Scientists Discover that Atheists Might Not Exist

In one of his blogs CalvinDude wrote:

Scientists discover that atheists might not exist, and that’s not a joke.
[ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ link to article   ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑]

The article tries to claim that there are evolutionary survivability advantages to believing in God despite Him supposedly not existing. But frankly the article posits nothing of value on that discussion. Better arguments have been put forth elsewhere.

Of course, all such arguments fall prey to one important fact. If evolution selects for us to believe in some form of deity when objectively there is no God at all, then evolution is selecting for us to believe a lie; and since on the theory that God isn’t real then all our knowledge comes from similar evolutionary pressures, then ultimately we must acknowledge that evolution cannot select for truth at all. This means we can’t exactly trust anything that is based on evolutionary pressures.
But I’m sure atheists will get right on patching up that flaw. Any time now. Any time.

The link CalvinDude provides is to an article that argues that the scientific evidence strongly supports the idea that humans are neurologically hard-wired to believe in metaphysically supernatural personal entities (like God, gods, ghosts, spirits etc.). Atheists often appeal to evolutionary reliabilism to overcome the theistic challenge of EAAN (i.e. the Evolutionary Argument Against Naturalism). However, if humans really are hard-wired to believe in supernatural entities and can't completely escape or overcome that bias, then that undermines the appeal to evolutionary reliabilism.

With the assumption that atheism is true, the fact that "most" people ("all" according to the article above?) are believers in the supernatural goes to show that evolution has done a terrible job of designing our sensory organs and mental faculties to be able to arrive at truth. This supports Plantinga's EAAN (Evolutionary Argument Against Naturalism) which argues that it's rationally incoherent to be a evolutionary atheist because unguided evolution makes it unlikely that any of our thoughts and conclusions are trustworthy or true. Including the conclusion of atheism.

On the one hand many atheists claim that our cognitive faculties are reliable enough to enable us to conclude that God doesn't exist (or probably so). Yet, the empirical evidence from experiments is that humans are naturally and incurably wedded to the belief in supernatural entities like God. On the other hand, many atheists claim that our cognitive faculties are very deceptive and that accounts for why the majority of humans believe in supernatural entities and only a few can overcome that natural programming so as to come to the more sensible conclusion that there probably isn't a God. Yet, if taken to its logical conclusion, that gives atheists reason to doubt their conclusions, including the conclusion that there is no God or is likely no God. Why assume they can overcome such evolutionary programming if evolution did such a bad job at forming our cognitive faculties? Thus making positive strong atheism epistemologically difficult (if not impossible) to assert.

The following are three links to an article about the scientific experiment that showed that atheists sweat when they dare God to do harm:

http://fixedpointfix.com/daring-god-makes-atheists-sweat/

http://epiphenom.fieldofscience.com/2013/11/atheists-get-sweaty-when-daring-god.html

http://www.secularnewsdaily.com/2013/11/atheists-get-sweaty-when-daring-god/

Belief in God is part of human nature - Oxford study
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/8510711/Belief-in-God-is-part-of-human-nature-Oxford-study.html


Related links:

Are humans innately inclined to find theism intuitive?

I’m an atheist. So why can’t I shake God?

10 facts about atheists

Why God Won't Go Away: Brain Science & the Biology of Belief

Do children believe because they're told to by adults? The evidence suggests otherwise

Anger at God common, even among atheists

Is Atheism a Delusion?

(https://youtu.be/_Ii-bsrHB0o)

Is Atheism a Delusion? (Follow up)
(https://youtu.be/xnBTJDje5xk)

https://youtu.be/byN38dyZb-k
Can Atheists Trust Their Own Minds?

by William Lane Craig

The Argument from Reason

The Circularity of Evolutionary Reliabilism

http://www.cc.utah.edu/~jas23960/james/sage_circularity.pdf
or HERE

Two Senses of ‘Reliability’ in Evolutionary Epistemology

Here

The Evolutionary Basis of Self-Deception
https://www.uwsp.edu/philosophy/FacultyStaffDocs/jSage/Sage%20Evolutionary%20Basis%20of%20Self-Deception.pdf or [HERE]

The Case Against Reality by Greg Welty

Evolution May Obscure Reality, Says a Cognitive Scientist and Evolutionist by Sarah Chaffee

 Born Believers: The Science of Children's Religious Belief by Justin L. Barrett [Amazon.com link]

The Hard Problem of Consciousness http://www.iep.utm.edu/hard-con/

Problems of Consciousness http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/consciousness/#ProCon

Eliminative Materialism  http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/materialism-eliminative/


Is Consciousness an Illusion? by Thomas Nagel   
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/2017/03/09/is-consciousness-an-illusion-dennett-evolution/


Greg Bahnsen's doctoral dissertation is available for download. The title is, A Conditional Resolution of the Apparent Paradox of Self-Deception

It was presented to the faculty of the University of Southern California

Here's the link:    http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/ref/collection/p15799coll3/id/388025

Greg Bahnsen was a Calvinist philosopher and apologist who argued for the standard Calvinistic position that all men know God but suppress that knowledge in their unrighteousness. I'm no longer dogmatic that [setting aside the mentally handicapped and infants] all men do know God. Maybe we all do. But at the very least, I'm convinced that all people *OUGHT* to know God exists and that those who don't (if they really exist) are culpably ignorant.


See Also My Blogs:

Evidence and Arguments Against Materialism and Naturalism

The Psychology of Atheism

The Life of the Messiah (21 audio lectures) by Arnold Fruchtenbaum

This blogpost links to Arnold G. Fruchtenbaum's 21 part audio lecture series "The Life of the Messiah" (alternatively titled "The Jewish Life of Christ").

Lecture 1	Lecture 2	Lecture 3	Lecture 4	Lecture 5	Lecture 6	Lecture 7
Lecture 8	Lecture 9	Lecture 10	Lecture 11	Lecture 12	Lecture 13	Lecture 14
Lecture 15	Lecture 16	Lecture 17	Lecture 18	Lecture 19	Lecture 20	Lecture 21

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Answering Your Toughest Questions with Dr. Michael Brown YouTube Episodes:
 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16,
 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25,26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32,

Each episode is about 30 minutes long. That means this series of lectures is about 16 hours long. It deals with the toughest questions regarding the Messiahship of Jesus/Yeshua.

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Countering the Counter-Missionaries
(Over 24 hours of teaching by Michael L. Brown)

Day 1 part 1 & 2 http://youtu.be/vV9rMFOFkgY
Day 1 part 3 & 4 http://youtu.be/OLT7BYpdU1o

Day 2 part 1 & 2 http://youtu.be/tcsK1VfAA0Y
Day 2 part 3 & 4 http://youtu.be/wbKAFnr0O6Q

Day 3 part 1 & 2 http://youtu.be/roHll6Gf3EY
Day 3 part 3 & 4 http://youtu.be/nt3X4SbijEo

Day 4 part 1 & 2 http://youtu.be/JLg4XnkitKE
Day 4 part 3 & 4 http://youtu.be/O_LyQI9dpI4

Day 5 part 1 & 2 http://youtu.be/Q-nMtATgETE
Day 5 part 3 & 4 http://youtu.be/7KUc9kQlb1Y

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It's common for non-Messianic Jews to argue that no respected and learned rabbis ever accepted Jesus' Messiahship. However that's false. As the following two articles proves.

Rabbis Who Thought For Themselves Part ONE
Rabbis Who Thought For Themselves Part TWO

The above articles don't even mention learned Jews who weren't rabbis but who nevertheless were believers in Jesus/Yeshua. For example, Charles Lee Feinberg who was on his way to becoming a rabbi when he became convinced that Jesus was the Messiah. He went on to become a biblical scholar and professor of Semitics and Old Testament. He was an authority on the Jewish history, languages and customs of the Old Testament and biblical prophecies. His two sons John and Paul also became Christian scholars. Another example would be Alfred Edersheim who wrote classic books including The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah. David H. Stern (writer of the Jewish New Testament Commentary). Another example would be Louis Goldberg, Th.D. - faculty; author and former professor of Theology and Jewish Studies; former president of the Evangelical Theological Society, in 1983; former Scholar-in-Residence for Jews for Jesus.

More could be cited, but I'll leave it at that.


See also my related blog:

What Do You Think About The Messiah?

Problems with the Multiverse

I myself am open to the reality of a multiverse. I don't believe its existence threatens the existence of God. I agree with Robin Collins views as he's explained it in the 2nd video HERE.

