Martin - this is lengthy and unedited. You have many ideas that deserve answers. I have tried to respond to two of your e-mails so we should be up-to-date. The Gilgamesh/Noah’s Flood is better put forward at: http://www.answersingenesis.org/docs2004/0329gilgamesh.asp#f10

A Christian’s faith is not blind - or at least, it doesn’t have to be. Christianity appeals to facts of history that are clearly recognizable and accessible by everyone. We do this through historical probability, and the resurrection is the basis in historical probability for investigating the Christian faith. Deductive logic stems from self-evident formal axioms, i.e. if A then A, involving no matter of fact. Fact depends on probability. We cannot prove Jesus is the Son of God. Only God can convince you of His deity. Many people confirm through investigation what they sought out to refute (e.g. Josh McDowell and Lee Strobel).

Creation is an axiom. You only have to look at the world to know it did not arrive by slow chance productions.

God’s formal name is YHWH and is translated to mean “I am” (Exodus 3:14). Time is something we are subjected to. God exists out of time, requiring neither a beginning nor an end. He has always existed and He always will exist.

God created the heavens and the earth in seven literal days. Everything was made complex from the beginning. In truth, we have decreased in complexity as a result of sin. Entropy correlates with what is taught in the Genesis account. Again, this doesn’t prove the supernatural but it does not contradict it either.

God created everything perfect. Eve was deceived but Adam directly disobeyed God thereby bringing sin on the whole human group. Genesis 3 explains the Fall and why we live in the world we live in today. The question is better phrased, “Why did God ordain that sin be?” God did not create sin. God is perfect and cannot sin, but that does not mean he cannot know what sin is. Satan refused to restrain his desire to be God himself. He coveted God’s position, power, and authority breaking the First, Second, Sixth, Ninth, and Tenth Commandments. Satan discovered sin and wanted it knowing what it would bring. He did not believe he would fail in his quest to overcome his Maker. God did not create us to be puppets. He gave us a free will: to obey him or ourselves. Because of his perfect and sinless character our God is a consuming fire for sin. If people die without the atoning blood of Jesus Christ for their transgressions then they have to be sentenced to Hell because it is the just punishment of the One who is blameless of sin.

The Second Commandment forbids us to make a god to suit ourselves: it’s called idolatry (Exodus 20: 3-17). Christians, if they are not false converts (people who name the name of Jesus but never depart from sin), repent of their sins (by turning from them) and put their trust in Jesus that He died for the covering of our sins - the perfect Lamb - and has washed us clean in the sight of God. Christians can fall or be tempted into sin, but because of the new nature God gives us when we are saved by an act of His will for trying to honestly seek Him, Christians do not, or should not, seek sin out. This is all done by God the Father, God the Son, and the Holy Spirit.: one God in three persons. This is so that He can get all the glory.

God does not get angry as we do. Emotions control and overpower us. God is master of His anger and His anger is just. He is not slow in returning, but is patient, allowing people to experience His grace.

Mormonism and Islam can be dismissed by contradictory scientific observations and failed prophecies in their holy books. The Bible is the only one that transcends every avenue where other religions fail. Just because you deny the Bible as anything authentic, that does not take away the fact of its prophetic nature, its scientific statements, and how it does not contradict the evidence we see in science but fits harmoniously with the evidence that has been discovered.

To make the claim that denying evolution is like denying arithmetic is simply fallacious. Arithmetic has self-provable axioms. Evolution, in the macroevolution definition, is based 100% on interpretation and models of assumption. Evolution is a speculation about how matter changed into the world we see today, assuming that the world had always existed at a uniform rate over eons of years. It is a theory without fact despite the years and money desperately spent trying to prove a theory that cannot fit all the pieces together. Science is the method of observation, substantiated by verifiable tests. Evolutionists and Christians begin with the same science. Their interpretations render different conclusions. Evolution, like Christian origins, goes back to historical probability. Evolution isn’t an objective interpretation. If anything contradicts it, the evidence either goes unnoticed, ignored, or avoided. The number of anomalies in the fossil strata, the fact that the earth is covered in about 85% sedimentation, that clams were found fossilized before death on the peak of Everest, and the complete contradiction of the evolutionary theory pointed out by other scientists with the same accolades as the ones who promote it, are serious challenges to the evolutionary model. No such challenges face Scripture. There are excuses and reasons why people want to deny it and disregard it is fantastical literature, but the arguments are judgments and preferences on why it can’t be right. No Christian opponents could figure out how to explain the missing body of Jesus, especially since His body was heavily guarded by Roman soldiers, so they made excuses to deny the teaching of His resurrection. They had no proof: only excuses. That is the same with people who deny God and believe evolution: no proof: only excuses. Evolution is not fact, it is a faith: a faith based on the accuracy assumed to the assumptions applied in evolutionary interpretation. If faith is not a virtue, in your opinion, why is it you have such strong faith in atheism and evolution? “Science” is misused interchangeably with evolution. Evolution is one interpretation of the data: Scripture is another.

