautiful are the feet of those who preach good news!'" (Romans 10:14-15)
Lord send us! Open conversations for us to share the good news of a personal God, of the crucified and risen One!
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