In 1947, C.S. Lewis popularized an argument against atheism, specifically, atheistic naturalism. This argument is known as the argument from reason. In this article, I will not comment on all the support for or criticisms of Lewis’ argument. Rather, by reframing his argument, I will demonstrate why it makes sense.
The Reframed Argument
Without God, matter (generally, the substance/s of which material objects are composed) exists and moves without direction and purpose because nothing would exist to give it direction and purpose. Due to this matter’s aimless nature (aimlessness in its existing and moving), it cannot give direction or purpose to that which it happens to create.
Thus, whatever this directionless and purposeless matter arbitrarily creates must, without exception, be devoid of direction and purpose regardless of the created being’s seeming perception about itself or its actions. After all, in this view, the created being is simply a clump of aimless matter.
Even the direction and purpose that this created being seems to give itself are merely the product of matter moving aimlessly in its so-called mind, arbitrarily ascribing “purpose” to its behavior. It has no intrinsic direction and purpose and can never have it. Accordingly, every thought this creation thinks and word it speaks is pointless.
In other words, without God, humans are simply the consequence of aimless matter arbitrarily moving and assembling to form random organisms who form random thoughts and speak random words. I should pause here to demonstrate my point.
God Gives Purpose
Today, my brain told me the weather was rainy and cold. Consequently, it advised me to seek shelter and warmth, and I did. In a world in which matter has God-given direction and purpose, my brain worked as designed, and I responded to the reality of rain and cold.
However, in a world in which matter is aimless (lacking direction and purpose, i.e., random), I cannot know if the rain and cold exist or if they are merely thoughts arbitrarily emerging in what I believe to be my brain. Even if other humans around me notice and discuss this same inclement weather, I cannot know if these humans and their observations are real or simply the result of random neural activity. Consequently, certainty is lost.
Therefore, we must conclude that the atheist’s directionless and purposeless assertion that God does not exist is utter nonsense, the ramblings of an aimless creature. The only way for the atheist’s assertion to have any merit, albeit a merely dialectic one, is if God exists.
In other words, atheism needs God to exist for its arguments against God’s existence to have even a merely dialectic relevance! So, atheists promote their worldview as if they have purpose in doing so. But their worldview must be dismissed as arbitrary and, therefore, completely devoid of purpose.
Although this argument does not directly prove God’s existence, it certainly proves the insanity of atheism. And if atheism is insane, then theism, being the only other alternative, is sane.
Counterarguments
Counter argument 1: Here, however, we run into a problem; namely, that two types of theism exist, polytheism (two or more gods) and monotheism (the one God).
Polytheism is not a viable answer to atheism because if two or more gods exist, they necessarily impose restrictions and permissions on each other and are, therefore, finite beings subject to change, time, and each other’s whims.
By definition, these gods would be finite (lacking omnipotence) and temporal (lacking eternal perfection) beings by nature, needing a cause outside of themselves to bring them into existence. They would not be gods at all. Rather, they would be material or spiritual beings lacking purpose and direction because, according to the atheist, God does not exist. The series of causes could not go on forever. Therefore, one eternal, infinite, changeless God must exist. And monotheism wins again.
Additionally, some atheists may agree that direction and purpose do not really exist but, instead, exist in the mind as figments rather than reality. Yet, these people function as though these things are real and, therefore, behave in a way that contradicts their poorly formed philosophy. Also, their denial that things, including truth, exist is also a denial that their truth exists. And they end up denying their own conclusions. (See denialism, material atomism, and casualism for more information about these types of atheism.)
Counterargument 2: I should also point out that the atheist would probably argue that constituent parts making up the whole do not have the same qualities as the whole (a true statement). Therefore, according to atheists, the whole will behave differently than its parts. For example, sperm and ova are non-rational substances that join to create a being capable of rational thought.
