Author Archives: Christian

How did God have a son?

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Islam and atheism have been critics of the ideology of God having a son. Ironically, the Islamic view is in agreement with the atheistic view. Both views are based on a self-conceived ideology that God had sex with a woman and begat a son. Once again, the stand-up comedian Bill Maher who described the death of Jesus as a suicide mission takes the birth of Jesus to another extreme level saying ‘God impregnated a poor Palestinian woman’. Many of you will agree with me that mere impregnation of women doesn’t always result in a son, or a daughter, and Bill Maher knows it better. While the concept of gods having sex with women and producing sons and daughters is not alien to Hinduism and many religious mythologies, this is not the case with the God of the Bible. So, did God impregnate a poor Palestinian woman and beget a son? Or more explicitly, as Islam suggests, did God have sex with a woman and beget a son?

I am not going to discuss the actual meaning of the Aramaic, Greek or Hebrew word for ‘Son’, because I am not an expert in these languages. Instead I focus on the English word ‘Son’ because that is what we use. What is the meaning of ‘Son’? The Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English, Fourth Edition, gives the following meanings for ‘Son’:

1. Male child of a parent

2. Male descendent; male member of a family, country etc. one of France’s most            famous sons

3. Form of address used by an older man to a young man or boy: What’s the matter    with you,    son?’ asked the doctor. What is it you want to tell me, my son? Asked the priest.

4. The Son [sing] Jesus Christ: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit

5. (Idm) like father, like son; a son of a bitch, unpleasant person, bastards:  I will kill that son of a bitch when I get my hands on him.

Of these five meanings, only one represents something that is a product of sex or impregnation. In other words, 80% of the meaning is not related to sex, but metaphorical. Now you can accuse me of deliberately ignoring the 20%, which indeed relates to sex. To settle this, let us see what exactly the Bible says.

In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you”. Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favour with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end. “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” The angel answered, “The Holy spirit will come upon you, and the power of the most high will overshadow you. So, the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God. (Luke 1:26-37)

Indeed the poor Palestinian woman was worried about impregnation because she was a virgin. But the angel did not tell her that God will have sex with her and impregnate her. Rather, the angel said, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the most high will overshadow you”. Can someone please educate me where does it say God had sex with that poor Palestinian woman?  Let me make this very clear – the Bible never shies away from explicitly stating sexual acts. Read ‘Genesis’ and the ‘Song of Songs’. The latter one is completely dedicated to love and sex. So, if someone is intending to suggest that ‘the Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the most high will overshadow you’ are the euphemisms for sex, I beg to differ. It is a miracle that you and I cannot fathom – for nothing is impossible with God.

For those who ridicule miracles as superstition or non-scientific, I have something to say. It is similar to fighting fire with fire. My experience is that 100% of the people who ridicule miracles as superstition or non-scientific are believers of the big bang theory. The big bang theory simply means everything came from nothing. Can anything other than miracle explain this?  A belief that everything came from nothing is considered science but a belief in the act of an Almighty God is ridiculed as superstition. To be more precise, if you believe in the miracle that everything came from nothing, then you are considered either a scientist or an intellectual. On the other hand, if you believe in the miracle that God came down to earth as a human being, then you are simply a superstitious idiot. In this context, I rather choose to be a superstitious idiot.  Now back to the topic.

Let us read the passage again and focus on the term ‘Son of God’. The angel’s instruction to Mary was to call the child Jesus, not ‘Son of God’. To the best of my knowledge, Mary never called Jesus Son of God. Although Jesus identified himself as God (read the book of John), and liberally used the terms ‘Son’ and ‘Father’ to describe the relationship between him and the one who sent him, he never used the term ‘Son of God’ to describe himself. Instead, he had a strange way of addressing himself – ‘Son of Man’. We do not know why he addressed himself like that. Either he was humbling himself, or, he was quoting Daniel 7:13-14 to reiterate that he is God everlasting.

In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.(Daniel 7:13-14)

The point is, Jesus never called himself ‘Son of God’. Then what is all the fuss about? Let us read the verses again. The holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. By whom? You and I. By his followers. By his accusers. By the devil. By the One who sent him. By the world – the world will call him the Son of God. Yes. That is what has been happening. There are many examples in the Bible. Let us see some of them:

The Baptism (by the One who sent him): A voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:17)

The Transfiguration (by the One who sent him): And a voice came from the cloud: “This is my son, whom I love. Listen to him” (Mark 9:7)

Peter (one of his followers): “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God”. (Matthew 16:16)

The crucifixion (his accusers):  The Roman soldier who crucified Jesus said, “Surely he was the Son of God!” (Matthew 27:54)

The devil: Whenever the evil spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, “You are the Son of God.” (Mark 3:11)

You and I and the world: Isn’t why we are discussing it here in the first place?

