Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Friday, March 2, 2012
How Easter Killed My Faith in Atheism
Published by The Wall Street Journal on 16 April 2011, by Lee Strobel.
Earlier this week, humorist Ricky Gervais presented his arguments for atheism and why he thought he was a better Christian than many Christians. In this follow-up essay, writer Lee Strobel offers his defense of Easter.
It was the worst news I could get as an atheist: my agnostic wife had decided to become a Christian. Two words shot through my mind. The first was an expletive; the second was “divorce.”
I thought she was going to turn into a self-righteous holy roller. But over the following months, I was intrigued by the positive changes in her character and values. Finally, I decided to take my journalism and legal training (I was legal editor of the Chicago Tribune) and systematically investigate whether there was any credibility to Christianity.
Maybe, I figured, I could extricate her from this cult.
I quickly determined that the alleged resurrection of Jesus was the key. Anyone can claim to be divine, but if Jesus backed up his claim by returning from the dead, then that was awfully good evidence he was telling the truth.
For nearly two years, I explored the minutia of the historical data on whether Easter was myth or reality. I didn’t merely accept the New Testament at face value; I was determined only to consider facts that were well-supported historically. As my investigation unfolded, my atheism began to buckle.
Was Jesus really executed? In my opinion, the evidence is so strong that even atheist historian Gerd Lüdemann said his death by crucifixion was “indisputable.”
Was Jesus’ tomb empty? Scholar William Lane Craig points out that its location was known to Christians and non-Christians alike. So if it hadn’t been empty, it would have been impossible for a movement founded on the resurrection to have exploded into existence in the same city where Jesus had been publicly executed just a few weeks before.
Besides, even Jesus’ opponents implicitly admitted the tomb was vacant by saying that his body had been stolen. But nobody had a motive for taking the body, especially the disciples. They wouldn’t have been willing to die brutal martyrs’ deaths if they knew this was all a lie.
Did anyone see Jesus alive again? I have identified at least eight ancient sources, both inside and outside the New Testament, that in my view confirm the apostles’ conviction that they encountered the resurrected Christ. Repeatedly, these sources stood strong when I tried to discredit them.
Could these encounters have been hallucinations? No way, experts told me. Hallucinations occur in individual brains, like dreams, yet, according to the Bible, Jesus appeared to groups of people on three different occasions – including 500 at once!
Was this some other sort of vision, perhaps prompted by the apostles’ grief over their leader’s execution? This wouldn’t explain the dramatic conversion of Saul, an opponent of Christians, or James, the once-skeptical half-brother of Jesus.
Neither was primed for a vision, yet each saw the risen Jesus and later died proclaiming he had appeared to him. Besides, if these were visions, the body would still have been in the tomb.
Was the resurrection simply the recasting of ancient mythology, akin to the fanciful tales of Osiris or Mithras? If you want to see a historian laugh out loud, bring up that kind of pop-culture nonsense.
One by one, my objections evaporated. I read books by skeptics, but their counter-arguments crumbled under the weight of the historical data. No wonder atheists so often come up short in scholarly debates over the resurrection.
In the end, after I had thoroughly investigated the matter, I reached an unexpected conclusion: it would actually take more faith to maintain my atheism than to become a follower of Jesus.
And that’s why I’m now celebrating my 30th Easter as a Christian. Not because of wishful thinking, the fear of death, or the need for a psychological crutch, but because of the facts.
Lee Strobel wrote “The Case for Easter: Journalist Investigates the Evidence for the Resurrection“; his first novel, “The Ambition,” releases May 17.
Thursday, March 1, 2012
When in Rome, do as the romans do. When in Church, do as the believers do.
Published by The Washington Post, 29 Feb 2012.
Deep in grief, Barbara Johnson stood first in the line for Communion at her mother’s funeral Saturday morning. But the priest in front of her immediately made it clear that she would not receive the sacramental bread and wine.
Johnson, an art-studio owner from the District, had come to St. John Neumann Catholic Church in Gaithersburg with her lesbian partner. The Rev. Marcel Guarnizo had learned of their relationship just before the service.
“He put his hand over the body of Christ and looked at me and said, ‘I can’t give you Communion because you live with a woman, and in the eyes of the church, that is a sin,’ ” she recalled Tuesday.
