Divine Hiddenness - Challenging Alex O'Connor's Doubts About God

 

The following is a ~12 minute clip of Jonathan McLatchie's response to the Hiddenness of God objection that Alex O'Connor gave in their debate.

 

Challenging Alex O'Connor's Doubts About God
https://youtu.be/GAyF906Vb00

 

 

 

 

Responding to Woodford's video "Theism is IRRATIONAL... here's why"

Cameron Bertuzzi and two Christian philosophers (Andrew Moon and Perry Hendricks) respond to atheist YouTuber Stephen Woodford's video "Theism is IRRATIONAL... here's why."

 

 It's over guys. Theism is dumb. This atheist finally proved it. Time to pack it up.
https://youtu.be/8EmFg4vd95k

 

 

 

 

George M. Lamsa: Christian Scholar or Cultic Torchbearer? by John P. Juedes

 

Here's a link to an informative article on the errors and dangers in Lamsa's materials.

 

George M. Lamsa: Christian Scholar or Cultic Torchbearer? by John P. Juedes 

https://christian.net/pub/resources/text/cri/cri-jrnl/web/crj0032a.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

Methods and Techniques to Help You SLEEP

 

Big Think has an article titled, "The 5-step “military method” for falling asleep in minutes." The main five techniques it gives are the following:

The five steps

So, what is this magic technique? Below we lay out the military method’s steps to a good night’s sleep. It’s deliberately designed to be easy and efficient, so anyone can start tonight.

1. Relax your face. Focus on your forehead, your eyes, your cheeks, your jaw, and so on. Feel the tension held in them and consciously push it away.
2. Drop your shoulders. Let your arms flop down and your shoulders relax. Imagine there is a soft, warm wind gently pushing your arms down.
3. Take a deep breath. Slowly inhale and let it out. As you do so, focus on how it relaxes your stomach. Don’t try to hold your stomach in; let it all out.
4. Relax your legs. The warm wind is back, and this time it’s gently easing your legs down. Let your legs sink into the bed or the floor. They are leaden, and the bed is soft.
5. Clear your mind. There are a few ways to do this. For instance, try to visualize some calming images, like lying by a flowing river or staring at the clouds. If that doesn’t work, try saying the words “don’t think” over and over for about 10 seconds. If you get distracted, don’t get angry; just pull your mind back to one of those two techniques.

The following are my techniques for helping me fall asleep. They might help other people as well. People are different physically and mentally and so they probably won't help everyone. Some things might work better than others. 

 

-First, pray asking God to grant you sleep [as per Ps. 127:2], His peace and His protection for your mind, body and spirit while you sleep. Ask for God's Holy Spirit to fill you afresh (Eph. 5:18) and grant you that peace that transcends all understanding (Phil. 4:7). Ask the Holy Spirit to protect you, help you sleep and inspire restful dreams. Ask Christ to send His angels to protect you physically and spiritually. Protection from physical harm [like a falling tree, or airplane, or meteorite, or tornado/hurricane], demonic attacks, and nightmares brought on by your own subconscious or by demons. Even ask Christ to send an angel or more than one to protect you as you sleep, which is when you are most vulnerable physically and spiritually.

- Stop speaking mental words silently. This is not a recommendation to stop thinking. But to stop "speaking" in your mind. Stop "talking" in your mind. Quiet your mind by switching from thinking in words to thinking in terms of images. Stop having an inner dialogue with yourself.

- Allow your mind to wander. Don't force your thoughts to be rational, logical or make sense. Allow absurd thoughts and images to play in your mind without filtering or judging them as rational or irrational, permissible or impermissible. Though, if they are immoral, then as a Christian you should change the thoughts and images. So, barring sinful thoughts like murderous, lustful etc., allow your mind to wander. If you see an image, allow it its autonomy. Let the image do it's own thing. Don't try to control it. For example, if you see a triangle in your mind when your eyes are closed, allow it to naturally change its shape or color to whatever "wants" to if it wants (i.e. as your subconscious wants it to).

- Another technique is to think of a pleasant dream you have before. Imagine it and allow it to change your mood and attitude. Allow it to draw you into that mental dream state you were in when you were dreaming it in the past. But don't force it. Think about it with the minimum amount of effort and allow your mind to drift back to a dream state. Like the above technique, if the images want to change, allow it permission to do so. You want to relinquish as much mental controls as is permissible morally.

- Don't worry or try to solve problem while you're trying to sleep. Isa. 26: 3 says, "You [i.e. Yahweh] keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you." Leave the problem in the Lord's hands and trust the solution will come from Lord. Trust Him to give you the answer either during sleep or after you wake up. Instead of worrying, relax and let your mind wander. For example, you're thinking about how to fix your flat tire, don't insist on thinking of the solution. If your mind absurdly thinks of a bunny rabbit replacing your tire with a large donut and inflating it with its own breath like you would an inflatable pillow, allow your mind to think it.

