CAN MYSTICAL EXPERIENCES BE USED TO PROVE RELIGIOUS BELIEFS ARE TRUE?

If nature points to creationism, why do almost all biologists accept evolution?

Many Muslims and Christians believe God created all living things in a matter of days. Early scientists started off believing these creation stories as well, but then as they encountered the evidence, their views changed. Today almost all scientists who study livings things, say that life evolved over billions of years by a natural process.

Various polls and surveys of all kinds of scientists (including physicists, computers scientists, mathematicians, etc) shows about 95% to 97% of “all scientists” accept evolution. For who are in “earth and life” sciences, the number is even higher, estimated to be 99% to 99.9%. (http://bit.ly/evolsupport). At the same time, around a third of American scientists believe in God, and a significant number of these are Christians (http://bit.ly/godscientists).

If you reject evolution, you claim that almost all scientists are completely wrong and you are right. Why?

 

1. Scientists are less intelligent than you? That seems very arrogant.

2. Scientists know less about biology than you? That seems very ignorant.

3. Scientists are in a secret conspiracy to lie? That seems even more unbelievable than evolution.

4. Scientists are all brainwashed? So if scientists are taught something in school it’s brainwashing, but if children are taught the story of a magical garden from early childhood, it’s not brainwashing?

5. Scientists are all deceived by satan? So satan is able to convince all scientists of a lie, and even most Christian scientists?

6. Nature really does look like it evolved, and whether God initiated this or not, those who devote their lives to study nature have good reasons for thinking evolution is part of the answer.

Why are there no more miracles?

#toughquestionfriday: Why are there no more grand miracles?

Most Christians say that the reason God performed such evident miracles in the past (stopping the sun, sending fire from the sky, splitting the sea, walking on water, raising the dead, etc) was to prove to everyone that his messengers were speaking the truth, and that his message (the Bible) was a supernaturally inspired book.

If that is true, why would God stop performing miracles today, in a time when billions don’t believe his message, specifically because they have never seen a miracle to authenticate it? Christians say that God doesn’t change, yet, what explains the change in God plan to use of miracles to authenticate his message?

Why did God stop now? If the stories are true, he performed miracles during both the Old and New Testament periods, so why stop now when we need it most?

POSSIBLE ANSWER #1 – God only did it during the writing of the Bible.
If this is true, how does that help us who don’t live during the writing of the Bible. God proved something to people in the past, but not to us. They knew for a fact it was authentic, we don’t. Now we are stuck with just having to blindly believe in the writings of some ancient people we haven’t met. Why should we be punished for simply being born at the wrong time?

POSSIBLE ANSWER #2 – The Bible has already been validated by miracles, it doesn’t need any more.
Not so fast. How can we know that its been validated? Because it says so? If the only “proof” that the Bible is true, is found inside the Bible, that is like trying to pick yourself up by pulling on your ears. If the only proof of superman is found inside a book about superman, would you believe it? Or would you require superman to fly by above you, before you believed?

POSSIBLE ANSWER #3 – If God proved it, then we can’t have faith, and that would be harmful
So then why did God authenticate it to everyone in the past? This still makes things unfair, but just means we are the lucky ones. Why did God treat everyone in history so poorly by proving his existence to them? Why did Jesus hate his disciples so much that he proved his powers to them? Why be so cruel to Thomas by showing him proof of the Resurrection??

POSSIBLE ANSWER #4 – God does prove it, there are miracles everywhere, your heart is just too hard to see.
If there are miracles that prove it, where are they? In the biblical story of Joshua, God purportedly “stops the sun” to give the earth an extra day. How in the world can someones heart be so stubborn that they will not notice an extra day? Besides, in the biblical stories, people with heard hearts frequently see the miracles of God and believe, for example, in the story of Elijah, when fire fell from the sky “all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, “The LORD, he is God; the LORD, he is God.” So why did miracles change minds back then, but don’t anymore?

POSSIBLE ANSWER #5 – God doesn’t prove it because there would be no free will to reject him then.
In the biblical stories of biblical miracles, people almost always accept that the miracles are real, but still reject God. For example in the Bible story of the Exodus, the Pharaoh had his heart hardened by God (and God didn’t seem to care much about free will, was able to both (a) believe in the existence of the Hebrew God and (b) reject him.

POSSIBLE ANSWER #6 – Because God gave us the Holy Spirit, and now we don’t need miracles.
This is unfaithful to the Biblical narrative which states that during the first half-century of the church they had (a) both the Holy Spirit and (b) the clearly evident supernatural miracles, like sick people being raised from simply being in Paul’s shadow.

Where Did God Come From?

Here is something really challenging to wrap our minds around (this in no way proves/disproves theism/atheism, but its an interesting thought exercise)

Where did God come from? Why does he exist? How can it be that something as incredibly sophisticated as an intelligent mind “just exists” without a creator, a cause, or an origin story? If your mind didn’t have a body, do you think its possible that your intelligent mind could “just exist” without a creator? Then how can Gods intelligent mind, which is superior to yours, “just exist” without a creator?

