The Fundamentals of Our Faith An Examination of the Basis and Beliefs that Make Christianity the Rational Choice

in an Irrational World Chapters: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Why Christianity? On Liberty On Equality On Marriage On Homosexuality On Government

A Logical Discussion of Why Christianity Represents the Only Rational Belief System

Chapter One: Why Christianity? Have you ever taken the time to examine just what it is you believe and why it is you believe it? Every person whether they realize it or not sees the world through the prism of a particular set of beliefs a particular worldview. There are Christians, Buddhists, Hindus, Atheists, and Agnostics, among a plethora of others. But everyone holds some foundational beliefs even if those beliefs are simply that you cannot know anything and contrary to popular belief, it truly matters which worldview one subscribes to. Only one can be correct. No matter how much we wish it to be so, multiple contradictory beliefs cannot all be valid. Two plus two equals four, not five or three. Even if some people believe the erroneous sums to be accurate, reality only allows for one accurate answer. And inaccurate answers to lifes deepest questions lead to faulty choices and poor outcomes. So why should a person embrace Christianity? The answer is that out of all the various belief systems Christianity represents the most logical viewpoint. In fact, it represents the only rational belief system. Lets begin with the most basic assumption of all worldviews. There either actually is a Creator of the universe, God, if you will; or there is not. So why should one believe in the existence of God? Of course those of Atheist or Agnostic faith attempt to frame the argument as if belief in God lies outside the realm of reason. They posit that reason allows only for belief in that which is observable. This is inaccurate and somewhat hypocritical on their part. It was impossible for the Greeks of 460 B.C. to observe the atom, yet at this time they began to believe in its existence. Anti-matter has been unobservable until only recently, yet scientists have proclaimed its existence based solely on the effects it has had on the surrounding world. It is entirely reasonable and logical to believe in the existence of the unobservable. Science does it all the time. And in fact significant physical evidence points to the existence of God. Life as Evidence of God

If an individual were to come across a statue of Abraham Lincoln rendered in stone, it would be rational to assume the statue was the product of intelligent design because the statue contains information. It is not random. Someone made the statue. To assume it was the product of random chance would be ridiculously irrational. Now suppose that statue were further able to move, think, and even reproduce itself and all the information necessary to make this statue was encoded similar to computer coding. That code would be absolute proof of intelligent design. That code is called DNA. DNA contains an enormous amount of nonrandom information, in fact, orders of magnitude greater than the information contained in the stone statue of Abraham Lincoln. A rational assessment of DNA proves the existence of a Creator. Of course the Atheistic worldview is cloaked in evasions of this fact. Evolution is trumpeted as a reasonable explanation of the apparent inconsistency of the emergence of non-random information from the randomness of nature. But there are a number of glaring logical flaws in the theory of evolution that leaves it unacceptable to rational thought. First, the fossil record does not confirm evolution. In fact, it denies it. Evolution is based on the concept of natural selection. Even though most mutation causes harm, given a large enough opportunity natural selection posits that the rare random mutation will chance upon an advantageous outcome that will increase survival and thus be selected naturally. These mutations are small, each one building on others that came before it to eventually create new functions and species. This means that at the point of each and every of the multitudes of mutations that separate species, numerous examples of that mutation had to exist and breed to allow the opportunity for the next advantageous mutation to occur. So the fossil record should hold plentiful skeletons of each and every small step between the various species. The problem is it simply doesnt. Occasionally a single skeleton will be found and held up as an intervening step, but if natural selection is correct these should be more than plentiful. There should literally be millions of each small mutation. There are not. In fact, the fossil record actually shows every single animal phylum or body plan that exists today originated in its current form in the Cambrian period. And with only one exception they all originated in the first quarter of this period. This period is known as the Cambrian Explosion and was even noted by Charles Darwin as a significant objection to the theory of natural selection. The fossil record simply does not show the large populations of missing links necessary for natural selection. Nor does it show a gradual progression from one species to another. These facts also present another problem for evolutionary theory. It is not observed in real life. By the fossil record, Atheists have to claim all the present types of life evolved in such a short period of time we were simply unable to observe the progression because it went from one species to the next so rapidly that it left little to see. This happened a little over 500 million years ago in the Cambrian period, but then for the five hundred million years since, nothing more happened, no more new animal phyla evolved.

