How might we prove that God is imaginary? One way would be to find a contradiction between the definition of God and the God we experience in the real world.
What would happen if we get down on our knees and pray to God in ... read full comment
How might we prove that God is imaginary? One way would be to find a contradiction between the definition of God and the God we experience in the real world.
What would happen if we get down on our knees and pray to God in this way:
Dear God, almighty, all-powerful, all-loving creator of the universe, we pray to you to cure every case of cancer on this planet tonight. We pray in faith, knowing you will bless us as you describe in Matthew 7:7, Matthew 17:20, Matthew 21:21, Mark 11:24, John 14:12-14, Matthew 18:19 and James 5:15-16. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.
We pray sincerely, knowing that when God answers this completely heartfelt, unselfish, non-materialistic prayer, it will glorify God and help millions of people in remarkable ways.
Will anything happen? No. Of course not.
This is very odd. Jesus makes specific promises in the Bible about how prayer is supposed to work. Jesus says in many different places that he and God will answer your prayers. And Christians believe Jesus -- according to this recent article, "54% of American adults believe the Bible is literally true." In some areas of the country the number goes as high as 75%.
If the Bible is literally true, then something is seriously amiss. Simply look at the facts. In Matthew 7:7 Jesus says:
Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For every one who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!
If "every one who asks receives", then if we ask for cancer to be cured, it should be cured. Right? If "our Father who is in heaven gives good things to those who ask him", then if we ask him to cure cancer, he should cure it. Right? And yet nothing happens.
In Matthew 17:20 Jesus says:
For truly, I say to you, if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.
If "nothing will be impossible to you", then if we ask to cure cancer tonight, cancer should disappear. Right? Yet nothing happens. Note that if we take the Bible less-than-literally here, the statement "nothing will be impossible to you" becomes "lots of things will be impossible to you," and that would mean that Jesus is lying.
In Matthew 21:21:
I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.
If "you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer", then if we ask to cure cancer tonight, cancer should dissappear. Right? Yet nothing happens. Note again that there is not a non-literal way to interpret "you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer", unless you replace "whatever" with "nothing" or "little."
The message is reiterated Mark 11:24:
Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
If God says, "believe that you have received it, and it will be yours," and if we believe in God and his power, then what should happen if we pray to cure cancer tonight? It should be cured. Either that, or God is lying.
In John chapter 14, verses 12 through 14, Jesus tells all of us just how easy prayer can be:
"I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it." [ref]
Look at how direct this statement is: "You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it." This is the "Son of God" speaking. Have we taken him "too literally?" No. This is a simple, unambiguous statement. Have we taken his statement "out of context?" No - Jesus uses the word anyone. Yet Jesus' statement is obviously false. Because when we ask God to cure cancer tonight, nothing happens.
We see the same thing over and over again...
In Matthew 18:19 Jesus says:
Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them.
In James 5:15-16 the Bible says:
And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.
In Mark 9:23:
All things are possible to him who believes.
In Luke 1:37:
For with God nothing will be impossible.
Nothing could be simpler or clearer than Jesus' promises about prayer in the Bible. Yet, when we pray to eliminate cancer, nothing happens.
And keep in mind that this is Jesus talking here. These are not the words of human beings. These are not the words of "inspired" human beings. These are supposedly the words of God himself, incarnated in a human body. Jesus is supposed to be a perfect, sinless being. And yet, it is obvious that Jesus is lying. What Jesus says is clearly incorrect.
Jesus is supposed to be God. God is supposed to be perfect.
When Jesus speaks, he should speak the truth.
Yet when we look at what Jesus says about prayer,
he is clearly lying.
If you would like additional proof, gather a million faithful believers together into a giant prayer circle. Have them all pray together in Jesus' name that God cures every case of cancer on the planet tomorrow. Pray sincerely, knowing that when God answers this completely heartfelt, unselfish, non-materialistic prayer, it will glorify God and help millions of people in remarkable ways. Now, we certainly have two or more people gathered together, and they have asked in Jesus' name, and we have not one but a million faithful believers who, by definition, have faith and believe. We have fulfilled every one of Jesus' requirements.
Will Jesus answer the prayer now? Of course not. Your prayer will go unanswered, in direct defiance to Jesus' promises in the Bible. In fact, if you pray for anything that is impossible, your prayer will always go unanswered.
