THIS DOESN'T MEAN ATHEISTS ARE PRACTICAL OR IT'S PRACTICAL!
"In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek him; all his thoughts are, 'There is no God'" (Psalm 10:4, ESV). The NLT renders it more up-to-date: "... They seem to think that God is dead." Friedrich Nietzsche proclaimed that "God is dead" when he maintained it over 100 years ago, mankind has only found out that Christians worship a God who will not die! Our God defeated the sting of death (cf. Hosea 13:14. We are ransomed from the grave! (cf. Psalm 49:15). What was meant, though, is that they have killed off God by explaining everything without him; namely, through evolution and science, which they thought undermined faith in God. Can we be intellectually fulfilled and not commit intellectual suicide without believing in God? Evolution had given man an alternate religion, and it is indeed a religion, the bedrock, and the foundation of all humanistic and secular thought and faith.
Secularists have no room for God in the picture and Marxists say that God "does not, cannot, and must not exist!" They refuse to let a Divine Foot in the door of the metric! It is a tragic event when a man takes God out of the reckoning and loves darkness rather than light. The repercussions of this God-is-dead movement is that God seems irrelevant and that we don't need him to solve our problems with all the advances in science and medicine.
Secularists have no room for God in the picture and Marxists say that God "does not, cannot, and must not exist!" They refuse to let a Divine Foot in the door of the metric! It is a tragic event when a man takes God out of the reckoning and loves darkness rather than light. The repercussions of this God-is-dead movement is that God seems irrelevant and that we don't need him to solve our problems with all the advances in science and medicine.
You might hear them announce that God is not real, but they have more questions to answer than questions they ask of Christians that they must answer. No faith has all the answers and must begin on a journey without having all the answers. Ask yourself how many hospitals or relief agencies have been started by atheists? How many lives have been changed and transformed for the better by atheism? It is obvious that they have not become better, but bitter! But we destroy all speculation raised up against the knowledge of God (cf. 2 Cor. 10:5).
Atheism is a "bankrupt philosophy" and no one can prove it to be a valid faith. There's no concrete evidence, just animosity toward a God the imagine and despise--a straw man argument--they object to God, not themselves! The point is that you cannot logically prove a universal negative (you couldn't prove there are no little, green men either!) because you would have to be omniscient, knowing all, and omnipresent, being everywhere at the same time, to accomplish a valid proof. The point is that there is more evidence for and arguments supporting faith in God than evidence or arguments for atheism. Don't rule God out! If you do, you'll worship someone or something else, according to Dostoevsky.
A practical atheist is one who lives his life as if there were no God, though he professes a relationship with Him. His faith isn't lived out in fruitful living. A person can deny God by their works and become a negative witness to God's reality. It is more honest to admit doubt and live with integrity than to be a pretender or hypocrite confessing faith in God. There is a difference between a profession of faith and reality of faith--the former is bogus, while the latter is demonstrated by works as evidence (Matt. 7:16 says you shall know them by their fruits).
Pascal had a wager saying there's nothing to lose and everything to gain by believing in God, but having no faith has everything to lose and nothing to gain. The only real reason people refuse to believe is for moral reasons or rebellion, not intellectual ones--they don't want to submit to Christ's lordship. People will not believe, it's not that they cannot. There is ample evidence for the honest seeker for God, while there is never enough evidence to convince the skeptic. If one is willing to obey God, he will know whether it's of God (cf. John 7:17).
Today there are many nominal Christians--in name only--who may even be so-called weekend warriors who nod to God on Sunday, and feel their obligation to the Almighty is complete and they can enjoy the rest of the week seeking their wills. God wants complete ownership of our lives and doesn't want our achievements or accomplishments, but us--He demands compliance to His will and obedience! The Christian walk by faith is about submitting to Jesus as Lord, and trusting Him as Savior--you cannot save yourself!
"If there is no God, all things are permissible" (as Fyodor Dostoevsky said), and everything is up for grabs, you could add. Even when Christians "do not call upon God" (cf. Psalm 53:4), they become practical atheists. Secular Humanism is prevalent today, denying the reality of God; their marching orders are: Down with God; up with man! Will Durant has concluded that "the greatest question of our time is whether we can live [endure and survive] without God" in the calculus. Alexander Solzhenitsyn deplored: "Men have forgotten God."