So, how did God have a son? Through a miraculous act the human mind cannot fathom. The term ‘Son’ in this context is metaphorical. Interpretation of this as an act of sex between God and a poor Palestinian woman is a reflection of misunderstanding of the Bible and perhaps a shallow mind.

Next topic: Is God male or female?

Previous topic: Why do we die?

Why do we die?

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During the Easter break, I caught up with one of my friends who has been following my posts. He mentioned that he had some questions about my earlier posts on Christian view of death and eternal life. Here, I share our conversation.

1. If the biblical view of death is correct, and Jesus died for our sins and thus paid the wages of sin (which is death), then why do we still die? In order to understand this, we have to revisit the story of the traffic offender that we discussed earlier. Although the traffic offender paid the penalty and his criminal history was wiped clean, the fact that he was once a traffic offender remains. Similarly, although Jesus died for our sins and the record of our sins are wiped clean when we make his death relevant to us, the fact that we were once sinners remain. And the wages of sin is death. But it doesn’t end there. With the death of the physical body, a new life begins – either in hell or heaven. The relevance of death of Jesus in our life will determine where we end up for eternity.

2. If Jesus is the Lamb of God and he died for the sins of the world, aren’t we all, irrespective what we do or follow, forgiven by default and thus have eternal life? It is true that Jesus is the Lamb of God and that he died for the sins of the world and that eternal life is guaranteed for all those who believe. But it does not give a default forgiveness for our past, present and future sins. Nor does it guarantee eternal life by default. In order to make it relevant, other than belief in Jesus, we have to take some actions – actually three of them – repentance for our sins, confession of our sins and leading a Christian life. Just a belief is not enough. Imagine a scenario in which a drug trafficker tells you something like this: ‘It is okay to traffic drugs and destroy lives. I don’t have to change my ways, or repent or confess, because Jesus has already died for my sins. Because of his death, my past, present and future sins are forgiven and I am guaranteed eternal life by default’. It doesn’t work that way.

Imagine that you are hungry and that a gracious person has placed some food in front of you. Whether you want to accept that food and quench your hunger or reject it and go hungry is entirely up to you. It is a personal choice. The death of Jesus is similar to the food in this example. Without being asked, God has graciously offered forgiveness of sins and eternal life for everyone through the death of Jesus. It is for us to take. It is a personal choice. We can qualify for it through accepting him as our Saviour, repenting for our sins, confessing our sins and leading a Christian life. It is by personal choice, never by default. Do not let anyone mislead you.

Next topic: Did God have a son?

Previous topic: One solitary life

One Solitary Life

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I found this in my letter box the other day and thought of sharing it with you. The interesting thing is that this doesn’t say who that person is, but it is obvious. Unfortunately, the leaflet did not contain any details about the original source of this article. I made a search on the internet. There are many sites that has ‘solitary life’ with minor variations, but none of the ones I looked at included the original source.  If you know, please let me know. I will update it with the original source, which is the right thing to do.

One Solitary Life 

He was born in an obscure village
The child of a peasant woman
He grew up in another obscure village
Where he worked in a carpenter shop
Until he was thirty

He never wrote a book
He never held an office
He never went to college
He never visited a big city
He never travelled more than two hundred miles
From the place where he was born
He did none of the things
Usually associated with greatness
He had no credentials but himself

He was only thirty three

His friends ran away
One of them denied him
He was turned over to his enemies
And went through the mockery of a trial
He was nailed to a cross between two thieves
While dying, his executioners gambled for his clothing
The only property he had on earth

When he was dead
He was laid in a borrowed grave
Through the pity of a friend

Nineteen centuries have come and gone
And today he is the central figure of the human race
And the leader of mankind’s progress
All the armies that have ever marched
All the navies that have ever sailed
All the parliaments that have ever sat
All the kings that ever reigned put together
Have not affected the life of mankind on earth
As powerfully as that one solitary life.

Have a Happy Easter.

Next topic: Why do we die?

Previous topic: What about other religions?

 

What about other religions?

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In the previous post, I made an outrageous claim that eternal life is guaranteed for all those who believe in Jesus and lead a Christian life according to his teachings.  This invariably provokes a string of questions. What about ‘others’? What will happen to the followers of other religions? What will happen to people who don’t follow Christianity? I have been asked these questions countless number of times. It is as if I owe them an explanation. It is assumed that it is the responsibility of Christians to answer these questions. I beg to differ. You have to ask ‘them’, not me. It is not my job to answer these questions. I can speak only for myself.