Similarly, evolutionary proponents claim racial characteristics developed over the course of a few tens of thousands of years. For example, according to scientists, Australian Aborigine and Asian populations were separated only some 13,000 years ago. Prior to this a land bridge connected the population allowing the mingling of the people, so their characteristic differences had to develop after the bridge was submerged. These differences include skin color, skeletal structure, musculature, facial structure, etc. all supposedly due to climate and environmental factors pushing natural selection. Now realize that even if the average age of the mother at the time of birth of her children was 13 this means there were only 1000 generations in which to facilitate this evolution. Of course women are fertile well into their 40s so obviously most children are born to mothers older than 13, meaning the actual number of generations is probably more like 500. So all the evolved differences had to accumulate in 500 generations. This is quite problematic given the significant number of mutations necessary, relatively slow rate of mutation, as well as efficient DNA repair mechanisms, and the need for each mutation to propagate extensively to create the necessary pool to allow for the next mutation to build on the last. But theres another problem. Over the six thousand years of recorded human history descriptions and artwork show racial populations remained consistent in appearance unless interbreeding with other racial types occurred. So during the last half of this time period actual observation shows nothing apparently happened which means the differences had to evolve in only 7000 years, not 13,000. Evolution requires belief in seven thousand years of extremely fast human evolution which we have no proof of followed by a period of six thousand years where we have proof no evolution occurred at all. And yet the greatest difficulty for an Atheistic, evolutionary worldview is irreducible complexity. For instance, a leg is a wonderfully advantageous mechanism. Having legs most certainly would allow natural selection over a creature that doesnt. But the leg is a complex mechanism. It is made up of bones, muscles, tendons, ligaments, joints, etc. all of which are required to allow the leg to function as a leg. Without any one of these elements it does not function and presents no advantage. But evolution does not produce a whole leg with all its parts at once. It only claims to produce small steps in that direction. When the first fish was evolving a leg, it didnt get a whole leg in one mutation. It would only have begun with the smallest of mutations that produced something like a fleshy protrusion or a sturdier fin. This unfinished leg would carry with it no advantage. Life, as we know it, is wonderfully adapted to its environment. Half steps between these well adapted life forms are disadvantages, not advantages. The protrusion or sturdier fin would have caused a disadvantage in moving through the water, not an advantage, and actually would have been de-selected by natural selection. So while natural selection seems as if it might work on the surface, in actual practice it fails. The most glaring example of irreducible complexity is the most basic building block of life itself, the cell. Recent advances in understanding of the inner workings of the cell have left scientists stunned at its complexity. The molecular machines present and necessary for every single cell to function are literal marvels. This has left modern science with a quandary. Roger White, Professor of Philosophy, M.I.T. put it this way:

The following appears to be a fair representation of the attitudes of most scientists working on the origin of life in the last few decades: We now know that the probability of life arising by chance is far too low to be plausible, hence there must be some deeper explanation that we are yet to discover, given which the origin of life is at least reasonably likely. Perhaps we have little idea yet what form this explanation will take although of course it will not appeal to the work of a rational agent; this is would be a desperate last resort, if an option at all Most scientists now recognize the fact life could not have arisen by chance. But as Atheists, many of these same scientists also refuse to allow for the natural and rational conclusion of a Creator. So why would anyone who would easily recognize a stone statue as the creation of intelligence, refuse to acknowledge that life which they themselves recognize is far more non-random and complex, even far too complex to come about by chance is the creation of intelligence? The answer is irrational faith. While most Atheists do not realize it, Atheism is based in an irrational faith in the non-existence of God. Belief in a Creator God brings with it obligation to that God. This obligation is objectionable to many and thus is born the motivation for the Atheist faith. But Atheism is fundamentally irrational. A rational assessment of the facts leads to a belief in a Creator God. So the rational mind understands that life logically points to the existence of God. The next question becomes which God? Miracles: Belief in the Rational Resurrection A miracle is designed to establish credibility. The miracle of the resurrection of Jesus Christ accomplished exactly this. More than anything else, it is on this event that Christianity stands. But why should one believe in the resurrection? We believe in historical events based on eye witness accounts. For example, it is considered historical fact that Julius Caesar won the Battle of Alesia in 52 B.C. We know this because of Caesars eye witness account. Of course, we also have eye witness testimony of eleven of the apostles who saw Jesus resurrected after the crucifixion. So why do we hold up only the one as fact? The Battle of Alesia was a very improbable event. A Gallic army of 80,000 was surrounded by Caesars 60,000 soldiers, who were then in turn surrounded by a second Gallic relief army consisting of another 250,000 men for a total Gallic strength of 330,000. Outnumbered more than 5 to 1 and fighting both inward and outward at the same time, the Roman army still achieved victory. This is so implausible that it invites doubt as to the accuracy of the numbers involved. But given the fact other rare instances of heavily outnumbered victories have occurred and political opponents of Caesar were also present and did not contest Caesars account lends credibility to the account. The end result is that Caesars victory against some level of incredible odds is recognized as fact. In comparing the two events, the argument against the resurrection is that it is not just improbable, but impossible. But interestingly we now know this position is not defensible. Since 1982, at least 25 cases