- Try using "Brain Tapping" to help you fall asleep. See these video here:
                https://youtu.be/A5dE25ANU0k                https://youtu.be/8wWpA8o6IGg

-Take advantage of the fact that sleep cycles are completed every (approximately) 90 minutes. There are different stages of sleep and the last stage ends after every ~90 minutes. It's been shown that waking up at the end of a sleep cycle makes a person feel more fully rested than waking up in any of the other stages of sleep. That means the best time to wake up is approximately 90 minutes, or 3 hours, or 4 1/2 hours, or 6 hours, or 7 1/2 hours, or 9 hours after you actually fall asleep. Set your alarm to wake up around one of those times.

-Take advantage of the reality of your biological circadian rhythms. When you are in a habit of sleeping at the right time and at the same time as well as waking up at the right time and the same time every day, then your body adjusts to that and helps you naturally get sleeping at the right time, and helps you naturally wake up at the right time. So, make it a habit to sleep and wake up at your scheduled times. Your circadian rhythms can help you or hurt you. Use them to your advantage, rather than allowing them [sic] to be used against you to your disadvantage. Remember, evil spirits understand that sleep is an important part of your usefulness, effectiveness and health (physically, mentally, spiritually). So, they will seek to disturb your sleeping patterns and your ability to get the daily and weekly rest you need.

 - If you wake up because you need to urinate, don't turn on bright lights. Otherwise you will restart a new sleep cycle, and you might have a difficult time falling back to sleep. Find a way to be able to walk to the bathroom and use the toilet, wash your hands and then go back to bed without turning on bright lights. Maybe set up an alternative dim light source you can turn on or even carry to urinate.

-Scientists have said that another way to help you fall asleep is by dropping body temperature. So some take a shower before going to sleep and/or wearing something that will keep you cool while you're in bed.

-The last technique might not help some people. Some people might become uncomfortable or feel vulnerable cooled down or not sleeping with a blanket on. Some people feel more comfortable sleeping with a warm blanket on.

-In fact, some fall asleep sooner and get more rest with a weighted blanket. Or in a sleeping bag. The weight and constriction might work because it might be simulating being in the womb. I don't know. But some people swear to weighted blankets or confining sleeping conditions like in a hammock or sleeping bag.

-When your alarm wakes you up, don't set it to snooze. Sleeping again restarts a new sleep cycle and after the 5 or 10 minute snooze you won't feel very rested afterwards when you do get up. So, stop using the snooze button.

 -If you drink coffee for breakfast, it's been said by scientists that you should delay drinking coffee till after 90 after you walk up to allow your body to naturally deal with the chemicals of sleepiness. Then, when you do drink your coffee after 90 minutes, you won't feel the crash a few hours later that often accompanies drinking coffee to wake you up.

-Consider breaking your sleep into two stages, or the "Two Sleeps." See this article on the topic HERE. Recently, it's been discovered by historians and other scholars that in many periods of human history people had two stages of sleep separated by a time of waking up and doing some light activity like reading (or whatnot) for a short period of time. After the light activity, they then proceeded to go back to sleep to finish off the rest of their planned sleep.

-Make sure you have fresh air in the room you sleep in. Lack of fresh air can keep you awake. Have you ever sleep with the blanket over your face and then wake up suddenly? That's sometimes due to the fact that your body recognizes that it's severely depleted of oxygen and has too much carbon dioxide in the bloodstream and therefore forces you to wake up in order to get some more oxygen in your system. So, always sleep with the blanket away from your face. Those intense dreams you have when your face is covered is because your brain is trying to keep active and alive despite the low oxygen content in your body.

-Make sure to be well hydrated before you go to sleep. That way you don't get intensely thirsty and wake up in the middle of your planned sleep. Hydrate in advance enough to so that you urinate excess water before you go to sleep. If you hydrate immediately before going to sleep, then you're obviously going to have to wake up to urinate later. Also, keep some water near your bed when you sleep. So that if you do get thirsty, you don't have to walk far to get a drink. The water is within arm's reach.

- Keep electronic devices away from you body. Especially your brain while you sleep. Electromagnetic fields can disturb your sleep and health. So, you should always try to avoid EM fields whenever possible. Keep your bed away from all Wi-Fi radiation, both from your Wi-Fi internet router, and your laptop. Place your laptop, cellphones and iPads, and kindles on "airplane mode" and away from you. If possible, don't use alarm plugged into the electric socket. Or having far away from your bed. You can set that alarm clock to wake you up, or use an alarm that uses batteries that's closer to your bed/body.

