Some people don't think that faith and science are compatible. This is to demonstrate that is not the case and that science plays a part in helping to confirm God's existence and reveal his divine nature. This is to demonstrate one path to God. There is contained within both evidence for God's existence and attributes from the nature of the physical universe, and also evidence from direct communication from God and mankind.
Finding out whether God exists or not is not just for philosophers and genius scientists. it's something we all should try to learn and find out. If a loving God exists, there must be evidence that the average person can understand.
This is not completely exhaustive but a path formed using science, logic, and deductive reasoning. It also analyzes and critiques different philosophies and religions.
It must be made clear that this is in no way meant to personally attack and harm any reader of this regardless of his religious or philosophical beliefs, but is a serious discourse with an effort show a path to the Christian God using science, logic, reason. This is of course biased just like you are, and doesn't claim to be unbiased. It does not either negate faith, but shows that faith in God is reasonable and not blind but rather based upon solid and infallible proofs. I by no means take full credit for producing this article but it was mostly from Christian and creationist resources.
After reading, I invite you to share your thoughts or objections in a serious and mature manner, and am open for debate and exchange of ideas. This is long (what do you expect?), so I don't suggest you rush through it. Take a seat, relax and smoke a bowl if that helps (but not to much you'll have to think quite a bit). Here we go.
To start, I must first build upon things which I know. I must really
dig down deep. In this world today, people doubt and are critical of so much, even their own existence. I will start from what I do know and build upon that. I'm starting with no preconceived notions and no special schools of thought etc.I'll be using an open mind, logic, honesty and common sense.
Now, all logic starts with at least one assumption. And although logic is exact, if you start from a faulty premise you could get incorrect results, so you have to be careful. In geometry proofs are called givens or axioms. These are facts which must be true but are nearly impossible to prove such as 1=1.
So what is it that we can assume? What is the most basic thing? What is it that you can say that you know for sure without a doubt? Sometimes it's hard to recognize, perhaps because we do it all the time, or perhaps it's because we lack an outside perspective. The most basic thing we can can know for sure is...
You are thinking.
Which is pretty basic. You can't say you know
anything more certain than that. No matter what you do, you're always thinking, even if you think that maybe you aren't you, you still are thinking about it. If it weren't true, you wouldn't be able to say it, or read it, or anything.
Now we know for a fact that you are thinking. This is definitely a
solid fact. Some people don't believe in black and white facts, but
rather a spectrum of grays. But close magnification of this spectrum would show black and white dots, and an even closer look would show the fabric of the paper, some stained with ink and some not. If we could look even more closely we could see the molecules of ink near the molecules of paper. And we could look down deeper and deeper.
Some things we don't know. Perhaps we never will. But this doesn't mean answers don't exist, or are fundamentally ambiguous.A fact is a fact whether anyone recognizes it or not. The fact is you are thinking. Which leads us to our next assumption.
Those who think exist.
Now we have two givens which are assumed to be true.
1.
you are thinking
2.
Those who think exist.
And if you are thinking and if thinkers exist, then
you exist. A firmly
grounded conclusion by deductive reasoning. This is very important to know and painfully obvious to many. Now because of a natural law of the universe we call time, we can come to our next conclusion.
Your thought requires the passage of time.
Now what we know as thought requires the passage of time, but it remains possible there are other, higher forms of thought. No matter how you define thought, it still requires the passage of time. It also doesn't matter how you define time. Because it's the effect of time that matters at this point, and not it's nature.
One of the implications of time is that it allows for
beginnings and endings.
Now imagine you were like Helen Keller only worse. Imagine you were blind and deaf, and you have no senses at all, no outside stimulation, unable to recognize your bodies position. And you were that way from birth. You would never be able to know the outside world existed.
But how do we know? How do we know that anything exists outside of you? Could life be a self created hallucination? No, not really. To imagine that would be very.... unrealistic. It's an assumption, but while it may be hard to prove it's impossible to disprove. And besides, all evidence suggests that everything else is just as real as you.
The outside world exists.
This is a big assumption, but one that we all had to learn at a
very early age, for instance when we recognized our parents as
sources of food. This assumption is very important, because we couldn't have gone on further without it. Now we can move on to explore the outside world. One of the discoveries you will make about the outside world is that every action creates an equal reaction. This is newtons third law of motion. Another way of saying it is that
events do not occur without a cause. Nothing moves without being first pushed or pulled or affected first. This is not opinion, but fact firmly supported by everything so far, and also every single empirical observation that's ever been made.
Another thing you might find in the outside world is something called the laws of thermodynamics. Thermodynamics is the study of the energy that atoms and molecules have as they interact with each other. There are three major rules that all things must obey regarding thermodynamics. These can be described in very complex terms or very simple terms .Here they are:
1st law says:
energy can be neither created nor destroyed.
2nd law says:
the entropy of the universe is always increasing.
3nd law says:
the average temperature of all matter can never reach zero.
Entropy by the way, is a measure of the unavailability of a systemâ??s energy to do work.
When any physical thing interacts with another, the 1st law of
thermodynamics says energy is never lost and never created. Even when a fire is put out or something explodes.The total energy of the universe remains the same. You can never get more than you start with.
Th second law says entropy is always growing. This can be stated other ways, like the energy available to do work, is always decreasing. Or, some of the energy put into process is lost to friction. This means no perpetual motion machines. All things go from an ordered state to a disordered state, and from complex organization to complete regularity.