If its possible that a non-physical intelligent mind can “just exist” as a brute fact, is it possible that the non-physical laws of physics “just exist” without a creator? Why should a non-physical person be more likely than a non-physical law?

For the philosophically erudite, since God is defined as a metaphysically necessary thing, is it possible that the laws of physics are a necessary thing? Why should a non-physical person be more likely than a non-physical law?

Why is Gods nature the way that it is?

(If there is a God) why is God the way that he is?

When one asks “what reasons are there for God wanting to do A, but not B?” the reply is usually “because that is Gods nature.”

So why is Gods nature like A, and not like B? What determines Gods nature?

(And if the pat answer is “well God determined his own nature to be Nature-A, not like Nature-B” why did he determine Nature-A instead of Nature-B?”

If the Old Testament Law was meant to be temporary why is it always called eternal, enduring, and everlasting?

 

Why is the Old Testament called eternal?

Most evangelicals say that the Old Testament was meant to be temporary covenant, one that was planned to be replaced by a better covenant, if that’s the case, why is this covenant (or series of them) in the Old testament frequently called an “everlasting covenant” not a “temporary covenant”? In fact, in Psalm 19:7 the Law is called perfect, which leads us to wonder, why should a “perfect” Law need replacing? (See below for examples)

Why does OT eschatalogical prophecy of the future include a restoration of Old Testament Law?

In fact Zechariah has a prophecy regarding the end times (Zech14:4-13) which undeniably shows the “the Day of the Lord.” In this prophecy The Lords feet rest on the Mount of Olives, there is eternal daytime, no night, and God ushers his reign of peace for the whole earth. During this eternal kingdom, God commands all nations to obey Old Testament law and celebrate the feast of Booths (Zech 14:16-19). Likewise, we see temple sacrifices continue in this vision of the future (Zech 14:21).

A few examples of Old Testament edicts described as Eternal/everlasting

“The Israelites are to observe the Sabbath, celebrating it for the generations to come as an ENDURING covenant” (Exod 31:16)

“The secret things belong to Yahweh our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children FOREVER, that we may follow all the words of this law” (Deut 29:29)

“A servant who is born in your house or who is bought with your money shall surely be circumcised; thus shall My covenant be in your flesh for an EVERLASTING covenant.”  (Gen 17:13)

“God said, “No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an EVERLASTING covenant for his offspring after him.” (Genesis 17:19)

“The earth is defiled by its people; they have disobeyed the laws, violated the statutes and broken the EVERLASTING covenant.” (Isaiah 24:5)

“it is from the people of Israel as a covenant FOREVER.” (Leviticus 24:8)

“It is an EVERLASTING covenant of salt before the Lord to you and your descendants with you.”(Num 18:19)

If purpose comes from above, where does God get his purpose from?

#toughquestionfriday: How does God derive meaning and purpose?

Generally speaking religious people often say that “life without God has no purpose.” Why? The principle seems to be that one cannot simply “invent” their own life purpose, that is like pulling yourself up by your bootstraps. Life purpose has to be *given* to you by a being higher than yourself.

If that is the case, who gives God his purpose? And what is God’s purpose anyway? Is it to “just exist” and to “receive worship”?

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OPTION 1 – Someone above God gives God his purpose. This is rather silly, for then God is not truly God, but there is another higher creature who is the true God, and we are back to the same question, who gives ‘that’ being purpose? This would go on ad infinitum.

OPTION 2 – God makes up his own purpose. This brings up interesting questions like (a) why does God pick one purpose over another? is it arbitrary? (b) can God change his purpose? Has he? Will he? (c) what made God even decide to have a purpose as opposed to not having one? And finally (d) if one being (God) can just make up his purpose, why can’t other beings do the same?

OPTION 3 – God derives his purpose from his nature. If that’s the case, then surely all creatures, for example humans, can just as well derive purpose from their nature not from God. If we allow it as a philosophical principle that some being (God) can find his purpose in his nature, then logically any other being (i.e. a human) can also derive purpose from his nature. It would seem that picking option 3 removes from one the ability to say “life without God is meaningless.”

OPTION 4 – God doesn’t need a purpose or meaning. Well then… this feels a tad nihilistic.

Can you think of any others?

Why doesnt God reveal himself so clearly that there are only two choices, instead of hundreds?

Why would God not reveal himself so clearly that the only possible choices would be to:

(a) reject him, having accurate knowledge of who he is

(b) accept him, having accurate knowledge of who he is

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1. Instead of knowingly choosing A or B, people have a more difficult choice, including dozens of different options in their own religion, some of which are claimed to damn one to hell (Trinity, Unitarian, Pentecostal, Catholic, Prosperity, Free Grace, Pelagianism, and hundreds of other views or “heresies,” etc etc).