She reacted with stunned silence. Her anger and outrage have now led her and members of her family to demand that Guarnizo be removed from his ministry.
My deepest sympathy to the Johnson family. The tension between religious freedom and homosexuality rights has been stretching the principles of human rights to breaking point. It was unfortunate that the struggle should involved the deceased and her family at the time of bereavement. Indeed it is commendable that the Johnsons, despite their outrage, agreed the incident is not a reason to "bash" the church.
However, I remain steadfast in supporting the priest for having the courage to stand firm. The holy communion or the Eucharist is a sacrament in remembrance of our Lord Jesus Christ's sacrifice. Rev. Marcel Guarnizo was speaking, as he believed, the truth. Barbara Johnson should be prepared to abide by the church's practice and beliefs when she chose to attend the funeral in the particular church. When in Rome, do as the romans do. True believers are humble and do not cause strife among the community. The church has the right to observe its religious practices and rituals however absurd it may seem to the rest of the world.
Barbara has her legal right to be a lesbian. She has the right to conduct the funeral in another Catholic church that supports gay rights. Why should she be so adamant to compel the priest to sin (as his belief) against God?
2 Corinthians 4:8-10 "We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down but not destroyed, We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body."
Monday, February 13, 2012
Something Has Gone Badly Wrong With UK Equality Laws
Church of England clergy challenge civil partnership stance
Published by BBC News on 2 February 2012.
Secretary general William Fittall wrote that no religious premises would be allowed to host the registration of civil partnerships without written permission from the general synod - the Church's governing body.
The government said no religious group would be forced to hold ceremonies.
However, the Church's stance angered pressure groups and gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell urged clergy to defy the ban, which he called "dictatorial and homophobic".
The government will open a consultation on the issue of same-sex marriages - as opposed to civil partnerships - in March.
A consultation on the subject by the Scottish government ended in December.
On Wednesday, more than 50 people protested outside York Minster at comments made by the Archbishop of York on same-sex marriage.
Dr John Sentamu had told the Daily Telegraph that marriage must be between a man and a woman, adding it was not "the role of the state to define what marriage is".
Civil partnerships give same-sex couples the right to the same legal treatment across a range of matters as married couples but the law does not allow such unions to be referred to as marriages.
Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-16848402
Bideford Town Council prayers ruled unlawful
Published by BBC News on 10 February 2012.
Action was brought against Bideford Town Council by the National Secular Society (NSS) after atheist councillor Clive Bone complained.
Mr Justice Ouseley ruled the prayers were not lawful under section 111 of the Local Government Act 1972.
However, he said prayers could be said as long as councillors were not formally summoned to attend.
The judgement was being seen as a test case which could affect local councils across England and Wales.
Mr Justice Ouseley ruled the prayers as practised by Bideford Town Council had been unlawful because there was no statutory power permitting them to continue.
The NSS, which said prayers had no place in "a secular environment concerned with civic business", argued the "inappropriate" ritual breached articles 9 and 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which protect an individual's right to freedom of conscience and not to face discrimination.
However, the case was not won on human rights grounds but on a point of statutory construction of local government legislation.
Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-16980025#TWEET75793
Christian guesthouse owners lose appeal over ban on gay guests
Published by The Telegraph on 10 February 2012.
The challenge by the Bulls, who run Chymorvah House in Marazion, Cornwall, was rejected by three judges in the Court of Appeal in London.
They had appealed against a conclusion by a judge at Bristol County Court that they acted unlawfully when they turned away Martyn Hall and his civil partner Steven Preddy in September 2008.
Judge Andrew Rutherford ruled in January last year that the Bulls had breached equality legislation and ordered them to pay the couple a total of £3,600 damages.
The appeal judges heard that the Bulls thought any sex outside marriage was a ''sin'', but denied they had discriminated against Mr Hall and Mr Preddy, from Bristol.
Today's ruling was given by Sir Andrew Morritt, Chancellor of the High Court, Lord Justice Hooper and Lady Justice Rafferty.
During the hearing of the appeal in November, James Dingemans QC, for the Bulls, argued that the couple were entitled to hold "outdated" religious beliefs.