It's as if all the energy in the universe were in an hour glass, so that as time passes the energy is used and falls into the bottom of the hourglass, where it becomes less useful, or useless. All of the energy in the universe is becoming unavailable to do work ever again. When it's used up, it's all over. This is the second law of thermodynamics, and it is the most rigorously tested law in all of science.
There are two "exceptions" to the second law though. The first one is life. If the forces behind the second law had their way, our bodies would deteriorate within a short time. But life has a way to overcome this problem. It's as if life is walking up an escalator, and the 2nd law drags you down just as it's stepping up. How does life delay a fundamental law of the universe? It doesn't actually.
You and your environment decay at a certain rate. But since you are alive you can eat part of your environment. As a result that piece of food is decayed very rapidly, and you remain less degraded.
How does life channel the energy found in food into the specific
functions of maintaining it's delicate and intricate structures? A major part of any living cell is it's blueprint, it's DNA. These blueprints are designs for the cellular machinery which is designed so it can acquire energy from food, carry on the functions of life, and duplicate itself over and over again. It works because it makes a path of less resistance making probable what would otherwise be impossible.
The degradation of information bearing systems such as DNA and the 2nd law are related. The link to how the 2nd law applies to energy and information is found in thermodynamic probability, a field pioneered by Ludwig Boltzmann in 1896 and confirmed by Max Plank in 1912. Modern statistical thermodynamics is used to clearly show that information is subject to the same degrading force that constantly increases the amount of entropy in our universe.
The second "exception" to the 2nd law of thermodynamics is the only way to make progress up the escalator. Things can only be more organized by intention. Intelligence and the ability to apply force are required to assemble a computer for instance, or a submarine, or a watch.
Some people think that life can increase it's complexity on it's own without intelligent direction.And although no one has ever seen it happen, and even though it would be a violation of the second law, alot of people claim it's a fact regardless.
The third law of thermodynamics really doesn't matter at this point.
we need one more thing now before we can use the first two laws of thermodynamics. it's a consequence of time. It's the possibility for
beginnings and endings. When you started this book, you knew that it would end, and your own life will end someday.
In fact, all complexity will "end" eventually. Even the universe will end at some point. If things continue on as they have the entropy in the universe will reach it's maximum level and no energy will be left to do work. The stars will burn out, all life will die, and the average temperature will be very close to absolute zero. The second law is our guarantee of utter and complete demise.
Also, because a thing is degrading toward and end not only implies there was a beginning, it necessitates one. Because the energy available to do work decreases with time, and since the total amount of energy to do work cannot exceed the amount available the furthest one can extrapolate back in time is the point where they were equal. This is the earliest possible date. That is, a beginning. We can also say that the universe needed an original source of motion. We can see that an original source of kinetic energy was required because
1.
the universe exists.
2.
Events occur within the universe.
3.
All events require that something caused them.
Therefore something started all motion in the first place. If anything has motion, an original mover must have existed.
Imagine you were riding your bike somewhere and there was a great big freight train blocking the road as far as you can see, all the way to the left, and all the way to the right. The train seems endless. But you would rightly assume that the train is not infinitely long, and at some point has an end. The 2nd law prohibits perpetual motion machines so the train cannot go on moving forever either.
Also, each car is being pulled by the one in front of it. No car moves unless it was pulled. You would rightly assume further that there is an engine car which is different from the other cars, the original mover. You determine that it pulled the first car which pulled the second etc.
The universe is very much like a machine that is in motion. It's laws of operation tell us that it's in motion. It cannot be perpetual, therefore it hasn't been around forever and someday will stop. Every atom of our universe is rubbing and pulling and bumping against each other. And since nothing moves until a force is placed on it, the original force must have begun the cascade of movement that we see today.
Now to discuss the presence of order and complexity. A very similar argument can be used to show that because complexity is decreasing with time, it must have started higher to begin with. Now remember that order can only come from intelligence able to direct force.
Some may say that life can do the job without the intelligence by evolution. But even if this were possible, who would have created the first life form or the low levels of chemical entropy throughout the universe? Our universe must have had an original designer. Something to reduce entropy and increase complexity.
That the entropy can decrease on it's own is quite impossible. As a result it will never happen, and it never has.Unless that is, you believe in miracles.
The fact that the universe exists and that life exists is nothing short of a miracle. A miracle is something that happens even though it's physically impossible. Is that a contradiction? No , here's why. If we know that low entropy systems like life can never be created by the universe but we know both things exist, then something besides our universe must be responsible.
Motion and complexity exist, and the universe cannot provide either one. But rather, it's losing complexity and randomizing all motion. Not only is the universe unable to sustain itself, it could never have even begun by itself. Our universe is unable to stand alone, and something else must exist. There is a word for this .
It's called the
supernatural.
The very things that necessitate the existence of the supernatural can tell us something about it. If we look back we'll see that something outside of our universe was responsible for decreasing entropy. Something had to have worked in the opposite direction of the second law to establish higher degrees of complexity. Life and large amounts of energy available to do work, could not have spontaneously appeared in our universe without outside help. Something outside of the universe must have been responsible for their presence originally.
