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Many times we define peace and harmony as the absence of conflict in being dependent upon the natural outcome of our personal circumstances as leading to a life of serenity.

Therefore as humans we try to eliminate or cope with the disharmony of pain and suffering by attempting to rid ourselves of the negative impact of our external environments which has often wreaked havoc on our lives. Consequently, there are many times in which we find our problems to be unmanageable and we become desperately eager to have some “peace of mind”.

So in order to secure a quieting of our heart when things are beyond our control we often turn to remedies as a means of securing that idealism. This often leads people to seek out the spirituality of Eastern mind religions and philosophy through the false prophets of self help gurus and yogis in trying to disconnect or numb the psyche from reality through illusion, desensitization, or with a feel good mantra.

For those who are looking for a more naturalistic approach apart from metaphysics they will often prescribe to drug abuse, medication or psychotherapy as a means to the end of alleviating this struggle in life.

For others who are not looking for a crutch they may deal with this turmoil in a pragmatic sense of “what works for me”  with their self confident entrepreneurial skill set as a do it yourself attitude while still not being able to truly repair themselves.

The ingenuity of mankind is always striving to invent a way to problem solve the issue yet if not properly approached and apprehended can lead to a counterfeit methodology as exchanging the truth for a lie.

Some times people just approach their hurt like a poor drunk who consumes cheap wine to temporarily inebriate this longing and desire without the integrity to face what is sobering real. At best their attempt to resolve the issues is no more than a wishful state of remission as a half way program in chanting the “one day at a time” slogan knowing full well that they are just one moment away from a relapse.

In reality it is unavoidable to avoid the outward and normal calamities of human tragedy which are often beyond our control and though significant aren’t the real issue anyway. Even if you could somehow manage to avoid or resolve all of these issues it does not necessitate obtaining peace in the inner sanctum of your heart. There have been plenty of people who “had it all” so to speak as living the dream but still lacked this inner security. We all know of examples of the rich and famous who have often crashed and burned their Rolls Royce lifestyle realizing that they were just a vulnerable on the road of life as any one else.  Anyway I believe the answer to obtaining the quintessential nature of peace comes by receiving a peace from within, not without.

This concept of inner peace is communicated to us by the conscience which holds the key to unlock the mystery behind this unrest, in revealing mankind’s identity in correlation to the ultimate reality which I believe to be God. It becomes an integral part to the plot of life as deliberately possessing an intuition of our soul which communicates to us a higher or transcendent reality of truth as basic to the human condition which goes beyond the superficial and peripheral emotions to something which is much more deeply seated or rooted as pertaining to the spiritual state or condition of a person as the ultimatum of resolving the prognosis of moral decay with a urgent sense of an impending judgment with such symptoms of guilt and shame as revealing a desperate need of a proper an effective treatment as leading to the cure of this moral dilemma of accountability as finding rest for your soul.

The bible describes this disjointedness as being alienated from God which doesn’t necessarily put the onus on man to find and develop a religion to accommodate this tension but rather it begins with a willingness to search for truth wherever it may lead you even if it is contrary to everything that you hold to be of value.

Moreover the scriptural diagnosis to the root problem or cause of this defective malady is identified as the sinful nature of mankind which is hostile in rebellion against a Holy God and perhaps as you are reading this blog post you are already sensing this enmity.

Some may already have a sensitivity towards this insecurity with an innate sense of lostness and emptiness resulting in a self awareness that comes from inspecting their spiritual barometer which yearns for the surety and confidence of being righteously justified. This whole process has been hard-wired within the mainframe of our soul as a conscious appeal by the Creator to awaken us to seek Him, even though he is no far from us, not as a wake-up call to get us busy in finding our own solutions to the problem so as to help God per se but rather it is to discover His fuller and specific revelation as reconciling our differences with our Maker.

This perceptive state was not to leave us in the quagmire of fear and hopelessness as God lovingly desires fellowship and a restored relationship with us as demonstrated by His tangible and earthily presence as dwelling among men through the person and work of Jesus who as the Peacemaker par excellence has mediated and reconciled mankind unto God by transforming our dysfunctional lives as giving us eternal life through an intimate relationship with the Heavenly Father as adopting us into the family of God as His sons and daughters.

I explain more about this dynamic relationship with God in the following post which is vital to understanding this process of salvation.

