Today, during Holy Communion, Claramae shared the passage in John 20:24-29 on Thomas's encounter with Jesus after this resurrection. Think it really spoke to me and reminded me of why I chose Thomas to be my baptismal name.. Thomas is commonly associated with doubt. Doubting Thomas.. haha.. but the reason I chose this name was because he struggled with his doubt, and emerged triumphant.
Walking the roads of faith is something that is not easy for an atheist. For me, all these thoughts and arguments in my mind has made my walk with God a tougher, and drier road. Where others tacitly agree and believe, I had to struggle with doubts and thoughts that spun in my mind. But praise the Lord, I've emerged triumphant from my struggles, and now I believe with all my heart and soul.
To those non-Christians reading this blog.. if we were to debate about the reality of Christ; just like any other debate, the one who wins is the one who goes in more prepared, who speaks better, who knows all the subtle tricks of argumentation (yes, it's true) , and the one who is able to command a greater presence in the discussion. The person who brought me to know Christ was a master at this.. and for the better part of a year I had to rely on these human arguments to prop up my faith.
Talk is one thing though. A person can leave the debating table defeated, but still unconvinced. I could win a debate with a "untrained" free-thinker, but what good does it do if I just focus on the arguments? Christianity is anything but sophistry. The more important thing that Christians can bring to the table, the biggest trump card, is the fact that God changes lives, and for the better. Various schools of moral philosophy, be it utilitarism, moral relativism or whatever you might mention - does not teach you how to live a rich and meaningful life. Christianity does. And that visible change is the thing that really draws people to God. All the arguments for God aren't worth a single penny compared to the power of a transformed life.
And the best part? You don't need to read philosophical tracts to be a Christian. You don't need an IQ of 140 to be a Christian. You don't need a net worth of a million dollars to be a Christian. Philosophy which requires an thinking mind, and induces headaches nonetheless. Christianity only requires that you believe, and you live it out. That's all.
In fact, God's existence is a fact that transcends other facts. I think if scientists say that "Oh, we've got it wrong all this while, actually Pi = 4" or "F actually is 0.9(ma)", or something along that lines.. well, it wouldn't really bother me. But God's existence is a fact that transcends all other facts, because not only it is a intellectual truth, but a emotional truth as well.
Christianity is not just about the visible outward signs - I dare say that church going, attending cell groups and all that is the lesser component of a Christian life. The far greater, and the far most precious part, is that fact the Christ changes lives, for the better.
God really has changed mine, hope you will experience it too one day..
(And despite what I said about philo, I still love philo. Especially moral philo, that's my pet favourite. Find it very interesting..haha. If you're so inclined do talk to me about it)
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14 comments:
Pardon my rude comment, but I feel that your latest blog post makes you sound like a brainwashed christian hippie. No offense I hope. If there's any, you can always take it out on me when we meet. But hey, you don't force your religion on me. That I appreciate.
Chew
the murderous children> Hey, do I know you?
I've actually wondered a lot about this question before.. and I'm thinking of a way to answer you that doesn't sound extremely whacked out or overly fundie.
Preparing for my exams now though, don't really have the energy to gather my train of thought. Random bits of answers are floating in my head and refuse to coalease. Heh. Would help muchly if I knew more about you =p
Zh> No offense taken dude. I know where you're coming from.. Nope, no forcing of my worldview on you, dun worry.
liew. got me worried for a sec. Was wondering how come the trolls came a'knocking so fast.. lol. was reading your profile and thinking.. earl grey? trainspotting? lawrence of arabia? should be you.. but wasn't sure
anyhoo, self help books mainly came from USA, and you'd probably know it was founded as a Christian nation..
Covey's Seven Habits and all that really is biblical principles with the God part stripped away. And he is a Christian, a LDS, but a christian nonetheless.
and self help books probably makes you a more successful person, if you're disciplined, but it doesn't promise happiness. being rich or being powerful doesn't equate with happiness.. and i've seen wealth and i've seen power before, so i guess i'm a little qualified to say that..
Christianity is the opposite of that.. you get the happiness first, and out of your relationship with God, you want to change for the better.. and God really has helped me appreciate a lot more things in life, eg my family, which i really am thankful for.
Hmm. ok. will make it a point to change the phrasing it was founded as a Christian nation to something like it is a country that has a strong Christian influence since it's inception.
Um, no preacher actually said that to me.. lol. Something that I thought of myself through my meanderings..
What did your pastor say about Darwin? And yes, the onus is on you to think through what people say, even Christians, even Pastors. Nobody is perfect, not even the Pope.
Haha, and you made me jump a little when I saw your links. Infidels.org? I'm slightly more liberal in outlook then the average Christian, but even then. Infidel.org o_o haha =p
No problem about long posts.. I might take a while to reply but I'll try to get to them sooner or later..
No, we don't believe in calling non-believers infidels -_- . It has too much muslim connotations associated with it liao..
I'm not disputing the fact that we're all have a certain degree of innate morality..
I'll actually get onto talking about your other points in one of the next entries I'm gonna write soon.. =p
heh, infidel and non-believer aren't synonyms, no matter what your funky website tells you. That's like calling "brainwashed" and "see the light" and "paradigm shift" synonyms..
the prob is once I start again I have too many things to write liao~ will try to keep the backlog down though..
Hey bro, you read the book "The Abolition of Man" by C.S. Lewis? Think it's a good one - I recommend it.
what is it about? not very sure where i can borrow it from..
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