The problem with this argument is that it presupposes that the rational being is ordered toward (has a purpose for) rational thought. But this being is not ordered toward anything if it is made up of aimless matter. It simply exists randomly and without purpose. It may give “purpose” to itself, but this is nothing more than the aimless movement of matter. So, again, the atheist’s argument here lacks purpose and must be brushed aside as mere gibberish.
Conclusion – God Exists
Since the one, immutable God exists and is existence, we must conclude that everything He creates, down to the smallest of particles, has direction and purpose because nothing that comes into existence does so without His express or permissive will.
God, who creates from nothing and gives everything purpose and order, gives purpose and order even to the smallest particles. This matter has design and purpose and is not aimless and random, as atheists would have us believe.
Matter is the instrument God creates and uses to produce intelligent beings capable of introspection and understanding, judging and governing, caring and loving. These beings can know, love, and serve our Father. God gives these beings a share in His life and work via grace, love, and truth.
Atheism – the belief in nothing – literally has nothing to offer!
You mention “particles”. Do you know who the author of particles is and does the bible ever mention anything about particles or what they are? I don’t think the bible has anything to say about it but science does from a bunch of atheists and agnostics who study it. I am the author of particles on another planet like this one after getting murdered and coming back to earth from what I know (agnostic, previously catholic, now a gnostic or labelless person who believes god exists but is a stupid moron who never performs many miracles and never provides anybody any money to live (corporations do)).
Now to be less disgruntled about it. What does the bible give you or god give you on partices then rather than drawing from an atheistic or agnostic science which discovered it all? Shouldn’t the bible include information on atoms or is that the dangerous tree of knowledge we are not supposed to travel down the path of which means all our modern chemistry (no chemistry table in the bible either) wouldn’t exist and things iike shampoo, food cans, tin, steel, yogurt (organism particles, evil creatures called bacteria) and other great stuff wouldn’t be here right now.
I don’t think bread was from bible times iether, that was ported back from the 1990’s from another planet
Happy Easter! Christ has redeemed us from death due to our sins. Something science could never so. Also, you said science “discovered.” This is correct. Science discovers what’s in the universe, but God makes the universe.
Captcrisis, good advice from my parents — don’t criticize someone unless your willing to do that for which you are criticizing. So, are YOU willing to accept my challenge. Or are you too an intellectual paper tiger (I.e., a troll)? Most atheists and leftists haven’t learned the art of critical thinking. Their Marxist professor’s don’t want them to think critically because they are harder to propagandize if they can do their own critical thinking. Prove me wrong. Take the challenge.
Stephen, Crisis is a repeat offender on this site. He loves asserting his opinion as fact, but he rarely if ever gives evidence for his assertions. On those rare occasions in which he provides evidence, it’s almost always for his straw-man arguments or red-herrings. He refuses to argue head on. He will not accept your challenge and he will not refute the arguments presented in my article. His anger and hatred have impeded his ability to respond with reason and integrity. You’re responses are excellent though. Thank you!
Thanks for the information, Nate. I wasn’t really expecting Bob or Crisis to accept the challenge. I would be happy if they did accept it, but history shows that to be highly unlikely. I’ve debated close to 100 atheists. In every case, I present the challenge to them. However, as I said previously, only one has accepted the challenge. It’s a shame. They might learn something if they did.
Keep up the good work, Nate.
There is no challenge. My comments have already established a different way of looking at things. To which Nate has no answer. All he can say is, “Read my post again!” or “I’m right because God says so!”
In other words captcrisis, you are an intellectual paper tiger. All talk, no action, no substantiation!! Prove me wrong, take the challenge. Show me that you are more than a Troll.
Crisis, I’m going to explain this article at the most elementary level. Even you should be able to understand this, but I have my doubts. You wrote, “Natural selection is not random and aimless — it’s anything but.” The problem with your assertion is that you are merely stating what you perceive. If God does not exist, you perceive, by way of aimless matter, randomly moving in your brain, that natural selection is not random. But, if matter is directionless and purposeless (in a word, aimless), then your assertion is aimless. For, you are made of aimless matter. Your observations are aimless. Your opinions are aimless. Your agreements/disagreements with others are aimless. Every thought that enters your brain and every word that comes out of your mouth are aimless. They are nothing more than matter randomly colliding to produce thoughts and words.