of auto-resuscitation have been medically documented. An example of auto-resuscitation occurred in 2008 when a woman suffered cardiac arrest in a hospital in Delaware. After repeated attempts at resuscitation medical staff declared her dead and sent her to the morgue where she began breathing again and recovered. Another example involved a 27-year old man in the U.K. who went 25 minutes without breathing or a pulse while medical staff attempted resuscitation. Shortly after attempts were ceased and he was declared dead, the man spontaneously revived. So we have observed events similar in description to the event described in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. People who have been observed to have died have come back to life sometimes after extended periods of time. These have been unusual events, but as fact they are undisputed because of the credibility of the witnesses. And the credibility of the eye witnesses to the resurrection are also absolutely unimpeachable. Eleven apostles witnessed the resurrected Jesus Christ. They claimed to have physically seen Jesus with their own eyes after He had been crucified. How do we know they were telling the truth? Of the eleven apostles, ten died brutally. They were burned, beheaded, crucified, and flayed alive. They were martyred precisely because of their continuous proclamation of the resurrection of Christ. Christianity was a troublesome belief system for the multi-cultural Roman world. Rome sought violently to suppress the growth of this faith. Now, imagine how valuable it would have been to Rome if any one of the Apostles had recanted and admitted the resurrection was a lie? They most certainly would have been spared death and paraded around as an invaluable tool to stop the spread of Christianity. At a single word, any one of the apostles could have saved themselves from unimaginable pain and certain death. Why didnt they? They had absolutely nothing to gain in this world by holding on to their account of the resurrection. When captured they knew they would die. The only thing that could possibly have motivated them to take the course they took was absolute faith in the truth of the resurrection and the reward they would receive after death. And remember, their belief did not come from others. Their belief came from seeing it with their own eyes. There is no other possible explanation for the apostles actions. They witnessed a resurrected Jesus with their own eyes. Now, it is not difficult for one to believe the woman in Delaware was declared dead and revived later, so why is it so hard to believe Jesus revived? If when Julius Caesar was stabbed on the Ides of March he had been declared dead and placed in a tomb, and three days later twelve senators had found him alive and testified of the event; the world would regard this event as a curious fact. Certainly it would be questioned, but with the fact of similar circumstances being confirmed today and given the credibility of the witnesses the world would believe the event occurred. Why wont they believe the resurrection of Jesus occurred? The answer is Jesus predicted His resurrection and this means it was not simply a fluke of nature. The prophecy establishes Jesus as something more than just another man. The other religions, from Atheism to Judaism, deny the resurrection not because of what occurred, but rather because of the implications. Their denial is rooted not in reason, but in a desire not to be obligated to the Christian God. Denying the

