I have been reading a book by Ravi Zacharias, Can Man Live Without God?
I would encourage you to read this book. For me it took a while, but…wow!…it is by far one of the best books I have read in a while. I have had this book for some time, and once I started it, I could not put it down. If you are one who struggles for the meaning of truth, then read this book.
Ravi Zacharias truly is one of the great Christian apologists of all time. I will not tell you all the details of the book, but will just say that you should have your thinking cap on before you start to read.
A question to ponder in the mean time: ”If there is no God, what does it matter what we do while we live here on earth?”
Your question is illogical. Here’s why. The question really is making a statement: If God doesn’t exist, then it doesn’t matter (how we live). The contrapositive (which is mathematically equivalent) says: If it matters, then God exists. However, if one mediates upon that, there is no meaningful way it can make any sense. Perhaps a better question is: If there were a 1% chance that God exists, then would a person change their actions to live in accordance with what this Divine Being wants? Perhaps a person would say no. But what if it were changed to 99%? Would a person then say yes? For me personally, if the probably were .0001%, I would live according to His precepts, because I believe in a literal hell, and I do not desire to take even That chance. God Bless.
wow…that was quite an answer Joel. I was just going to say no.
It seems that contrapositives have long been changing the meaning of God’s word for many. For instance; if we apply the contrapositive to God’s proclomation that He is the great I AM, He would no longer be making a statement, but rather posing a question. A question that I guess would be answered by fhs finite mind of man. I suppose this is how so many proclaimed christians can say they hold to God’s precepts in one hand while grasping at human logic with the other. Unfortunately, or would that be fortunately, the two do not mix. God isn’t proven by the postulates of man; nor can He be. If that were possible, there would be no faith. Without faith, there is no salvation. So, I prefer to hold to the original intent of the question, “If there is no God – then what does it matter?” As the question applies to those that say He isn’t and why they would care so much that we say He is.
wow Dale…I was just going to say no.
I’m thinkin’ that I’ll have to read the book just figure out what all these comments mean ;0)
Julie…what is it about “no” that you don’t understand.
Oh Wow! I think I’ve heard Kenneth ask you that same question. :)
Now that you mention it Buddy, no would have taken a lot less time. It seems we were visiting Kenneth’s space at the same time. Hey, what were you doing up so late?
Dear Joel, Thanks for stopping by. With all do respect, my question is a question. First, because if there is no God and after we die and that is it. What does it mattter if you are good or bad, or who is to say what is good or bad, or does good or bad even exist? This can only be made logical if there is a God. If we look all around us, people are living as if there is no God. The only way life makes sense is if there is a God. I believe that you are a believer in this God that we as Christians call Creator.
You’ve been tagged. Stop by my space to see the rules.
Kenneth??? you still around???
Good morning, :-D
I like Paul’s perspective on this question. He was writing about the resurrection. You can read the full context starting in 1 Cor 15 about verse 12 or earlier, but I like how he puts it (and it’s very logical)
[19]…if we have hope in Christ only for this life, we are the most miserable people in the world. [20] But the fact is that Christ HAS been raised from the dead…
From where I stand, our world is in much of the trouble it’s in because we’ve been living like there isn’t a God. Or if there is He’s a wimp and doesn’t really mean what He says.
Good post! Gotta get the book, now, don’t I?!
Phil—
The next item on the agenda, oh yes: the Kenneth Black Blog House. Due to the lack of upkeep, the city’s blog manager has recommended . . . . . . . Hey Kenneth, grab the hammer and nails, stop the city blog manager in his tracks!Put up a couple of posts so the roof doesn’t fall in.
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Pay no attention to the man in comment #13. He just blogged about 4 days ago…:)
If there is no blog, then what does it matter?
WOW!!! I remember my mom telling me about this blog that she used to read back in the day…Amanda
We are gathered here today to remember Kennenth’s blog. It was a good blog, people enjoyed reading this blog. We will always remember the days when we would stop by to read what Kenneth was inspired to write. Good bye dear blog, we will miss you.
IF THERE IS NO BLOG – THEN WHAT DOES IT MATTER?
smells like mothballs around here!!
A University professor at a well-known institution of higher learning challenged his students with this question. “Did God create everything that exists?” A student bravely replied “Yes he did”. “God created everything?” the professor asked. “Yes sir, he certainly did.” the student replied.
The professor answered, “If God created everything, then God created evil. And since evil exists, and according to the principal that our works define who we are, then we can assume God is evil.”
