Naturalism, A Belief-System that Is Opposed To God
There are several ways that Naturalism is defended as a thought. What Atheists label as science is built on Naturalism, but the starting point is not sound. Since the starting point is not sound, whatever is built with that starting point cannot be sound.
The reasons Naturalists give for believing in Naturalism:
Naturalism is obvious.
However, this is just a claim without any evidence. In fact, it is one of many ways to use language to pre-suppose Naturalism. Presupposing something may make it seem to be true but presupposing does not make something true.
There is nothing but the natural world. We know this because we don't observe anything that is outside of the natural world.
However, this is an argument from ignorance. Arguments from ignorance are irrational/insane. The reason that this is not rational is that not knowing about something is not proof that something does not exist. If you have never seen an microscopic life form, that doesn't mean that microscopic life forms do not exist. This is the problem of the naturalistic paradigm. When confronted with anything that is outside of that naturalistic paradigm, the naturalist must dismiss it as an illusion, an anomaly, a lie, something having a natural explanation, or some other defense mechanism. God is obvious in all of creation. Followers of Christ have always been led by Christ as Jesus said, "My sheep hear My Voice." And so they do, but the Naturalist refuses to give God the glory and to acknowledge Him, so they refuse to face the facts.
There is nothing but the natural world.
However, this is a declaration of a universal negative.� Universal negatives are irrational/insane. The reason that this is not rational is that the person is actually claiming to be all-knowing of all things natural and spiritual throughout everything that exists anywhere and that they have determined that there is nothing but the natural world.
Why is Naturalism self-refuting:
Here are two assumptions of Naturalism.
The assumption that physical nature is all that there is. (This is the simple belief known as Naturalism)
The assumption that the mind is the brain. (This is one of the logical consequences of the belief known as Naturalism)
Proof that Naturalism is self-refuting and therefore irrational:
If Naturalism is fact, then a person's belief in Naturalism is produced purely by the workings of inanimate nature.
Therefore, the Naturalist's brain chemistry made the Naturalist believe in Naturalism.
Therefore, the Naturalist didn't reason to belief. Reason could not have anything to do with it because of Naturalism.
Therefore, the Naturalist's brain could be fooling them to keep them alive and they would never know the difference.�
Therefore, there is no reason to trust in reason because of Naturalism.
Therefore, Naturalism is self-refuting and therefore irrational.
� Why Methodological Naturalism is Irrational:
One starting point for Methodological Naturalism: "Science can only explain what happens in the universe in terms of observed or testable natural mechanisms"
However, this is merely an assumption so it is arbitrary and thus irrational.� It is also self-refuting since, by its own definition, science cannot observe it or test it.
Another starting point for Methodological Naturalism:: "If there are any supernatural beings, they never interfere directly in nature, and especially in prehistory."
However, if nature acted as if it were all there is, it would be more likely to be chaotic than ordered and our minds would not be dependable for telling whether or not is was ordered because they could be fooling us to keep us alive.
Therefore, Naturalism is an incoherent answer to the question: "Why is nature predictable?"� And without nature being predictable, science could not be done.
Why Methodological Naturalism is self-refuting:
There is no reason that God (or any spiritual entity) could not do miracles in prehistory (if prehistory were to exist).
Therefore the only way we could know whether or not God did any miracles in prehistory would be if God (or spiritual beings) told us and if they were reliable.
Therefore, if God (or spiritual beings) told us, then there would not be prehistory.
Therefore, the notion of prehistory is self-refuting, arbitrary, and thus irrational.
If Naturalism were to be fact, then a person's belief in Naturalism is produced purely by the workings of inanimate nature.� So, Naturalism is self-refuting.� However, this is how that Naturalists ignore this fact and try to apply their paradigm of Naturalism to Christian belief and ignore the fact that their paradigm is, first, merely a paradigm, and, second, would mean than none of the Naturalists reasoning could be trusted either.� In fact, if Naturalism were a reality, then we really could not know anything about anything.
Naturalists will often say that they believe in Naturalism because science proves Naturalism.� Then, they equate science with Naturalism.� If you every ask them to prove to you that Naturalism is a reality, they cannot do it.� They will change the subject.� They will become abusive.� They will bully.� They cannot give proof with any scientific experiment to prove that God doesn't hold the universe together in order because of His steadfast and orderly nature and because of His almighty power and wisdom.� When you calmly ask them for the steps to the experiment, they cannot do it.� You cannot prove what is not true.
Naturalism is the bazaar claim, based on nothing but a bald-faced lie, that there is no spiritual realm and that everything is natural. It's sister belief is the bald-faced lie that everything is material and that there is no spiritual realm. The other bazaar thread of� raw human reasoning (the reasoning of the human mind without the Intelligence of the Creator flowing through the human mind) is found in teachings such as those of Mary Baker Eddy who started what she called "Christian Science" in the First Church of Christ Scientists." Some of the Eastern religions follow the same loopy reasoning. In these belief systems, there is no natural or material realm. Those are just illusions in their thinking. They imagine that everything is of the spiritual realm or the infinite mind or God. The concept that claims that all is God and God is all. Another word for this is "Pantheism." Pantheism is common in Hinduism, Jainism, and New Age.
The exact opposite of Naturalism is reality.� God tells us, through Scripture, that by Jesus Christ all things consist (hold together).� Everything is being held together and orchestrated by the King of kings.� There is nothing that is out of His control.� He is the binding force.� He orchestrates all things.� It is because of His great faithfulness and consistency that we can do science.� The founders of most of the fields of science believed this.� Under Naturalism, there is no reason to believe that there would be any scientific laws or anything but randomness.� The laws of science are simply statments made by people who observed the consistency of the way that God holds everything together.
Because of the fall, we would expect to find many Naturalists. The fallen human mind is under the control of Satanic forces even in those who have Christ dwelling in them. There is a constant battle between the Natural mind and the mind of Christ in those who are living for Christ.
