Christianity vs. Secular Humanism
Although our culture in the West has long had its Christian roots, today's society has nevertheless been classified by many as a "Post-Christian" society. Gone are the days of churches exerting a strong moral and ethical influence upon popular culture. Instead, for the most part, "Secular Humanism" has become the central "religion" of today, exerting its religious influence upon modern society. Because of the diminished influence of Christian teaching on modern society, Christianity has become at best a "counter-culture" and at worse, "irrelevant" as a major social influence.
Secular Humanism teaches "man-centeredness", the idea that the whole universe must therefore revolve around man. As a result, although it might seem a bit ironic, the rise of secular humanism has generally meant a return to the "Flat Earth" mentality of the Dark Ages. As a result, during these new humanistic, man-centered "Dark Ages", the whole universe is once again seen as revolving around man and his around his existence upon this Earth.
Because of the deep irony involved, it is often amusing to hear secular humanists warn others against the inroads of Christianity, by their claim that, "those Christians would bring us back to the Dark Ages - a time when people believed in Noah's Ark and thought that the Earth was flat and the universe revolved around the Earth!"
Such blind secular humanists cannot see the obvious - that they, not the Christians, are the ones desiring to go back to an ignorant, man-centered view of the Earth. The Bible of course, always said that the Earth was a "circle", not flat, and that it was suspended in space ("upon nothing"). It was foolish people, like those foolish secular humanists, who refused to believe what the Bible said all along about the Earth:
"It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in:" (Is. 40:22)
"He stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing." (Job 26:7)
Because of such foolishness, modern society places its faith in "science" and in such ideas as humanism, socialism, and the Story of Evolution. Christians place their faith in Jesus Christ, as He has revealed Himself to us in the Holy Bible. The teachings of Christianity are based on the Bible. In comparison, the ideas of secular humanism are based upon the ideas of men.
The Bible, (having been inspired by God Himself), is far more reliable than any book that mere men could have ever written. Therefore, no other book should ever be used to try to "correct" the inerrant Bible. On the other hand, the Bible can and should be used to correct each and every other book that men have ever written.
For example, if a book should claim that the Earth was flat, or that man evolved from monkeys, or that the universe revolves around the Earth, or any other foolishness, such ideas should be compared with the wisdom of the Bible. The Bible could then rightly correct such foolishness. The Bible is not a history book per se, nor is it a science book per se. Nevertheless, when the Bible does speak on such issues as the account of the Flood of Noah's day, it is always correct in what it says concerning all subjects.
Let us now consider the problem of the textbooks which are written and promoted by secular humanists. These textbooks are considered authoritative enough to instruct high school and college students. Nevertheless, the publishers of these textbooks generally publish a "new edition" every two to three years.
Now, if these textbooks are so "reliable", then why are such frequent updates of those books considered to be necessary? Although the "love of money" is certainly one reason, there is also another reason. This reason is that errors are frequently found in previous editions that must be "corrected" by the issuance of "new" editions of those textbooks. This is generally the case for textbooks which are based on the ideas of secular humanism.
Now, compare the average college textbook with The Bible. The Bible has been around since the time of the Apostles. The Bible, however, never needs a revision based on its ideas or content. Some evil men attempt to show themselves "progressive" or up-to-date by writing a new "translation" or "version" of "The Bible" every year or so. They put out a myriad of stylized "Bibles" for the reason mentioned in the previous paragraph - they are just looking to make a buck off of gullible people.
New versions of Bibles are never actually produced for the second reason, (that ideas or content in the Bible need to be "updated"). This is because the Bible does not contain any errors which would require the need for the Bible to be "updated" by such a "New Edition". Since there aren't any errors in the Bible, there aren't any errors to fix. Therefore, the idea of changing the Bible for such a reason to make a "New Edition" does not even make sense. Or, as someone once said, "If it doesn't make any sense, there must be a buck in it." ($$$$$)
The actual King James Version never needs such revisions. As language changes, a new version of the Bible may one day need to be produced, because the usage of English words has changed over time. Nevertheless, such a newer version would only need to be updated for language changes and not for the correction of "errors".
Of course, God-hating secular humanists really wish that there were at least one error somewhere in the Bible, so that they could discredit God and His Word, the Bible, and then live the type of sin-filled life they so desperately hunger for. Unfortunately for such God-haters and sin-lovers, there are simply no such errors to be found anywhere in the Bible, (a fact which has always disappointed those seeking to find "loopholes" in the Bible for their sin.)
The Bible is correct through and through. It can therefore be used as the basis for teaching elementary, high school, and college students. Nevertheless, millions of sinners would rather live lives filled with sin and rebellion against God than read and believe the Bible. Because of this desire for sin, modern society strongly rejects the Bible, even though the Bible alone is free from all error.
As an example of such a desire for sin, when the Bible says "thou shalt not kill", society strongly advocates abortion -- the murder of innocent babies in the womb. When the Bible says that fornication is a great sin against God, modern society says to "just do it!" and fornicate anyway. Modern society is really not that interested in truth. Instead, it is very much in love with wicked sin.
As a member of this modern society, you must decide on what standards you will base your life upon. Will your standards be based on secular humanism? On the other hand, will your standards be based on Biblical Truth? Will you let the great truths from the Bible correct any error or sin in your life? How will you then live?
At this point, it should be noted that the Bible has had a positive effect on every individual and society in the past who have taken the Bible seriously. It will have such a positive effect on you as well, if you also take what the Bible says seriously. Nevertheless, the main teaching from the Bible is not that the Earth is a circle. Instead, the main teaching of the Bible is that you are a "sinner". A sinner is someone who sins. Sin is the breaking of God's laws. You have broken God's laws by sinning and so you are therefore a "sinner".
Just think about this for a moment. You already know that you have broken many (if not all) of God's laws. You have lied. You have stolen. You have been selfish. You have used bad words. In fact, you are guilty of committing a great deal of sin against God's laws. Nevertheless, foolish people generally laugh at such talk. "Is lying really THAT bad?" they ask. The Bible tells you just how bad lying really is. The Bible says that your many lies are bad enough to send you down to Hell to spend all of Eternity there in punishment by God for your sin of lying:
"...all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death." (Rev. 21:8)
But you say, "I am not really all that bad. After all, I haven't murdered anyone." The problem with such an argument is that you have already lied and done many other sins that a Righteous and Holy God must judge. You have also committed this sin against an infinite God. An infinite God must therefore send you to Hell for an infinitely long time as punishment for your committing such sin against Him.
No, the Catholics and their friends are wrong. There is no "Purgatory". Therefore, you won't have a chance to get out of Purgatory, since it doesn't even exist. The Muslims are wrong. Doing good will not save you. The Hindus are also wrong. You won't get another chance in "another life". In fact, all such religions are wrong. No, you will burn forever in Hell for your sins when you die.
Nevertheless, God provided one and only one way for you to escape from this punishment for your sins in the flames of Hell. That "one way" is Jesus. Will you chose that one way, or will you go to Hell when you die with the secular humanists? Trust Jesus, because Jesus is the only way to get to Heaven.
[How To Find God's One Way]
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