If you are an intelligent, rational human being, all of the examples mentioned above show you that the God of the Bible is imaginary. The Bible clearly promises that God answers prayers. Yet when we pray, nothing happens (for a complete discussion proving that nothing happens, please see this page). What Jesus says about prayer in the Bible clearly is not true. Therefore, one of two things must be happening:
God is imaginary.
God does exist, but he never answers prayers. Unfortunately, God is defined by the Bible to be a prayer-answering being. The contradiction between the reality of God and the definition of God proves that God is imaginary.
Kojo Yankee 8 years ago
We Afrikans need stop worshipping slavemasters and leave their decadent culture. If a "xtian"name is a european name,then where do you fit in?
We Afrikans need stop worshipping slavemasters and leave their decadent culture. If a "xtian"name is a european name,then where do you fit in?
Hafsat 8 years ago
Professor Baba, your treatise smacks of rank ignorance in Bible knowledge. You deal with christian supplications as if you are dealing with one of the anomos (without Law) eastern religious organizations like Islam and Buddh ... read full comment
Professor Baba, your treatise smacks of rank ignorance in Bible knowledge. You deal with christian supplications as if you are dealing with one of the anomos (without Law) eastern religious organizations like Islam and Buddhism, which substitute humanistic principles for the Law of God.
Know that God has certain standards He follows for the numerous prayers which comes to him daily:
1. Sin, and man's free will.
2. Faith
3.The omniscient God's own sovereign will to say yes, no, or wait to our supplication.
First, SIN AND ITS EFFECTS
Did you know that God's original intention for man was that he will live for ever--no sin, and none of its effects of stealing, killing, adultery, diseases, alternate religions, idolatry and its obvious deceptions?
Observe:
"Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect, and the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness;
In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began" Titus 1-2
Yes, Adam and Eve were supposed to live forever!
Question:
We do we have diseases and death on our planet. Why doesn't God remove the diseases by "the prayer of faith" you inquired?
You see, the venom of sin has ubiquitously affected the way we live; it has colored whatever we can think and see. Traces of this deadly venom laces our prayers every day, of which we are unaware. How does a loving heavenly Father who is attracted to our needs deal with us when we disregard iniquity in our hearts?
"Behold, the LORD'S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear:
But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear." Isaiah 59:1-2
"If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me" Psalm 66:18
So the problem we have we have with God, is not that He does not answer our prayers, but it is sin that separates us from Him that "He will not hear."
What is sin?
"Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law." 1 John 3:4
2.Question: why is God so particular about the sins in our lives when we pray? Can't He just answer our prayers because we are praying in "faith"?
Let's understand this fact: the free will to Choose the Christlike
life by faith or not, is left to us to decide. It is a right God paid dearly for when He allowed His Son to come and die for us to ratify the covenant of God's grace. John 3:16
Although sin has incapacitated the sinner to know and experience God, He (God) is using all sinners in the restoration program of grace which He first revealed to Adam in Eden (Genesis 3:15) and subsequently to all others (Romans 5:20-21).
observe:
"Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:
That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord"
Romans 5:20-21
2. A Faith that Works
So what role does faith play in my prayer?
We receive grace through faith.
Faith is the platform of trust relationship we have with God that shows that we, his children will obey His revealed will in a timely manner in our allegiance to Him as our Sovereign God. A faith in God that divorces itself from obedience is presumption, a serious sin which was not even covered by blood sacrifice in the Old Testament.
"But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." Hebrews 11:6
My final point:
the sovereign will of God to make his own decision based on our prayer.
I am going to let the Bible speak for itself.
"From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?
Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.
Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.
Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?
But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble"
James 4:1-6
My dear brother Baba, a deeper understanding of God's grace and how it is working in the life of the faithful is the most convincing argument in favor of Christianity in the believer's life.
I hope you will accept Jesus as your personal savior from sin, and allow Him to live His life through you so that you can have a living hope of the hereafter.
When we get to heaven, many of us will realize that it wasn't only the answered prayers we owed gratitude to God, but the unanswered prayers which opened new doors of faith to trust our heavenly Father with our very lives--the best reason we can give for being Christians where we live today!
How might we prove that God is imaginary? One way would be to find a contradiction between the definition of God and the God we experience in the real world.
What would happen if we get down on our knees and pray to God in ...
read full comment
We Afrikans need stop worshipping slavemasters and leave their decadent culture. If a "xtian"name is a european name,then where do you fit in?
Professor Baba, your treatise smacks of rank ignorance in Bible knowledge. You deal with christian supplications as if you are dealing with one of the anomos (without Law) eastern religious organizations like Islam and Buddh ...
read full comment