Complexity is a state of low entropy and high specific order. In contrast, nature forces all things toward regularity, like the the molecules of a crystal, or towards disorder as seen in molecules of gas. This kind of regularity btw is the opposite of complexity and contains little or no information.
The second thing we know of the supernatural is that something was necessary to get things moving in our universe. The "prime mover" must be there somehow.
With what's been discussed so far we can't really talk about other things like whether there's a realm beyond that one, or whether the place is big or small or whether size or time or dimension even matter.The only thing that can be discussed at this point is the part of the supernatural which gave our universe order and complexity. So what is the nature of that thing? Well for one it exists, and that it never needed to be started, because if not, then the thing which started it is the thing which didn't need to be started. Either way, there's something supernatural which has always existed. we can know that for sure because we know that we exist and that something started us. That thing would be in the same spot we're in that is, if it wasn't inherently eternal.
Something must ultimately be responsible for the condition and existence of everything else. If you don't agree, try imagining another scenario. In order to deviate from the logical path we're on, you would have to imagine that one or more of the laws of the physical universe was not always the way it is now. (contrary to what all modern scientific knowledge is based upon). Or you could imagine that an outside realm could spontaneously generate a decaying universe like ours without intention, being eternal itself. But this scenario is a kind of super universal pantheism which cannot fulfill the requirements of existence that the universe needs. It's needs not just force, but complexity donated as well. This requires an intelligence with the ability to direct force.
Something supernatural must have started our universe and designed systems of high complexity. We know that this is valid because the 1st law of thermodynamics states that in our universe energy can neither be created nor destroyed. So the source for energy in moving things must be supernatural.
According to modern science, it turns out that matter and energy are interchangeable : E=mc2 . They're two sides of the same coin. This has implications when we talk about what a prime mover is. It means that energy in the form of motion (kinetic energy) was provided by an outside source. But what about the matter that was being moved? Because matter and energy are so similar we can see the issue has already been addressed. If the energy for motion must have come from the supernatural then the energy for matter must have too. That is, the original provider of all energy.
If a thing provides the energy for the creation and motion of all other things, that thing is called
all powerful because it must be the ultimate source for all energy regardless of what form that energy takes. If something provides the energy so that all other things can exist, then it is the foundation of all that exists. It is the
foundation of all existence and it is
self sustaining therefore it is
eternal. If we stopped here we'd be left with a sort of universal pantheism. Pantheism is the belief that the universe is the ultimate self sustaining and eternal power.
But as things stand, it would rather be the realm outside of the universe that is the ultimate power, which is really just a magnified version of pantheism.
complex organization can only come from intelligent design. Left to themselves all things fall apart. Only an intellect can reverse the process through intentional construction. Not one incident of spontaneous generation of a complex organized system has never been seen. for good reason. It's impossible.
Next to point out a common misconception that many people have. The subject is evolution and the difference between macro evolution and micro evolution.
Macro evolution is the process that causes a certain species to gain complexity and become a higher species. This is what is typically meant when referring to the term evolution. This is the process that allows a multicellular organism to to develop new organs for sight or movement, or a dinosaur to develop wings and feathers to become a bird. This process is also what allows for the presence of extremely complex chemical processes in cells which before had only simple ones.
There is a separate and very different process known as micro evolution. Micro evolution is the scientific term for minor changes in living organisms. Micro evolution cannot change one animal into a better one, but it can make some changes that better suit the animal. The process allows for different breeds of dog or horse for example.It also allows for wild animals to adapt to small changes in their environment. It is usually reversible and it's extremely important for the survival of all life on earth.
The difference for these two is in how the animals change. In micro evolution the animals genes are reshuffled so that different genes can be used in the next generation.Here's an example.
Two squirrels who both have a gene for white color (b) and a gene for black color (B) would have children that are a mixture. 25% would get BB and would be black. 50% would get a big B and a little b and would be grey.. 25% would get bb and would be white.
One generation of gray squirrels may find that the trees in the forest are much darker than before. As a result those squirrels who are black (BB) would hide among the tress from predators more easily and be more common than any squirrel with a light colored gene (b). If the trees stay dark for a long time then the gene for light color may even be lost.
Macro evolution is different. It requires that random changes in the genetic code (mutations) result in a new gene never before seen, which has a new function. If the function is good, it will pass it on to it's children. For example a squirrel might find that one of it's children has grown sharp barbs on it back instead of fur. A new gene has arisen from accidental events in the parents reproductive organs. The result is that none of the wolves want to eat the new squirrel. The squirrel has many children and passes on the new trait.
This is how a single cells genetic code would eventually become complex enough to grow a large animal. Of course, it would take many many years for this to happen....
In summary micro evolution uses information already present in the animal to allow small changes in the animal's characteristics while macro evolution depends on new information forming on accident. Of course, an information losing mutation may give an animal a survival advantage over it's peers, but macro evolution depends on not only having a survival advantage, but also an increase in information and complexity.
There's a problem then. Macro evolution depends on blind chance and the laws of the universe, they always become less complex, not more. In addition macro evolution has never been observed. Therefore macro evolution is a fiction.
fiction -
1 a : something invented by the imagination or feigned; specifically : an invented story b : fictitious literature (as novels or short stories) c : a work of fiction; especially : NOVEL
2 a : an assumption of a possibility as a fact irrespective of the question of its truth <a legal fiction> b : a useful illusion or pretense
3 : the action of feigning or of creating with the imagination
Unfortunately micro evolution is often used to try to prove that evolution is a fact. even the term micro evolution is misleading. Two very different ideas.