How to know God

In closing you may say that when you first started reading this post you were only interested or concerned with the practical and temporal implications of peace rather than a plea bargain to get you to recognize a more relevant and significant outcome to obtaining a steadfast and everlasting peace.

Perhaps you have done it your way as trying to assemble the pieces of your jigsaw puzzle only to realize the Humpty Dumpty effect of not being able to fix what is broke, yet it is Jesus who holds the glue that can mend your broken-heart.

Moreover God’s peace doesn’t take you on the roller coaster ride of life as God will not forsake you as always being there during the heights of your hill top experiences and ever present in the depths of your valleys. So when you walk through the stuff of life He will graciously provide an escape so as to overcome all circumstances so that when the storms of life rage you can rest peacefully in the boat of life knowing full well who the captain of your soul is.

Finally the scripture says that you will find God when you seek Him with all of your heart and as you do may the “Prince of Peace” give you His shalom which unlike any other will surpasses all your understanding.

Jesus beckons to the heart in Matthew 11:28-30

²⁸ “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

John 16:33

33 I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

John 14:27

27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.

Philippians 4:7

7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

2 Th 3:16

16 Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in every way. The Lord be with you all.

Galatians 5:22

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness.

How to know God

Atheist and Agnostic Resources

English Articles on Atheism and Agnosticism

Seekers

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version^® (ESV^®) Copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All rights reserved. ESV Text Edition: 2007

My wife and I just had our 6th wedding anniversary and it is our tradition to celebrate it through the adventure of treasure hunting. Unfortunately Texas is not known for its mineral rich resources except for oil and gas, however we found a couple of locations to prospect as panning for gold in the Llano River and now trying to locate Topaz in Mason county which is the Texas state gem. Anyway we made it down to Mason late at night and with it being deer country we had to watch the roads very closely while driving. Unfortunately we hit a skunk on our trip but overall we had a safe trip up and back. So we met the lady who owned the ranch and she led us back on her property charging us 20 dollars a piece to mine all day. There has been several different colors of Topaz found on her land ranging from clear to blue to the more valuable yellow known as Imperial.  The largest Topaz found in Mason County weighed 3 pounds or 1.36 kilos and is on display at the Smithsonian Institution. As she walked the area with us she pointed out several locations which produced gems and so we decided that our search would be centered on a relatively new area which had been exposed through recent erosion. Historically this place also had a large number of Native Indians and it was obvious as we began to shovel gravel as we found evidence of this by pieces of left over flint which had been worked in making arrow heads. So we dug a few holes over a period of a couple of hours and by that time we were both worn out with nothing to show for it. It was kind of funny though because it turned out that my wife was making deals with God and then me on finding that first gem as she is a lady who knowns how to capitalize on a situation and then after realizing that it was more work than it was worth she managed to watch me dig hoping to split the spoils with me. As I was thinking about our prospecting venture I realized that it always seems as if there is a counterfeit that mimics the real or authentic gemstone. In this case it was the competing quartz which had some similarities to Topaz but is was much lighter. It was at this point that I began to recognize that this situation is analogous to the Kingdom of God as their are counterfeit kingdoms of this world represented by false religions,cults, and philosophies which have caused many to tirelessly seek after worthless rocks thinking they had acquired true riches. However the enlightenment to this whole reality only comes after a person has uncovered the real thing at which point it becomes obvious as the genuine object reveals itself as the ultimate reality at which point the other things that a person has questionably collected becomes a heap of rubble in comparison. Lastly this reminds me of a couple of parables in the bible of some who found real wealth. Matthew 13:44-46

The Parable of the Hidden Treasure ⁴⁴ “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

The Parable of the Pearl of Great Value ⁴⁵ “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, ⁴⁶ who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.

Both of these parables depicts someone who really found something so valuable that they were willing to invest their whole life to possess it. My wife and I have looked for earthily treasures which is just a hobby and is nothing compared to the real treasure of finding Jesus who radically changed my heart towards loving God and others and apart from His saving work I could do no good thing. So respectfully my challenge to you is where is your treasure? Is it temporally stored on earth or does it have the promise of eternal life? Happy digging my friend!

How to know God

Atheist and Agnostic Resources

English Articles on Atheism and Agnosticism

Seekers

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version^® (ESV^®) Copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All rights reserved. ESV Text Edition: 2007

Copyright (C) 2000,2001,2002 Free Software Foundation, Inc.