During my days of search, I looked for answers in other religions. Although born and brought up as a Christian, the Bible didn’t make any sense to me. So, I looked at other religions.   I attended Hindu services.They have some nice teachings.Then I worked in Saudi Arabia for a few years, where I had a first hand experience with Islam. They have some nice teachings too. But my question has always been about eternal life. It is easy for you and I to preach. It is easy for me to give you nice teachings. Given some of the comments I received about my posts, I think I am giving you nice ‘teachings’. About 100 comments I have received so far appreciated my ‘nice teachings’. But the question is, “Can my teachings or I guarantee you eternal life?” No.

My struggle was to choose between the teachings and the teacher. Given that anyone can teach nice things and what we call nice is relative, not absolute, my focus then was on the teacher. I needed to find a person who practiced what he preached and who promised eternal life. Do the founders of other religions or their nice teachings guarantee you eternal life? No. Does the Qur’an mention anywhere that Muhammad (peace be upon him) can guarantee eternal life to his followers? No. He is dead. Every Muslim will agree with me. Did Buddha ever mention that he can guarantee eternal life to his followers? No. He is dead too. Every Buddhist will agree with me. Hinduism doesn’t have any specific founders. According to Hinduism, you could be born as anything in the next birth – for example an animal. Every Hindu will agree with me. In that case, the piece of lamb roast you had for lunch or dinner could have been a human being in the last birth or will be born again as a human being in the next birth. I don’t want to end up on your dinner plate when I am dead. It is not a nice thought. Is it?  (This was one of the many questions I had during my days of search. And actually had the courage to ask it to someone who was preaching me Hinduism). It didn’t make any sense to me. Does it to you?

Then I focused on Jesus. Did he guarantee eternal life to his followers? Yes. The only one who personally guaranteed eternal life to his followers. Is he dead? No. He is the only person ever to defeat death. Death couldn’t contain him – he is alive. Only a person who has defeated death and alive can give eternal life to others. That is my logic. That is why I chose to follow Jesus. What is your logic?

This is why I believe what I believe: I am absolutely sure that if I believe in Jesus and lead a life according to his teachings, I will go to heaven and have eternal life. For ‘others’, it is their job to answer why they follow what they follow.

So, my question is, “Why do you follow what you follow?”

Previous topic: Is the death of Jesus relevant today? 

Is the death of Jesus relevant today?

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One of my friends is a medical researcher. For the past five years, he has been studying how cells die. He knows a lot about how death occurs at cellular level. He is not alone. Scientists indeed have unlocked the code of death. They know how death occurs. One day, I asked my friend whether he or his fellow scientists knew the reason why we all have to die. He didn’t have an answer. Neither do his fellow scientists.

The biblical view is that death entered the world through sin. God told Adam that he would die if he committed sin (breaking his law). (Genesis 2:16, 17) God was not talking about an instantaneous death, but eventual physical death. There was only one law at that time. Adam broke it, and died eventually. The wages of sin is death. (Romans 6:23) Now atheists and some scientists would jump up and down to label me as a complete idiot because I reiterate the biblical view of death. Well. Can you tell me why you will die one day? Or why do you have to die one day? Why does our physical life come to an end? I am not asking how, but why? If you have any sensible non-biblical explanation, you have my attention.

In the previous post, we have seen one of the reasons why Jesus had to die. Here, we will look at it from another angle. At the cross, when he took our sins upon himself, the just Father did not make him immune to the wages of sin – which is death. That is why Jesus had to die. However, Jesus’ death was not an end, but a new beginning. When Jesus gave up his life for our sins, something amazing happened. The curtain of the Temple tore open. (Matthew 27:51) The Temple had three parts – the courts, the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place. Only the high priest was allowed to enter the Most Holy Place, once a year, to atone the sins of the nation. (Leviticus 16: 1-35). At Jesus’ death, the curtain separating the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place tore open, symbolizing that the barrier was removed and we all have free access to God.

Obviously the next logical question is, “How is it relevant to me today?” The event happened more than 2000 years ago. That is where faith comes in. Going back to the traffic offense story, the offender can either believe or disbelieve that the $100 rescued him or her from prison.  Similarly, it is your belief that determines whether the death of Jesus is relevant to you or not. This belief is the foundation that summarizes the entire Bible in one verse:

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)

Yes. The belief that Jesus died for our sins, and therefore, we can have eternal life is the foundation of Christianity. By transferring our sins to him (confessing our sins to him), and leading a Christian life according to his teachings will guarantee eternal life to everyone who believes in him. It is a personal choice. You can ridicule me for this outrageous statement or try it out and see for yourself. It is your personal choice that will determine whether a death that occurred 2000 years ago is relevant to you or not. As I left a few challenges for atheists in a previous post, I am leaving a challenge for you in this post:

Why don’t you just believe and see if it is relevant to you or not?

In the Christian calendar, this week is traditionally considered as holy week. What are you going to do on Good Friday and Eater Sunday? Is attending church in your list of things to do? If not, why don’t you try it out for a change? You might be surprised for all the good reasons. And feel free to share your experience.

