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Debate Score:24
Arguments:36
Total Votes:25
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 "How God turns a French atheist into a Christian theologian" (16)

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lolzors93(3225) pic



"How God turns a French atheist into a Christian theologian"

http://gracenyc.onthecity.org/plaza/topics/7becdc2df794f161230567bbbd6db1dd41ccf2cd

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3 points

I read the whole thing and I am impressed by the fact that this person turned to Christ rather then sticking with atheism.

3 points

My favorite part is the end, with which he says the following: "I didn’t bring any of it upon myself. I was not looking for God; I did not seek Him, and I didn’t want Him. He reached out to me, loved me while I was still a sinner, broke my defenses, and decided to pour out His undeserved grace, that His Son might be glorified, and that, from my sin I may be saved by grace through faith, and not by works; it is the gift of God, so that no one may boast (Eph. 2:8-9)."

God did miraculous things with him, and I am now pleased to call him a fellow brother in Christ. No one seeks God, yet He saves those whom He wills, allowing them to live, unmeritously, in the end to which all things aim.

3 points

Yeah, I saw that part and it's truly amazing that God calls people to be saved from this. That's why He saved you, others, and myself.

What is this supposed to prove? The whole story is bullshit anyways; some delusional fakir trying to spread his belief in god. Fuck, I could present a hundred Christian-turned-atheist stories.

thousandin1(1931) Clarified
2 points

A hundred of them? Please do! And spare no details!

Idiotobx914(1340) Clarified
1 point

Okay, you got me there. A hundred is an exaggeration. The point is that I can easily present a similar story but for atheism.

And here is the story.

http://faithskeptic.50megs.com/FCtoA.htm

LittleMisfit(1745) Clarified
1 point

Here's 32,000, give or take a few :)

lolzors93(3225) Clarified
1 point

Did you actually read it? Don't simply read it; read it.

J-Roc77(70) Clarified
2 points

This is a sale.

The writer starts off trying to let you know he is a authority figure, he has his stuff together, he is a reasonable and scientific man.

I ended up studying math, physics and engineering in college, graduated from a rather respected private engineering school, which landed me a job as a computer scientist for a large investment bank.

And at the same time, since I’m a scientist, I figured there was at least one experiment that could be carried out to dis-confirm the belief that God exists: I thought

This is after a long string of details to help you relate to this guy, he likes sex, playing music in a band and playing sports as well! I think they hit lots of demographics here.

“if any of this is true, then there is a God who exists right now and presumably cares greatly about this project of mine”, so I started to pray ...

Solid piece of reasoning here. Err...wait...no. Sarcasm is hard to detect on the internet.

I was impressed by the authority of that man’s teaching. Sure enough, I didn’t have much room in my worldview for his talks of God and supernatural activity, but I was rather impressed by the way he maneuvered in conversation, and the wisdom of some of his retorts.

Translation " I am easily moved by authority figures. I am impressed by his wisdom, but will offer no examples of his wisdom. Just take my word for it...it rocks. We've already established I am an authoritative source on the subject...right?"

... and apparently his story was compelling enough that these ancient followers of his believed it and even suffered for preaching his death and resurrection.

Translation "Look at all the believers, they all can't be wrong!" This is just the bandwagon argument for believing, more appeals to authority/ad populum.

Here was an obviously educated man, who believed these incredible things about God and Jesus,

Translation "This guy here is smart and he believes!". He also says he has long talks and questions with the man who provides biblical answers to his questions. He doesn't offer any examples here either...just take his word for it they were good questions and apparently even better answers!

That was not a pleasant experience. I suddenly realized a truth I knew but had worked very hard to suppress: at the same time I had started my investigations, I had also come to commit a particularly sinister misdeed, even by my own atheistic standards.

Of course he doesn't tell us what this sin is, but it as just terrible and "wicked". It is left up to the reader here to just fill in the blank. This is a literary tool often used by hack writers who are writing so the audience can fill in the blanks to better relate to them. (Hack writers also use it to cover up their inability to write something interesting). The writer used the same technique above when he didn't give examples of the "wisdom" he received.

This seems like a writing that is ready for a terrible pamphlet.

Anyway this is his turning point where he reaches his epiphany.

I still remember laying there in pain in my apartment near Paris, when all of a sudden the quarter dropped; it made sense: “That” is why Jesus had to die:…me. He who knew no sin became sin on my behalf, so that in Him I might become the righteousness of God (2 Cor. 5:21). He took upon himself the penalty that I deserved, so that in God’s justice, my sins would be forgiven freely, by grace as a gift, rather than by my righteous deeds or religious rituals.

Of course it ends up that after he accepts god he is well on his way to being even more successful than before. Meets a woman, studying under a very well respected theologian.

TLDR? Formulaic writing at best, this piece is hardly convincing. It just is an appeal to authority for most of it.