Opinions don’t make the Bible mythical. Use as many adjectives as you want to describe your view of God and His holy Word, but that does not disprove its authority. It is a rhetorical tactic to make it sound silly and deniable. It proves nothing, except perhaps, your attitude towards God.

The Roman Emperor Nero had no reasons for killing Christians: they were no threat to Rome. Christianity was not some insurgent propaganda: Jesus proved that and so did all who refused to deny Christ. Nero didn’t have to believe in Hell to want to kill Christians. He killed Christians because he hated them and was a tool of Satan to try to wipe them out. They were killed for their belief in Christ.

The Apostles and early Christians did not die for some lie they concocted. They died because they knew the truth they had witnessed. They were fully convinced of the resurrection based on their eye witness accounts.

Jesus was a real historical person. How can anyone deny such evidence? Tacitus, Lucian, Josephus, Suetonius, Pliny the Younger, Tertullian, Thallus, Phlegon, Justin Martyr, and the Jewish Talmuds are all non-biblical sources for the historicity of Jesus Christ. Christianity would not exist on a mythological character who never existed. There was a man name Jesus Christ who claimed to be the God Himself. He came to defeat death by atoning for our sins so those who trust in Him may be found righteous by His blood on the Day of Judgment and dwell eternally with God.

The reason why Christianity is attacked for the days of Catholic dominance and persecution arises from a misunderstanding of true and false conversion. Many people claim to be Christians and perform horrendous acts in the name of Christ, but that does not make them Christians. True believers are shown with time. God will grow them in righteousness, not of their own works but by their own choice. 1 John 3 is a test for Christians to examine if they are in the faith and showing fruits of the Spirit. The false believers are wolves in the clothing of sheep.

Many people in other parts of the world, like China and Islamic based countries, have everything to lose by becoming Christians, even their own lives. They die for the sake of Jesus Christ.

Thomas Huxley made the right accusation with the wrong intent, concerning Christians who believe in evolution. A Christian cannot believe in evolution and the Bible. The two contradict each other. Huxley used this to try to get Christians to accept evolution and give up Scripture. He is right in one way, though. Any Christian who subjects the Bible to secular interpretations on the origins of the universe deny the very foundational doctrines which are essential to the purpose of Jesus Christ. These type of Christians are compromised in their beliefs. They can still be saved by faith, even if they misunderstand their hypocritical theology.

Denying the supernatural existence of God does not mean the supernatural does not exist. You simply choose to believe it does not exist because you do not receive the supernatural signs you believe would convince you. The story of Lazarus and the Rich Man is clear. Even a person you know resurrecting from the dead and warning you to repent while you have time would convince you. You do not really have an intellectual problem: you have a moral one; namely, rebellion to God.

Christians and atheists have the same observational science to begin with. The difference is in their interpretations of what science shows us.

The OT prophecy of the Messiah’s rejection: Isaiah 53:3, “He was despised and forsaken of men,/A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;/And like one from whom men would hide their face/He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.” Psalm 69:4,8 - “Those who hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of my head;/Those who would destroy me are powerful, being wrongfully my enemies;/What I did not steal, I have to restore…I have become estranged from my brothers/And an alien to my mother’s sons.” Psalm 118:22, “The stone which the builders rejected/Has become the chief corner stone.”

John 1:1, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

Mark 13:1,2 is where Jesus prophecies the destruction of the Temple.

Jesus not only talked to the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4 and others in that same Samaritan village, he also healed the Syrophoenician’s daugher, and preached and healed through Gentile villages on His final journey to Jerusalem where He knew He was to be crucified.

Luke 24:44-49, Matthew 24:14, the book of Acts all explain the spread of the gospel to Gentile nations.

Ezekiel 36 prophecies the regathering of Israel after their dispersion among all the nations.

Galatians 3:7-9 explaining the justification of the Gentiles to receive the gospel.

There is a veil over the nation of Israel as to the identity of Jesus as fulfilling the requirements of the Messiah as prophesied in the Old Testament. This is because of the ones who rejected Him when He came to them. John 1:11, “He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him.”

