Koukl: "100% God - 100% Man"

In the last post, I mentioned how Wintery Knight discussed the importance of an accurate understanding of Christianity...I want to follow that post with the following link to an article written by Greg Koukl, another great thinker...

It's called "100% God - 100% Man," and to summarize, Koukl states:

"There's is not a sharp dichotomy between God working and our working.
They go hand in hand. God works through our initiative."

...how God uses our wills and our actions to accomplish His ends..."

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"Pray toward Heaven. Row toward shore." ~ Lee Ezell

The Brilliance of Wintery Knight

Here is a link to a brilliant blog, written by a favorite thinker, Wintery Knight...most Christians have a misunderstanding of God, and it leads many of them to "de-convert"...they are simply misinformed...so WK hits on key elements to show how Christianity truly relates to our lives, and why it is so important that our understanding of correct Christian Theology and Doctrine, be accurate, instead of some superstitious nonsense...

...here are few excerpts:

"This is why accurate theology matters. No serious Christian thinks that you stop sinning after you become a Christian, and no serious Christian thinks that prayer alone is a solution to sin. To stop sinning, you need to engage more than the spirit, you need to engage the mind. Most people want to spiritualize things because prayer is easier than study. But if you want to stop sinning, the best way is a combination of prayer and study."

"Some people want to dumb Christianity down to the level of superstition then they complain that it doesn't work. But Christianity is better when you learn more and work harder..."

...People become Christians because they want to be like Jesus, and they understand that Jesus was not having fun. He was doing a job, and he wasn't happy or appreciated."

"It's so strange to me that people think that the best way to see God interfere is to pray. The way I see God working in my life is when I go home and listen to some debate about the problem of evil, and then the next day some atheist asks me out to lunch to talk about why God allows evil. Maybe instead of doing easy things, we should actually invest in our relationship with God and then see if he responds by giving us work to do. Maybe a relationship with God is about serving him, and the joy is about seeing him reward those efforts by working with us and through us. Maybe God has more for us than just entertainment."

Fallacies: Genetic Fallacy #2

In a prior post, I had mentioned an example of the Genetic Fallacy...here in this post, I would like to expose a second example of the Genetic Fallacy...

"Christianity is just a crutch."

In other words, the person is fallaciously inferring that the origin of a Christian's belief simply stems from his/her dependency on a safety mechanism or a support system. But as stated in the prior post, the origin or how one comes to believe in something does not necessarily prove or disprove the validity of such a belief...to make a claim that "Christianity is a crutch" is totally irrelevant to whether or not Christianity is true, and simply shows that the person who makes the claim does not have a clue about logic or rationality.

So once again, take a tactical approach to turn this on the atheist or whoever makes this fallacious claim...here is a great way to do it, from Greg Koukl, (author of Tactics: A Game Plan For Discussing Your Christian Convictions).

"Some say Christianity is just a crutch. But let's turn the question on its edge for a moment. Is atheism an emotional crutch, wishful thinking? The ax cuts both ways. Perhaps atheists are rejecting God because they've had a bad relationship with their father. Instead of inventing God, have atheists invented non-God? Have they invented atheism to escape some of the frightening implications of God's existence? Think about it."

The Pro-Abortion Contradiction

Ronald Reagan once said:

“Abortion is advocated only by persons who have themselves been born.”

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Those who are pro-abortion should stop and think about their contradictory position...the only reason they are able to vote or advocate for pro-abortion legislation is because they were not, themselves, aborted...

It's also funny how one of the main things pro-abortion advocates bring up is the issue of having rights...the right to privacy, the right to autonomy, the right to reproductive status...give me a break...again, stop and think about why you have rights to begin with...you were given life...you were not aborted...your rights were not taken away...

...You want to talk about rights...how about the right-to-life for the fetus?

...and understand, that a potential you was not born...you were born...if the embryo you once were was aborted, a potential you would not have been murdered...you would have been murdered...

...so the next time a pro-abortion advocate wants to celebrate their right to abort, they need to stop and think about why they have been given such a right to begin with...

Fallacies: Genetic and Appeal To Pity

Most non-believers claim to be champions of reason, logic, rationality...but to the contrary, the non-theist usually ends up being the more illogical when it comes to world view issues, evident by numerous fallacious statements made in any given conversation. Normally, this comes about because the atheist, agnostic, etc are very good at making assertions, but very bad at making arguments. Two very common fallacies include the Genetic Fallacy and the Appeal to Pity.

Genetic fallacy#1 "You are only a Christian because you were born in the United States."

Notice, this is an assertion...not an argument, and therefore, the non-believer is in a tricky situation because the one who makes the claim, bears the burden...and this presents a problem for someone who commits the genetic fallacy because the origin of one's beliefs or claims does not confirm nor deny the validity of such a belief or claim.

I can believe that 2+2 = 4 because I learned it from a text book or because I learned it from Sir Isaac Newton...it does not matter what my source of belief is, what matters is whether or not the belief is true (i.e Explanatory Power, Cumulative Support)

So if the non-believer really wants to be a champion of reason, they must provide an argument with valid reasons, not simply dodge reality by stating fallacious assertions.

Tactic: Use a question to show them their fallacy by turning it back on them:

"So is it your belief that the only reason I am a Christian is because I grew up in a Christian society?"

They have to answer yes to this question based on their claim...

...now simply reply, "Well, you just believe that because of the society in which you grew up in."

In the next few posts, look for Genetic Fallacy #2, (“Christianity is a crutch for the weak”) and the Appeal to Pity fallacy, (“You mean that all of those other religions are wrong and their followers are going to hell?”)