elpisman

Archive for the ‘atheism’ Category

, , , , ,

Communists Fearful of Evangelicals

In Christianity, atheism on November 4, 2009 at 1:45 pm

Atheists invariably attempt to suppress Christians and Christian ideas. Communist societies insist on total control of media,education,the arts,and religious activities.  If their ideas were so persuasive you would think they would want to encourage debate. The paranoia runs deep doesn’t it?

http://wwrn.org/article.php?idd=31813

Russia & the CIS – Russia – Christianity – Evangelicals

 

“The Russian state wants to restrict the activities of Evangelicals”
(“AsiaNews”, November 3, 2009)
Moscow, Russia – The Russian Ministry for Justice has proposed amendments to the law on “Freedom of Conscience and Religious Organizations” that, if adopted, will introduce stronger restrictions on the activities of Evangelicals in the country. The community is on alert: If the proposal becomes law, among other things the evangelicals can no longer pray freely without a permit and people with a “criminal record” will not be allowed become members of their communities. The latter condition, which also concerns other religious groups because it would clear the path for state interference in the individual freedom of conscience.
The document that first appeared in mid-October at the Ministry for Justice – later reported by Gazeta.ru – contains, for the first time, a precise definition for “evangelical activities”; the text speaks of ‘activities of a religious association aimed at spreading its confessional beliefs among people who are not members with the intent to attract these people to the association itself. “
The evangelical communities are known for their aggressive proselytizing in war zones and even at the risk of their own life. In Russia, on the other hand, the Orthodox Church has always been very careful to protect its sphere of influence, and opposed to all forms of proselytizing.
According to the proposal of the Ministry of Justice, only the leaders of evangelical organizations will have the right to preach. All the others (for the evangelicals every believer is also a priest, ed) will need a permit from the authorities. Even foreigners will be required to have written authorization to spread their teaching. The document prohibits preachers, both Russian and foreign, from leading prayers in churches and monasteries of other communities, offering material or social benefits to potential new recruits and the use the use of force, psychological pressure or manipulation of consciences.
If the amendments are adopted, in the declaration to register as a religious community, information about leaders must be provided to authorities. A fundamental requirement is the exclusion of persons from the community who are convicted of inciting religious or ethnic hatred and other crimes of extremist nature. “The problem is that you may not know the criminal background of all the faithful – says Deacon Andrei Kuraev, professor at the Moscow Ecclesiastical Academy – nor on the other hand can you close the door on him.” “In this way – complains Kuraev – the state will decide who is entitled or not to belong to a religious organization”.
Penalties for any offenders are mostly financial: those who involve children in religious activities without parental consent, must pay a fine of between 2 and 5 thousand rubles. Evangelical worship without authorization will cost up to 7 thousand rubles. Those who, despite a criminal conviction for extremism, continue to preach will be fined from 7 to 10 thousand rubles. Those who allow evangelical activities to take place in the churches of other communities, hospitals or government buildings will be sanctioned with fines of up to 15 thousand rubl

 

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

 

 

, , , ,

Is Change Possible ? From Skepticism to Belief

In atheism, salvation, testimonies on June 29, 2009 at 8:45 am

A young man who was a pastor’s son left home in rebellion against his father’s religion. Despite his mothers tears, he was determined to make his own way in life, and do it without the help of any Deity. He went to New York,and tried his hand at acting, but money was non-existent,and after a time he left in disgust. One evening as he was traveling, he decided to spend the night at an inn. There happened to be one room left. There was only one drawback according to the landlord :

he had one (room) next to a young man who was critically ill, perhaps dying. He might be disturbed, but…? No, he would not let a few noises next door deny him a nights rest…though the night was still, he could not sleep. In the next room beyond the partition he could hear sounds, not very loud,footsteps coming and going; a board creaking; low voices; a groan or gasp. These did not disturb him unduly- not even the realization that a man might be dying…What disturbed him was the thought that the man in the next room might not be prepared for death. Was he himself ? …His father would would welcome it as a door opening outward to immortal glory. So much his creed had done for him. But to the son, the freethinker,the Deist,the infidel, lying huddled under the covers, death was an exit not an entrance. It was a door to an empty pit, to darkness darker than night, at best extinction, to worst to – what? On this matter his philosophy was silent. It had no answer but, ” Who knows”?

The next morning the young man arose quickly, found the landlord to pay his bill,and

asked causally whether the young man in the next room was better. ” He is dead,was the answer. ” Dead?” There was a heavy finality to the word…Do you know who he was?” ” Oh yes. Young man from the college in Providence. Name of Eames, Jacob Eames.”

The significance of this name cannot be understated. Jacob Eames was the very person who had been the most influential in directing  the young man’s change in worldview from intellectually believing in God to that of a skeptic.

Adoniram  knew his father’s God very well. He was omniscient. He knew everything. He was omnipotent. He had all power. He could foresee where Adoniram would be that night, could foresee his leaving New York when he did. He could foresee that Jacob Eames would be where he was, fall sick, die, be damned. More: being  All Powerful, this He must have done with a purpose, for He could have arranged matters otherwise.( The Life of Adoniram Judson:To the Golden Shore, Courtney Anderson, pg.43-45)

Adoniram enrolled in Andover Seminary, not as a ministerial student, but as a ” special” student. He made no profession of faith. From September until December, he wrestled with theological  questions. The training of his youth, the Scriptures that he had learned versus the ideas of atheists and skeptics. On the second day of December, he “made a solemn dedication of himself to God.” He later was a missionary to Burma and translated the Bible into the Burmese language. He underwent bitter trials, imprisonment, and family tragedies.He was faithful to his calling and served the Lord until his death. Faith, hope, and love replaced unbelief,doubt,and cynicism. A life was transformed by the power of God. And then, this transformed life  was used by the Lord to impact and transform countless other lives.

