Thursday, November 15, 2007

Who is blind?

It's noisy here, in the HUB, at lunchtime. But I'm in a relatively quiet corner, and so individual conversations stand out against the general hubbub in the background. One in particular. Is it just because the guy is speaking particularly loudly? Or partly because the topic is one that interests me - that keeps grabbing my attention, even though I'm not trying to eavesdrop?

I can't tell for sure, but it sounds like a couple of atheist guys are trying to convince their Christian friend (a girl) that the Bible couldn't possibly be the word of God. It's hard to sit idly by - what can she do when she is outnumbered so heavily, and out-volumed even more? I don't know if she knows how to answer the stupid arguments they are raising; certainly, she does not do so, except in a dogmatic, meek, "this-is-just-what-I-think" way.


Obviously, it would be rude to butt in on the conversation, but it's so hard to resist when the guy says stuff like "You do know that the Romans edited the Bible the way that they thought the common people should read it, right?" and "There are two versions of the Bible, the Catholic version and the Protestant, and both have been constantly changed throughout history." Honestly, if you want to make a historical argument, learn a little about history. Is faith blind, or are those who seek to destroy it?

I guess I'll just pray for her - pray that she believes more strongly than she's letting on (what would I do in her position?), pray that her faith is not shaken, pray that she's instrumental in opening the eyes of these guys. "Just pray for her," did I say? I am asking the God of all Creation to bring about a result that is not even outside of His ordinary providence, and He tells us that the faithful prayer of a righteous man avails much. Have a little faith yourself, Carter. I guess I'll pray for her.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

C-dawg,

What WOULD you say to these questions? "You do know that the Romans edited the Bible the way that they thought the common people should read it, right?" and "There are two versions of the Bible, the Catholic version and the Protestant, and both have been constantly changed throughout history."

r-dawg

Carter said...

First of all, that neither of them have any basis in historical fact - no serious student of history claims either of these things. The first one is just absurd and not even worth addressing - anyone who would defend that proposition wouldn't be able to have a rational debate. The second... again, obviously based on ignorance, since the only real differences between the Catholic and Protestant bibles are a few books in the Old Testament, and since the Bible shows astoundingly little change (no significant change) over the past two millenia.