freethinkers,atheism,deniyng and resisting of God

A letter to freethinkers

A personal letter to free thinkers, i.e. it deals with the world view and actions of free thinkers against God

The following is an open letter I sent to freethinkers. It deals with free thinking and its rationality.

Dear free thinkers (for whom I have been praying for years)!

I am a former atheist and evolutionist, so I have the same type of background as many free thinkers. Now, however, I believe in Jesus Christ and I also write on this basis.

The reason I'm writing, of course, is so that freethinkers would turn to Jesus Christ and God, whose existence they generally deny. Of course, I don't know exactly where each person's atheism, doubt, or freethinking stems from. Could it be caused by disappointment in Christian congregation and people, disappointment in God who has not answered their prayers, or could it simply be caused by reason, as many freethinkers seem to emphasize. At least I myself thought I was reasonable, when I was an atheist, and I'm sure this is also the case with most free thinkers and atheists. They have an idea of their own wisdom and the rationality of atheism, and that prevents them from turning to God.

However, I challenge you to rethink the foundations of atheism and the denial of God. Is atheism and denying God reasonable after all or not? In this matter, you should pay attention to the following points:

People still die. First of all, you should pay attention to the fact that every person still dies. It applies to each of us. I die, you die and everyone close to us dies. And if we go forward 150 years, the people of the current generation are all dead. None of the people we now meet and see every day or who appear in the media are alive on Earth. The fact that people born in the 19th century are apparently all dead is also an indication of the brevity of life. Many of them may have lived at the same time as us, but now they are dead.

The next question is, what is after death? Here are two general views:

• Life continues after death. Man has an eternal soul that continues to exist

• Another view, and one favored by atheists, is that man does not have an eternal soul separate from the body. When a person dies and the body rots, it marks the end of all existence.

Herein lies a weakness of the atheistic view. No atheist can be one hundred percent sure that life does not continue after death. It is like a leap of faith into the unknown, like diving into deep waters where one does not know about possible dangers. He takes a risk when he goes into the water or an area where he has no personal experience.

The question is how probable we consider the possibility of life after death and, for example, that wrongdoers will have to answer for their actions. Is the probability of it maybe 10%, 30% or more? Or if the probability of it is only one percent, isn't even this small possibility worth taking into account when it's about our eternity?

One reason to be serious about the continuation of life and specifically the possibility of hell is negative near-death experiences. For example, Maurice Rawlings, who has been reviving the clinically dead for decades, states in his two books that almost every second person interviewed after resuscitation has had painful experiences (Similarly states Dr. Charles Garfiel in Robert Kastenbaum's book "Is there life after death?"). He noted that often these painful experiences are quickly buried in the subconscious, but if patients were interviewed immediately after resuscitation, bad experiences would likely be found as much as good ones. He writes about one such case in his book "Kuoleman tuolla puolen" (pp. 12,13):

Before I collected material for this book, I personally regarded most of the after-death experiences as the product of imagination or guesswork. I believed most of the cases that I had heard or read to have been euphoric delusions, caused by a lack of oxygen. Then, one evening in 1977 I revived a terrified patient who said he was in Hell. He begged me to pull him out of Hell and prevent him from dying. When I realized how real fear he was experiencing, I was frightened as well. The patients I have run into later, who have had these kinds of experiences, have aroused in me a compelling urge to write this book. Now I am sure that there is life after death and that all conditions after death are not good.

Sometimes it has also happened that people have been dead for longer periods of time and then come back to life. One such case is described by Mel Tari in his book "Like a Mighty Wind" (pp. 77-80). He tells about a man who had been dead for two days and his body was already starting to rot, but who nevertheless came back to life:

When we arrived, we noticed that there were over a thousand people. The deceased had been dead for two days and had begun to smell heavily. In our tropical land, the dead start to rot six hours after death. But after two days – oh, it is almost impossible to be closer than thirty metres from the body. The smell is awful. In America, you cannot understand this because your funerals are organized so well. But they also cost you 2,000 dollars. In Indonesia we do not have the possibility to make the dead look attractive. The local dead look terrible two days after death. (…)

We went and stood around this dead man. We started to sing. (…)

Nothing happened even after the fifth song. But during the sixth song, the man started to move his toes – and the group was afraid. There is a story in Indonesia that sometimes the dead may wake up and come back to life. They will suffocate some person between the lid of their coffin and then die again. Despite of that we continued our singing. When we were singing the seventh and eighth songs, the dead brother woke up, looked around him, and smiled.