As Robin Collins points out th multiverse would be consistent with the infinite creativity of God (or Divine principle of plenitude). Nevertheless, the idea that a multiverse exists apart from a designer does seem unlikely and ad hoc to me. It goes against the principle of parsimony or Occam's Razor which argues that all things being equal, the simpler explanation or hypothesis is to be preferred over more complex ones.  As Richard Swinburne wrote:

"…it is the height of irrationality to postulate an infinite number of universes never causally connected with each other,  merely to avoid the hypothesis of theism. Given that simplicity makes for prior probability, and a theory is simpler the  fewer entities it postulates, it is far simpler to postulate one God than an infinite number of universes, each differing  from each other in accord with a regular formula, uncaused by anything else."
- Richard Swinburne on the multiverse  theory in his book The Existence of God

"Some have said that the laws of nature are simply accidental results of the way the universe cooled after the big bang. But, as Rees has pointed out, even such accidents can be regarded as secondary manifestations of deeper laws governing the ensemble of universes. Again, even the evolution of the laws of nature and changes to the constants follow certain laws. 'We’re still left with the question of how these "deeper" laws originated. No matter how far you push back the properties of the universe as somehow "emergent," their very emergence has to follow certain prior laws.'¹ So multiverse or not, we still have to come to terms with the origin of the laws of nature. And the only viable explanation here is the divine Mind.” —Antony Flew (There is a God, pp. 121-122.) [Anthony Flew was a well known 20th century atheist philosopher who converted to theism near the end of his life.]
1. Martin Rees, “Exploring Our Universe and Others,” in The Frontiers of Space (New York: Scientific American, 2000), 87. 

“[The multiverse theory] can explain anything . . . If a theory allows anything to be possible, it explains nothing; a theory of anything is not the same as a theory of everything.”- John Polkinghorne (is an Anglican priest and philosopher, a theist. He was also at one time a theoretical particle physicist at Cambridge.)

Polkinghorne's statement renders the multiverse theory trivial—or at least the infinite universes version of the theory.

Victor Stenger, a retired physics prof from the University of Hawaii, has given us two books that explain both atheism and "multiverses", and behold, they are one. Few other proponents of multiverses are quite as forthcoming with their logic, but clearly something besides data must motivate the science of multiverses, because by definition multiverses are not observable. Stenger makes the connection explicit, whereas Hawking or Susskind is a little more coy with their metaphysics. Multiverse-theory is designed for one purpose, and one purpose only, and that is to defend atheism. It makes no predictions, it gives no insight, it provides no control, it produces no technology, it advances no mathematics, it is a science in name only, because it is really metaphysics.- physicist Rob Sheldon
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/bloggers/2746500/posts

William Lane Craig has made an interesting point when comparing the competing hypotheses of cosmic design and a multiverse. There's independent evidence for the existence of God, but there is no independent evidence for the multiverse/world ensemble. Much less that it's also infinitely numbered and randomly ordered.
John Lennox rightly noted that though atheists may present the options of either God OR the multiverse, that's a false dilemma since God could have created the multiverse. Don Page is a Canadian Christian and theoretical physicist who is a colleague of Stephen Hawking and he believes in the multiverse. Craig has pointed out that theism is the best hope for the existence of the multiverse because an omnipotent God can create as many worlds as He wants.


Physicist Paul Davies’ killer argument against the multiverse
http://www.uncommondescent.com/intelligent-design/physicist-paul-davies-killer-argument-against-the-multiverse/


Stephen C. Meyer giving his reasons for why cosmic intelligent design is more plausible even if a multiverse theory is true. He speaks on the topic for about 10 minutes. I've already qued the video at 70 minutes. View video by Clicking HERE




Here's another critique of the Multiverse theory.

The Teleological Argument (What it really says)
(video link)

The Big Bang, Multiverses, and the Anthropic Principle Discussed by William Lane Craig 

"If, for some unforeseen reason, the landscape turns out to be inconsistent – maybe for mathematical reasons, or because it disagrees with observation – I am pretty sure that physicists will go on searching for natural explanations of the world. But I have to say that if that happens, as things stand now we will be in a very awkward position. Without any explanation of nature’s fine-tunings we will be hard pressed to answer the ID critics. One might argue that the hope that a mathematically unique solution will emerge is as faith-based as ID." - From the New Scientist interview of Leonard Susskind

To the hard-line physicist, the multiverse may not be entirely respectable, but it is at least preferable to invoking a Creator. Indeed, anthropically inclined physicists like Susskind and Weinberg are attracted to the multiverse precisely because it seems to dispense with God as the explanation of cosmic design.- Bernard Carr

[Bernard J. Carr is a British professor of mathematics and astronomy at Queen Mary University of London] 

 

William Lane Craig's Debate with Sean Carroll

This link includes 1. Craig's pre-debate assessment, 2. the debate, 3. Craig's after debate reflections

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As I understand it, the Multiverse theory is a cosmological postulate distinct (and different from) from the Many Worlds interpretation of Quantum Mechanics.

Here's a critique of the many worlds interpretation

A Critique of the Many Worlds Interpretation
(video link)

Why Obey God? [rough draft]

I'm currently working on this blog. Comments and Objections welcome. Sometimes objections are the best way to help refine one's arguments.

 

See also my blog: God in Relation to Law: Ex Lex, Sub Lego or Sibi Ipsi Lex

In this blog I'll try to map out the reasons for obeying God. It'll be in the form of a dialogue. I'll be giving answers, objections and commentary as I play both Christian theist and atheist.

A = Christian Answer; 
O = Atheist Objection; 
C = My Commentary

Why should one obey God?

A. Because God is the ultimate authority and commands you to.

O. But that begs the question [i.e. circular reasoning], since we're asking why  one should obey God. Saying one should obey God because God is the ultimate authority doesn't actually answer the question. It merely bypasses or dismisses or ignores the question. Why should one accept God's claimed authority in the first place? What reasons can you give me to believe that God does have such an authority and is deserving my obedience?

A. But to ask why one should obey God is itself to beg the question [circular reasoning] as to whether God actually does possess ultimate authority such that you must obey God.

C. I agree and disagree with both responses. I do believe that to question God's authority is to beg the question as to whether God does have such an authority. As a Christian I do believe God has that kind of authority and is deserving such implicit obedience. However, questioning God's authority is not the same thing as asking for reasons why one ought to obey God. There's nothing inherently wrong in asking for such reasons.

A. You ought to obey God because God is the source of our being and well being. By believing in God you avoid hell and will potentially enter heaven. God is omnipotent and can enforce His punishment on the disobedient and distribute His blessings on the obedient. God is not only our Creator, but also our Sustainer. By God's providence He conserves and preserves our continued existence. We are alive because God continues to uphold our being and existence along with providing whatever good things we do happen to enjoy in this world.

O. But those are prudential reasons, not rational reasons. With that approach one is merely obeying God for mercenary reasons. In essence, you're telling us to become cosmic sycophants, brown nosers and ass kissers. Also, your reference to God being powerful enough to enforce his punishment on the disobedient borders on, or commits the argumentum ad baculum fallacy. You and God are threatening me with the consequence of eternal punishment if I don't accept God's (claimed) authority.

C. Biblically, prudential reasons (like those mentioned above) are good and permissible reasons to obey God, but they are NOT the only reasons or even the BEST reasons. Also, I'm not so sure I'm committing the ad baculum fallacy. I might be, but not all ad baculum arguments are fallacious (see Here).

What is really being asked is what are the rational reasons one should obey God.

A. A rational reason to obey God is because He is your Creator. Your ontological Father, so to speak. In the same way you ought to implicitly obey your parents who gave you being, so you ought to obey God your Heavenly Father and Creator. You owe Him your being. Also, as your Creator, His commands to you and your duties to Him are adapted to your nature. So, they aren't arbitrary. As one person put it, "God doesn’t arbitrarily decree social ethics irrespective of the nature of social creatures. He has endowed us with a certain nature. The code of conduct is adapted to the way in which he designed us."

O. But earthly parents or creators don't have intrinsic authority. Just because someone is your parent or your creator doesn't entail you must obey them implicitly. A parent has no right to command you to to do evil. They have no right to murder you, or command you to commit murder. Consider this thought experiment. If Dr. Frankenstein or Satan created you, are you obligated to do their bidding merely because they command or wish it? Obviously not. Also, humans eventually become as knowledgeable as their parents (if not surpass them in knowledge). Good parents don't expect you to obey them implicitly all your life. If they did their job of parenting right, they expect you to reach a stage of development that you objectively consider their statements and advice and make rational decisions. You expect us to eternally be dependent on God's wisdom. To virtually remain children all our lives.

