Is There Any Evidence for Jesus Outside the Bible?
Monday, April 29, 2019
Thursday, April 25, 2019
Fred Hoyle: The Intelligent Universe
Here's a video for you to understand what needs to happen!
[1] Fred Hoyle, The Intelligent Universe, pg 23.
Sunday, April 14, 2019
A saúde é a coisa mais importante?
Tenho pensado no ditado que as pessoas costumam dizer aqui em Portugal. É algo assim. “Como está indo?” “Bem, desde que há saúde, isso é o mais importante, saúde. Então, enquanto tenho saúde.”
Uma vez, ao fazer uma campanha pública, perguntei às pessoas que estava entrevistando o que era mais importante para elas, e a maior parte disse que era saúde. Mas então eu lhes contava uma pequena história para mostrar a eles que talvez a saúde não fosse a coisa mais importante, mas estar em bom relacionamento com aqueles que nos cercam era ainda mais importante do que a saúde.
Compartilharei essa história em um momento. Mas não é para onde estou indo com este artigo. O que estou perguntando é: "A saúde é a coisa mais importante e, desde que tu tens saúde, está bem?”
Nos Provérbios, lemos: “Obtém a sabedoria e, com tudo o que tens, obtém entendimento” e “A sabedoria é a coisa principal”.[2] De fato, os Provérbios nos dizem que, se buscarmos a sabedoria, nos trará saúde e vida.[3] A vida a que alude pode muito bem ser a vida eterna que todos interiormente esperamos e desejamos.
Em outros lugares, nos Salmos, lemos repetidamente como os problemas e aflições de Davi o aproximaram de Deus. Em outras palavras, eles eram bons para ele. Nós lemos: “Antes de ser afligido, andava errado, mas agora guardo a tua lei.”[4] “Foi bom para mim ter sido afligido, para que eu aprendesse os teus estatutos.”[5]
A BÃblia é uma coleção de alguns dos livros mais antigos do mundo. Moisés editou o livro de Gênesis e o escreveu por volta de 1.500 a.C. Dizem que o livro de Jó é do tempo de Abraão, que viveu por volta de 2.000 a.C. Você se lembra da história de Jó? Ele era um homem rico com dez filhos, rico, respeitado, um pai da cidade, justo, gentil com os necessitados, um homem realmente bom. Mas a história diz que Satanás pede a Deus permissão para afligir Jó para testar sua fé. Satanás diz: “Ele realmente não te ama, deixe-me testá-lo, e eu te mostrarei.” Deus diz: “Tudo bem, teste-o, mas não lhe tire a vida.”[6]
Primeiro o diabo destrói seus filhos matando todos eles em um terremoto e tempestade que leva suas vidas. Logo, os ladrões roubaram todo o gado, as ovelhas e os camelos de Jó, etc., que era onde estava sua riqueza. E finalmente, Satanás aflige a saúde de Jó.
Os melhores amigos de Jó vêm consolá-lo. Mas tudo o que eles podem concluir é que Deus é justo e, portanto, Jó precisa ter algum pecado secreto com o qual Deus está lidando. Ele precisa confessar e arrepender-se e acertar com Deus. Jó responde que teria sido mais sensato ter apenas sentado em silêncio com ele e acompanhado em seu sofrimento em vez de condená-lo em autojustiça. [9]
Jó responde que ele não pecou, mas que ele foi justo em todos os seus caminhos. Então seus amigos pararam de falar com ele, “porque Jó era justo aos seus próprios olhos, e se justificava a si mesmo, em vez de a Deus.” [10]
Então o mais novo amigo fala e tenta explicar a Jó que Deus é justo no que faz. Ele diz: “Deus não fará perversamente, nem perverterá o juÃzo”. [11] Seu amigo expõe o pecado de Jó e diz: “Você pensa que é mais justo do que Deus e que, portanto, não merece isso. aflição.” [12] Seu amigo está tentando mostrar a Jó que seu verdadeiro pecado é que Jó se sente justo e bom e, portanto, assume que Deus é injusto no que está fazendo.