Most chief priests (those who mainly were members of the Sanhedrin), scribes, and Pharisees were the Jewish religious leaders that were supposed to lead their people to God. Instead they murdered Him according to His prearranged plan to take on the sins of the world so that we would be free to be made right with him by having our sins forgiven, and our relationship with God restored.

John 1:10, “He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.”

The undeserving hatred of Jews is another prophecy fulfilled. The horrific consequences of the holocaust paved way for the reinstatement of the nation of Israel. No specific passage directly mentions the holocaust, but the fact that they would be persecuted by Gentiles is a common motif throughout much of their exilic dispersions.

The Documentary Hypothesis was postulated by secular scholars to harmonize their understanding of the compilation of Scripture with their belief and acceptance of evolution.

Evolution preached faithfully by secular humanists is the easiest scapegoat for moral consequence and accountability. This type of thinking is the most basic way out of any dilemma whether moral or intellectual. Usually, evolutionists add more time to increase a nonsensical possibility. Anything is possible in evolution and secular foundations. Hardly anything is probable by that understanding.

People who seek truth do not ignore the possibility of anything until such research makes some things more probable than others. You believe lying is wrong, yet you are indoctrinated in a lie. A theory that is unsupported by facts and held only by popular belief, relying on assumptions that guide those interpretations is a ridiculous argument for intellectual truth.

Evolution is unproven. It is a theory, and one that should be discarded, if scientists actually studied the world we see objectively. Evolution is intellectual mythology. It combines the observable fact of variation, also known as microevolution, with the assumption that variation probably, through lengths of any amount of time, can make new creatures. Bad reasoning. Variation has never made any animal or person into anything than the same kind that it has always been, e.g., a bird is still a bird, a dog is a dog, a cat a cat.

Because you presuppose there is no God, you assume there are no predictive prophecies and no truth to the validity of Scripture.

I was not always a Christian. I once professed atheism myself and sought to disprove the Bible. I used to read it, as you call it, with an “open-mind” but I was not open-minded at all. I believed evolution was true and so I was prejudiced to look at Scriptures without objective interest. It was because the Bible’s probability was shown to me and the fact that evolution, from its inception, has never been proven right, that I began to research more deeply into the history and truths of the Bible. However, the intellect is only so useful; the intellect cannot save. Only God can save us and He is faithful to do so to those who truly want to know Him when they seek Him with a humble heart.

The existence of God does not depend on universal agreement. All true believers have a personal relationship with God. They experience the power of the living God. Disbelief does not negate God’s existence.

God gives grace to the humble and law to the proud. He has given understanding to those who realize their mind is too inept to deny God. He has given understanding of Himself to those who want to know. He’s given more proof than anyone needs.

You said, “You really are being deliberately stubborn about circular reasoning. The Bible cannot be used to prove that God wrote the Bible or that God exists. To accept the Bible as evidence requires you to already assume the thing you are attempting to prove, your analogy of the President and the White House also shows how clearly biased you are, you think you are attempting to prove something which is known to be true. But the existence of God is not known to be true. Those people who do not believe in your god or any god do not share your assumptions. Any proof that is meant to satisfy those who do not share your assumptions has to start from the solid ground of shared knowledge and use logic, not be based upon assumptions that only a faith-head makes.”

Are you not guilty of the same things? You use your evolutionary assumptions to prove there is no God. You have to take both into account with historical probability. Evolutionists could do away with Christianity once and for all if they could prove that the Bible made a false prophecy. Or, one piece of evidence with probable truth is needed: to prove Jesus did not resurrect. The fact that no evolutionary argument can oppose the resurrection of Christ with any solid historical probability, truly leaves the trust in Jesus up to a substantiated faith. If the Bible was mythological it would easily be regarded as such today. Christians don’t believe in the Bible to make it true. They experience God, whose Spirit abides in true believers.

God chose Abraham to be the father of all nations. It is a faith nation. The Israelites are the fulfilled promise of God to Abraham as told in Genesis. Abraham was Mesopotamian. The Hebrew people did not become a full nation until their exile in Egypt.

Noah’s great grandson founded Babylon. Why wouldn’t they have a flood story?

Righteousness is summed up in the perfection of God. The Ten Commandments are the foundation of His revealed character. He has never sinned. We do. Therefore, the law teaches us how we fail to live up to the perfect righteousness of God and leads us to an understanding about why we need Jesus Christ as our personal Saviour. Because God is perfect, he cannot have sin in his presence. That is why the preparation of the priests in Israel was so elaborate. Sin is an abomination to God and sin is defined as breaking God’s moral Law: the Ten Commandments. Coveting is wanting what others have to the point of overpowering desire, wanting to be someone else and refusing to be who you are, etc. It is an “I want” nature, that causes people to do whatever it takes to get it, or give up on trying to live well until they get it (to name a couple of ways a person can covet).

