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Saturday 12 November 2022

CHRISTIANITY: CONFRONTING THE TROJAN HORSE IN THE CHURCH

PUBLISHING DETAILS

TITLE: Christianity: Confronting the Trojan Horse in the Church

FORMAT: Paperback

CHAPTERS: 93

PAGES: 358

WORD COUNT: 77 374

PUBLISHER: Amazon: PJ Stassen Author Page

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Christianity

Confronting the Trojan Horse in the Church

An Easy Reader for busy People on the Run

P.J. Stassen

Centurion

SOUTH AFRICA

Acknowledgements

Foreword

Introduction

Acknowledgements

Grateful for/to:

1. Bible translations interchangeably consulted:

King James Version (KJV/KJV+) & Modern King James Version (MKJV) unless otherwise indicated e.g., Young’s Literal Translation (YLT) & Hebraic Roots Bible (HRB). The reader may find that, occasionally, I have inserted capitals (in brackets) into Scripture references for the purpose of clarity.

2. E-Sword.net: The Sword of the Lord with an Electronic Edge (Free Bible Study for the PC). Online 2021.

3. All the sources, scholars, historical figures and authors I have been allowed to mention, quote or use as examples in the course of writing.

4. Cecilia Stassen, for her ongoing assistance, encouragement and invaluable help.

Foreword

An informative book, I believe, should be like a sumptuous dinner … lavish, interesting, easily digestible and to be remembered for years afterwards, and with this book I have aimed to accomplish exactly that, for what could be more interesting and memorable than the persona, life and ministry of a man who has changed the history of the world to the matchless extent that Jesus of Nazareth (the Christ) had done?

Unlike many postmodernists, who have so superficially dismissed the historical Jesus (for all intents and purposes) as nothing more than a deluded first-century religious fanatic and rabble rouser of a charlatan who was arrested by the authorities, not as political zealot or aspiring messiah, but as a common, albeit charismatic public nuisance who disingenuously passed off cheap street magicians’ illusions as Biblical quality miracles, i.e., postmodernists who today, like pagan sorcerers and derelict, toothless oriental mystics, dare to determine the measure of a man and his words by (of all things!) the application of coloured beads.

I, instead, insist that only a carpenter-rabbi of His divine origin, moral stature and matchless wisdom could have transformed this 1970s runaway freight-train and weirds-mobile of a cynical, suburban hedonist and amoral agnostic into a person so enamoured with this Messiah that I, in the sunset season of my life, have aspired to write not only one book about His sacred cause and merciful gospel, but several.

Today, when I read the popular atheists of our times, or debate a seasoned agnostic about the existence of God, I can only heartily agree with the wise theologians who, upon hearing people say that the character of the first-century Jesus of history was so remarkable that He must have been ‘forged’ (and should be considered a ‘fake’) instead have so aptly retorted (among others) as follows (my paraphrasing):

“The man Jesus of Nazareth was so unique, gifted, remarkable and special that only a real Jesus Christ could have forged a Jesus Christ; furthermore, if the Bible really were only a collection of fairy tales, then why is it either banned or severely persecuted in at least 52 countries?”

PJ Stassen

Centurion, South Africa.

December 2021.

Introduction

I wrote this book, not as a theologian (which I am not), but as a sinner saved by grace and a social commentator concerned with the cause and future of Christianity in the world. This book comprises the following themes:

Part 1. Christianity vs. Atheism: Illustrating the absurdity of the religious cult of ‘Atheism’ as a ‘replacement-theology’ for Christianity today.

Part 2. Speaking Truth to Power: Emphasizing Christians’ moral obligation as a spiritual force to function as society’s moral conscience in the highest echelons of power, including government and big business.

Part 3. Who Created the Creator? Dismissing Atheism’s bizarre and erroneous concept of ‘created gods’ and a ‘created Creator’.

Part 4: The Rickety Legs of Postmodernism in Religion Today: Exposing postmodernist brands of religion in society at large and specifically in Christianity for the farcical delusion they represent.

Part 5. Will God Survive Science? Rebutting the secular humanists’ pathological pre-occupation with and insistence on dismissing of the Bible, God and the Gospel of Jesus Christ as obsolete and inconsequential in favour of ‘Science’ as the ultimate solution to all of humanity’s challenges and problems today.

The story of the Bible and God’s designs for man; the Commandments of Moses and the Gospel of Jesus Christ, can, for all intents and purposes, miraculously integrated to be summarised by a single Scripture reference:

“For as by one man's disobedience [THE FIRST ADAM] many were made sinners, so by the obedience of One [THE LAST ADAM, JESUS CHRIST] shall many be made righteous.”

[Romans5:19MKJV].

I am reminded of what C.S. Lewis has said (my paraphrasing):

“There are only two kinds of people, i.e., those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done!’ and those to whom God must say, “Okay then … have it your way!”

The lot and final destiny of every (fully informed & evangelised) person that ever lived will, in other words, be decided on this, i.e., a choice between Good and Evil, Light and Darkness, Jesus and Barabbas, Christ and Satan.

With those who object that anyone could exercise such a critical choice still wrongly from pure ignorance, or from cultural and/or religious biases, I can only in sympathy say that I fully concur, and although I insist that there is no other name but the Name of Jesus Christ by which we are saved, we probably should leave such metaphysical judgments (i.e., in respect of the ‘inadequately informed and poorly evangelised’) for God to decide and deal with.