A. But God is all wise, all good, all powerful etc. That is to say, we should obey God because God is the kind of being God is. God is the maximally great being who is the summum bonum (highest Good), the ens perfectissimum (i.e. the most perfect being). Yes, humans do eventually equal their parents in intelligence when they grow up, but that's not true with God. The difference between finite human intelligence and divine infinite intelligence is a chasm that can never be gulfed. In fact, the more a human develops intellectually, the more he ought to realize how wide that gap is. God can see deeper, wider and more long term than you can. God sees the end from the beginning and the parts in relation to the whole (and vice versa). This is illustrated by a purported conversation Dr. Timothy Keller had with his son. The conversation went something like this:

Now I had a ten year old, my middle son, who was a very hard person...I would say to him, "Obey me! I'm your father. I told you to do this, just do it because I told you." And he would always say, "Dad, I would be happy to obey you if you could just make it reasonable...Tell me why this is helpful..." I would say, "If you only obey me when I explain it to you then you are not obeying me, you are just agreeing with me. I want you to obey me because I'm forty-five and you are ten. I know a little bit more about life than you do and I don't want to have to explain it to you because I couldn't get it into your ten year-old brain"

If this is true of human parents, how much more of the infinitely knowledgeable God? Also, if one developed properly in terms of rationality and morality, one should come to see how reasonable it is to obey God. Also, it's not as if God hasn't given us rational reasons for obeying Him in the Bible. He has along with other types of reasons. See John Piper's book Christian Hedonism and C.S. Lewis' sermon The Weight of Glory.

O. Okay, let's go through some of those attributes individually. You focused on God's knowledge. What does possessing all knowledge have anything to do with my obeying God? Just because God has a lot of facts and data doesn't make him worthy of obedience. There are a lot of knowledgeable people in the world who are evil. Think of people who commit IT computer crimes.

A. It's not just that God possesses all knowledge (omniscience), God also possesses all wisdom (omnisapience). God's knowledge is not limited to His 1. free knowledge (i.e. of the world as it is or will be), nor to His. 2. natural/necessary knowledge of all necessary truths and all possible contingent worlds. God's knowledge includes His informed wisdom. Wisdom can be defined as knowing the best ends, and knowing the best means to arrive at those ends. And so, God knows which instructions to give you by which you can know the best way to navigate your way in the world when it comes to temporal things (earthly) and spiritual things (heavenly).  As people jokingly say, "BIBLE" stands for "Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth."

O. That might be true about God being able to help us in life, but don't you see that that appeal again boils down to prudential reasons? In essence, you're telling me to obey God because God's "wisdom" (we might as well add "power") can lead to my greatest benefit if not also in this world, then at the very least in the afterlife (i.e. ultimately, finally and lastingly).

A. But God is also all good. The source of all goodness. The standard, exemplar and paragon of goodness.

O. To say that God is the source of all goodness is not the same thing as saying God is good or even that God is the standard of Goodness.

First, to answer by saying God is the source of all goodness would seem, once again, to reduce to an appeal to prudential reasons. In other words, obey God and you'll receive good things since He's the source and "fount of every blessing" [as the hymn and Bible teaches (James 1:17; Ps. 36:9)].

Second, to say that God is all good, implies that there is some standard of goodness which God himself obeys. That would mean that there are absolutes outside of God. Something which you as a Christian theist deny.  But if true, then I don't need God in order to be moral. Which means, I don't need to obey God. God would be on the same plane with me morally. He would have to obey the laws of morality and goodness in the same way I do. Just as I'm not required to blindly obey or follow a human being, so I'm not required to blindly obey God.

Third, your only consistent option is the last statement you made where you claimed God is the standard of Goodness. But what are you really saying when you say that? It seems you're not really saying anything. It's a tautology. It's circular because all you're really saying is "God's nature is that which is God's nature" or " God is being God-like." 

A. Regarding the charge of a tautology, that objection is like asking the question, "What's north of the north pole?" Or, "Why is a bachelor and unmarried man?" The north pole is north by definition, just like bachelors are unmarried men by definition. The reason why we have a moral sense in the first place is because God implanted it within us by making us in His moral and rational image. To question God being the standard of goodness is to assume morality and goodness exist outside of God. It is to beg the question about the source of goodness and morality. Unless and until a better explanation is offered for the source of morality and goodness one cannot even begin to judge, evaluate or object to God's being the standard and source of goodness and morality. No one, including God, is asking you to obey Him blindly. Only trustingly based on your innate knowledge of God that is itself based on the sensus divinitatis/deitatis, His general revelation and (if you're fortunate enough to be exposed to it) His special revelation.

C. I would refer people to my blog that deals with these questions a bit more thoroughly here:

God in Relation to Law: Ex Lex, Sub Lego or Sibi Ipsi Lex  
 
A. I'll admit one thing. You got me into implying that any individual attribute of God separated from all the others can be used to argue for why one should obey Him. His attributes can be distinguished, but they shouldn't be separated. It's each of His attributes individually AND collectively that provides the rational (not to mention pragmatic, prudential etc.) reasons for obeying God. Beyond answering the question, "Why (rationally) should I obey God?," the related and more pointed question is, "How can God obligate us?"

You're asking for a RATIONAL answer, right? Well, One of many answers is because God is Himself the source of Rationality. God isn't merely the greatest participant of rationality among lesser participants. God is Ultimate Perfect Rationality. Along with being the source of being, blessing/benefits, love, and personality. God is the solution to the Greek philosophers' search for the transcendentals (e.g. the good, the true, and the beautiful etc.). All of God's perfections and excellencies individually and put together constitute the reason and reasons (rational, practical, pragmatic, prudential, existential) for obeying, loving, trusting and (to sum it all up) worshipping God. It is because God is the all glorious Supreme Being who is worthy of worship that we ought to worship Him. God possesses all perfections infinitely, without limitation and to their highest degree. "Infinity" here of course refers not to quantity, but quality. As William Lane Craig wrote:

But when theologians speak of the infinity of God, they are not using the word in a mathematical sense to refer to an aggregate of an infinite number of elements. God's infinity is, as it were, qualitative, not quantitative. It means that God is metaphysically necessary, morally perfect, omnipotent, omniscient, eternal, and so on.
Really "infinity" is just a sort of umbrella term used to cover all of God's superlative attributes.

You can't be rational without being dependent on God who is the source and paragon of rationality and morality. It's precisely because you are made in God's rational and moral image that you ought (rationally and morally) to obey God. To disobey God is the pinnacle of irrationality and immorality. You want to be logical, but God is the source of logic itself. As the Bible says, "In the beginning was the Word ["logos" in Greek], and the Word was with God, and the Word was God" (John 1:1). Logic is part of God's nature, and when you attempt to be logical you're tacitly admitting your dependence upon Him for your being AND rationality. So, it's eminently reasonable and rational to obey God.To do anything else is irrational.

O. Okay, let's say for the meantime I grant you that those are rational reasons for obeying God. But there's another level to this question. What rational reasons do I have to believe God possesses such attributes? For example, how can I believe that God is good and wise when I see so much evil in the world and seemingly bad design in the world? Bad design exemplified precisely because of the evil in the world. A world in which evil exists seems to be poorly designed. Poor design is a manifestation of folly rather than wisdom. What about God's apparent absence and indifference?

A. Now you're delving into the philosophical and theological issue of the problem of evil (PoE). We can eventually discuss that new objection, but that's a different topic. Before we move into that topic, let's probe deeper in our current discussion. We can also eventually discuss whether God actually is good (or not) and whether God is the standard of goodness. But hypothetically speaking, are you willing to admit that if God were the maximally great being (per the definition of God in the ontological argument) as well as the very standard of goodness itself (i.e. Himself), that it would be rational to obey such a Being?

One has to eventually ask, "How can ultimate goodness be impersonal?" How can goodness and morality be grounded in a materialistic worldview? Even given Atheistic Moral Platonism which posits immaterial forms or ideas, these ideas aren't personal. Positing Platonic forms may give one models for ideal behavior, but since they aren't personal they cannot truly obligate. There are real moral obligations and only persons can obligate us. If one agrees there are universal obligations, then one ought also to agree that we are obligated by a universal person, namely God. Causally effete abstract entities cannot obligate persons. Craig even questions whether atheistic moral Platonism is rationally coherent.

If God were really morally perfect and the very source of morality, then it naturally follows that to disobey God is, by definition, immoral. God, being the kind of Being God is, ought to be obeyed. That's an eminently rational reason to obey God. 

This is worthy of repetition. It is rational and reasonable to obey God because God is the very source of rationality. God is ABSOLUTE RATIONALITY in PERSON (and eternally so). God's Absolute Personality and Absolute Rationality are what makes God GOD. That is, what qualifies God to be God who is worthy to be worshipped, believed, loved, trusted and obeyed. It's no accident that Jesus Christ is described in the Bible as the "Word" or "logos" in Greek. "Logos" in Greek means "reason" (and all that that entails). Logos is also the etymological source of the English word logic. God's absolute personality is also why God must be multi-personal (as Christians believe God is as a Trinity). Trinitarianism solves the problem of the one and the many. BOTH unity and diversity are ultimate. Ultimate in the Triune God. To obey God is to follow the dictates of perfect Reason (Himself/Themselves). So, if you want to be rational, logical, and reasonable, then be like God by following His dictates.