While Naturalism is simply a claim that is based on nothing at all except the human ability to lie, to claim that something is fact without any proof, Christianity is based on Jesus Christ, the Living Christ, Who reveals Himself to the Christian on an ongoing basis. Believer's have the supernatural trust that is a gift from God. By this trust, we see Jesus and hear His Voice. It is Jesus Himself who reveals to us that the Bible is His Word, His Utterance. And it is Jesus Himself Who speaks to us through His Word. Jesus speaks to us through many different means: Scripture, intuition, bringing Scripture to our remembrance, apostles, prophets, etc. When God speaks to us, faith comes and with faith comes a vision of hope. This vision shows us who we are in Christ in an ever-more-clear understanding. When God speaks, He instructs us what to think, what to say, and what to do. Then, He does the work through us by His grace, His free gift of righteousness. This righteousness of God in us is the moving of the Holy Spirit that transfigures us from glory to glory to be like Jesus, killing our fleshly nature and causing Christ to be more fully formed in us. And this death to self, to the old adamic sin nature, and building up of Christ is the very thing that redeems us, sets us free from slavery to the fleshly nature, to Satan, to the pressures of the world, and to death. (some caveats about hearing God's Voice)
Many people who go by by the tag, "Christian," (Christ one) are actually Naturalists in their thinking. They don't believe that God does miracles, at least not any more. Some of them even believe that the parts of the Bible that speak of miracles are just stories and not relevant. They may even think that God didn't really create the universe in six days as Genesis says so clearly. They do these things because of a more basic form of Naturalism: the belief that God doesn't speak to people, that there is no such thing as leading from God.
Some Christians are in unbelief because they don't hear God's voice as He speaks to them. God is very clear on this matter. The reason that they don't hear His voice is that they don't want to hear His voice. They don't want to do His will. They don't want Him directing in every aspect of their lives from moment to moment. They don't want Him leading and they don't want to follow. As a result, it is very difficult for anyone to communicate with them, since they don't want to hear it. Yet, in submission to the Holy One, the Almighty All-wise Creator God, is the only possible way that a human being can find satisfaction. For this purpose we were created.
Of course, it is normal for those who reject Christ to be naturalists. Not all of them are, however. Everything that applies to the Naturalists who call themselves Christians will also apply to the Naturalists who do not call themselves Christians.
Naturalism is a declaration without any basis other than, perhaps, rationalism or revelation from demons. Rationalism is the belief that the human mind can reveal truth without the benefit of either observation or divine revelation. The Naturalists are just making stuff up! In other words, they are lying. Their lies aren't even well-hidden because the people who are swallowing their lies love to be lied to.
As a Christian, you need to be careful that Naturalism does not creep into your thinking.
Naturalism is irrational, but it tends to be presented as the only rational view. It is based on the Naturalist's presupposition which claims that neither God nor spirits do anything, at least nothing of any impact. From that premise, they seek to prove that neither God nor spirits do anything, at least nothing of any impact. That is circular reasoning. Every single "proof' that they present is dependent on their presupposition that neither God nor spirits do anything. They use this presupposition as a substitute for the truth: God is faithful and orderly in all that He does. God's faithfulness is the reason that we can do science and repeat experiments to get the same results. When you presuppose what you are trying to prove, that is circular reasoning. also known as begging the question.
To add to the insanity, the Naturalist is claiming to know all things including the personal spiritual experiences of every person. In other words, the Naturalist is claiming to be God. Much information is available on SeekFind.net and in other resources for refuting Naturalism, but be careful to focus on Jesus. There is no joy in winning an argument and losing a soul.
So, why would you, as a Christian, absorb any of Naturalism's nonsense. For two reasons. You have a fleshly nature and your fleshly nature hates God. Also, you are exposed to a constant bombardment from every media source, TV, movies, magazines, schools, news, and many of the churches. Everywhere you look the precepts of� Naturalism have crept in. The ungodly consider their message to be very important and they are constantly trying to convince and coerce. This is so much the case that many Christians give in and begin to live as if they were Naturalists, getting involved in sin more than even the Naturalists do. Such compromise with the ungodly will only lead to pain and suffering for the Christian and for all those who loves the Christian, who do not want to see the Christian suffer.
Naturalism is the belief that neither God nor spirits nor angels do anything. Most Naturalists further believe that neither God nor spirits nor angels ever did anything. In both cases, the naturalist commits the� logical� fallacy of the universal negative. That is, they are claiming to be all-knowing. They are claiming to be God.
Most Naturalists believe in science and logic. One of the problems that they face is this: without the Almighty Creator God of the Bible, science and logic make no sense. The Naturalist cannot possibly be logical in arguing against the Bible without using the Bible. The Naturalistic worldview does not make sense in its own terms.
The Bible, as it has been revealed by the Holy Spirit to those who have read it in submission to the Holy Spirit, gives a view that is very different from the human view in Naturalism. The Bible tells us of the God who is faithful. He causes things to happen with regularity that we can depend on. This is the God Who is holding everything together, Who created all things, and Who knows all things. We have this by God's faith. That is, the faith that God gives us as we hear His voice. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the utterance of God.
Belief in Naturalism is taken on a different kind of faith by Naturalists and Materialists. The faith of Naturalists, Materialists, Atheists, Secular Humanists, and Agnostics is different from Christian faith. The faith of Naturalists, Materialists, Atheists, Secular Humanists, and Agnostics is merely speculation or unsupported declaration. Christian Faith is quite a different substance and authority. True faith expresses the truth from God, but this is pseudo-faith, a lying faith. It comes to the wrong conclusions.
Dogmatic belief that God, spirits, and angels do nothing.
Assumption is that only Natural forces cause things to happen.
Belief in a negative, that God does NOT act on our lives and on creation. This belief in Naturalism is based on a logical error known as a universal negative--in order to know such a thing, one would have to be all knowing.
