Showing posts with label Philosophy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Philosophy. Show all posts

Christianity Is Not Blind or Ignorant, Think Critically

Tuesday, March 31, 2009 | Labels: , , , , , , | |

The enemy would have modern Christians believe faith in Jesus Christ is both illogical and ignorant.  Satan knows faith is the most powerful defense the modern Christian has against him, and he will stop at nothing to vanquish it.  Those who can be shaken by the pseudo-intellectual lies crafted by the enemy will find themselves subject to his influence.

Ultimately, the validity of the Christian faith lies on one historical period, the birth and life of Jesus Christ.  There is substantial legal-historical proof for both the virgin birth and correlation of fulfilled prophecy in the life of Jesus Christ.  It is far to substantial to go into depth on a simple post.  Recommended readings for this are both Lee Strobel's "The Case For Christ", Josh McDowells "The New Evidence That Demands a Verdict" and "More Than a Carpenter".  I would also recommend reading counter-points and critical perspectives to gain a complete understanding.

Evidences of both the miraculous birth and life of Jesus Christ are established in historical records beyond those who partook in the writing of the Bible, even the Koran confirms the virgin birth of Jesus Christ took place 500 years before the birth of Muhammad(*1). 

A student of philosophy wrote a great article that concluded the following points (understanding of historical evidences and contexts is assumed, otherwise these points will appear assumed - it is recommended you dig into the historical evidences yourself to verify these points):
Four “core facts” which even the skeptics admit ...

a) Jesus was a real man, who lived and then died by crucifixion. Check out your history: Crucifixion was a cruel (but effective) method of death by torture. Victims died not from actual wounds but by suffocation, from the weight of their bodies hanging from outstretched arms. The Roman soldiers attending crucifixions were experienced in their work and could tell who was dead and who wasn’t.

b) The disciples saw something and they believed it was the risen Jesus. (The theory of mass hallucination doesn’t fly because, as psychology will tell us, it simply doesn’t happen.)

c) Their lives were totally transformed, even to the point of death. Now, at first glance, this may not seem much to us who have heard of things like the Jim Jones cult, Koresh, and Heaven’s Gate—but we aren’t talking about a case of mass suicide here. This is a group of (at least) eleven men, who went out to different parts of the world, devoted to the same cause, and who all separately suffered torture and met their deaths rather than renounce what they believed was the risen Jesus. Doesn’t anyone think that at least ONE of those men, if they had been privy to some sort of scam, would have spoken up rather than face martyrdom?

d) Lastly, one Saul of Tarsus, bitter enemy of the followers of Christ, is converted—HE believes he sees the risen Jesus, and it transforms his life to the point that he devotes his life to preaching, suffering, and dying for Christ.
For those well versed in the history of this era, these established logical deductions make a case for rational belief in both the life and ressurrection of Jesus Christ.  

There are those who have suppressed these evidences for the benefit of their self-indulgent philosophies of life.  Jesus Christ promoted both love and compassion for one another.  His philosophy is of non-violence and community.  Yet, his philosophy is looked at in outrage by those who do not believe.  Instead of looking at the life and teachings of Jesus Christ, they look to disprove his existence by looking at those who believe in him.  This is fundamentally flawed, as Jesus himself said no good could come from the evil creatures we are.

"Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good--except God alone." - Luke 18:19

The beauty of Christ's teachings is that he bridges our evil lives with that of the goodness of God.  We can indeed be good, but only through a relationship with God.  Jesus allowed man to truly be good by giving him communion through God with his life.  Goodness, in this sense, is not what the world deems good, but what God deems good.  Since men are fundamentally evil, they will fail at doing the good God want's them to do.  This is merely common sense.  Looking to Christians without looking at Jesus Christ as the ultimate verification of Christianity is fundamentally flawed. 

Craig Chamberlin

Obama and Congress, The Delegated Messiahs

Wednesday, March 25, 2009 | Labels: , , , , , | |

As America braced herself for the inevitable economic recession.  She found herself in desperate need of a savior.  Instead of turning to the one true savior, they turned to the power and wisdom of man.  Obama and congress' intentions are, in respect to their burden of expectations, well intended, but their solutions are blind.  The world, in it's lust for a man-made savior, will be surprised at the outcome.  Those who do not turn to man alone for a solution will not be.  