So why would anyone believe in a fiction? The only reason to hold onto the feasibility of macro evolution is that it's attached to a larger question, which takes us back to the topic before. We are forced to admit that our universe was given high levels of complexity. But what's capable of doing this? It of course. We already know that It is all powerful. we can also say that It is
infinitely intelligent.
Why? If it designed and created all things, then it knows the details about all things. This attribute is called
omniscience.This includes the future, because even space-time, the fabric within which all matter and energy exists requires an origin. Therefore if time is a created thing then it's creator must exist independent of it. It can see the end of time just as easily as the beginning. It knows all things, past, present, and future. After all that there's really nothing left to know. Therefore we have discovered the existence of a being that is:
1.
All powerful
2.
Infinitely intelligent
3.
all knowing
4
and the creator of all things.
The proper title of such a being is you guessed it :
God.
God-
A being conceived as the perfect omnipotent, omniscient originator and ruler of the universe.The principal object of worship in monotheistic religions.
- The American heritage dictionary / second college edition
Now we know that God exists, but there are still some things we don't know.we don't know if God is the only thing supernatural, or if there are other things out there as well. we also don't know what God is beyond what we've gone through. So, who is God?
Which God is God? Is it important that we know who God is? Does God have many names? Which religion, if any are correct? can they all be right? Does God want us to know? Can we really know anything more?
There are many things that we already do know that can help us answer those difficult questions. Most religions claim to know the answers to them all. But if it matters and we know the answers and God allows us to find them then God would have provided the means for finding everything we need to know. What this means is that it is possible for one or more existing religions to be correct.
It also remains possible that none of them are correct and God has chosen to remain anonymous. But if God did want to be known, it is impossible that God might fail. God is omnipotent and omniscient including perfect knowledge of the future.It is impossible that a perfectly powerful and all knowing God would fail to accomplish any goal. Now, where does that leave things?
Back at the beginning, apparently. We'll start with what we know about God already and use deductive reasoning. we will compare our discoveries with what all of the religions teach. This will go faster than you think.If nothing else the possibilities can at least be narrowed down. Since we've discovered that there is an all powerful God, and since several religions teach differently, we can already make an important observation. All of the religions can not be valid. Now to analyze the religions by category.
The most powerful category is this one :
atheism vs. theism. Since we know God exists this is very easy to categorize. All world views that are atheistic are false.
Darwinism
humanism
naturalism
Marxism
materialism
dialectic materialism
evolutionary systems
These cannot tell us anything about who God is. The public schools should be informed of this.All philosophies that deny the existence of God are incorrect. Now to the next category :
pantheism vs. supernaturalism. If you'll look back you'll remember that pantheism is the belief that the universe itself is God, that it has always existed and is responsible for creating life. But remember our universe is unable to create anything but degradation. It is inadequate, it can't even sustain itself, let alone create life.
Therefore all religions that are pantheistic are false religions:
Buddhism
Hinduism
Astrology
New age philosophies
Unity religions
This has dealt with alot of religions, and has definitely given you something to think about for sure. But remember our results are based on logic and firmly grounds proofs. To deny the results are true would be to deny one or more of those assumptions. If you think one of these is unreasonable, by all means try to come up with an alternative and work through the consequences yourself. But before you do, remember that pantheism can revealed to be false by the 2nd law of thermodynamics which is the most rigorously tested law in all of science. The only assumptions you could deny to save pantheism would be the ones before the 2nd law:
-
All events are caused
-
possibility for beginnings and endings
-
the outside world exists
-
your thoughts require the passage of time
-
you exist
-
thinkers exist
-
you are thinking
I wouldn't feel good about getting rid of any of those. But some people do. For example, the only way you could logically support buddhism is to deny that the second law always holds true, or to deny that the outside world exists, or that time is real, or that reality is even real. In fact, these are some of the things that buddhism does claim! They are forced to. I think this is unrealistic, and dangerous. Besides, there is no evidence to support that the 2nd law, the outside world, or reality are not real. The case is quite the opposite. I hope these facts do not elude anyones notice.
The next category to analyze is polytheism vs. monotheism .Polytheism is the belief that there are many distinct Gods. Monotheism is the belief there is one all powerful God. Polytheism denies the existence of an all powerful God, although there is often a chief God like Zeus to the ancient Greeks or Vishnu in the Hindu pantheon. These Gods are the most powerful but are not all powerful. So which one is more likely?
Based on the recent discoveries, there can only be one God. Polytheistic religions have Gods that are very powerful but are inadequate nonetheless. All of the characteristics that we attributed to God (all powerful, creative, all knowing, eternal, prime mover) are
inseparable. This is because it's impossible for anything to self exist unless it's eternal. The creator existed before anything else, therefore it is eternal. Also the thing which creates all other things, is by definition, all powerful. So those three traits are inseparable. As far as being all knowing goes, we already know that the creator is the designer, and so must have intimate knowledge of all things. Therefore
God must be one.
There are a great many polytheistic religions. Buddhism, Hinduism, animistic religions, tribal religions etc. You may have notice that most of them are pantheistic also. That takes care most of the religions and world views that exist. Not taken be spoken arrogantly, but reasonably based upon what has been shown so far. We could go on, but the categories would get quite complex.It suffices to say that any religion which denies what is known about God or our universe must be false.
