I’d like to suggest a technique I’ve been trying that seems to have amazing results. Too often, we have taken upon ourselves the assumption of modernity. This modern view cuts off the beliefs of the ancients and says that we must answer the knowledge (Though I’d say it’s what is falsely called knowledge) of today and if we believe God exists or morality is objective or miracles can happen, we’d better give a strong reason why.
My question is though, why should I take that assumption? Why should I take as it has been called “The Presumption of Atheism”? The action cuts us off from ancient times as if our time was the only time that ever knew anything. It is assumed that we know something that those ancients didn’t know that throws out the need for God.
<> What is that something?
<>That’s what I want to know. What scientific discovery showed us that God doesn’t exist? What sociological fact did we discover that showed us that morality is relative? What experiment took place that finally disproved miracles for all time?
The last one is a particular favorite that shows the absurdity in trying to paint the ancients as idiots. Take the example that I’ve heard often of the virgin birth. We today do not buy into miraculous accounts of virgin births because we know better. We do? Got news for ya! So did the ancients!
Read Matthew. Joseph decided that he would divorce Mary in private. Why? Simple biology. Joseph knew what it took to make a baby and he knew he hadn’t done that with Mary so someone else had. Did Joseph know about chromosomes and DNA and such? No. He knew what it took though!
So to the skeptic of this, when did we discover what it took to make babies that they didn’t know? What about walking on water? When did we make this discovery? After Steve went under for the twelfth time and we just decided that maybe people don’t float naturally? What about the resurrection? Are we saying the family kept dead Uncle Bob in the living room in case he came back to life?
No friends. The ancients knew these were miracles as well as anyone else, and they were quite suspicious of miracles as well. Most of the time, people that chide the ancients as being uneducated and gullible are people who simply have not read the ancients. I would dare say that while we have more knowledge today, the ancients by and large were smarter than we are.
Thus, I say it’s time for the atheologian to answer some questions. I hope that you get a lack of answers as much as I have.
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