Category Archives: Uncategorized

Australia’s droughts, fires, floods and cyclones

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(Slim Dusty photo courtesy Pinterest)

By Spencer D Gear

I’ve been a fan of Slim Dusty’s country music since I was growing up as a kid on sugar cane farms near Bundaberg, Qld in the 1950s. I listened to him sing on “Riding Along with a Smile and a Song” which was 30 minutes of country music, from 5.30am on 4BU, Bundaberg. I went to hear him annually as he sang in his tent concert at the Bundaberg Show.

It was only in September 2019 I heard his song, It Takes a Drought (courtesy Phone Lyrics).

Slim composed this song. Two lines caught my attention as I listened:[1]

I one time heard a bushman say while drovin’ on the
track
It takes one hell of an old man drought to bring this
country back.

Slim was writing about when the drought breaks, rain is pouring down, dams filling and countryside dressed in green again.

I’ll use Slim’s analysis to add some new understandings.

1. We can’t make it rain

On 27 September 2019, it was announced by the PM that another $100 million would be available to drought-stricken farmers and communities.

clip_image003Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, said: “We know we can’t make it rain, but we must keep finding ways to do everything we can to make life just a bit easier and remove some of the burden” (Littleproud 2019).

Former Australian Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, agreed: “We can’t make it rain’. [2]

As I write, Australia is experiencing one of its worst droughts. Do Australians deserve the rains to come?

Both Prime Ministers failed to tell us …

2. Who can make it rain

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One drought-affected sheep farmer said, ‘There’s not much we can do about it’.[3] Really? There is one word missing from his statement. Please read further.

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This photograph is of 83-year-old Alf King praying for rain that went viral in November 2018. Source: Rhonda King, his daughter (Yahoo! News).[4]

Aussies are missing the source of the rain. The current Christian Prime Minister, ScoMo, had the world stage to announce God sends the rain, but he missed the opportunity.

‘[God] causes his sun to shine on evil people and good people. He sends rain on those who do right and those who don’t’ (Matthew 5:45).

An earlier Prime Minister, John Howard, had a different view.

‘Pray for rain, urges [John] Howard’[5]

3. Pointers to the solution

Where are the prayer meetings in towns or suburbs across the land to cry out to God for rain? Are you praying in your homes daily for God to open the skies with drought-breaking rain?

I’m waiting for Scott Morrison to call Australians to Prayer and Repentance – for those who believe in the power of prayer and repentance.

3.1 Israelites and drought

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3.1.1 Amos 4:7-9 (NLT)

“I kept the rain from falling when your crops needed it the most. I sent rain on one town but withheld it from another. Rain fell on one field, while another field withered away. People staggered from town to town looking for water, but there was never enough. But still you would not return to me,” says the Lord.

There you have it for the Old Testament people of God. See similar messages in Joel 2:11-13, and 2 Chronicles 7:14. They couldn’t expect God’s blessings when they disobeyed him.

There is a similar message for all nations at Proverbs 14:34: ‘Godliness makes a nation great, but sin is a disgrace to any people’ (NLT). See also Luke 13:1-3. What kinds of sins of disgrace are happening in Australia?

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(graphic image of aborted child)

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(Photo: Liberal MP Warren Entsch lifts up Labor MP Linda Burney as they celebrate the passing of the Marriage Amendment Bill in the House of Representatives at Parliament House in Canberra, Thursday, December 7, 2017. (AAP: Lukas Coch)

I haven’t discussed Australia’s sins of legalising euthanasia, de facto relationships, prostitution, easy divorce, and normalisation of adultery (decriminalised in 1975).

  • ‘Humbly relying on the blessings of Almighty God’

These words are in the Australian Constitution of 1900 and affirm Australia’s commitment to the Judeo-Christian Lord God Almighty.

Australia’s national sins of legalisation of prostitution, abortion and euthanasia demonstrate we deserve God’s judgment now.