- Keep your room as dark as possible while you sleep. Absolute darkness is best. If your room has light in it, the light can still enter your eyes through your closed eyelids. Absolute darkness is essential to produce certain hormones needed for sleep and bodily recovery. When your brain senses light entering the eyes, it doesn't produce the chemicals and hormones it is supposed to produce when you're fully asleep. Your brain thinks it's daytime and the sun is out, and therefore affects your circadian rhythms and therefore you sleep patterns and quality of sleep.

- Sleep paralysis during sleep can sometimes just be purely biological. Same thing with Hypnagogic Hallucinations and and Hypnopompic hallucinations. Other times, they can be spiritual attacks by an evil spirit. Same thing with "Alien Abduction" experiences. If you suspect you're being demonically attacked, invoke the name of Jesus and ask Jesus to make the attacks stop. If you're a Christian, then you can also use your authority in Christ to command evil spirits to cease and desist, and to leave you in Jesus name. See for example, these testimonies of people who were able to stop "Alien Abduction" experiences by calling on the name of Jesus HERE. See also the following article by theologian and pastor Sam Storms. I cite Storms because he's respected by both Evangelical cessationists as well as continuationists (I'm a continuationist). Some cessationists don't believe ordinary Christians have authority to rebuke evil spirits. Storms is educated enough theologically that even cessationists have to seriously consider what he's saying.  Identity & Authority by Sam Storms.

-Examine your medications. Ask your doctor if certain medications might be disturbing your sleep. It might be the medication by itself, or the problem might just be the wrong dosage. Maybe at lower dosages your sleep won't be affected. Ask your doctor to adjust or switch your medications.

- Another obvious thing is to not drink coffee or other stimulants like energy drinks right before you go to sleep.

If none of these things work, do your own research. For example, read some articles on the internet and watch some videos on YouTube for advice on getting to sleep faster, regularly and with greater rest. Go to the library and find books on the topic as well.

Can Science Find God? feat. Stephen Meyer and Michael Shermer

 Comedian and actor Bryan Callen interviews Christian Intelligent Design proponent Stephen C. Meyer and atheist Michael Shermer on his podcast. See also Callen's interview with Christian apologist William Lane Craig and agnostic Michael Ruse HERE.

Can Science Find God? feat. Stephen Meyer and Michael Shermer
https://youtu.be/QIqzfdDnPjI

 

 

 

A Conversation With A Sincere Hindu

 

Christian apologist Vishal Mangalwadi posted the following in one of his Facebook posts;

 

A CONVERSATION WITH A SINCERE HINDU

. . . (Australia Tour # 2) . . .

Pandit Bal Krishna was training to become a swami to preach a version of Hinduism called Adwaita or non-dualism. He believed that the Creator and the creation are one. You are God, not a sinner. His aim in life was to become one with Brahma (God) by merging his individual soul into the impersonal, Universal Consciousness.

During our conversation, I asked him: What is your view of creation? Where have you and I come from?

BK: Well, science teaches us that life has evolved out of matter, and matter is indeed energy. Now physicists like Erwin Schrodinger and great biologists like Waddington are telling us that energy really is consciousness. The whole creation has evolved out of consciousness. This universal consciousness is the ultimate reality, or Brahman that is everything.

VM: Is this Universal Consciousness personal or impersonal?

BK: It is infinite, therefore, impersonal.

VM: Is personality higher than impersonality?

BK: Of course!

VM: Then why do you want to become lower and merge into impersonal consciousness?

BK: Well, no. Personality is actually lower than impersonality.

VM: Why do you then use the term evolution? Shouldn’t you say that we have devolved out of the impersonal? If so, shouldn’t you respect this grass on which we are sitting? Being impersonal, the dirt is higher than us. Why do you walk on it?

BK: This is confusing. Let's begin again.

VM: Okay. My question is, where has this whole creation come from?

BK: There is no creation. It is maya — a dream, an illusion, a game that we call Lila.

VM: If the cosmos is an illusion or whimsical Lila without “laws”, how is science possible?

BK: Science is pursued by the ignorant who think that the material universe is real. Our gurus sought spiritual Enlightenment. Not a single Hindu Ashram ever studied science or built up a university. Science depends on human intellect. God-realization comes from meditation that silences the mind and transcends reason into mysticism.

VM: So! What have we been talking about all this time?

BK: About nothing! We shouldn't have been talking. There is nothing to talk about. We ought to silence our minds through meditation.