There is a huge difference between being a ‘sinner’ and being ‘ungodly’/’wicked’. All the ‘ungodly’ and ‘wicked’ are sinners, but not all ‘sinners’ are necessarily ‘ungodly or ‘wicked’ … they are simply lost and must be found. God has said:

“And He [GOD] said, I will make all My goodness pass before you [MOSES], and I will proclaim the name of Jehovah before you. And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will have mercy on whom I will have mercy.”

[Exodus33:10MKJV].

Bon voyage!

PART ONE: CHRISTIANITY vs. ATHEISM

1. Introduction to Christian Apologetics

2. Atheism's Elephant in the Room

3. Pallbearers of Death

4. Atheism: Confusion on Steroids

5. Atheism: Justice and Injustice

6. Atheism: Misery Loves Company

7. Atheism: River of No Return

8. Atheism: The Dawkins Delusion

9. Atheism: The Epitome of Pitiless Indifference

10. Atheism: Where Pride (Haughtiness) Comes Before the Fall

11. Atheism: Where Richard Dawkins Has Lost His Way

12. Atheism's ‘Catch-22’

13. Atheism's Frustrating Dead End

14. Even A Stopped Clock Can Still Be 100% Right At Least Twice a Day

15. Gifts the Atheists Have Declined

16. Hope for Atheists

17. Never Join a Cult That Believes in Death After Death

18. Reasons Why Atheists Will Not See God

19. Reasons Why the Religious Cult of Atheism Will Fail

20. The Reason That Atheists Say God Is Evil

21. The Religious Cult of Atheism Exposed

22. The Religious Paradox Called ‘Atheism’

23. The Resolute Atheist's Gilt-Edged (Conditional) Guarantee of Salvation

24. The Atheism Delusion

25. The Atheist's 95% Problem

26. Intelligent Design: The Atheist-Evolutionist's Special Expertise?

27. The Futility of Atheism

28. When God Speaks to Atheists

29. Where Atheists Are Losing Their Way

30. Where Stephen Hawking Went Wrong: 'The Theory of Nothing'

31. Why I Reject the Religion of Atheism

32. Why the Ungodly Blasphemes God

33. Why Atheists Do Not Like God

34. Why Atheists Do Not Read the Bible

35. Why God Tolerates the Atheist

36. Cause and Effect: The Disingenuous Atheist

37. This Is Where Leftists Could Be Taking You

38. Last Words of Charles Templeton (Atheist)

39. Decrees of Nazi Brutality: Dresden - WWII 1942-1945

PART TWO: SPEAKING TRUTH TO POWER

40. Democracy: Should the Majority Always Be Followed?

41. How the Nazi Bigwigs Switched from Right to Left at the Nuremberg Trials

42. Kiss of the Serpent

43. Nazis Barking Up the Wrong Tree

44. No Regret Vote in Eternity

45. Optical Delusions

46. Penny Wise Pound Foolish

47. Phototaxis: Like A Moth to A Flame

48. Seduced by the Voice of the Serpent

49. Speaking Truth to Power

50. The Great ‘Blue Watermelon’ Hoax

51. The Infinite Monkey Theorem

52. The Myth of the 'Self-made' Man

53. The Smiler with the Knife Under the Cloak

54. The Urban Pagan's Fatal Impudence

55. ‘Tombstone’ or ‘Dodge’: Pick Your Poison

56. Violence in Schools: Why Are We Not Surprised?

PART THREE:

WHO CREATED THE CREATOR?

57 Who Created the Creator?

58.Who Owns the Universe?

59. Dangers of Scientific Pantheism (Atheism-Evolutionism)

60. Drosophila Fruit-Fly and Evolution

61. Evolution: How Does a Fairy Tale Usually Begin?

62. Evolution: Meet the Apex Species

63. Evolutionism: The New ‘Dead Poets Society’

64. Evolution's Infamous Hall of Shame

65. Darwinism: Survival of The Fittest?

66. The Darwinists' Pathological Deification of Darwin

67. International Darwin Day: Why?

68. Are Demons Smarter Than People?

PART FOUR: THE RICKETY LEGS OF POSTMODERNISM IN RELIGION TODAY

69. Still Behind Bars?

70. Beware of Buyer's Remorse!

71. Beware of Sticky Traps!

72. Cleopatra: Queen of Denial

73 The Virgin Birth of The Cosmos

74. The Three Deadly Pillars of Atheism-Evolutionism

75. The ‘Primordial Earth’ & ‘Pre-Adamite Race’ Myths

76. Why Atheism-Evolutionism Does Not Convince

77. Jesus Christ Did Not Believe in Evolution

78. Did Evolution Really Cause the Fossil Record?

79. Maropeng South Africa: ‘Cradle of Humankind’ (Really?)

80. Evolution: The Mystery of Homologous Structures Explained

81. Facts About Evolutionists You Ought to Know

82. Why I Am a Young Earth Creationist

83. Christian Atheism: Cult of Unreason

84. From the Bible to Darwinism: From Hero to Zero

85. Heresy in The Church?

86. Postmodernism: The Future of Truth Meaning & Certainty

87. The Descent of the Modernists

88. How the Postmodernists Are Trying to Sell Us a Fake Jesus

89. Is Your Pastor Preaching ‘Another Jesus’?

90. Woe to the Shepherds Scattering the Sheep!

PART FIVE: WILL GOD SURVIVE SCIENCE?