He did not suffocate anyone. He opened his mouth and said, 'Jesus has brought me back to life. Brothers and sisters, I want to tell you something. Firstly, life does not end when you die. I have been dead for two days and I have experienced it. Hell and Heaven are real. I have experienced it. The third thing that I want to tell you is that unless you find Jesus in this life, you can never get into Heaven. You will then certainly be judged to hell.’

We can also find another description of the afterlife in the book “Visions of heaven and hell” by John Bunyan, a preacher who lived in the 17^th century (He also wrote the well-known piece “Pilgrim’s progress”, which is one of the most widespread books in the world.). This book tells about a person in hell. He said the following:

Why was I given the chance? Why had I been equipped with an immortal soul? Why did I not care about it? Oh, how my own neglect pierces me so dreadfully and I still know that I cannot and will not die. But to live a deadly life is worse than ten thousand deaths, and I still could have been helped once but I did not want to! Oh, this is the gnawing worm that never dies. Once, I could have been happy; once I was offered salvation but I rejected it. If it had happened only once and I would have rejected it, even that would have been unforgivable foolishness, but it was offered to me a thousand times, and I resisted it as often (so lousy I was). Damn the sin, which with its deceitful enjoyment enchants mankind to eternal destruction! God called me often but I resisted Him as often. He reached out his hands but I did not care. How often did I go against His commands, how often I resisted His reprimands! But now, the situation has changed, for now He follows my accident and mocks the ruin that has come for my part. He could have helped me then, but I did not want His help. Therefore, these eternal pains are just a reward for my own deeds and I am condemned to suffer." (John Bunyan, Näkyjä taivaasta ja helvetistä [Visions of Heaven and Hell], p. 67)

What kind of an answer does Christianity provide for this issue? Can people get a happy ending after their death and can they be forgiven for their sins?

These are the questions that will lead us to the fundamentals of Christianity: forgiveness of sins. We can truly be forgiven for our sins, and we can have a happy ending after our death, because Jesus, the Son of God, has come to save us, and through Him we can receive forgiveness. We can receive all this as a gift if we in our hearts turn to the heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. The following passages will tell us more about these wonderful things:

- (John 12:47) And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world.

- (Acts 13:38) Be it known to you therefore, men and brothers, that through this man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins:

- (Rev 21:5,6) And he that sat on the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said to me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.

6 And he said to me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to him that is thirsty of the fountain of the water of life freely.

- (Rev 22:17) And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that hears say, Come. And let him that is thirsty come. And whoever will, let him take the water of life freely.

It is of course true that believing in God and Jesus Christ is a leap of faith, in the same way that freethinkers and atheists believe death to be the end of everything. But shouldn’t we rather turn to God, just in case not to reject the gift of salvation. If everything ends in death, it doesn’t really matter, but if life does go on, you can lose your soul and everything. That is why this shouldn’t be taken lightly. Here is what Jesus said about this:

- (Mark 8:35-37) For whoever will save his life shall lose it; but whoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it.

36 For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?

37 Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

Problems related to the beginning of the universe and life. The first problem with the naturalistic and atheistic worldview on which freethinkers base their lives was that no freethinker or atheist can be certain that life ends in death. He has no definite knowledge, nor has he sought forgiveness, so he is ill-prepared for the future. That is the weakness of the atheistic view.

Another area where the foundations of the atheistic and naturalistic worldview are weak is the question of the beginning of the universe, the solar system and life. It is generally accepted that the universe and life have a beginning, but when you don't believe in God's work of creation, you end up in a dead end. (E.g. the sun cannot be eternal; otherwise its energy reserves would have already been exhausted. This also places exact limits on life. Life cannot be eternal either, because life depends on the sun. Without the sun, the temperature would be almost -273 degrees, it would be dark and the water would be frozen , and no known life form could thrive under those conditions.)

How then is the beginning of the universe explained in the naturalistic worldview? Currently, the standard model is the Big Bang theory. It is assumed that the entire current universe and life arose from a space the size of a pinhead. Many books on the subject have specifically emphasized how everything started from a single point whose volume was the size of a pinhead or even smaller. Joseph Silk has explained this in his book "Big Bang":

All material that we know to be in billions of galaxies, was compressed to a pinhead-sized point. Our own visible Milky Way was smaller than an atom in it.

