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Pastimes : Ask God -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: hal jordan who wrote (23541)	12/27/1998 8:49:00 PM
From: Emile Vidrine	Respond to of 39621

"That is preposterous..... Religion is based upon pure faith. Science is based upon hard facts or hypothesis. In the matters of religion (faith) people have every right to believe or not believe in any particular deity" Religious beliefs are not based upon faith, but upon FACTS. Faith only comes into play after an individual looks at and contemplates the meaning of the historical facts presented. If the facts are rational and accurate, then they remove the intellectual obstacle to faith. We are saved by examining the facts about Jesus' life and then making a decision to accepts or deny these facts on faith. The facts are necessary because man is a rational thinking creature, but the final decision of faith comes from the action of the Holy Spirit upon the human heart. The historical facts are presented in a rational and truthful manner in order to prepare the intellectual aspects of the mind for the work of the Holy Spirit upon the heart. The final faith that leads to salvation is always based on some factual premise or presupposition. Let me illustrate what I mean by by faith being first established on rational empirical facts by giving you several examples. First let me use the Jewish Apostle Peter to illustrate the point. Peter senses that he is about to die and he is giving his followers careful instructions about their faith in Christ. Peter basically tells them that he is giving them hard eyewitness facts and not some cunningly devised fable that he invented. 2Pet.1 14: Knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath shewed me. 15: Moreover I will endeavour that ye may be able after my decease to have these things always in remembrance. 16: For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. Secondly, let us look at the Jewish Apostle John's words concerning the life of Christ. John begins his first epistle by stating that he is an eyewitness to the historical reality of Jesus' life and that he is writing these facts that his readers may believe. 1John 1. That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;..... 2. That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. Thirdly, let us read the words of Luke as he introduces his Gospel. Notice how Luke emphasizes the fact that his account about Jesus is based upon eyewitnesses. Luke 1. Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us, 2. Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginningwere eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word. -------------------------------- So hal, I would say that the Christian religion is based upon hard historical facts, and from these facts men open up their hearts to let the Holy Spirit of God give them the faith to be Born Again and become the sons of God. First they receive the facts about Jesus and his life and then they choose to either believe or deny. May the facts of the Gospel open up your heart to the love of truth and the Holy Spirit. Emile