Finalmente, Deus fala a Jó e pergunta se Jó pode instruir a Deus? [13] Deus faz uma pergunta a Jó depois de uma pergunta depois de outra. [14] Jó finalmente clamei: “Senhor, eu sou vil." [15] E coloca a mão sobre sua boca. Depois que Deus termina de reprová-lo e instruÃ-lo, Jó responde: “Eu sei que Tu podes fazer qualquer coisa, e que nenhum pensamento pode ser escondido de ti ... Eu disse coisas que eu realmente não entendi. Por isso eu me abomino, e me arrependo.” [16]
Você vê o pecado de Jó era sua justiça própria. Que ele confiou em sua própria justiça para salvá-lo. Ele errou o ponto de que nenhum de nós é realmente justo, embora possamos ter uma aparência de retidão e possamos pensar que somos.
A aflição de Jó o levou à perceção de que Deus é bom e não importa o que aconteça em nossa vida. Deus trará o bem disso se continuarmos a amar e confiar nele. O apóstolo Paulo nos assegura em seus escritos que “Todas as coisas cooperam para o bem daqueles que amam a Deus”. [17] É por isso que a frase mais famosa do livro de Jó é a declaração de fé de Jó onde ele diz: “Ainda que Deus me mate, confiarei Nele.” [18]
O rei Davi, o salmista, escreveu: “Em minha aflição clamei ao Senhor e Ele me respondeu do seu santo tabernáculo.” [19] Se você reservar um tempo para ler os Salmos, encontrará Davi encontrando Deus em suas aflições. Suas aflições e problemas o levaram ao seio de Deus.
Portanto, aflição, doença, problemas, dor e sofrimento são bons se eles nos levarem a aproximar-se de Deus. O apóstolo Tiago, irmão de Jesus, escreveu: “Aproxime-se de Deus e Ele se aproximará de você… Seja afligido, lamente e chore. Deixe seu riso ser transformado em luto e sua alegria em tristeza. Humilhai-vos à vista do Senhor e Ele vos exaltará.” [21] Salomão escreveu que Deus está mais na casa do tristeza do que na casa da alegria. [22] Ele disse: “Melhor é o sofrimento do que o riso; porque pela tristeza do semblante se faz melhor o coração.” [23]
Então, vemos que a saúde não é a coisa mais importante, contrária à opinião popular. Nosso relacionamento com Deus é o mais importante. Se perdermos tudo menos de nossa fé, realmente não perdermos nada. Mas se perdermos nossa fé em Deus, perderemos tudo.
Deixe o seu sofrimento, a sua dor e a sua tristeza aproximá-lo de Deus que o ama e quer ajudá-lo e consolá-lo e ser seu refúgio no tempo de angústia. Abandone seu orgulho e clame por Ele.
Esqueci de contar a história que usaria para mostrar às pessoas que a saúde não era a coisa mais importante. Aqui vai.
Meu avô tinha um poema na parede de sua casa. Aconteceu mais ou menos assim.
Existem apenas duas coisas para se preocupar na vida: saúde ou doença. Se você é saudável, não precisa se preocupar com nada. Mas se você está doente, há apenas duas coisas para se preocupar: você vai melhorar ou vai piorar. Se você melhorar, não precisa se preocupar com nada. Mas se você piorar, há duas coisas para se preocupar: você morrerá ou se recuperará. Se você se recuperar, não precisa se preocupar com nada. Mas se você morrer, há duas coisas para se preocupar: você vai para o céu ou vai para o inferno. Se você for para o céu, não precisa se preocupar com nada. Mas se você for para o inferno, você estará tão ocupado encontrando velhos amigos, você não terá tempo para se preocupar.
O ponto aqui que esta relÃquia cômica está tentando transmitir é a ideia de que mesmo o sofrimento no inferno seria suportável se você estivesse em boa companhia, em bom relacionamento com os outros ao seu redor. Claro, nós não sabemos exactamente como é o inferno, então é melhor não confiarmos na história acima. Mas no mundo em que vivemos, poderÃamos dizer que a pior ação do homem - a guerra, torna-se suportável pela unidade de espÃrito que a equipe de combate ganha com os problemas que enfrentam juntos.
Em outras palavras, se estamos em bom relacionamento com os outros, podemos suportar qualquer coisa. O relacionamento com os outros nos faz sacrÃficos e suportamos o insuportável. É isso que maridos e esposas fazem um pelo outro. Isso é o que os pais fazem pelos filhos.