What about the rationality of the materialistic explanation? This thing can be compared to someone taking a matchbox (it's much bigger than a pinhead) in their hand, and then saying that all kinds of things come out of it. He claims that it is a scientific fact and should not be doubted because all reasonable scientists believe in it. So, according to his words, from inside the box it is possible to get things many times bigger and more complicated than the box, such as:

• Elephant and the grass that the elephant eats

• A fast-running cheetah

• Roaring lions

• Birds that can fly and chirp

• Mosquitoes that birds can eat

• Fish and the sea around them

• Beautiful and fragrant flowers and tens of meters high trees

• Billions of galaxies, stars and planets

• The sun, which warms and gives light

• People who can talk and feel emotions: cry, laugh, get angry, fear, grieve, like someone and fall in love

• Delicious strawberries, bananas, blueberries, peas, grapes and nuts

Can the previous theory be doubted? You certainly can. It is the greatest miracle in the world if all the previous things and the things around us have arisen by themselves from a space the size of a box or a pinhead, which is many times smaller than them. It is a complete impossibility and against logic, because mere non-existence cannot cause its existence. Something must first exist before something can come into being. This is surely one of the craziest ideas in the world. How can a "knob pin" or a smaller space turn itself into tasty strawberries, flying birds, a person driving a car, a hot sun, a roaring lion, reproductive organisms, fish and the ocean around them, rocks and everything that exists? If all this is supposed to have happened by itself, I think we have to reject common sense. Paul's words about the false knowledge that goes by the name of knowledge and how we can consider ourselves wise, even though we believe in such stories, fit this well. Paul, who knew God intimately, also predicted how people would turn to fables. Did Paul mean the current universe and life origin theories when he predicted that such a development would come true?

- (1 Tim 6:20,21) O Timothy, keep that which is committed to your trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called:

21 Which some professing have erred concerning the faith. Grace be with you. Amen.

- (Rom 1:20-23) For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:

21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.

22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,

23 And changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four footed beasts, and creeping things.

- (2 Tim 4:3,4) For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;

4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned to fables.

Naturalistic theory, in which freethinkers and atheists put their faith, doesn't have a strong foundation in terms of explaining the beginning of the universe and life. I think it is much easier to believe in God's creation work and existence than in the appearance of the previous things by themselves, because generally everything has its maker. Nothing is born out of nothing. David Pawson tells more about the subject:

…Then the Roman Catholic group left and I was left with all the others: Methodists, Baptists, Salvation Army members, Presbyterians, Free Churchmen, Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims, Agnostics and Atheists. So I was a chaplain for atheists, and I loved that job! When some atheist arrived, I said, “Sit here, I want to talk to you. First of all, I want to congratulate you for your faith. You have more faith than I do. You believe that all this has come about by chance, by itself. It takes tremendous faith. I don't have that big; I have to believe that someone put them in place – which is much easier for faith… (1)

Why oppose something that doesn’t exist? Next, we’ll move on to the opposition of God and Jesus Christ, as it is commonly known that freethinkers wish to erase God and Jesus from society. They don't want God in schools, in the army, in public spaces, or in any other place. They fight for an atheistic-humanistic view and are against the idea of God.

This action is reminiscent of past communist states that strive for the same. It is well known that in communist states the practice of religion was not allowed and the state taught the non-existence of God. The goal of the communists was "To establish a society that does not know ... religion", as the Communard Gaveau summed it up in 1871 (2). In this sense, history repeats itself and free thinkers are pushing for a similar society as the communists used to. Or isn't that the case? What else is different in these cases than the time difference? From an outsider’s perspective the differences seem rather small.

However, opposition to God and Jesus is not new, it already existed in Jesus' time. Religious leaders were especially guilty of it, as we can read in the New Testament. They rejected the message of the gospel and how God has approached people through His Son Jesus Christ:

- (Luke 7:29,30) And all the people that heard him, and the publicans, justified God, being baptized with the baptism of John.

30 But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves, being not baptized of him.

- (Acts 7:51) You stiff necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do you.

Dear free thinkers! So I ask you, why do you oppose God and Jesus? If God doesn't exist, isn't it pointless to oppose the non-existent? Why fight so hard against something that doesn't exist? Does it make any sense?

On the other hand, if God exists and he has created everything, isn't it absurd to oppose the Creator of the universe; especially if he is the judge and in the end we ourselves have to give an account of our lives before him? That doesn't make sense either.

- (Rom 14:12) So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.

- (Rev 20:12-15) And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.

13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.

14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

15 And whoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

Or do you fight against God and Jesus because you don't like Him? After all, this claim often appears in the works of atheist writers.