Obama and congress, who believe they can bring about the salvation of our current societal corruption are setting themselves up for disappointment.  Those who embrace man-made government as a feasible solution to any form of corruption will find their thirsts unquenched.  This truth translates across both ends of the political aisle.

A society is never fixed by it's goverment, a government is established by it's society.  If the people become corrupt, the government becomes reflective of that corruption.  We decieve ourselves when we blame those of particular parties for societal or government corruption.
"Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting."  - Galatians 6:7-8
For years America has sown her seeds in the flesh.  She has moved from the spirit of God to the spirit of lust, greed and materialism.  In the process, her soul was corrupted, and in turn, her government was corrupted.  It is purely human that in the years of her reaping the corruption she has sown, her blame is shifted to those in power.

We in America have none to blame but ourselves.  Our love for money.  Our love for sex.  Our love for lust, our drive for living a life at the expense of the life of others.  In our pride, we have elevated ourselves higher than our brothers and sisters.  In our elevation, we now fall without a love for truth.

Pain is much more devastating when there is no true understanding of the source.  In a bitter attempt to abolish the spiritual pain of America.  We turn our faces to those in power in hopes that they can save us from the seeds we have sown.  Although those in power genuinely believe they can fix the corruption through more government presence - they are bandaging the symptoms of the issue, not curing the source.

Government expansion as a solution to a corrupt society is equivalent to placing a bandaid on an infected wound.  The bandaid may stop the bleeding, but if it goes untreated, the infection will continue to spread throughout the body.  The spirit of America is dying, and unless she goes back to the one who can cleanse the soul of corruption, Jesus Christ, the man made bandages we create merely postpone the inevitable.

Craig Chamberlin


Teach Not Fools, But Encourage The Wise

Tuesday, March 24, 2009 | Labels: , , , , , , , , | |

The modern Christian movement has placed much effort in the rebuke of fools.  Fools, in this sense, is not a derogatory term but are those who ignore the truths of reality in the realm of cause and consequence to perpetuate their lifestyle.  Instead, their wisdom is found in the world of sensual pleasure and self-exalted philosophy.  

Ravi Zacharias once said about our generation, "How do you reach a generation that listens with its eyes and thinks with its feelings?"

I merit this challenge as the greatest demand of the Christians of my generation.  Fools are those who think with their feelings.  The moods of man are highly fluctuational depending on that which delights his senses at a particular time.  In the test of truth, senses are deceiving, and fail to yield long term happiness.  

The distraction Satan has placed before us is one of blind challenge.  The modern Christian tries dearly to both justify and exemplify the truth of Jesus Christ to those who think with their senses.  The result is always that of disappointment and shattered faith.  Faith is lost because their efforts to help those they love yield little to no results.

The Bible clearly defines the uselessness attempting to teach the the truths of Christ to fools.
"A fool hath no delight in understanding, but that his heart may discover itself." - Proverbs 18:2
"The way of a fool is right in his own eyes: but he that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise." - Proverbs 12:15
A Christian can expell much of their energy in the attempt to teach wisdom to fools.  Fools, in turn, will find pleasure in the twisting of their wise words to fit their sensual lives.  The fool understands that giving into God means to give up the life of sensual truth.  No longer are they subject to their own will, but to the will of one who will reveal their worldly pleasures as the path to death.
“Education without values, as useful as it is, seems rather to make man a more clever devil.” — C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
Attempting to teach fools merely opens the Christian to vulnurability of receiving hatred from the world.  Those who have hardened their hearts against wisdom have already made themselves the enemy of the truth.  As with any battle, the fool sees the enemy as one that needs defeated, not tolerated.

It seems evident, the work of the modern Christian should focus it's efforts on teaching and encouraging those who are willing to subject themselves to the spirit of truth.  A person of this stature is one who has humility and has admitted they are open to the possibilities of truths beyond their sensual perceptions.  Many times, it is those who have reached a moral bankruptcy while living under the poor wisdom of fools.