Deus quer relacionamento connosco. Ele diz: “Vem, e ajude-nos a raciocinar juntos.” [28] Mas, por causa do livre-arbÃtrio que Ele nos deu, Ele ténia permitir tristeza, dor e morte. No entanto, através desses pesares, Ele está lá desejando que procuremos relacionamento com Ele. Relacionamento com Deus torna tudo na vida suportável. Por favor, chame ao Senhor em seu tempo de aflição e Ele ouvirá. Ele virá até você e lhe dará paz. Essa é a promessa dele e é verdade. Procure relacionamento com Deus. Ele está esperando e está a apenas uma oração de distância.
Se quiser receber Jesus, basta fazer uma simples oração como esta:
Querida Jesus, preciso de Você. Você sabe tudo pela que estou passando e entende as minhas lutas. Mesmo quando não vejo o caminho, Você está comigo.[29] Preciso da Sua presença na minha vida. Estou esgotado. Por favor, perdoe os meus erros, entre no meu coração, e preencha-me com o Seu EspÃrito Santo.[30][31] Ajude-me a conhecer você e me guie pelo caminho em que devo andar. Amém.
Por mais informações: Dennis +351-915016534
Notas
[1] [Marcos 12:30]
[2] [Provérbios 4: 7]
[3] [Provérbios 4: 13,22]
[4] [Salmo 119: 67]
[5] [Salmos 119: 71]
[6] [Jó 2: 5-6]
[7] [Jó 2: 9-10]
[8] [Jó 13:15]
[9] [Jó 13: 5]
[10] [Jó 32: 1-2]
[11] [Jó 34:12
[12] [Jó 34: 5]
[13] [Jó 40: 2]
[14] [Jó 38 e 39]
[15] [Jó 40: 4]
[16] [Jó 42: 2,3,6]
[17] [Romanos 8:28]
[18] [Jó 13:15]
[19] [Salmo 18: 6]
[20] [Jonas 2: 2]
[21] [Tiago 4: 8-10]
[22] [Eclesiastes 7: 2]
[23] [Eclesiastes 7: 3]
[24] [Eclesiastes 12:13]
[25] [Gálatas 5:14]
[26] [João 1:18]
[27] [Atos 4:12]
[28] [IsaÃas 1: 18]
[29] [Atos 17:27-28]
[30] [Apocalipse 3:20]
[31] [Romanos 10:9-10]
Tuesday, April 9, 2019
Why I Believe in God!
Dennis Edwards
1. Love and Friendship
When I was an atheist and at the point of suicide, the fact that somebody loved me led me not to kill myself. The fact that love existed caused me to doubt my atheistic beliefs. The fact that love existed caused me to search further for better answers than atheism had supplied. Someone’s love for me saved my life and gave me hope that I could find the answers to my existence. here's a short clip on the question of whether God exists or not from the Ravi Zacharis International Ministry.
2. Amazing Universe with Appearence of Design
It’s pretty hard to look up at the sky on a starry night and not experience an amazing feeling of awe and wonder at it all. Could all this glorious universe beautifly desplayed before my eyes be the working of chance forces? I just found it hard to believe. The perfect order of the universe, it’s appearance of design, the fact that too many factors have to be so perfectly fine-tuned for our universe to exist, is just beyond comprehension. This holds true also for our solar system which seems perfectly designed to allow carbon based life to exist on Earth. Just too may coincidences need to be met.
“I can see how it might be possible for a man to look down upon the earth and be an atheist, but I cannot conceive how a man could look up into the heavens and say there is no God.” Abraham Lincoln
“Two things fill the mind with ever new and increasing admiration and awe, the more often and steadily we reflect upon them: the starry heavens above me and the moral law within me." Immanuel Kant
“Atheism is so senseless. When I look at the solar system, I see the earth at the right distance from the sun to receive the proper amounts of heat and light. This did not happen by chance.” Isaac Newton
Here's a excerpt from the documentary Privelged Planet on the fine-tuning of the universe.
3. Complexity of Nature
The fact that all life is highly complex even the so called simple cell seems to indicate a designer was involved. Biological machines exhibit the same qualities of simple machine which need all functioning parts in place at once in order to be operative. They cannot have evolved piece by piece as all parts need to be in place at the same time in order to be of any use. The biological machine, their complexity, as well as the complexity of every life form points to a designer. Chance just cannot explain the complexity that we see. Here are a few quotes from Michael Denton's book Evolution: A Theory in Crisis!