Naturalists know that these things are lies, but they gladly believe the lie. (read Romans 1)
Under Naturalism, each person becomes his or her own god, determining his or her own moral code, since they have taken God out of the picture through a mental exercise.
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As with Materialism, Naturalistic ethical and moral codes can only be based on rationalization, that is, speculation-in plain English, making it up.
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Naturalism is a dogma that is one of the primary pillars upon which Evolutionism and many other cults depend, and Evolution is one of the primary pillars upon which Naturalism depends. That is circular reasoning.� Naturalism is a both a dogma and a religion that stands on its own-though it is usually associated with Evolutionism to try to explain how all of creation got here if the assumption that "God does nothing" were to be valid.
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Naturalism is moving from Modernism to Post Modernism, mostly because of the inability of Evolutionism to survive under the assumptions of Modernism. For the same reason, and because of the hopelessness of Naturalism, many Naturalists are moving toward New Age Religion or Neo Paganism.
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Naturalism has crept into many Christian churches, causing them to reject miracles, spiritual gifts, etc.
Ungodly people are forced to hold on tightly to some basic presuppositions.� These presuppositions are just simple-minded assumptions.� They are filters and a way to censor out any information that supports the existence of God.� They set up a web of rules to filter out God.� They will only accept those things that conform to Naturalism, materialism, and uniformitarianism.� Naturalism claims that God does nothing.� Materialism claims that there is no God or spiritual realm.� Uniformitarianism claims that there was not creation and that there was no violent worldwide flood, as the Bible and numerous other historical accounts record.� Whatever they observe that does not conform to this complex filter is censored.� The way that it is censored can take several forms.� The ungodly may boldly proclaim that, though the data appears to support God's version and refute the version of the ungodly, yet it still must be interpreted to mean just the opposite of what it does mean.� A backup method that ungodly people use is to prophecy that in the future, science will be able to explain what they see as an anomaly.� If that fails, they will hide the data, set it aside, or lie to keep the public from knowing the truth.� The data clearly demolishes the story of the ungodly and clearly supports the reality of the Creator God, His Bible, and His abiding Presence in His people.� When confronted with the obvious, a closed-minded ungodly person says, "I can't understand it."� They are willingly ignorant because they refuse to hold God in their knowledge.� The reality is that these people, for whatever reason, don't what to know the Creator.� They don't want to truly know Jesus, their Creator.
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In the beginning, the Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, created the heavens and the Earth and all that is in them in six days. Adam and Eve were the people God created directly. Satan, a fallen angel, took the form of a snake and tempted Eve to obey him rather than obeying God. Eve was deceived and Adam also followed Eve in disobedience to God. There is a spiritual principle that whoever you yield yourself as slave to obey, that's whose slave you are. Adam and Eve became slaves to Satan and were put out of the paradise of God and were cursed. No one knows what the original state was, but we do know that a major change took place in the creation when Adam and Eve disobeyed God. Since God had put the entire creation under the authority of humanity, the entire creation fell along with humanity. This condition has been inherited by every human being who has ever been born, and all except one have continued to obey Satan as slaves to him.
In about 1,700 years, slavery to Satan had become so intense and violence had become so terrible on the Earth that God destroyed every living thing on the planet with a worldwide flood. We can see evidence of this flood everywhere. Most of the fossils under the Earth were quickly buried during this mighty catastrophe. That's why we see clams and fish at the tops of all the mountains. Most land animals floated and bloated and being the last to be buried as the layers of sediment were being laid down. Simple creatures tended to be buried first and are mostly found in the lower layers of sediment. To end the flood, God raised up the mountains and lowered the valleys in what appears to be a mighty earthquake that caused the water to run off quickly into the depths we now call oceans.
One man named Noah was spared along with His family. God had Noah prepare a huge boat and put enough of each kind of animal God had created to replenish the Earth after the flood. From those forms of life that God originally created have sprung up a wide variety of life. One dog kind produced a wide variety of dogs, coyotes, etc. One cat kind produced a wider variety of cats from house cats to lions and tigers. From Noah's family has come all the variety of people we now see.
Within a few years, pride took hold of men under Nimrod. They decided to build a tower to heaven. God put a stop to that by confusing their languages. No one could understand anyone and the building stopped. This is one of the reasons that there are so many languages in the world today.
About 300 years after the great flood, God selected a man, Abraham, and promised that His salvation would come through Abraham's family. Next, God selected one of Abraham's sons, Isaac. Then, God selected one of Isaac's sons, Jacob. Jacob had twelve sons, and their families became twelve tribes. Those twelve tribes became slaves in Egypt, but God set them free about 850 years after the flood. God gave them His law (which is love), and they swore that they would obey it, but they did not obey. About 1,500 years after the flood, God's people became slaves in Babylon because of their disobedience. God eventually set them free only to be put in bondage again by the Romans.
During the captivity under the Romans, God sent His own Son, Jesus, to live a life of perfect obedience to the Father. The Holy Ghost enveloped a virgin named Mary, and she gave birth to Jesus, Who was 100% God and 100% man. Jesus never obeyed Satan and always obeyed His Heavenly Father. Finally, Jesus allowed envious men to kill Him. In so doing, He made Himself the perfect sacrifice to take away the sins of every person who ever lived or who would ever live. In this, He provided both forgiveness by suffering the penalty for sin and also deliverance from the power of sin. Every person has been born as a slave to Satan and slave to sin. Jesus offers forgiveness and freedom to anyone who will accept it.
Jesus rose from the dead as victor and ascended into heaven. He then showed Himself to over 500 witnesses to His resurrection, and many of these witnesses were killed because they would not deny what they saw. When Jesus ascended, He gave gifts to men, giving some apostles, some prophets, some bearers of good news. some shepherds, and some teachers. He also set pattern for the Church. That pattern is recorded in the New Testament, most of which was written within a few years of Jesus' ascension. In part, it consists of a government of traveling elders and deacons called apostles, local elders and deacons, and families. Marriage is a vital part of this pattern. He set an order of worship in which every Christian is a ministry and has a ministry. The order of tithing was followed.