Next topic: What about other religions?

Previous topic: Why did the Father allow Jesus to suffer?

Why did the Father allow Jesus to suffer?

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We have seen in the previous topic that the Father is loving and selfless and that he did not send Jesus on a suicide mission. It was not a suicide mission, but a sacrificial mission so that we, including the mockers, can walk free. This automatically leads to a string of questions. “Why Jesus had to go through all these sufferings?” “Why did the Father do it this way?” “Couldn’t God do it in some other way? Why did he have to kill his Son?  I was asked these questions many times. Interestingly though, none of them were atheists, but Christians. They all go to church, read their Bibles, pray every day and try their level best to be good Christians. Yet, they struggle with the above questions.

Before we proceed any further, it is time to correct a common misconception. The Bible does not say that ‘God killed’ Jesus. This is how the four gospels decribe the death of Jesus: Jesus gave up his spirit (Matthew 27:50; John 19: 30); Jesus breathed his last (Mark 15: 37; Luke 23:46);

In order to understand the concept of death of Jesus, let us use a modern-day example, say a traffic offense. While travelling at a speed of 100 kilometres (62 miles) per hour in a 50 kilometres (31 miles) zone, you are caught by the traffic police and issued a penalty – say $100. You have to pay the penalty to the law-maker, which is the Government. If you don’t pay the penalty to the Government, the alternative is to go to prison. There are two ways of paying this penalty. Either you can pay it from your pocket or one of your loved ones can pay it for you. The point is, the penalty needs to be paid in order to rescue you from prison. If you ask me why the law makers do it ‘this way’ and not ‘some other way’, I don’t have an answer. The best I could come up with is: that is the law, and you have to do it.  It is that simple.

Once you have paid the penalty, you no longer will be prosecuted for the offense for which you had already paid the penalty. You will not be sent to prison.  You are forgiven and your slate is wiped clean by the government. However, the fact that you were once a traffic offender doesn’t change. There is a symbolism here. The symbolism is that the $100 you had paid was the substitute for your offense and your punishment.  That $100 rescued you from prison. Now you have a choice – either to believe or disbelieve this symbolism. Your choice will determine how you are going to view the biblical view of sin offering, which we are going to discuss below.

Now let us travel back to 1445 BC and try to understand the whole concept of sin offering in the light of the traffic offense we have seen earlier. This is the approximate time the book of Leviticus was written. The rules and regulations of sin and guilt offerings appear in many places of the first five books of the Old Testament, but predominantly in Leviticus Chapters 4 to 6. The law-maker, God, introduced some laws about how we should live our lives. As we have seen before, these laws can be summarised into two – the love for God and the love for fellow human beings. He also gave us the free will. We can either obey or disobey these laws. And there are consequences for our choice. For those who sin, which basically is breaking God’s law (we will discuss about sin later, when we come to ‘forgive us our debtors’ part of the prayer), God introduced certain penalties so that their sins can be forgiven.

Because dollars and the currencies that we know today did not exist then, the penalty was based on what people had at that time – animals. Depending upon the nature of the sin offering, they had to bring a bull, or a goat, or a lamb in front of the Tabernacle (Tent of Meeting). The one and only condition was that the animal should be ‘without any defects’. The offender had to lay hands on the animal’s head and kill the animal in front of the Tabernacle. Similar to the traffic offense story, there is a symbolism here. The laying of the hands on the animal symbolises the transfer of the sin to the animal. The offender is forgiven and the slate wiped clean by God. The offender no longer will be prosecuted for the offense for which he or she had already paid the penalty. They will not be condemned. The animal became the substitute for the offender. That animal rescued the offender from punishment. The sacrificial animal that takes up the sin must die. Remember this because we will revisit this later. That was the old covenant. I don’t know why God wanted to do it ‘this way’ and not in ‘some other way’. Similar to traffic offense example, the best I could come up with is: that is the law, and you have to do it.  It is that simple.

Now let us travel forward to AD 33. Take or add a year. God is establishing a New Covenant through Jesus for the forgiveness of sins. Instead of animals, Jesus becomes the substitute for our sins. Why? I don’t know. God knows the reasons; however, he chose to reveal some of them.  From what he has revealed to us, we can understand the following:

1. The perfect sacrificial lamb. Remember that the only condition required of the sacrificial lamb was ‘without any defects’. In the new covenant, it is not the physical defects, but spiritual defects. In other words, sin. Only a person without sin can redeem others from sin, because, a person who has committed sin needs a redeemer for himself or herself. And Jesus was the perfect sacrificial lamb without sin. That is why John the Baptist introduced Jesus as ‘the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world’. (John 1:29) Can you think of anyone, other than Jesus, without sin?

