Matthew 13:10-15
13:10 And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?
13:11 He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. (Aug 5, 2011)
13:12 For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.
13:13 Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.
13:14 And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:
13:15 For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.
Isaiah 6 9:10
6:9 And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.
6:10 Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.
My good friend & fellow band mate who I was collaborating with on a CCM Album, has recently become a New Atheist. I told him I'm only working on CCM music which inspired him to create an all out effort to de-convert me. I got bombarded with very compelling arguments against the Bible.
I did as he requested and carefully read and considered all of these very reasonable arguments against the Bible. I then acknowledge to him that yes, The Old Testament is filled with Genocidal commandments from God, backwards stories of Rape, Incest, Polygamy along with Commandments from God that not only Justify Slavery, but outline the procedures for procuring slaves and permission to obtain sex slaves as booty from battle etc. etc. the list is endless.
The New Testament also contains contradicting Gospels accounts of the resurrection, differences between Paul and Jesus opinion on salvation, lack of historical evidence of Jesus. Jesus says if you don't believe in Moses you can't believe in me which basically says if you don't believe in the inerrancy of the Old Testament you can't believe in Jesus.
The list of Atheist truths goes on and on to the point Christian apologists can only accuse the opposing side of using "circular reasoning" and everybody else scratches their heads in confusion with guys like William Lane Craig & Ray Comfort trying to sound as intellectual as the guys from Oxford.
We just get crushed and embarrassed every time Apologists fall into this trap. When you try to justify scriptures you will be defeated. I learned this from trying to win back my friend. There was no winning any argument and I only served to further strengthen his unbelief as the conversation went on.
Instead of continuing to study and present to him the confusing apologetics argument, I just referred to Matthew 13:10-15 and reminded him that the wisdom of this world is foolishness to God, that we are to be fools for Christ's Sake. That Faith is the evidence of things hoped for and substance of things not seen. And that Jesus deliberately set this whole world up to be confusing.
When I told him this He called it a cop out because I refused to defend the allegations that the Bible was filled atrocities, inaccuracies and possible forgeries written by man. But I told him this is the trick of the enemy. God let man manipulate the Bible over the years, and be used it to justify slavery, witch hunting, a tool to control and exploit the poor all as a means to confuse the wise because Jesus wants us to come to him as little children. The Holy Spirit supersedes the Bible because that is the ultimate sin, Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, not blasphemy against the Bible. How is it that the persecuted Native Americans and African Americans are predominantly Christian. Because the Holy Spirit came to them through revelation despite the spiritual wickedness in high places in the church.
We can see the same struggle today with our modern antagonist political figures using social issues to divide & conquer for ulterior motives like wolves in sheep's clothing. Jesus said He that offends one of these little ones that believes in me, it would be better if a millstone were tied around there neck and they would be thrown into the sea.
This is the trick of the enemy that is using todays GOP to repel droves of Christians and our youth from accepting Christ. The Body of Christ largely supports the GOP. Broad and wide are the gates of hell but straight and narrow is the path of heaven.
The literalists interpretation of the Bible is not just a parable to keep unbelievers out. It's also a litmus test for Christ to assess the heart of the Believer. Jesus put these horrific scriptures in the Bible to see if you would subscribe and condone them as did William Lane Craig when he tried to justify the genocide of the Old Testament.
Jesus never intended for us to have a literal interpretation of the Bible. This is also what he meant with Matthew 13:10-15. Jesus made it crystal clear when he said love thy God with all thy strength and mind and love thy brother as you love your self.
I ended my Argument with my New Atheist friend with Matthew 25:31-46
25:31 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: (Aug 5, 2011)
25:32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: (Aug 5, 2011)
25:33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. (Aug 5, 2011)
25:34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: (Aug 5, 2011)
25:35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: (Aug 5, 2011)
25:36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. (Aug 5, 2011)
25:37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? (Aug 5, 2011)
25:38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? (Aug 5, 2011)
25:39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? (Aug 5, 2011)
25:40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. (Aug 5, 2011)
25:41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: (Aug 5, 2011)
25:42 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: (Aug 5, 2011)
25:43 I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. (Aug 5, 2011)
25:44 Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? (Aug 5, 2011)
25:45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. (Aug 5, 2011)
25:46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal. (Aug 5, 2011)
I told him Jesus has been in the process of separating the Goats from the Sheep. The Goats are those that can only see the world through a strict Biblical world view. Jesus said God is a spirit and those that worship him worship him in spirit and truth. Christianity survived & thrived for well over a thousand years without the majority of the followers owning, being able to read or even understanding the latin language that the priests preached to the congregation. This in itself is a testament to the miraculous power of the holy spirit
I told my New Atheist friend that Jesus is only concerned with our heart and Faith in Christ is a Heart Issue, not a Biblical Issue. I also told him that we need to start putting away our reverence for the Bible and that I accepted his arguments as completely true. This is when he called me an Apostate with great Joy and said I should just let go of my heretical beliefs and accept a life without Christ and just believe in nothing.
I can't do this because I know the power of the Holy Spirit first hand as I allow myself to be used by Christ through my music. He who tastes the light of the holy spirit and turns away from belief can also commit the unforgivable sin. After carefully considering the opposing sides argument, I'm willing to admit that I also hold irreconcilable differences with the Bible, however that doesn't mean that the Gospel isn't true and that Christ didn't rise from the Grave. It only means that I have focused my priorities on the love of Christ rather than the dogma of man. We will continue to repel and offend as we struggle to hold a biblical world view in our modern world. The Jesus movement is a call for charity and love, not a cry for condemnation. It's about time the Body of Christ stops kicking against the pricks. I know this argument is contrary to popular opinion and also in contrast to the beliefs of my Church and Pastor, but the meditations of my heart have compelled me to adopt this belief.