4. There is a way back

It involves these steps:

a.  The churches

b.  Prayer and repentance for …

c.  God’s mercy in sending rain and not judgment.

The above is a summary of the detailed information on the links in: Australia is in deep trouble: Droughts, floods and fires

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(photo courtesy WordPress at The University of Melbourne)

clip_image017(photo courtesy ABC News, Brisbane, Qld.)

5. Fix the rot

If this is not fixed, the rot will continue to infest Australia.

This is the ‘rot’ I’m writing about:

a. Amos 4:6-12

“I kept the rain from falling when your crops needed it the most.

I sent rain on one town but withheld it from another. Rain fell on one field, while another field withered away.

People staggered from town to town looking for water, but there was never enough.

But still you would not return to me, says the Lord”.

b. Joel 2:11-13

c. Luke 13:1-3

d. Proverbs 14:24

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(image courtesy letgodbefoundtrue.net)

5. However, what are Australian governments doing?

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(abortion image courtesy http://100abortionphotos.com/#23)

cream-arrow-small Ungodly legislation and practices in Australia are a disgrace to the nation and lead to Australia’s doom.

cream-arrow-small Only God sends the rain and withholds it.

cream-arrow-small Godless, secular Australians refuse to bow the knee to the Lord God Almighty.

cream-arrow-small We want his blessings of rain without the commitment to Him. We deserve what we get.

cream-arrow-small When will local, State and national leaders call the nation to prayer and repentance to break the drought and stop other disasters?

cream-arrow-small When will they repeal unrighteous legislation? e.g. Prostitution, easy divorce, abortion, euthanasia, homosexual marriage and other anti-biblical legislation.

We cannot have a great nation when we continue to promote ungodliness. If we don’t stop it NOW, the path Australia treads is to destruction.

6.  Works consulted

Littleproud MP, The Hon David 2019. “Backing our farmers and drought affected communities,” 26 September, accessed 9 October 2021, https://minister.infrastructure.gov.au/littleproud/media-release/backing-our-farmers-and-drought-affected-communities.

Notes

[1] The lyrics were supplied by Phone Lyrics n.d. Available at: https://phonelyrics.com/lyrics/652728.html (Accessed 26 September 2019).

[2] Stephanie Bedo 2018. Australia’s crippling drought crisis: Overcoming past mistakes to save ourselves for the future. news.com.au (online), 6 August. Available at: https://www.news.com.au/technology/environment/climate-change/australias-crippling-drought-crisis-overcoming-past-mistakes-to-save-ourselves-for-the-future/news-story/136436de96fee5f33809de8d607f413c (Accessed 7 January 2019).

[3] Ibid.

[4] Alana Calvert 2019. From dam to crater – veteran farmer’s prayers for rain go unanswered.Yahoo! News, 23 July. Available at:

[5] The Sydney Morning Herald 2007. Pray for rain, urges Howard (online), 22 April. Available at: https://www.smh.com.au/national/pray-for-rain-urges-howard-20070422-gdpyx1.html (Accessed 6 January 2019).

Copyright © 2021 Spencer D. Gear. This document last updated at Date: 12 October 2021.

Scientist: From hard-core atheist to evangelical Christian.

By Spencer D Gear PhD

It is a long time since I met an evolutionist who moved from being a passionate atheist to an evangelical Christian while retaining his evolutionary ideology.

Evolutionary biology

Darwin's finches by Gould.jpgDarwin’s finches by John Gould (image courtesy Wikipedia)

I met such a person online today: Dr Sy Garte (pron. Gart) is a PhD biochemist and for 30 years a hard-core atheist. He became a Christian and has stated on Twitter. I was introduced to him through a Google search that located these statements.

It’s a mistake to conflate [i.e. merge] atheism with science. Nobody uses God to answer scientific questions about the world of nature. Christians (like me) use science to answer scientific questions. We turn to our faith to answer the “why” questions that science is not built to address.[1]

The basics of the scientific materialistic world view

clip_image002Sy Garte, Ph.D, Biochemistry. Biologist.