God is not a monster. He is just. Should a judge let a murderer go free because he confessed his crime and he was just being true to his character? The judge would be corrupt if he didn’t punish the murderer for his crime. He should feel guilty, be sorry, and never do that again, but that does not take away the law he broke and the consequences of breaking that law. Death is the consequence of sin, and hell is the consequence of dying in them. There are degrees of punishment in Hell. Everyone will be judged accordingly. God is just to judge because He knows everything and the motivation and heart of everyone. He is patient and gives innumerable chances to those who refuse Him.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 1).

If you decide there is no God, you will interpret the world based on that decision, and live as a justified hypocrite who is perfect by being as bad as everyone else.

God is in control of His anger and wrath. We are controlled by ours. We judge by our emotions. God judges with a perfect knowledge. You cannot submit Him to human thinking when He is above it. If God had a human brain, with our human limitations then we may be justified in our complaints with Him. But He is above us, unstained by sin, perfect and holy.

I’m Canadian and I live in Canada (on Vancouver Island).

Historical texts are artefacts. Not to mention correlation with activities of studied periods of time.

Why discuss some presupposed theory when it has never been proven to be right? It is still a theory (only do to popularity), despite a century and a half of serious research. The evidence is further and further away. There is nothing that stands the test of genuine scientific evaluation.

You don’t know that for certain that the Bible is a made up fairy tale. You base that on the interpretations you would rather accept, not on fact. It is purely a choice of interpretation.

I don’t think I am morally superior to you because I too was dead in my sins. I’ve already told you. I am not better than you, I am only infinitely better off than you unless you repent before you die.

You seem self-righteous. I know you have probably told a lie at least once in your life and the Bible says, that even if the only sin you ever committed was one lie, you would still need a Saviour because that one sin would stain you and make you imperfect, as an ink stain on a white shirt would ruin the shirt.

You read the Bible already assuming it is false. How is that approaching Scripture with an open-mind?

I will not test God. God operates in the way He has revealed to us. Besides, I’ve already explained to you that if you do not accept Scriptures, you will not accept any miracle no matter how great it is. But so you will know that God is true if you are still given a chance to live to see it: Israel will be attacked, led by Russia and Iran, and God will miraculously save them, defeating the enemies of Israel. Also, when the Christians are raptured, or caught up, with the Lord - meaning we vanish instantly from earth to your eyes - you will know that the word of the Lord is true. And if you have the chance to witness this, reflect on God’s words and do not be deceived by the false explanations and the one who will pretend to come in peace and restore the world.

You wrote, “I have one last question for you, please answer as honestly as you can: how long would you last in the real hell of another god before you admitted you were wrong?”

On this hypothetical question of assuming that there is actually another possibility of some other unrevealed god that could challenge our understanding of “I am”, then if there was such a god, I would be instantly convinced upon my death. What you fail to suggest in this baiting question to try to hang me on to question my understanding of whether or not I am right is that no other documents exist on par with challenges of apologetics regarding the Bible. God exists beyond my opinions, whether I understand Him correctly or not.

God works the way He is described in the Bible, and Jesus Christ is also God. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He does not change; He never makes a mistake; He is perfect.

God does not want to send you to Hell and neither do I - that is why I am debating you. You will put yourself there if you trust in your own righteousness. Either way, you will be seen as God sees you, and God will be glorified because of His justice in punishing evil wherever it is found.

Mike

19 July 2007

A grave misconception of the coming Messiah plagued the Jewish people in the time of Jesus: they thought the Messiah was to come in the flesh and establish a kingdom for 1000 years. They failed to realize the reason for their animal sacrifices: blood was required for the covering of sin. It was the perfect blood of the atonement Lamb, Jesus the Messiah, that allowed the relationship of sinful people to be restored to God. Jesus will return to establish His 1000 year reign at the end of the Tribulation to fulfill the prophecies of Scripture. Then, Satan will be cast into Hell as will all who are judged without the atoning blood of Jesus Christ.

Jesus never promised to return in the time of the early Church. Many last day prophecies await fulfillment before that time arrives.

So let me try to understand you. You think that we cannot figure out the historical accuracy surrounding Jesus Christ based on early Church activity and historical documents; yet, based on several assumptions we can understand millions of years of earth and evolutionary history?

