One of those challenges is the claim of the supposed immorality of God in the destruction of the Canaanites at His command by the conquering Israelites, after their exodus from Egypt. And let me say that it is true that He commanded that, though Israel was less than thorough in obeying His command.
Would that action be immoral if committed by men without God's command? I would certainly say so. Apart from self-defense, just war, and a few cases of criminal justice, it is always immoral for any human being to kill another. I can say that because God has said it, one of the big Ten: "You shall not murder" (Exodus 20:13).
Does that apply here? No, it doesn't. Why? Because of the exceptions that I carefully enumerated. In particular, criminal justice.
Even when a man thinks he has justification to kill another, he is one sinner contemplating vengeance against another. And that is the key error in the logic of the atheist. By not accepting the word of God, he does not understand the sinfulness of men. He considers men to be innocent by default. It is as if a man were judging a dark gray spot as white, because he is viewing it against a black background.
However, the biblical perspective is that of a God of perfect holiness examining sinful men. He is judging men, not against each other, but against Himself, black spots against a background of snow white. By that standard every human being is deserving of capital punishment. Therefore, His justice is perfect in the destruction of the wicked Canaanites. It is His mercy, not justice, that we see in His refraining from such destruction for all men, including those Israelites. The atheist focuses on a false claim of injustice, while closing his eyes to the mercy.
However, even with those Canaanites, God showed a mercy that no atheist ever notices. In spite of their particular evil, such as the practice of human sacrifice, even of their own children, God expresses mercy to them, in giving them an extra four-hundred years to repent (Genesis 15:16). No human court has ever granted that level of leniency!
In addition to the repetition of the same questions, another thing that I have noticed is that the answer never matters. Not only do the same questions get asked over and over, but the same answers are given, over and over. That indicates to me that they are getting the questions from each other, not from their own investigations. And, since each of those challenges has been answered, their repetition indicates to me that it isn't the answer that is important, but rather maintaining the challenge in their own minds. That is, I believe that the atheist holds on to that question for protection, a protection not offered by the answer. Protection from what? From knowledge.
The Bible says, "The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For His invisible attributes, namely, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse" (Romans 1:18-20). The atheist claims not to believe that there is a God, but that is a deception - not a deception to the person to whom he makes the claim, but rather a deception to himself. Everyone knows that there is a God and that we are accountable to Him. The atheist knows that, too, but he hates that knowledge. The atheist wants to believe that he is god over his own life, so he suppresses the knowledge that his desire is a delusion. Then when his challenges are answered, his self-deception is endangered. Therefore, he is forced to ignore the answers. Unbelief is never a matter of reason, but rather only of self-deception.
That is why conversion can only happen by the intervention of the Holy Spirit. The blinders, put in place by the unbeliever himself, must be ripped away, just as happened in the conversion of Paul (Acts 9:18).
No comments:
Post a Comment