Looking for a god, or a Savior?
I’ve been emailing an atheist friend of mine lately. It’s been a very fruitful experience. It’s given me a chance to better understand what he believes (or doesn’t believe) and it’s given him a chance to take another look at what scripture has to say.
I think I tend to view atheists as reactionary, and unreasonable. I am finding that some of them are not that way at all. They can be very analytical and very logical in their thinking. Having said that, I wonder why they don’t appreciate this verse where God invites us to come to Him and reason with Him…
“Come now, and let us reason together,” says the LORD, “Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool”
The invitation at the beginning has to appeal to them, but the last half of the verse seems to be what drives them away. God in His wisdom has tied our reasoning to the inescapable realization of our own sin problem. We can’t reason it away. We can’t find a mathematical proof to solve it. We can’t explain it away with the scientific method. There lies the heart of the matter. We have a problem that we can’t fix on our own.
If you intellectually look for God, you’ll never come to Him. If you’re in need of a Savior, you’ll run to Him.
Tags: Theology
February 1st, 2005 at 1:40 pm
Excellent.
February 2nd, 2005 at 12:00 am
Well, I certainly can’t speak for all atheists (we’re a pretty heterogeneous bunch), but it’s worth pointing out that not every sentence that uses the word “reason” has any connection to reason or reasoning. That particular citation is an example of what Philosophy 101 students call a non sequitur.
In any case, the idea that every concept ought to reduce to logic and empirical examination died more or less at the same time as logical positivism a few decades back; I have yet to find any actual living, breathing person who really thinks that everything in life is reducible to reason. Those few who claim such a thing (and their practice isn’t quite as smooth as their rhetoric) tend to belong to what I fondly call the “cult of reason”. Me, I’d rather use reason than proselytize for it.
Best,
Leighton
February 2nd, 2005 at 5:19 pm
The philosophies of man are built upon views that are subject to change with time…as you have pointed out. Those that appear to be solid at one point in time, become obsolete at a later time. However, the constant continues to be our sin nature. Man is not progressing over time in regards to this. So the problem still remains.