Evolution is a concept with theories that try to support it. I’ve explained already that natural selection is understandable only in variation but not in macroevolution. Natural selection has never created new information nor has it created a new creature: only a variation of the same kind of creature. Variation does not prove a molecules to man theory. It proves that all kinds have an ability to adapt to certain areas. However, adaptation can also cause a lack of information, and if conditions reverted back to what they were before natural selection took place, the so called evolved creatures could be in danger of extinction if they lost the information that allowed them to survive the previous change.

Evolution is neither proved nor disproved in concept. It is an idea that seeks support. There is no support and the whole concept relies on an exemplary amount of assumptions to satisfy possibilities. Is evolution - molecules to man progression possible? There is no supporting evidence with any degree of satisfactory probability. You sound certain about concepts that take the seed of truth of variation, and apply them to an “anything’s possible with enough time” theory.

Evolutionary science is an oxymoron. Evolutionists use truths understood in science to make long thought out assumptions to give credit to an idea which is entirely dependent on a lot of “if” factors.

The only fact true of evolution is the fact of it being an interpretation. You cannot use what you see today to measure millions of years of history, when evolutionists cannot even grasp six thousand years of human history. You have to assume that things are the same today as they were then, and there is no supported fact that the earth has always remained the same.

Biology is not dependent on evolution, but its explanation of origins is. Science is not infallible. Scientists are always finding errors in science. For example, global warming was said to be caused by humans. Now many scientists agree that several natural factors contribute to global warming and we do not know for certain what humans are actually contributing. That is because of the models based on assumptions used to interpret data. If our assumptions are wrong, then so are the conclusions drawn from the data used to support those assumptions.

Manuscript evidence for the Bible is so vast and widespread that all documents correlate exceptionally well. The documents are a faithful recording about what people wrote and what they believed in their writings. It does not contradict anything we discover in archaeology or history, especially when accounting for probability.

Myths are known to be myths - although King Arthur and Robin Hood are caught up in them that their true history is blurred, the same assumptions cannot be made for Jesus.

The Bible is a stumbling stone to those who are proud because you cannot see beyond your desire to be convinced of God’s existence. The Sanhedrin looked for the same signs from Jesus, but as they challenged Him while He hanged on the Cross - asking for a sign to convince them of their error - they refused to believe even when Christ resurrected.

Jesus appeared to over 500 people at one time, all the apostles, and many other disciples, before calling Saul of Tarsus into service.

There are no contradictions in the Bible if you would actually move beyond your attempts to do anything to keep yourself from believing in the contents of Scripture.

You attack the Scriptures as being untrustworthy because it was written by Christians. Does that mean that we cannot trust British history if it was written by a British person? It does not matter who wrote it but in what the writing said and if there is truth to it. Jesus is not some fictional character even if you desperately want to make him one through your fallible opinions.

Christian opponents who could not understand how the body of Jesus went missing: the Roman guards, and the Sanhedrin (composed of chief priests, elders and scribes). Most of the Jewish leaders could not figure this out. They were the ones who had the Roman guard stationed. To deny the historical probability of this event is to overlook the documented history by laughing it off as some fictional tale while embarking on a greater one yourself by thinking you can parse history yourself based on your intellectual presuppositions. You can do this only through speculation. You leave out what doesn’t fit your own fairy tale.

You are a victim of indoctrination. If you cannot see the interpretive nature of your favoured and relied on concept, then you are not thinking critically, but thinking how secular humanists have programmed you to think.

Ken Ham and his team at www.answersingenesis.com expose the fallible nature of evolution. It has been proven: you just won’t accept the evidence because of your impenitent heart.

Over 300 prophecies were needed to be fulfilled in one Messiah. Jesus fulfilled all of them as can be seen in any concordance on the prophecies completed in Jesus.

Evolution has already been shown to be improbable in light of the evidence we can study with scientific principles. The evidence is refused, not refuted - the same is true with the evidence of Christianity.

Mike

Friday 20 July 2007

The term “science” needs to be defined. There are two aspects of science: operational science and origin science. “Operational science uses observable, repeatable experiments to try to discover truth. Origin science relies on relics from the past and historical records to try to discover truth” (Ken Ham and Terry Mortensen from their article titled, Science or the Bible). The debate between creationists and evolutionists is centered on origin science. We both use the same research methods from both aspects of science. Our conclusions are derived from our different starting assumptions, not from the methods of research used. Our conclusions are a result of conflicting worldviews. A creationist begins with the assumption of a biblical worldview, and an evolutionist begins with the assumption of an ant biblical worldview. Many supposed truths from how things originated in biology, geology, and astronomy, for example, have been or will be shown to be false. Evolutionists only accept scientific truth and are willingly to change their view of origins when the evidence already fits in their preconceived ideas. There are hoards of “anomalies” silently hidden and conveniently ignored in the evolutionary worldview that damage the probability of the theory.