91. Who Is Your Father?

92. Whose Report Will You Believe?

93. Will God Survive Science?

Recommended Sources

Invitation

Author Profile

Chapter 1

Introduction to Christian Apologetics

1. Introduction. The term ‘Christen Apologetics’ refers to that branch of Biblical studies involved in the defence of the Christian Faith against objections and critique against the significance, value and validity of the Faith in Christianity, while the Encyclopaedia Britannica defines the word, ‘Apologist’, as follows:

“Apologist, any of the Christian writers, primarily in the 2nd century, who attempted to provide a defense of Christianity and criticisms of paganism and other aspects of Greco-Roman culture. Many of their writings were addressed to Roman emperors, and it is probable that the writings were actually sent to government secretaries who were empowered to accept or reject them. Under these circumstances, some of the apologies assumed the form of briefs written to defend Christians against the accusations current in the 2nd century, especially the charges that their religion was novel or godless or that they engaged in immoral cultic practices.”

[Encyclopaedia Britannica, online].

Doug Potter PhD, from the Southern Evangelical Seminary & Bible College, suggests the follow strategies for teaching Christian Apologetics:

1.1 Apologetics Education must be geared toward the believer.

1.2 Apologetics Education must be age appropriate.

1.3 Apologetics must follow a systematic plan.

1.4 Apologetics education must be activity based.

1.5 Apologetics education must know its limitations.

2. Approaches to Christian Apologetics. Wikipedia summarises the various approaches to Christian Apologetics by such topics as:

2.1 Scripture driven. Defence of the historicity and validity of the Bible as God’s (inerrant, written) Word gifted to humanity in general and believers especially.

2.2 Creation driven. Defence of the Genesis Creation Account against deceptive, delusional and/or dysfunctional worldviews that may, among others, comprise such fields of study as follows:

(i) Atheism

(ii) Agnosticism

(iii) Neo-paganism

(iv) Secular Humanism

(v) Classical (Atheistic) Darwinism

(vi) Biblical Creationism (Young Earth Creationism)

(vii) Darwinian Creationism (Old Earth Creationism/Creative Evolutionism).

P.S. Other apologists may prefer to name and list these themes differently, depending on such factors as theological tradition, training, individual temperament, or emphases of study.

2.3 Experience driven. Defence of the Christian Faith and the Gospel founded on the individual as well as collective Christians’ experience, e.g., experience of spiritual regeneration, repentance and the testimony of the Holy Spirit. The idea of ‘experience driven’ apologetics is supported by the etymology of the word ‘experiment’ as follows:

mid-14c., "action of observing or testing; an observation, test, or trial;" also "piece of evidence or empirical proof; feat of magic or sorcery," from Old French experment "practical knowledge, cunning; enchantment, magic spell; trial, proof, example; lesson, sign, indication," from Latin experimentum "a trial, test, proof, experiment," noun of action from experiri "to try, test," from ex "out of" (see ex-) + peritus "experienced, tested," from PIE *per-yo-, suffixed form of root *per- (3) "to try, risk."

[Etymonline.com].

2.4 Historical & Jurisprudence (Evidentialist) driven. Defence of the Christian Faith founded on theologians’ application of those protocols and procedures, e.g., forensic studies involving the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

2.5 Supernatural driven. Defence of Biblical miracles (from the Bible), as well as all true and valid (Biblical type) miracles from any era, as genuine and valid phenomena produced by God as the omnipotent Creator and Ruler of the Universe. Evangelical Christians consider the atheist’s monotonous mantra that ‘miracles are impossible’ and (theoretically) ‘in breach of the Laws of Nature’ thus as philosophically absurd as well as mathematically illogical.

Miracles are (by default) supposed to be impossible and supposed to (apparently) be in breach of the Laws of Nature … that is why we call such events ‘miracles’ in the first place (hence the adjective, ‘miraculous’). Had miracles been ‘possible’, they wouldn’t have qualified as ‘miracles’ and wouldn’t have been ‘miraculous’, only ordinary, mundane events of no consequence at all of which nobody would have taken any notice.

In fact, the existence of the Laws of Nature is an indispensable minimum requirement for miracles to happen otherwise, in the absence of such restraining Laws of Nature, there would be no Natural Laws available for the event to be in breach of for it to qualify as a ‘miracle.’

In a topsy turvy world and scenario where anything could willy-nilly happen left, right and centre, all events would have been (chaotically, destructively, unreservedly) ‘possible’ without any scientific or divine limitations or constraints at all, while the Christian’s point-of-departure is that Biblical miracles are strictly sanctioned, ordered, allowed and supervised by God to work for the ‘good’ for those ‘called to His purposes’.

The atheists’ position that ‘miracles are impossible’ however, has some partial merit; what he/she really wants to say is that ‘miracles are impossible for atheists’, which is completely true. Why? Well, it stands to reason that the atheist will usually auto-destruct by never asking or trusting God for a miracle anyway because he/she does not believe in God in the first place, and, secondly, God will anyway not cast His pearls before those that are ‘cynical and unappreciative’ (for lack of a harsher term); without faith it is impossible to please God.

2.6 Prophecy driven. Defence of the Christian Faith founded on the remarkable fulfilling of Biblical prophecies, especially those messianic prophecies pertaining to the arrival and life of Jesus Christ.