Contrast Adoniram Judson’s life with that of Richard Dawkins. Dawkins has spent a good portion of his life attacking the very idea of God, and is helping to sponsor a summer camp to help ” equip” youth to be better atheists.http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article6591236.ece

Have you ever wondered at the audacity it takes for a mere human being to declare that there is no God?   Truly ,  “ The fool says in his heart , there is no God.” 

For believers who have children who are yet unsaved – never give up, keep praying for their salvation. Adoniram’s parents prayed for him, and God moved in a miraculous way to answer their prayers. Grace and mercy were extended to Adoniram. Perhaps we should also pray for Richard Dawkins as well. After all, we were fools once, despising the true and living God in our heart of hearts, and in need of a miracle of grace.

You, child, will be called a prophet of Ha’Elyon (the Most High), you will go before the Lord to prepare His way by spreading the knowledge among His people, that deliverance comes by having sins forgiven, through our God’s most tender mercy, which causes the Sunrise to visit us from Heaven, to shine on those in darkness, living in the shadow of death, and to guide their feet into the paths of peace.( Luke1:76-79)

, , ,

Your Cheating Heart: Atheists and God

In atheism, evil, the devil on June 21, 2009 at 4:02 am

I have often wondered how a human being can say that they do not believe in a God. I know,  there are entire books devoted to that subject, but the reasoning rings hollow. Methinks they protest too much. There is a  massive amount of evidence for complexity in creation. Humans  have  a preprogrammed sense of  right and wrong to some degree, and the creative, intellectual, and spiritual qualities of humans should lead one to at least honestly investigate the possibility of a Creator. But what if it is the combination of rebellion and a skewed morality that leads one away from God?  The intellectual reasoning and subsequent denial may be a cover for emotional attachments  and selfish desires that lead one to ignore and cast off the notion of God.

John Blanchard has a very revealing quote from Aldous Huxley that illustrates this perfectly:

Looking back on his early days, he wrote, “ I had motives for not wanting the world to have meaning; consequently I assumed that it had none, and was able without any difficulty to find satisfying reasons for this assumption. Most ignorance is evincible ignorance. We don’t know because we don’t want to know…Those who detect no meaning in the world generally do so because, for one reason or another, it suits their books that the world should be meaningless…For myself, as in no doubt for most of my contemporaries, the philosophy of meaninglessness was essentially an instrument of liberation, sexual and political. (Does God Believe in Atheists? John Blanchard, pg.335)

I had the interesting experience of studying Socialism and Marxism in grad school under the teaching of an instructor who was a self- described Christian Marxist. I thought that a bit odd, since Marx was so anti-religious in his writings. It became my belief  that Marx was not so much an atheist as a person who was Anti – God, a God hater. Richard Wurmbrand points out the devilish roots of Marx’s hatred for God in his book, Marx and Satan:

Marx wrote in a letter to his father, “ A curtain had fallen. My holy of holies was rent asunder and new gods had to be installed.”

 

From Marx’s poem entitled  “On Hegel” – Words I teach all mixed up into a devilish muddle. Thus, anyone  may think just what he chooses to think.

 

From another epigram on Hegel – Because I discovered the highest, and because I found the deepest  through meditation, I am great like a God; I clothe myself in darkness like Him.

 

In his poem Pale Maiden – Thus heaven I’ve forfeited, I know it full well. My soul, once true to God , is chosen for hell. ( Marx and Satan, pg.21-22)

Wurmbrand makes a convincing case that Marx was a Satanist. Whether he was or not , he was one who shook his fist at God and lived a wretched, miserable life, one that impacted many people for evil.

So, are the roots of atheism intellectual, moral/emotional or some combination of the heart and mind? The Apostle Paul speaks to this in the Book of Romans:

WHAT IS REVEALED IS GOD’S ANGER FROM HEAVEN AGAINST ALL THE GODLESSNESS AND WICKEDNESS OF PEOPLE WHO IN THEIR WICKEDNESS KEEP SUPPRESSING THE TRUTH, BECAUSE  WHAT IS KNOWN ABOUT GOD IS PLAIN TO THEM, SINCE GOD MADE IT PLAIN TO THEM. FOR EVER  SINCE THE CREATION OF THE UNIVERSE HIS INVISIBLE QUALITIES – BOTH HIS ETERNAL POWER AND DIVINE NATURE- HAVE BEEN CLEARLY SEEN, BECAUSE THEY CAN BE UNDERSTOOD FROM WHAT HE HAS MADE. THEREFORE, THEY HAVE NO EXCUSE, BECAUSE, ALTHOUGH THEY KNOW WHO GOD IS , THEY DO NOT GLORIFY HIM AS GOD OR THANK HIM. ON THE CONTRARY, THEY HAVE BECOME FUTILE IN THEIR THINKING; AND THEIR UNDISCERNING HEARTS HAVE BECOME DARKENED. CLAIMING TO BE WISE, THEY HAVE BECOME FOOLS!( ROMANS 1:18-22)

 

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]