“Which Worldview Is Correct?
There are many ways to test the accuracy of the biblical worldview against naturalistic atheism (the worldview that controls most origins research). When our research is based upon biblical truths about the past, we find that our interpretations of the biological and geological facts make sense of what we see in the real world, whereas evolutionary interpretations don’t really fit what we see.
Let’s look at an example. The Bible says that God created distinct groups of animals “after their kind” (see Genesis 1). Starting with this truth of the Bible as one of our assumptions, we would expect to observe animals divided into distinct groups, or kinds. Creationists postulate that our creative God placed phenomenal variability in the genes of each kind, so there could be considerable variety within each kind. But the preprogrammed mechanism for variation within the kind could never change one kind into a different kind, as evolutionists claim and their belief system requires” (Ken Ham and Terry Mortensen from their article titled, Science or the Bible).

A weight of evidence is against a supposed source called “Q” for the gospels: 1) The almost unanimous testimony of the church until the nineteenth century was that Matthew was the first gospel written; 2) Why would Matthew, an apostle and eyewitness to the events on Christ’s life, depend on Mark (who was not an eyewitness) - even for the account of his own conversion?; 3) a significant statistical analysis of the synoptic gospels has revealed that the parallels between them are far less extensive and the differences more significant than is commonly acknowledged. The differences, in particular, argue against literary dependence between the gospel writers; 4) Since the gospels record actual historical events, it would be surprising if they did not follow the same general historical sequence. Chronological order would not prove that the authors had read each others’ books. General agreement in content does not prove literary dependency; 5) The passages in which Matthew and Luke agree against Mark amount to about one-sixth of Matthew and about one-sixth of Luke. If they used Mark’s gospel as a source, there is no satisfactory explanation for why Matthew and Luke would so often change Mark’s wording in the same way; 6) The “Two-Source” theory (the alleged literary dependence) cannot account for the important section in Mark’s gospel (6:45-8:26) which Luke omits. That omission suggests Luke had not seen Mark’s gospel when he wrote; 7)There is no historical or manuscript evidence that the Q document ever existed; it is purely a fabrication of modern skepticism and a way to possibly deny the verbal inspiration of the gospels; 8) Any theory of literary dependence overlooks the significance of their personal contacts with each other. Mark and Luke were companions of Paul; the early church, including Matthew, met of a time in the home of Mark’s mother; and Luke could easily have met Matthew during Paul’s two year imprisonment in Caesarea. Critics cannot prove literary dependence for the gospels so there is no need to explain it. (Extracted from John MacArthur’s introduction to Mark.

Matthew was written prior to the destruction of the Temple in A.D. 70. Some scholars suggest as early as A.D. 50. Mark’s gospel dates between A.D. 50 and A.D. 70, but before the destruction of the Temple. Luke’s gospel was written before his work of Acts, which is dated to about A.D. 63. John’s gospel dates to about A.D. 80-90.

Matthew focuses on Jesus as the promised Messiah. Mark focuses on the servant-hood of Jesus. Luke focuses on Jesus as the Son of Man who takes away the sins of the world. John’s gospel emphasizes the deity of Jesus. Together, they portray the Jesus fully man and Jesus fully God.

Jesus never gave the date as to when He would return. He told the disciples who asked for the sign of His return that the generation who witnesses these events will know that the end will come in that generation of people.

“God and truth are inseparable. Every thought about the essence of truth - what it is, what makes it “true,” how we can possibly know anything for sure, quickly moves us back to God. That is why God incarnate - Jesus Christ - is called the truth (John 14:6).
That is also why it is not particularly surprising when someone who repudiates God rejects His truth as well. If a person can’t tolerate the thought of God, there is simply no comfortable place for the concept of truth in that person’s worldview, either. So the consistent atheist, agnostic, or idolater might as well hate the very idea of truth. After all, to reject God is to reject the Giver of all truth, the final Judge of what really is true, and the very essence and embodiment of truth itself…The contemporary aversion to truth is simply a natural expression of fallen humanity’s innate hostility toward God (Romans 8:7)” (from John MacArthur’s book, The Truth War).

This is a better understanding of God when we are alienated from Him and trying to seek Him:

Seeker's Prayer
How should lost people pray in order to be saved?
Today we tell people to say a quick prayer and really mean it. Then we congratulate them because they are now in the family of God. This has not always been. What you are about to read may shock you. Dr. John Gerstner , Edwardian Scholar, from volume 3 of The Rational Biblical Theology of Jonathan Edwards presents a Seeker's Prayer. This is radically different than a Sinner's Prayer. This is NOT a prayer for salvation, but a prayer that God would lead you to salvation. You may wish to read Eph. 2:1-10 when you are finished.