2.7 Science driven. Defence of the Christian Faith founded on empirical evidence from modern science as presented by secular as well as Godfearing scientists. The website ‘Dissent from Darwin’ (https://dissentfromdarwin.org) is specifically dedicated to the cause of publishing the testimonies of thousands of scientists worldwide who either seriously doubt or reject the atheistic (Darwinian) Evolutionary Theory.

2.8 Philosophy-driven. Defence of the Christian Faith that may include such philosophical themes such as:

2.8.1 The Moral Argument. Defence of the Faith founded on the morality of Creation and the moral demands of the Bible (e.g., the ‘Ten Commandments’) that demonstrate a clear tension between the ultimate GOOD (emanating from God, the Creator) and the ultimate EVIL (emanating from Satan, a creature).

2.8.2 The Presuppositional Argument. Defence of the Faith founded on the presupposition that the basic ‘belief-systems’ or ‘convictions’ of both believers and unbelievers demand the existence of God.

2.8.3 The Cosmological Argument. Defence of the Faith founded on the principle that the very existence of the Cosmos already proves the existence of God.

2.8.4 The Teleological Argument. Defence of the Faith founded on the point-of-departure that the very presence of intelligent design in nature already proves the existence of an Intelligent Designer (Creator).

2.8.5 The Ontological & Transcendental Arguments. Defence of the Faith founded on the point-of-departure that the very idea or thought of the existence or non-existence of God already proves the existence of God, otherwise the mind of humanity would not have been capable of such intellectual acrobatics as to think about and contemplate such abstract things (for instance, do animals ever contemplate such things?).

2.8.6 The ‘Blaise Pascal Wager’ Argument. Defence of the Faith founded on this brilliant French scientist’s point-of-departure that it would be wiser, safer and more logical and sensible for mankind (especially for the vacillating individual) to believe and live as if God exists instead of vice versa.

3. Characteristics of Atheism. Atheism, per se, denies the existence of God and rejects the Bible as God’s authoritative Word for mankind. As a species, atheists have no interest in the Bible, the Gospel or in the forgiveness of sin, salvation, and everlasting life and is just about one the most morbid, nihilistic* and depressing of all worldviews and religious cults in captivity. It may, among other things, also manifest as Agnosticism, Cybernetics, Dianetics & Scientology, Nazism, Fascism, Communism, Secular Humanism, Transhumanism, Posthumanism, Satanism etc.

What baffles me most is not the fact that atheists do not believe in God rather than the fact that they are under the impression that they have no sin and have no need for a ‘forgiving’ Saviour and God.

* ‘Nihilistic’: Faith in Death-after-death, not Life-after-death.

4. Classical (Atheistic) Darwinism. From the preponderance of literature on Charles Darwin and Darwinism in general it has become pointedly clear that ‘Classical Darwinism’ is atheistic by default and founded on two non-negotiable points-of-departure, i.e.:

(i) the rejection of the existence of an Intelligent Designer (Creator) as the Divine Agent responsible for the original conception, creation and ongoing maintenance and control of the Cosmos (as per Genesis 1:1)

(ii) faith in the ‘arrival’ (for lack of a better word) of the Cosmos from out of the ‘blue-of-nothing’ through the magical, unplanned, accidental and random alchemy of brainless and lifeless ‘Evolution’, a mysterious, unplanned and unpremeditated process affectionately referred to among atheists, evolutionists and agnostics as the ‘Big Bang’.

5. Postmodernism & Christian Atheism. Ever since the advent of popular movements like the ‘Jesus Seminar’ (USA) and ‘Die Nuwe Hervormers’ (RSA), Evangelical Christianity has been combating the scourge of Christian Atheism, an approach to the Bible that denies the miraculous element in Scripture (and especially in the New Testament), the rejection of the virgin birth and divinity of Christ and the idea that, although the Bible may (or should) be accepted as a commendable and helpful book on ‘social ethics’, the historical narrative regarding the miracles of Christ and claims about His divine status as the Son of God (God incarnate) should be considered as no more than ancient and obsolete Jewish folklore, myth and legend not to be taken seriously by the modern sophisticated, educated (‘enlightened’) mind.

Evangelical Christians, of course, reject this worldview (the very false cult of ‘another Jesus’, ‘another ‘gospel’ and ‘another spirit’ among postmodernist theologians as warned against by the Apostle Paul) as heresy with the contempt it deserves. It is simply amazing how this magical word, i.e., ‘enlightened’ or ‘enlightenment’, is bandied about as the key to spiritual emancipation, discovery and freedom by all and sundry all over the world, e.g., from the ultra-sophisticated, educated heathens in ‘ivy league’ universities in the West (who trample the Gospel of Jesus Christ as mythical bunkum) to illiterate mystics in Asia spending hours, if not days, in stupefying transcendent meditation.

6. Three main themes defended by Evangelical Christians. Christians from the perspective of Evangelical Christianity are (in my view) predominantly engaged in and concerned with the promotion of three critical themes:

6.1 Intelligent Design. This refers to the argument that intelligent design (in nature) as well as an Intelligent (Designer Creator) exist and that the Cosmos was premeditatedly conceived, planned, and created by the Intelligent Designer exactly as the Bible teaches.

By the way, not all those who believe in the existence of intelligent design and an Intelligent Designer are necessarily Christians; the subject is often pursued and studied across a wide spectrum of faiths and creeds of diverse kinds.