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Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies

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The cry of “Help God” is often a desperate plea we may find ourselves in when facing a predicament but it is frequently short lived as we relapse into a sense of complacency once the dilemma passes or subsides. These crisis conversions sometimes are not sincere and are just a desperate attempt to relieve us of undesirable circumstances. Sometimes we see God as a Monty Hall in a “Lets Make a Deal” type of mentality thinking that somehow we are doing God a favor by being a willing contestant in His game of life. Yet when we realize that it is God’s intent to give us the gift of salvation instead of our own self interests then we treat Him as if He Zonked us with some kind of booby prize.

In reality sometimes being in a pickle is an act of grace and mercy by which we are confronted with a state of helplessness of which perhaps even our close associates are unable or unwilling to bail us out. At times these situations are a barometer of reality when going through the storms of life in which we find ourselves drowning in a sea of shock and panic. It’s in moments like these that we are most susceptible to being honest with ourselves and God by seeing the limitations of our own mortality much like the Apostle Peter did in reaching out his hand to God in order to seek the safety and the refuge of the boat or perhaps the calming of the storm.

However we are often conflicted in our actions by which we have at times held out our fist in rebellion to God only to extend our arms to be picked up and held when our world comes crashing down around us.

We must ask ourselves when seeking God what is our motivation and is it just a deception of disguise to appease God until we can get ourselves out of this fix?

Now for those who oppose God’s help maybe they have looked critically at religion and God as a crutch and now faced with a hardship of their own they come to realize that they are mortal invalids propped up on the feeble limbs of human pride as they are toppled over by the fragility of human experience.

Instead of resorting to God in the midst of their problems they resolve to fix or heal themselves in order to try to get back up after they have been bucked off or knocked down. They may dabble in religion and troubleshoot their way through the gamut of disaster by approaching it by means of  meditation in blocking negative energies by attempting to extinguish pain or they may take the other extreme of fatalism by accepting their circumstances  as some kind of cosmic retribution or Karmic debt. Still others see this matter as just illusory in which they disassociate themselves through some hypnotic state of escapism. Some may even flirt with the self help programs by taking a Bob the builder kind of approach with a “Yes, we can fix it “ attitude or maybe they are like the little steam engine who gets up enough courage and steam through their mantra of thinking in which they visualize that they “think they can” to advancing to “they thought they could” only to run out of steam at the end of life realizing that they had come up short in making it to their final destination. Other secular avenues of relief may come  through pop psychology by relieving the symptoms of pain which comes with human trauma as looking to medication and techniques as a way of coping with the trouble in life and like the dysfunctional lion of Oz they only need to see the Wizard.

This sense of control or invincibility is a facade until they are faced with their own mortality and like the foxhole conversion of atheists they tend to see their life differently when faced with the inevitable.

God is often a last resort for people and they only temporarily seek or want Him to be a Cosmic parent much in the same way a teenager at times only selfishly needs mom and dad to rescue them once again. This plea for help is an act of desperation, a last minute ditch effort to solicit the Almighty for a temporal favor while play acting in hopes of tricking God by pretending to be sincere.

The real reason why we avoid God at all costs is because of who He really is and this  problem far outweighs the circumstances in which we find ourselves in. Our most real or  significant problem is with God to begin with and sometimes it is only after we are in danger of falling off the roller coaster of life that we finally come to our senses by asking the more relevant or deeper questions which are of eternal significance. Prior to this we may have sloughed off God as being subliminal and superficial in preference to our independent thinking regarding our personal desires and needs. Some people would prefer to remain in this state of unresponsiveness as long as things are going their way and then when they aren’t then as a last resort they dust off their bibles.

The scripture bears out this animosity, hostility and estrangement by stating that our sinful nature does not sincerely seek after Him and that according to God’s standard of righteousness all have sinned and fallen short which leaves a person with a sense of  guilt and shame which in this respect only adds to their problems. Of course the good news is that God desires to “help” us and not abandon or leave us in the quagmire of His wrath and fury if we would just let Him.

Anyway there are many who have been left out in the cold of life and they just want to come close enough to God to benefit from the shelter and warmth that He provides in hopes of averting the flames. They may think of God as a one night stand in desiring the heat and comfort of divine intervention without a commitment.