(photo courtesy Twitter Sy Garte‏ @sygarte)[2]
An interview with Sy is available on YouTube about ‘Evolution and Reasons to Believe in God‘.
He also belongs to an organisation BioLogos.
See also Science Meets Faith.

Notes


[1] 5:55AM, 31 Jul 2019. Available at: https://twitter.com/sygarte/status/1156549018568273921 (Accessed 23 August 2019).

[2] https://twitter.com/sygarte

Copyright © 2021 Spencer D. Gear. This document last updated at Date: 08 October 2021.

Is Heaven Real?

Jesus Christ In Heaven

By Spencer D Gear PhD

Is heaven real or a fantasy? How can any person get there?

There is a liberal Anglican, Peter Sellick, who posts articles online. He has a new one entitled, “Death and the Lords of the Universe” (On Line Opinion, 18 January 2021), That’s a provocative title. Which Lords?

I picked up a statement from this article:

Death is real, a real end and absence that cannot be penetrated. When this is understood, the confidence of “a better place” after death is exposed as a attempt to soften the hard realities of life and therefore to remain a child in the world.[1]

Sellick’s world view of liberalism speaking

So, I responded:[2]

This is your world view speaking. It is far, far from biblical reality which states:
clip_image001“For to me, living is Christ and dying is gain” (Phil 1:21 NET).

clip_image001[1]“Thus we are full of courage and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord” (2 Cor 5:8 NET).

There is absolute confidence of going to a place of many rooms/mansions for the Christian (John 14:2).

Your problem, Sells, is that you don’t have confidence in the authority of Scripture, so you invent your theology or seek someone else to support your liberalism.

Country music follows your world view.

Country music has a fantasy about heaven. This is one example, sung by its composer, Steve Wariner.[3]

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(Image Steve Wariner, Wikimedia)

These are Steve Wariner lyrics:

“Holes In The Floor Of Heaven”

One day shy of eight years old, my grandma passed away
I was a broken hearted little boy, blowing out that birthday cake
How I cried when the sky let go, with a cold and lonesome rain,
Mamma smiled, said don’t be sad child, grandma’s watching you today
Cause there’s holes in the floor of heaven
And her tears are pouring down,
That’s how you know she’s watching,
Wishing she could be here now.[4]

I’m a country music fan and have heard so many songs with a generalised statement about heaven but no biblical evidence.

You fall into a similar category.

The Bible is adamant: There are mansions for believers; to die is gain, and when I’m absent from this frail, mortal body I’ll be present with the Lord.

Absolutely certain no heaven

Another poster jumped in: “Nobody know (sic) what happens after death” [5] Another asked: “How do you know? Can you prove it?”[6]

I responded: “How do you know? What causes you to make this absolutistic statement? Don’t you think it would show more humility if you said: “I’m unsure what happens at death, but I’ll seek some more information.” [7]

Do you want to join me?

Here’s the key for everyone to enter heaven and enjoy salvation forever: “You can’t be saved by believing in anyone else. God has given people no other name under heaven that will save them” (Acts 4:12 NIRV).

Notes


[1] https://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=21273 (Accessed 18 January 2021).

[2] See: Posted by OzSpen, Monday, 18 January 2021 10:02:07 AM. Ibid.

[3] Available at: http://theboot.com/country-songs-about-heaven/ (Accessed 18 January 2021).

[4] Available at: http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/stevewariner/holesinthefloorofheaven.html (Accessed 18 January 2021).

[5]  Posted by ttbn, Monday, 18 January 2021 10:50:10 AM.

[6]  Posted by Mr Opinion, Monday, 18 January 2021 11:25:54 AM

[7] Posted by OzSpen, Monday, 18 January 2021 11:39:21 AM.

Copyright © 2021 Spencer D. Gear. This document last updated at Date: 18 January 2021.