However, it is important to note that Jesus is the perfect image of God. The Father was in Him and He was in the Father. As Jesus was, so is God in heaven, as the following verses show. These two things cannot be separated.

- (John 14:5-11) Thomas said to him, Lord, we know not where you go; and how can we know the way?

6 Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes to the Father, but by me.

7 If you had known me, you should have known my Father also: and from now on you know him, and have seen him.

8 Philip said to him, Lord, show us the Father, and it suffises us.

9 Jesus said to him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet have you not known me, Philip? he that has seen me has seen the Father; and how say you then, Show us the Father?

10 Believe you not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak to you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwells in me, he does the works.

11 Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works’ sake.

- (2 Cor 5:19) To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, not imputing their trespasses to them; and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.

- (Hebr 1:1-3) God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets,

2 Has in these last days spoken to us by his Son, whom he has appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;

3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high:

If Jesus is the perfect image of God, then was Jesus good? Was He sinless and loving? Yes, this is exactly what the New Testament teaches. The apostles themselves considered themselves imperfect and lacking (Romans 7:18-24 etc.), but they considered Jesus sinless and good. The enemies of the apostles generally agreed, so that also points to the goodness of Jesus. First, however, Jesus' words about Himself:

- (John 8:28-30) Then said Jesus to them, When you have lifted up the Son of man, then shall you know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father has taught me, I speak these things.

29 And he that sent me is with me: the Father has not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him.

30 As he spoke these words, many believed on him.

- (John 8:45-47) And because I tell you the truth, you believe me not.

46 Which of you convinces me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do you not believe me?

47 He that is of God hears God's words: you therefore hear them not, because you are not of God.

The disciples

- (Hebr 4:15) For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.

- (1 Peter 2:21,22) For even hereunto were you called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow his steps:

22 Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth:

- (1 John 3:5) And you know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin.

Others

- (Matt 22:16 And they sent out to him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, Master, we know that you are true, and teach the way of God in truth, neither care you for any man: for you regard not the person of men.

- (Matt 27:3-5) Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders,

4 Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see you to that.

5 And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself.

- (Matt 27:17-19) Therefore when they were gathered together, Pilate said to them, Whom will you that I release to you? Barabbas, or Jesus which is called Christ?

18 For he knew that for envy they had delivered him.

19 When he was set down on the judgment seat, his wife sent to him, saying, Have you nothing to do with that just man: for I have suffered many things this day in a dream because of him.

- (Luke 23:39-41) And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If you be Christ, save yourself and us.

40 But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Do not you fear God, seeing you are in the same condemnation?

41 And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man has done nothing amiss.

- (Luke 23:46,47) And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into your hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.

47 Now when the centurion saw what was done, he glorified God, saying, Certainly this was a righteous man.

- (John 18:37,38) Pilate therefore said to him, Are you a king then? Jesus answered, You say that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Every one that is of the truth hears my voice.

38 Pilate said to him, What is truth? And when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews, and said to them, I find in him no fault at all.

So I ask you, dear free thinkers, why do you resist the good God who wants your best and wants to bring you into His eternal kingdom? Why do you reject God's love and goodness towards you, do not care about it and consider it cheap? Why do you reject the gift of eternal life that can be had through Jesus Christ? God's good will towards people appears in several verses of the New Testament:

- (Luke 2:13,14) And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

- (John 3:16) For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

- (1 John 4:9,10) In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.

10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

I urge every free thinker and atheist to take a step of faith towards God. It happens in the same way as in Jesus' parable of the prodigal son. This boy had lived deep in sin, but when he turned to his father and confessed his sin, he was forgiven. Heavenly God and Father receives us in the same way when we turn to him. So turn to God and confess your sins to Him!

- (Luke 15:17-20) And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!

18 I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before you,

19 And am no more worthy to be called your son: make me as one of your hired servants.

20 And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.

- (1 John 1:9) If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Also, put your faith in the Son of God, Jesus Christ, because only through Him can we be forgiven for our sins. He is the way to the kingdom of God:

- (John 14:6) Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes to the Father, but by me.

- (John 5:39,40) Search the scriptures; for in them you think you have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.

40 And you will not come to me, that you might have life.

- (Acts 16:30,31) And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?

31 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved, and your house.

The prayer of salvation: Lord, Jesus, I turn to You. I confess that I have sinned against You and have not lived according to Your will. However, I want to turn away from my sins and follow You with all my heart. I also believe that my sins have been forgiven through Your atonement and I have received eternal life through You. I thank You for the salvation that You have given me. Amen.