The student became quiet and did not answer the professor’s hypothetical definition. The professor, quite pleased with himself, boasted to the students that he had proven once more that the Christian faith was a myth.
Another student raised his hand and said, “May I ask you a question, professor?” “Of course”, replied the professor. The student stood up and asked, “Professor, does cold exist?” “What kind of a question is this? Of course it exists. Have you never been cold?” The other students snickered at the young man’s question.
The young man replied, “In fact sir, cold does not exist. According to the laws of physics, what we consider cold is in reality the absence of heat. Absolute zero (-460 F) is the total absence of heat; and all matter becomes inert and incapable of reaction at that temperature. Cold does not exist. We have created this word to describe how we feel if we have no heat.
The student continued, “Professor, does darkness exist?” The professor responded, “Of course it does.”
The student replied, “Once again you are wrong sir, darkness does not exist either. Darkness is in reality the absence of light. You cannot measure darkness. A simple ray of light can break into a world of darkness and illuminate it. How can you know how dark a certain space is? You measure the amount of light present. Isn’t this correct? Darkness is a term used by man to describe what happens when there is no light present.”
Finally the young man asked the professor, “Sir, does evil exist?”
Now uncertain, the professor responded, “Of course, as I have already said, we see it everyday. It is in the daily examples of man’s inhumanity to man. It is in the multitude of crime and violence everywhere in the world. These manifestations are nothing else but evil.”
To this the student replied, “Evil does not exist, sir, or at least it does not exist unto itself. Evil is simply the absence of God. It is just like darkness and cold, a word that man has created to describe the absence of God. God did not create evil. Evil is the result of what happens when man does not have God’s love present in his heart. It’s like the cold that comes when there is no heat, or the darkness that comes when there is no light.”
Margarita, your story suggests goodness is only possible when one has God in their life. There are many atheists I know who are wonderful, compassionate, fair minded people and quite a few christians I know who can be judgemental,superior (as they have god and the rest don’t),complacent ( why do they have to do anything in this life as they’re saved for eternity)close-minded, petty and justify everything with bible excerpts which goes around in circles.
Also this God you’re describing, why did he order the murder of Midianites resulting in the death of 3000 people in Numbers 31 – except for the virgins which was suggested they keep for themselves. Hadn’t Moses just received the 10 commandments with one being not to kill- go figure!So god seems to have some unusual ideas of what is good – or is that just the old testament god and even though he’s omniscient/omnipotent we ignore that old bit, he’s progressed since then.
Could we possibly accept we’re beings made from our environments which we’ve adapted to remarkably well hence our continuation.In the past people have created stories to try to explain their existence sometimes honouring animals sometimes an invisible presence which lauds it over them. Whatever!
If there is no god then what does it matter…? It matters because we’re here together and if you’re fair minded and pleasant to me and vice-a-versa it’ll make our time together much better. We learned that being good to each other is a beneficial thing, not through bible interpretations but through enjoying life more- it all just got easier when we worked together.
So lets enjoy and experience life to the full, do things to make life better for our descendants and then die and become worm food.
Carolyn!
We must perform every work with complete dedication; keep researching until the goal is reached. We could do with good influence on the people who will follow us. We always treat our fellow practitioners and our fellow human beings with a sincere heart. There is no need to lie, to hide, or to make up stories. We must speak sincere words with a quiet mind, well behave in accord with God’s will and true courtesy. No matter who we are in Crist.
We live on this earth within the law of birth, aging, illness, death and sorrow. So we come here to lead a temporary life, and not to enjoy earthly pleasures. Our body is just temporary, but it gives us the opportunity to save humanity. Everyday, we understand better the principle, whether we lead a simple life or a complicated life, we still live on this planet earth.
We must be fair to each other and forgive and love each other. We have also made mistakes many times, and we have also hoped that others would forgive us. The same holds true for those who have made mistakes. Wouldn’t they also hope that we would forgive them? We should forgive and return love in a positive manner.
We are practicing here, but in the future, we will go many places and influence many people with our practice. If we do not practice, we won’t get any results.
Life is a permanent school with all sorts of trials. We come here to learn, then we must go, no one can live forever on this earth.
Maybe our body become worm food, but our spirit will be with the LORD.
I would say it definately matters, if there is a personal God. If God is non-personal or indifferent to humankind then I’d say no, it doesn’t make any difference to us. But if he exists as a personal God then it makes every difference. How could it not matter? I think the real question is twofold and are still, simply, does God exist and, if so, does He care about us?