13:10 And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?
13:11 He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. (Aug 5, 2011)
13:12 For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.
13:13 Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.
13:14 And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:
13:15 For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.
Isaiah 6 9:10
6:9 And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.
6:10 Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.
My good friend & fellow band mate who I was collaborating with on a CCM Album, has recently become a New Atheist. I told him I'm only working on CCM music which inspired him to create an all out effort to de-convert me. I got bombarded with very compelling arguments against the Bible.
I did as he requested and carefully read and considered all of these very reasonable arguments against the Bible. I then acknowledge to him that yes, The Old Testament is filled with Genocidal commandments from God, backwards stories of Rape, Incest, Polygamy along with Commandments from God that not only Justify Slavery, but outline the procedures for procuring slaves and permission to obtain sex slaves as booty from battle etc. etc. the list is endless.
The New Testament also contains contradicting Gospels accounts of the resurrection, differences between Paul and Jesus opinion on salvation, lack of historical evidence of Jesus. Jesus says if you don't believe in Moses you can't believe in me which basically says if you don't believe in the inerrancy of the Old Testament you can't believe in Jesus.
The list of Atheist truths goes on and on to the point Christian apologists can only accuse the opposing side of using "circular reasoning" and everybody else scratches their heads in confusion with guys like William Lane Craig & Ray Comfort trying to sound as intellectual as the guys from Oxford.
We just get crushed and embarrassed every time Apologists fall into this trap. When you try to justify scriptures you will be defeated. I learned this from trying to win back my friend. There was no winning any argument and I only served to further strengthen his unbelief as the conversation went on.
Instead of continuing to study and present to him the confusing apologetics argument, I just referred to Matthew 13:10-15 and reminded him that the wisdom of this world is foolishness to God, that we are to be fools for Christ's Sake. That Faith is the evidence of things hoped for and substance of things not seen. And that Jesus deliberately set this whole world up to be confusing.
When I told him this He called it a cop out because I refused to defend the allegations that the Bible was filled atrocities, inaccuracies and possible forgeries written by man. But I told him this is the trick of the enemy. God let man manipulate the Bible over the years, and be used it to justify slavery, witch hunting, a tool to control and exploit the poor all as a means to confuse the wise because Jesus wants us to come to him as little children. The Holy Spirit supersedes the Bible because that is the ultimate sin, Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, not blasphemy against the Bible. How is it that the persecuted Native Americans and African Americans are predominantly Christian. Because the Holy Spirit came to them through revelation despite the spiritual wickedness in high places in the church.
We can see the same struggle today with our modern antagonist political figures using social issues to divide & conquer for ulterior motives like wolves in sheep's clothing. Jesus said He that offends one of these little ones that believes in me, it would be better if a millstone were tied around there neck and they would be thrown into the sea.
This is the trick of the enemy that is using todays GOP to repel droves of Christians and our youth from accepting Christ. The Body of Christ largely supports the GOP. Broad and wide are the gates of hell but straight and narrow is the path of heaven.
The literalists interpretation of the Bible is not just a parable to keep unbelievers out. It's also a litmus test for Christ to assess the heart of the Believer. Jesus put these horrific scriptures in the Bible to see if you would subscribe and condone them as did William Lane Craig when he tried to justify the genocide of the Old Testament.
Jesus never intended for us to have a literal interpretation of the Bible. This is also what he meant with Matthew 13:10-15. Jesus made it crystal clear when he said love thy God with all thy strength and mind and love thy brother as you love your self.
I ended my Argument with my New Atheist friend with Matthew 25:31-46
25:31 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: (Aug 5, 2011)
25:32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: (Aug 5, 2011)
25:33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. (Aug 5, 2011)
25:34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: (Aug 5, 2011)
25:35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: (Aug 5, 2011)
25:36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. (Aug 5, 2011)
25:37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? (Aug 5, 2011)
25:38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? (Aug 5, 2011)
25:39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? (Aug 5, 2011)
25:40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. (Aug 5, 2011)
25:41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: (Aug 5, 2011)
25:42 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: (Aug 5, 2011)
25:43 I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. (Aug 5, 2011)
25:44 Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? (Aug 5, 2011)
25:45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. (Aug 5, 2011)
25:46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal. (Aug 5, 2011)
I told him Jesus has been in the process of separating the Goats from the Sheep. The Goats are those that can only see the world through a strict Biblical world view. Jesus said God is a spirit and those that worship him worship him in spirit and truth. Christianity survived & thrived for well over a thousand years without the majority of the followers owning, being able to read or even understanding the latin language that the priests preached to the congregation. This in itself is a testament to the miraculous power of the holy spirit
I told my New Atheist friend that Jesus is only concerned with our heart and Faith in Christ is a Heart Issue, not a Biblical Issue. I also told him that we need to start putting away our reverence for the Bible and that I accepted his arguments as completely true. This is when he called me an Apostate with great Joy and said I should just let go of my heretical beliefs and accept a life without Christ and just believe in nothing.
I can't do this because I know the power of the Holy Spirit first hand as I allow myself to be used by Christ through my music. He who tastes the light of the holy spirit and turns away from belief can also commit the unforgivable sin. After carefully considering the opposing sides argument, I'm willing to admit that I also hold irreconcilable differences with the Bible, however that doesn't mean that the Gospel isn't true and that Christ didn't rise from the Grave. It only means that I have focused my priorities on the love of Christ rather than the dogma of man. We will continue to repel and offend as we struggle to hold a biblical world view in our modern world. The Jesus movement is a call for charity and love, not a cry for condemnation. It's about time the Body of Christ stops kicking against the pricks. I know this argument is contrary to popular opinion and also in contrast to the beliefs of my Church and Pastor, but the meditations of my heart have compelled me to adopt this belief.
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