The Christian faith offers truth for both the mind and the heart.  It bears answers to questions even avid skeptics have found perplexing.  For those who hunger for the truth of Christ through the mind, they ought to seek the writings of those who have endured the same intellectual challenges.

God has a way of reaching fools, in his own time.  The role of the Christian is to pray for those who do not seek his wisdom.  The fool doesn't believe in God's wisdom because of his heart, not his mind.  Jesus Christ, as the master of the heart, is the only one who can open the will of those who have hardened their hearts to his word.
"Ultimately, the problem with man is not the absence of evidence, it is the suppression of it." - Ravi Zacharias
C.S. Lewis was, for a large portion of his life, a staunch Atheist.  He challenged the Christian faith, as well as others, on all facets of the truth.  He was not a man of poor intelligence, he was one who seeked deeper answers to lifes more complex questions. Ravi Zacharias, who heads up RZIM, has made it his life's pursuit to accept the most intellectual of challenges from both theists and atheists against Christianity.  He often illustrates no other argument is near as coherent and filled with the wisdom and truth of life.

Seek not to change the minds of fools, pray that their hearts open to the necessity of God's wisdom.  Through actions and words, seek to bring enlightenment to those who openly love wisdom, of whose heart Jesus has already softened to the need for his truths.

- Craig Chamberlin


Christian Defense: The Straw Man and Ad Hominem

Friday, April 25, 2008 | Labels: , , , , | |

In a world filled with intellectuals, defense of the Christian faith and principles can become both a difficult and emotionally exhausting task. This is especially true when Christians are attacked with what are known as 'Straw Man' or 'Ad Hominem' arguments that aim to do three things: place the original arguer in a ridiculous position never taken, attack that position, and destroy the character of the arguer.

It is likely many individuals use the straw man or the ad hominem arguments by incident, and it is without a doubt that I have used them without even realizing it. This is why it is important to understand the structure of these arguments so they can be captured and corrected before the argument turns into an attack on each arguers character rather than addressing the true substance of the argument.

The straw man argument is the single most commonly used argument against the Christian faith and apologist. It is second to the ad hominem and is defined as:

"To "set up a straw man" or "set up a straw man argument" is to describe a position that superficially resembles an opponent's actual view but is easier to refute, then attribute that position to the opponent (for example, deliberately overstating the opponent's position). A straw man argument can be a successful rhetorical technique (that is, it may succeed in persuading people) but it carries little or no real evidential weight, because the opponent's actual argument has not been refuted." - (wikipedia.org)

For example:

Arguer 1:
Proposition I: The Christian faith can be defended by legal-historical evidences
Proposition II: Logical Evidences A, B and C defends their position.
Proposition III: Therefore the Christian faith can be defended by legal-historical evidences.

Arguer 2:
Proposition I: Those who argue the Christian faith can be defended cannot prove the existence of God using the scientific method.
Proposition II: Logical evidences D and E are often used to attempt to prove God using the scientific method.
Proposition III: Logical evidences D and E are clearly invalid because of logical evidence F and G
Proposition IV: Therefore, The Christian faith cannot be defended by legal-historical evidences.

As one can see, in the straw man argument, the second arguer often times completely ignores the logical evidences or arguments put forth by the initial arguer and instead discuss an entirely different argument. In this case the second arguer brings up logical evidences D and E, which were not argued by the initial arguer, he then dis-proves an argument never made, then concludes the initial argument made is false.

Many times, the argument the second arguer places the first arguer into is easily refutable and emotionally based. Doing this places the readers or viewers of the argument emotionally against the first arguer so they are more inclined to disagree with the original argument.

For example, an initial arguer may state they believe God exists due to the complexity of the universe and cite their evidences of unexplainable complexities. The second arguer may, in response, argue those who believe in God must also prove there is no 'flying spaghetti monster' or no 'Zeus', they then set up the argument from the position of those who believe in God to dis-prove a 'flying spaghetti monster' and prove 'Jesus Christ'. Finally, with the scientific method, they illustrate how this argument is false, and therefore conclude the other individuals belief in God must be invalid.