Furthermore some have just opted to avoid or distance themselves entirely from God by justifying their defiance in blaming Him for the mess that we and our world are in and I addresses this further in another post that I written about regarding pain and suffering.

jesusandjews.com/wordpress/2009/05/17/pain-suffering-and-evil/

However on the flip side of this equation I believe that there are authentically genuine people of whom God’s allows them to be trapped in this maze of trouble as a means to seek and find Him.

This is accomplished as someone may find themselves hopelessly stranded in this hostile world of which we have been betrayed and hurt and therefore we initially respond by retreating to seek refuge with an omnipotent being which we think can readily defend us from the tsunamis of life by attending to our felt needs. The  humility that comes with this kind of awareness and responsiveness has led many down the path of repentance in realizing their true spiritual state or condition and instead of putting on a masquerade in hiding or pretending that they have it all together they realize life’s own shortcomings including their own. Now for others who arrogantly remain in a state of psychosis as being a self made person they succumb to the delusion of over estimating the human prodigy by viewing themselves as god and yet one day this will prove to be fatal as their vanity mirror becomes broken and shattered.

Finally the real tragedy to our life is not the temporal and earthly afflictions we find ourselves in but rather it is the weightier measure of eternity regarding our moral aptitude towards a holy God of which we must give an account. In saying this I don’t mean to be insensitive to your situation by underestimating the gravity of the problem because it is God who also helps us in our time of need in that “He is our refuge and our strength; an ever present help in trouble.” After all there were many people in the bible who asked for God’s help and the book of Psalms is full of such passages. Yet the greatest “help” God can ever give us is the gift of eternal life through the person and work of Jesus.

In conclusion some may only see God or Jesus as just a temporary advantage in providing them “help” such as He did when He fed the hungry bellies of the multitudes or like the Samaritan woman at the well who initially wanted Jesus to “help” quench her need for thirst. Both parties had legitimate and immediate needs but they failed to discern Jesus as the “Bread of Life” and the “Living Water” the likes of who alone could only really satiate the perpetual urgency of their souls.

In closing I really hope you find your source of “help” which is in God alone.

How to know God

Atheist and Agnostic Resources

English Articles on Atheism and Agnosticism

Some may ask the question ”Where is God” in retrospect to some cataclysmic disaster or calamity of which I have already written about in respect to the subject of evil in association with pain and suffering.

jesusandjews.com/wordpress/2009/05/17/pain-suffering-and-evil/

Others may view this matter in regards to the ontology of God which deals with His nature as pure being. This views depicts God as omnipresent with a disembodied spirit in which He is everywhere and is not subjected to the same limitations we have to time and space. This isn’t to be confused with the belief of pantheism which sees divinity as a part of the whole universe but rather God necessarily exists as a separate and distinct  being apart from the contingency of naturalistic or physical objects. He fills the world with His presence but in essence He is not the world.

I think more specifically what people are really wanting to know in regards to this question is does God really exist and is He a personal being? This matter can be approached philosophically but for the sake of  practically I am discussing this matter from a experiential level.

To begin there are several different ways in which God reveals Himself of which the first or primary one is universal or general in that God makes Himself know to all through the created order of the universe and also through a rational moral conscious.

Romans 1: 18-20

¹⁸ The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, ¹⁹ since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. ²⁰ For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

Psalms 19:1-4

¹The heavens declare the glory of God;

the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

²Day after day they pour forth speech;

night after night they display knowledge.

³There is no speech or language

where their voice is not heard.

⁴Their voice goes out into all the earth,

their words to the ends of the world.

Romans 2:14-16

¹⁴ (Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law, ¹⁵ since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them.) ¹⁶ This will take place on the day when God will judge men’s secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares.

Secondly there are those unique moments or less conventional methods in which there are special revelations as seen through a physical manifestation of God such as with an epiphany and this is something I have experienced once in a dream when I was a young child and others have also witnessed through their dreams. This phenomena of dreams is so powerful that religious Muslims have to come to faith in Jesus as a result of these dynamic encounters.

morethandreams.org/

Also I had a Jewish friend who wanted nothing to do with Jesus but in the final months of her life she actually had several visitations while she was in the hospital.

jesusandjews.com/wordpress/a-testimony-from-a-jewish-friend/

There have also been people who have experienced heaven and hell when undergoing a near death experience in which God was revealed to them as explained by a medical doctor in this video.

Near Death Experiences 

Additionally I have two close friends who had a NDE and described to me this very reality.