Even if “science” “agrees” with your perception, you are only perceiving that science agrees. In fact, you can’t even know if scientists exist or if they are merely a random mental construct. In other words, if God does not exist, your thoughts are merely the consequence of random, aimless neural activity within a universe that has no purpose whatsoever. Therefore, my original reply still stands – read my post again!! But this time, try reading with an eye toward objective truth. By the way, without God, even your replies are pointless, a waist of time, vacuous, and completely divorced from reality. So, atheism and its proponents (including you) are insane. I hope I made this simple enough for you, but probably not.
Oh Nate Guyear, you’re so easily triggered, lol. There is No Hate Like ‘Christian’ Love is there. I’m gonna guess you’re a trumpster, figures, you can’t worship two gods silly little man.
Bob, you still haven’t refuted my article.
I can’t believe you are so hateful that you get a kick of trying to trigger other people. You are right about one thing, you can only worship one TRUE God. How can you know (that was your question) which one is the one and only true God? I would gauge who was the True God based on what He taught. I would pick the one God told me how I was made, how I function, how to Love, and how to know what true love is. Have any of the gods you mentioned taught you something that only the one TRUE creator would know? After 20+ years of research into the relationship between Scripture and science, I have discovered thirty-four mysteries of cutting-edge biological sciences hidden in Scripture in an Applied Sciences fashion. Hidden for thousands and thousands years before modern scientists even became aware of them. I’m not talking about fuzzy ties. I’m talking about direct ties. Are you up to a challenge — or are you just a bunch of hot air?
I have challenged many atheists to answer a question. None of these intellectual paper tigers would accept the challenge, except one. He couldn’t even come up with a plausible answer. How about you Bob? Are you up to it, or are you not very confident in the junk you spout?
Nate doesn’t respond to challenges either.
It amazes me that in the year 2022, there are still people who believe in flat earths, and sky fairies.
Good one, Bob! Only liberals and atheists believe in such nonsense. But at least the atheists believe in sky fairies. With a little more education, they’ll start believing in God.
Which God are you referring to, you do know your God is not the only one worshiped right? After all, they are all pretty much just regurgitation of earlier Gods.
Here are some examples.
Hindu God Krisha born 1000 years before Jesus. He was a carpenter, born of a virgin, baptized in a river.
Persian God Mithra born 600 years before Jesus. Born Dec 25th, preformed miracles, walked on water, resurrected on the third day.
Written in 1280 BC, the Egyptian Book of the Dead describes the God Horus, born to a virgin, baptized in a river, tempted while alone in the desert , healed the sick and the blind, walked on water, raised Asar (which translates to Lazarus) from the dead, had 12 disciples, was crucified, resurrected after three days.
Oh, so you’re a liberal and an atheist (sarcasm intended); I already knew you were. You have written nothing that refutes my article and you never will. The bigger question is which god do you worship? Ultimately, it’s yourself, a small-minded god who seeks a hedonistic lifestyle devoid of truth and morality. Please write back with another pathetic comment. I can’t wait to read it and respond to it.
Afraid to put up a comment from an Atheist? Not surprising. No wonder why people are dropping out of religions. Enjoy your bigotry.
Thank you for your vacuous comment.
Peter,
First, if you suffered child abuse at the hands of a so-called Christian, I’m sorry. I truly hope something like that did not happen.
Second, everyone has rules to follow. We don’t walk away from the rule making body simply because we don’t like something/s about it. I’m sure you haven’t left this country, your job, or stopped driving vehicles because of the rules.
Third, your comment does not come close to refuting the facts I brought forth in my article. But, in response to your comment, I’ll say this…God made us for eternal happiness. When we reject eternal happiness unto death, we receive eternal pain. Any good parent tells their child about the consequences of their actions in an effort to dissuade from doing something they should not do. And this is something society at large does all the time. God is merely telling us the consequences of our actions.