2.  Sin causes a barrier between God and us. It all started in the Garden of Eden and we still continue to follow the pattern. God gave everything to Adam and Eve, but forbade only one thing. And you know what happened. In short, they committed sin. Until this time, they had free access to God. What was the first act after the sin? They created a barrier. They hid under the bush which formed a barrier between them and God. (Genesis 3:8) The point is, sin causes a barrier between us and God. Jesus removed this barrier of sin so that we can have direct access to God. How did he do that?

3. That is where the cross comes in.  The mob leaders of that time, who demanded crucifixion of Jesus, knew the following Old Testament law.

If a man guilty of capital offense is put to death and his body is hung on a tree, you must not leave his body on the tree overnight. Be sure to bury him that same day, because anyone who is hung on a tree is under God’s curse.  (Deuteronomy 21:22, 23)

Being under God’s curse is the ultimate humiliation and they wanted to inflict that upon Jesus. The closest thing to ‘hanging on a tree’, under the Roman rule was crucifixion. That is why they demanded crucifixion, even though Jesus was innocent and not guilty of a capital punishment. Remember that Jesus was declared innocent three times during the trial by the Roman governor himself. (Luke 23: 4, 14, 22)

4. What happened at the cross?   This is the greatest symbolism of all. At the cross, taking up all our sins upon him, Jesus became God’s curse. By doing so, the sin caused a barrier between him and the Father, cutting him off temporarily from the Father. That was when Jesus cried out, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46). And he gave up his life on the cross.

This act displays another characteristic of God. Perhaps the answer to the question, “Why did the Father allow his Son to suffer?” lies in his character. You see, he is not only a loving God, but also a just God. He was not showing any favouritism to Jesus. For reasons not yet revealed to us, in the Old Testament days, God made an executive decision that the sacrificial lamb that takes up the sin must die. Being a just God, he did not want to deviate from this decision in order to show favouritism to his Son. In the present day, we would be outrageous if a judge tries to change the law in order to let his or her son off the hook. Wouldn’t we? The same applies to God. Any attempt to change the law in order to let his Son off the hook would be outrageous. Then he no longer is a just God. So, his character, being a just God, perhaps is the best answer to the question.

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Please pause for a moment and read Isaiah chapter 53. It describes everything you need to know about this suffering servant and the will of God.

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5. It is a good deal. Some of you may be still struggling to comprehend the meaning of this mystery. For those who still struggle, I have something non-biblical to say. Well, the sacrifice of Jesus for our sins is a pretty good deal. Don’t you think? If it weren’t the case, imagine the amount of money we would be spending in buying goats, bulls, rams and lambs as sin offering. Given the sheer amount of sins we commit on a daily basis, imagine the number of animals we would need to buy. We would be all bankrupt.  So, the sacrifice of Jesus for our sins is a pretty good deal for me.

This leads to the next question. “How is a death that occurred more than 2000 years ago relevant to me today?” We will discuss this in the next topic.

Next topic: Is the death of Jesus relevant today?

Previous topic: The suicide mission of Jesus

What kind of father would send his son on a suicide mission?

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I don’t know if you ever come across an atheist. I have – many of them. They have four things in common. First, they think that they are intellectually superior to anyone who believes in God (read Christian God).  Second, if you are a believer in God (read Christian) you automatically are an idiot who let religious beliefs cloud your common sense. Third, they ask lots of questions, but never interested in answers.  Fourth, they believe that there is no God, but spend the rest of their lives disproving someone who doesn’t exist!!!

One of their questions is “What kind of father would send his son on a suicide mission?” One of the most prominent atheists who make this comment is the American stand-up comedian Bill Maher. There are so many variations and in essence, all these comments or questions basically imply that Jesus came to earth on a suicide mission. This is supposedly an intelligent question or comment, but I fail to see any intelligence in it. All I see is foolishness. So, before addressing the issue of suicide mission, let us see why this question is foolishness and where this foolishness comes from.

It is foolishness because atheists who ask this question do not have the common sense to distinguish between suicide and sacrifice. I do not wish to discuss suicide because it might be upsetting for those who have lost their loved ones to suicide. All I want to say is, none of the people who have committed suicide saved humanity. Instead, the loved ones they leave behind spend the rest of their lives in agony, trying to come to terms with it.  In Jesus’ case, it was not suicide. It was the case of someone who was declared innocent by the Roman governor Pontius Pilot – not just once, but three times during the trial. (Luke 23: 4, 14, 22)  Despite being declared innocent, he was crucified. It was the case of absolute miscarriage of justice, not suicide. Prove me wrong.

Now let us look at where this foolishness comes from. While we can scientifically measure the intelligence of a person, it is not the case with wisdom. A man or woman can be intelligent but not necessarily wise. The Bible says something interesting about wisdom.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. (Psalm 111:10)

In other words, wisdom comes from the Lord. When you reject the Lord and claim that there is no God, there goes wisdom and hence the ability to distinguish between suicide and sacrifice. So, in my view, atheists are not disproving the existence of God, rather through their lack of wisdom (while intelligent), prove that there is a God and God’s words (the Bible) are true.