Finally there is another method of which God openly reveals Himself and that is through the person of Jesus Christ who is confirmed in the lives of His covenant people the church and Christians from all walks of life have a personal testimony which affirms their belief rather than mindlessly announcing and accepting some religious creed. I am including the testimonies of my family along with others which helps to establish the credibility of this claim.

jesusandjews.com/wordpress/my-personal-testimony-with-jesus/

jesusandjews.com/wordpress/my-wifes-personal-testimony-of-jesus/

www.cbn.com/700club/features/Amazing/

Another testable way in which Jesus is substantiated and that is through    the witness of prophecy of which God does nothing with out first revealing it to His prophets. The works of Jesus as found in the bible were spoken hundreds of years before He tread the sole of His foot on Israeli soil. What is interesting is that some of these scriptures could not be manipulated to be self fulfilling as these texts though congruent do not coincide as being simultaneous in time. Therefore the nature of His life and death including His healing and miracles could not be fabricated to fit His life story. So God uses the reasoning and intellect of prophetic revelation to help establish and confirm Jesus’ identity as divine apart from mere proclamation. So this isn’t just about some abstract concept of a mysterious faith but there is some concrete evidence which testifies to the reality of belief.

www.bibleprobe.com/365messianicprophecies.htm

Again Jesus did nothing in a corner and His miracles were evidenced by many but not always received and therefore the skeptics of that day are like some of the scientists of our age who were never converted but were always looking for new signs or explanations never being convinced by the empirical evidence they already had. Amazingly enough even ancient Jewish writings as found in the Talmud which is not sympathetic towards the historical Jesus gives Him credit for these undeniable acts even though they wrongly identify His inspiration as being under the control of sorcery.

Another matter when referring to the question about God displaying Himself it is not done in a way so as to merely satisfy our curiosity but He generally reveals Himself more specifically for a purpose so as to accept and  receive Him. This partial hiddenness of God is His prerogative and if you are acquainted with the gospel narratives of Jesus He spoke many times in parables which depicted a story that had a spiritual reality taken from a familiar or natural truth or setting and this was His chief way of teaching or communicating divine revelation regarding the illumination of His gospel and at the same time it served the purpose of concealing the message from the unbeliever.

In the same way that this message of truth was relayed by Jesus is very similar to how God reveals Himself which is mostly by being intuitively receptive to these various revelations in discerning the mysteries of His kingdom which otherwise would land on deaf ears. This is accomplished  as  we are divinely enabled by God to respond to His revelation through the eyes of faith by means of His own direct intervention as is symbolic of Peters famous confession “Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God” in which Jesus responded “that flesh and blood has not revealed this to you but my Father who art in heaven.” This is characteristic of God who exposes Himself by drawing us to Him through the convincing and  convicting work of the Holy Spirit to facilitate belief apart from our own initiative.

Now regarding other corporate demonstrations from God another biblical example is when the children of Israel saw the miracles of Egypt and the providential care of God during their wilderness journey but nevertheless were given over to complaining and idolatry. This great exodus of people who originally came out of the land of Egypt never laid hold of the promises of God in the Holy land except for 2 members of this vast community. This is also true today as witnessed through the rebirth of modern Israel which is the fulfillment of the ancient vision of the dry bones of which Ezekiel saw and is now starting to come to pass through contemporary miraculous intervention of which ironically many of the people who have heard these stories continue to be secular. Thus “seeing” is not always “believing” and therefore does not necessitate faith by following after God.

www.bibleprobe.com/angelinlebanon.htm

In closing it could be that your questioning about “Where is God”  is coming from a defiant attitude towards Him in demanding a “show and tell” appearance as a smokescreen to somehow justify your unbelief? After all if God were to succumb to your appeal and appear to you today would you honestly be willing or prepared to accept Him as Lord and Savior? An honest answer towards your motivation may reveal the truth about why you think it is necessary for  God to meet your requirements or expectations and in turn this  may be the very hindrance which has kept you from knowing Him in a very real and personal way. The problem isn’t so much with our ability to be able to see and know because God is talking and revealing to some degree therefore the question is are we tuned in or are we listening to the static of anti-god rhetoric or being influenced by our societal or personal presuppositions and biased beliefs which interfere with a clean receptivity to the message?

If we were as attentive to God as we were to looking for Waldo when we were kids it wouldn’t  be that difficult to find God. Like Waldo He’s in the picture it just were not interested in discovering Him.