He said the Bulls operated a policy directed towards sexual practice not sexual orientation and said they believed that permitting unmarried people - whether heterosexual or homosexual - to share a double bed involved them in "promoting a sin".
Mr Dingemans said the Bulls were not trying to undermine the rights of Mr Hall and Mr Preddy and judges had to carefully balance all human rights involved.
Robin Allen QC, for Mr Hall and Mr Preddy, argued that his clients had a "lawful civil partnership" and the guesthouse should have been "open" to them in the same way it was to heterosexual married couples.
The judges heard that the Bulls were being backed by the Christian Institute and Mr Hall and Mr Preddy by the Equality and Human Rights Commission.
After the ruling, John Wadham, the Commission's group legal director, said: "I have genuine sympathy for Mr and Mrs Bull, as their beliefs are clearly strongly held. We believe that this case will help people to better understand the law around freedom of religion. When offering a service, people cannot use their beliefs - religious or otherwise - to discriminate against others."
"As the discrimination ruling has been upheld, Mr Preddy and Mr Hall are entitled to the compensation ordered by the county court. However, the Commission has no intention of enforcing its entitlement to legal costs."
Simon Calvert, of the the Christian Institute, which funded Mr and Mrs Bull's appeal, said: "Peter and Hazelmary have been penalised for their beliefs about marriage. Not everyone will agree with Peter and Hazelmary's beliefs, but a lot of people will think it is shame that the law doesn't let them live and work according to their own values under their own roof. Something has gone badly wrong with our equality laws when good, decent people like Peter and Hazelmary are penalised but extremist hate preachers are protected."
Thursday, February 2, 2012
ALKITAB - 400th Anniversary Celebration
Picture taken from Free Malaysia Today.In the year 1612, the translation of the Gospel of Matthew in the Malay Language was published. This was a very historic and significant publication as it was the earliest translation of the Bible in a non-European language ever published. In celebration of the 400th Anniversary of the Alkitab, Seminari Theoloji Malaysia, together in partnership with Bible Society of Malaysia, warmly invite you to join us in a specially organised 2-day conference discussing the issues, difficulties, and complications involved in the translation and distribution of the Alkitab, and to celebrate God's faithfulness in preserving the Bible for us. Details of the 2-day event are as follow:
1) Academic Conference:
Date: 2 March 2012 (Friday)
Venue: Seminari Theoloji Malaysia, Seremban
Registration Fee: RM20.00
Time: 9.30am-430pm
2) Public Event Celebrating 400 Years of Alkitab
Date: 3 March 2012 (Saturday)
Venue: Trinity Methodist Church, 6, Jalan 5/37, Petaling Jaya
Registration Fee: RM20.00
Time: 9.30am-4.00pm
Presentations will be offered by an outstanding group of speakers and scholars:
Dr Daud Soesilo, United Bible Societies
Dr Ng Kam Weng, Kairos Research Centre
Rev Dr Simon Wong, Bible Society of Malaysia
Mr Lee Min Choon, Bible Society of Malaysia
There will be Special Chapel and Thanksgiving Services celebrating 400 years of the Alkitab, testimonies from the translators of Alkitab, and a special event honouring the translators of the Alkitab. There will also be exhibitions by the Bible Society of Malaysia and RBC Ministries highlighting resources using the Alkitab.
Please note that admission to the events is strictly by registration only. The closing date for registration is 29 February 2012. For further information, please refer to the promotional flyer detailing the events and the registration form.
Friday, January 6, 2012
Church Leaders Led Round The Bush Again
Published by Malaysiakini on 5 January 2012. By Terence Netto.
Christian church leaders were once again led a merry dance around the bush when Prime Minister Najib Razak hosted a lunch for them yesterday.
The Najib administration, with 13 cabinet ministers including the deputy prime minister in attendance in an ostensible show of collegiality on matters affecting the community, gave vent to the usual saccharine assurances of solicitude for Christian concerns while leaving the deeper misgivings of the community unappeased.
The mainstream newspapers this morning gave the expected photo play to the occasion with accompanying articles that conveyed the point that Christian concerns were addressed by the PM’s assurances.
With a general election imminent, the objective of the lunch meeting was to assure Christian leaders and their followers that their concerns will not suffer from government neglect.