Another message for free thinkers - whistleblowing

The following is another message I sent to freethinkers. In it I discuss the activities of free thinkers, but I also encourag to examine the possibility that the Christian faith is true after all. Freethinkers and atheists generally reject this idea, as I did in the past. However, these things should be seriously considered, especially if we are eternal beings.

Dear free thinkers!

This is Jari Iivanainen from Lahti. I am a former atheist and evolutionist, but now I believe in God and Jesus Christ. This is my background with which I approach you. However, I am not approaching to accuse or scold you, but to present my own point of view regarding the Christian faith.

I understand that you must have prejudices and negative preconceived notions towards people like me who represent the Christian faith. I don't blame you or anyone else for that, because I used to be the same when I was an atheist. I denied the existence of God and was quite sure of my own beliefs, so if I have been like that myself, why would I accuse others of the same?

So why am I writing to you? The reason is that I am worried about the negative atmosphere towards God and Jesus, one of the reasons for which I see is your actions, e.g. the Kantelupukki website (Complaint Site ).

Have you thought that your actions resemble exactly the same actions that existed in communist countries at the time? They banned the Christian faith and tried to prevent children from hearing about God and Jesus. Richard Wurmbrand, who was imprisoned for his faith in Romania for 14 years, wrote about this kind of whistleblowing in his book "Kirkkautta kidutuskammiossa" (p. 94)":

Whistleblowing had spread like a disease. People could become embezzled if they talked about God, prayed out loud, or even learned or taught a foreign language. The person pointing the finger could often be a friend, outside or inside the prison, son, father, wife, husband. The pressure to embezzle was brutally heavy. The traitor was probably a Worse Threat to the "free" than to those already behind bars, and in room 4 the speech was freer than anywhere else in Romania, because none of us would survive.

What about Nazi Germany? There, too, the Christian faith was strongly attacked and God was wanted out of schools. This is exactly the same activity as what you are doing today.

I'll quote from a couple of books here. The first book (L.H. Christian: Kylvöä ja satoa) is from 1934, i.e. five years before World War II. This book told how anti-God was common among the people.

From time to time, there have been mass movements of abandoning the church in several countries after the war. Thus, in Germany in 1920, 305,000 people left the evangelical churches. This escape from the church has continued. In 1930, in Berlin alone, 59,225 persons renounced the Lutheran Church, not to mention those Catholics and Jews who abandoned the faith of their fathers... We need not say much about the spread of blasphemous ideas in the 20th century. Suffice it to say that the number of those who publicly confess or tacitly accept the absolute non-existence of God has increased immeasurably. Some men who are considered scholars claim that modern science makes belief in God impossible. They either completely stop believing in God or present that "science requires a new understanding of God". This denial of God begins among children at school. In some cities, thousands of 6-14 year old children, starting from elementary school, have walked the streets carrying the following posters: "“God out of schools”, “Take down God-superstitions”, " Religion is an anesthetic” etc. (6)

The second quote is from Olavi Paavolainen's book Risti ja hakaristi (1938), which was published just before the Second World War. It describes the 1930s and how the struggle against Christianity was characteristic of the Nazis, as it was characteristic of the Communists. Developments in this direction had taken place for decades:

Something incomprehensible, about the demon, is happening in the soul of the German people. Already during World War I, some English propagandists argued that Germany has never really converted to Christianity, but has always been pagan and “Germanic” under a weak Christian shell. The phenomena occurring during National Socialism seem to support this claim in an astonishing way.

… The struggle against Christianity in the Third Reich has reached such a scale and so many forms that it is practically impossible to describe it in the context of a single writing.

… The harsh censorship of the state had made it almost impossible for the inhabitants of the Third Reich to follow the church battle, and during this obligatory ignorance and the dispersal within the church, fierce anti-Christian propaganda has reached great proportions. The entire anti-Christian literature, from magnificent works of glory to numerous magazines and hundreds of thousands flyers, had seen the light of day. The great man of World War I, General Ludendorff, and his wife had declared that they would dedicate the rest of their lives to the eradication of Christianity from Germany.

… And commonly known are the verses of a Hitler-Jugend song: Wir sind die Fröhliche Hitler-Jugend, wir brauchen keine christliche Tugend - we are a happy Hitler-Jugend youth, we do not need any Christian virtues.