Finally, a parent must “indoctrinate” their child into believe in true things and rejecting lies, into doing good and avoiding evil. God is real and your parents told you about Him. Despite their failings, they told you the truth. So, you have choices just like the rest of us…truth or lies, good or evil, heaven or hell.
I’ve been an Atheist for over 20 years and I love it. Raised as a Catholic, I always found it crazy how they indoctrinate children into believing in god because if they don’t they’ll be punished and burn in hell. Forcing a child to believe in a religion out of fear of punishment is disturbing to say the least. As I got older the bigotry is what got to me. The hatred by Christians of homosexuals and transgender people was what opened my eyes. A religion that preaches peace and love was extremely cruel to demographics of people that they don’t agree with. I’m a far better person without religions. People are free to believe in what they want as I have the right to not believe fables as reality.
I have debated a large number of atheists. You fit the typical pattern. My experience, based on personal encounters and debates, is that atheists are some of the most judgmental people I have ever dealt with. To begin with, the overwhelming majority of those encounters reveal a high degree of elitism that leads to judgmentalism. Jesus describes such people with the words: “Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye” (Matthew 7:1-3)?
You wrote: “they indoctrinate children into believing in god because if they don’t they’ll be punished and burn in hell.” You are so ignorant of Catholic teaching it is no wonder you left the Church. Atheists construct straw gods based on ignorance, then attempt to knock down that straw god. God NEVER sends people to hell. People are judged by God when he shows them the unmasked and actual state of their soul – a state of evil that is very painful for them to see because it pricks their deeply ingrained pride. Their self-love.
At their judgment, Jesus pleads with them to own up to their sins and accept his mercy. It is when they reject that final plea that the soul (out of pride) flees from the presence of God because it is too painful for their pride to remain. Why? They would rather spend eternity in hell rather than have their masks (their selfish, elitist views of themselves) eternally taken away.
You wrote: “The hatred by Christians of homosexuals and transgender people was what opened my eyes.” There you go with that atheistic judgmentalism again. Your “compassion” is nothing more than biological false compassion. You hold that view because it makes YOU feel good via the reward hormones that your body produces. After all, you THINK you are doing a good thing. You are not. There is nothing more compassionate than Truth expressed in charity! Homosexuality is intrinsically evil. It violates God’s very first positive commandment: Be fruitful and multiply. God himself is eternal fruitfulness. We destroy the “likeness of God” in us when we make ourselves sterile in our sexuality. When Moses asks God who he should say sent him, God replies, “I AM that (so that) I AM. When analyzing the Hebrew wording, the phrase can be understood as: I AM (the Father) so that I AM (the Son) in the Divine Unity/Oneness of the Holy Spirit.
Science is increasingly showing that homosexuality is a result of epigenetic plasticity.[1] It is NOT something God includes in our human design. The epigenome is the software that tells our DNA (the computer hardware) what to do. The biological software is altered based on behaviors (of ourselves and our parents), what we eat, and environmental factors. Epigenetic software can be reprogrammed. Unfortunately, we have so many ill-informed scientists and activists drowning in false compassion trying to prove that same-sex attraction is “normal,” the funds aren’t there to do the necessary research to create a real cure for the disorder of nature.
You referred to the “hatred of Christians.” Really?? Let’s look at the “love” of atheists. A study was performed at the University of Hawaii. They determined that atheist and secular governments were, by far, responsible for more war deaths than religious governments. But, then, when you factor in the number of deaths that resulted from policies (e.g., famine and malnutrition) they instituted, the evil of atheistic governments rolls away the curtain atheism hides behind.[2]
The culture of death existing in all atheistic societies is a testament to the lack of value placed upon human life, except for their own “value.” According to historian Scott Manning, since 1918 (the year after Mary appeared at Fatima), about 150 million people have been killed or starved to death by their own Communist government. This figure does not include the war dead. Nor does it include countries that are solely identified as Socialist.[3] The Socialist Nazis killed roughly 14 million non-military people in WWII.[4] Yeah. Those atheistic Socialists must really love their people.