The 7 Letter Alphabet: How to Name Music Notes — Musicnotes Now

The 7 Letter Alphabet: How to Name Music Notes — Musicnotes Now

Is God in hell?

If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there.

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(Image courtesy PublicDomainPictures.net)

By Spencer D Gear PhD

While blogging on a Christian forum, I met a person who wrote: ‘I don’t believe God dwells in Hell. That’s what Jews believe’.[1]

Is that true or false?

1. Hades and God’s omnipresence

God’s omnipresence means

God is everywhere present at once (omni=everywhere = present). Negatively stated, there is nowhere that God is absent [from]…. It is helpful to see what omnipresence does not mean. It does not mean that God is creation; this is pantheism…. In theism God made the world; in pantheism God is the world. Nor does omnipresence mean that God is in creat6ion, which is panentheism (Geisler 2003:169-170).

The Bible teaches God is omnipresent (Prov 15:3; 1 Kings 8:27; Jer 23:23-24; Matt 18:20; Ps 139:7-12). He is everywhere all the time and that means he will be present forever in hell as the Judge and perpetrator of punishment.

Proverbs 15:3 (NIV) supports this view: ‘The eyes of the Lord are everywhere, keeping watch on the wicked and the good’. The wicked are on earth and also in Hades/Hell. The Lord is active in watching them.

2. What is Hades?

It is ‘the place of the dead’ (Eccl 9:10; Ps 55:23; Acts 2:27) or ‘the place of departed souls/spirits’ (Eccl 12:7; Isa 14:9-10, 19).

There does seem to be a contradiction in Scripture regarding God’s presence in Hades or not. Paul speaks of being ‘shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might’ (2 Thess 1:9 NIV).

However, Scripture also teaches in Revelation 14:20 (NIV) that anyone who receives the beast’s image

will drink the wine of God’s fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. They will be tormented with burning sulphur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb.

How can the damned be shut out from God’s presence and still experience fury from God, in the presence of the Lamb? They seem to be conflicting statements.

These verses are best reconciled, in my view, by recognizing that judgment consists in being excluded from God’s presence as the source of all blessedness, but not from God’s omnipresent lordship (Michael Horton, Hell is not separation from God).

Psalm 139:7-12 (ESV) destroys the view that God is not in Sheol/Hades:

Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
If I ascend to heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there.
If I take the wings of the dawn,
If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea,
Even there Your hand will lead me,
And Your right hand will lay hold of me.
If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me,
And the light around me will be night,”
Even the darkness is not dark to You,
And the night is as bright as the day.
Darkness and light are alike to You.


Seamless Realistic Fire Border...

3. Works consulted

Geisler, N 2003. Systematic theology, vol 2: God, creation. Minneapolis, Minnesota: BethanyHouse.

4.  Notes

[1] Brian100 #587. Christianity Board, ‘Atheist objections to evidence for God’s existence’, 8 July 2020 (Accessed 10 July 2020).

Copyright © 2020 Spencer D. Gear. This document last updated at Date: 10 July 2020.

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Coronavirus (COVID-19): Are you ready?

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(COVID-19 image courtesy Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, USA)

By Spencer D Gear PhD

There are devastating warnings in Italy:

Bologna: Coronavirus victims in Italy could be left to die if they are aged 80 or more, or in poor health, under draft plans drawn up for the next phase of the crisis….

“Should it become impossible to provide all patients with intensive care services, it will be necessary to apply criteria for access to intensive treatment, which depends on the limited resources available.”

One doctor said: “[Who lives and who dies] is decided by age and by the [patient’s] health conditions. This is how it is in a war.”[1]

At the time of writing this article, the World Health Organisation (WHO) stated that not everyone had been tested so it’s impossible to know how many people are infected.

WHO has announced that COVID-19 is a pandemic. [2]

Currently, Australia does not have widespread community transmission of COVID-19. To help slow the spread, the Australian Government has advised, effective from Monday 16 March, organised, non-essential gatherings should be limited to 500 people.

