The Daily Hatch

Crimes and Misdemeanors: A Discussion: Part 2

Uploaded by camdiscussion on Sep 23, 2007

I have gone back and forth and back and forth with many liberals on the Arkansas Times Blog on many issues such as abortion, human rights, welfare, poverty, gun control  and issues dealing with popular culture . This time around I have discussed morality with the Ark Times Bloggers and have used the examples given in Woody Allen’s movie “Crimes and Misdemeanors” to do so. With out God in the picture to punish the evildoers  in an afterlife, then can people do anything they want because “might makes right.”

Without the infinite-personal God of the Bible to reveal moral absolutes then man is left to embrace moral relativism. In a time plus chance universe man is reduced to a machine and can not find a place for values such as love. Both of Francis Schaeffer’s film series have tackled these subjects and he shows how this is reflected in the arts.

Here are some posts I have done on the series “HOW SHOULD WE THEN LIVE? : Francis Schaeffer’s “How should we then live?” Video and outline of episode 10 “Final Choices” , episode 9 “The Age of Personal Peace and Affluence”, episode 8 “The Age of Fragmentation”, episode 7 “The Age of Non-Reason” , episode 6 “The Scientific Age” ,  episode 5 “The Revolutionary Age” , episode 4 “The Reformation”,  episode 3 “The Renaissance”, episode 2 “The Middle Ages,”, and  episode 1 “The Roman Age,” .

In the film series “WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE HUMAN RACE?” the arguments are presented  against abortion (Episode 1),  infanticide (Episode 2),   euthenasia (Episode 3), and then there is a discussion of the Christian versus Humanist worldview concerning the issue of “the basis for human dignity” in Episode 4 and then in the last episode a close look at the truth claims of the Bible.

In July of 2013 I got into this discussion about morality and the meaning of life with the Arkansas Times Bloggers:

I commented:

Verla wrote, “Saline–your reality depends on believing in something we cannot see, hear or smell, thus faith. Or delusion. Many of us want something more.”

Verla can you see, hear or smell any of the evidence for evolution? 

I sent a cassette tape by Adrian Rogers to the famous atheist Antony Flew in 1992 and he wrote me back and said he enjoyed the sermon very much and listened to it with great interest. 

Here are the points from that sermon:







What evidence is there that the Bible is in fact God’s Word?
I want to give you five reasons to affirm the Bible is the Word of God.

First, I believe the Bible is the Word of God because of its scientific accuracy. The Truth of the Word of God tells us that God “hangeth the earth upon nothing” (Job 26:7). How did Job know that the earth hung in space before the age of modern astronomy and space travel? The Holy Spirit told him. The scientists of Isaiah’s day didn’t know the topography of the earth, but Isaiah said, “It is [God] that sitteth upon the circle of the earth” (Isaiah 40:22). The word for “circle” here means a globe or sphere. How did Isaiah know that God say upon the circle of the earth? By divine inspiration.

Secondly, the Bible is affirmed through historical accuracy. Do you remember the story about the handwriting on the wall that is found in the fifth chapter of Daniel? Belshazzar hosted a feast with a thousand of his lords and ladies. Suddenly, a gruesome hand appeared out of nowhere and began to write on a wall. The king was disturbed and asked for someone to interpret the writing. Daniel was found and gave the interpretation. After the interpretation, “Then commanded Belshazzar, and they clothed Daniel with scarlet, and put a chain of gold about his neck, and made a proclamation concerning him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom.” (Daniel 5:29). Basing their opinion on Babylonian records, the historians claim this never happened. According to the records, the last king of Babylon was not Belshazzar, but a man named Nabonidas. And so, they said, the Bible is in error. There wasn’t a record of a king named Belshazzar. Well, the spades of archeologists continued to do their work. In 1853, an inscription was found on a cornerstone of a temple built by Nabonidas, to the god Ur, which read: “May I, Nabonidas, king of Babylon, not sin against thee. And may reverence for thee dwell in the heart of Belshazzar, my first-born favorite son.” From other inscriptions, it was learned that Belshazzar and Nabonidas were co-regents. Nabonidas traveled while Belshazzar stayed home to run the kingdom. Now that we know that Belshazzar and Nabonidas were co-regents, it makes sense that Belshazzar would say that Daniel would be the third ruler. What a marvelous nugget of truth tucked away in the Word of God!

Third, from Genesis to Revelation, the Bible reads as one book. And there is incredible unity to the Bible. The Bible is one book, and yet it is made up of 66 books, was written by at least 40 different authors over a period of about 1600 years, in 13 different countries and on three different continents. It was written in at least three different languages by people in all professions. The Bible forms one beautiful temple of truth that does not contradict itself theologically, morally, ethically, doctrinally, scientifically, historically, or in any other way.

