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- NonBelievers Greatest Mistake
We’ve discussed a big mistake that Christians make, so its now only fair to talk about a big mistake that non-believers make. If you are a non-believer, please consider fairly whether you have been guilty of this mistake, and think about what you ought to do about it.
This mistake is committed, I think, mainly by those non-believers in Western cultures – indeed, I believe it is a product of our Western culture. We are raised these days, and influenced heavily, to believe that Christians are ignorant. We see it every day – whether we laugh at Ned Flanders on the Simpson’s, or accept the labels that are put on Christians that are always interpreted as placing them on the ‘fringe’ – labels such as ‘fundamentalist’. Christians are often considered to be anti-science (because they don’t ‘believe’ in evolution), or even un-American (because they are ‘anti-choice’ (read anti-abortion)). The mistake is, Christians are seen to be stupid, uninformed, or just simply ignorant.
Now, there are many people who may indeed earn this distinction, but I don’t believe that they represent the majority of Christians; they certainly don’t represent the facts behind the doctrine and the faith. In fact, this is the purpose of this entire website: to present the facts behind the faith – not to ‘convert’ people to Christianity, but to get people started thinking differently about it. I believe that once a person is honestly seeking, the Holy Spirit makes evidence become clear.
So consider these assertions that are explored more deeply on other pages in this website. I think they may surprise you, and I hope they lead you into further thought and maybe a different perspective of Christianity.
Christianity…
…is the only way of life that can provide hope and meaning to life, by basing value and purpose outside of ourselves, and our corrupted universe. (We all live as though we have value and purpose, but have we thought about why we think that? It is because we are made in God’s image, and for His purpose!) This makes Christianity by definition relevant to ALL people in ALL times.
…provides a view of science that is consistent, by providing a source of the ‘laws’ of science (science can’t explain the source of these laws by using the laws of science – that would be a circular argument!), by explaining the cause of the cosmos (unless you want to believe that there is no cause to everything!), and fits with everyday life (someone please show me something that came from nothing or how order comes from chaos!).
…is the only ‘religion’ that solves the problem of sin. We all know we have the problem (we all know what sin is, and that we are prone to it!) – and we all know we can’t fix it ourselves. Christianity provides a way that is beyond ourselves.
…is the only ‘religion’ that doesn’t smack of being made-up for a particular person’s advantage. If all mankind is born with a seeking nature to seek for God, then making up a ‘religion’ is the ultimate con game – watch television preachers, or consider some of the other nonsense religions (what is ‘one hand clapping’ anyway?) and you’ll see this con in action. But NO ONE could have made up Christianity! It benefits no person (it is free!), it has God reaching to us instead of us trying to appease Him (a very unique property of Christianity), many of the early adherents were killed because of it, it makes claims that are outrageous (such as the resurrection) and better documented than any manuscript of antiquity, it has influenced more people than any other (even today’s date is based upon it!) and most importantly, it has changed lives!
So Christian’s have quite a claim…it is therefore worth considering the evidence and making an honest assessment and comparison to your spiritual needs and realities. And if we’re right, having the only view of life that is logical, consistent and livable, then the biggest mistake a non-believer can make is to think precisely the opposite!