Here's an idea. Here's a list of all of the known religions and a reference giving description of all of them.
List of world's religions:
Major philosophical systems (referred to as not religious or non spiritual belief systems)
Naturalism
materialism
marxism/ dialectic materialism
atheism
humanism/secular humanism
cosmic humanism (aka. new age spirituality)
evolutionary theory / darwinian and neo- darwinian
"World" Religions
Baha'i faith
Buddhism
Christianity
Confucianism
Hinduism
Islam
Jainism
Judaism
Shinto
sikhism
Taoism
Neo-Pagan religious faiths
Asatru ( Norse paganism)
Druidism
Goddess worship
Wicca
Witchcraft
Small non-christian religions
caodaism
Druidism
Druse
Eckankar
Gnosticism (also, Christian Gnosticism)
(gypsies) rom, roma, romani, Rroma
Hare krishna - iskon
lukumi
macumba
mowahhidoon
native spirituality
new age spirituality
osho (followers of rajneesh)
santeria
satanism
scientology
thelema
unitarian-universalism
vodon (voodoo)
zoroastrianism
Other ethical groups and spiritual paths
Agnosticism
unitarian-universalism
teachings of dadaji
Sects, denominations, and cults not listed
Most of this was obtained from Ontario consultants on religious tolerance (OCRT).
This is a good time to discuss agnosticism. You may have heard of it before. Agnosticism is a claim to ignorance. It is the belief that it is impossible to know if God exists let alone any details about his personality. Some people simply use the term to mean "I don't know but maybe someday I'll find out". For the purposes of this article, agnosticism will be divided this way:
Agnosticism type A -
It is impossible to know if God exists.
Agnosticism type B -
it is impossible to know any details about God (it is impossible to know any details about God beside his omnipotence, omniscience and eternal nature.These are the qualities that define God with a capital G.)
But since we have already determined that God does exist, agnosticism type A can be ruled out. Leaving us with one question..
Are any of the remaining religions correct? Or must we admit ignorance at this point? Logically, one thing can be said. Agnosticism B can be proven false, if any of the remaining religions can be proven true. The first question to ask is, what religions are left? You can probably think of at least one. They will all be supernatural and monotheistic. They are:
1.
Judaism
2.
Islam
3.
Christianity
Perhaps this is a good time for you to reflect on what's been discovered so far. We are left with four possibilities. Either God is unknowable, or He is as Judaism describes Him, or He is as Islam decibels Him, or He is as Christianity describes Him.
First, let's take a look at each one in chronological order. A library or the internet used with discernment is a good way to study about religions btw.
Judaism, though not in it's modern form, has been around the longest. According to Judaism's historical books written by men including a man named Moses and a few prophets, God created the universe and all the things in it including people. Then the first two people turned away from God by committing the first sin. This event is called the fall . They fell from perfection and Good to imperfection and bad. At this point death and decay entered the world. But God promised he would one day send a messiah. This messiah would allow people to escape judgment and spiritual death. According to Judaism mankind is made of body and spirit. When the body dies, the spirit is left. It goes to either hell or heaven (paradise).The remainder of the historical accounts of Judaism is very interesting and is well worth reading. But for the purpose of this article, we already have what's needed to know.
Although there is a long history of how God interacted with the Jewish people, the messiah has never come according to modern orthadox Judaism, and they are waiting for him still, almost 3,500 years later. This brings us to the next religion chronologically.
Christianity is another supernatural monotheistic religion. And it just so happens to be dependant upon Judaism. Christians believe that the messiah has already come. His name was Jesus, or more accurately in greek Iesous (ee-ay-sooce) or in Hebrew, Jehoshua. meaning God-saved. There's a difference between the two religions however. Modern Judaism means to claim the messiah only for themselves. Christianity claims the messiah came for everyone! According to Christianity, Jesus did conquer death just as God had promised he would. He did this in a way no one expected him to; he died and came back to life. And in doing this he took upon himself the penalties for all crimes ever committed against God by mankind. But another interesting part is that each person has to be included in this process of redemption, or else pay the penalties for their crimes all by themselves. So Christianity claims to complete the story that Judaism began by means of a messiah.
In 600 ad. a man named Muhammed came along, and just like Christianity he had a few adjustments to make in the previous monotheistic religions. In the city of mecca, he purportedly began receiving messages from God, who he called Allah in 610 ad. They came to him in small pieces over the next 22 years during which he moved to Medina with his followers. He had some trouble getting things started, but soon the religion grew to be very large. The beliefs of Islam center around the collection of writings given to Mohammed. They call it the quran or Koran which means "the recitation". And many muslims do recite it regularly. But one thing that makes Islam different is that Mohammed's revelation takes a very different perspective but is loosely analogous to the previous two religions. According to the Koran, Allah created all things in six days. First Allah created other beings. Then he formed man from clay, a sperm drop and a clot of blood. Then God gave man mental capabilities and breathed into him some of his special attributes. Then Allah told the other beings to submit to man. But the other beings refused and from that point on were determined to destroy mankind. This is the one we call Satan. According to the koran, a messiah was never promised or needed. Because there was never a fall from perfection. Perfection includes pain and suffering, but in the future it will end. Things were created as they still are. Pain and suffering were created by Allah for the purpose of spiritual purification. That includes all pain and suffering in this life and the next. Since the beginning, Allah sent prophets to guide mankind away from evil behavior so they wouldn't have to go to hell for a very long time after they die. These were the same prophets who wrote the Hebrew and Christian scriptures. But the koran reports that these scriptures have tremendous errors in them. This is why the Torah and Koran do not agree on most issues.
