The paradox of true freedom

In a society that is becoming increasingly self-centered, intent on self-gratification and intolerant of others’ opinions, freedom is defined as being able to do whatever one pleases, often with no consideration for the consequences.

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In recent years we’ve seen how declining moral standards have become increasingly acceptable in societies around the world. Most have embraced the idea that freedom should enable us to live however we please, which is more often than not contrary to God’s commandments.

The Bible is clear we cannot simply follow the desires of our heart. The Old Testament prophet Jeremiah wrote: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9). The Apostle Paul also warned: “For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God” (Romans 8:6-8).

Paul also wrote about the life-styles and behaviours that would prevail before the return of Jesus Christ: “... in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God" (2 Timothy 3:1-4).

Mankind has rejected God’s commandments and has sown the ills we now suffer as a society. According to a 2015 poll, Barna Group found that around two-thirds of American adults either believe that moral truth is relative to circumstances, or haven’t given it much thought. Only one-third believe moral truth is absolute (https://www.barna.com/research/the-end-of-absolutes-americas-new-moral-code/).

Without absolute truth, people are left free to gratify their desires according to their own interpretation of moral truth.

Christ declared absolute truth regarding principles and morality is found only in God’s instruction book. He spoke about truth and freedom, promising, “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32), and also prayed to His Father concerning His followers: “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth” (John 17:17).

Once we realise that Jesus died on our behalf to pay the spiritual death penalty for us, we then ought to understand our reasonable service is to dedicate ourselves to Him as a “living sacrifice” (Romans 12:1). Scripture instructs us to: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5). Jesus, quoting from Deuteronomy 8:3, said: “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4).

Serving God means that we consciously seek to do His will in our lives and allow Jesus to live within us through the literal power of God’s Holy Spirit to inspire our thoughts and guide our actions (Galatians 2:19-20). A bondservant of God strives to live according to His perfect law and partake of the many blessings that He desires to give us (Matthew 11:28-30).

Freedom is a paradox. If we are free to do whatever we please, we become a slave of our desires. However, if we choose to serve God as a bondservant, then we are no longer a slave of sin and can know true freedom, which requires accepting Jesus as our Lord and Master, and the perfect law of God as a boundary for our self-destructive desires.

• Source:

  UK Supplement (Mar-April 2021)

• https://ucg.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Supplement-2024-May-June.pdf

 

How archaeology confirms the Bible

Archaeology is the scientific study of ancient things, which enables us to take a fascinating journey back in time to examine stones and artifacts that bear mute, but compelling witness to the truth of Scripture.

Sir Henry Rawlinson deciphered the Behistun Rock inscription cuneiform (images composited from WikiCommons)

It was not until the 19th century that scientific methods were rigorously applied to the excavation of historical sites. Flinders Petrie is generally considered the individual who put archaeological methodology on a scientific footing. But as early as the late 1700s Napoleon Bonaparte, who had an interest in Egyptian culture and wanted to decipher the strange drawings he had seen on ancient monuments, set up an institute in Egypt to study the writings and ancient relics.

Accurate translations of ancient inscriptions were finally made possible in 1799 when French soldiers discovered a large black basalt rock at the town of Rosetta. Later to be known as the Rosetta Stone, it bore a trilingual inscription in Old Egyptian hieroglyphics, demotic (a later, simplified form of Egyptian hieroglyphics) and Greek. With this stone as a reference, Jean François Champollion in 1822, was finally able to decipher the writings.

The credit for the deciphering of cuneiform, another ancient form of communication, goes mostly to Henry C. Rawlinson. He began a systematic study of cuneiform writing found on the Behistun Rock inscription, sometimes known as the “Rosetta Stone of cuneiform.” This was an inscription, chiselled in three scripts: Persian, Elamite and Babylonian when, thousands of years earlier, Darius the Great, king of Persia, had an account of his exploits recorded on the face of a 1,700-foot cliff.

As a result of these and other successes during the next decades the great cities, mentioned in the Bible, such as the ancient Assyrian capital, Nineveh, Calah and Troy were discovered and excavated, with many of the unearthed ancient artefacts making their way to the British Museum.

Unfortunately, the zeal for fame and treasure also led to unfounded claims, such as the supposed discovery of King Solomon’s mines and David’s tomb, which were later proven false. This fed the skepticism regarding the accuracy of the biblical accounts in spite of the many authentic discoveries.

Added to this Charles Darwin, Karl Marx and others, espousing theories of evolution and an economic, materialistic interpretation of the past further encouraged a questioning of the historicity of the Bible. A tugging match ensued between believers in the inspiration and accuracy of the Bible and scoffers, influenced by Spinoza, Kant, and Hegel.