resurrection is irrational. Based on the evidence we know, it is only reasonable to accept the resurrection as a fact. Christianity Accurately Describes the World By Their Fruit Ye Shall Know Them Beliefs have consequences. When N.A.S.A sends a satellite on a mission to Mars it will only arrive there if their assumptions about the way the universe works are correct. If N.A.S.A.s beliefs about the effects of gravity, for instance, are inaccurate the mission will fail. The accuracy of beliefs can be judged by the success or failure of their implementation. This applies to far more than just the world of physical sciences. Our beliefs about all aspects of life have consequences. And from these consequences we can judge the accuracy of the underlying belief system. Christianity is defined by the Bible and the teachings of this book more accurately reflect the inner workings of the world and human nature than any other belief system. An example of this is evident in recent discoveries about human genetic code. For the last several decades research into the genetic code has been intense. Very rapidly the purpose of some twenty percent of DNA was deduced, but the purpose of the remaining eighty percent was not immediately apparent. Most of the scientific community as a consequence of beginning from an Atheistic, evolutionary viewpoint were quick to assume the eighty percent was junk DNA left over from the evolutionary process and held no actual purpose. They were naturally looking for this to be the case. That is what evolution predicts would be the case. There should be left over DNA. A Christian viewpoint, on the other hand, assumes man was designed and thus assumes all parts of the human body do hold purpose. So which assumption is correct? It turns out the Christian viewpoint more accurately predicted reality. A whole new field of study called epigenetics has revealed the DNA labeled as junk in fact regulates the expression of DNA. So the left overs that should have been there if evolution were correct, arent. Instead all of DNA has a purpose. The Atheist worldview led to an incorrect conclusion while the Christian worldview led to a correct conclusion. And in fact over and over again the Christian Bible reflects an assessment of the world around us and inside us that is not only accurate but was beyond the possibility of human accomplishment at the time of its writing. For instance, the Bible tells us the sins of the fathers will be visited on their children to the third and fourth generation. Now it also forbids holding a child accountable for the sins of his father, so the meaning here is not that children should be judged by the actions of their fathers. The meaning is rather children can be directly harmed by the actions of their forefathers all the way to the third and fourth generation. To modern science this has been a laughable assertion until only recently. How could the sins of a great, great grandfather affect his great, great grandchild? Scientists thought that the 20% of our DNA that passed on genetic traits to our offspring were locked in; a brown eye gene meant brown eyes in your children and that was that. The things a father did in his life couldnt affect his genes. He might

somehow cause a birth defect in his child, but certainly nothing he did was thought possible to change the actual genetic package he left to his great, great, grandchildren. While we do have genes that define who our children will be, it also seems the other large portion of our DNA that scientists used to think was junk which has been found instead to regulate how those genes are expressed, can be changed by the lifestyle choices of the father. And this is specifically the father, not the mother. Because all of a mothers eggs are formed before she is born, a mother doesnt pass on these effects the same way that a father does. Researchers have found the way fathers eat changes the way their descendants bodies function, how they respond to food, how prone they are to disease. This isnt something that children pick up by living with the father. It is affected by the choices of the father long before the child is ever born and it is genetically transmitted. And these changes are not limited just to eating or just to bodily functions. A fathers attitudes and his lifestyle choices also have effects on the genetic expression of genes transmitted to his descendants. One study studied what is called defeated syndrome. They found that when a father suffers repeated failures in life, he will pass on anxiety, depression, etc. to his descendants. And guess how many generations they have found these effects go? Interestingly some effects appear to pass down to the third generation and others go all the way to the fourth generation of his descendants before the genetic package returns to its previous expression. Other studies have also observed the genetic passing on of alcoholism and criminal activity (Mednick et al., 1987 Danish adoption study, Bohman, 1996 Stockholm adoption study). Science has now finally figured out a fathers lifestyle choices have genetic effects on his descendants to the third and fourth generation. The truly profound fact is the Bible told us this cutting edge piece of scientific information thousands of years before it was understood by any man. Two implications can be garnered from this. The first is the Bible again accurately reflects reality. The second is the Bible represents something more than just the words of men. Christianitys Bible also gave mankind the institution of traditional marriage a man and a woman united for life. This institution of marriage is well accepted and not resisted to any great degree. In fact even people who live outside the traditional bounds of marriage, i.e. homosexuals, yearn for this institution. Marriage accurately reflects the reality of human nature. Of course modern secular society regularly tries to hold up alternatives to traditional marriage as equally valid: e.g. single parenthood, divorce, and cohabitation. Yet the actual facts show single parenthood is a seedbed for crime and poverty, divorce devastates children, and cohabitation prior to marriage decreases satisfaction in the relationship and makes it more likely to fail. Only the Biblical standard of marriage shows a deep and accurate understanding of human nature that produces success. To their credit many of the worlds religions hold relatively the same template for marriage though generally they are far less definitive in their understandings. For example Buddhism doesnt define marriage at all, leaving it up to civil law. It is the details surrounding marriage as laid out in the Christian