In fact, it is the very intent of the Koran to correct these errors. It's not a bad idea to study it yourself with discernment. There, all three described in simple terms. You might have thought that comparing the validity of these three would be time consuming and difficult, or that it would be too hard to answer all of the questions that need to be answered. But there is a simpler way.
There is one question whose answer can distinguish between these religions efficiently. Since logic is best kept simple and efficient as possible, this is the best question we can ask. This is a question of tremendous importance. Here's why. First, Christianity insists that Jesus Christ is the messiah, that is the very son of God; God in the flesh. Second, Islam insist that Jesus is the prophet of Allah, no more no less. Third, modern Judaism claims that he was just a man: crazy, eccentric, or maybe just unlucky, but just a man nonetheless.
He must have been one of these three things. Now to find out the answer. If he was just a man, we should find that no special, supernatural or divine events ever occurred near, by or through him. And if he was a prophet of Allah, then we should find that there were some supernatural events surrounding him, like the performing of miracles or the fulfillment of his prophecy. And if he was the messiah, the son of God, the most important person to ever walk the earth then we'd expect there to be quite a bit of evidence to verify that this is true. Or it would be easy to prove otherwise. Naturally, if you want to know if someone is the messiah you must look to the source of the concept. The Pentateuch and the subsequent writings of the Hebrew Prophets can also be found in the first half of the Christian Bible. You may need a copy of one or the other to follow along. You can also find a bible study in many versions online, one of them is at
BibleGateway.com: A searchable online Bible in over 50 versions and 35 languages. . We need to see if Jesus fits the descriptions. Not just some of them, but ALL of them must be met. In addition, the fulfillment of these criteria should be unambiguous and reflect supernatural, unique and even divine verification. Otherwise, the scriptures themselves should be held to suspicion as Islam claims.
One of the first thing we can look into is the matter of timing. Do the Hebrew scriptures predict when the messiah should appear? Yes, in fact they do. In one of the most specific prophecies ever written, the prophet Daniel gives the exact date that the messiah should appear (Daniel 9:24-25). Unfortunately, the knowledge of historical calendars and dating systems required to translate that date is probably beyond most people. But others have translated the information for us.
483 years after the decree of Artaxerxes Longimanus in 445 BC. = ad 30-33.
Daniel gives us a precise date that the messiah would come. While Daniel did refer to an exact date, historians do not have enough information to determine exactly what that date is. As a result, a three year range is given as a date. As the verses in Daniels book says,
"from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until messiah the Prince there will be 7 sevens and 62 sevens..." "...then after the 62 sevens the messiah will be cut off...."
Daniel uses the term sevens, sometimes translated weeks, to mean a group of seven years. 7 + 62 sevens = 69 sevens. 69 x 7 years equals 483 years. The decree came in 445 b.c from Artaxerxes the king of Persia.Using 360 day years as the Hebrews did, we add 483 years and come to ad. 32 plus or minus 1.5 years.
There is an interesting piece of historical fact to support the veracity of his testimony. One of the most powerful and compelling of all fulfilled prophecies in the Bible, the Seventy Weeks of Daniel is one with which all Christians should be familiar. It is eye opening for Gentiles and Jews alike.
1. The book of Daniel was written during the Babylonian captivity in the sixth century before Christ.
Skeptics who deny authentic authorship by Daniel still have to admit that the book appears in the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament) by the second century before Christ. Even this later date makes this a valid and powerful prophecy.
2. Read Daniel 9:24-26. The following terms are crucial to understanding the prophecy: "Anointed one" is the Messiah that the Jews were waiting for (Messiah is Hebrew for Anointed One), "Cut off" always refers to killed in the O.T., and "Weeks", or "Sevens" (depending upon translation) is the Hebrew word Heptad. Heptad is used to mean either a period of seven days or a period of seven years (Comparable to our use of "Decade" for ten years). This passage is stating that 69 times seven years after the decree to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem the Messiah would be killed for his people.
3. The Hebrew calendar consisted (and still consists) of 12 months of 30 days each, resulting in a 360 day year. The conversion from that calendar to ours is as follows:
a. 69 X 7 = 483 Hebrew years
b. 483 X 360 = 173,880 Days
c. 173,880 / 365 (Days in our calendar year) =476 Years in our calendar after the decree to rebuild Jerusalem the Messiah will be cut off.
4. In Nehemiah 2:1 we read that in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes the decree was given to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem (vv 2-9). King Artaxerxes is a historical figure whose reign secular historians say began in 464 B.C. 20 years from that date would be around 445 B.C. when the decree is issued. Traveling forward in time 476 years brings one to 33 A.D. (Remember that there is no year 0. The year after 1 B.C. is 1 A.D.).