Now let us look at the issue of suicide mission. Did the Father send his Son on a suicide mission? Or, “Did Jesus come to earth on a suicide mission?” As I mentioned earlier, atheists are not interested in answers, only in questions. Hence, the dilemma is whether to answer or ignore. If I answer, then it will be the case of throwing pearls as in one of the sayings of Jesus. (Matthew 7:6) If I ignore, I will be blamed for escapism. Therefore, I have decided to respond to this question with a secular, not religious, answer. Many of you may not like my response, but you are free to reach your own conclusions. All I ask is to put aside your ideologies and political views and see my response with an open mind.

If you live in a free democratic country, there is a reason behind it. Thousands of men and women laid down their life in the past so that we can have a free country. The foundations of our democracy are built on the blood of many of our forefathers. It is up to you to label their mission as suicidal or sacrificial. You and I go to bed tonite, feeling safe, because there are courageous men and women staying awake while we are asleep, to protect our countries, willing to lay down their life in the process.  It is up to you to label this as suicidal or sacrificial. Thousands of police officers are out there making the streets safer so that you and I can walk free without fear. Many of them are killed in action to protect you and I. If you want to call this sacrificial act as suicidal, then it is up to you. These men and women in our armies and police force, when they signed up, they knew beforehand that they might be killed in action. Yet they went ahead and signed up to make the world a better place. It is up to you to label this mission as suicidal or sacrificial.

Now let us turn to the people who ‘sent them’ on a suicide mission. There is a father, a mother, a sister, a brother, or a daughter behind each and every one who signed up to protect you and I. And they knew beforehand that they might be killed in action in the process of protecting us. If you want to label them as unloving and cruel and ridicule them with questions like, “What kind of people would send their loved ones on a suicide mission?”, my answers are,

  1. It is not a suicide mission, but a sacrificial mission so that we, including the mockers, can walk free.
  2. The father, the mother, the wife and the children who sent them are not cruel. They are loving and selfless.

As ANZAC (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) day is looming upon us (25 April), I also think this is a fitting tribute to all those who sacrificed their lives for our freedom. You see, you don’t have to twist the truth to sustain an ideology. And in the case of high profile comedians, they don’t have to twist the facts, just to make a living. That is really sad.

So going back to the original question, “What kind of Father would send his Son on a suicide mission?” Please refer to the above two answers. The Father is loving and selfless. The difference is, in the case of Jesus, it was not about saving our physical body from the bad guys, but saving our souls.

This automatically leads to a string of questions. “Why did the Father do it this way?” “Why Jesus had to go through all these sufferings?” “Couldn’t God have done it in some other ways? “Why did God kill Jesus? “We will discuss these questions in the next topic.

Before we move on to the next topic, I have four questions for atheists.

  1. If God doesn’t exist, why do you spend the rest of your life disproving the existence of someone who doesn’t exist?
  2. In the West, atheism basically means ‘anti-Christianity’. How many atheists have ever read the Bible in its entirety – from the book of Genesis to Revelation?
  3. If you are an atheist, and you have never read the Bible in its entirety, do you agree that you are ill-informed about the Bible and the God described in the Bible?
  4. Do you agree to take up my challenge to read the Bible in its entirety before opening your mouth against Christianity?

Next topic: Why did the Father allow Jesus to suffer?

Previous topic: The Lord’s Prayer: Is the Father abusive?

The Lord’s Prayer: Is the Father abusive?

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About ten years ago, I overheard a conversation between two women. It was during a bus trip from the city centre to my suburb, a 20 minutes’ journey. They were sitting in the row in front of me. One of them was constantly talking and wore a ring in her right middle finger. The ring had a large black oval stone, appeared to be about 3 to 4 centimetres long (2.54 centimetres is an inch) and about 1 centimetre wide. I couldn’t hear the full conversation, but whenever the woman who was talking became emotional, she raised her voice, which was loud enough for me to overhear.

This is the recollection of what I overheard :…(showing the ring to her friend) some people believe in the Bible and I believe in this lucky stone. For me there is no difference between a belief in the Bible and this stone…. I cannot understand some of the stuff the Bible teaches….it teaches some weird stuff like calling God as father….my mum taught me to recite ‘our father in heaven’….I didn’t like it because I could not comprehend that idea….My father was an abuser. He used to beat my mother. He was a drunkard. He never took care of me and when he passed away didn’t leave any inheritance for us…. He was irresponsible and a gambler….  He slept around….We lived in fear that one day he was going to kill us…. So, to me, a father means an abuser, a drunkard, wife-beater etc…something is definitely wrong with this prayer….my mother is a religious woman and I love her…. But whenever she asked me to say this prayer, I was very upset and argued with her….because my image of a father is an abuser….

