[QUOTE=Revenant Threshold]
Alright, then please explain how your analogy works, because as far as I can tell it doesn’t.
[/QUOTE]
It’s not rocket surgery, here’s a quick summary: virtually every human being comes down the conveyor with a conscience ie, a non-tangible force that serves as a built-in internal guide that propels them towards good and produces guilt if it’s disobeyed. Since the conveyor places them in the hands of fallen parents who live in imperfect societies, in a short time they begin to reflect the distorted values of their particular environment. Although the designer’s originally programmed values of right and wrong can be distorted by these faulty external forces, the original program will always remain at work at least at a subconcious level. It’s like an operating system that’s been infected with a virus - it’s function becomes shortcircuited to various degrees but hasn’t been completely disabled, and it struggles in the background to retake control of the computer. The variations we see in conscience, therefore, are a result of the operation of these various outside influences and the success or failure of the original program in the battle to retake control. The Designer helps the conscience to win the struggle by posting rules(10 commandments) as a guide to clearly identify the proper design and correct functioning of his original programming. This battle for control is ultimately decided by each individual’s decision to continue to accept the invading virus or to take the steps required to remove it and allow the original software to function as designed.
[QUOTE=Revenant Threshold]
He doesn’t appear to have turned up, alas. I guess he’s not God.
[/QUOTE]
If you had planned a visit with another country’s head of state, a king or president, I’m sure you’d first do some research about the proper protocol before showing up and perhaps offending him or inadvertently making a complete fool of yourself. If you had done some basic research you would have discovered that approaching God with the wrong attitude will be fruitless. Without faith accompanied by humility, at best you will receive nothing from Him and at worst, ignite His wrath (see Luke11:29, James1:5-8, Ezekiel14:2-10, James4:6, Luke18:10). Tempting God by insulting Him or demanding action from Him is something of a sport on this site, I wouldn’t follow that pattern if you really want a response.
[QUOTE=Revenant Threshold]
Do I get to test you, now? Everytime you see or hear something which you consider to be due to or because of God, see if you can come up with a way it could have happened without God; that is, if it’s possible for those events to occur without a God pulling the strings.
[/QUOTE]
You mentioned eyes, let’s consider the intricate function of the eye as it transmits colors and pictures to the brain in a fashion that we have never come close to duplicating, and consider the non-tangible items we’ve been discussing ie, an invisible force within human beings propelling them to do the right thing along with another intangible force (guilt) to bring correction for violations. Perhaps they exist by magic or how about elves and fairies? Or perhaps we could use chance and evolution to explain away the intricacies of the eye and then stretch the theory to even explain non-corporeal spiritual forces like guilt and conscience. Wait, what’s that whirring noise? Oh, even Darwin started spinning in his grave over that one. Indeed, those who grasp at other explanations besides an intelligent designer really must work hard to short circuit not only their conscience but their basic reasoning powers as well. I’m not willing to work that hard.
[QUOTE=Revenant Threshold]
..it’s really quite possible that Piaget’s work is inspired by God.
[/QUOTE]
This statement, making an argument against my refusal to include Piaget’s book in those which God directly inspired, proves my basic argument better than I could myself ie, that there is a God-instilled conscience working within even those who most ardently deny His existence and who claim that their conscience concurs. If you really absolutely believed that there is no God and your conscience truly bore witness to it, this argument could never even enter your mind. If you had been honest about your previously stated beliefs then your mental process could only produce this equation: (No God) + ( Any book on the planet) = (None are inspired by God). In my case, as a counter example, if you began to argue about adding some additional writings to The Origin of Species, I wouldn’t bother opposing it for a moment. The equation in my mind would be: (False Theory) plus (Any Book) = (Falsehood). Since I’m 100% certain God designed and created everything and my conscience bears total witness to that fact, all opposite views or variations of such are completely inconsequential. Your subconcious has betrayed the insincerity of your all your previous professions of certain unbelief (you’re better connected to those first 4 commandments than you thought).
My conclusion about all this remains: the existence of God isn’t a can’t believe issue, it’s a won’t believe problem. There will never be enough evidence to convince someone who has made a decision not to accept the Truth. This concept is also stated in Matthew16:31, “neither will they be persuaded and convinced and believe if someone should rise from the dead.” That is precisely what has occured and true to the Scripture, people still refuse to be convinced.