What reason do I have to believe that even if God were absolutely rational that his dictates are moral? Even among human beings having superior intelligence and reasoning capacity doesn't guarantee moral behavior.

That's because human beings are finite in personality, knowledge, and rationality. At a minimum, morality and moral behavior among finite creatures like humans requires personal agency, knowledge, rationality and a standard of value. With God you have absolute personality, absolute knowledge (omniscience), absolute wisdom (omnisapience), absolute rationality, and an absolute value. Each infinite person of the Trinity esteeming Himself and the other two infinite persons of the Trinity as having infinite value. God is the "gold standard" (if you will, and in a manner of speaking) by which humans, made in God's image, can value other human beings as they too are minted with God's stamp of value. This is the meaning of Christ's request for a denarius and his statement, "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's" (cf. Mark 12:13-17//Matt. 22:15-22). Meaning, just as the denarius has the image of Caesar on it and it belongs to Caesar, so also in a higher sense humans have God's image inscribed on them, and we are to worship God in whom all the glories and values of man are only a reflection of God's own perfect and infinite glory and value. Thus, to obey God is to be as close to being like the Supreme Being as our finite nature allows.

"You shall be holy, for I am holy." - 1 Peter 1:16 ESV
"You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect"- Matt. 5:48

"Be ye holy; for I am holy."- 1 Peter 1:16 KJV
"Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect."- Matt. 5:48

Here's another analogy that uses gold. If humans were analogous to paper currency (e.g. $100 dollar bills), then God is the gold that backs up the value of the paper money. Without the gold, the money is worthless. It's because God has eternally valued Himself that humans made in His image (and who reflect His value) have value and worth in themselves. Christianity can ground human dignity and worth and so can make sense of moral obligations between human beings. As I argued elsewhere, values flow from God's nature, while our moral duties as God's creatures flow from God's will as expressed in commands (i.e. Divine Command Essentialism).

Is Atheistic Moral Platonism More Plausible Than Theism?
(video link)

Ultimately, we obey God because obeying God is one of the aspects of worship. And we worship God because, to quote William Lane Craig....

"You believe in  [and worship] God because God, as the supreme Good, is the appropriate object of adoration and love. He is Goodness itself, to be desired for its own sake. And so the fulfillment of human existence is to be found in relation to God. It's because of who God is and his moral worth that he is worthy of worship. It has nothing to do with avoiding Hell, or promoting your own well-being." [source]

Finally, while prudential reasons are not the best motivations or the ultimate reasons why we ought to obey and worship God, prudential reasons are nevertheless legitimate penultimate or antepenultimate reasons.

Here are some links to prudential reasons for obeying God.

 In my blog on Sermons and Books on Heaven I have three resources that provide really good prudential reasons for obeying God.

The Weight of Glory by C.S. Lewis

Heaven by Edward D. Griffin

When I was a Child I Thought as a Child by Edward D. Griffin

 Pascal's Wager [collection of articles from Christians, atheists and non-Christians in general]

I also recommend a blog of mine dealing with God's relation to law and morality. It deals with the question, "Where is goodness located?"

Here are links to William Lane Craig videos on The Problem of Evil

 Why Doesn't God Reveal the Reasons For Permitting Evil and Suffering?
(video link)

"The Problem of Evil and Suffering"
(video link)

Here are links to three of my blogs that have some relevance to the topic of this blog.

God in Relation to Law: Ex Lex, Sub Lego or Sibi Ipsi Lex

"Unveiling" The Hiddenness of God

Detecting and Finding God 

Answering Moral Objections to the Bible

Book Reviews of Recent Atheist Authors by Christian Apologists 

Resources for Dealing with Alleged Bible Contradictions, Discrepancies and Errors

Dealing with Christian Doubts

Christian Apologetics: Who Needs It? by William Lane Craig 

The Evil God Hypothesis: Some Observations and Answers

Distinctions in God's Will from a Calvinist Perspective

Why Obey God?

Evil God Challenge Revisited

short url: http://alturl.com/cho9p

Scientific Evidence Against Materialism

My knowledge of science is very limited, but according to many who do understand modern science, there is scientific evidence that seriously calls into question or even refutes materialism. I don't vouch for the complete accuracy of the scientific statements made in these videos. But I do assume their general accuracy regarding the data (even if not always stated as precisely as they could be).

The following videos document some of these evidences. By the way, I don't necessarily agree with all of the conclusions these videos make. Whether they are the scientific conclusions or (and especially) the theological conclusions. For example, some of the Christian authors assume the truth of divine idealism and Christian panentheism. Though, I am open to divine idealism and a Christian version of panentheism, I don't currently subscribe to them. At the very least these videos are thought provoking and seriously call into question materialism/naturalism.

 The Incompatibility of Physicalism with Physics: A Conversation with Dr. Bruce Gordon
(https://youtu.be/wk-UO81HmO4)

In this video Bruce Gordon argues for the incompatibility of physicalism with modern physics and in the end favors some sort of Quantum Idealism. During the Questions & Answers portion of the webinar (at 1:31:11) a question I submitted earlier was answered and Dr. Gordon ends up mentioning popularizer Johanan Raatz and says he has both agreements and disgreements with Raatz. He even mentions InspiringPhilosophy's Youtube channel's videos on the topic as well. I've linked to some of both InspiringPhilosophy's and Raatz's videos below. See also Gordon's article: "Divine Action and the World of Science:What Cosmology and Quantum Physics Teach Us about the Role of Providence in Nature" [or HERE].

[Why] Quantum Physics Debunks Materialism

Quantum Physics Debunks Materialism

(Open in another browser tab by clicking HERE)

Digital Physics Argument for God's Existence

(video link)

  Delayed Choice Quantum Eraser Experiment Explained

http://youtu.be/H6HLjpj4Nt4

The Death of Materialism
https://youtu.be/wM0IKLv7KrE

A Critique of the Many Worlds Interpretation

(video link)

The Measurement Problem

(video link)

The Emergent Universe
https://youtu.be/iFEBOGLjuq4

The Cosmic Conscious Argument for God's Existence
https://youtu.be/2r74vcMxwUk

The Introspective Argument
(video link)

Christianity and Panentheism

(video link)

The Case for the Soul (Neuroscience)
(video link)

The Case for the Soul: Refuting Physicalist Objections
(video link)

The above videos are from the Christian YouTube channel InspiringPhilosophy. Another Christian channel advocating a Christian version of Quantum Idealism is Johanan Raatz's channel HERE.

Raatz's channel as a lot of videos on the topic. Here's a link to Raatz interviewing J.P. Moreland on the topic: https://youtu.be/ZQphceRQHbE?t=1m20s

Here's an example of Raatz's videos on Quantum Idealism

Digital Physics Meets Idealism: The Mental Universe
(https://youtu.be/QiZLlpqAQ7U)

A Dualist Equivalent to Physics-Based Idealist Apologetics by Johanan Raatz

---

The above videos are Christian. The following videos below are NON-Christian.

The Simulation Hypothesis
(https://youtu.be/VqULEE7eY8M)

[[update: If I'm not mistaken, Johanan Raatz recently said that the above video "The Simulation Hypothesis" was created by a friend of his (at his request or suggestion). So, it might be created by Christians without directly pointing to Christianity as the ultimate explanation.]]



For another NON-Christian video explaining some of the recent discoveries in science that undermine materialism, see the first 3 1/2 videos in the following link. I say the first 3 1/2 videos because after that it gets into Non-Christian occultic religious views. Even the first 3 1/2 videos have statements and conclusions that don't necessarily follow, even assuming the science is generally accurate.

http://www.holographicuniverseworkshops.com/

↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑  ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑  ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑
This is the link to the non-Christian religious videos I mentioned above

God Is Real…Why modern physics has discredited atheism.
http://godevidence.com/2012/02/god-is-real/
[I can't tell whether the above link is Christian or not.]



See Also My Blog:

Problems with the Multiverse

 

Evidence and Arguments Against Materialism and Naturalism

The Impassibility of God

The following are some interesting links that directly or indirectly deal with the doctrine of God's Impassibility. I have a few things to point out and say before I post the links.

 In one of his blogposts Steve Hays points out two different ways in which the doctrine of Impassibility is often defined. I recommend reading his blog on the topic. Here's an excerpt:

1. Classic theism teaches that God is impassible — not subject to suffering, pain, or the ebb and flow of involuntary passions. 

Incapable of suffering or of experiencing pain 

Incapable of feeling 

Compare that to a more academic definition of the term:

2. Nothing created can cause God to change or be modified in any way…Many classical theists make this point by insisting that God is impassible. In this context "Impassible"…means "not able to be causally modified by an external agent"…God cannot be altered by anything a creature does. B. Davies, An Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion (Oxford, 3rd ed, 2004), 5.

