Real Faith and Reason Vol 3
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Real Faith & Reason Absolute Proof of the Bible and the God of the Bible Volume Three Petros B. Scientia Real Reality Books Portage, Wisconsin Copyright © 2015, 2018 by Petros B. Scientia All rights reserved. Please reproduce, distribute, and transmit this book intact in every form and by every means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods. Use quotations as permitted by copyright law. Email this eBook to everyone you love. Use messenger or text. Send out this link: http://RealReality.org/downloads to everyone you know. The use of a quotation doesn’t necessarily imply endorsement of the person or source of the quotation or the information in the quotation. Library of Congress Control Number:2019917815 Publisher’s Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Scientia, Petros B., author. Title: Real Faith & Reason : Absolute Proof of the Bible and the God of the Bible / Petros B. Scientia. Series: The Real Faith & Reason Library Description: [Volumes 1-3] | Poynette, WI: Real Reality Books, 2020 Identifiers: LCCN 2019917815 | ISBN 978-0-9860972-0-1 (vol. 1, color) | 978-0-9860972-1-8 (vol. 1, b+w) | 978-0-9860972-2-5 (vol. 2, color) | 978-0-9860972-4-9 (vol. 2, b+w) | 978-0-9860972-3-2 (vol. 3, color) | 978-0-9860972-5-6 (vol. 3, b+w) Subjects: LCSH God--Proof, Ontological. | God (Christianity). | Theism. | Apologetics. | BISAC RELIGION / Christian Living / Spiritual Growth | SELF-HELP / Spiritual | YOUNG ADULT NONFICTION / Inspirational & Personal Growth Classification: LCC BT102 .S384 2020 | DDC 212--dc23 REAL FAITH & REASON VOLUME THREE TABLE OF CONTENTS Trip 12: God Speaks The Nature of Faith How God Speaks Through the Bible Personal Leading Through His People Through His Creation God Doesn’t Need Human Ideas Through Angels Trip 13: Discerning Truth The Problem Hope Confidence and Boldness Five Necessary Elements for Discernment By Grace through Faith Our Identity Testing Focus Action Trip 14: Warnings about Divine Revelation False Teachings Scripture on False Teaching Detecting Error Trip 15: Arguments of Skeptics Trip 16: Skeptical Arguments to Rationalize Basing Reason on Made- up Stuff Ignore-It Argument Summary-Dismissal Argument Hide-It Argument Ridicule Argument Everybody’s-Doing-It Argument Agreed-On-Premises Argument Best-Interpretation Argument Assumptions-Come-from-Past-Experiences Argument Wisdom-Consists-of-Past-Experiences Argument Sneaky-Christian Argument Multiple-Lines-of-Evidence Argument I-Can-Make-a-True-Statement Argument Pragmatic-Science Argument We-Don’t-Live-Life-that-Way Argument Science-Proves Argument Success-Equals-Sound-Reasoning Argument Inconsistent-Thinking Argument Self-Supporting Argument Defending-Circular-Reasoning Argument Defending-Infinite-Regression Argument Defending-Axioms Argument Axioms-are-Needed Argument Axioms-Are-Self-Evident Argument Misplaced-Credit Argument Right-Assumptions Argument Many-Assumptions Argument Proximate-Knowledge Argument Memorized-Rationalization Argument Rationalism Argument Circular-Proof-of-Human-Reason Argument Last-Word Argument Double-Down-Maneuver Argument Religious-Justification Argument Work-Hard-at-Interpretation Argument Mind-of-Christ Argument Trip 17: Skeptical Arguments against Divine Revelation The Infallible Argument Lost-Contrast Argument Argumentum-Ad-Fidentia Argument False-Dichotomy Argument Other-Gods Argument Prove-It Argument Impossibility-of-Knowing Argument Inconsistent-Revelations Argument You’re-Making-Up-Stuff Argument God-Didn’t-Do-It Argument Absurdity Argument Formal-Logic Argument Weakness-of-the-Human-Mind Argument Coercion Argument Simplistic Argument Circular-Reasoning-Phantom-Fallacy Argument Inflation-of-Conflict Argument Anti-Concreteness-Mindset Argument Phantom-Presupposition Argument Science-Must-be-Ungodly Argument Personal-Conversion Argument Special-Pleading Argument Deceitful-Mind Argument The Open-Minded Argument Christians-Get-It-Wrong Argument Unsatisfactory-Answer Argument Scriptural-Error Argument Ontic-Fallacy Argument Omniscience Argument Vacuous Argument Lofty-Language Argument Autistic-Certainty-Circular Argument You-Could-Be-Wrong Argument Disbelieving-God Argument Double-Down Maneuver Highly-Doubtful Argument Mysticism Argument Tradition Argument No-One-Can-Know-Jesus Argument Bibliolatry Argument Mindlessness Argument The-Mind-is-the-Brain Argument Deism Argument Compartmentalization Argument Theology-is-the-Key Argument Extra-Biblical-Revelation Argument Scripture-Says-there’s-No-More-Revelation Argument Revelation-No-Longer-Happens Argument General-Revelation-Special-Revelation Argument Bible-is-the-Only-Source-of-Revelation Argument Canon-of-Scripture-is-Closed Argument God-Only-Reveals-Through-Scripture Argument Poor-Presentation Argument Demonizing-Divine-Revelation Argument God-No-Longer-Moves-in-Power Argument No-True-Christian Argument Accusing-the-Holy-Spirit Argument Lessons of the Journey