Spiritual Experience and the Christian Faith. Randall Niles reviews the number one evidence for the Christian faith, a transformed life.
Origin Destiny Meaning Suffering Purpose Evolution Design C...
Spiritual Experience and the Christian Faith. Randall Niles reviews the number one evidence for the Christian faith, a transformed life.
Origin Destiny Meaning Suffering Purpose Evolution Design Chance Fate Grace Freedom Justice Judgment Humanity Hope Eternity God.
Powerful words, underlying profound questions, argued passionately for centuries.
Although the science is more progressive, the tools more technological, and the media more dramatic, the debate is still the same. Logic, reason, and rhetoric -- evidence, experience, and emotion the great thinkers in science, philosophy, and theology continually unpack the same basic quandaries of existence.
But when the dust settles on each century of apologetic skirmish, it seems one moment with God conquers all
Augustine of Hippo (AD 354 -- 430) was 19-years-old when he read an essay by Cicero on truth. He spent the next 12 years pursuing his illusive foe, jumping from philosophy to philosophy, theology to theology, trying to intellectually reconcile seemingly irreconcilable tradeoffs between doctrine and experience. At the age of 31, Augustine had a one-time, supernatural experience, as if a light of relief from all anxiety flooded into my heart. It was then that all the shadows of doubt were dispelled and he accepted God as the ultimate truth in his life.
Thomas Aquinas (AD 1225 1274) was the timeless apologist of his century. His Summa Theologica still stands as a pillar of theological thought 38 treatises asking and answering over 10,000 questions across 3,120 separate subsections! Remarkably, after decades of written debate and discourse, Aquinas had a transformative (some would call mystical) experience in church that changed everything for him. He immediately ceased work on his Summa and nobody (not even the Roman Catholic Church) could get him to return to it. He simply declared, I can do no more. Such secrets have been revealed to me that all I have written now appears to be of little value.
Blaise Pascal (AD 1623 1662) was the brilliant scientist, mathematician, philosopher, and apologist of his era, debating the existence of God and other theological issues with the greatest minds in Europe. His logic, reason, and rhetoric are still the foundation of university courses to this day. Yet, it was Pascals personal encounter with God as he read by his fireplace one night that delivered the final apologetic for his life -- you cant know God through intellect alone. He later wrote, "The heart has its reasons; that reason knows not of."
Wow, powerful stuff!
It seems a transformed life through an individual encounter with God must be regarded as the greatest apologetic evidence for His existence! Although these personal experiences mean nothing to the critical, cynical, or skeptical mind, they mean everything to those that experience them!
Visit http://www.allaboutreligion.org/chris... to explore other apologetic evidences for Christianity, including God, the Bible, Jesus Christ, and spiritual experience.
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If you want to know God, stop thinking cynicism = rationality. You can be rational and find God, but cynics are unfortunately foiled by their own pride. Read the gospels, Jesus has words that will give you life everlasting.
Talking snakes? jewish zombies? a ghost impregnating a women? No I am being honest. It is no more convincing than the qu'ran or any other acclaimed holy book.
life is a miracle in itself, yet you have diff. accepting eye witness accounts of miracles? i understand why cos i was in your shoes and i explained to your earlier pride is the major impediment to understanding God. Still I wish you a cheerful day.
Life is a product of reproduction, science has explained the evolution of our species blah blah blah. I have difficulty accepting any mythology, just because something claims its an eye witness accounts means I should trust it lol? No I look for real validation and dont accept things on a matter of faith, especially when there is not an ounce of proof to back it up, if it was true there would be proof. The word of a book is not validation otherwise I would believe in Allah.
Sorry, but it seems you have been sharing your ignorant judgements not thoughts. You claim I have some sense of pride against god, because I dont accept the bible on authority, you don't even know me. Did you know there are more eye witness accounts of UFO's than there are of Jesus, should I therefore accept the existence of flying saucers? Of course not, both ideas are ludicrous.
there is infinitely more eyewitness accounts of Jesus than UFO's. Every born again christian is a witness to the resurrection of Christ. The bible only testfifies to what people have experienced and observed. Of course you have pride, it drips with every sentence you write so I don't have to go far to prove that, just like the Bible doesn't need to go far to show it is inspired.
Someone who has accepted the idea of christ or born again as you label it is not an eye witness to jesus. Eye witnesses have to witness the event or person with their eyes, not their minds. If you would like to presume I have pride because i dont accept your book then that is up to you. The bible doesn't have to go far to convince YOU that it is inspired. Not me. I don't really find talking snakes, men living in whales, jewish zombies and ghosts impregnating women very convincing sorry.
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