As one can see, the initial arguer cited evidences of unexplainable complexities, but these logical evidences were completely ignored. The second arguer then placed the first arguer into an argument he did not make and proceeded to defeat that argument. It looks great from those doing the reading and looks great for the second arguer, but it does not address the real substance of the initial argument.

The ad hominem argument is defined as:

"An ad hominem argument, also known as argumentum ad hominem (Latin: "argument to the man", "argument against the man") consists of replying to an argument or factual claim by attacking or appealing to a characteristic or belief of the person making the argument or claim, rather than by addressing the substance of the argument or producing evidence against the claim. The process of proving or disproving the claim is thereby subverted, and the argumentum ad hominem works to change the subject." (wikipedia.org)

For example:

Arguer 1:
Proposition I: Homosexuality is a behavioral choice.
Proposition II: Logical evidences A, B and C defends their position.
Proposition III: Therefore homosexuality is a behavioral choice.

Arguer 2:
Proposition I: Christians also believe homosexuals should "burn in hell".
Proposition II: Cases A and B illustrate instances where this is true.
Proposition III: Logical evidences why cases A and B are harming other people.
Proposition IV: Therefore any argument put forth by Christians are rubbish.

The ad hominem is much easier to spot. When these come up it often illustrates a vilification of the initial arguer or the group the initial arguer may be a part of. In this case it was Christians. The second arguer used extreme cases to emotionally draw the readers or viewers into their position. Finally, they proceeded to attack the initial arguer as if they had been a part of the extreme cases cited, then concluded the initial arguer lacks credibility to establish any logical evidences.

The ad hominem is one of the most commonly used arguments against those who defend the Christian faith. One will find many times they are being vilified as if they committed acts or atrocities performed by Christians they have both never met and would never had been a part of. After they are accused of these atrocities, they will find themselves discredited as a reliable source of logical evidences.

As stated above, there are likely cases where I have done this without the realization of doing so. Many times the ad hominem and straw man are used as a defense mechanism when others test or question principles one holds dear. It is likely that many times the use of them is unintentional, but the aim is to remove them as much as possible to clear the way for a logical and reasonable debate of ideas. Modern society has entered the war of ideas, it is important that Christians are properly equipped with the logical tools necessary to defend their faith.

Craig Chamberlin





Related Articles:
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Modern Man has "Educated Himself into Imbecility"
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Jesus Christ's Sacrifice as the Ultimate Act of Love

Friday, April 18, 2008 | Labels: , , | |

Many have probably given some thought to Jesus Christ's commandment to "love your neighbor as you love yourself". When looked at in detail, this is a profound and almost impossible commandment to live up too - Jesus Christ's sacrifice illustrated this love in it's purest form.

Each and every one of us has a tendancy to live our entire lives providing for ourselves, giving ourselves food and clothing, treating ourselves to nights on the town. The commandment Jesus gives us is not an easy one, nor does it appear it was meant to be. It is quite interesting to think about this in further detail. If we are to love others as we love ourselves it means that we are to put them at the place of highest importance because we give ourselves that very same treatment.

Jesus Christ was the perfect example of this, after all, his sacrifice for the atonement of sin was the ultimate act of selflessness and love. Dying for the world illustrated that Jesus Christ was acting as he had preached - he did for us what he expects us to do for others.

The sacrifice made by Jesus and his commandment to love others as we love ourselves is often one of the most difficult issues I struggle with as a Christian. It is very difficult to put others at a higher importance than ourselves, and the few times one does succeed, it is a tremendously wonderful feeling. I, like any other Christian, contantly fail to live up to such a standard.

The standard exists none-the-less, and Jesus Christ's Sacrifice really puts into perspective to us that the small sacrifices we make to put ourselves into the position of others is really not as difficult as it must have been for Christ himself.

It is important to remember that loving others as we love ourselves is not a justification for ignoring when those who we love are putting themselves in harms way. Many times confronting individuals humbly, compassionately and with fear and reverance is the sacrifice necessary to show that we truly love them. It is painful, yes, but we would hope those that we love would do the same to bring us out of harming ourselves.