Among those Marxists policies are anti-family protections to kill innocent children in the womb. There have been over 60 million abortions in the U.S. alone between 1973 and 2017.[5] This figure does not even include spontaneous abortions resulting from using artificial contraceptives. Additional horrors include partial-birth abortion and selling fetal body parts for money. Worldwide, there have been 1.72 billion babies murdered in the womb.[6] The world was horrified at the six million deaths in Nazi concentration camps. Where is the outrage now? Abortion is still the law of the land in many states. Frankly, atheists are the least compassionate people I have ever encountered.
In 1917 at Fatima, Mary warned the world that if Russia were not consecrated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary by the Pope, in unison with all the bishops of the world, Russia would spread her errors (i.e., atheistic Marxism and its derivatives, Communism and Socialism) across the globe. The acronym USSR stands for the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (not Communist Republics).
The Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to three children at Fatima, Portugal. The first apparition was on May 13 and continued every month until October 13, 1917. On that day, a previously promised miracle (which turned out to be of the sun) occurred that was seen by over 75,000 people. It was also witnessed by people many miles away from the miracle site. The exact date and time of this miracle were foretold months before its actual occurrence. Many atheistic secular newspaper reporters and government officials witnessed and wrote about the miracle. As documentation of the miracle, these same atheists filmed the miracle of the sun. There was no possibility of mass hypnosis as an explanation for this miracle.
One of the seers, later in her life and based on messages from Heaven, said: “The final battle between the Lord and the reign of Satan will be about marriage and the family. Don’t be afraid, she added, because anyone who works for the sanctity of marriage and the family will always be fought and opposed in every way, because this is the decisive issue”[7] If you review the policies and actions of the Marxist atheist Democrat Party, you find that there is no greater enemy to the family than those Socialists.
ENDNOTES:
[1] Stephen Michael Leininger, “Born With It: Does God Will It, Part I of III,” STOSS Books, https://www.stossbooks.com/blog/index.php?id=00000003D.
[2] https://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/
[3] Scott Manning, “Communist Body Count,” Scott Manning, https://scottmanning.com/about/, December 4, 2006 (accessed 4/26/2020).
[4] https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/documenting-numbers-of-victims-of-the-holocaust-and-nazi-persecution
[5] David Sivak, “Fact Check: Have There Been 60 Million Abortions Since Roe v. Wade?” Check Your Fact, https://checkyourfact.com/2018/07/03/fact-check-60-million-abortions/, July 3, 2018 (accessed 4/15/2020).
[6] Rev. Fr. Shenan Boquet, “1.72 billion abortions worldwide in the last 40 years,” LifeSiteNews.com, https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/christian-minister-sues-hotel-for-shutting-down-conference-defending-marriage, Apr 1, 2013 (accessed 4/14/2020).
[7] Rorate Caeli, “Cardinal: What Sister Lucia told me: Final Confrontation between the Lord and Satan will be over Family and Marriage,” https://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2015/06/cardinal-what-sister-lucia-told-me.html, 2/16/2008.
[…] Why Atheism Needs God – Nate Guyear at Catholic […]
I have spent the last twenty-plus years doing extensive research into the relationship between Scripture and the biological sciences. The more one knows about biology, the more one understands that the human body is both harmonious (prior to the fall) and organized — nothing random about it. In fact, St. Hildegard tells us, “Of all the strengths of God’s creation, Man’s is most profound, made in a wondrous way with great glory from the dust of the earth [emphasis SML] and so entangled with the strengths of the rest of creation that he can never be separated from them.”[1]
According to biologist Vladimir Voeikov, there are increasing amounts of scientific evidence indicating that structured molecules of biological water (up to a million layers thick), working together with the solid surfaces of, and within, the cell (e.g., proteins, DNA, and cell membranes), determine the organization of living organisms at all levels.[2] Photons working in conjunction with structured biological water, are critical an organism’s self-organization.
