Even an Atheist Can Pratice Christian Virtues: Why I am a Christian (Sort Of...)

This post is interesting. It demonstrates quite clearly the current culture battle waging in America today. Let me quote what I see as the most significant statement in the web page:

The current question before the church today is - is the Bible true and authoritative? Can we trust it? The author asks the question - "What if the Bible says....". Rather, the question should be "What DOES the Bible say...". The basis of the question is rooted in a humanistic worldview - that men determine what is and is not truth. The question the author asks is really "Can't we decide for ourselves what the BIble says - can't we decide what it means to US, and can't we just follow what WE think it says?" Instead of looking at scripture and allowing God to tell us what truth is, he looks at scripture and wishes to tell God what truth is.

We see the very same pattern used on Eve in the Garden of Eden by Satan. He got Eve to question the authority and accuracy of God's Word.

Gen 3:1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

The serpent asks - "Has God really said what he said?" He gets Eve to question the validity and accuracy of God's Word. Then he contradicts God's word:

Gen 3:4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

Satan says "You aren't really going to die." What he is saying to Eve is that she can re-interpret God's Word and determine absolute truth for herself.

No where do we see this culture war raging so fiercly as we see it in the creation vs evolution debate. Most of the church has comprimised God's word and said that we can believe in millions of years and evolution and believe the Bible at the same time. It is no different from what the author of this web site is saying -- that men can ask the question "what if it means" rather than ask the question "what does it mean". The church in america today is rife with humanism. This is why we see the rise in popularity with "Emerging" or post-modern churches. People long to get back to an authentic and genuine experience of God.

Whether we like it or not, God has a specific (read as 'absolute') meaning to his words in scripture. We should not be wandering around asking what "Could" it mean... or what might it mean to each person. We should instead be asking God what does He mean. We should be studying the scripture itself to see what IT says about itself. We need to take an exegetical (exegesis) approach to scripture rather than an eisegetical (eisegesis) approach. We need to get our ideas FROM scripture and not attempt to read our own philosophies and knowlege into scripture. We need to fit our knowledge around what the Bible says, rather than trying to reconcile our ideas and fit them into the BIble.

Humanity has struggled against evil in high places with this issue for a long time. This is one of my favorite quotes by Martin Luthor:

 

Now that the root of the topic (humanism & the comprimise of Biblical authority) has been addressed, this post is to address the manifestations or symptoms of the root problem.


Luk 14:27 And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.

Mat 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

Hbr 11:6 But without faith [it is] impossible to please [him]: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and [that] he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

Rom 10:17 So then faith [cometh] by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

These scriptures lay out quite clearly the criteria for being a christian. The author of the post claims to wish to adopt christian morality. However, he proclaims disbelief in the very basis of that morality (the Bible). The Bible says that no one can have faith without believing that God is, and that no one can believe that God is without hearing the Word of God.

I find it inconsistent that he chooses to believe Jesus' words regarding the poor, yet professes NOT to believe the rest of the Bible. Moreover, if he believes in evolution (which I gather he does) then his philosophy should be survival of the fittest. Helping the unfit hinders evolution and retards progress. Moreover, if he believes in millions of years and that Genesis is allegorical, he would be professing to believing that God would use evolution (billions of years of bloodshed, death, and disease) to bring about his purposes on the earth. Moreover, that God would call those millions of years of death, bloodshed and disease "very good". So what basis for morality is there if he is an atheist? How can he claim to call himself a christian for the sake of morality if THAT is who he believes God to be?

 

Insane! Sounds like that whole church might need to get saved.

 

</font>[/QUOTE]Sounds like that church views Christianity more as a political movement than a religious one.
The problem with that is that Jesus was very unpolitical: Jesus therefore perceiving that they were intending to come and take Him by force, to make Him king, withdrew again to the mountain by Himself alone (John 6:15 NAS). Later, when standing before Pilate, Jesus stated, "My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, then my servants would be fighting, that I might not be delivered up to the Jews, but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm." See John 18:36 NAS.

That's a problem with a lot of churches today. They care more about politics and social action than they do about the Gospel.