Bible that display an understanding of human nature not available to mankind at the time of their writing. One example of this is the book of Genesis where the Bible states the desire of a woman will be toward her husband. We now know that during a physical relationship a womans body releases oxytocin. This is the same hormone released during childbirth and is associated with deep emotional bonding. While men also release this hormone, it drops shortly after climax in men while remaining elevated in women. The result is that a physical union brings with it a chemical bond in women for their partner that does not occur in men. The Bible accurately describes a womans desire as being toward her husband. The Bible furthers magnifies this position when it instructs us that if a man sleeps with a woman he owes her marriage and if the marriage is refused then he owes her monetary compensation for the damage done to her. Given the fact of the biological bond a woman experiences in a physical relationship it is understandable to imagine damage is caused by breaking that bond. And in fact studies show that is exactly the case. Women are happiest when they experience a single long term sexual relationship in their life. They are less happy without one and also less happy with each additional relationship after the first. The likelihood of depression rises with each additional relationship beyond the first. The Christian Bible displays this accurate understanding of the fundamental nature of the sexual union which other belief systems, such as Atheism, fail to acknowledge. The gender roles outlined in the Christian Bible also show a depth of understanding of human nature that is unexplainable if attributable only to mens understanding. For example the Bible tells us the proper role of women is to marry, bear children, and keep the house (I Timothy 5:14). And indeed modern research is revealing more and more how beneficial that role actually is to all involved. Recent epigenetic research has shown that the degree of nurture a mother offers her children directly affects the genetic expression of her children. A lack of nurture causes permanent damage which can even be passed on genetically to her grandchildren. One of the most critical aspects of this nurture is direct, tactile stimulation the pure amount of physical touch between mother and child. Obviously a stay at home mom as described in I Timothy 5:14 naturally fulfills this need, while a mother engaged in a career is forced to leave her children to the care of others who are naturally much less likely to provide this needed physical touch. This has actually been shown to cause damage to genes which lead to greater susceptibility to stress and depression. Interestingly it has also been shown to cause methylation of the genes for estrogen receptors in the brain, meaning the inadvertent inattention of a career mom actually causes her daughters and granddaughters to be less attentive mothers as well. (Grandmas Experiences Leave a Mark on Your Genes, Discover magazine, May 2013). The Bible instructs us that men owe responsibility to their wives and wives owe obedience to their husbands. Modern secular society, on the other hand, rejects gender roles as oppressive to women. It also laments the irresponsibility of men, with talk of failure to launch and extended adolescence becoming quite commonplace, though secular society cannot seem to figure out what the cause may be. But the fact is extensive studies reveal women were happier filling their traditional Biblical gender role

than they are in an equal relationship and mens sense of responsibility derives exactly from these same gender roles. In a study titled The Paradox of Declining Female Happiness, two Wharton School professors chronicle the decline of happiness reported by women from 1972 to modern day. This is labeled a paradox because secular society believes the equality of modern relationships should produce greater happiness in women than the oppressive gender roles of past relationships. Yet in 1972, when traditional Biblical gender roles were far more prevalent than today, women were on average far happier than today. And this is not explainable as a result of not yet achieving full equality because happiness declined steadily in converse relationship to the steady increase in equality. It also cannot be explained by attributing the decline to difficulty with modern life in general because mens happiness has shown a steady rise over the same time period as they have shed the responsibilities of their traditional role. The logical explanation is simply that these gender roles accurately reflect the innate design of human nature. The Bible links the responsibility of men in marriage to the authority they hold in marriage. This is a profoundly logical link. In no other area of life do we expect someone to be responsible for something he has no control over. Yet in marriage secular society expects men to be responsible for their families yet retain no control over them. This simply does not work. No one will be held responsible for something that is out of their control. The rise in male happiness is a direct result of the drop in responsibility that has accompanied gender equality. The Bibles traditional gender roles produce the responsibility in men that society desires and expects and they also produce more satisfied and contented women. Clearly this shows a depth of understanding of the natural attitudes, emotions, and thought processes of both men and women. Given the fact modern society has the benefit of these clinical observations and research, yet still refuses to acknowledge any fundamental vulnerability in women or fundamental link between control and responsibility in men, shows the Christian scripture is unlikely to have arrived at these accurate conclusions simply by the efforts of man. Again, realize, of all the religions of the world, only the Christian Bible displays this level of accurate understanding of human nature. There are many such points throughout the Bible. Two more while not yet proven deserve to be noted. The Christian Bible outlines a system of debt relief that is to occur once every fifty years called the year of Jubilee. Economists are well aware of the cyclic nature of economics. The business cycle is well recognized with its booms and busts that naturally occur over periods of time. There is also evidence that both short term cycles that last a few years as well as macro, long-term cycles that may span several decades occur. The recent global economic downturn brought on by over-indebtedness is one such macro cycle similar in nature to the Great Depression. While our secular society has chosen to deal with the over-indebtedness of society with a large scale expansion of government debt, the success of this path remains highly questionable. Though current actions are orders of magnitude larger, similar action was taken to remedy the Great Depression with failure as a result until finally the world descended into global war. In our current situation success

