It had to happen.My one and only child, Ella is turning fourteen and despite her exposure to better Christian education, her inquiring mind raises questions that only she can deal with, by reading and seeking the Living God.
The usual questions have already come up, and more besides.
“How do we know that God is there?”
“If God created the universe, who created God?”
“How do we know the other religions are not true?”
To break down what I’ve been reading and learning for the past four years during a casual conversation on the way to school in the mornings isn’t easy. Specially when another point of interest distracts her from our train of thought during the conversation.
But it is quite a challenge.
Because not only is she asking valid questions and the hard ones at that, but also because most kids her age don’t give a hoot about these things. At least in our part of the world anyway.
Worse, when we used to go to another congregation and belonged to a small group, she had to correct the facts of the small group leader, who was at least thirteen years older than she was and should have known better.
It was a situation like this that prompted us to find other Sunday alternatives that would help her grow in her faith instead of stunting it and frustrate her to the point that every time Sunday morning would come around, she’d cry and ask not to go to church – “Because it’s the same darn thing all over again.” That was more than five years ago.
This morning, Joy showed me a small piece of paper where she wrote in bold letters: God please help me. And behind it, in very tiny script, were her reasons. The first one was: “I’m afraid of becoming an atheist because of my doubts.”
When I asked her what she thought an atheist was, she told me that it was someone who was doubting.
I had to correct her on that one. An atheist is someone who says that there is no God. And these days, they are the kinds who don’t have good reasons for saying that. Most atheists I know here are either angry at the thought of God or they don’t want God to exist because of the consequences of His being there.
We’re walking through the discussions and we’ve settled the matter of the resurrection of the historical Jesus of Nazareth being a true and valid historical event, and the implications of that. We’re working through how that validates the God of the Bible, as the historical Jesus has validated His claim of: being the Son of God, the validation of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to be true and that the Bible is reliable.
While I know that my daughter has all the resources available to her to strengthen her confidence in the Living God, only she can work through these issues and find the answers that she so desperately wants to find. I can only pray that she finds them soon enough.
Because she has already seen Him move in our past as a family. And she knows deep in her heart that He is there.
She probably wants her mind to validate what her heart knows is true.
When I think about how many similar situations there are all over our hometown, I wonder how these kids struggle through these issues, as I also know that most parents don’t even have the answers themselves.
But are they looking for these answers? More importantly, do they think that these questions are even important?
I pray that they will consider them to be important enough to seek out the answers. Because we get this chance only once in our lifetimes. And we have to get it right.
I will not stop Ella from questioning. But I will also pray for her. Because I know that when she will seek, she will find.
When she seeks with all of her heart, soul and strength.
And the Living God will reveal Himself to her.
Again.
An atheist is someone who says that there is no God. And these days,
they are the kinds who don’t have good reasons for saying that. Most
atheists I know here are either angry at the thought of God or they
don’t want God to exist because of the consequences of His being there.
Aaaaargh!
An atheist is a non believer in gods or a god. That’s why christians were called atheists by the Romans. That’s why you are an atheist regarding all other religious beliefs but your own. You don’t say there is no god any more than atheists do. What atheists say, however, is that there are no compelling reasons to believe there are. Almost every atheist I know describes him- or herself as an atheist in regards to their belief and agnostic in regards to their knowledge of the divine.
So atheists have compelling reasons for being atheists, namely, the same lack of compelling reasons YOU have for not believing in tens of thousands of different gods.
Most atheists I know are angry at being treated poorly by society at large, held in some measure of contempt and even outright hostility, held to be immoral and lacking empathy and ethical standards in spite of compelling reasons to the contrary. They are angry at religious privilege in the public domain and angry that religion seems to recognize no boundary to its claims of pseudo-knowledge and pseudo-expertise. Atheists are angry that there is a religious impetus to deny, thwart, undermine, and undercut good science by insisting, in spite of compelling contrary reasons, that faith-based claims are equivalent to knowledge. And atheists are angry that we have constantly fight for equal rights and freedoms – including religious freedom – from religious tyranny in secular law. There is much to be angry about, but it’s not anger directed towards an numinous agency for which there is no compelling evidence; it’s anger directed towards those who continue to misrepresent us, misrepresent our non belief, and misrepresent the reasons for it.
Ahem…An important question to ask yourself is why on earth anyone should be afraid of non belief… unless they have been indoctrinated to assume some terrible consequence is actually true. Put another way, why are you not ‘terrified’ to have no belief in, say, Thor? Why do you believe there are no dire consequences for your apostasy?