The Church turned from God's pattern by the second century. A chief elder was set. Elders had been the Bishops (overseers). Now, the Bishop was set over the Elders and the Bishops began to receive a salary. A Church hierarchy was established, and that grew into a monarchy. They stopped laying hands on members for the receiving of gifts of the Spirit. The Church descended into the dark ages. God began restoring in the fourteenth century and is still restoring what was lost.
True Christianity is a miraculous walk. Prayers are answered. God speaks. The Bible is confirmed. The sick are healed. The lame walk. Men and women see God's hand at work. Men and women are filled with the Spirit of God and speak in new tongues. Miracles take place for which there is no natural explanation.
Some Christians have, either on purpose or by just drifting, inserted parts of Naturalisminto their walk with Jesus. They tried to make it compatible with Christ. The little changes, however, caused these followers of Christ to stop following Christ and instead they began losing the power of God in their lives. Their lives became empty and powerless. They may have been told that this scientific absurdity called "Naturalism" was an Axiom of Science. Wanting to appear wise, they decided that all the "smart" people must believe this, so they swallowed the bait and walked away from God.
God's plan for this hour is not to make all religions and philosophies get along. His plan is to have a people, a remnant company, who continue to discover Him, to walk with Him until they come into perfect unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God to one totally complete man (the Body of Christ and the Head, Jesus), to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.
In contrast to Naturalism, followers of Christ receive Jesus Christ as the only Creator of the Universe, the God Who created them and their only Savior from bondage to sin. At the same time His love for those who have been deceived by Naturalism compels God to speak to them daily through His creation and through other means; they will not listen to Him. You know that you were created for more than you are experiencing. If you continue to think like you always thought, you will continue to get what you always got. Is it enough? Read more.Read even more.
The supreme being, to Naturalists is humanity. Each person becomes his or her own god. There is a tendency, in Naturalistic writings, to deify things like evolution, natural selection, nature, the universe, science, etc. Often, we find the odd combination of pantheism or Mother Nature beliefs among Naturalists-which seems incompatible unless the real reason for Naturalism is this: "anything but Jesus."
Naturalists define the word, science, as beginning with the "axioms" of Materialism, Naturalism, and Uniformitarianism.
In direct conflict with the teachings of Naturalism, there is one triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in perfect unity yet distinct persons within that unity. God is creator of the universe and everything in it. He is all-present, all-knowing, all-powerful. All that is good comes from God. Jesus is God. The Father is God. The Holy Spirit is God. They are three persons and one God.
Unlike the teachings of Naturalism, walking with Jesus is based on the God of the Bible. The Bible speaks of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The full name of Jesus is Lord, Jesus, Christ. Lord refers to the Father. Jesus said, if you have seen me, you have seen the Father. Jesus means savior, because He came to save us from our sins. God Himself paid our price for us that His holy righteousness would be fulfilled and so that He could restore us to Himself. Christ is a synonym for Messiah or Anointed One. Christ will always be the only Anointed One. The Anointing Oil is a type of the Holy Spirit. The word, trinity, is not in the Bible, but the three persons of the trinity are very plain throughout the Bible. Christians have an ongoing experience with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. This is what it means to be a Christian. Whoever will may come.
Another difference between following Christ and the teachings of Naturalism, following Christ is based on knowing Jesus personally. Christians believe Jesus when He tells them that it is in Him alone that they can find life, peace, joy, fulfillment, love, righteousness, and every other good thing. They believe Jesus when He tells them that rejecting Him as their one and only God is the most serious sin that could be committed--the sin against the first commandment.
One more difference between the teachings of Naturalism and following Jesus is that walking in this Way would make no sense at all if Jesus were not God.
Another incompatibility with the teachings of Naturalism is this: a called-out person's life is all about a relationship with God. This relationship is very close and personal. It is a relationship of submission to the Holy Spirit. The human mind was never created to be operated without the Anointing of the Holy Spirit flowing through it with the human mind in complete submission. The same is true of the body. Spiritual death is defined as a condition where the human spirit, mind, or body is not in complete submission to the Holy Spirit.
None, of course, recognize His His divinity. Such a belief would violate the basis of Naturalism.
Some deny that Jesus ever existed.
Some openly hate Jesus and hate those who follow Jesus.
Some think Jesus was a moral teacher.
In divergence from the teachings of Naturalism, called-out followers of Jesus know by revelation that Jesus is God. God is One, yet God is plural. There are three persons in One God. The unity between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is beyond what the human mind can comprehend. Jesus, Son of God, one person of the one triune God, so joined to the Father that His name is Father, yet in submission to the Father. He is Savior, Lord, and Anointed one (Christ). Eternal God and incarnated as man. In him is hidden all knowledge. Without Him, we can do nothing. He lives in the hearts of those who have received His redemption and gives them strength to endure all things and walk in holiness. Jesus is the Truth, and the Bible testifies of Him. If you have Jesus, then you have the Father. If you don't have Jesus, then you don't have the Father. Jesus is wisdom, and without Him, there is no wisdom. In the same way, God is love, so Jesus is love. He is peace. He is joy. All knowledge is hidden in Him.