Let us also not forget that Jesus Christ's first and foremost commandment was to "Love the lord your God with all your heart, all your mind and all your soul." (Matthew 22:37 - 40)

Craig Chamberlin





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Oprah's New Age Religion Contradicts Christianity

Wednesday, April 16, 2008 | Labels: , , , | |

If individuals have missed the recent YouTube video portraying Oprah discussing her ideas of the New Age religion you can view it here. There are some interesting points that she makes that ought to be discussed in more detail that contradict Christianity, and one ought to remember to address these points respectfully.


(Oprah: 1:00) "One of the mistakes that human beings make is that there is only one way to live, and that we don't accept that there are diverse ways of being in the world and there are millions of ways to be a human being and many paths to what you call God. That her path might be something else and when she gets there she might call it the light."

There is truth to the initial portion of Oprah's statement. Christians today do indeed struggle with acceptance of other's viewpoints, but it does not necessarily imply that their viewpoint is incorrect. Two different issues are at hand here, how does one balance what they believe to be true with the reality that it implies others do not hold that same truth? It is doubtful that Oprah doesn't believe what she is discussing is truth as well, and if someone approached her new age religious perspective with the idea that there was only one way to heaven then she would undoubtedly struggle to accept their viewpoint just as Christians struggle with the same issues when someone else approaches them with 'another way' to God.

Oprah is trying to be open-minded with her new age perspective about all religions and opening all paths but in doing so at the same time she cannot be open minded to those who hold the belief that there are not multiple paths to God. One cannot have their cake and eat it too, if she embraces the idea that there are multiple paths then she must argue those who believe there are not are incorrect, and the minute she does as such she is no longer open-minded of all viewpoints. For if the God she suggests exist, then that God would undoubtedly punish those who defy the reality that he designed within his plan multiple paths that lead to himself. Those who hold the only one way viewpoint, therefore, will not be looked upon as favorable to the God she suggests exists.

(Oprah: 1:12)"But her loving and her kindness and her generosity if it brings her to the same point that it brings you it doesn't matter if she called it God along the way or not."

It would be interested to know exactly what is meant by bringing individuals to 'the same point'. There is, however, a firm difference between doing the will of God and doing ones own will. Oprah's new age illustration is that the path to salvation and acceptance with God is through 'good works' and in being kind, generous and virtuous they will find favor with God when they stand before him.

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. " (John 3:16)

"I am the way, the truth and the life, no one can get to the father except through me." (John 14:6)

There are some definite contradictions in the Biblical context in regards to the ideas Oprah is suggesting. While at the same time attesting to the belief in Christianity she wishes to embrace other religions as being another way to God. There is, however, a dilemma, as the Bible illustrates that salvation is not a result of good works, but good works are an inevitable result of salvation. In other words, belief in Christ comes first to obtain salvation, and through that salvation and communion with Christ the individual can find God's purpose in their lives and live their life through God's will - these are the good works that follow belief in Christ.

Good works, in this respect, are an after-effect of salvation, and they are only 'good works' if they fall under the banner of God's purpose in the individual's life. It is not implied in the Bible that good works lead to God, it is that Jesus Christ leads to God, and the result of believing in him is 'good works', which are defined as God's will instead of our own will. We can't, however, do God's will without a relationship with him through his son Jesus Christ.

(Kelly: 2:52) "[The recommended reading by Oprah] really opened my eyes to new way of thinking, a new form of spirituality that doesn't always align with the teachings of Christianity, so my question is to you Oprah, how do you reconcile these spiritual teachings with your Christian beliefs."

This is an excellent question towards her new age perspective, it positions Oprah to defend the contradiction even I addressed above, it asks how Oprah can be a Christian while at the same time believing in something contradictory to Christian beliefs.