I got off at my destination. But what I overheard remained in me and I have been thinking about it all these years. It was a heart-wrenching story. Unfortunately she is not alone. Many of you may have had an abusive father.  Perhaps yours is even worse. How, then, do you come to terms with calling God as father? A genuine question. I do not have an answer that would change your past or your father’s behaviour. No amount of comforting words are going to bring back your lost childhood. But there are three things, I am confident, will help you to clear your mind and build a better future. I will be succinct.

1. Distinguish between the heavenly father and the earthly father.  Our hurts can often lead us to generalise things. It is wrong to generalise and assume that all fathers are abusive. Going back to the original story, it is wrong to generalise and assume that all women believe that a black oval stone will bring them luck.  Such generalisation prevents us to see the whole picture. Jesus did not teach us ‘our father on EARTH’ rather he taught ‘our father in HEAVEN’. For whatever reasons, when we choose not to look beyond the ‘father’ portion, we lose sight of the big picture and the truth behind this prayer. It is important to distinguish between the earthly father and the heavenly father. The father Jesus identified is not an earthly one, but a heavenly one. And He should not be confused with the father on earth, which leads to the second point.

2. Why was your father on earth abusive? There is only one reason. Your earthly father did not follow the rules of the heavenly father.  The father in heaven set up certain rules and regulations for all fathers on earth how to treat their children and  wives. The heavenly father asks every earthly father not to abuse their wives (Ephesians 5:25, 33; Colossians 3:19), not to be adulterers (Ephesian 5: 26-32) and not to get drunk (Ephesians 5:18). They have to leave inheritance for their children (Proverbs 13:22). They should not embitter (Colossians 3:21) or exasperate them (Ephesians 6:4). Instead, they should instruct, discipline, and train their children in the laws of God (Deuteronomy 6: 5-9; Proverbs 19:18; 22:6, 29:17; Ephesians 6: 4), which are the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20: 1-17).  Jesus summarised these laws into two – love for God and love for fellow human beings (Matthew 22: 34-40). So, basically, your father chose not to obey the rules of the heavenly father. The end result was disastrous. Your father may have been a religious man. He probably was so occupied with loving God that he forgot to love his family. The heavenly father does not condone that kind of love. His love for us transcends all human understanding. He so loved the world he gave his only begotten Son for our salvation (John 3:16), which leads to the third point.

3. The heavenly father sent someone to give rest to your weary and burdened soul. The Son said something amazing.

‘Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle, and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your soul. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. (Matthew 11:28-30)

A yoke is a heavy wooden harness that fits over the shoulders of an ox or oxen, which in turn is attached to something the oxen are to pull. You can see this practice in many Asian countries especially in the rice fields to plough the land.  If you have never seen one, imagine a horse pulling its carriage. While the horse doesn’t have a yoke, the picture is, it has to pull something that is attached to it. Jesus is literally pleading with you not to load your shoulders with burdens of life and carry it along for the rest of your life. He asks to unload all your burdens, yokes, hurts and resentments upon him and re-load them with his yoke. His yoke is love, compassion, healing, gentleness and, above all, forgiveness. I am not aware of any other religious founders who take such a personal responsibility for your welfare. That is the difference.

In a nutshell, this is his message: unload all your resentments about your earthly father upon the one whom the heavenly father sent. Learn from him the meaning of ultimate love, sacrifice, healing and forgiveness. A future of hope awaits you’.

I believe that you have seen the distinction between the heavenly father and the earthly father. The heavenly father is not abusive. Also, you have seen that the reason for your misery is the deliberate ignorance by your earthly father of the heavenly father’s directions of treating children. And the good news is, you can let it go and move on with the help of the one whom the heavenly father sent. So, what have you decided? Do you want to carry the burden on your shoulders for the rest of your life or do you want to unload it on Jesus? If you have decided to unload it upon Jesus, there is a simple prayer you can say tonite before going to bed.

My Father in heaven, give me the strength to forgive my father on earth. Help me to unload all my burdens upon you and move on. Help me to heal. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.

The next topic will address one of the most frequently asked questions of atheists.

Next topic:  The suicide mission of Jesus

Previous topic: The Lord’s Prayer: Who is the Father?

The Lord’s Prayer: Who is the Father?

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Have you ever recited the Lord’s Prayer? Does it mean anything to you? Have you ever wondered a prayer that was taught more than 2000 years ago, to a tiny group of people in an obscure village, has any relevance in today’s world? Yes, it does. If you understand the meaning of this prayer, you will see that it is more relevant in today’s world than any other time in the history of humankind. Let us start with the first line of the prayer: Our Father in heaven.