3. Complexity of Nature
The fact that all life is highly complex even the so called simple cell seems to indicate a designer was involved. Biological machines exhibit the same qualities of simple machine which need all functioning parts in place at once in order to be operative. They cannot have evolved piece by piece as all parts need to be in place at the same time in order to be of any use. The biological machine, their complexity, as well as the complexity of every life form points to a designer. Chance just cannot explain the complexity that we see. Here are a few quotes from Michael Denton's book Evolution: A Theory in Crisis!
“Molecular biology has shown that even the simplest of all living systems on the earth today, bacterial cells, are exceedingly complex objects. Although the tiniest bacterial cells are incredibly small, weighing less than 10-12 gms, each is in effect a veritable micro-miniaturized factory containing thousands of exquisitely designed pieces of intricate molecular machinery, made up altogether of one hundred thousand million atoms, far more complicated than any machine built by man and absolutely without parallel in the nonliving world.”
"To the skeptic, the proposition that the genetic programmes of higher organisms, consisting of something close to a thousand million bits of information, equivalent to the sequence of letters in a small library of one thousand volumes, containing in encoded form countless thousands of intricate algorithms controlling, specifying and ordering the growth and development of billions and billions of cells into the form of a complex organism, were composed by a purely random process is simply an affront to reason. But to the Darwinist the idea is accepted without a ripple of doubt - the paradigm takes precedence!” ― Michael Denton, Evolution: A Theory In Crisis
“I don’t know how long it is going to be before astronomers
generally recognise that the combinatorial arrangement of not
even one among the many thousands of biopoymers on which
life depends could have been arrived at by natural processes
here on the Earth. Astronomers will have a little difficulty at
understanding this because they will be assured by biologists
that it is not so, the biologists having been assured in their turn
by others that it is not so. The “others” are a group of persons
who believe, quite openly, in mathematical miracles. They
advocate the belief that tucked away in nature, outside of normal physics, there is a law which performs miracles.” From British Astronomer and Mathematician Sir Fred Hoyle as quoted in Werner Gitt's In the Beginning Was Information on page 105.
Here's Dr. Michael Behe commenting on the complexity of the cell.
4. The Information in DNA and Laws of Information
The DNA is an information code which not only gives the plan of what biological parts need to be made but guides the making of the machines that make the parts. From our observable experience we know that no sophisticated information code like DNA could come about without an intelligent source. All sophisticated information that we experience in life comes from an intelligent source, a brain, a mind and not mindless matter. Therefore, we can conclude that the existence of the DNA molecule is the result of an intelligent designer or mind. Here is a quote from Signature in Cell by Dr. Stephen C. Meyer.
The DNA is an information code which not only gives the plan of what biological parts need to be made but guides the making of the machines that make the parts. From our observable experience we know that no sophisticated information code like DNA could come about without an intelligent source. All sophisticated information that we experience in life comes from an intelligent source, a brain, a mind and not mindless matter. Therefore, we can conclude that the existence of the DNA molecule is the result of an intelligent designer or mind. Here is a quote from Signature in Cell by Dr. Stephen C. Meyer.
"As information theorist Henry Quastler observed, 'The creation of information is habitually associated with conscious activity.' Indeed, whenever we find specified information–whether embedded in a radio signal, carved in a stone monument, etched on a magnetic disc, or produced by a genetic algorithm or ribozyme engineering experiment–and we trace it back to its source, invariably we come to a mind, not merely a material process. And, as origin-of-life research itself has helped to demonstrate, we know of no other cause capable of producing functional specified information starting, again, from a purely physical or chemical state. Thus, the discovery of functionally specified, digitally encoded information in the DNA of even the simplest living cells provides compelling positive evidence for the activity of a prior designing intelligence at the point of the origin of the first life." Stephen C. Meyer
Here's Stephen Meyer explaining the information problem for the evolutionary theory.
"There is no known law of nature, no known process and no known sequence of events which can cause information to originate by itself in matter." a quote from Dr. Werner Gitt from his book
In the Beginning Was Information page 107
If you want to watch his 53 minute seminar, here it is below.