5. There is general agreement among historians, whatever their opinion of Jesus, that 33 A.D. is the year that he was crucified. That makes this an amazingly accurate, incredibly specific fulfilled prophecy. So 30-33 BC is the same time period that Jesus taught in Israel. At the end of this period of time, many Jews in Jerusalem hailed Jesus as the messiah on his entry into Jerusalem. By the end of that week, Jesus was executed. As the prophecy said, " after the 62 sevens the messiah will be cut off and have nothing". This is an amazing fulfillment of prophecy, which was made almost 500 years earlier. But let's not stop there. Let's look at all the prophecies. Following will be a nice list of prophecies that pertain to the messiah.
Messianic Prophecy Chart
1.
Messiah is to be born of a woman (Genesis 3:15)
â?? Jesus was born by Mary (Matthew 1:18â??25, Luke 2:1â??7, Galatians 4:4)
2.
Messiah was to be descended from Abraham (Genesis 12:3, 18:18)
â?? Jesus traces his ancestry from Abraham (Luke 3:34, Acts 3:25, Galatians 3:16)
3.
Messiah to be born of Jacob (Numbers 24:17,19)
â?? Jesus traces his ancestry from Jacob (Matthew 1:2, Luke 3:34)
4.
Messiah to be descended from Judah, a son of Jacob (Genesis 49:10)
â?? Jesus traces his ancestry from Judah (Luke 3:33, Matthew 1:2)
5.
Messiah to be descended from King David (Psalm 132:11, Jeremiah 23:5, 33:15, Isaiah 11:10)
â?? Jesus is a direct descendant of Kind David through both his mother and adoptive father (Matthew 1:6, Luke 1:32â??33, Romans 1:3, Acts 2:30)
6.
Messiah to be crucified (Psalm 22, 69:21)
7.
Messiah will be pierced (Zechariah 12:10, Psalm 22:16)
8.
Messiah will be killed (Isaiah 50:6, Daniel 9:26)
â?? Jesus was crucified, pierced, and executed (Matthew 27:34â??50, John 19:28â??30, John 19:34, 37, Matthew 26:67, 27:26, 30)
â?? Jesus quoted Psalm 22:1 when he was crucified "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Matthew 27:46)
9.
Messiah to be born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14)
(Note: The Hebrew word "almah" for 'virgin' has sometimes been translated simply as 'young woman'. 'Virgin' is a better translation because:
-Nowhere in the Scriptures is "almah" used of a non-virgin
-The author clearly intends the event to be a significant sign; a young woman having a baby would not be significant )
â?? Jesus was born of Mary who was, at that time, a virgin
(Matthew 1:18â??25, Luke 1:26â??35). Mary later bore other children by her husband Joseph (Matthew 12:46â??50).
10.
Messiah will be gentle, mild and meek (Isaiah 42:2â??3, 53:7)
â?? Jesus did not come to fight or incite the people to war. He never raised His hand against another except to drive the money changers from the temple (Matthew 12:15â??20, 26:62â??63, 27:11â??14)
11.
Messiah will not exclude the Gentiles in his mission (Isaiah 42:1, 49:1â??8)
â?? Jesus accepted the repentance of many Gentiles and preached that gentiles will be included in God's plan for the salvation (Matthew 12:21)
12.
The message the Messiah will bring (as written in Isaiah) matches the message Jesus brought (Isaiah 52:13 â?? 53:12)
â?? All four Gospels (The Messiah brings Salvation through his suffering)
13.
The Messiah will perform miracles (Isaiah 35:5â??6)
â?? The Gospels are full of Jesus' miracles; here are a couple of passages which summarize this (John 11:47, Matthew 11:3â??6)
14.
Messiah to be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2)
â?? Jesus was born in Bethlehem (Matthew 2:1, Luke 2:4â??6)
15.
Messiah will enter the temple with authority as the messenger of God (Malachi 3:1)
â?? Jesus taught in the temple and synagogues as one having authority, not as one who simply reads the scriptures and preaches from them (Luke 4:15â??21, Matthew 21:12, 7:28â??29)
16.
Messiah will enter Jerusalem on a donkey (Zechariah 9:9)
â?? Jesus entered Jerusalem on a donkey (Matthew 21:1â??10)
17.
Messiah will be forsaken by his disciples (Zechariah 13:7)
â?? Jesus' disciples all deserted him at the time of his arrest and crucifixion (Matthew 26:31, 56, 75)
18.
They would cast lots for his clothing rather than divide it among them (Psalm 22:18)
â?? The clothes of the one to be executed became spoil to the executioners (Matthew 27:35, John 19:24)
19.
Although he was to die as a criminal his grave would be that of a rich man (Isaiah 53:9)
â?? Jesus was buried in the tomb that a rich man had purchased for the time of his own death; instead, he donated it to Jesus (Matthew 27:57â??60)
20.
The Messiah would be bought with 30 pieces of silver (Zechariah 11:12)
â?? Judas Iscariot was paid this amount to betray Jesus, that is, to find a time when He was alone and not protected by multitudes of followers so that He could be seized easily (Matthew 26:15)
21.
Messiah to be betrayed by a friend (Psalm 41:9)
â?? Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot betrayed Jesus (John 13:18â??30; 18:1â??9)
22.
Messiah to be the Son of God (Psalm 2:7, Proverbs 30:4)
â?? Jesus was born of the Holy Spirit and was later announced to be God's son at the time of His baptism (Luke 1:32, Matthew 3:17)
23.