Lastly If you are not ready to make a commitment to God today then would you at least consider  the probabilities of my statements and be willing to investigate more according to some of the previous blogs which I have wrote?

Atheist /Agnostic/ Non-Theist

In conclusion God has revealed Himself rationally through nature, conscious, fulfilled prophecy and also experientially through the supernatural realms of modern day healings, miracles, visions and dreams yet more importantly or precisely He has made Himself known personally and intimately through Jesus who became flesh and dwelt among us who in turn has given the comforter or the Holy Spirit to indwell those who believe. So what more can we ask for besides just being directly translated to heaven?

Finally I would encourage you to pray in your own simple words for God to open you heart and reveal to you His truth concerning the person and work of Jesus Christ.

How to know God

Atheist and Agnostic Resources

English Articles on Atheism and Agnosticism

Well this is a very important question given that there are many diverse religions and cults in our world which are trying to provide an identity to this God crisis. One thing should be clear from the onset of this challenge is that all viewpoints about God are not equally valid and if you study comparative religions it is obvious that the notion of God is in some instances antithetical and irreconcilable between sects and therefore can not be adequately resolved. In these cases one could be right and the other wrong or they could both be wrong but they can’t both be right which would be a logical contradiction.

Eastern thought loves to embrace syncretism and pluralistic values in stating that all paths lead to the same reality like individuated streams making there way to the same reservoir of truth. Yet this oversimplification is not a honest and critical evaluation of these divergences. A better analogy is a reservoir whose outflow concerning the knowledge of God has become diluted and contaminated through its streams that have cut new channels in the bedrock of culture. If we were to somehow condense the central or essential elements between like religions there may be some similarities but the commonalities such as being classified as a religion doesn’t make Christianity identifiably Buddhist nor does it work in a floral arrangement either as a chrysanthemum is not a rose and therefore the saying goes that a rose is a rose is a rose. There are real differences here of which we can’t ignore and to say that it is all the same god with different expressions is to undermine these peculiarities leaving these religious world views without a real or unique expression.  For instance if you were to just to take one defining point or basic component to religion by identifying the nature of God you would have a vast array of ontological differences relating to  animism, pantheism, panentheism, polytheism, monotheism, etc.,etc. Obviously atheism such as found in traditional Buddhism and theism such as what represents classical Christian thought are mutually exclusive as they are not cooperative views about God. Satanism is a cult which is opposed to Christianity and desecrates anything considered  sacred or holy by the Christian faith to such a point they hold blasphemous black masses and define human value by making such statements as evil is good and good is evil.

Again it may be tempting when we notice similarities  to think that they are all worshipping the same God with different religious titles in being a manifestation of the same reality but to think or speak this way is a misstatement and an oversight to the reality of this problematic equation of defining God. For instance if you wanted to isolate the idea of  “likeness” we also share allot in common with the genetic makeup of  watermelons in that our bodies are largely made up of water and even though we are both living things that proceed from a common origin there are differences which sets us apart as separate substances. This idea of watermelon is just a ridiculous example of my point but the harmonizing of all religions is no less surreal.

Anyway I do recognize and concur that some of the similarities to religions is that we are all human beings which have common traits or more specifically perhaps there is a God who made all of mankind in His image with similar attributes as related to the generalities of human value which is a favorable  argument for a  monotheistic view towards God. Yet ironically this shared genetics and knowledge does not necessitate  the worship of a common god or a god concept which according to biblical definition is due to the corruption of human  nature which is a whole new subject which is beyond the scope of this post.

So from a  biblical perspective the bible states that we intuitively know God through the universality of general revelation by means of our intelligence as we possess a moral aptitude of conscious and a seeable cognition regarding the created order which speaks and conveys a comprehensible message about God. This knowledge however can be and has been ignored by suppressing  the truth in unrighteousness by giving way to false philosophies and religions which according to the author of Romans leaves us without excuse, Romans 1:18-2:16. Favorably speaking this idea is realized as some scientists,  psychologists, and sociologists hold to Judeo-Christian thought but what is unimaginable is that there is a community which refuses to reason about God even though they are perhaps the best equipped  in understanding this phenomenal extravaganza of such things as teleology in regards to the fine tuning of the universe or the complexities of the human psyche. This resistance of  bias has an agenda  which does not allow them to pass over the threshold of discovery due to their own personal presuppositions which adheres strongly to a naturalistic explanation to all things.  They may delegate  the concept of God to the metaphysical world of superstition which talks about such matters as faith and yet with forked tongue they can speak passionately and comfortably about conceptual ideas of unexplained hypothetical theories as if they are real but at the same time scoff about the idea of  God. For instance I just watched a program on near death experiences and it became obvious at the end of the show what they wanted to accomplish through this program which was to reassure people not to fear death. Still they could not explain why some people had hellish experiences and just dismissed it as a minority view or an anomaly and in turn focused much of their time on the heavenly experiences of individuals. They also tried to attribute these situations to the release of brain chemicals but they could not offer solutions for those who had a familiarity with things outside of their ability to know whether it was someone who had lost brain activity but were still aware of  their surroundings or a blind person who for the first time had visual images of real physical objects or the incidents of young children who have not yet had any kind of social conditioning but were able to communicate things beyond their capabilities.