The diametrically opposite to the teachings of Naturalism is the revelation that Jesus as the one and only unique Son of God Who is bringing many sons into glory. Christianity is based on knowing Jesus personally. Christians believe Jesus when He tells them that it is in Him alone that they can find life, peace, joy, fulfillment, love, righteousness, and every other good thing. They believe Jesus when He tells them that rejecting Him as their one and only God is the most serious sin that could be committed--the sin against the first commandment. Jesus said: He that heareth you heareth me; and he that despiseth you despiseth me; and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me. Luke 10:16 Jesus saith to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh to the Father, but by me. John 14:6
Unlike Naturalism, True Christianity is not a religion but rather a living experience with the living Jesus. It is a moment-by-moment experience of the Holy Spirit (the Spirit of Christ) guiding and directing the Christian and the Christian either contending with God or submitting to the Holy Spirit. If the Christian contends, he or she becomes less mature in Christ. If the Christian submits, he or she has actually simply entered into the sabbath rest to let God do His work through them. When a Christian submits, faith comes. faith is supernatural belief that God will do what He has just led the Christian to do. At that moment, the Christian has access into the grace of God, which is God's free gift. Righteousness is the free gift of God and the righteousness of God then flows to the Christian. If the Christian will submit his or her members to the Spirit of God, then God does His righteousness through the Christian. The Christian does the work, yet it is not the Christian but Christ in the Christian doing the work. When God does His righteousness through the Christian, this plants holy seed into the heart of the Christian. The old sinful person, the flesh dies a little bit each time. The Christ within is built up. This holy seed grows in the heart and brings more fruit, which, in turn, plants more holy seed. At the same time, the Christian is set free from sin in some measure--this is the meaning of the word, redemption. This is the relationship that God desires to have with every person. This process proceeds through the Body of Christ. Each member of the Body of Christ, each Christian, is a manifestation of the living Christ in the Earth. Each member is being fitted for a specific place of service within this Body, and the Body of Christ continues to grow until the full manifestation of the sons of God takes place at the end of the age.
In stark dissimilarity to Naturalism, true Christianity depends on the revelation that Jesus is God. Only God could pay the price for the sin of every person who ever lived or will live. A Christian's life is all about a relationship with the One Almighty Creator God, the God Who is Love. This relationship is very close and personal. It is a relationship of submission to the Holy Spirit. The human mind was never created to be operated without the Anointing of the Holy Spirit flowing through it with the human mind in complete submission. The same is true of the body. Spiritual death is defined as a condition where the human spirit, mind, or body is not in complete submission to the Holy Spirit.
As the opposite of the teachings of Naturalism as light is to darkness, God has revealed that He is a loving forgiving, but totally righteous, God. Christians have been forgiven for their sins because of the blood of Jesus. Jesus paid the price of the sins of every person. The Christian is required to see reality, that is, to have the humility to realize that they have fallen short of the glory of God and that they need the Savior to deliver them. And Christians no longer are forced to continually obey their own flesh so that even their own self-righteousness is as filthy rags. Christians can yield to the Holy Spirit and allow God to do His righteousness through them. God does not force Christians to yield, however. Many Christians are born again and remain as babes in Christ, but they will not be found among the faithful. Some Christians attempt in vain to establish their own righteousness, a self-righteousness, and so they are unable to receive the free gift of righteousness that comes from the throne of God, but they will not be found among the faithful. If Christians willingly abandon their self-righteousness and self-dependence and believe God rather than their own understanding, and if they stop contending against Jesus but rather accept Him and His free gift, then God will totally deliver them at the end of this present age. If a Christian dies in the meantime, they are together with Christ in glory and they join that great cloud of witnesses who have been faithful but have not yet obtained the promise.
Another thing that separates those who have been called out to follow Jesus from the teachings of Naturalism is that those who receive God's salvation are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Christians know that they have received the free gift (grace) of forgiveness of sins. Christians can know that they are going to heaven because of the goodness of God. All that is required is that a person not reject the free gift.
Naturalists vary in their view of the work of Jesus. For the most part, they don't recognize His redemptive power.
They certainly will not recognize the miracles of Jesus. Some refuse to believe that Jesus ever did any miracles. Others just refuse to believe that Jesus does miracles through His Body in the present.
An additional fact that is contradictory to the teachings of Naturalism is that Jesus lived a holy life without sin, died as a substitution for us, descended into hell and rose again in three days, and ascended into Heaven to save us from sin, death, and the power of Satan. He conquered sin, sickness and death on the cross.
In sharp contrast to the teachings of Naturalism, Jesus now sits at the right hand of the Father interceding for us. He is the only source of forgiveness or access to the Father. Those who don't except His work are not accepting the Father and are dooming themselves to judgment.
Unlike the teachings of Naturalism, Jesus works in the lives of believers, helping us to apply and take advantage of His victory in our lives through the Holy Spirit and helping us to grow in Christ.
Another distinction between the teachings of Naturalism and the teachings of the Holy Spirit: Jesus Christ will, in God's appointed time, return to the earth to raise the dead, judge and rule over the nations with His Church, the Body of Christ, in His everlasting Kingdom.
Naturalists see several assumed "axioms" as being the chief cornerstones of authority in their faith.
First, they assume Rationalism, which becomes the foundation for making other rationalizations, establishing other axioms, and speculating on whatever the Naturalists desire to be the truth.
From this basis of Rationalism, Naturalists assume Materialism (there is no God and there is nothing spiritual including the spirit of man), Naturalism (there is no spiritual explanation for anything), and Uniformitarianism (all things continue from the beginning as they are now; there was no creation and no flood, and there will be no coming judgment). In a beautiful example of circular reasoning, Naturalists have successfully fooled millions into believing that these three assumptions are the basis of science and then using these three assumptions to prove these three assumptions. They seek to prove that there is no God, there is nothing spiritual including the spirit of man, there is no spiritual explanation for anything, and all things continue from the beginning as they are now; there was no creation and no flood, and there will be no coming judgment. But those were the assumptions that they started with. That is circular reasoning.
Since evolutionism collapsed under modernism in the seventies, Naturalists have increasingly been forced to embrace the dogmas of Post Modernism. Post Modernism allows Naturalists to live with the fact that they cannot find a set of assumptions under which evolution would be possible. With Post Modernism's concept of relativism (there is no truth and there is nothing wrong with deception because there is no lie), they can live with their "no God" dogma in spite of the obvious foolishness of this dogma. Naturalistic dogmas require an inconsistency of thought that Rationalism, Chaos Theory and Compartmentalization-Of-Thoughts allow.