VM: Why then do you want to become a preacher and go all over the world to declare that the world does not exist? Wouldn't your activity contradict your message?

BK: No, because Vedanta teaches that so far as I am living in ignorance, I have to behave as though this world is real.

VM: Well, then shouldn’t you first get rid of your ignorance and attain “realization.” After you have personally realized that the world is an illusion, then, perhaps you can ask others to attain liberation. But maybe when you realize that the world is an illusion, you would not go around the world. Anyway, why do you think that your experience as an individual person distinct from others, is an illusion?

BK: Because I have no basis for saying that I am personal or that finite individuality is real.

VM: Of course, if the Ultimate Reality (Brahma) is impersonal then personality cannot come out of impersonality. It must be an illusion. But what if the Ultimate Reality is an infinite-personal God? Then your experience of being an individual person could be an experience of reality. What if a personal Being created you to be like him — a person with an individual identity, a mind, and a will of your own?

BK: But how can anyone believe in a personal God who is infinite? Isn't personality a limitation? An infinite being must have everything in itself, e.g., good and evil, love and hatred, personality, and impersonality.

VM: Not necessarily. In geometry, we talk about an infinite straight line. That doesn't mean that everything that exists is included in this straight line. It is infinite in what it is. Likewise, God can have a definite character and be infinite in his character. That is, he can be good in contrast to being evil, and be infinite in his goodness, or infinitely powerful in contrast to being weak. His character does limit him. He is good, not evil. But he is infinite in who he is.

BK That's interesting. But how can you believe in a personal God who is omnipresent? If God is present in this stone, in its every subatomic particle, then how is God different from the stone itself?

VM: The omnipresence of God means that divinity is immediately accessible from every point of space, and every point of space is immediately accessible to God. It does not mean that God is everything. Moreover, if God is Spirit then it is perfectly conceivable that both God and stone are present here because Spirit doesn't really occupy space.

BK: Hmmm… that sounds reasonable.

VM: If God is an infinite-personal Spirit, we have a basis for believing that our experience of being distinct individuals is real. We are personal beings created in God's image. Then, our problem is not that we are ignorant of our true nature, but that we are alienated from God due to our sin.

BK: What is sin?

Well, if you begin with the assumption that God is "impersonal-everything" good as well as evil, then sin and morality make no sense. But if you begin with the assumption that God is personal and has a definite character, then everything against his character is sin, because his character is the Law of his universe.

BK: But how can we know God's character, even if he has one?

VM: By ourselves, we can only speculate, not truly know. But if God reveals the truth about himself to us then we can know. What is ‘conscience’ - the inner voice that tells us that we did something wrong? Could it be an aspect of God’s image and likeness within every one of us? God’s commandments — for example, the Ten Commandments — reveal objectively what is confirmed in our conscience subjectively. Reading God's Word helps us know what God is like and what we ought to be. We sin when we do not conform to God's character and word.

Sin separates us from each other as well as from ourselves. Our heart condemns us and we experience helplessness when we do things that we know ought not to be done. Likewise, sin separates us from God because He is holy. He cannot have personal fellowship with sinners. Yet the personal God wants to have a loving relationship with us.

BK: How then can sinners have a relationship with a Holy God?

VM: That is the Gospel or the good news. Just as darkness and light do not mix, so are God and sinners separated. Separation from God is the punishment for sin. In the temporal realm, separation from God brings suffering, sickness, and death. In eternity it brings permanent separation from God or hell.

But God is love. He created us to love Him and each other. That is why God came to save us from our sins. Jesus Christ’s resurrection or triumph over death demonstrated that He was God incarnate. He took our sin and its punishment upon himself on the cross. He died in our place. Therefore, if we repent of our sins and ask Jesus to forgive us for our sins, he forgives us and makes us God’s children. He gives us God’s Holy Spirit so that we can live in a personal relationship with him forever. This is eternal life. This is salvation in which a person does not lose their identity but enters into a joyous relationship with God and with his people.

BK: This is so different from the impression of Christianity that I was given. After I finish my course here, I would like to live with some Christians for a time and learn more about the Christian life and faith.

Vishal Mangalwadi

www.RevelationMovement.com

www.ThirdEducationRevolution.com

https://www.facebook.com/VishaMangalwadi

https://www.youtube.com/VishalMangalwadi

PS. Ruth and I are scheduled to be in Sydney, Australia from August 18-28. To prepare the audience for that trip, I am posting a series for posts

How John's Gospel Can Launch a NEW Quest for the Historical Jesus

 

An interesting interview of New Testament scholar Craig Blomberg.

 

How John's Gospel Can Launch a NEW Quest for the Historical Jesus
https://youtu.be/RVM1GhWeoug