Najib assured them the government would consult with mission schools before deciding on the appointment of principals; that the teaching of the catechism of the faith would be allowed in mission schools after hours; and that tax exemption would be granted on monies raised by Christian charities.
None of these assurances is in any way new, though in recent instances, one or the other was honoured in the breach than in the observance.
Nothing of substance
Christian leaders who attended the meeting yesterday did not go in the hope of being reassured on matters they consider de rigueur; they had gone to raise concerns in which they had hoped to hear of decisive action taken to remove their tension-igniting causes.
A lunch meeting of church leaders with the PM in May last year was similarly laved in a public relations glow but issued in nothing of substance to tamp down growing tensions between Christians and the government.
In fact, last May’s meeting was followed by reports in Umno-supporting blogs and the Umno-owned newspaper, Utusan Malaysia, that Christian groups were plotting the dethronement of Islam as the official religion of the country.
Subsequent police investigations into the matter drew a blank. But reports of Christian proselytisation of Muslims did not abate.
Last August, Christian groups were reported by Jais (Selangor Islamic Affairs Department) to be attempting to convert Muslims through the provision of charity to poverty-stricken members of the faith.
Like the earlier reports of Christian plans to dethrone Islam, Muslim-led investigations did not unearth evidence in support of Christian proselytisation claims.
Anglican Bishop Ng Moon Hing, chairperson of the Christian Federation of Malaysia, had prepared a speech for delivery on the occasion of the PM’s hosting of the lunch yesterday.
He did not get to air it, for good reason.
The text alludes to matters - the need to build more places of worship, the need for burial grounds, the removal of a government ban on the use of the term ‘Allah’ in Christian publications, and the necessity of a ministry to handle matters concerning non-Muslim religions - that church leaders have raised in countless discussions with the authorities in the past, but with no discernible success.
The Muslim lady who spoke in church
There is mounting puzzlement in the Christian community as to why its leaders persist in believing that anything substantive would come from meetings between church leaders and Umno-BN top brass except as acknowledgment of the wisdom that it is better to “jaw-jaw” than to skulk in silence.
But this charade of periodic public expressions of Umno-BN solicitude for Christian concerns followed by covert indifference towards the same has disabused the Christian faithful of illusions their leaders may continue to suffer from as to the actual realities on the ground.
They know from long experience from which to distill an indisputable conclusion that Muslim leaders who think that they can run with the hares of inter-religious goodwill, when it suits them, and hunt with the hounds of Islamic supremacy, when that’s expedient, are not to be trusted.
They would prefer to place their trust in such Muslim leaders as the one who on Christmas Day, quietly slipped into a church in the Klang Valley and before the service started, was invited by the parish priest to briefly address the congregation.
She went up to the pulpit, wished the parishioners a blessed occasion, and spoke of what she intimated would be imminent deliverance of the country from the duplicity and chicanery of the powers-that-be.
Heartfelt applause resounded in the church as the tudung-wearing lady wafted out, like the angelic apparitions that greeted the shepherds two millennia ago on the birth of what Christians regard as the Prince of Peace.
Related report: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/churches-tell-najib-respect-law-remove-anti-christian-rules-policies
KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 5 — Datuk Seri Najib Razak should respect the law and start removing rules and policies that have seen Christians being victimised by the bureaucracry, a national group representing over 90 per cent of churches said yesterday.
In a strongly-worded statement, the Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM) called on the prime minister to check the growing systematic religious attacks against Christians nationwide over the past one year.
Prime Minister Najib Razak has just promised national Christian leaders 'full consultation' over missionary school heads and Bible knowledge classes as well as tax-exemption status for qualified Christian organizations. But his largesse was just a bid to repair relations between the federal government and the local church authorities.
The New Year message which was to be delivered by Bishop Datuk Ng Moon Hing, chairman of the Christian Federation of Malaysia, as an expression of CFM’s concerns to the Honourable Prime Minister of Malaysia at a lunch hosted by the Prime Minister on 4 January 2012. However, Bishop Datuk Ng was not given the opportunity to present this formally at the lunch.
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Merry Christmas!
Picture taken from http://communityoflife.net/bel.htmlUnto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of His government and peace.
There will be no end,
Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom,
To order it and establish it with judgment and justice
From that time forward, even forever.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.
Isaiah 9:6-7 NKJV
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