Dear God, whom I hate with all my being precisely because you hate and threaten me with hell, I hate this punishment perhaps even more than I hate you. Or, maybe I should say that I love my comfort even more than I hate you. For that reason I am asking a favor of you. I want you to make me love you, whom I hate even when I ask this and even more because I have to ask this. I am being frank with you because I know it is no use to be otherwise. You know even better than I how much I hate you and that I love only myself. It is no use for me to pretend to be sincere. I most certainly do not love you and do not want to love you. I hate the thought of loving you but that is what I'm asking because I love myself. If you can answer this 'prayer' I guess the gift of gratitude will come with it and then I will be able to do what I would not think of doing now—thank you for making me love you whom I hate. Amen.
(from www.wayofthemasterradio.com)

If you have a genuine interest in wanting to seek God and to know for certain, you must first understand why you are alienated from Him.

“For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wised and the cleverness of the clever I will set aside”… but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God” (1 Corinthians 1:18-31).

People who are condemned for their unbelief have one key characteristic: “they did not receive the love of truth so as to be saved” (2 Thessalonians 2:10).

“If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone arises from the dead” (Luke 16:31). No sign will convince you to repent and put your trust in Jesus.

You are not incapable of knowing the truth about God, you do not want to know because your nature hates God and does not want to submit to Him. You have nothing but excuses, well-thought out and fabricated to allow you to live in ignorance. But God no longer accepts ignorance. He calls men everywhere to repent.

Mike

21 July 2007 (05:59)

There is a spiritual warfare that occurs all around us and against us in this age (Ephesians 6). Satan is often misused as a scapegoat for peoples’ sins. Satan is real and so are demons - who are fallen angels, wilfully choosing to rebel against God. Sin exists in our nature as a result of Adam’s wilful rebellion in the Garden of Eden. In the millennial kingdom, this will be understood when children who are born in that time will have to make the choice to serve God or not. The Bible says that a numerous amount of people will reject God in the days of Jesus’ reign. Satan or his demons cannot be blamed because they will be withheld for awhile. Only at the end of the thousand years will Satan be released to lead one final rebellion against God, which God will end in a single moment, wherein the judgment of unbelievers will take place and be cast into Hell for their own personal sins against God.

Satan can only be in one place at one time. The workings of Satan do creep into the church. False converts, wolves in sheeps’ clothing, some televangelists, false teachers and false doctrines are evidence of that. The Bible warns us of this infiltration and commands us to be on our guard and protect God’s truth. The earliest manuscripts of the NT and the OT do not contest any important theology that we find in later manuscripts. Satan has tried to eliminate God’s Word, but God has kept it from decimation - not that He has to worry - He’s God. He created Satan and He created us. He did not make us robots but gave us an ability of self-awareness, to glorify Him and the works He has accomplished. He knew giving us the ability to choose would fail and so He used our sinful choices in a preordained plan to reconcile us to Him through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Many other religions have hypocritical details in science, prophecy, history, and philosophy. Other religions break the Ten Commandments, by not worshipping the one true God. Jesus makes the claim Himself: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through me” (John 14:6). The only way to God is through Jesus Christ. There is no other name by which people can be saved. Romans 1, 2, and 3 expose our sinful excuses, hypocritical judgments and self-proclaimed goodness due to our wilful ignorance to hide from God because our ways are evil before God.

Satan and his following of demons will mask as angels of light. They do not care what sins you commit. They hate God, and since we are made in God’s image (Genesis 1), they hate us to because we remind them of Him. As long as you do not believe in the true God and have faith in the truth of Scriptures, they will not try to make you be as sinful as possible. Your failure to turn from your sins, acknowledge you are what God says you are, and lack of faith to believe God, refusing His offer of grace, will sentence you to Hell for eternity - by your own doing. God will withdraw Himself completely, including all the blessings you take for granted, like love, friendship, laughter, comfort, etc. You will be alone, in the blackness of darkness forever, unable to deny God, unable to make excuses for your ignorance or your innocence, fully aware that you put yourself there against God’s will, weeping and gnashing of teeth, eternal torment in the lake of fire, and no rest or comfort or ease night or day forever and ever. This should at least let you know how serious God views sin in His perfect holiness, and how little you care at present to think of your eternal welfare.