(Oprah: 3:10) "I reconcile them because I was able to open my mind about the absolute indescribable hugeness of that which we call God. I took God out of the box because I grew up in a baptist church where there were rules and belief systems and doctrines. I happen to be sitting in church in my late twenties... this great minister was preaching about how great God was and how omniscient and omnipresent and God is everything and then he said the Lord thy God is a jealous God and I was caught up in the rapture of that moment until he said jealous and something struck me... I was thinking God is all, God is omnipresent and God is also jealous? God is jealous of me? Something about that didn't feel right in my spirit because I believe that God is love and God is in all things so that's when the search for something more than doctrine started to stir within me. I love this quote... "Man made God in his own image: eternal, infinite and unnameable was reduced to a mental idol that you had to believe in and worship as my God or our God."

Oprah really didn't address the question, she actually dodged it. This might not have been intentional, many people probably realize that when asked a question on the spot it is not always easy to come up with a great answer to the question, I will, for her sake give her the benefit of the doubt.

There are some issues here though, primarily when she discusses the conflict in her spirit when she found God to be a jealous God. It is primarily important to note that within context this means that God is jealous of things we make into being God - or man made idols, he was not discussing when man worships "another omnipotent being". Jealousy, as the modern man interprets it in in a negative context - and Oprah may have been interpreting it in this way. For example, jealousy is often associated with insecurity. In the Biblical context, however, the jealousy that God holds is his intolerance of unfaithfulness or rivalry. When God says he is a jealous God he is stating he is intolerant of the unfaithful and of those who embrace their man made Gods. He must be, because as the only God and as the supreme judge he must judge based upon the truth that he is the only God. It would be unjust of him to let us worship man-made God's when there are those who worship the one true God.

Addressing the quote that she loved: "Man made God in his own image: eternal, infinite and unnameable was reduced to a mental idol that you had to believe in and worship as my God or our God."

Man has made and often makes Gods in their own image, but every time God is transformed into an idol, whether it be blindly worshiping without a relationship or ritualistic beliefs it contradicts the Biblical idea that Christ wanted man to seek after truth.

"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you." (Matthew 7:7)

Nowhere in the Bible does it suggest that individuals blindly follow the faith, nor does it encourage imbecility. In fact, Christ demands the complete opposite, he wants us to know God, to understand him, it was part of his purpose in becoming man so that he could communicate the beauty of God to mankind. This is quite possibly one of the most beautifully unique aspects of the Christian faith, in that it is encouraged by its creator to incessantly question it and put it into practice and the truths should hold no matter the circumstances, they may not always be clearly evident, but time often shows the truth as it is.

Craig Chamberlin







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Will "Good Men" Find Favor With God?

Tuesday, April 15, 2008 | Labels: , , , | |

An often discussed issue is whether or not good men who perform great things or do great things in this world will find favor with God when they pass into the next life. It is a fearful and scary notion to believe those we perceive as being 'good men' will not find favor with God when they stand before him.

There is, however, a dilemma to this thought process. Often times what one man perceives as goodness is something that they simply find favorable about another individual. Many times one looks at someone as being a 'good person' when that person makes them feel good and also gives them the impression that they are helpful, kind and gentle people. One may, for example, think of another man as a good man because of the few times they encounter him he is kind, gentle and polite, but know very little of his actual thoughts and heart.

If a God exists, and he is the epitome of goodness, then if a man attempts to do good things how can the deeds of the man be good without reference to the very creator of goodness? In other words, if goodness can only come from God, then how ought an individual do good deeds if they never know God?

Individual deeds, in this respect, are separate from God - and what we may perceive as a 'good man' may not actually be 'good' in God's eyes. Jesus said something interesting in Matthew 7:20 - 23:

"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'

What if, for the sake of this verse, there is no such thing as a 'good' deed and a 'bad' deed. What if there were only 'God' deeds and 'godless' deeds, the will of the father deeds and the will of ourselves deeds. When one looks at the frame of reference as to the motives of the deed and that is what will determine whether the deed merits acceptance by a God or not. For example, if I give $100.00 to charity, but not because God led me to do so, am I truly attempting to do God's will?

God has set into each and every persons heart a purpose and drives them to do great things in his name. We can either live our lives in communion with him, and do the things he leads us to do, or we can never know him and do what we want to do. God deeds, therefore, are deeds we perform because God leads us to perform them, and when we come before God he will have authorized them. Godless deeds are deeds we perform by our own perceptions of what is good, and we do them without giving glory to or fulfilling the purpose God intended in our lives.