Yes, dear freethinkers! Your struggle against God and Jesus is quite similar to that of the Nazis and Communists. It also reminds us of the people who fought against the Christian faith during Jesus and the apostles. Paul wrote of these people:… and they please not God, and are contrary to all men: Forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they might be saved, to fill up their sins always: for the wrath is come on them to the uttermost. (1 Thess 2:15,16). Similarly, Jesus said of some people: ”Woe to you, lawyers! for you have taken away the key of knowledge: you entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in you hindered.” (Luke 11:52).

Jesus also said about children, ” But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said to them, Suffer the little children to come to me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.” (Mark 10:14) and in another place he said: ”But whoever shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea. Woe to the world because of offenses! for it must needs be that offenses come; but woe to that man by whom the offense comes! (Matt 18:6,7)

I understand, of course, that you have prejudices about the Christian faith and that you are as confident in your opinions as I was before.

However, I urge you to get to know Jesus Christ, the protagonist of the Christian faith. Is He what the Bible says about Him? There are three things to consider first:

1. Is Jesus a historical person?

2. Is Jesus good or evil? He himself said (John 8:46), “Which of you convinces me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do you not believe me?? ” Likewise, he said (Luke 6:22), "Blessed are you, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake."

3. Third, if Jesus has been a historical figure and perfectly good, could he lie? For if anyone is perfectly good, he certainly does not lie. Jesus himself e.g. said: “You are from beneath; I am from above: you are of this world; I am not of this world. I said therefore to you, that you shall die in your sins: for if you believe not that I am he, you shall die in your sins... Which of you convinces me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do you not believe me?” (John 8: 23,24, 46)

I also urge you to find out how sensible it is to stick to the naturalistic or atheistic worldview that you have and that I had in the past. Today, I am convinced that it is completely absurd to stick to this worldview, but you too need to find out this. For if the naturalistic conception were correct, you should give scientific answers to the following questions:

1. How could the universe appear from nowhere, as is supposed to have happened in the Big Bang? Several astronomers consider this notion unscientific. David Berlinski has stated: ”It is pointless to argue that something comes into existence out of nothing, when any given mathematician understands this to be complete nonsense” (Ron Rosenbaum: ”Is the Big Bang Just a Big Hoax? David Berlinski Challenges Everyone.” New York Observer 7.7.1998)

2. How were galaxies and stars born? Some animations and popular books may explain that they were born of themselves, but numerous leading astronomers admit that they have no knowledge of how they were actually formed.

3. What about the birth of the solar system and the earth? This is not known either, although some think they know. All known naturalistic theories are imaginative, and numerous scientists have been honest enough to admit this.

4. What about the birth of life? If life had been born of itself, this matter would have been resolved a long time ago. However, there is a stalemate in this matter, and a solution will certainly not be found because God’s creative work is not recognized. The fact is that only life brings life, and no exception has been found to this rule. It refers very clearly to the Creator in the case of the first life forms.

5. If the theory of evolution is true, why has it never been observed in rocks? Stephen Jay Gould, perhaps the most famous paleontologist (atheist) of our time, has admitted: ”I do not want in any way to belittle the potential competence of the gradual evolution view. I want only to remark that it has never 'been observed' in rocks. (...)” (The Panda’s Thumb, 1988, s. 182,183).

6. If millions of years are true, why, for example, from dinosaur fossils can be found radioactive carbon (official half-life 5730 years), proteins, soft tissues, blood cells, and DNA that is not always found even in human mummies or mammoths because of its disappearing? It is pointless to talk about millions of years, because the survival of these substances in nature is only possible for thousands of years.

Why is it also repeatedly referred in human tradition to dragons resembling dinosaurs (the name dinosarus was only invented in the 19th century) as normal animals? The World Book Encyclopedia (Vol. 5, 1973, p. 265) has referred to these accounts: “The dragons in legends are, strangely enough, just like real animals that lived in the past. They resemble large reptiles (dinosaurs) that ruled the land long before man is supposed to have appeared. Dragons were generally regarded as bad and destructive. Each nation referred to them in their mythology.”

Valuable freethinkers! I do not bother to deal further with the validity of the Christian faith and creation. I have written about these things on my website: www.jariiivanainen.net, where you can learn more about them. So I challenge you to study and think about the validity of the Christian faith. The following words of Jesus also suggest this: “If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.” (John 7:17).

References:

1. David Pawson: Vanhurskas Jumala ja vanhurskauden evankeliumi (The God and the Gospel of Righteousness), p. 13, 14

2. Timo Vihavainen, Marko Hamilo, Joonas Konstig: Mitä mieltä Suomessa saa olla, p. 54,55