Naturalists look to other Naturalists as authoritative: Horace Mann, John Dewey, Bertrand Russell, Joseph Fletcher, Margaret Sanger, Charles Darwin, Joseph Stalin, Karl Marx, Stephen Jay Gould.
Naturalists try to lump divine revelation in with their own sad state of having no foundation. A favorite phrase of Naturalists is, "The Bible was written by men, so it has errors." However, there is a huge difference between that which is based on God's own voice and that which is based in human supposition / speculation. In many ways, they try to stuff spiritual things into their Naturalistic assumptions, hoping no one will notice the trick.
Contrary to the teachings of Naturalism, the Bible (Old & New Testaments) as revealed to the hearts and minds of believers by the power of the Spirit but not by the corrupt natural human mind, is the unique, revealed, factual, accurate, & inspired Word of God, the sole authoritative writing for faith & practice.
A dissimilarity to the claimed authority of Naturalism is that the teachings of the Bible have been shown to be absolutely accurate in every way by every test possible.
Unlike the teachings of Naturalism, God speaks directly through the Bible, creation, the conscience, and other believers. When God speaks, He never conflicts with his revealed Word in the Bible and never conflicts with His creation.
Another way that God's revelation is unlike the teachings of Naturalism: God reveals and gives the interpretation of Scripture. God forbids any human speculation, imagination, assumption, presumption, presupposition, rationalization, or anything else that adds to or takes from Scripture. The Scripture is very clear in stating that the human mind is evil, deceptive, and untrustworthy to the point that our own minds can deceive us. The battle is for the mind with Satan and the flesh on the one side and the Holy Spirit joined to the redeemed human spirit on the other side.
The teachings of Naturalism do not agree with the revelation that the church, as it is defined in the Bible, has authority. The human-designed deviations from the Scriptural church dilute this authority. Within the church, there are gifts, offices, and ministries, all of whom have a Bible-defined authority. Scripture defines those who have authority to receive the interpretation of the Bible and administer doctrine to the church.
There is a disparity with the teachings of Naturalism in that God has declared that there is one and only one truth. Truth is not relative but it is very precise and tangible. Truth is found in Jesus Christ. Whatever God has not revealed and led in is sin. Each Christian, and also every unsaved person, is responsible to find God through Jesus Christ. Whoever seeks Him does find Him. He does speak to them. While the Bible has definitive truth, the Bible is not God. God must reveal the meaning of the Bible to His people. His primary authority for interpreting the Bible is through apostles. Because of the spiritual war that is currently raging, Satan introduces counterfeits of every reality, so Satan introduces false apostles. However, God assures us that we can know the difference by the Spirit of God. The false apostles will give themselves away by their works.
Naturalists tend to be dogmatic in their belief in Evolutionism, even when scientific observation refutes Evolutionistic dogma. In essence, they believe that people came from rocks and that hydrogen, over time, turns into people.
Naturalists believe that humanity is basically without purpose (other than some rationalized purpose). They believe that random processes somehow created the complex mechanisms of life and then breathed life into that mechanism, even though such a belief is in direct conflict with what can be easily observed regarding the second law of thermodynamics.
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The Evolutionists will tell you a half truth about the Second Law of Thermodynamics. The Evolutionists will tell the half truth: "The Second Law of Thermodynamics only applies to isolated systems, so it's not relevant to evolution, because the Earth is an open system." This is a clever lie. Here is the part of the truth that they are withholding: the Second Law of Thermodynamics was derived using theoretical isolated systems, but it applies to all systems, and can only be overcome locally and temporarily in open systems when stringent conditions are met. Not only that, but we are not talking about the Earth. The Earth is just a subsystem of a much larger system called the Universe. The Universe is an isolated system. Evolutionists claim that Evolution took place in this isolated system, but the Second Law of Thermodynamics tells us that their story is a myth.
More information on the Second Law of Thermodynamics can be found here & here & here & here & here
In addition, they believe that humanity is evolving; they believe that random processes are adding to the information in the DNA. They believe this, even though no instance of information being added to anything by a random process has ever been observed and recorded in a scientific manner. In real life, just the opposite happens. Random process destroys information.
A polarizing teaching of Naturalism is in conflict with the revelation that men and women were created by God, and that, at the time of their creation, they were good--as was everything else. At that time, God set man in authority over the rest of creation.
In comparison to the teachings of Naturalism, the followers of Christ realize that they were created to be joined to Jesus Christ, to have a continual flow of the Anointing of His Holy Spirit through them so that the Spirit will continually lead them and the Creator will do His work through them.
Another way that God's revelation diverges from the teachings of Naturalism is that the followers of Christ know that man obeyed Satan and became servant of Satan, and in this way, brought all creation under the control of Satan, so humans, in their natural state, are totally corrupted and in slavery to Satan and sin. This fall into sin separated man from God. Outside of the salvation that God has given through Christ, there is no hope for any person to do righteousness. Humanity is lost in sin and the result is death. The mind of man has been corrupted by the fall and is deceitful and desperately wicked. Each person is a trinity, body, soul, and spirit, and is dead to God, body, soul, and spirit, unless joined to God through trusting in the work of Jesus.
Here is a further disagreement with the teachings of Naturalism--the followers of Christ are set free from slavery to their own desires. God is working with followers of Christ through faith to untangle many lies that come from the father of all lies. If they listen, God will set them completely free, that is, redeem them. Those who are following Christ are redeemed in their spirits, having a close relationship with the Holy Spirit as they worship in spirit and in truth. The current battle is to redeem the mind. The final redemption will the redemption of the body spoken of in Romans and 1 Corinthians.
Another way to distinguish between the teachings of Naturalism the revelation of the Bible is the fact that the Bible teaches that man (and woman) is a three-part entity, spirit, soul, and body. The soul is the mind, life, and heart--these are synonyms. The human spirit and the human soul were never created to operate outside of a union with God. Jesus prayed for this union when He prayed, "I pray that they all may be one..."