6.2 Biblical Creationism. This refers to the historicity of the Bible as a valid and reliable steward and repository of the Genesis Creation Account of which God, i.e., Creator and Intelligent Designer, is the Author.

6.3 Evangelical Christianity. This refers to the doctrine that the Son of God, Jesus Christ, has died at Golgotha (Calvary) for the sins of the world and that, through His ministry, life, suffering, sacrifice, death, resurrection and consequently His righteousness, forgiveness of sin and Eternal Life is promised to all those who will repent, believe the Gospel and accept Him as Saviour and LORD.

7. Tips on how to stand for the Kingdom of God. Sean McDowell PhD, professor of Christian Apologetics at Biola University, has given a plethora of tips for the aspiring Christian apologist to consider:

7.1 “Before speaking on an issue, ask yourself: Do I have all of the facts? Or at least a sufficient amount to make a reasonable judgment?

7.2 “Don’t base your beliefs in what you like, as tempting and natural as that may be. Seek truth, even if you don’t like it.

7.3 “There is some truth in every false belief system. Otherwise, no one would be tempted to believe it.

7.4 “When reading the Bible, it is not a live option to accept teaching you like and disregard teachings you don’t. Either it is inspired, and authoritative, or not.

7.5 “The core question many people are asking today is whether Christianity is good. If we can’t show that it is good, many will not even consider if it is true.

7.6 “Simply outwork people. Read more. Study more. Ask better questions. Think more deeply. There’s no shortcut.

7.7 “Genuine tolerance means respecting people who view the world differently. Tolerating only those who hold your views is no tolerance at all.

7.8 “Whether in person or online, regularly ask yourself, ‘If that person were sitting across from me, would I be speaking with the same tone and attitude?’

7.9 “Be Patient! Got an email from a friend who researched the historical Jesus for 7-8 years and just decided to become a Christian.

7.10 “Even though He doesn't need us, God still loves us. Why? Love is not just what God does. It's who He is.

7.11 “Have the courage to stand by your convictions, whether they are popular or not.

7.12 “Don't pray for God to bless you today. Pray that God will make you a blessing to others.

7.13 “If a seeker is open to considering the claims of Christ, don’t give him/her an apologetics book first. Offer the Gospel of John...and then an apologetics book.

7.14 “There is no single apologetics or evangelism method that works for everyone. People are different.

7.15 “If your views never run up against the wider culture, then ask yourself how biblically faithful you’re being.

7.16 Freedom is not doing whatever you want, but having the capacity to do what you ought.

7.17 “Remember, even people who reject, scorn, or hate God are (a) made in His image and (b) live in His world.

7.18 “Snarky condescension will change no one’s mind. If you want to influence, lead with kindness and charity.

7.19 “Remember, the Bible doesn’t approve of everything it records.

7.20 “Speak truth with gentleness. Avoid the temptation to compromise truth or speak harshly (Colossians4:6).

7.21 “You don’t have to have all the answers. Admit if you don’t know an answer, but then go find it.

7.22 “Don’t merely make the case that Christianity is true. Make the case that it is good and beautiful.

7.23 “We are called to make good arguments, but not be argumentative (1 Peter 3:15).

7.24 “You may disagree with others, but remember, people hold views for reasons they perceive as good.

7.25 “Approach others with the idea that you may have something to learn from them.

7.26 “Interpret your experience in light of Scripture, rather than Scripture in light of your experience.

7.27 “Make good arguments and defend truth, but remember, the deepest need of the human heart is for love.”

8. Ten empirical proofs that God exists (Bonus article: Reprint from ‘Christianity: Saviour on a Mission’).

8.1 The Reality of the BIBLE. The psalmist writes:

“The Lord gave the word: great was the company of those that published it.”

[Psalm68:11KJV].

“The Words of Jehovah are pure Words, like silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.”

[Psalm12:6MKJV].

“The heaven and the earth shall pass away, but My Words shall not pass away."

[Matthew24:35MKJV].

As I write the Bible is still considered the world’s bestseller.

“With estimated total sales of over five billion copies, it is widely considered to be the best-selling book of all time.[4][6][7] As of the 2000s, it sells approximately 100 million copies annually.”

[Wikipedia].

8.2 The Cosmos. To this day I am waiting for the atheist, secular humanist, evolutionist and/or philosopher that will coherently (i.e., outside the ambit of Bible history and revelation) explain to us:

8.2.1 Why is there something (e.g., a Universe, galaxies, solar systems, space, planets, people, animals, plants etc,) instead of nothing?

8.2.2 Where did the Cosmos come from?

8.2.3 Where did we come from?

8.2.4 Why are were here?

8.2.5 Where are we going?

8.2.6 Is there hope for planet Earth?

8.2.7 Is there life after death?

8.2.8 Why can't so-called ‘Evolution’ (sic) get it right, i.e., why is there, after so-called ‘millions of years of progressive Evolution’, still a 100% mortality rate for every generation in every nation?

Pitted against the futility of the atheist-evolutionist’s pathetic response (If any at all) to such questions, the Christian offers the most coherent response to date. For instance, it is clear that:

- According to scientists themselves, science only knows about 5% of what is going on in the Universe with the rest (95%) ‘undetectable by scientific instruments dark matter & dark energy’. Furthermore, scientists (e.g., marine biologists etc.) concede that they only know about 10%-20% of what is going on in the oceans of the Earth.