Messiah to be raised from the dead (Psalm 16:10)
â?? Matthew 28:1â??20, Acts 13:35â??37
24.
Messiah will ascend into heaven (Psalm 68:18, [Ephesians 4:8])
â?? Luke 24:51, Acts 1:6â??11
25.
Messiah will be both God and Man (Jeremiah 23:5â??6).
In these verses, the Messiah is described as both descended from King David and as YHWH ( Jehovah ), sometimes translated 'The LORD'. YHWH was the Hebrew name for God which was regarded as too sacred to pronounce. I regard it sacred too, but for educational purposes I'm pointing it out.
â?? (l John 1:1â??14)
There you go. You may have noticed that all of the fulfillments from that list are from the New Testament. Is this a valid source of dependable historical information? Most of these reference come from four books collectively called "the Gospels" . Mathew, Mark, Luke, and John. They are all accounts of Jesus' life. And if you were to look into how they were written and in what environment you would find that they are even more dependable and valid than anything else we know about history.
Jesus was a public figure. Among the Jewish people in Israel at that time, there probably wasn't a single person who had not heard of Jesus. And a great many of them had actually heard his teaching in person, not to mention the many incredible miracles he performed which were not denied even by the pharisees who were against him.
The 4 accounts of Jesus' life that we have today were written by four distinguished gentlemen named Mathew Levi, John Mark, Dr. Luke and John the son of Zebedee (who was very young at the time). If they had lied about the facts or made any changes in their accounts, everyone would have known about it. There were just too many eyewitnesses to who Jesus really was.
And even more, the book that Dr. Luke wrote is an extremely well researched piece of historical workmanship. He interviewed 100s of eyewitnesses and spent time putting all of their accounts together. So we can know with a high degree of certainty that the gospels are dependable and accurate. Which means that Jesus fulfilled the requirements for messiah perfectly. All that's needed now is divine verification. That is, evidence that he was more than just a prophet. This isn't that hard, since hundreds and hundreds of people saw Jesus after he was crucified. Not surprisingly, these people were the first Christians since they had seen with their own eyes Jesus risen from the dead. Also, even before Jesus was raised from the dead, he raised another man from the dead also (John 11), and many more people were there to verify that miracle also.
Unfortunately for Islam, the Koran says that noone can ever come back from the dead. And since we have very strong evidence that indeed took place, the koran is in error at this point. Not to mention the things we've already gone over, like the fact that the messiah which was foretold to come actually came right on time. Yet the Koran says that there is no messiah and we never needed one. That's two big errors.
And third, the Koran claims that the gospels are also holy scriptures from Allah! This is hard to believe, since the main topic of all 4 gospels is Jesus Christ the messiah, the one and only son of God. Yet the Koran not only denies that Jesus Christ was the son of God, but even that he died on a tree.
It's hard to imagine a slip of the pen leading to such a cohesive doctrine. In fact, as has been shown, the entire bible ( Pentateuch, the prophets, and new testament)
has Jesus the messiah as it's central theme throughout.. Isn't it suspicious that a book that took 2,000 years to write by 40+ different people from different times and cultures could be so central in it's theme? And no book has been challenged as much as the bible since it's completion.
It turns out a similar method as shown above is the best way to rule out cults and sects as well that claim to be an extension of Christianity via some subsequent revelation from God. Any belief which claims Jesus as one of their "holy men" yet contradicts who he was or what he said is in error and should be held with suspicion.
From what's been discovered so far, it's apparent that modern Judaism started out with the right idea, but took a wrong turn. That leaves agnosticism type B incorrect because Christianity is proven correct. Christianity not only fits with what we know about God, but it is abundantly proved by historical, prophetic, and miraculous events. And it is completely unique in this respect. No other religion is verified in such a powerful way.
Few things are as well documented as Jesus' life and deeds. And no other religion has such an amazing 100% accuracy rate for it's prophecies.. Now that we know that the bible can be trusted, we can look at what it reveals about the meaning of life. The bible is exactly what it claims to be, a message from God to mankind. It explains where we came from, why we're here and where we're going. So what does it say about why we're here? What is the meaning of life? It should be obvious by now.
The meaning of life = GOD
Jesus said in John 14:6, " I am the way, the truth, and the life, and noone comes to the Father but by me". The bible is clear on several important issues. Everyone is born with a sinful, selfish nature, as descendants from Adam the first man. All sin and evil are crimes committed against God himself. God demands justice, and he will not allow evil in his presence. But God has made a way for justice to be met, our crimes to be accounted for, and for our redemption.
This redemption is made through Christ Jesus, who being sinless and both God and man, is able to take the punishment upon himself, and offer himself as a sacrifice for our sins. Not only this but he was raised up from death as a new creature. Those who wish to be saved must turn away from sin and acknowledge God's righteousness, forgiveness and salvation in Jesus Christ, and then they will be received as children of God, receiving his grace and transformed with Christ Jesus from death to life and perfection, just as he was risen from death to glorification.
That's why I typed all this, to convince you to become a Christian. I made it plain and obvious from the beginning, and I hope I convinced you. If not, I invite you argue with me or talk about it, or even read and study on your own. I hope that you got the message, and hope the best for you. Thanks for taking the time to read this.
OPSenior Member
Originally Posted by natureisawesome
Register To Reply
Staff Online