Atheism, (disguised under the banners of Communism, Nazism, and Fascism) has perpetrated great evils in bloodbaths slaughtering millions in the track records of Nazi Germany, Soviet Russia, and Red China. Only uninformed atheists activists like the redoubtable Madalyn Murray O'Hair have said that Christianity has contributed nothing good to the world. Au contraire, virtually every social reform movement like the end of slavery, child labor, gladiator fights, wars of aggression have been the result of Christ's influence. In fact, the first 150 colleges in America were Christian, and nearly every European institution was. The world would be a vastly different place by today's standards without Christ: Atheist Bertrand Russell said that what we need is more Christian love and compassionn. Secular scholars concede Christ's coming changed the course of history.
Atheism is a "bankrupt philosophy" and no one can prove it to be a valid faith. There's no concrete evidence, just animosity toward a God the imagine and despise--a straw man argument--they object to God, not themselves! The point is that you cannot logically prove a universal negative (you couldn't prove there are no little, green men either!) because you would have to be omniscient, knowing all, and omnipresent, being everywhere at the same time, to accomplish a valid proof. The point is that there is more evidence for and arguments supporting faith in God than evidence or arguments for atheism. Don't rule God out! If you do, you'll worship someone or something else, according to Dostoevsky.
A practical atheist is one who lives his life as if there were no God, though he professes a relationship with Him. His faith isn't lived out in fruitful living. A person can deny God by their works and become a negative witness to God's reality. It is more honest to admit doubt and live with integrity than to be a pretender or hypocrite confessing faith in God. There is a difference between a profession of faith and reality of faith--the former is bogus, while the latter is demonstrated by works as evidence (Matt. 7:16 says you shall know them by their fruits).
Pascal had a wager saying there's nothing to lose and everything to gain by believing in God, but having no faith has everything to lose and nothing to gain. The only real reason people refuse to believe is for moral reasons or rebellion, not intellectual ones--they don't want to submit to Christ's lordship. People will not believe, it's not that they cannot. There is ample evidence for the honest seeker for God, while there is never enough evidence to convince the skeptic. If one is willing to obey God, he will know whether it's of God (cf. John 7:17).
Today there are many nominal Christians--in name only--who may even be so-called weekend warriors who nod to God on Sunday, and feel their obligation to the Almighty is complete and they can enjoy the rest of the week seeking their wills. God wants complete ownership of our lives and doesn't want our achievements or accomplishments, but us--He demands compliance to His will and obedience! The Christian walk by faith is about submitting to Jesus as Lord, and trusting Him as Savior--you cannot save yourself!
"If there is no God, all things are permissible" (as Fyodor Dostoevsky said), and everything is up for grabs, you could add. Even when Christians "do not call upon God" (cf. Psalm 53:4), they become practical atheists. Secular Humanism is prevalent today, denying the reality of God; their marching orders are: Down with God; up with man! Will Durant has concluded that "the greatest question of our time is whether we can live [endure and survive] without God" in the calculus. Alexander Solzhenitsyn deplored: "Men have forgotten God."
Atheism, (disguised under the banners of Communism, Nazism, and Fascism) has perpetrated great evils in bloodbaths slaughtering millions in the track records of Nazi Germany, Soviet Russia, and Red China. Only uninformed atheists activists like the redoubtable Madalyn Murray O'Hair have said that Christianity has contributed nothing good to the world. Au contraire, virtually every social reform movement like the end of slavery, child labor, gladiator fights, wars of aggression have been the result of Christ's influence. In fact, the first 150 colleges in America were Christian, and nearly every European institution was. The world would be a vastly different place by today's standards without Christ: Atheist Bertrand Russell said that what we need is more Christian love and compassionn. Secular scholars concede Christ's coming changed the course of history.
In closing: Faith is only valid when resting on facts worthy of it, not depending on the strength of the faith or sincerity. Christianity deals with facts. History's God is the God of faith and transcendent truth! A word to the wise is sufficient: Don't take advantage of grace! Soli Deo Gloria!
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