- God may thus just be obscured from their view and/or scientific observations from the 80% to 90% of the oceans and 95% of the Cosmos the scientists still know little (or not enough) about. Even had they 100% knowledge about the oceans and the Cosmos (best-case scenario) they still might not observe or see God ... to use an allegory, who in his right mind would look and search for Henry Ford in the engine of a Ford automobile?

The Bible teaches:

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”

[Genesis1:1MKJV].

“Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and measured out the heavens with a span? And who has shut up the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?”

[Isaiah40:12MKJV].

“So says Jehovah God, He who created the heavens and stretched them out, spreading out the earth and its offspring; He who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk in it.”

[Isaiah42:5MKJV].

“I have made the earth, and created man on it; I with My hands have stretched out the heavens; and all their host have I commanded.”

[Isaiah45:12MKJV].

“ ... seek Him who created the Pleiades and Orion, and who turned the deep darkness into the morning and He darkened the day into night. Seek Him who calls for the waters of the sea, and pours them out on the face of the earth; Jehovah is His name.”

[Amos5:8MKJV].

“O Lord, You are worthy to receive glory and honor and power, because You created all things, and for Your will they are and were created ... and swore by Him who lives forever and ever, who created the heaven and the things in it, and the earth and the things in it, and the sea and the things in it, that there should no longer be time.”

[Revelation4:11; 10:6MKJV].

8.3 The Reality of PLANET EARTH. The Bible says:

“He stretches out the north over the empty place, and He hung the earth on nothing.”

[Job26:7MKJV].

Check out any image of the earth in books or on the Internet ... is it suspended in deep space or not? In other words, it was 'hung on nothing', exactly as the Bible predicted centuries before modern (optical and radio) telescopes and the science of modern astronomy were founded.

8.4 The Reality of the SEVEN DAY WEEK. God made the heavens and the earth in six days and on the seventh day He 'rested' (stopped creating); the seven-day week has been in full force ever since ... why won’t or can't anyone change it?

[Genesis1:1-31; 2:1-3].

8.5 The Reality of ZIONISM. God promised Abraham (Abram > Abraham > Isaac >Jacob > Israel):

“And Jehovah said to Abram, Go out of your country, and from your kindred, and from your father's house into a land that I will show you. And I will make you a great nation. And I will bless you and make your name great. And you shall be a blessing. And I will bless those that bless you and curse the one who curses you. And in you shall all families of the earth be blessed.”

[Genesis12:1-3MKJV].

The Prophet Isaiah warns:

“This burden was in the year that King Ahaz died: Rejoice not, O Philistia, all of you, that the rod of your striking is broken. For a viper comes forth from the root of a snake, and his fruit shall be a fiery flying serpent. And the first-born of the poor shall feed, and the needy shall lie down in safety; and I will kill your root with famine, and he shall slay your remnant. Howl, O gate! Cry, O city! O Philistia, all of you, are melted away; for from the north a smoke comes, and no straggler in his ranks. What shall one then answer the messengers of the nation? That Jehovah has founded Zion, and the poor of His people shall trust in it.”

[Isaiah14:28-32MKJV].

8.6 The Miracle of BIRTH. Within an hour after the birth of my son in 1979 (and the same with the birth of my daughter in 1981) I would have given my life for a little person whom I, at that moment, didn’t know from Adam, an experience and an emotion neither secular psychology, science, scientism, evolutionism or secular philosophy can ever hope to explain.

This phenomenon, i.e., the miracle of birth, vividly demonstrates the miracle of birth and wonder of divine Creation and illustrates the futility of the religious cult of atheism-evolutionism that doggedly believes in ‘death-after-death’ and impotency of Darwinism that, after, ‘millions of years of progressive Evolution’, still cannot get it right as it struggles with a 100% mortality rate for mankind in every generation in every nation.

The miracle of birth almost daily shows that life is more than a collection of cells, bones, nerves, skin, hair, blood, water and a brain housing a motley collection of ‘thinking atoms’; it affirms the Biblical fact that the physical body of man houses an immortal spirit created by God and cherished by our Heavenly Father.

8.7 The Reality of the Genesis FLOOD & ARK of NOAH. Skeptics, atheist-evolutionists (and even Christian atheists or postmodernists!) are doing their very best to deny and dismiss the existence of Noah, the Flood of Noah and the Ark of the Flood as described in the Bible and will invariably in debates and arguments (about the topic) write that kind of history off as (unreliable & useless) ancient ‘Jewish myths’, ‘legends’ and ‘old wives tales’.

However, the historicity of the Biblical account of Noah, the Flood and the Ark is affirmed repeatedly in the Bible:

8.7.1 GENESIS:

The Genesis Account of Noah and Noah's Ark & Flood: Genesis5:29-10:32.

8.7.2 1CHRONICLES:

“Adam, Seth, Enos, Cainan, Mahalaleel, Jered, Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech, Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.”

[1 Chronicles 1:1-4MKJV].

8.7.3 ISAIAH: God speaks through the prophet:

“For this is as the waters of Noah to Me; for as I swore that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth, so I have sworn from being angry with you and from rebuking you.”

[Isaiah 54:9MKJV].

8.7.4 EZEKIEL: God speaks through the prophet:

“And though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they should deliver only their own souls by their righteousness, says the Lord Jehovah ... though Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, as I live, says the Lord Jehovah, they shall deliver neither son nor daughter. They shall only deliver their own souls by their righteousness.”

[Ezekiel14:14,20MKJV].