Death can strike at any time. ‘As at 10:30 hrs on 15 March 2020, there were 249 confirmed cases of Coronavirus (COVID-19), including 3 deaths, in Australia…. Across the world, there have been more than 154,480 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and more than 5,700 reported deaths’ (Coronavirus COVID-19: Health Alert, Australian Government, Department of Health).

Are alarm bells ringing: Are you ready for death?

What does it take to cause Aussies to realise death could be around the corner for them? Are you ready to meet the Lord God Almighty?

He has stated in Scripture what awaits you and me:

And just as each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment, so also Christ was offered once for all time as a sacrifice to take away the sins of many people. He will come again, not to deal with our sins, but to bring salvation to all who are eagerly waiting for him (Heb 9:27-28 NLT).

Steps to obtain eternal salvation

  1. You must admit you are a sinner who has broken God’s laws (Rom 3:23).
  2. You can’t receive salvation through your own effort. It is because of God’s grace and faith extended to you (Eph 2:8-9).
  3. God has already reached out to you through creation and your conscience to demonstrate his existence (Rom 1:18-20; 2:15-16).
  4. Receive God’s gift of salvation through repentance and faith (Acts 2:38).

Now join a Bible believing church that will support you as a new believer and help you to grow as a Christian. Sadly, there are some churches that do not believe the Bible and do what they can to undermine Scripture.

This COVID-19 should be enough to wake you from your slumber of where you’ll be 1 minute after your last breath.

Notes

[1] Andrea Vogt and Erica Di Blasi 2020. The Sydney Morning Herald (online), Italy may abandon over-80s to their fate as crisis grows, 15 March. Available at: https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/italy-may-abandon-over-80s-to-their-fate-as-crisis-grows-20200315-p54a75.html (Accessed 16 March 2020).

[2] A pandemic is ‘an occurrence of a disease that affects many people across a whole country or the whole world’ (Macmillan Dictionary 2020. s.v. pandemic).

 

Copyright © 2020 Spencer D. Gear. This document last updated at Date: 16 March 2020.

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Australia is in deep trouble: Droughts, floods and fires

By Spencer D Gear PhD

This title page points to three following articles that need to be read successively to see the message unfold.

1. Pointing Towards a Solution

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(photo courtesy WordPress at The University of Melbourne)

What should we add to the excellent ABC News: Rural (2018) headline?

The big dry: ‘See us, hear us, help us’

That’s a cry for city cousins to dig deep to help people during the big drought. I’m 100% behind that cry for help and have given to the drought appeal. But there’s an essential component absent from that plea.

2. The path Australia treads to ruin

We can’t make it rain. But we can ensure that farming families and their communities get all the support they need to get through the drought, recover and get back on their feet” the government said in a statement’.[1]

3. Get to the heart of the BIG drought, fires and floods

ABC Rural reported again:

Farmers across New South Wales and Queensland are calling it the worst drought in living memory. Many are facing ruin and say it is time for their city cousins to acknowledge the disaster (ABC News Rural: regional reporters 2018).

clip_image004This story pointed to the situation as seen by the farmers:

I’d really like people in the city to remember us, see us, hear us, know that we’re still here.

Thin cattle search for food near Coonabarabran in north-western New South Wales (ABC News: Rural, 2018: Luke Wong)


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(image courtesy Flickr)

Notes:

[1] Stephanie Bedo 2018. Australia’s crippling drought crisis: Overcoming past mistakes to save ourselves for the future. news.com.au (online), 6 August. Available at: https://www.news.com.au/technology/environment/climate-change/australias-crippling-drought-crisis-overcoming-past-mistakes-to-save-ourselves-for-the-future/news-story/136436de96fee5f33809de8d607f413c (Accessed 7 January 2019).


