Our innate, built-in human value is the reason we have binding duties or obligations towards each other that we don't have towards any other kind of thing. It's also the reason we have unalienable human rights. If man's God-given, special value falls, then unalienable human rights fall, too.
Greg KouklSome say Christianity is just a crutch. But let's turn the question on its edge for a moment. Is atheism an emotional crutch, wishful thinking? The ax cuts both ways. Perhaps atheists are rejecting God because they've had a bad relationship with their father. Instead of inventing God, have atheists invented non-God? Have they invented atheism to escape some of the frightening implications of God's existence? Think about it.
Greg KouklAccording to "matter-ism," matter is all that exists. The only things that are real are physical things in motion governed by natural law. That story starts, "In the beginning were the particles," or, as one famous person put it, "The cosmos is all that is, or ever was, or ever will be." No God. No souls. No Heaven or Hell. No miracles. No transcendent morality. Just molecules in motion following the patterns of natural law. This is the story that most atheists, most "skeptics," most humanists, and most Marxists believe is true.
Greg KouklEvil did not catch God by surprise. He had a rescue plan, and He's still in the process of working out His plan.
Greg KouklMan had freedom to choose the good, but this same freedom also allowed him to choose the bad. This is called moral freedom.
Greg KouklAlways make it a goal to keep your conversations cordial. Sometimes that will not be possible. If a principled, charitable expression of your ideas makes someone mad, thereโs little you can do about it. Jesusโ teaching made some people furious. Just make sure itโs your ideas that offend and not you, that your beliefs cause the dispute and not your behavior.
Greg Koukl