8.7.5 HEBREWS (EPISTLE):

“By faith Noah, having been warned by God of things not yet seen, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.”

[Hebrews11:7MKJV].

8.7.6 PETER (EPISTLE):

“For Christ also once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, indeed being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the Spirit; in which also He went and preached to the spirits in prison, to disobeying ones, when once the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared (in which a few, that is, eight souls were saved through water); which figure now also saves us, baptism; not a putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ; who is at the right hand of God, having gone into Heaven, where the angels and authorities and powers are being subjected to Him.”

[1Peter3:18-22MKJV].

“For if God did not spare sinning angels, but thrust them down into Tartarus, and delivered them into chains of darkness, being reserved to judgment. And He did not spare the old world, but saved Noah the eighth one, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly.”

[2Peter2:4-5MKJV].

8.7.7 JESUS CHRIST:

(a) As to the Second Coming #1:

“But of that day and hour no one knows, no, not the angels of Heaven, but only My Father. But as the days of Noah were, so shall be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered into the ark. And they did not know until the flood came and took them all away. So also will be the coming of the Son of Man.”

[Matthew24:36-39MKJV].

(b) As to the bloodline (genealogy):

“ ... the son of Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech.”

[Luke3:36MKJV].

“And as it was in the days of Noah, so it also shall be in the days of the Son of Man. They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark; and the flood came and destroyed them all. So also as it was in the days of Lot: they ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; but the day Lot went out of Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from the heaven and destroyed them all. Even so it shall be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed.”

[Luke17:26-30MKJV].

8.8 The Reality of SIN. As regards the reality of evil and sin, the Bible teaches:

“Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth, while the evil days do not come, nor the years draw near, when you shall say, I have no pleasure in them. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it is good, or whether evil.”

[Ecclesiastes12:1, 14MKJV].

“But if your eye is evil, your whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!”

[Matthew6:23MKJV].

“Even so every good tree brings forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree brings forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruits, nor can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit ... And Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, Why do you think evil in your hearts? ... Offspring of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. A good man out of the good treasure of the heart brings out good things; and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings out evil things.”

[Matthew7:17-18; 9:4; 12:34-35MKJV].

“And this is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His Word is not in us.”

[1John1:5-10MKJV].

“Come now, and let us reason together, says Jehovah; though your sins are as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be like wool. If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured with the sword; for the mouth of Jehovah has spoken.”

[Isaiah1:18-20MKJV].

8.9 The Reality of SPIRITUAL REGENERA-TION. 'Spiritual Regeneration' is one of the miracles of a relationship with Jesus Christ and it is wrought by the mysterious Holy Spirit of God ... many may refer to it as the ‘born again experience’. The Bible teaches:

“But as many as received Him, He gave to them authority to become the children of God, to those who believe on His name, who were born, not of bloods, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but were born of God.”

[John1:12-13MKJV].

“For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision has any strength, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation.”

[Galatians6:15MKJV].

“So that if any one is in Christ, that one is a new creature; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”

[2Corinthians5:17MKJV].

“But death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is the type of Him who was to come ... For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all will be made alive ... And so it is written, "The first man, Adam, became a living soul," the last Adam was a life-giving Spirit.’”

[Romans5:14; 1Corinthians15:22,45MKJV].

8.10 The Reality of DEATH. Death is a fact of life that cannot be changed. Even the after ‘millions of years’ of so-called ‘progressive Evolution’ (yeah right!) the mortality rate for every generation and in every nation is still a solid 100% ... clearly ‘progressive Evolution’ did not progress even over all the millennia at all. The reason for it is plain to see, as the Bible teaches:

“And as it is appointed to men once to die, but after this the judgment.”

[Hebrews9:27MKJV].

8.11 Conclusion & Admonition. Jesus Christ will be the presiding Chief Justice at the Great White Throne Judgment.

In the light of these empirical proofs for the existence of God (by no means an exhaustive list) does the atheist-evolutionist have a legitimate excuse for not believing in God, and will the atheist-evolutionist be able to stand successfully before Jesus Christ at the Great White Throne Judgment ‘justified’ and declared ‘not guilty’ on the grounds of ‘ignorance’ or ‘innocent’ wilful unbelief alone? What does the Bible teach?

8.11.1 No other Name by which we may be saved.

“This [JESUS CHRIST] is the Stone which you builders have counted worthless, and He has become the Head of the Corner. And there is salvation in no other One; for there is no other name under Heaven given among men by which we must be saved ... Therefore I [JESUS CHRIST] said to you that you shall die in your sins, for if you do not believe that I AM, you shall die in your sins.”

[Acts4:11-12; John8:24MKJV].

8.11.2 Jesus Christ the presiding Chief Justice.

“For as [GOD] the Father raises the dead and makes alive, even so the Son of Man [JESUS CHRIST] makes alive whomever He wills. For [GOD] the Father judges no man, but has committed all judgment to the Son [JESUS], so that all should honor the Son [JESUS], even as they honor [GOD] the Father. He who does not honor the Son [JESUS] does not honor [GOD] the Father who sent Him. Truly, truly, I say to you, He who hears My Word and believes on Him [GOD THE FATHER] who sent Me [JESUS CHRIST] has everlasting life and shall not come into condemnation, but has passed from death to life.”

[John5:21-24MKJV].