In the comments box I wrote:

I personally don't think that an affirmation of #2 entails an affirmation of #1.

It seems to me that an author of a book can be emotionally moved by the contemplation of the details of the drama within his book even though he himself choose to write it the way it is written. Analogously, maybe God can be emotionally effected by human tragedies which He Himself has ordained will come to pass. Especially if God's choosing the second order goods He purposes and plans might logically constrain Him to permit things that of themselves (per se) He disapproves of. For example, God ordains every sin we ever commit, yet we're called to not grieve or vex the Holy Spirit (Eph. 4:30; Isa. 63:10). Maybe not all the Scriptural data that speaks of God experiencing emotion is anthropopathic.

However, our experience of emotion is often tied to temporal consciousness, and therefore "emotion" (as we experience it) may not apply to God if He's timelessly eternal. But there might be something analogous to our experience of emotion that God experiences. Maybe more intensely than we do. At least that's what some Calvinists seem to believe (e.g. John Piper).

Then I quoted John Piper on God's Happiness which has implications for theodicy.

John Piper wrote:

It is not surprising, then, that Jonathan Edwards struggled earnestly and deeply with the problem that stands before us now. How can we affirm the happiness of God on the basis of His sovereignty when much of what God permits in the world is contrary to His own commands in Scripture? How can we say God is happy when there is so much sin and misery in the world?

Edwards did not claim to exhaust the mystery here. But he does help us find a possible  way of avoiding outright contradiction while being faithful to the Scriptures. To put it in my own words, he said that the infinite complexity of the divine mind is such that God  has the capacity to look at the world through two lenses. He can look through a narrow lens or through a wideangle lens.

When God looks at a painful or wicked event through His narrow lens, He sees the tragedy of the sin for what it is in itself, and He is angered and grieved: “I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord GOD” (Ezekiel 18:32).

But when God looks at a painful or wicked event through His wide-angle lens, He sees the tragedy of the sin in relation to everything leading up to it and everything flowing out from it. He sees it in relation to all the connections and effects that form a pattern, or mosaic, stretching into eternity. This mosaic in all its parts—good and evil—brings Him delight.5

- Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist page 39


John Piper also wrote:

God's Happiness Is A Great Part Of His Glory

In 1 Timothy 1:11 Paul focuses on the gospel as "the glory of the blessed God." The word translated "blessed" in this phrase (makarivou) is the same one used in the beatitudes of Jesus in Matthew 5:3-11. "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth." And so on. The word means "happy" or "fortunate." Paul himself uses it in other places to refer to the happiness of the person whose sins are forgiven (Rom. 4:7) or the person whose conscience is clear (Rom. 14:22). It is astonishing that only here and in 1 Timothy 6:15 in the entire Old Testament and New Testament does the word refer to God. Paul has clearly done something unusual, calling God makarios, happy.

We may learn from the phrase "the glory of the happy God" that a great part of God's glory is his happiness. It was inconceivable to the apostle Paul that God could be denied infinite joy and still be all-glorious. To be infinitely glorious was to be infinitely happy. He used the phrase, "the glory of the happy God," because it is a glorious thing for God to be as happy as he is. God's glory consists much in the fact that he is happy beyond all our imagination.

- God is the Gospel page 100
God's impassibility, however one understands it should be seen in light of God's glory, sovereignty and wisdom.

Here are the external links:

http://www.rpcbmt.org/DivineImpassibility.html

http://www.mrrena.com/2004/suffer.php

http://www.rbap.net/journal-of-the-institute-of-reformed-baptist-studies-sample-of-impassibility-article/

http://www.spurgeon.org/~phil/articles/impassib.htm

http://paulhelmsdeep.blogspot.com/2014/03/eternal-god-and-god-in-time.html

http://paulhelmsdeep.blogspot.com/2013/09/god-both-impassible-and-impassioned.html


More Steve Hays blogs
http://triablogue.blogspot.com/2005/02/be-wary-of-ware-1.html
http://triablogue.blogspot.com/2005/02/be-wary-of-ware-2.html
http://triablogue.blogspot.com/2011/09/can-god-suffer.html
http://triablogue.blogspot.com/2014/02/still-impassible-confessing-god-without.html
http://triablogue.blogspot.com/2014/08/disambiguating-impassibility.html


P.S. The doctrine of God's Impassibility has once again come under scrutiny in Reformed Baptist circles. See for example this link HERE.


The Monergism website's list of articles on the doctrine of Impassibility:
https://www.monergism.com/topics/god%E2%80%99s-attributes/impassibility-god

353 Prophecies Fulfilled in Jesus Christ

source of this information: http://www.accordingtothescriptures.org/prophecy/353prophecies.html

353 Prophecies Fulfilled in Jesus Christ

"Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me" (Psalm 40:7).
"The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy" (Revelation 19:10).
"...all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me" (Jesus Christ, Luke 24:44).
"To Him give all the prophets witness" (Acts 10:43).

