God Versus DOM (Deification of Man) As one digs through the slop of atheist/humanist {deification of man} arguments, the need is to flush out the brain either with a little prayer with God or a little mental adjustment from the Bible, the Word of God. You have been there when as a witness to truth, you feel the urge to do foot dusting as Jesus told His original disciples when their message was rejected by such a city that deified man; when becomes apparent that such a person or city has gone beyond the point of no return in unbelief by blasphemy against the Holy Spirit; when it is no longer feasible, also as Jesus taught to cast your pearls before the feet of swine. Such is the case of wading through the sloppy mud of Atheism and Humanism like in the book “Atheist Mind, Humanist Heart” by Bayer and Figdor with so much sadness of loneliness without a God, purpose, and meaning to the Universe, so much doubt and confusion that is neither healthy and happy for the human spirit, but primarily because it dishonors God by: (1) Denying His existence, like in one of the 10 major beliefs of F&G, it is stated “There is no God”, just the repeat of it makes a person of faith shudder at the consequences of the ultimate fate in this life and the next for such youth; and (2) Making an idol-god out of Man, herein to be called DOM for Deification of Man, which is really a short form of what you find in Atheist Mind, Humanist Heart. The Bible states it this way in Romans 1:23-25: (1) seeking to show wisdom, one might say “ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth”, instead with the ultimate conclusion of humanistic researches they become fools in the eyes of God; (2) they change the image of God into an image of corruptible man, sort of what might call de-evolution rather than evolution; (3) God gives up on any such society--Persian, Greek, Roman, and now American--to the uncleanness of immorality; (4) they make a mental and heart-felt exchange of the truth of God for a lie of Satan and the “lust of the human heart that covets to envy”; (5) they make a choice in favor of the Religion of Atheism, which worships and serves the Creature more than the Creator. It is a religion that says, “My, my, what Man at his best can do”; and further, “Just look at what societies of Men are going to do in global evolution like the Arab Spring led by the internet”, another lie which ignores the fact that ISIS is winning, and will win until the time soon in history when they make the mistake of an attack on Jerusalem. Pretty strong language, perhaps you would like to read it for yourself in the original words from God in Romans through the Apostle Paul: “Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was meet.” (Romans 1:23-25) 3-1: Out of the Valley of Mud of Romans 1-3 up to the Mountain Top of the Love of God in Romans 8:30. {Zingers of light and good news from the Word of God of the rest of Romans after the Mud of chapter 1.} NOTE: You know that Romans 1-3 also drags us through the mud sort of like reading or hearing the beliefs of DOMers like F&G, and we know of many more such communities on Google Plus. The big difference is that F&G are almost all doubt and confusion, you have a similar mud in Romans 1-3 but without doubt and confusion. Let me illustrate below by rapidly going all the way to the top of Romans 8:30, although the steps of logical reasoning might after the introduction of Romans 1 tend to the statement: Lack of respect for God as the Creator leads to lack of self-respect for Man made in the image of God. A few minutes and paragraphs of delay on Respect while we pass quickly upward through way points on the way to the mountain top of the love of God. You pilots will know more about navigation way points than most, where your goal is a flight plan to go from A to D but for several reasons you need way points like at VORs to go from A to B to C and then to D. It takes a little longer but it prevents being lost. 1. Navigation Way point A, Romans 1:25 where truth has been overcome by the lie in any society of history, past or present, as the battle wages between the Creature and the Creator. {With a quick look with a quote at our standard for life navigation like the FAA rule book is a standard for flying in the United States.} What does our Bible standard say on Way point A on the way to the love of God in Christ? “...who {obviously the DOMers} exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.” (Romans 1:25) NOTE: See how Paul himself, the writer of Romans from the human side, that solid lawyer of Hebrew religious and civil law, needed a little positive relief on the way to the mountain top of love with a pause to worship and praise the real God that made it all in the first and Who Paul knows has provided through Christ and His death a way out of the sin problem, ending that verse with “...the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.” 2. Way point B, Romans 2:6-10 with an along the way navigation point which is a reminder of the democratic immortality for God Who is without discrimination between the religious Jew and the DOM Gentiles. NOTE: Don’t forget in our navigation from our origin in A at Romans 1 to the mountain top at D, we must also climb in altitude. The way we will climb out of this mess is with a few Bible facts along the way about God Himself, His character, will, and what He has done and will do as He self-disclosed. When believers of faith say, “Because God said so like in the promise to forgive sins when confessed, that is not simply a matter of what God said but also of what God is, the very nature of His character is to forgive sins when they are confessed with the right attitude. “...Who {God the Creator, that’s Who, about whom’s character you are about to learn the something that there is no partiality or discrimination with God} will render to every man according to his deeds: To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life: But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile; But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile: For there is no respect of persons with God...” (Romans 2:6-11) NOTE: Did you get that DOMers, God as a “no respecter” between the religious and the non-religious is willing to overlook your philosophy of humanism if it will allow you “who by paint continuance in well doing seek for glory, honour and immortality, eternal life”; however you can not, even as Paul and the religious Jews could not without some internal help. The spirit of man is willing but weak. F&G, if your goals of happiness and the two way street of feeling good as other feel good to match could match the B way point your DOMhood would work; however you would have to meet the two requirements which you can not, nor any Christian can not by themselves: (1) the patience continuance in well-doing with every will of decision resulting in a good; (2) the laws of the Boy Scout must exceeded with the laws of God which seek glory, honor, immortality, and eternal life. 3. Hey, let’s get to the Mountain Top of the love of God in Christ Jesus more quickly, passing more rapidly with shorter Bible quotes from Way point C to D to get to Romans 8. Oops, what we will find like in a cross-country flight where the pilot runs into bad weather, then checking on his GPS for more way points then flies from C1 to C2 in order to get to D. Our C1 is Romans 5:1 {justification by faith} and our C2 is Romans 6:4 {new reconstructed creatures with newness of life}, C3 of Romans 6: 23 {the gift from God of eternal life} with our destination of D wrapping up our flight through Romans flying around the airport at D, quickly hopping from D1 at the local VOR, to D2 which is lining up with the runway and D3 completes D, a taxi into the hangar of “...nor any other created thing shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:39). NOTE: Even you of the DOMhood should see this as a welcome relief for humanity in the security, protection, blessing of the love of God. 3-2: A speedy trip from C1 to D3 in the hangar of security. 1. C1 at Romans 5:1, Justification by Faith. 2. C2 at Romans 6:4, a walking, or lifestyle of newness of life which comes from a newness of Mind and Heart. 3. C3 at Romans 6:23, with a contrast between the wages of sin which is death and the gift of God which is eternal life. Continue with the Navigation Way Point of Part 2. |