Naturalism has teachings that conflict with the fact that man is appointed once to die and after this the judgment--and so Christ died for every man.
The teachings of Christ and the teachings of Naturalism are dissimilar in that the followers of Christ were created to walk from glory to every-increasing glory by the Spirit of God. Actually, every person was created for this purpose. In this age, some are disobedient to that call.
Followers of Christ have been the power behind the English and the U.S. movements to abolish slavery. Biblical Christianity has no place for the concept of races. We are all descendents of Adam. All of humanity is one race. Among the descendents of Adam, those who are born again have been born into the family of God. All who have not been born again have chosen to remain true to their father, Satan. Each person makes this choice. All are free to choose to come into God's family by putting their faith in Jesus and committing themselves to Him.
True Christianity respects women and does not make them a lesser creation.
The biggest problem faced by Naturalists is trying to rationalize a purpose to their lives. Most of them settle for striving to find as much pleasure as they possibly can get.
Naturalists believe that many of humanity's problems are caused by ignorance of Secularist dogma, lack of education (indoctrination in Secularist dogma), and what they term "outdated beliefs in the supernatural."
The problem is sin. Sin is anything that is not done in response to the leading of God, that is not done by God's miraculous righteousness working through us, or both. In the Garden of Eden, this took the form of Eve believing and obeying the serpent rather than God. In other words, whenever a man or woman sets out to establish their own righteousness, this is sin.
Sin is human will that is not in submission to God's will. All sin is a lack of love, because God is love. All righteousness is a free gift from God. Those who reject Jesus do so because they don't want the righteousness of God. When the law is understood, with it's many just and holy commandments, it is the manifestation of God in His people. This active work of sin has continued in all of mankind until today.
Unlike the teachings of Naturalism, The Bible teaches that human beings are sold into sin, slaves of Satan and must be bought back out of slavery by the blood of Christ. Christians are fully aware of the totally lost condition of all human beings, the inability of human beings to do good works, and the one Holy Creator God's great gift of giving His one and only way of salvation through acceptance of the atoning work of His one, unique Son, Jesus Christ. Christians do not miss all the benefits of holiness, righteousness, peace, glory, love, and joy that can only be found through Jesus. Christians are those who do not rebel against God and His free salvation, which is through Christ. Christians choose heaven rather than hell.
In contrast to the teachings of Naturalism, sin is failure to obey God, but sin is much more. God created man in a certain way to be guided by the Spirit of God by grace through faith. Whatever does not follow this pattern of guidance is sin.
In variance with the teachings of Naturalism, God is love, and sin is the lack of Love. God has a will and is a personal God. Sin is self-will or obedience to other spirits. Humanity was designed to be completely filled with the fullness of God at all times. Unlike the teachings of Naturalism, God desires to lead us at every moment in every detail. He desires that we hear His voice and respond in submission. We were created for this. We were created to respond by yielding to the Spirit of God and allowing God to do His works through us.
In stark contrast to the teachings of Naturalism, the problem is that, since the fall, humanity is hopelessly in slavery to Satan and cut off from God, and all creation has been corrupted by sin. That is the reason that death, sorrow, sickness, and trouble exists.
Differing from the teachings of Naturalism, true Christianity teaches that human beings are sold into sin, slaves of Satan and must be bought back out of slavery by the blood of Christ. true Christians are fully aware of the totally lost condition of all human beings, the inability of human beings to do good works, and the one Holy Creator God's great gift of giving His one and only way of salvation through acceptance of the atoning work of His one, unique Son, Jesus Christ. Christians do not miss all the benefits of holiness, righteousness, peace, glory, love, and joy that can only be found through Jesus. Christians are those who do not rebel against God and His free salvation, which is through Christ. Christians choose heaven rather than hell.
Differing from the teachings of Naturalism, a true Christian's life is all about a relationship with God. This relationship is very close and personal. It is a relationship of submission to the Holy Spirit. The human mind was never created to be operated without the Anointing of the Holy Spirit flowing through it with the human mind in complete submission. The same is true of the body. Spiritual death is defined as a condition where the human spirit, mind, or body is not in complete submission to the Holy Spirit.
Naturalism's Worldview of the Solution to the Human Problem
Naturalists look to humanity to solve the problems of the world and they believe that the human condition can be improved by using their particular distortion of science and its methods of criticism to understand the universe.
Naturalists generally define science to be their own religion, Naturalism, coupled with the religions of Materialism and Uniformitarianism. Then, they consider science to be the solution. In other words, they see their own religion, Naturalism, as the solution.
Salvation from humanity's sin and depravity requires forgiveness from God. This forgiveness results in the New Birth. Forgiveness and being born again are, and can only be, attained through faith in Jesus Christ, God's Son, and in His efficacious death on the cross of Calvary and His resurrection from the dead. Without being born again, no one can see, or enter the Kingdom of God. Everyone who has faith in Jesus Christ is born again, and that no other action, gift, baptism, or any other such thing is needed for a person to be born again. When a person is born again they are a member of the Church--the Church is the called out Body of Christ made up of the ministries of all the believers.
Righteousness is a free gift from God and that it is part of our salvation. Faith gives us access into grace, the free gift. The free gift includes both forgiveness and righteousness. Righteousness is obtained by drawing near to God and yielding to God.
Righteousness is in the moment. It is the flow of God's love through a human being. Holiness/Sanctification is the establishment of God's righteousness in the mind/soul of a person. Holiness is established by submission to the righteousness of God. Holiness represents a stability in the heart; it is a permanent transformation. Holiness is progressive as we yield ourselves to the Holy Spirit. Redemption is also progressive. Redemption is being set free from sin. Redemption is being set free to serve God.