Prophecy

Fulfillment

1. Gen. 3:15	Seed of a woman (virgin birth)	Galatians 4:4-5, Matthew 1:18
2. Gen. 3:15	He will bruise Satan's head	Hebrews 2:14, 1John 3:8
3. Gen. 3:15	Christ's heel would be bruised with nails on the cross	Matthew 27:35, Luke 24:39-40
4. Gen. 5:24	The bodily ascension to heaven illustrated	Mark 16:19
5. Gen. 9:26, 27	The God of Shem will be the Son of Shem	Luke 3:36
6. Gen. 12:3	Seed of Abraham will bless all nations	Galatians 3:8, Acts 3:25, 26
7. Gen. 12:7	The Promise made to Abraham's Seed	Galatians 3:16
8. Gen. 14:18	A priest after the order of Melchizedek	Hebrews 6:20
9. Gen. 14:18	King of Peace and Righteousness	Hebrews 7:2
10. Gen. 14:18	The Last Supper foreshadowed	Matthew 26:26-29
11. Gen. 17:19	Seed of Isaac (Gen. 21:12)	Romans 9:7
12. Gen. 22:8	The Lamb of God promised	John 1:29
13. Gen. 22:18	As Isaac's seed, will bless all nations	Galatians 3:16
14. Gen. 26:2-5	The Seed of Isaac promised as the Redeemer	Hebrews 11:18
15. Gen. 28:12	The Bridge to heaven	John 1:51
16. Gen. 28:14	The Seed of Jacob	Luke 3:34
17. Gen. 49:10	The time of His coming	Luke 2:1-7; Galatians 4:4
18. Gen. 49:10	The Seed of Judah	Luke 3:33
19. Gen. 49:10	Called Shiloh or One Sent	John 17:3
20. Gen. 49:10	Messiah to come before Judah lost identity	John 11:47-52
21. Gen. 49:10	Unto Him shall the obedience of the people be	John 10:16
22. Ex. 3:13-15	The Great "I AM"	John 4:26, 8:58
23. Ex. 12:5	A Lamb without blemish	Hebrews 9:14; 1Peter 1:19
24. Ex. 12:13	The blood of the Lamb saves from wrath	Romans 5:8
25. Ex. 12:21-27	Christ is our Passover	1Corinthians 5:7
26. Ex. 12:46	Not a bone of the Lamb to be broken	John 19:31-36
27. Ex. 15:2	His exaltation predicted as Yeshua	Acts 7:55, 56
28. Ex. 15:11	His Character-Holiness	Luke 1:35; Acts 4:27
29. Ex. 17:6	The Spiritual Rock of Israel	1Corinthians 10:4
30. Ex. 33:19	His Character-Merciful	Luke 1:72
31. Lev. 1:2-9	His sacrifice a sweet smelling savor unto God	Ephesians 5:2
32. Lev. 14:11	The leper cleansed-Sign to priesthood	Luke 5:12-14; Acts 6:7
33. Lev. 16:15-17	Prefigures Christ's once-for-all death	Hebrews 9:7-14
34. Lev. 16:27	Suffering outside the Camp	Matthew 27:33; Heb. 13:11, 12
35. Lev. 17:11	The Blood-the life of the flesh	Matthew 26:28; Mark 10:45
36. Lev. 17:11	It is the blood that makes atonement	Rom. 3:23-24; 1John 1:7
37. Lev. 23:36-37	The Drink-offering: "If any man thirst"	John 7:37
38. Num. 9:12	Not a bone of Him broken	John 19:31-36
39. Num. 21:9	The serpent on a pole-Christ lifted up	John 3:14-18, 12:32
40. Num. 24:17	Time: "I shall see him, but not now."	John 1:14; Galatians 4:4
41. Deut. 18:15	"This is of a truth that prophet."	John 6:14
42. Deut. 18:15-16	"Had ye believed Moses, ye would believe me."	John 5:45-47
43. Deut. 18:18	Sent by the Father to speak His word	John 8:28, 29
44. Deut. 18:19	Whoever will not hear must bear his sin	Acts 3:22-23
45. Deut. 21:23	Cursed is he that hangs on a tree	Galatians 3:10-13
46. Joshua 5:14-15	The Captain of our salvation	Hebrews 2:10
47. Ruth 4:4-10	Christ, our kinsman, has redeemed us	Ephesians 1:3-7
48. 1 Sam. 2:35	A Faithful Priest	Heb. 2:17, 3:1-3, 6, 7:24-25
49. 1 Sam. 2:10	Shall be an anointed King to the Lord	Mt. 28:18, John 12:15
50. 2 Sam. 7:12	David's Seed	Matthew 1:1
51. 2 Sam. 7:13	His Kingdom is everlasting	2Peter 1:11
52. 2 Sam. 7:14a	The Son of God	Luke 1:32, Romans 1:3-4
53. 2 Sam. 7:16	David's house established forever	Luke 3:31; Rev. 22:16
54. 2 Ki. 2:11	The bodily ascension to heaven illustrated	Luke 24:51
55. 1 Chr. 17:11	David's Seed	Matthew 1:1, 9:27
56. 1 Chr. 17:12-13	To reign on David's throne forever	Luke 1:32, 33
57. 1 Chr. 17:13	"I will be His Father, He...my Son."	Hebrews 1:5
58. Job 9:32-33	Mediator between man and God	1 Timothy 2:5
59. Job 19:23-27	The Resurrection predicted	John 5:24-29
60. Psa. 2:1-3	The enmity of kings foreordained	Acts 4:25-28
61. Psa. 2:2	To own the title, Anointed (Christ)	John 1:41, Acts 2:36
62. Psa. 2:6	His Character-Holiness	John 8:46; Revelation 3:7
63. Psa. 2:6	To own the title King	Matthew 2:2
64. Psa. 2:7	Declared the Beloved Son	Matthew 3:17, Romans 1:4
65. Psa. 2:7, 8	The Crucifixion and Resurrection intimated	Acts 13:29-33
66. Psa. 2:8, 9	Rule the nations with a rod of iron	Rev. 2:27, 12:5, 19:15
67. Psa. 2:12	Life comes through faith in Him	John 20:31
68. Psa. 8:2	The mouths of babes perfect His praise	Matthew 21:16
69. Psa. 8:5, 6	His humiliation and exaltation	Hebrews 2:5-9
70. Psa. 9:7-10	Judge the world in righteousness	Acts 17:31
71. Psa. 16:10	Was not to see corruption	Acts 2:31, 13:35
72. Psa. 16:9-11	Was to arise from the dead	John 20:9
73. Psa. 17:15	The resurrection predicted	Luke 24:6
74. Psa. 18:2-3	The horn of salvation	Luke 1:69-71
75. Psa. 22:1	Forsaken because of sins of others	2 Corinthians 5:21
76. Psa. 22:1	"My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?"	Matthew 27:46
77. Psa. 22:2	Darkness upon Calvary for three hours	Matthew 27:45
78. Psa. 22:7	They shoot out the lip and shake the head	Matthew 27:39-44
79. Psa. 22:8	"He trusted in God, let Him deliver Him"	Matthew 27:43
80. Psa. 22:9-10	Born the Saviour	Luke 2:7
81. Psa. 22:12-13	They seek His death	John 19:6
82. Psa. 22:14	His blood poured out when they pierced His side	John 19:34
83. Psa. 22:14, 15	Suffered agony on Calvary	Mark 15:34-37
84. Psa. 22:15	He thirsted	John 19:28
85. Psa. 22:16	They pierced His hands and His feet	John 19:34, 37; 20:27
86. Psa. 22:17, 18	Stripped Him before the stares of men	Luke 23:34, 35
87. Psa. 22:18	They parted His garments	John 19:23, 24
88. Psa. 22:20, 21	He committed Himself to God	Luke 23:46
89. Psa. 22:20, 21	Satanic power bruising the Redeemer's heel	Hebrews 2:14
90. Psa. 22:22	His Resurrection declared	John 20:17
91. Psa. 22:27-28	He shall be the governor of the nations	Colossians 1:16
92. Psa. 22:31	"It is finished"	John 19:30, Heb. 10:10, 12, 14, 18
93. Psa. 23:1	"I am the Good Shepherd"	John 10:11, 1Peter 2:25
94. Psa. 24:3	His exaltation predicted	Acts 1:11; Philippians 2:9
95. Psa. 30:3	His resurrection predicted	Acts 2:32
96. Psa. 31:5	"Into thy hands I commit my spirit"	Luke 23:46
97. Psa. 31:11	His acquaintances fled from Him	Mark 14:50
98. Psa. 31:13	They took counsel to put Him to death	Mt. 27:1, John 11:53
99. Psa. 31:14, 15	"He trusted in God, let Him deliver him"	Matthew 27:43
100. Psa. 34:20	Not a bone of Him broken	John 19:31-36
101. Psa. 35:11	False witnesses rose up against Him	Matthew 26:59
102. Psa. 35:19	He was hated without a cause	John 15:25
103. Psa. 38:11	His friends stood afar off	Luke 23:49
104. Psa. 38:12	Enemies try to entangle Him by craft	Mark 14:1, Mt. 22:15
105. Psa. 38:12-13	Silent before His accusers	Matthew 27:12-14
106. Psa. 38:20	He went about doing good	Acts 10:38
107. Psa. 40:2-5	The joy of His resurrection predicted	John 20:20
108. Psa. 40:6-8	His delight-the will of the Father	John 4:34, Heb. 10:5-10
109. Psa. 40:9	He was to preach the Righteousness in Israel	Matthew 4:17
110. Psa. 40:14	Confronted by adversaries in the Garden	John 18:4-6
111. Psa. 41:9	Betrayed by a familiar friend	John 13:18
112. Psa. 45:2	Words of Grace come from His lips	John 1:17, Luke 4:22
113. Psa. 45:6	To own the title, God or Elohim	Hebrews 1:8
114. Psa. 45:7	A special anointing by the Holy Spirit	Mt. 3:16; Heb. 1:9
115. Psa. 45:7, 8	Called the Christ (Messiah or Anointed)	Luke 2:11