remains elusive as well, with the economy posting the poorest recovery since the Great Depression and income inequality actually rising. Would the Biblical Jubilee which instructs society wide debt forgiveness once every fifty years have forestalled the macro economic cycles we are currently suffering from? Society didnt choose that path so we have no way of proving this but rationally it makes sense that debt forgiveness would have addressed the situation of a stagnant economy far better than printing money to prop up the value of assets held primarily by the wealthiest members of society. The Biblical idea is certainly the more rational of the two and the awareness of macro-economic cycles is exceptional at the time Moses gave this law. A warning given in Christian writing also displays a possible curious degree of insight into the workings of nature. The Bible tells us that a sinful nation will be expelled by nature itself, e.g. drought and flood. This might sound like simple fantasy, but recent discoveries create a rational pathway for exactly this to occur. I caution that no proof of this link exists as yet but a logical pathway does. Precipitation has been found to be facilitated by a biological element. Rain, snow, sleet, etc. nucleates or forms around bacteria in the air that originate from ground sources. It is also known our bodies chemically communicate with bacterial colonies in and on our bodies. And it is known our bodys chemical signals are altered by certain lifestyle choices. For example homosexuals release a different set of pheromones into the environment around them than heterosexuals do. These signals affect life around us. One instance of this is the fact heterosexual women tend to synchronize their cycles when living in proximity while lesbian women do not. Another instance is heterosexual male pheromones help in the regulation of their female partners menstrual cycle making them more regular and reducing the intensity and duration of menopause while homosexuals do not enjoy this benefit. Given these facts it is perfectly logical to consider the possibility that when certain lifestyle choices become prevalent in a society different chemical communications may affect the bacterial colonies that regulate rainfall. Again, while not proven, the Bibles warning is certainly rationally possible. These are individual examples of an accurate Christian understanding of the world. There is also a way to judge the entirety of all the ideas and standards of the worlds religions against each other. When a particular worldview is pervasive enough in a society, its rules and ideas tend to dominate and govern that society. When this happens we have a perfect opportunity to judge the success or failure of that worldviews set of standards against the reality of nature. One obvious example of this is the Arab world. Several nations govern using the precepts of Islam. How successful is this Muslim culture? One of the most apparent characteristics of Islamic nations is a tendency toward brutal tyranny. Precepts that anticipate and naturally motivate human nature do not require a great deal of force to implement. The necessity of force shows the Islamic system of law bears little understanding of actual human nature. The culture is not very productive or successful and people under its rule have frequently sought to leave.

