Ray Comfort - The Defenders Guide for Lifes Toughest Questions

The Defenders Guide to Life's Toughest Questions

Preparing Todays Believers for the Onslaught of Secular Humanism

Copyright Information

First printing: January 2011

Second printing: April 2011

Copyright 2011 by Ray Comfort. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations in articles and reviews. For information write:

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ISBN: 978-0-89051-604-1

Library of Congress Number: 2010943232

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Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is taken from the New King James Version (NKJV), copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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Contents

Preface

There is a popular atheist poster that says, "Atheism: Good enough for these idiots. The "idiots pictured in the poster are icons of history from top left there are the faces of Ernest Hemingway, Abraham Lincoln, Carl Sagan, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Albert Einstein, and of course, Charles Darwin.

This poster is typical of those who called themselves atheists. For example, Thomas Jefferson said, "I have ever thought religion a concern purely between our God and our consciences, for which we were accountable to Him, and not to the priests. Carl Sagan didnt know if God existed.

There is one atheist in the poster Ernest Hemingway. He was the American author who wrote fiction and made the profound statement, "All thinking men are atheists. He is said to be "a hero to atheists everywhere. Sadly, he was an alcoholic who became so depressed with life he "put the end of the barrel into his mouth, pulled the trigger, and blew out his brains. Sure.

So there you have it. The one poster boy for atheism is a pretty pathetic advertisement. And you cant blame Hemingway for killing himself. He had no idea where he came from, what he was doing on earth, or where he was going when death eventually came. All atheists are unthinking men, but when it comes down to it there really arent too many of them. As Sir Isaac Newton so wisely said, "Atheism is so senseless and odious to mankind that it never had many professors.

Most of the questions and objections in this book come from those who call themselves "atheists. Many have placed their faith in erroneous information such as the above, and because of it have hardened themselves against God and Christianity (Romans 1). They ask questions but dont really want answers. My hope is that you are open to reason, and that you will find that the answers will give you another perspective.

Thank you for picking up this book.

Chapter One

Humanity: Rights and Suffering

Why do you concentrate on Darwins alleged racism but mysteriously fall silent about your own religions support and outright endorsement of the filthy practice of slavery? Youre a complete hypocrite, Ray.

Both thy bondmen, and thy bondmaids, which thou shalt have, shall be of the heathen that are round about you; of them shall ye buy bondmen and bondmaids. Moreover of the children of the strangers that do sojourn among you, of them shall ye buy, and of their families that are with you, which they begat in your land: and they shall be your possession. And ye shall take them as an inheritance for your children after you, to inherit them for a possession; they shall be your bondmen for ever: but over your brethren the children of Israel, ye shall not rule one over another with rigour (Leviticus 25:4446; KJV).

There is no denying it the Bible not only condones slavery, it encourages it, tells owners how to treat their slaves, and even instructs owners on what they are to do if their slave needs punishment.

Before you slam this book closed and claim a slam dunk against the Bible, its important for you to realize that we look at the issue through the colored glasses of cruel slavery of the American South. We think of slaves as being rounded up like wild animals, packed into ships, held in chains, starved to the point of death, cruelly whipped, sold like chattel, and treated worse than dogs. History shapes the word "slave that way for us.

However, in most cases the word "slave in Scripture and the word "servant are interchangeable. Replace the word "slave with the word "servant and it will help to bring the issue into perspective for you. If you study biblical admonitions to slaves, when they were set free, they were given the option to stay as slaves for life, if they so desired.

I said "most cases because people sold themselves into slavery when they were in debt. There were slaves taken in war. The Jews were taken and used as slaves when they were in Egypt, and they were treated with terrible cruelty.

It is important to realize that both the Old and New Testaments condemn the practice of what it calls "man-stealing. This is what happened in Africa in the 19th century. Innocent Africans were cruelly kidnapped from their loved ones by slave-hunters, who sold them to slave-traders, who brought them to the United States to work on plantations and farms. This practice is so condemned by God that the penalty for such a crime in the Mosaic Law was death: "Anyone who kidnaps another and either sells him or still has him when he is caught must be put to death (Exodus 21:16; NIV).

Sadly, much of American slavery was "justified from Bible verses. But that is nothing new. Throughout history men have twisted the Bible for their own selfish gain. Hitler did it to foster hatred for the Jews, when he painted them as "Christ-killers. What this does is confirm the biblical truth that the human heart truly is wicked (including mine).

Like most other members of my species, I sometimes find life overwhelming and absurd. I struggle with the knowledge that the people I love will eventually die, and that their deaths will almost certainly be preceded by a period of suffering and decline. More selfishly, I am conscious of my own numbered days, my own vulnerability to sickness and decay.

Any thinking person who looks at this life with all of its pains and struggles is going to feel "overwhelmed. Millions try to find refuge in drugs or in alcohol. Most try to deal with their dread of death by using the word "eventually, thinking that they are putting it off into the distant future. But the reality is, millions are cut off by death in their youth and they find that their "eventually wasnt distant at all.

When I was 20 years old, I began thinking for the first time in my godless life. I thought about lifes purpose and its fragility, and how it seemed insane that we had the amazing ability to put a man on the moon, and yet we didnt even know what we were doing here on earth. I thought it strange that medical science spent billions of dollars trying to find a cure for the common cold, and it did nothing to try to stop the aging process. It seemed insane that we were all going to die and nobody talked about it, asked why, or even looked for an answer to it.