5. The Law of Causality
The Law of Causality says that when something comes into existence it always has a cause and that cause is in some way superior to that which was caused. For example, a building was caused by the design of a human being. A baby lion is caused by the mating of its parents. An atomic explosion is caused by the minds of men. Therefore, to say that “Nothing” exploded and brought the universe into existence is a non statement. “Nothing” cannot explode and cause space, time, and matter to come into existence. “Nothing” is not a sufficient causality for the perfectly designed universe we live in. Something greater than nothing and greater than the Universe caused the universe to come into existence. It’s sometimes defined as the uncaused cause of the universe. William Lane Craig has used this argument in many of his debates with non-believers.
"The kalam cosmological argument is an argument that can be simply formulated. Premise one: Whatever begins to exist has a cause. Things don’t come into being from nothing. Two: The universe began to exist. There’s good philosophical and scientific evidence that the universe is not eternal in the past, but had a beginning. And from that, it follows, three: Therefore, a cause of the universe exists. And then you do a conceptual analysis of what it is to be a cause of space and time, matter, and energy, and I think you’re able to show that a beginningless, uncaused, timeless, spaceless, immaterial, enormously powerful, personal creator of the universe exists, which is the core concept of God." William Lane Craig
If you want to watch his 53 minute seminar, here it is below.
5. The Law of Causality
The Law of Causality says that when something comes into existence it always has a cause and that cause is in some way superior to that which was caused. For example, a building was caused by the design of a human being. A baby lion is caused by the mating of its parents. An atomic explosion is caused by the minds of men. Therefore, to say that “Nothing” exploded and brought the universe into existence is a non statement. “Nothing” cannot explode and cause space, time, and matter to come into existence. “Nothing” is not a sufficient causality for the perfectly designed universe we live in. Something greater than nothing and greater than the Universe caused the universe to come into existence. It’s sometimes defined as the uncaused cause of the universe. William Lane Craig has used this argument in many of his debates with non-believers.
"The kalam cosmological argument is an argument that can be simply formulated. Premise one: Whatever begins to exist has a cause. Things don’t come into being from nothing. Two: The universe began to exist. There’s good philosophical and scientific evidence that the universe is not eternal in the past, but had a beginning. And from that, it follows, three: Therefore, a cause of the universe exists. And then you do a conceptual analysis of what it is to be a cause of space and time, matter, and energy, and I think you’re able to show that a beginningless, uncaused, timeless, spaceless, immaterial, enormously powerful, personal creator of the universe exists, which is the core concept of God." William Lane Craig
6. The Law of Biogenesis
The Law of Biogenesis says life always comes from life and not from non-life. Louis Pasteur disproved the Law of Spontaneous Generation in the early 1860s a few years after Darwin's Origins was published. Life does not spontaneously come about from non-life. Life only comes from life. The Law of Biogenesis disproves the belief in Spontaneous Generation which the Evolutionary Theory needs to begin life. Spontaneous Generation has never been seen to take place. Therefore, it is a belief system and not a scientific fact. The Law of Biogenesis disproves the Theory of Evolution.
Here's a quote from wikipedia on the subject. Biogensis: The principle stating that life arises from pre-existing life, not from nonliving material. "Conceptually, biogenesis is primarily attributed to Louis Pasteur and encompasses the belief that complex living things come only from other living things, by means of reproduction. That is, life does not spontaneously arise from non-living material, which was the position held by spontaneous generation."
Here's a short clip about Pasteur's work.
7. Laws of Logic
Where do the Laws of Logic come from? If the laws of logic, and even mathematical laws exist, from where do they originate? If we live in a total natural or material world, how do we explain the existence of laws of logic, mathematical and physical laws? Where do they come from? Greg Bahnsen uses Laws of Logic as a defence of Theism.
8. Objective Moral Values
The fact that there exists objective moral values, that we more or less have the same moral standards worldwide, suggests that there is a Universal Moral Law. If there is a Universal Moral Law, that suggests that there is a Universal Moral Law Giver. Can matter be the cause of the Universal Objective Moral Laws? Here's a short video explaining the argument for God from Objective Morality.