116. Psa. 45:17	His name remembered forever	Ephesians 1:20-21, Heb. 1:8
117. Psa. 55:12-14	Betrayed by a friend, not an enemy	John 13:18
118. Psa. 55:15	Unrepentant death of the Betrayer	Matthew 27:3-5; Acts 1:16-19
119. Psa. 68:18	To give gifts to men	Ephesians 4:7-16
120. Psa. 68:18	Ascended into Heaven	Luke 24:51
121. Psa. 69:4	Hated without a cause	John 15:25
122. Psa. 69:8	A stranger to own brethren	John 1:11, 7:5
123. Psa. 69:9	Zealous for the Lord's House	John 2:17
124. Psa. 69:14-20	Messiah's anguish of soul before crucifixion	Matthew 26:36-45
125. Psa. 69:20	"My soul is exceeding sorrowful."	Matthew 26:38
126. Psa. 69:21	Given vinegar in thirst	Matthew 27:34
127. Psa. 69:26	The Saviour given and smitten by God	John 17:4; 18:11
128. Psa. 72:10, 11	Great persons were to visit Him	Matthew 2:1-11
129. Psa. 72:16	The corn of wheat to fall into the Ground	John 12:24-25
130. Psa. 72:17	Belief on His name will produce offspring	John 1:12, 13
131. Psa. 72:17	All nations shall be blessed by Him	Galatians 3:8
132. Psa. 72:17	All nations shall call Him blessed	John 12:13, Rev. 5:8-12
133. Psa. 78:1-2	He would teach in parables	Matthew 13:34-35
134. Psa. 78:2b	To speak the Wisdom of God with authority	Matthew 7:29
135. Psa. 80:17	The Man of God's right hand	Mark 14:61-62
136. Psa. 88	The Suffering and Reproach of Calvary	Matthew 27:26-50
137. Psa. 88:8	They stood afar off and watched	Luke 23:49
138. Psa. 89:27	Firstborn	Colossians 1:15, 18
139. Psa. 89:27	Emmanuel to be higher than earthly kings	Luke 1:32, 33
140. Psa. 89:35-37	David's Seed, throne, kingdom endure forever	Luke 1:32, 33
141. Psa. 89:36-37	His character-Faithfulness	Revelation 1:5, 19:11
142. Psa. 90:2	He is from everlasting (Micah 5:2)	John 1:1
143. Psa. 91:11, 12	Identified as Messianic; used to tempt Christ	Luke 4:10, 11
144. Psa. 97:9	His exaltation predicted	Acts 1:11; Ephesians 1:20
145. Psa. 100:5	His character-Goodness	Matthew 19:16, 17
146. Psa. 102:1-11	The Suffering and Reproach of Calvary	John 19:16-30
147. Psa. 102:25-27	Messiah is the Preexistent Son	Hebrews 1:10-12
148. Psa. 109:25	Ridiculed	Matthew 27:39
149. Psa. 110:1	Son of David	Matthew 22:42-43
150. Psa. 110:1	To ascend to the right-hand of the Father	Mark 16:19
151. Psa. 110:1	David's son called Lord	Matthew 22:44, 45
152. Psa. 110:4	A priest after Melchizedek's order	Hebrews 6:20
153. Psa. 112:4	His character-Compassionate, Gracious, et al	Matthew 9:36
154. Psa. 118:17, 18	Messiah's Resurrection assured	Luke 24:5-7; 1Cor. 15:20
155. Psa. 118:22, 23	The rejected stone is Head of the corner	Matthew 21:42, 43
156. Psa. 118:26a	The Blessed One presented to Israel	Matthew 21:9
157. Psa. 118:26b	To come while Temple standing	Matthew 21:12-15
158. Psa. 132:11	The Seed of David (the fruit of His Body)	Luke 1:32, Act 2:30
159. Psa. 129:3	He was scourged	Matthew 27:26
160. Psa. 138:1-6	The supremacy of David's Seed amazes kings	Matthew 2:2-6
161. Psa. 147:3, 6	The earthly ministry of Christ described	Luke 4:18
162. Prov. 1:23	He will send the Spirit of God	John 16:7
163. Prov. 8:23	Foreordained from everlasting	Rev. 13:8, 1Peter 1:19-20
164. Song. 5:16	The altogether lovely One	John 1:17
165. Isa. 2:3	He shall teach all nations	John 4:25
166. Isa. 2:4	He shall judge among the nations	John 5:22
167. Isa. 6:1	When Isaiah saw His glory	John 12:40-41
168. Isa. 6:8	The One Sent by God	John 12:38-45
169. Isa. 6:9-10	Parables fall on deaf ears	Matthew 13:13-15
170. Isa. 6:9-12	Blinded to Christ and deaf to His words	Acts 28:23-29
171. Isa. 7:14	To be born of a virgin	Luke 1:35
172. Isa. 7:14	To be Emmanuel-God with us	Matthew 1:18-23, 1Tim. 3:16
173. Isa. 8:8	Called Emmanuel	Matthew 28:20
174. Isa. 8:14	A stone of stumbling, a Rock of offense	1Peter 2:8
175. Isa. 9:1, 2	His ministry to begin in Galilee	Matthew 4:12-17
176. Isa. 9:6	A child born-Humanity	Luke 1:31
177. Isa. 9:6	A Son given-Deity	Luke 1:32, John 1:14, 1Tim. 3:16
178. Isa. 9:6	Declared to be the Son of God with power	Romans 1:3, 4
179. Isa. 9:6	The Wonderful One, Peleh	Luke 4:22
180. Isa. 9:6	The Counsellor, Yaatz	Matthew 13:54
181. Isa. 9:6	The Mighty God, El Gibor	1Cor. 1:24, Titus 2:3
182. Isa. 9:6	The Everlasting Father, Avi Adth	John 8:58, 10:30
183. Isa. 9:6	The Prince of Peace, Sar Shalom	John 16:33
184. Isa. 9:7	To establish an everlasting kingdom	Luke 1:32-33
185. Isa. 9:7	His Character-Just	John 5:30
186. Isa. 9:7	No end to his Government, Throne, and Peace	Luke 1:32-33
187. Isa. 11:1	Called a Nazarene-the Branch, Netzer	Matthew 2:23
188. Isa. 11:1	A rod out of Jesse-Son of Jesse	Luke 3:23, 32
189. Isa. 11:2	Anointed One by the Spirit	Matthew 3:16, 17, Acts 10:38
190. Isa. 11:2	His Character-Wisdom, Knowledge, et al	Colossians 2:3
191. Isa. 11:3	He would know their thoughts	Luke 6:8, John 2:25
192. Isa. 11:4	Judge in righteousness	Acts 17:31
193. Isa. 11:4	Judges with the sword of His mouth	Rev. 2:16, 19:11, 15
194. Isa. 11:5	Character: Righteous & Faithful	Rev. 19:11
195. Isa. 11:10	The Gentiles seek Him	John 12:18-21
196. Isa. 12:2	Called Jesus-Yeshua	Matthew 1:21
197. Isa. 22:22	The One given all authority to govern	Revelation 3:7
198. Isa. 25:8	The Resurrection predicted	1Corinthians 15:54
199. Isa. 26:19	His power of Resurrection predicted	Matthew 27:50-54
200. Isa. 28:16	The Messiah is the precious corner stone	Acts 4:11, 12
201. Isa. 28:16	The Sure Foundation	1Corinthians 3:11, Mt. 16:18
202. Isa. 29:13	He indicated hypocritical obedience to His Word	Matthew 15:7-9
203. Isa. 29:14	The wise are confounded by the Word	1Corinthians 1:18-31
204. Isa. 32:2	A Refuge-A man shall be a hiding place	Matthew 23:37
205. Isa. 35:4	He will come and save you	Matthew 1:21
206. Isa. 35:5-6	To have a ministry of miracles	Matthew 11:2-6
207. Isa. 40:3, 4	Preceded by forerunner	John 1:23
208. Isa. 40:9	"Behold your God."	John 1:36; 19:14
209. Isa. 40:10.	He will come to reward	Revelation 22:12
210. Isa. 40:11	A shepherd-compassionate life-giver	John 10:10-18
2101. Isa. 42:1-4	The Servant-as a faithful, patient redeemer	Matthew 12:18-21
212. Isa. 42:2	Meek and lowly	Matthew 11:28-30
213. Isa. 42:3	He brings hope for the hopeless	John 4
214. Isa. 42:4	The nations shall wait on His teachings	John 12:20-26
215. Isa. 42:6	The Light (salvation) of the Gentiles	Luke 2:32
216. Isa. 42:1, 6	His is a worldwide compassion	Matthew 28:19, 20
217. Isa. 42:7	Blind eyes opened.	John 9:25-38
218. Isa. 43:11	He is the only Saviour.	Acts 4:12
219. Isa. 44:3	He will send the Spirit of God	John 16:7, 13
220. Isa. 45:21-25	He is Lord and Saviour	Philippians 3:20, Titus 2:13
221. Isa. 45:23	He will be the Judge	John 5:22; Romans 14:11
222. Isa. 46:9, 10	Declares things not yet done	John 13:19
223. Isa. 48:12	The First and the Last	John 1:30, Revelation 1:8, 17
224. Isa. 48:16, 17	He came as a Teacher	John 3:2
225. Isa. 49:1	Called from the womb-His humanity	Matthew 1:18
226. Isa. 49:5	A Servant from the womb.	Luke 1:31, Philippians 2:7
227. Isa. 49:6	He will restore Israel	Acts 3:19-21, 15:16-17
228. Isa. 49:6	He is Salvation for Israel	Luke 2:29-32
229. Isa. 49:6	He is the Light of the Gentiles	John 8:12, Acts 13:47
230. Isa. 49:6	He is Salvation unto the ends of the earth	Acts 15:7-18
231. Isa. 49:7	He is despised of the Nation	John 1:11, 8:48-49, 19:14-15
232. Isa. 50:3	Heaven is clothed in black at His humiliation	Luke 23:44, 45
233. Isa. 50:4	He is a learned counselor for the weary	Matthew 7:29, 11:28, 29