A person can go through their entire lives doing 'good' deeds by only their own perceptions, and completely separated from God. In doing so, all of their good deeds were not led by God, and when they stand before him they may find themselves in terrible circumstances. On the other hand, as we are commanded to do God's will, if we embrace the Lord Jesus Christ, and allow him to take control of our lives, even the smallest of things if done in his name and for his glory will be pleasing to him.

As much as I always wanted to believe that 'good men' would find favor with God, I had come to the realization that 'goodness' can only come from God, and without a personal relationship with him, and without submitting our will to him, with every 'good' deed we attempt to perform apart from him brings us further from his will and deeper into our own. It can be a fearful and terrible notion to see that there is a rhyme and reason for Christ saying "I am the way, the truth and the life, no one can get to the father except through me." (John 14:6) Without a relationship with Jesus Christ, all of the "good deeds" we do are done in our name, not in Gods - therefore they are not "good" deeds, for they are deeds only meant to glorify our own will.

Craig Chamberlin





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The War Against the Evil One

The War Against the Evil One

Saturday, April 12, 2008 | Labels: , , , , | |

Around each and every corner lurks that which will attempt to snare you into its grasp. There lies within this world a dark evil that resides in the hearts of each and every individual. This evil has a desire to consume the individual with its passions and bring them to their own self-destructions.

Satan is alive and well, and a wise man once said "The greatest accomplishment of Satan is his ability to convince the world he does not exist." The architecture of his plan is present in modern day and it easily witnessed too when one dares to look close enough.

That which Satan does best is corrupt good. C.S. Lewis discussed these ideas himself:

"...good should be original and evil a mere perversion; that good should be the tree and evil the ivy; that good should be able to see all round evil (as when sane man understand lunacy) while evil cannot retaliate in kind; that good should be able to exist on its own while evil requires the good on which it is parasitic in order to continue its parasitic existence."

- C.S. Lewis, God in the Dock, 1994

Satan perverts that which God has created, and through that perversion it illustrates that all evil as the world knows it is a parasite of goodness. God created everything wonderful and beautiful and Satan's goal has always been to pervert that which God has made while at the same time hiding his existence from the world.

Fortunately, God has equipped his followers with the tools necessary to battle the temptations of Satan as he brings them into our lives. It is inevitable that each and every Christian will fail in temptations, but Christ's delivery from the consequences of sins gives the Christian the hope to further battle both his own desires to do evil and to battle the manifestations of evil in the world.

God also gave to the Christian his word. Like a double edged sword the word of God transcends and brings light to the deceptions raised by Satan. Satan has a way of being very convincing to the world until God's reflection is placed before it. Many individuals find that living by Satan's illusions is far more convincing than living by God's truths, but God's truths always have revolved around love, compassion, patience, peace, kindness and gentleness. These are illustrated further in Galatians:

"The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other."

- Galatians 5:19-25

As one can see, there are also perversions of God's goodness, and these perversions are emphasised as truths by Satan himself, and he convinces mankind of the world that these perversions are the true path to happiness. Happiness itself becomes a perverted notion because apart from God happiness is something that is simply an illusion.

This war has been raging since the beginning of original sin. It will do the Christian well to acknowledge both the power of Satan and his persistent goal to destroy as many individuals along with him before he is cast into hell for all eternity.

Craig Chamberlin





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When the Christian Heart Fails in Sinful Temptation
When the Christian Heart Fails to Love the World
Truth is Artfully Etched in the Hearts of Mankind
How Can God Exist When There is Evil?

Bill Cosby's Philosophy Transcends Race and Gender

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Bill Cosby over the past years has developed a stigma from a good portion of the black community for his demanding of social responsibility. The remarks he has made in a popular article this morning, however, should not be confined to just african americans, that which he is teaching can be applied univerally. Although he illustrates beautifully how a philosophy of love and social responsibility can help to eliminate racism, it also begets a society of love and compassion - and all races and religions should embrace this notion.