8.11.3 Those ashamed of Christ will stand ashamed on Judgment Day.

“For whoever shall be ashamed of Me and of My Words, the Son of Man shall be ashamed of him when He shall come in His own and in His Father's glory, and that of the holy angels.”

[Luke9:26MKJV].

8.11.4 There can be no excuse. The Bible warns:

“For the wrath of God is revealed from Heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because the thing which may be known of God is clearly revealed within them, for God revealed it to them. For the unseen things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being realized by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, for them to be without excuse. Because, knowing God, they did not glorify Him as God, neither were thankful. But they became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools.”

[Romans 1:18-22MKJV].

9. The ‘Wisdom’ Test. Please try to answer the undermentioned question as honestly as possible: ‘How ALMIGHTY (OMNIPOTENT) is God really?

- Absolutely & Infinitely omnipotent?

- Very omnipotent?

- Almost omnipotent?

- Just a little bit omnipotent?

- Not omnipotent at all?

The answer is simple: God is absolutely and infinitely omnipotent!

[Génesis1:1-3; Job42:2; Psalm147:5; Mark10:27; Romans4:17; Ephesians3:20].

References/Recommended Sources

1. Britannica.com. Apologist. Online 2022.

2. Dissent from Darwin. DissentfromDarwin.org. Online 2022.

3. Geisler, Norman L. Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics. Amazon.com. Online 2022.

4. McDowell, Sean PhD (2016) A New Kind of Apologist. Harvest House Publishers. Eugene, Oregon.

5. McDowell, Sean PhD (2016) Tips for Christian Apologists. Biola University, Good Book Blog. Online 2022.

6. Potter, Doug PhD Five Strategies for Teaching Christian Apologetics. Southern Evangelical Seminary & Bible College. Online 2022.

7. Tacelli, Keith R. & Kreeft, P. (1994) Handbook of Christian Apologetics. Amazon. Online 2022.

8. Wikipedia. Bible. Online 2022.

9. Wikipedia. Christian Apologetics. Online 2022.

Chapter 2

Atheism’s Elephant in the Room

1. The Elephant in the Room. I apologise for this ‘misnomer’; it actually should read a ‘herd of elephants’, i.e., those red-herring issues that the atheists conveniently choose to ignore as too perplexingly embarrassing to acknowledge in public. Examples:

1.1 The Bible. After literally millenniums of attacks, abuse and efforts to destroy it, the Bible, the Church (‘Ecclesia’) and God’s Moral Compass for mankind, stubbornly refuses to go away and leave them alone.

1.2 The Jew & Israel. The most obvious ‘empirical evidence’ in support of the historicity and authenticity of the Bible, especially the Old Testament, is the very phenomenon of the Jew, especially after the independence of the fledgling nation of Israel (1948), exactly as prophets from Biblical times and in the Bible had prophesied.

1.3 The Gospel and Prophecies of Jesus Christ. No informed person today will deny the success of the Gospel; in communism-driven China alone Christianity is growing at 7% p.a. and, according to a recent BBC report, by 2030 more than 50% of Chinese citizens are expected to be Christians. The very escalation of the persecution of Christians and presence of wars, rumours of wars, earthquakes etc. serve to affirm the veracity of Christ’s prophecies i.r.o. the ‘end times’ (‘Eschatology’).

1.4 Darwinism. One ‘elephant’ in the room that many an exasperating atheist would have gotten rid of years ago had the darn animal not ingratiated itself into their lives as this macabre Dead Poets Society of a hopeless ideology, i.e., no Hereafter (‘death after death’) and no prospects for the future but to be recycled back into nature at death as compost for the next generation of cynical ‘evolutionists’.

1.5 Mankind's Persistent 100% Mortality Rate. After ‘billions of years’ of ‘Cosmic & Stellar Evolution’ (sic) and ‘millions of years’ of ‘Human Evolution’ (sic) the evolutionists still can promise us, at best, the same old 100% mortality rate for every generation on every continent of planet earth ... ‘Evolution’ just can't seem to get it right, does it?

2. The Ultimate Irony. When the atheist is challenged over the merit of his ‘belief system’, he is quick to retort that he is perfectly content (if not deliriously happy) in the twilight of his cheerless worldview.

The point is that, if this were true, why would he reject the only person in the Universe (Jesus Christ) who has the stature to make his (true, authentic) happiness a glorious, Eternal affair? Why do they insist on rejecting the only Person with the key to Eternal and the ultimate form of Happiness?

AUTHOR PROFILE

P. J. Stassen, born in 1947 in Randgate, South Africa, holds a B.A. degree in Industrial Psychology & Sociology (Industrial) from the University of South Africa. A former businessman who, after mandatory military conscription, spent the first 12 years of his life in 1966 in the field of retail (Textiles & General Dealer) in a family business begun by his father in 1964, thereafter worked at various other jobs eventually arriving in the fulfilling position of a corporate trainer with Kumba Resources (formerly Iscor Iron Ore Mine) in the Bushveldt region of South Africa during the years 1986 and 1997. At the time of his retirement in 2013 he was engaged in Occupational Health & Safety Training in the corporate environment on a contract basis for a Johannesburg company.

P.J. Stassen and his wife are both retired and live in Centurion, South Africa after having also served in their capacities as gospel musicians (pianist & organist respectively) in churches in some of South Africa’s nine provinces, e.g., in places like Vanderbijlpark, Bloemfontein, Thabazimbi, Sinoville and Centurion.