9. Consciousness
The fact that we have a brain with a consciousness, with a little voice that talks to us telling us which way we should or should not go seems to indicate a higher reality beyond the material world. Materialism and Atheism do not have good answers for why we have a conscious. How could random biological functions generate or create consciousness? I can’t understand how it can happen.
Here's an argument from an atheist though he finishes by restating what he's trying to prove, called begging the question, without in any way proving it.
"Darwinian evolution implies that human beings emerged through the blind operation of natural forces. It is mysterious how such forces could generate something nonphysical; all known causal laws that govern the physical relate physical states of affairs to other physical states of affairs. Since such processes evidently have produced consciousness, however construed, consciousness is evidently a natural phenomenon, and dependent on natural phenomena." From an article by Dr. J.P. Moreland.
William Lane Craig put the argument from consciousness as follows [5]:
If God did not exist, intentional states of consciousness would not exist.
But intentional states of consciousness do exist.
Therefore, God exists.
Peter Kreeft has put forward a deductive form of the argument from consciousness[6] based upon the intelligibility of the universe despite the limitations of our minds. He phrases it deductively as follows:
"We experience the universe as intelligible. This intelligibility means that the universe is graspable by intelligence."
"Either this intelligible universe and the finite minds so well suited to grasp it are the products of intelligence, or both intelligibility and intelligence are the products of blind chance."
"Not blind chance."
"Therefore this intelligible universe and the finite minds so well suited to grasp it are the products of intelligence."
Watch J. Warner Wallace talk on the question of consciousness below.
10. Beauty of Life and Nature
Beautiful sunrises and sunsets, mountains of snow, and fields of grain, waterfalls with their rainbows glowing in the mist, wonderful animals, amazing planets and galaxies, babies and little children all point to a amazingly artistic creator, something beyond the possibility of chance randon actions. Here's a song marvelling at the beauty of life from a Christian perspective.
Here's Louie Armstrong singing about the wonderful world:
11. Sexuality
Sex is just such an amazing thing. How chance, i.e. random accidents in biological processes, could come up with the sexual parts and their counterparts in the right place at the right time is just beyond me. The evolutionists believe some amazing things. I think God creating the first couple is just a better explanation. Otherwise, biology once had some amazing abilities that we don't see existing today.
Here's a video by someone pointing out some of the difficulties:
12. Evolution lacks a Mechanism
Neither Natural Selection or Mutations are creative mechanism. Mutations have been shown to be more than 99% destructive. Natural Selection is a preserving mechanism and deletes DNA material rather then create it. Therefore, neither mutations, nor natural selection have the ability alone or together to create new additional DNA information that can add functional body parts to a growing organism. It has not been seen to take place naturally in nature. The Theory of Evolution doesn’t have a capable mechanism to create new viable DNA information needed to produce new body parts. There is no mechanism. Watch this video by Professor Randal Pollard and follow the links afterwards. Professor Pollard teaches in layman terms so you can see the difficulty the Evolution Theory is confronted with.
Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTqbq_OAk3g
Part 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWZAobdVPws
Part 4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blrsyy110kQ
Part 5: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdkUGRYn2vA
13. Life After Death Experiences
LIfe after death experiences don’t make sense in an atheistic material world. Life after death experiences seem to indicate life beyond death and point to another reality. Atheism and materialism have no adequet answers for this dilemna.
Here is an excerpts from testimonies of nurses who worked in hospice care.
Here's a short excerpt from Raymond Moody who pioneered the study of Near Death Experiences and wrote extensively on the subject.
14. Healings and Miracles
The fact that unexpainable healings and miracles have taken place and do take place leads one to the conclusion there is more to life than meets the eye. Atheism and materialism again do not have adequet answers for this phenonemon. Here's a tesimony from a Reverend who died for 45 minutes and then came back to life.
15. Emotionally
It just seems to make good emotional sense that there is a reason for our existence. It makes good emotional sense to love and forgive others. It makes good emotional sense that our actions mean something and that some day we will give account for all that we’ve done or haven’t done. It just seems to me to make good emotional sense that life is just not in vain, that there is a meaning to it all and that meaning rests with God and His love for us. God and His love for us makes good emotional sense and makes life bearable and worth living.
Hope you'll look into the question of God, if you haven't yet. Call upon Him in Jesus' name and He will answer. He answered me and He can answer you if you'll seek Him with all your heart.
