Category: Theory

Atheism is Not a Religion, But…

Atheism is not a religion, but it is a world-view, and as a world-view it takes on many of the attributes of religion.

1) Seeking Converts

Atheists want everyone to believe as they do and are continuously trying to convert people to their world-view. If you don’t agree, think of Bill Maher, the late Christopher Hitchens, Richard Dawkins, that guy with the bow-tie who does kid’s shows, and all the guys on Youtube.

2) Controlling Politics

Atheists want their people in office to create policies which favour the atheistic world-view.

3) Punishing the Heretics

If you are not an atheist, you are not welcome in their society.

4) Preaching Salvation

Salvation comes through atheistic/humanistic moralism and science.

Religious people and atheists do all these things alike. This is why people will say that atheism is a religion. Sure, atheists don’t worship a super-natural being, but they do worship something. We all worship something.

Coming or Going?

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Sometimes we assume something because we don’t know all the facts and we don’t take the time to investigate. We often read scripture and make the same mistake — especially when we’re dealing with the end-times.

Consider this passage:

“And the high priest arose and said to (Jesus), ‘Do You answer nothing? What is it these men testify against You?’ But Jesus kept silent. And the high priest answered and said to Him, ‘I put You under oath by the living God: Tell us if You are the Christ, the Son of God!’

Jesus said to him, ‘It is as you said. Nevertheless, I say to you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven.’

Then the high priest tore his clothes, saying, ‘He has spoken blasphemy! What further need do we have of witnesses? Look, now you have heard His blasphemy!’”
~Matthew 26:62-65

It’s easy to think that Jesus is talking about His second coming here. But look at how offended the high priest was at what Jesus said. The high priest knew nothing of Jesus’ second coming. But, the high priest knew very well what Jesus was saying here. And it offended the high priest so much that he tore his own clothes — something he was commanded not to do (Leviticus 21:10).

Jesus was quoting two Old Testament passages, and the high priest would have known exactly what Jesus was saying as he, the high priest, was an expert in scripture.

“The Lord (the Father) said to my Lord (Jesus),

‘Sit at My right hand,

Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.’

The Lord shall send the rod of Your strength out of Zion.

Rule in the midst of Your enemies!”
~Psalm 110:1-2

“‘I was watching in the night visions,

And behold, One like the Son of Man (Jesus),

Coming with the clouds of heaven!

He came to the Ancient of Days (the Father),

And they brought Him near before Him.

Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom,

That all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him.

His dominion is an everlasting dominion,

Which shall not pass away,

And His kingdom the one

Which shall not be destroyed.’”
~Daniel 7:13-14

Jesus “coming on the clouds” is not referring here to His second coming, but rather His ascension and coronation as King (He came to the Ancient of Days, not to the earth). And notice what was given to Jesus at that time: dominion, all peoples, all nations, and all languages. That happened two thousand years ago. Jesus rules now as King at the Father’s right hand.

And how long will He rule in heaven as King?

“But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His (second) coming. Then comes the end, when He (Jesus) delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. For He (Jesus) must reign till He (the Father) has put all enemies under His (Jesus’) feet. The last enemy that will be destroyed is death. For ‘He (the Father) has put all things under His (Jesus’) feet.’ But when He (the Father) says ‘all things are put under Him (Jesus),’ it is evident that He (the Father) who put all things under Him (Jesus) is excepted. Now when all things are made subject to Him (Jesus), then the Son Himself (Jesus) will also be subject to Him (the Father) who put all things under Him (Jesus), that God may be all in all.”
~1 Corinthians 15:20-28

Jesus is ruling in heaven now and will continue to rule from heaven until God the Father puts all of Christ’s enemies under Christ’s feet. And the last enemy will be death itself. And it is at Jesus’ second coming when all people, saved and unsaved, will be resurrected and judged (John 5:26-29). Then Jesus will hand the kingdom over to His Father.