2. Instead of knowingly choosing A or B, people have a more difficult choice, including hundreds of religions that are active today, each with dozens of interpretations, each filled with millions who sincerely believe they picked the right God.

3. Instead of knowingly choosing A or B, people are in ignorance and choose from thousands of options depending on their historical era, in many cases, the full truth being unavailable to those who lived before the time of the full truth. (i.e., Islam and Christianity only began after thousands of generations of people died).

1, 2, 3 could easily be averted if God simply revealed himself more clearly, and people could still have free will to chose A or B. So why did God not actualize such a system?

If God cannot act contrary to his nature can he have free will?

Most people define “free will” as having a genuine choice between multiple options. For example, in a given situation it would be possible for a truly free being to have a genuine choice between (a) telling a lie or (b) telling the truth.

Yet God, per the formal philosophical definition and the Bible, cannot lie, “it is impossible for God to lie.” (Hebrews 6:18)

It seems to follow that if God cannot have a genuine choice, but *must* act in accordance to his nature, he cannot have genuine libertarian free will. This point is eloquently argued by the influential philosopher William Rowe in his book ‘Can God Be Free?’ I’ve outlined three of the most popular responses to this dilemma, are there any others?

OPTION 1: “God can act contrary to his nature, he just chooses not to”

RESPONSE 1: The universal consensus of philosophers and theologians is that it’s impossible for God to choose imperfection. If a perfect being could genuinely choose to be imperfect, then its perfection would be contingent upon circumstances, there would be a real possibility of God becoming not-God in the future, or Good-God becoming Bad-God. In any case, even Bible itself says “it is impossible for God to lie” (Hebrews 6:18) not “it’s possible for God to lie, but he chooses not to.”

OPTION 2: “God isn’t constrained by his nature, he is characterized by his nature; thus he freely chooses that which he wants. In other words, God would never even desire to lie.”

RESPONSE 2: First, God did not determine or select his nature in the past (this would mean that he previously had a different nature). Second, God cannot change his nature in the future (for he is “immutable” or unchanging). Thus it seems that God is, a “prisoner” of his nature: (a) he did not choose it, (b) he cannot change it, and (c) he cannot act contrary to it, even if all this is willingly accepted, it precludes God from having genuine free will, but only the illusion or feeling of free will.

OPTION 3: “God has the freedom to act within the constraints of his nature. It’s impossible for him to tell a lie, but he can tell many different truths, or the same truth many different ways. Since he is perfect he does not require the option for imperfect choices.”

RESPONSE 3: Certainly this describes a limited form of freedom, but this is a concession that God does not have libertarian free will, but only a limited freedom. The irony with this response is that it means that Satan and humans have a greater amount of freedom than God.” Yet, in my opinion this is probably the best answer to this dilemma.

How can you be perfectly happy knowing your loved ones are being tortured in hell/

How can you be perfectly happy in Heaven if you know that some of your family and friends, whom you love very dearly, are being eternally tormented by the flames of hell?

(This is a very weighty topic, and it may help you to watch this video of a Jordanian Pilot being burned by ISIS, and gauge your reaction towards a stranger feeling just seconds of hell, before answering hastily and carelessly
http://video.foxnews.com/v/4030583977001/ ).

 

OPTION 1

You will be so enthralled by the tantalizing pleasure of being with God, that you will stop caring about the suffering of others. The enjoyment gained from being with God will completely annul the sorrow and empathy for your family/friends who are lingering in incomprehensible anguish.

(The downside of this theory is that it seems to be centered wholly on selfishness, you ignore the suffering of others because you are enjoying something amazing; an idea antithetical to the Christian ideal.)

 

OPTION 2

You will become so enraptured by God, and so moved by the desire for his interests that you will actually rejoice as you see the torture of sinners who did not obey God, even if those people are your own children, parents, wife, or husband. Seeing what you believe is justice which honors God, will give you more happiness than seeing your family members saved from infernal torment.

(The downside of this theory, which indeed was held by many Protestants in the 15^th-19^th centuries, is that it appeals to our senses as downright cruel and frightening. It also exhibits the action of betrayal, an action that is not noble, in that one “betrays” his love for his earthly family, and instead rejoices at their painful and never-ending agony.)

 

OPTION 3

Some part of your mind will be erased and you will no longer retain any memories of your loved ones and family members; their very existence will be wiped from your mind.

(The downside of this theory is that it appears to make humans playthings for God, who brain-wipes them against their will, in some sense making them slaves/robots).

 

OPTION 4

Your mind will be “reprogrammed” and all the emotion and feelings that you now have towards earthly loved ones will extracted, and then redirected towards members of your heavenly family. Simply put, God will take away your feelings towards your loved ones.

(The downside of this theory is that it appears to make humans playthings for God, who brain-wipes them against their will, in some sense making them slaves/robots).