Fourth, did you know the Bible is the only book in the world that has accurate prophecy? When you read the prophecies of the Bible, you simply have to stand back in awe. There are over 300 precise prophecies that deal with the Lord Jesus Christ in the Old Testament that are fulfilled in the New Testament. To say that these are fulfilled by chance is an astronomical impossibility.

Finally, the Bible is not a book of the month, but the Book of the Ages. First Peter 1:25 says: “But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the Word which by the gospel is preached unto you.” No book has ever had as much opposition as the Bible. Men have laughed at it, scorned it, burned it, ridiculed it, and made laws against it. But the Word of God has survived. And it is applicable today as much as it was yesterday and will be tomorrow.

It’s so majestically deep that scholars could swim and never touch the bottom. Yet so wonderfully shallow that a little child could come and get a drink of water without fear of drowning. That is God’s precious, holy Word. The Word of God. Know it. Believe it. It is True.

https://thedailyhatch.org/2013/07/09/adrian…

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Mudturtle wrote:

So, the reason that atheists and agnostics, and American Indianw, and Buddhists, and Moslems, and cannibals have a sense of right and wrong is because God implanted it there? 
Not innate in humans, but actually bestowed?

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That is what Romans chapter 1 teaches us!!!! God put that conscience in you that causes you to know deep down that God exists. 


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A friend of mine is a street preacher and he preaches on the Santa Monica Promenade in California. 

During the Q/A sessions he does have lots of atheists that enjoy their time at the mic. During this time my friend always quotes Romans 1:19 “For that which is known about God is evident to them and made plain in their inner consciousness, because God has shown it to them.” Then he tells the atheist that he already knows that God exists but he has been suppressing that knowledge in unrighteousness. This usually infuriates the atheist.

My friend is actually thinking about coming up with something that would really challenge the atheists and cause them to pause. Recently he asked me if I thought it would be a good idea to set up a lie detector test and see if any of these atheists can beat it. (He knew that I had done a lot of research in the past on this very issue.)

Nelson Price in The Emmanuel Factor (1987) tells the story about Brown Trucking Company in Georgia who used to give polygraph tests to their job applicants. However, in part of the test the operator asked, “Do you believe in God?” In every instance when a professing atheist answered “No,” the test showed the person to be lying.

Dr Adrian Rogers used to tell this same story to illustrate Romans 1:19 and it was his conclusion that “there is no such thing anywhere on earth as a true atheist. If a man says he doesn’t believe in God, then he is lying. God has put his moral consciousness into every man’s heart, and a man has to try to kick his conscience to death to say he doesn’t believe in God.”

It is true that polygraph tests for use in hiring were banned by Congress in 1988. However, Mr and Mrs Claude Brown on Aug 25, 1994 wrote me a letter confirming that over 15,000 applicants had taken the polygraph test and EVERY TIME SOMEONE SAID THEY DID NOT BELIEVE IN GOD, THE MACHINE SAID THEY WERE LYING.

It had been difficult to catch up to the Browns. I had heard about them from Dr. Rogers’ sermon but I did not have enough information to locate them. Dr. Rogers referred me to Dr. Nelson Price and Dr. Price’s office told me that Claude Brown lived in Atlanta. After writing letters to all 9 of the entries for Claude Brown in the Atlanta telephone book, I finally got in touch with the Browns.

Adrian Rogers also pointed out that the Bible does not recognize the theoretical atheist. Psalms 14:1: The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” Dr Rogers notes, “The fool is treating God like he would treat food he did not desire in a cafeteria line. ‘No broccoli for me!’ ” In other words, the fool just doesn’t want God in his life and is a practical atheist, but not a theoretical atheist.

I contacted several Southern Baptist Theologians concerning the issue of Psalms 14:1 back in 1995 and received helpful responses from Dr. Lewis A. Drummond, Beeson Divinity School, Samford, Dr. Stephen J. Andrews, Southeastern Baptist Seminary, Dr. Harold Mosley, New Orleans Bapt Seminary, Dr. Gerald L. Keown, Southern Baptist Seminary,Dr. George L. Klein, Criswell College, and Dr. M. Pierce Matheney, Midwestern Baptist Seminary.

Some responded that it is was possible to be a theoretical atheist while some said that the Bible only recognized the practical atheist


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Notice also in the movie “Crimes and Misdemeanors” that even though Judah and his brother Jack said they did not believe in God and they planned to kill Judah’s mistress, once the deed is done Judah has a hard time shaking the idea that he will be punished because their still a spark in him telling him that he will be punished by God. 

JACK: I just wanted you to know everything came out fine. It’s over and done with, so you can forget about it.

JUDAH: Oh, my God. Oh, my God. I’m in shock, Jack.

JACK: Judah, I’m telling you, it’s like the whole thing never existed. It’s a small burglary. Nothing more. Yeah. So go on back to your life and… put it behind you.

JUDAH: I can’t speak. I need a drink. What am I gonna do? I’ve got guests here now. Jack… God have mercy on us, Jack.

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