Work Out Your Salvation

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Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.
~Philippians 2:12-13 NKJV

“Sin is what bubbles up unbidden from the depths of the human heart, so that all one has to do is go with the flow. That has the appearance of freedom, but is in fact slavery, as Jesus himself declared. True freedom is the gift of the spirit, the result of grace; but… it isn’t simply a matter of being forced now to be good, against our wills and without our co-operation, but a matter of being released from slavery precisely into responsibility, into being at last to choose, to exercise moral muscle, knowing both that one is doing it oneself and that the spirit is at work within, that God is doing himself that which I too am doing. If we don’t believe that, we don’t believe in the spirit, and we don’t believe in Paul’s teaching.”
~ N.T. Wright, “Justification~God’s Plan and Paul’s Vision”, pg. 164

No Bad Trees in the Garden

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God put two special trees in the garden. The “Tree of Life” and the “Tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil.” Adam was allowed to eat of any tree as much as he wanted, but he could not eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

Why then did God put that tree in the garden? Some would say, “Well, God wanted to give Adam free will and the ability to choose to be evil. And, God wanted to know if Adam really loved Him, and He couldn’t have known that unless Adam had a choice to not love Him.”

That’s a good Sunday school answer, but it makes God sound like somebody’s insecure girlfriend. “Adam, sometimes I just don’t know if you love me anymore!” Also, if that reason is the only reason, then the tree could have simply been called the “Tree of the knowledge of Evil” since Adam already knew good–in fact, that’s all he knew.

But the tree was called the knowledge of good and evil. Perhaps a better way to say it would be “the tree of being able to discern the difference between good and evil.” Being able to discern the difference between good and evil is called wisdom. If we could only choose a select few in our societies to have this wisdom, who would we choose? Our leaders of course.

In Canada, our leaders have declared that gay marriage and abortion are good things. They have lost their ability to discern the difference between good and evil. What is clearly a hateful thing in God’s eyes has been declared a “right to happiness” in our government’s eyes.

In the bible you will see that the great kings and leaders were also great judges. Solomon was known among the nations for his wisdom, a wisdom that allowed him to discern good from evil. The whole book of Proverbs is a laying out of what is good and what is evil. At the beginning of the book of Judges, we see that everyone was doing what was right in their own eyes. That’s why God sent in the judges–to discern good from evil. When ever a king lost this wisdom, the whole nation suffered.

Nebuchadnezzar was a great king. In his vision of the statue he was the head of gold–the greatest of all the empires to follow. He had another vision where he was a great tree. All the peoples took shade under his branches. What was that tree in his vision? It was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The wisdom to discern good from evil is given to kings.

It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter.
~Proverbs 25:2

You’ll notice that with the Old Covenant (the law and the Mosaic priesthood) it was all about bread. The bread of life. But when Jesus came to establish the New Covenant He added something more: wine. And while the bread stayed, the emphasis was placed on the wine.

And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”
Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you.”
~Luke 22:19-20

He said the cup was the New Covenant, not the bread. Wine is a symbol of maturity. It takes time to prepare good wine. And while you can give a child plenty of bread, you won’t give him wine. The bread of life and the wine of maturity. The Old Covenant (the bread) prepared the way, and Jesus (the wine) brought the covenant to maturity. Jesus is King.

Back to the garden. The tree of life was the bread. The tree of knowledge of good and evil was the wine. Adam was called to be king. But he was not ready to be king right at the beginning. He needed to mature first. If Adam had obeyed God, the time would have come where God would have said, “Adam, you are ready to be king. You may now eat of the tree of knowledge.” But instead, Adam took a short cut, and in doing so forfeited his ability to eat of both trees.

Jesus Christ was called to be king also. When He was tempted in the desert by Satan, He was being tempted to take a short cut. Satan offered Him all the nations. Did Satan have the ability to give Jesus the nations? Absolutely. Satan had authority over all the nations except Israel. But Jesus did not give in. Instead, He bound the strong man and took the authority from Satan through His death and resurrection.

Jesus is the second Adam. Where Adam fell short, Jesus conquered. And now, we who believe, can rule as kings with Him, being brought into maturity by His blood.