An Atheist Speaks Out About God

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by Shirley R. Heater

"I no longer believe in God . I've decided I am an atheist." It may
not surprise you that young people today are taking this stand when
you see the deteriorating conditions in the world around us. But what
may surprise you is that these words are not only being spoken by
young people with various Christian backgrounds, but also by members
of the Church! Why Are They Leaving? Why? Why! why.

It is not an easy answer-or rather, it is not an answer that is easy
to listen to. But I'm going to give it a try. A recent survey of young
people ages 20-29, specifically identified as from conservative
Christian homes (having grown up attending church, Sunday school,
camps, praying with their families, reading the Bible, etc.), revealed
that 90% no longer attend. The majority said they didn't get answers
they needed and were more likely to accept abortion, gay rights,
evolution, do your own thing, question authority, even the word of God
and God Himself!

I can look back in my own lifetime and see many seemingly "small" or
isolated changes that have accumulated until today we have a full-
blown war against God and His Word. I remember when in 1954 "under
God" was added to the pledge of allegiance. I also remember when
prayer was removed from schools (1963) and Roe v. Wade legalized
abortion in 1973. For decades, a concerted effort has been in play to
undermine the word of God, culminating in the chaos and contention
seen in the world today. It has spilled over into government
("separation of church and state"), education devoid of anything
spiritual (only Santa is welcome at Christmas), removing "In God We
Trust" from newly minted coins, and the fight to have "under God"
removed from the pledge! (And, sadly, these are only a few examples.)

How has this happened? Part of the answer was celebrated in 2009 by
spotlighting two significant events-the 200th birthday of Charles
Darwin and the 150th anniversary of his landmark work Origin of
Species (1859). When Darwin left on his five-year sea journey in 1831,
he was a Bible-believing creationist. But he carried with him another
book, Principles of Geology published in 1830 by Charles Lyell,
proposing the doctrine of uniformitarianism which states that the
present is the key to the past. By 1859 Darwin was an atheist and full-
blown evolutionist.

Did you catch the date of Lyell's book? 1830! - the same year The Book
of Mormon was published. Second Nephi 1:81 [1:9 LDS] tells us there is
opposition in all things-that is certainly true when it comes to God
and the Scriptures today! And just prior to the coming forth of The
Book of Mormon, the foundations for questioning the Bible were laid
down by questioning the origin of Genesis and Moses as the writer.

Darwin's and Lyell's false doctrines spread insidiously throughout the
last century-plus, its tentacles infiltrating not only world and
government views, but also science, education and text books, meaning
of life, marriage, standards, and yes, even Bible-believing (and Book
of Mormon believing) churches. In attempts to mold Biblical creation
to evolution, compromise interpretations such as theistic evolution or
evolutionary creation were adopted. While these views seemed to
satisfy some religionists, it has been a slippery slope toward the
ultimate goal of evolution-a total rejection of the Bible and God
Himself!

And some "Christian" churches have unwittingly contributed by not
treating the foundational principles seriously. Take the flood of
Noah, for instance. Was it worldwide or just local as many now
believe? Evolution presents the geologic column as evidence of eons of
gradual change, with man appearing near the top or most recent "age."
But the geologic column does not appear intact anywhere in the world,
and in fact, some layers ("ages") are missing, or are out of order
with later millions of years appearing before earlier millions of
years. The geologic column is actually evidence of a worldwide,
catastrophic flood! And let's not forget Noah's ark-we see cute little
boats with Noah and a few animals with giraffes sticking their heads
above the top, when the real ark was huge and perfectly proportioned
to stay afloat-proportions still used today by the largest ships!

By embracing or molding these false doctrines, the result is a loss of
confidence in the Word of God, then a denial of His existence and His
role in the history of mankind, and society rushing toward moral
collapse. When the foundation crumbles, we are left without a Creator,
there was no Fall and thus no need for a Savior, no judgment (the
Flood), no miraculous virgin birth, crucifixion or resurrection! When
you let go of the rod of iron, you are without a sure foundation.

What we believe is foundational to how we interpret and understand
everything. We must "be ready always to give an answer" (1 Peter
3:15). Understanding what has happened to the Bible will help us
understand the role of The Book of Mormon. My position-as with
archaeology and The Book of Mormon-is that the Scriptures are TRUE!
They are either a true history-or they are not! The attack on the word
of God-the Bible-has been blatant, and The Book of Mormon has not been
spared. And while the Christian world as a whole is fighting against
The Book of Mormon, it is the very answer they need! The Book of
Mormon joined together as a second witness with the Bible strengthens
the testimony of those foundations (e.g., Creation, Fall and need for
a Savior, Flood, Crucifixion and Resurrection) and according to the
words of Lehi, the two "shall grow together unto the confounding of
false doctrines" (2 Nephi 1:19-24 [1:9-11 LDS])!

The Deception
by Shirley R. Heater

satan believed he had won
when he thought he'd killed the Son
but he was momentarily deluded by his misconception
because he didn't anticipate the Resurrection!
so he devised his own deception
to undermine the Resurrection-

no creation........... no Creator
no fall..............no Savior

hold fast to the Rod of Iron
and to our Creator, Savior and Friend
reject the deception-embrace the Resurrection
and-endure to the end!

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