All forms of communication require proper recipients. Try sending a text message or an email without a proper number or an email address.  You simply cannot, because you need ‘specific’ information about the recipient. Similarly, you cannot send your prayers without a specific recipient. Jesus specifically identifies a ‘Father’ as the recipient of our prayers. I am not going to discuss the actual meaning of the Aramaic word for ‘Father’, because I am not an expert in Aramaic. Instead, I focus on the word Father, because that is what we use.

When we look at it in its historic context, the Jews had been subjected to centuries of slavery by various nations. As a result, they were exposed to many pagan religious practices, which included worshiping graven images and disgusting practices like sacrificing children to satisfy the so-called gods. In Jesus’ time, the Jews were under the Roman rule. For Romans, Caesar was god and Jews were expected to worship him, in addition to various Roman gods. In today’s world, many religions worship stones, animals, celestial bodies, and graven horrifying images as gods, hoping that they will grant them their wishes and eternal life. In some cases, humans are considered gods, for example, you and I are gods.  Jesus is trying to put some common sense into people’s thinking by saying that inanimate things, animals, and humans are not gods. God is not an ‘it’ but a living ‘person’ whom we can call Father – daddy.

That is the uniqueness of Christianity. Although identifying God as ‘Father’ is an Old Testament concept (Isaiah 63: 16), Jesus is revolutionizing that concept in the New Testament. He is not only identifying God as Father, but also giving us the privilege of calling that God our Father in heaven. While many religions are confused about what to pick, the moon, or a stone or a cow or a snake or an image of choice as their god, in Christianity, there is no confusion about who God is. There is a universal belief among world religions that there is a god ‘up there’. However, most of these religions do not tell ‘who exactly’ is up there. Furthermore, it is not clear whoever up there is capable of granting eternal life.

Jesus makes these points very clear.  Jesus says, “I indeed know the God who is up there, because I was there to witness everything from the beginning. (John 1: 1 -2) The God who is up there is a heavenly Father who created everything. (John 1: 3) He is a loving Father who sent me down here. (John 6:38) The heavenly Father is merciful (Luke 6:36), perfect (Matthew 5: 48), loving (John 3:16), caring (Luke 15: 1-7) and forgiving (Matthew 19:21, 22). We can directly approach such a loving, caring, merciful, perfect, and forgiving heavenly Father, as a child would approach his or her father. That heavenly Father will guarantee eternal life to all those who believe in me (John 3:16)”. What a privilege! That assurance is the difference between any other religions and Christianity. That distinction is the difference between any other gods and the God Jesus taught us to call our Father in heaven.

Well, some of you may gladly embrace the fancy words I have written above, because you are the lucky ones. For you, a father is someone who is loving and caring. Your father took care of you and brought love, joy and peace in your life. He was, or is, there for you in times of need.  For others, the unlucky ones, this is not the case. There are no pleasant memories. Your father brought misery into your life and never cared about you. You have an image of an abusive, drunken, wife-beating, and irresponsible father. Mere thought of your father either terrifies you or makes you to despise him. So, how do you come to terms with the ideology of calling God as Father? This is not an imaginary question. It is a real-world question. We will look at it in the next topic. Until then, take care.

Next topic: The Lord’s Prayer: Is the Father abusive?

Previous topic: I don’t know how to pray

I don’t know how to pray

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Hopefully, you had put aside 10 minutes and committed yourself to spending that time in prayer. Some of you may know how to pray. For others, even the thought of praying can be a terrifying ordeal.The mind goes blank and it is very difficult to find words. If you belong to the latter category, do not panic. Even the disciples did not know how to pray. So, they asked Jesus to ‘teach them how to pray’ (Luke 11:1), and Jesus taught them, which we know as the Lord’s Prayer. The Lord’s Prayer is found in two places in the New Testament. (Matthew 6: 9-13 and Luke 11: 2-4) While Matthew does not explicitly say that the disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray, Matthew records that ‘Jesus began to teach them’ (Matthew 5:2) including the Lord’s Prayer. (Matthew 6: 9-13) The point is, among other things, Jesus also taught us how to pray. So, if you do not know how to pray or petrified by the thought of finding words to use in prayer,   reciting what Jesus taught us will be a good start until you are confident of using your own words. This is Matthew’s version of the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6: 9-13):

This, then, is how you should pray:

Our Father in heaven,

Hallowed be your name,

Your kingdom come,

Your will be done

On earth as it is in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation,

But deliver us from the evil one.

 What does this prayer mean? We will look at it in the coming days. In the meantime, if you have any questions about this prayer, please feel free to post the question and I will endeavor to answer it as early as I can.

Next topic: The Lord’s Prayer: Who is the Father?

Previous topic: Does God fit into your schedule today?