There are no contradictions in the Bible when you understand the Scriptures in their grammatical-historical context. Some passages seem contradictory at first glance, but upon further investigation and proper study, one can see how those passages harmonize. But, as you admitted, you are not concerned about this. The Bible says that. It tells how you hate truth because it exposes who you really are: an abomination in the sight of God through wicked works.

I am not trying to sound harsh to you or insult you. I am blunt because I do not want to patronize you.

You are a “hell-bound infidel” and I do not hate you. We are commanded to love our enemies. It is in love that I am earnestly warning you about the importance of the choices you make before you die. I do not want you to go to Hell, for I too, was once hell-bound like you. God does not want you to go to Hell either. He does not delight in your punishment but He does delight that His uncompromising justice is satisfied. It is your choice; your gift of free will.

Ken Ham is honest about his scientific reasoning and his faith. Like all of us evangelicals, He upholds the authority of Scripture. God’s truth does not rely on scientific reasoning. Scientific reasoning depends on God’s truth. We are honest in our position. You seem to deny the fact that you believe in your own interpretation with your own worldview. That does not make our worldview wrong.

The geologic column has never been observed in one location. It is easily explained by geologic sorting due to a worldwide Flood. The geologic column measures about 100 miles deep into the earth. Science seems to indicate that our crust is not that thick. That is because Charles Lyell denied God, hated the truths of the Bible and posited a view that was anti-biblical. Not on fact, but in an attempt to avoid God.

Kent Hovind has damaged his ministry due to his attempt to perhaps escape financial technicalities imposed by the U.S. However, Jesus tells us to render to government the taxes they demand, and to render to God what God demands. His actions do not take away the truth of some of his arguments.

Satan tried to tempt Jesus in the wilderness by testing God and Jesus responded, “Jesus said to him, “On the other hand, it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test’” (Matthew 4:7). I will not test God because He does not need to be tested. I’ve told you several times that signs and prophecies won’t help your unbelief.

If you really want to know what the Bible teaches will happen in these last days (remembering they were written over 2, 500 years ago at the latest), read Ezekiel 38 and discover that Russia (Magog), Iran (Persia), Turkey (Meshech), Sudan (Cush), and Libya (Put) will attack Israel and be saved solely by the power and protection of God. This alliance is building for our eyes and these countries (aside from Russia at the moment) are very open about their plans for Israel.

You even fulfill prophecy. You mock the warning signs of the end of the age penned 2, 000 years ago, saying, “These signs have always been around” (2 Peter 3:3-4). The Bible even reveals your motivation. You love sin. You do not want to be accountable to God or responsible for your actions against Him. Denying Him is the easiest way to suppress the warning of your conscience (Romans 3). Apathy makes you indifferent to God so you can ignore the fear you should have of disobeying Him. You have seared your conscience so you can continue breaking God’s rules (1 Timothy 4:2).

Jesus Christ predicted many would come claiming to be the Christ (Matthew 24:5). That is why you can find an endless list of self-proclaimed Messiah’s. There are many today who claim the same thing.

I do not need to test God because His Word testifies about Him and what He is going to do. If you do not believe His Word, you will not believe anything that is claimed to come from Him. You also have to remember, that God exists no matter how my prayers are answered. If I pray that God saves a friend from death, and that death occurs, that does not mean there is no God. God’s way is perfect and who are we to judge Him when we cannot accurately judge ourselves?

I will pray that He reveals Himself to you Martin. Examine yourself to see if you will allow Him to do so.

Mike

21 July 2007 (08:18)

I answered your question, but as I pointed out how you would respond, you would not accept my answer. God's answer to your question is to humble yourself of your pride, turn from your sins and trust in Jesus as your Saviour.

The desire of your soul is enjoy or acquire something to satisfy your flesh.Your fallen nature has a strong desire to whatever sin will satisfy it. The nature of each person's lust (desire to fulfill the flesh), is a result of inherited tendencies, environment, upbringing, and personal choices. This is the your presently uncontrolled ability to keep yourself from sin.

I've given you Biblical prophecies, and there are several indicative of the last days.

Your direct physical proof is your Bible and you ignore its teachings. Once you are saved, if you ever choose to be, you will begin to understand Scripture. If God were to manifest Himself to you then you would instantly die because none can see God's glory and live while in their sinful nature. I said I would pray that God would reveal Himself to you by testifying to you of His truth with the power of His Spirit.

I have the gift of divine assurance of salvation. That is the power of God. It is offered to all who want it.

You seem to be afraid of what I have to say if you will not read my e-mail nor post it. I have nothing to hide and nor should you.

I answered your question. Do not be upset if it is not the one you were hoping for.

Mike