Buddhist and Hindu culture are found in India. These cultures reflect the fact most polytheistic religions are more philosophies than religions. Neither religion actually proclaims the existence of a god. Instead, both leave that belief up to the individual. As a consequence their moral teachings are also somewhat undefined, frequently deferring to local tradition. The end result is what we see today as India. It is somewhat chaotic, and not very productive or successful. Its population frequently seeks to leave. Jewish culture is difficult to judge due to its immersion within Christian culture and consequent lack of definable identity. Christian culture has been present in Europe and North America for centuries. While it has seen its share of mistakes, overall during that time it has been the most productive and successful of any culture on earth. This success has permeated all of society from more wealth to better health to greater compassion. Christian Europe has also been the least tyrannical, requiring only minimal enforcement of its precepts. For the majority of Christian European history well less than 5% of the population was employed in government. Living under the government and influence of this culture has been sought after by populations all over the world with almost no emigration. Atheist culture is unique in that no culture has ever been founded upon Atheist precepts. Atheism has at times come to dominate particular cultures such as that of the Soviet Union and the Peoples Republic of China, but it has never founded a culture. This is due to the fact that Atheism rejects the idea of God which is the basis for a commonly held universal morality upon which culture grows. Atheist cultures tend toward tyranny and fragmentation. In the absence of a common source of morality, God, individuals are each left to form their own moral codes. This situation then requires significant regulation and force to facilitate the interaction of all the various moral codes. This aspect can clearly be seen in the communist incarnations of Atheist culture. Western culture has also recently been trending away from the Christianity that dominated it for centuries toward Atheism. Modern Western secular governments are functionally Atheist in that they begin from a basis of refusing to embrace any God. Therefore they begin with God absent from rules, standards, and ideals. This has been the case since roughly the 1960s and is increasingly so. While Western culture still exhibits many of the successes of its Christian cultural predecessor, this success can be attributed more to left over Christian influence than to newer Atheist ideas. Proof of that lies in the significant growth in regulation and fragmentation of our society witnessed over the last several decades. Our own Americas slide toward functional Atheism has been accompanied by a rise in tyrannical tendencies of government, wider political separation, and economic failure characterized by higher wealth disparities similar to the sister Atheist cultures of communism. Clearly, any rational examination of the cultural products of the various religious worldviews shows Christianity is by far the most successful and therefore must logically be built on a profoundly accurate understanding of human nature and the natural workings of the world. The failures of the various other worldviews reflect significant false assumptions and detrimental ideas. Prophecy: Accurate Predictions of the Unknowable

Prophecy is another form of miracle. To accurately predict something that could not be known at the time of the prediction establishes the credibility of the prophet. Christianitys Bible actually has a number of fulfilled prophecies that point to the veracity of its claims to divine origin. No other religion has accurate, specific prophecies which have been fulfilled. Of course the prophecy of the resurrection is one of these as well as a myriad of other prophecies concerning the advent of Christ. But there are others as well which deal with widely known events. The Book of Daniel prophecies the destruction of Persia at the hands of the king of Greece. It then goes on to say that conquering king would die and his kingdom would be divided among four men who were not his descendants. This of course is precisely what happened beginning in the year 334 B.C. Scholars place the authorship of the Book of Daniel in 165 B.C. some 200 years later than the events chronicled rendering the prophecy meaningless. What must be understood though is why scholars place the date where they do. Ancient writing is normally dated by unique textual and linguistic styles. For example the origin of the King James Bible could be accurately dated to the 1600s because of the way language changes over time. This method dates the Book of Daniel from 495-400 B.C., well before the prophesied events. But scholars use 165 B.C. only because they hold a point of faith that prophecy is impossible. It is considered impossible to have accurately predicted what Daniel did predict so they discard the rational evidence of when Daniel was written and instead accept a date based solely on it fulfilling their preconceptions. Opponents of Christianity do not begin with facts to then arrive at a conclusion, but rather begin with their conclusion and proceed to adjust the facts. Another prophecy in the Book of Daniel prophesies something that we can undeniably place prior to its accurate fulfillment. Daniel prophesies that in the end times the power of the holy people would be scattered. When the context is understood this is actually two truly amazing predictions. At the time of this writing (regardless of which date is used) the holy people, the Israelites, held no power whatsoever. They were in bondage. So the first part of this prophecy predicts the holy people would rise again to a position of power. At the time it was written this would have been a ridiculous prediction. It would have been like predicting aborigines will one day dominate the world. But fast forward a thousand years and the dominate force in the world becomes the Christian nations of Europe, the holy people. This portion of the prophecy could not have been more profoundly fulfilled. Even more astonishing is the fact that only recently the dominance of that Christian culture has waned and is truly in danger of being completely scattered. For more than a thousand years, the idea that Christian Europes power could be lost would have been laughable. In 1700 it was said the sun never sets on the British Empire and what wasnt ruled by Christian Britain was under the influence of the Christian nations of France, Germany, or Spain. But that isnt the case anymore. The Christian nations themselves are quickly abandoning Christianity and Atheist China is currently predicted to surpass the United States to become the next superpower. Daniel accurately prophesied the rise and fall of the Christian West at a time it could not possibly have been foreseen.

