Rebuttal to AKA Winston's "The Simple Explanation That Resolves Christian Paradoxes"
Link to AKA Winston's Hub is...
http://hubpages.com/hub/The-Simple-Explanation-That-Resolves-Christian-Paradoxes
Rebuttal...
Winston was not his usual caustic self and that was refreshing.
Among
other statements in his opening was a really fair disclaimer and it too
was very refreshing, but unfortunately not repeated nor applied to
himself...
- "The trouble that all
Christian philosophers fall prey to is the same condition that affects
us all, a totally human psychological process: confirmation bias." -
He then goes on to the first sentence of the next paragraph and make this blanket assertion...
- "Christians do not believe in Jesus or God because of successful philosophical arguments." -
The
before and after of Winston's diatribe that surround his "fair
disclaimer", takes as his examples some of the worst (laying aside
bigotry) of Christian attributes, making them a catch-all and lumping
all together.
He then goes on to cite his 3 paradoxes, these of
course "fall prey" to his common malady, maybe in reverse, but they
never the less succumb. I will provide my concise answer to each in
turn.
1) - "The answer is as simple as it is concise - bad
things happen to good people because bad things happen to everyone in
equal proportions. The best explanation for why this is so is equally
simple: there is no God." -
Bad things do happen to all people equally... yes, they do.
We
live in a fallen world where man has insisted that he will be his own
god. This has resulted in man exercising the power of life and death
over his fellow man (murder) to prove his power. He does this as an
atheist as well as in the capacity as a believer, commandeering
religious expression for his own ends.
Through all the suffering
however, the expressions of true faith, courageous postures of
compassion and mercy have been glowing examples of Godly behavior...
Christian or otherwise. (The Hiding Place eg. Shindler's List is
another)
2) Objective miracles..?
Please... even were you
provided one Winston, you would poo poo it. It then becomes an
"objective miracle" by your definition of what is objective doesn't
it..? Falling into the category of "confirmation bias".
Here is a
link to a recent History Channel re-visitation of the Shroud of Turin
where new evidence is provided (1st of 6 parts)...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47Vz74IhxaE&feature=share
The
reason I bring this up is that it is scientific evidence of "someone"
tortured to death but the cloth never showed signs of the body decaying
in the shroud. Miracle..?
Then there are the disciples of Jesus
who were all tortured, and all but one tortured to death, because they
testified about the truth of the resurrection. Their last breath
testimonies of this miracle would hold up in any court of law, but not
in your court eh Winston..?
3) - "The last paradox we will
examine is the bible itself. If God is all-knowing and all-powerful, why
did he allow contraditions in holy written teachings?..." -
For
me this is moot wranglings, the examples he cites for contradictions are
not contradictions at all, it is further evidence of honest
reporting(s). Somethings get left out of various accounts even among eye
witnesses at a crime scene.
Conclusion to Winston's "Conclusion"...
If
Winston were to step back and be "honest with" himself, he might see
that the suffering of the world is brought on as a result of man being
in charge of his own destiny... or being his own god.
The demand
for this "power" was raised in the garden of Eden, which of course all
non-theists and atheists relegate to myth or superstition, but of course
to the Christian and Jewish believer, is the beginning of all man's
inhumanity to man.
As a result we have the godly contrast of God
expressing Himself through man's faith in God, and showcased through
courageous behavior where men/women are willing to die for the
compassion and cause of Christ, as probably the best example of
self-sacrificing "faith(s)".
Finally...
I did not, and
would not post this on Winston's Hub, as he and I (I think) agreed long
ago to not darken each others Hub thresholds with comments, ever again.