Contradicting the teachings of Naturalism, for a Christian who is following Christ, Christianity is not a religion. Christianity is an ongoing relationship. It is an unfolding revelation of the living Christ. Jesus is the only source of righteousness. As a Christian yields to Jesus, the Holy Spirit both leads that Christian into righteousness and also does the righteousness of God through the Christian. This leads to holiness and also to redemption from slavery to sin. Yielding to sin, even for Christians, brings bondage to sin. Sin is habit-forming, but so is the righteousness that is only available through Jesus--the works He does through you.
To further differentiate The Biblical teachings from the teachings of Naturalism, salvation is a process that begins with being born again and progresses from glory to ever increasing glory. Salvation is by God's free gift and God's free gift is received through believing and receiving God. God is love, so to receive God is to receive love. Love is righteousness and the fulfillment of the law. When we yield to God, His love does His righteousness through us and fulfills all of God's law. God's love and revelation is always in complete harmony with the Bible, God's word. This is the way in which we are born again into the Kingdom of God. And this is the way in which we proceed from glory to glory to the manifestation of the sons of God, the redemption of our bodies, the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.
Naturalism's Worldview of Ethics, Values, and Morals
Naturalism, as with all false religions, is a religion of self-righteousness.
One of the chief precepts of Naturalism is the suppression of Christianity. For instance, Naturalists have a strong mandate to make sure that children are taught Naturalistic principles in public schools in preference to Christian principles. They consider themselves to be engaged in a culture war to enforce the teaching of their own dogmas as an absolute ethical mandate.
Naturalism much prefers Nietzsche's "values" to God's moral laws. This is because Nietzsche's "values" are based on each person's preference, while God's laws are unchanging. Since Naturalists don't believe in God (at least they claim not to believe) they don't want God to impose His laws on them.
All Naturalistic ethical systems are based on Rationalism. That is to say that these systems are all merely fabrications / speculations created in the mind of human beings as opposed to the revelation that is given by God in the Bible.
Many Naturalists exert considerable effort attacking Christian ethics and morality and attacking the fact that there are moral absolutes. This is to be expected since a Naturalist, by definition, is blind to the spiritual realm. As Jesus said, "Unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of Heaven." Romans 1 tells us that
they do know that God exists and they know enough about Him to know better, since He has shown them about His nature. They prefer to follow their own morality according to their own desires.
All Secularist ethical systems, including Naturalism, have the following three characteristics: They are speculative, that is, rationalistic. They are self-centered (centered on self rather than God) and self-righteous (try to self-generate righteousness). They are rebellion against God.
In variation from the teachings of Naturalism, God gave his law on Sinai, and His law is holy and just and good, but human beings are not able to obey His law. As a result, no one can earn salvation.
In opposition to the teachings of Naturalism, salvation brings works, not the other way around. We are saved to good works; good works cannot bring salvation. Good works are a gift from God. They are, in fact, God Himself doing His work through us, and that is only available to the saved.
Another difference from the teachings of Naturalism is this--because the believer has been born again into God's family, God speaks the word of faith into the heart of the believer. Then, God gives the power to believe and to discern the voice of God from other voices. God gives the power both to will and to do His good pleasure. He actually does the work-it is His grace (free gift) doing the work in the believer. Then, He rewards the believer as if the believer had done something.
Unlike the teachings of Naturalism, salvation is free in Christ Jesus.
The Bible contradicts the teachings of Naturalism. The law can be summed up in one word, love. So when someone commits adultery this is the opposite of love. Satan, for the sake of confusion, calls adultery love, but it is just the opposite. The same is true of envy, murder, covetousness, disrespect for parents, perversion, or any other part of God's law.
The Bible is diverse from the teachings of Naturalism. For those who have been born again, the law is being written on their hearts by the power of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit now becomes the One who guides them and gives them power both to will and to do God's good pleasure. No one can obey God unless it is God both giving them the will do good and also doing the good works though them.
The Bible and the leading of the Holy Spirit are at variance with the teachings of Naturalism. The Bible is given as an authoritative guide to the truth, and the Holy Spirit teaches us when we read the Bible, provided we ask for leading and believe that we will receive it.
The Holy Spirit, as He has led the Church, is in disagreement with the teachings of Naturalism. The Holy Spirit teaches that the Bible gives us the order for the church and the order of the church is also given for guidance in interpreting the Bible and for understanding what is right and what is wrong
Naturalists have a dogmatic belief that there is no afterlife and no judgment.
The Spirit is not in agreement with the teachings of Naturalism on Judgment, heaven, and hell. There is a life hereafter: heaven for the righteous, hell for the wicked and rebellious. God Himself is the only One Who makes this judgment.
God's revelation, through Scripture, is in contradiction to the teachings of Naturalism in that resurrection and judgment of all will take place on the day appointed by God. The saved will have everlasting fellowship with the Creator God. Those who have persisted in unbelief will receive judgment according to God's wisdom.
God's revelation differs further from the teachings of Naturalism: God's judgment is continual also during life. God's judgments are remedial, though they can be very severe. God has no pleasure in correcting anyone through His judgment. God's judgment starts with gentle leading, speaking to each person who lives. If that person receives the direction of God, they will first receive supernatural belief in Jesus as Savior to deliver them from both the punishment for their sins and to also deliver them from their sins. From their, God will lead them from glory to glory by the Spirit of the Lord. The path of the just is as a shining light that shines more and more until that day when Christ is fully and completely formed in the members of the Body of Christ as they flow into that total unity with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Unlike the teachings of Naturalism, God uses punishment as a way to bring those He loves to Himself. For those who are not obedient to the Spirit of God, it becomes more difficult.
Unlike the teachings of Naturalism, Even now, Jesus is the resurrection and the life and we can partake of his life to a degree.
There are several ways that Naturalism is defended as a thought. What Atheists label as science is built on Naturalism, but the starting point is not sound. Since the starting point is not sound, whatever is built with that starting point cannot be sound.