In spite of this genuine archeological discoveries continued, with irrefutable evidence being found of the existence of the Hittite empire and the fall of Jericho finally being correctly dated to the time of the judges as recorded in the Bible. This finding overturned Kathleen Kenyon's original conclusion that Jericho’s downfall could not have happened during those years. Another important event confirming the accuracy of the Bible was the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1947, which contained books of the Old Testament written more than 100 years before Christ’s time, in an ancient Hebrew script.

The abundance of archaeological evidence in support of the Bible can strengthen faith, and in some cases it has greatly contributed to giving birth to belief where none existed before. An example of this is the life of Englishman William M. Ramsay (1851-1939). He was raised as a nonbeliever by his atheist parents, graduating from Oxford with a doctorate in philosophy and eventually becoming a professor at the University of Aberdeen. Determined to undermine the historical accuracy of the Bible, he studied archaeology and eventually travelled to Palestine expecting to refute the accounts in the book of Acts as nothing more than myth.

However, after a quarter-century of work, Ramsay was awestruck by the accuracy of the book of Acts. He had to concede that Luke’s account of the events and setting were exact in the smallest detail. Far from attacking the biblical account, Ramsay produced a book entitled, St. Paul, the Traveller and Roman Citizen, which supported it.

Eventually, William Ramsay shook the intellectual world by converting to Christianity. Ironically, this man who set out to refute the Bible, found himself accepting the Bible as God’s Word because of his explorations and discoveries.

• Source:

  The Good News magazine (May-June 1996)

• https://www.ucg.org/the-good-news/the-bible-and-archaeology-how-archaeology-confirms-the-biblical-record

 

Who’s telling you what to think?

The world’s media outlets are the major means of communicating information worldwide. The way they are used and the content they carry can be helpful and positive, neutral or enormously destructive.

As you consider whether to accept the reports and opinions in newspapers and television programs or hear the seductive, suggestive lyrics of many songs, be sure to ask yourself who is telling you what to think and whether you should listen. Ultimately what we put into our minds determines our values and approach to life.

Steve Allen, longtime actor, comedian and songwriter who died in 2000, wrote perceptively about the depraved vortex of television programming in his book ‘Vulgarians at the Gate: Trash TV and Raunch Radio’: “There has always been a market for vulgarity and licentiousness, but at present it is undeniable that motion pictures, theater, television, radio, the recording industry and, to a lesser degree, journalism are enthusiastic participants in the general collapse of standards and behavior.” His book then goes on to document the many ways in which journalists slant their reporting to subtly change the way readers think.

TV networks such as ABC, NBC and CBS, and major newspapers like The New York Times, do publish many unbiased reports but, when it comes to stories touching on moral values and ideology they often present those with a liberal or ungodly spin. It’s important to differentiate between viewpoints arising from biblically- based standards and those that are rooted in amoral thinking.

Journalist William Proctor in his book titled ‘The Gospel According to The New York Times’ examines the profound effects an influential newspaper like The New York Times has on America and the world, playing a major role in shaping thinking and values. “In effect, you are being exposed to a gospel, but one that is a far cry from the traditional good news of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Rather, this gospel is rooted in a kind of secular theology that purports to convey infallible social, moral, and political truth...” (2000, pp. 11-12).

On a closely related topic, Phillip Johnson, author and law professor at the University of California, Berkeley, has written several revealing books about how the uncritical acceptance of the theory of evolution has influenced our moral values. “This philosophy controls academic work not only in science but in all fields, including law, literature and psychology. It is promulgated throughout the educational system and the mainstream media, and government backs it” ( The Wedge of Truth , pp. 13-14).

The Bible reveals there’s a spiritual power behind these developments leading humans away from God. The Apostle Paul calls this unseen force “the god of this age” (2 Corinthians 4:4). The Apostle John tells us how successful Satan has been in his manipulative, deceptive work. He writes that “the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one” and that this evil being “deceives the whole world” (1 John 5:19; Revelation 12:9).

In other words, Satan presents his ways as enlightened and wise when in truth they are the opposite. Paul tells us the devil has successfully “blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel” (2 Corinthians 4:4, NIV). False religions, naturalism, the theory of evolution and related belief systems have kept humanity cut off from right knowledge and in darkness for centuries. Our best source for the unbiased truth as it relates to the world we live in is the Bible.

• Source:

  The Good News Magazine (May-Jun 2002)

• https://www.ucg.org/the-good-news/whos-telling-you-what-to-think