So if they are able to succumb to these kinds of prejudices according to the strictest forms of discipline such as with the sciences then how much more can a person be deceived through some of the abstract ideas as related to philosophy or religion.

Anyway even with our human limitations if we begin our God quest by examining our motives through introspection this may be a good starting point towards finding a greater degree of illumination as we prayerfully and humbly research God in allowing the pieces of the puzzle to come together in forming a picture of  a specific reality. This is how Lee Strobel and Josh McDowell who were both devout atheist/agnostics came to know God.

Josh McDowell

Furthermore if you would be open to begin this search with integrity in an openness/ readiness to embrace the answers wherever they may lead you then I believe that God will make a way to reveal Himself to you in a very real sense by which you can trust and submit your life to Him. After all I think He is more interested in revealing Himself to you then you are to discover Him. This isn’t about a game of hide and go seek as God  desires to have an intimate relationship with His creation which finds fulfillment through a reciprocation of  love. We can imagine this just as we have been given the gift of human love through the care and nurture of  a mother which is a microcosm to the personal attributes of a loving God who created our mommies.

Anyway I have tried real hard not to include a lot of  Christianese in this blog and yet I realize that it is nearly impossible for me to speak meaningfully about this subject without imposing my beliefs. However, since a person must begin somewhere in their investigation I would encourage you to consider the monotheistic view as embraced by the largest religious body in the world which supports a Christian worldview. If anything this will give you a point of reference as you begin to compare other religious views.  I believe there are many favorable points to Christendom but one thing that sets it apart is the pragmatism of empirical evidence which goes beyond the abstractions of religious thoughts as testified by the many millions of radically changed lives including my own. I am including my families testimonies along with some others.

jesusandjews.com/wordpress/my-personal-testimony-with-jesus/

www.cbn.com/700club/features/Amazing/

Another thing to consider about Christianity is that it largely supports a value system of honesty and who deals with dishonesty with the most strictest of consequences so that even if there is a bias it is tempered with truth. Anyway here are some good Christian websites to begin your study and they contain a wealth of information on comparative religions and competing philosophies as well.

www.apologetics315.com/

carm.org//

www.probe.org

www.jashow.org/

Additionally there are outside and secondary sources which can also be utilized as a means of verifiability in the study of  literature, history, archaeology, and even scientific inquiry. You can view some of these issues on my blogsite at

Atheist /Agnostic/ Non-Theist

In conclusion to this challenge it is obvious that each religious ideology has its own unique expression in which they can’t all be right and therefore this makes the process of choice essential and necessary. Also this process doesn’t give us permission to randomly pick  by finding something that fits our own criteria as truth is independent of our conditional terms. Nor can we escape through default or by an impasse by taking the route of the skeptical agnostic as we are committed and accountable as reasoning beings who are cognitively connected to ultimate reality . To take a position that God can’t be known or that nothing can be spoken meaningfully about Him is to make an absolute statement which would imply that we are omniscient beings in which we are not.

This in turn does not suggest that we can know everything which is also wrong for all the same reasons but to say that we can know something about God is at least plausible whether now or futuristically.

If somehow you are really committed to taking this cynical approach are you willing to commit to this kind of  skepticism in regards to other aspects of your life and if not are you just being selective due to ulterior motives?

So anyway I am sorry to close on such a harsh note its just that if God “is” then this must be something that has to be settled as it is the most significant aspect to living especially if He has given us the breath of life. Finally I hope you pray to God in asking to reveal Himself to you in a more specific and tangible way so as to believe upon Him.