How significant is energetic information in the living organism? Dr. Lowenstein describes the amount of information that is contained in a molecule of RNA for splicing (a process necessary for the expressing of a protein) as so staggering, there aren’t enough exclamation marks one could add to appropriately emphasize it.[3] German physicist, Fritz-Albert Popp, discovered that the ultra-weak light being emitted from the living organism is so coherent in the UV to red electromagnetic wave spectrum, the human being behaves as if it were a laser, but with a few significant differences. These differences are: 1) the radiation intensity from the living organism is several orders of magnitude weaker than a laser; 2) the degree of coherence of the radiation in the living organism is many orders higher than a technical laser; and 3) the radiation from the living organism is coherent over a range of wavelengths (polychromatic), while a laser is coherent in only one wavelength (monochromatic).[4]
Nobel Laureate Albert Szent-Gyorgyi characterizes life as “water dancing [SML] to the tune of macromolecules.”[5] Incidentally, the salt of DNA and many of the proteins it produces are macromolecules. Another researcher characterizes this watery dance, as it was referred to by Szent-Gyorgyi, as a sort of quantum “jazz” which is both, always being improvised in response to its environment and is also coherent beyond our wildest imaginings. Our body is a liquid crystalline (liquid stone) organism that is, in fact, quantum coherent.[6]
All creation is the spoken Word of God. It would be impossible for God to “speak” randomness.
Endnotes:
[1]. Hildegard of Bingen, Hildegard of Bingen: Scivias, ed. Bernard McGinn, trans. Columba Hart and Jane Bishop, The Classics of Western Spirituality (New York; Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 1990), 98.
[2]. Vladimir L. Voeikov, “Biological Significance of Active Oxygen-Dependent Processes in Aqueous Systems,” Water and the Cell, ed. Gerald H. Pollack, Ivan L. Cameron, Denys N. Wheatly (The Netherlands: Springer, 2006), 286.
[3]. Ibid., 135
[4]. Beloussov et al., Biophotonics and Coherent Systems in Biology, Kindle Locations 260-264
[5]. Gerald H. Pollack; Ivan L. Cameron; Denys N. Wheatley, Water and the Cell (The Netherlands: Springer, 2006), viii
[6]. Mae-Wan Ho et al., Water and the Cell, 220-221
Good afternoon, Stephen! Thank you for your reply and for the message you sent through my website! I enjoyed reading both messages. I plan to read the links you provided and get back to you soon. God bless!
Polytheism is not a viable answer to atheism because if two or more gods exist, they necessarily impose restrictions and permissions on each other and are, therefore, finite beings subject to change, time, and each other’s whims.
You have to be careful here, Nate, as virtually all Catholic theologians have never explored with anything close to a critical eye or open mind, ‘bibles’ such as the Bahagavad-gita (As it is) and so lose out on the concept of two or more gods. Job, was inflicted by Permission from God. Satan, is restricted for a 1000 years. Satan had Permission to offer Jesus the kingdoms of the world. God was restricted from doing any more than throwing Lucifer out of heaven to land among an almost infinite helpless fallen creatures. Satan is not restricted from snatching souls and holding them forever in torment. Such is the inherent flaw of free will.
Good afternoon, OP! Thanks for responding! I should clarify that by “two or more gods,” I mean two gods at the top of the hierarchy and not two mythical gods (mutable beings) about which we are accustomed to reading (e.g., Greek mythology).
If two gods were at the very top, they would necessarily impose restrictions on one another because neither could be infinite. If one were infinite, then the other would not be a god. And since the true God is infinite, this other “god” could not come into being without God’s will causing or permitting it.
Regarding Satan and God, Satan has the power and discretion that God permits. No more, no less. He is a creature, and if God wanted to destroy him, He most definitely and immediately could.
