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Posted on October 2, 2006 by Guest Contributor

Not every atheist/Christian debate is as interesting as I would like it to be, but the atheist’s opening statement from this debate in Australia sounds like I missed a good one.

[tags]atheist, debate, Christian[/tags]

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  • Karen

    Great stuff! Thanks for the link.

  • Harry Jalland

    Hi there,
    My name is Harry and i believe you stumbled onto my blog.
    Well done.
    Hope you have fun reading it and ill post up more thoughts if you want to keep track of such things that i lead in my atheistic lifestyle… full of temptation and sex outside of marriage HAHAHA

    Cheers,
    Harry Jalland

  • Karen

    Harry, where did you get that transcript, and who was the speaker/author?

  • Whisperwalk

    Strangely enough, it’s the truth that matters, not what you believe in. Is it more important that you saw a cat, or that a cat exists? Is it more important that it looks yellow, or that it is yellow? Now, this cat is also called curiousity, and it died somehow.

    Cats are lovely creatures, aren’t they? This cuteness can be described in terms of naturalistic terms, i.e. skin color, tone, fur density or overall appearance. You can even discover why and how a particular cat is cuter than the rest. Age seems to be a factor (in inverse proportions), and the remaining causes seem to be hereditary.

    Yet metaphysical description, for all its self-wraught complexity (even sounds long to pronounce), does not even begin to describe one dimension – its cuteness. We love our labels so much that we mistake them for real. But “belief-reality” is not the same as “actual reality.” In the same way, metaphysical naturalism is a “belief-reality” – it is a shadow of the true reality, greater than the sum of our senses.

    By application of a few curious principles, one arrives at a conclusion that human senses do not tell the full story of a cat. Is it then surprising that an entire God, a divine being so full and rich as to defy the limits of an entire universe, such that even the highest heaven cannot contain him…that this God should be also greater than human words can contain?

    For this is what God has said (in the Bible), “We know in part, and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the imperfect disappears.”

    Who then is a person that trusts in logical precepts and science? They describe a shadow of God’s light, but themselves are not the light! Shadows are robbed of detail, displaying only vivid form and blunt outline. Can you infer the look of a cat based on its shadow? Tell me, is it purple, green, white, or black? (admittedly, purple cats seem impossible, although given lack of knowledge one may assume anything) Also, most cats have added dimensions of stripes, splashes, or even spots. Did the shadow tell you that?

    Can anyone even begin to unravel the mystery of God? Or do we deliberately forget our own impotency, as to assume an empty pride? Of much condescension, I fairly say that humans, for all we know, do not understand infinity. It is in dictionaries, but we only pretend to understand it.

    My mind tells me that even this, the product of some intense years of soul-searching, will be brushed aside quickly after the reader puts the label of “catty” and go on with life, as if by labelling an argument he has destroyed it. Again, I am only repeating an eternal refrain, the voice of truth which sounds like foolishness to the unbelieving, but is heard all the same, yet the faithful live by it. I am Christian, deeply conscious of my limitations but knowing of someone not bound by them…and to him belongs the secret of true wisdom.

    Another eternal secret echoes throughout eternity – only the seekers discover anything. Truth is not so easily caught a cat; but she is well worth trying! I cannot discuss this in detail…but in my life I have seen even seemingly unshakable pillars such as Reason, Science, and Logic crumble. If you are interested, I can also share more stories.

    A person of some level is not content to stop at ignorance or “common sense” explanations – this, they know, is incomplete. Even high up, people have fallen prey to assuming infallible the sciences or sophisticated argument. Yet try your hardest, and seek with your best, and this I am confident – you will become a Christian. There is no other Truth except one and…his name is Jesus.

    In the end, the truth is what matters. I write not to shame you, but to explain to you, so that you will know that there is a God in heaven – one who cannot be boxed and lightly done up with in such a metaphor as metaphysical naturalism, or indeed, by anything that calls itself philosophy. There is much more that I would like to say…ask of me and I will share much more of my views, hidden since it would not be approprite of a first aquantaince.