"Instead of focusing on some abstract notion of equality, he argues, blacks need to cleanse their culture, embrace personal responsibility, and reclaim the traditions that fortified them in the past. Driving Cosby’s tough talk about values and responsibility is a vision starkly different from Martin Luther King’s gauzy, all-inclusive dream: it’s an America of competing powers, and a black America that is no longer content to be the weakest of the lot."

This is an applaudable notion. Cosby's arguments ought to transcent beyond that of the just Black community. It is clear that his target audience is indeed to motivate and bring a ray of light into the black community with his message, but those of us who are not african american shouldn't pass up the truths of his notion of a society with social responsibilities. What Mr. Cosby teaches here is a beautiful truth that should be embraced by all people, and in doing so all communities who follow it will be more quick and apt to embracing eachother.

The civil-rights generation is exiting the American stage—not in a haze of nostalgia but in a cloud of gloom, troubled by the persistence of racism, the apparent weaknesses of the generation following in its wake, and the seeming indifference of much of the country to black America’s fate. In that climate, Cosby’s gospel of discipline, moral reform, and self-reliance offers a way out—a promise that one need not cure America of its original sin in order to succeed. Racism may not be extinguished, but it can be beaten.

It is important for society that one of the greatest steps it can take to overcome its predjudices is by realizing that we are all one people, and through discipline, moral reform and self reliance we can find a way to overcome those prejudices by becoming an example of how people ought to be and how they ought to treat eachother. This is truly illustrative of a philosophy my generation should be seeking to follow. The philosophy of loving our neighbors is the first step in overcoming prejudices, it is a philosophy that can allow individuals to disagree lovingly.

“I don’t want to talk about hatred of these people,” he continued. “I’m talking about a time when we protected our women and protected our children. Now I got people in wheelchairs, paralyzed. A little girl in Camden, jumping rope, shot through the mouth. Grandmother saw it out the window. And people are waiting around for Jesus to come, when Jesus is already within you.”

What a beautiful statement. This does not just apply to the black community, this applies deeply to much of america today. It is almost as if a majority of us have given up the fight for a good moral foundation and a responsible society. In giving up, we wait for the end times to come, but he have forgotten to fight for love and compassion in society to alleviate the pains and sufferings so many individuals go through as a result of our apathy. As a result, those of us who are Christians, who do not take action in defending a society of moral responsibility have given up. Many times this is for very powerful reasons, as the fight gets tougher the ideas of giving up the fight become more and more simple.

We can wait for Christ to come, as Cosby says, but to do so would require us to ignore the reality that Christ is in our hearts trying to tell us to break out of our apathy so we can accomplish great things and by living through him, we can become an example of how the world ought to be by trying to live our lives with love and compassion to the best of our ability.

That night, Cosby was one of the last honorees to take the podium. He began by noting that although civil-rights activists had opened the door for black America, young people today, instead of stepping through, were stepping backward. “No longer is a person embarrassed because they’re pregnant without a husband,” he told the crowd. “No longer is a boy considered an embarrassment if he tries to run away from being the father of the unmarried child.”

The abolition of shame is a powerful signifier that we have began to ignore the moral condition of ourselves. If I no longer find shame in stealing, adultery or theft then my heart has no longer embraced the importance of living my life by a moral lifestyle. There is only so much that martyrs and the fighters of peace can do for us, they can only lead the way for us. The rest, however, is up to us. We need to, at that point, "take up our cross" and follow. Christ commanded "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me". This is the transcending of thought into action. Christ has lead the way for us as individuals, but we cannot fulfill the way that he made without following in his footsteps. This applies to any individual who leads the way for our society, with all the sacrifices that were made by the civil-rights movement, many have failed to follow in their footsteps.

We as a nation need to embrace eachother in loving arms, but not simply embrace it irresponsibly. We need to live our lives actively as an example of how the world ought to be, in doing so, we can transform both our lives and the lives of the people around us. Bill Cosby illustrates just how powerful actively living our lives through Christ and through social and moral responsibilty can create a more responsible and moral nation.

Craig Chamberlin





Related Articles:
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Society's Failure in Sexual Responsibility is Destroying Children

References: http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200805/cosby