Isaiah chapter 3 prophecies in the end times, society will remove offices of authority. Isaiah says this will be accompanied by a general rejection of responsibility in men. Women will become haughty and will dominate society. And it prophecies people will be ruled not by a king or dictator, but rather by their neighbors. This prophecy has been fulfilled precisely as written. Through the vast majority of human history men have dominated society. This is a result of the basic fact men are innately stronger and more aggressive than women. This patriarchy has generally been accompanied by a top down form of government characterized by offices of authority such as king, prince, captain, judge, prophet, etc. Isaiahs prophecy was written hundreds of years prior to the Greek democracies and at the time it would have been laughable to imagine the removal of this patriarchal form of government and its replacement with our current form of democratic government. But in the American Revolution that form of government was removed along with its accompanying offices and replaced by a government of our neighbors as predicted by Isaiah. Further, recent history has witnessed the rise of women to a growing position of dominance in our society exemplified by their preponderance in college degrees and their disproportionate legal consideration in areas of hiring, social services, discrimination law, etc. In contrast men have shrunk from responsibility, frequently refraining from marriage and failing to fill societal expectations. Isaiahs prophecy is an impossibly precise description of modern times which could not have originated through the foresight of men. Though they as yet remain unfulfilled, two other large scale prophecies bear mentioning because they display insight unavailable to mankind at the time of their writing. The Book of Revelation prophecies at one point in the end times a great mountain burning with fire will fall into the sea. This is descriptive of what a meteorite of significant size looks like as it falls to earth. Now realize until recently mankind has not understood the effects a significant meteorite impact would have on the earth. The impact of the Shoemaker-Levy comet on Jupiter in 1994 shocked the scientific world who predicted it would likely be barely visible from earth as it was destroyed by entry into the atmosphere. The impact created a fireball the size of the earth and was clearly visible even from small telescopes. It was that event that convinced the scientific community to take meteorites seriously. The Book of Revelation accurately chronicles several of the effects we now expect a sizable meteorite to produce. It tells us the sky will be darkened, blotting out the sun which reflects the dust kicked up into the upper atmosphere by an impact. It goes on to predict hail and fire in association with this event which reflects the ejecta flung away from the collision. And most interestingly it predicts the contamination of surface water resulting from the impact. This effect has only recently been predicted by scientists and reflects the chemical contamination of rainwater by both the extreme heat of the passage of the meteorite through the atmosphere and the sediment kicked up into the atmosphere which can result in either acidic or alkaline rainfall. Revelation predicts bitter or alkaline contamination. The Book of Revelation also predicts at one point during the last days a loaf of bread will cost a days wages and this extreme price will be accompanied by high costs in other food products and industrial

oil. This is a description of hyper-inflation which was impossible prior to the advent of two aspects of the modern world. Historically it has been possible to experience hyper-inflation in small areas as the result of drought or war. But the Bibles description of global hyper-inflation was not possible prior to modern times. Global trade was a prerequisite to such a price spike. Before global trade price fluctuations in one city or region had no effect on other regions. With global trade commodity prices have synchronized across the world. Another factor necessary for the event described in Revelation to occur is the advent of the widespread use of fiat currencies. Large scale hyper-inflation has occurred several times in history always as a result of currency devaluation. The Weimer Republic is a prominent example and even ancient Rome experienced this phenomena when it reduced the silver content of its coins. But what is truly noteworthy about this prophecy is the fact that currently nearly every central bank in the entire world is attempting to devalue their respective currencies at the same time. The United States has been printing money for years at a rate as high as $85 billion per month. The Bank of Japan, the European Central Bank, and the Central Bank of China are all also printing money in attempts to inflate their respective currencies. No one knows what the end result of this unprecedented united effort will be, but the specter of global hyper-inflation is certainly one possible outcome. While not yet fulfilled, the fact that outcome was predicted two thousand years ago, before global trade and paper currencies made it even imaginable, makes this prophecy noteworthy. It is important what a person believes. It is even more important what a society believes. Beliefs affect our lives, our decisions, and the lives of those around us. Not all beliefs are equal. Some beliefs are accurate and beneficial. Others beliefs are not. There are beliefs that might appeal to human ego or instinct, but if they are incorrect and harm us those beliefs should be rejected. Rationally, Christianity explains the reality of life. Other religious views, including Atheism fail to do so. Christianity displays an understanding of our world which is incredibly accurate. Other religions do not. Christianity gave mankind predictions and miracles which are rationally undeniable. Other religions have simply chosen to ignore reason. In a simple, honest, logical examination Christianity is the only rational worldview in an otherwise irrational world.