Copyright © 2020 Spencer D. Gear. This document last updated at Date: 11 January 2020.

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What makes Christianity true?

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(courtesy ChristArt)

By Spencer D Gear PhD

If I told you that I went to the beach to fish off the rocks and then had a swim on Saturday and that’s a fact, what would you understand by my calling it a fact? This would mean that it happened. If you had been at that beach you would have seen me with my fishing rod throwing the line with the bait on the hook into the water. You would have seen me swimming between the flags.

The Lexico/Oxford Dictionary (2019. s.v. fact) defines ‘fact’ as:

‘A thing that is known or proved to be true’. An illustration could be, ‘Eloise has been playing tennis for four years, a fact of which she is very proud, especially since she has won 5 local tournaments’.

What are some facts in your world?

  • Where do you work or are you retired?
  • What kind of music do you prefer?
  • In which suburb do you live?
  • Which model and make of car do you drive?

These are facts.

However, we increasingly live in a post-facts world which is often a post-truth world. I’m using ‘post’ as a preposition meaning ‘after-’ such as postmortem, which means , ‘an examination of a dead body to determine the cause of death’ (Lexico.com 2019. s.v. postmortem). It takes place after death. P.S. = postscript; postgraduate; the post-1945 era, and post-election victory speech.

What does it mean to live is a post-truth world? Post-truth means a person is ‘relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief’ (Lexico.com 2019. s.v. post-truth).

I note how journalists can engage in post-truth manipulation against belief systems they don’t agree with. See this article by Peter FitzSimons and note how he does it: ‘Dear Mrs Court, honouring a homophobic zealot is problematic for us (The Sydney Morning Herald, 9 November 2019).

How, then, should we deal with facts and truth associated with Christianity? It was Jesus who stated:

  • “Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me’” (John 14:6)
  • “To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, ‘If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free’ (John 8:31-32)

Stated briefly, Christianity is true because ….

  1. It matches reality like a hand in a glove.
  2. It’s description of human beings is a perfect fit, including the good, the bad and the ugly (fallen human beings in sin – Genesis 3).
  3. It’s explanation of how the universe began and the majesty of the universe are spot on (see Genesis 1-2; Psalm 19).
  4. It gives the only permanent solution I know for changing human beings – from the inside out – in salvation through Christ alone.
  5. It provides the absolutes for running nations (if nations would only obey them) – the 10 commandments (Exodus 20) and the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5-7). Francis Schaeffer described this as the thesis vs antithesis dilemma that God fulfills.
  6. As for a world and life view, there is none to match it.
  7. That’s why I know that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life (John 14:6) .

Recently I was reading a book by Ravi Zacharias, Jesus among Other Gods: The Absolute Claims of the Christian Message (Word Publishing 2000) in which he, a former Hindu ,was so disillusioned with life that he attempted suicide. He wrote,

I came to Him [Jesus] because I did not know which way to turn. I have remained with Him because there is no other way I wish to turn. I came to Him longing for something I did not have. I remain with Him because I have something I will not trade. I came to Him as a stranger. I remain with Him in the most intimate of friendships. I came to Him unsure about the future. I remain with Him certain about my destiny. I came amid the thunderous cries of a culture that has three hundred and thirty million deities. I remain with Him knowing that truth cannot be all inclusive. Truth by definition excludes (p. 6).

I highly recommend this as an excellent lay-level book to help people work through the challenges of multitudes of religions and gods.

However, there are many theological liberals (modernist or postmodernist) who don’t want this to be true. They don’t trust the God revealed in Scriptures and they want to denigrate biblical content wherever possible. Many of these do not believe in the reality of prophecy or the miraculous because their presuppositions exclude a God who would do that. They hack into the integrity of the Bible.

As I’ve examined their claims and the claims of world religions, I conclude where I began: The Christian worldview matches reality perfectly.

See also my articles,

Copyright © 2014 Spencer D. Gear. This document last updated at Date: 16 November 2019.

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