God: "The Monster of the Bible" A Critical Review of the book, "The God Delusion" 5

God: "The Monster of the Bible" A Critical Review of the book, "The God Delusion" 5
Brad Reiches
May 15 2007 10:34AM

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Tuesday, May 15, 2007
GodThoughtsWired!

"God...The Monster of the Bible"

The God Delusion, by Richard Dawkins

5

"God, though not technically disprovable,

 is very very improbable indeed."

-Richard Dawkins

For those that are interested, you may click on Does God Exist Debate* to view a recent Nightline program involving former child TV star Kirk Cameron.  While I wholeheartedly endorse the discipline of ever-increasing knowledge of what we believe, why we believe it, and a willingness to share it, I find "argument contests" to be of little value...and here's why:

1.  I think that most people, regardless of belief, would agree that you can find both believers and unbelievers in virtually every arena of study.  For example, in the field of Biology we will find biologist who believe in God as well as those who do not.  And the same could be said of geneticists, anthropologists, cosmologists, chemists, etc. 

2.  Both sides sincerely believe that their argument is the stronger one, thus, after thousands of years...the debate rages on.

3.  The Bible teaches that our most valuable witnessing tool will be a transformed life.  Few, if any, have ever come to Christ because they were beaten in an argument.  "They will know we are Christians by our love" (John 13:34).

I'm concerned about the value of trying to "prove" the existence of God because debates such as these are fought at the intellectual level, while our Bible tells us that "our faith does not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God" (1 Corinthians 2:5).  Point being that, "The god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving" (2 Coninthians 4:4).  As such, no amount of intellectual prowess has the power to heal blinded spiritual eyes.

Furthermore, the decision to follow Christ is not primarily an intellectual issue, anyway.  Decades ago it was "proven" that smoking cigarettes is "hazardous to our health."  Even so, tens of thousands of continue to smoke.  Similarly, for most, the decision to trust God is not primarily dependent on cognitive understanding.  The choice to give your life to Jesus is a moral decision.

*In this debate the question arose, "Did God create evil?" and it was insenuated that, indeed, "God DID create evil."  THIS IS NOT CORRECT!  In giving mankind the freedom of choice, God created "the potential for evil."  God is holy and utterly and absolutely without sin.  God gave man a free-will.  Man used his free-will to sin.  As a result of sin, evil entered the world.  For example, if I give my child a dollar and I instruct her to use it wisely - she in turn buys a candy bar, eats it, and it makes her sick - It would be wrong to conclude that her sickness was my fault.