Jeremiah 29:13

¹³ You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

How to know God

Atheist and Agnostic Resources

English Articles on Atheism and Agnosticism

1. This is a great website that is very informative.

www.carm.org/atheism

2. This website contains a list of well known and credible scientists who are creationists.

www.christiananswers.net/q-eden/edn-scientists.html

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Christians_in_science_and_technology

3. Here are some cool pictures taken by Nasa called the “hand and eye of God”

www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_1323.html

apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap030510.html

4. This website contains testimonials of people who have had near death experiences.

Final Frontier

www.godtube.com/watch/?v=KYD7DPNX

www.godtube.com/watch/?v=F1JJCMNU

5. A man who was raised from the dead.

www.cbn.com/media/player/index.aspx?s=/mp4/SUS198_DrChaunceyCrandall_062011_WS

6. Visions and Dreams of  Jesus

7. Stories and Testimonies of Jesus’ Healing Miracles

www1.cbn.com/700club/episodes/all/amazing-stories

The Bible depicts the Apostle Paul as making a defense on Mars Hill to the Athenians who were a religious brood of philosophers with varying beliefs.

During Paul’s stay in Greece he took notice of an altar that was dedicated to the “Unknown God.”

He used this very platform as an opportunity to begin his exposition to these Stoics and Epicureans who were questioning these novel ideas of Paul which seemed to advocate to them a foreign god.

Paul’s approach in gaining a hearing among these intellectuals was to share with them the revelation of this God who was unbeknown to them but was in reality “Knowable”.

This is one of the premises against agnosticism which assumes a philosophical reality about God because of a lack of experiential knowledge and concludes by making a transcendent claim concerning having no knowledge of God.

This absolute sense of agnosticism denies any possibility to having an understanding of God and yet this position can not be substantiated because of the finitude of the creature and his inability to attain perfect knowledge concerning the reality of God as being “Unknowable”.

The irony behind such a position is that in order to make a statement of reality about God this would presuppose a knowledge concerning the one who is defined as being “Unknowable”.

This is a parallel position to the dilemma of the Atheist who like the Agnostic is not a perfectly comprehensive being because of the lack of absolute knowledge and therefore the existence and belief in or knowability of God becomes plausible.

To say that God does not exist or that God is not knowable are statements that are reduced to positions of belief and faith which we as theists have been criticized for. Minimally a person can only really claim that they possess a limited or restricted view of God and I believe that this is the only logical outcome to this equation.

In conjunction with this viewpoint the bible supports this concept by making a reference to this idea concerning a general revelation about God and yet this has been tampered with by the spirit of this age in adulterating or diluting its message by the modern philosophical advancements of evolutionary theory.

In spite of this God’s handiwork is to be observed as being the necessary agent and the original cause to the effect of creation. This created order is dynamically placed on display both night and day as seen through the receptacles of the optic nerve. This magnificence and awesome splendor can be plainly viewed and observed as a portrayal of intelligent design that meticulously defines the presence of fine tuning of which is  communicated and understood as a universal language as referred to in Psalms 19.

In addition to this, Romans 1 and 2 also gives us a snapshot view of both the realities of creation coupled with the universality of morality and conscious of which mankind is innately hardwired for, and even if this has been challenged by the philosophical advent of relativism, these moral laws still have an effect on the tender young lives of humanity and the societies of which mankind rules or reigns.

In conclusion a general revelation beckons to the call in obtaining and securing a special revelation which is tangible to a personal reality of ultimate truth.

As a starting point to truth the scripture encourages us in Deuteronomy 4:29 to seek the Lord with all of our heart and with all our soul and we will find Him. In this regard we must be a genuine seeker otherwise we may find ourselves entangled within the web of counterfeit religions, cults, and a worldly system of philosophy which competes for the allegiance and the worship of men who need to connect with the divine.

Finally whatever beliefs you securely hold to as being sacred to your person I would ask for you to take a reevaluation of your position with an attitude of introspection in seeing what  is the true goal or motivation behind your core set of beliefs regarding the God concept.

Perhaps what is really unknowable to you is the deception of the heart which only knows what it wants to know.

In closing one man who I approached concerning this matter was honest enough concerning his position on God to finally yield an answer which I believe showed a degree of integrity through his admission of guilt of which he simply stated that he wasn’t ready or really willing to consider the possibilities of a God.

Atheist and Agnostic Resources

English Articles on Atheism and Agnosticism

Seekers