What Did You Think of this Book? Acknowledgments About this Book Free Stuff Book Club, Small Group Study or Homeschool Questions The Foundation of Real Faith & Reason Library Further Study Scripture References About the Author This Book is Part of the Real Faith & Reason Library FREE as eBooks The three-volume set of Real Faith & Reason is a journey of spiritual growth and discernment. Real Faith & Reason Volume One Real Faith & Reason Volume Two Real Faith & Reason Volume Three This is a listing of the Bible verses used in Real Faith & Reason. Real Faith & Reason Scripture References Exposing the REAL Creation-Evolution Debate points the way to knowing Christ through the example of a debate between two men over the topic of Creation versus Evolution. (Print version available on Amazon) Exposing the REAL Creation-Evolution Debate The Encyclopedia of Logical Fallacies details over 700 fallacies and logic terms with examples. Encyclopedia of Logical Fallacies The Nuts and Bolts of Being Rational goes into the nitty-gritty of the elements of rational thought and how to keep yourself from irrational traps in thinking. The Nuts and Bolts of Being Rational You can download FREE Ebooks in Epub, Mobi, and PDF formats from: http://RealReality.org/downloads/. Trip 12: God Speaks During the trips we took in reason so far in Real Faith & Reason Volume One and Real Faith & Reason Volume Two, we traveled a long way. What a journey it has been so far! Just look at all this truth from the first two volumes: We discovered the importance of truth even though it’s painful whenever truth destroys our current paradigms and preconceptions. If we don’t have the truth, we’re subsisting in a world of illusion and delusion. Unless reasoning BEGINS with truth, reasoning can’t lead to truth. Sound reasoning must always be based on truth. We can’t base reason on untruth or we deceive ourselves regardless of how well the untruth is presented. The more convincingly a persuader presents an untruth, the more hurtful and dangerous the lie. We define sanity as knowing the difference between reality and make-believe. And we define insanity as not being able to tell the difference. Without truth, we can’t tell the difference between truth and error or reality and make- believe. Christ is the Light Who shines His light on everyone whether born again or not born again. His rain falls on the just and the unjust. He reveals reality to anyone who will receive it. Jesus is real and knowable, and everyone who wants to find Christ finds Christ. Whoever sincerely loves truth finds Christ. Those who love deception don’t find Christ. We know that Jesus is real because we know Him. We know that God exists because we know God through Jesus. We know that Jesus is God because Jesus reveals that fact to us. We know that the Bible is true because Jesus reveals that fact to us and He speaks to us through the Bible. Real faith isn’t pretending or making ourselves believe (make-believe). Real faith comes by hearing the utterance (rhema) of God, and Jesus Christ Authors our faith, which is the faith of God. That’s why real faith is substance. It’s reality rather than a concept. And real faith is evidence. It’s absolutely certain proof of what we haven’t yet observed. Without real faith, we can’t be certain of any truth. Therefore, without real faith, there can be no sound reasoning. Jesus directs, instructs, and transforms all who follow Him. We don’t always listen. And our discernment improves as we mature in Christ. However, God knows how to give the Holy Spirit to those who sincerely want the Holy Spirit and who are willing to die to their own fleshly natures. Christ speaks to every person. He speaks through Scripture and every method of divine revelation that He mentions in Scripture. His revelation isn’t any form of made-up stuff. Christ is real and knowable. He knows how to communicate with His created beings. Without knowing Christ and listening to His voice, we have no way to be rational. We desire to grow in Christ to the biblical promise of being transformed into His same image. We grow by grace, which is through faith. God speaks; we hear; faith comes; faith gives us access to grace; grace does the righteousness of God through us; we’re changed in the process. God is asking us to say only His words and to do only His acts. That’s walking in the Spirit. Our part is yielding. To yield is to stop fighting against God, to stop resisting Him. The reason we have to allow God to work His righteousness in us is that God won’t force us. We must be willing. As we submit to the Holy Spirit, we stop resisting Him and we sense that He’s moving within us and through us. In His light, the darkness of the flesh dies to some degree every time we keep in step with the Holy Spirit. Scripture says the Holy Spirit is transfiguring us from glory to glory into the image and likeness of Christ. The biblical pattern of the church is absolutely necessary to complete God’s work of transformation.