See what I mean? Assumptions are important to recognize and honestly exploring their validity a necessary undertaking harmed by attaching fear to it. This is form of emotional blackmail used by parents all too commonly inserted without any serious consideration in the lives of children. Again, from my experiences with atheists raised by religious parents, this technique of manipulation is often one of the central reasons for many people to feel very angry. By wrapping it in loving piety, you risk much.
Thank you for taking the time to read.
My,my! Well, that’s a lot of anger right there.
But do hang on a minute. I’m talking about an experience here where an apologetics student like me deals with a real life situation with what I’ve learned and how it’s helped in making a difference in my everyday life. This is what I write about and part of it, yes, has had to deal with angry atheists who have varying reasons for their anger and in spite of very good responses, they still don’t want to deal with the facts and adamantly maintain their position regardless of the facts presented to them.
My journey which has involved investigating the truth of the Christian faith has firmed up my faith and strengthened it because of what I’ve learned and this is why I continue to study and impart what I’ve learned to others who ask questions about it and I help them as they discover the answers for themselves and follow the evidence to where it leads.
And it’s for this reason that I walked my daughter through this phase of her thought life – because of the validity of the truth of what the historical Jesus came to proclaim, and validated by the historical event of the resurrection – that He is the son of the God of the Bible, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and the reason that He came to die in our behalf was to reconcile us to the Living God whom He revealed to us as Our Father.
This is a position that I’ve taken as the Jesus of the Bible is the same Jesus that was identified in other historical accounts that were written by both friends and foes of the faith in the first few centuries AD.
The writings affirm that He did live and that He died by execution on a Roman cross. And the empty tomb and the consecutive events following the resurrection validate it’s truth.
That in itself validates His warnings of hell – the place prepared for those who have rebelled against God. And it’s not for a specified period.
God, in His gracious mercy, allows everyone to make their choices – to accept His mercy and grace through His son or to reject Him altogether and make the choice to be separated from Him for eternity.
And these are pretty good reasons to opt to believe the message as reliable and true. As opposed to believing in Thor – which is mostly legendary narrative than historical – though I did enjoy the Avengers movie.
I risk far more if I didn’t address this issue for my daughter. And I also risk much as well if I don’t present you with this answer.
Don’t believe me. There are more than enough resources already available to explain the truth of the Christian faith. You can find them if you really want answers. Then, follow the evidence.
Just allow me this, if you will – no matter if you don’t believe, but I do mean it – God bless you in your search, if you do undertake it. He does reveal Himself to those who seek Him – with all of their hearts.
Well, that’s a lot of anger right there.
But do hang on a minute. I’m talking about an experience here where an apologetics student like me deals with a real life situation with what I’ve learned and how it’s helped in making a difference in my everyday life. This is what I write about and part of it, yes, has had to deal with angry atheists who have varying reasons for their anger and in spite of very good responses, they still don’t want to deal with the facts and adamantly maintain their position regardless of the facts presented to them.
My journey which has involved investigating the truth of the Christian faith has firmed up my faith and strengthened it because of what I’ve learned and this is why I continue to study and impart what I’ve learned to others who ask questions about it and I help them as they discover the answers for themselves and follow the evidence to where it leads.
And it’s for this reason that I walked my daughter through this phase of her thought life – because of the validity of the truth of what the historical Jesus came to proclaim, and validated by the historical event of the resurrection – that He is the son of the God of the Bible, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and the reason that He came to die in our behalf was to reconcile us to the Living God whom He revealed to us as Our Father.
This is a position that I’ve taken as the Jesus of the Bible is the same Jesus that was identified in other historical accounts that were written by both friends and foes of the faith in the first few centuries AD.
The writings affirm that He did live and that He died by execution on a Roman cross. And the empty tomb and the consecutive events following the resurrection validate it’s truth.
That in itself validates His warnings of hell – the place prepared for those who have rebelled against God. And it’s not for a specified period.
God, in His gracious mercy, allows everyone to make their choices – to accept His mercy and grace through His son or to reject Him altogether and make the choice to be separated from Him for eternity.
And these are pretty good reasons to opt to believe the message as reliable and true. As opposed to believing in Thor – which is mostly legendary narrative than historical – though I did enjoy the Avengers movie.
I risk far more if I didn’t address this issue for my daughter. And I also risk much as well if I don’t present you with this answer.
Don’t believe me. There are more than enough resources already available to explain the truth of the Christian faith. You can find them if you really want answers. Then, follow the evidence.
Just allow me this, if you will – no matter if you don’t believe, but I do mean it – God bless you in your search, if you do undertake it. He does reveal Himself to those who seek Him – with all of their hearts.
Great story. Very inspiring.