Regarding God being restricted, what is restricting Him? If something is restricting Him, we had better start worshipping whatever that being is. But God is not restricted. Rather, he chose (God is Free-Will) to allow Satan to continue to exist. Nothing forced him to allow this.
Finally, Satan is restricted from snatching souls. In fact, everyone who lives in grace restricts Satan from snatching their souls. Remember, God gives us power to tread upon serpents. This includes Satan. Thanks, OP!!
Getting rid of mentalisms (“my brain told me”) clears things up. Even microorganisms move away from unhealthy stimuli (for us, cold and rain).
“Purpose” and “direction” are simply the actions of natural law, which through natural selection produced the world we now see, as well as our bodies and our ability to perceive, think and act. You can posit that natural law was “created” by God but that is not an explanation. It’s just adding a tortoise “all the way down”.
Crisis, a law is enacted by someone with authority. So, simply by using the phrase “natural law” you are implying a law-giver. And the Law-Giver of creation is God. If God does not exist, neither does natural law. For, a law without an enforcement authority is simply nonsense.
Also, by stating “purpose” and “direction” are merely the consequence of natural selection, you are admitting, nay, asserting, that your response to my article and the mind from which your response originated (your mind) is aimless, lacking purpose and direction, utterly ridiculous. For a more detailed treatment of this, read my article again.
If “law” gives the wrong impression, then use “property”. As in, e.g., the properties of potassium.
Natural selection is not random and aimless — it’s anything but.
Without God, you’re just an aimless individual saying aimless things. As usual, thanks for bringing nothing to the conversation.
You pretend to address counter arguments but are rude when you actually meet one.
Crisis,
First, if you would like a tissue for your crocodile tears, let me know and I’ll mail you one.
Second, if you don’t like my responses, either reply with something sensible or don’t reply at all. No one is forcing you to behave like an imbecilic child.
Third, you have not provided a counterargument to my article. You have merely made assertions without any attempt to prove them. My article soundly refutes anything you have mentioned thus far. So, go back to your coloring book and reply when you have something intelligent to say.
While I have no doubt in my own mind that G-d exists, at the same time I am unable to consider the wholly human, theological construct of the church to have anything to do with G-d. The presumption that natural reason is capable of comprehending the mind of G-d must be in error. For if true, it would make religion unnecessary, as anyone wishing to know G-d would simple turn to the scriptures themselves. Conclusion: religion in its most perfect form, that is man’s relationship with G-d before the Fall does not ‘yet’ exist. That may very well be the purpose of the second coming. To reinstate that original state of man. The question is where that would leave existing tradition and their claims?
Robert, God created us with reason. That should be clear. Otherwise, you would not know God at all and you would have “reason” to trust Scripture. But you do know God, or at least you know He exists. God-given reason helps us to arrive at some (not all) truths about God. God then gives us more information about Himself through Scripture and His living Word made flesh, Jesus Christ. Jesus, the Word and the Truth of God, founded the Catholic Church and gave her His authority to continue His work (including preaching, teaching, and admonishing) until the Second Coming.
If we can get rid of the Church (and religion in general) by appealing to reason, then we can get rid of Scripture by doing the same thing. If reason is wrong, then it’s wrong on all counts.
Also, Scripture is a Tradition. The Old Testament is a Tradition written and passed down by Israel. The New Testament is a Tradition written and passed down by the Church. Without the Church, you would not have a New Testament.
Finally, religion is complete obedience to God out of love for God. It is justice we owe God because of his love for us. Religion is not about an individual and God. It is about the human race worshipping God as a family, which is why God reveals Himself as Father. The Catholic Church is the true Church that calls the entire race together to worship our Father. This is something the false, Bible-alone, manmade doctrine and tradition cannot do. For, the Bible alone has no power to baptize, to admonish, or to excommunicate. These are all things things mentioned in the New Testament and the Bible cannot do a single one of them.