234. Isa. 50:5	The Servant bound willingly to obedience	Matthew 26:39
235. Isa. 50:6a	"I gave my back to the smiters."	Matthew 27:26
236. Isa. 50:6b	He was smitten on the cheeks	Matthew 26:67
237. Isa. 50:6c	He was spat upon	Matthew 27:30
238. Isa. 52:7	Published good tidings upon mountains	Matthew 5:12,15:29,28:16
239. Isa. 52:13	The Servant exalted	Acts 1:8-11; Eph. 1:19-22, Php. 2:5-9
240. Isa. 52:14	The Servant shockingly abused	Luke 18:31-34; Mt. 26:67, 68
241. Isa. 52:15	Nations startled by message of the Servant	Luke 18:31-34; Mt. 26:67, 68
242. Isa. 52:15	His blood shed sprinkles nations	Hebrews 9:13-14, Rev. 1:5
243. Isa. 53:1	His people would not believe Him	John 12:37-38
244. Isa. 53:2	Appearance of an ordinary man	Philippians 2:6-8
245. Isa. 53:3a	Despised	Luke 4:28-29
246. Isa. 53:3b	Rejected	Matthew 27:21-23
247. Isa. 53:3c	Great sorrow and grief	Matthew 26:37-38, Luke 19:41, Heb. 4:15
248. Isa. 53:3d	Men hide from being associated with Him	Mark 14:50-52
249. Isa. 53:4a	He would have a healing ministry	Matthew 8:16-17
250. Isa. 53:4b	Thought to be cursed by God	Matthew 26:66, 27:41-43
251. Isa. 53:5a	Bears penalty for mankind's iniquities	2Cor. 5:21, Heb. 2:9
252. Isa. 53:5b	His sacrifice provides peace between man and God	Colossians 1:20
253. Isa. 53:5c	His sacrifice would heal man of sin	1Peter 2:24
254. Isa. 53:6a	He would be the sin-bearer for all mankind	1John 2:2, 4:10
255. Isa. 53:6b	God's will that He bear sin for all mankind	Galatians 1:4
256. Isa. 53:7a	Oppressed and afflicted	Matthew 27:27-31
257. Isa. 53:7b	Silent before his accusers	Matthew 27:12-14
258. Isa. 53:7c	Sacrificial lamb	John 1:29, 1Peter 1:18-19
259. Isa. 53:8a	Confined and persecuted	Matthew 26:47-27:31
260. Isa. 53:8b	He would be judged	John 18:13-22
261. Isa. 53:8c	Killed	Matthew 27:35
262. Isa. 53:8d	Dies for the sins of the world	1John 2:2
263. Isa. 53:9a	Buried in a rich man's grave	Matthew 27:57
264. Isa. 53:9b	Innocent and had done no violence	Luke 23:41, John 18:38
265. Isa. 53:9c	No deceit in his mouth	1Peter 2:22
266. Isa. 53:10a	God's will that He die for mankind	John 18:11
267. Isa. 53:10b	An offering for sin	Matthew 20:28, Galatians 3:13
268. Isa. 53:10c	Resurrected and live forever	Romans 6:9
269. Isa. 53:10d	He would prosper	John 17:1-5
270. Isa. 53:11a	God fully satisfied with His suffering	John 12:27
271. Isa. 53:11b	God's servant would justify man	Romans 5:8-9, 18-19
272. Isa. 53:11c	The sin-bearer for all mankind	Hebrews 9:28
273. Isa. 53:12a	Exalted by God because of his sacrifice	Matthew 28:18
274. Isa. 53:12b	He would give up his life to save mankind	Luke 23:46
275. Isa. 53:12c	Numbered with the transgressors	Mark 15:27-28
276. Isa. 53:12d	Sin-bearer for all mankind	1Peter 2:24
277. Isa. 53:12e	Intercede to God in behalf of mankind	Luke 23:34, Rom. 8:34
278. Isa. 55:3	Resurrected by God	Acts 13:34
279. Isa. 55:4a	A witness	John 18:37
280. Isa. 55:4b	He is a leader and commander	Hebrews 2:10
281. Isa. 55:5	God would glorify Him	Acts 3:13
282. Isa. 59:16a	Intercessor between man and God	Matthew 10:32
283. Isa. 59:16b	He would come to provide salvation	John 6:40
284. Isa. 59:20	He would come to Zion as their Redeemer	Luke 2:38
285. Isa. 60:1-3	He would shew light to the Gentiles	Acts 26:23
286. Isa. 61:1a	The Spirit of God upon him	Matthew 3:16-17
287. Isa. 61:1b	The Messiah would preach the good news	Luke 4:16-21
288. Isa. 61:1c	Provide freedom from the bondage of sin	John 8:31-36
289. Isa. 61:1-2a	Proclaim a period of grace	Galatians 4:4-5
290. Jer. 23:5-6	Descendant of David	Luke 3:23-31
291. Jer. 23:5-6	The Messiah would be both God and Man	John 13:13, 1Ti 3:16
292. Jer. 31:22	Born of a virgin	Matthew 1:18-20
293. Jer. 31:31	The Messiah would be the new covenant	Matthew 26:28
294. Jer. 33:14-15	Descendant of David	Luke 3:23-31
295. Eze.34:23-24	Descendant of David	Matthew 1:1
296. Eze.37:24-25	Descendant of David	Luke 1:31-33
297. Dan. 2:44-45	The Stone that shall break the kingdoms	Matthew 21:44
298. Dan. 7:13-14a	He would ascend into heaven	Acts 1:9-11
299. Dan. 7:13-14b	Highly exalted	Ephesians 1:20-22
300. Dan. 7:13-14c	His dominion would be everlasting	Luke 1:31-33
301. Dan. 9:24a	To make an end to sins	Galatians 1:3-5
302. Dan. 9:24a	To make reconciliation for iniquity	Romans 5:10, 2Cor. 5:18-21
303. Dan. 9:24b	He would be holy	Luke 1:35
304. Dan. 9:25	His announcement	John 12:12-13
305. Dan. 9:26a	Cut off	Matthew 16:21, 21:38-39
306. Dan. 9:26b	Die for the sins of the world	Hebrews 2:9
307. Dan. 9:26c	Killed before the destruction of the temple	Matthew 27:50-51
308. Dan. 10:5-6	Messiah in a glorified state	Revelation 1:13-16
309. Hos. 11:1	He would be called out of Egypt	Matthew 2:15
310. Hos. 13:14	He would defeat death	1Corinthians 15:55-57
311. Joel 2:32	Offer salvation to all mankind	Romans 10:9-13
312. Jonah 1:17	Death and resurrection of Christ	Matthew 12:40, 16:4
313. Mic. 5:2a	Born in Bethlehem	Matthew 2:1-6
314. Mic. 5:2b	Ruler in Israel	Luke 1:33
315. Mic. 5:2c	From everlasting	John 8:58
316. Hag. 2:6-9	He would visit the second Temple	Luke 2:27-32
317. Hag. 2:23	Descendant of Zerubbabel	Luke 2:27-32
318. Zech. 3:8	God's servant	John 17:4
319. Zech. 6:12-13	Priest and King	Hebrews 8:1
320. Zech. 9:9a	Greeted with rejoicing in Jerusalem	Matthew 21:8-10
321. Zech. 9:9b	Beheld as King	John 12:12-13
322. Zech. 9:9c	The Messiah would be just	John 5:30
323. Zech. 9:9d	The Messiah would bring salvation	Luke 19:10
324. Zech. 9:9e	The Messiah would be humble	Matthew 11:29
325. Zech. 9:9f	Presented to Jerusalem riding on a donkey	Matthew 21:6-9
326. Zech. 10:4	The cornerstone	Ephesians 2:20
327. Zech. 11:4-6a	At His coming, Israel to have unfit leaders	Matthew 23:1-4
328. Zech. 11:4-6b	Rejection causes God to remove His protection	Luke 19:41-44
329. Zech. 11:4-6c	Rejected in favor of another king	John 19:13-15
330. Zech. 11:7	Ministry to "poor," the believing remnant	Matthew 9:35-36
331. Zech. 11:8a	Unbelief forces Messiah to reject them	Matthew 23:33
332. Zech. 11:8b	Despised	Matthew 27:20
333. Zech. 11:9	Stops ministering to those who rejected Him	Matthew 13:10-11
334. Zech. 11:10-11a	Rejection causes God to remove protection	Luke 19:41-44
335. Zech. 11:10-11b	The Messiah would be God	John 14:7
336. Zech. 11:12-13a	Betrayed for thirty pieces of silver	Matthew 26:14-15
337. Zech. 11:12-13b	Rejected	Matthew 26:14-15
338. Zech. 11:12-13c	Thirty pieces of silver cast in the house of the Lord	Matthew 27:3-5
339. Zech. 11:12-13d	The Messiah would be God	John 12:45
340. Zech. 12:10a	The Messiah's body would be pierced	John 19:34-37
341. Zech. 12:10b	The Messiah would be both God and man	John 10:30
342. Zech. 12:10c	The Messiah would be rejected	John 1:11
343. Zech. 13:7a	God's will He die for mankind	John 18:11
344. Zech. 13:7b	A violent death	Mark 14:27
345. Zech. 13:7c	Both God and man	John 14:9
346. Zech. 13:7d	Israel scattered as a result of rejecting Him	Matthew 26:31-56
347. Zech. 14:4	He would return to the Mt. of Olives	Acts 1:11-12
348. Mal. 3:1a	Messenger to prepare the way for Messiah	Mark 1:1-8
349. Mal. 3:1b	Sudden appearance at the temple	Mark 11:15-16
350. Mal. 3:1c	Messenger of the new covenant	Luke 4:43
351. Mal. 3:6	The God who changes not	Hebrews 13:8
352. Mal. 4:5	Forerunner in spirit of Elijah	Mt. 3:1-3, 11:10-14, 17:11-13
353. Mal. 4:6	Forerunner would turn many to righteousness	Luke 1:16-17