I actually deconstructed from Atheism. Most people deconstruct from Christianity, but the one thing that makes it hard for me to be an atheist, is the fact that you have to accept the fact that there are no universal values. It's just a consequence of being an atheist. You can have preferences, but as soon as you come upon a person or society that doesn't, it challenges your claims to objective knowledge. But I don't observe ethics being that way, so it's hard for me to accept that antecedent that there are no objective truths about morality. As the saying goes, if you see the square has four equal sides, it's therefore a square. If I see objective knowledge about morality, but quantifiably, nobody can prove it, but it just is, then I have to assume there's a higher authority than man Who does.

Sure, you could build a perfect morality through Game Theory, and I'm sure it'll be done at some point, but I find that will ultimately reflect what's in the Old Testament, and therefore, be extremely harsh and cruel. Meaning people will ultimately reject it, and then there will be lawlessness. And say they do neither, you still rely on the fallibility of human judgment, and who knows what they'll get wrong.

So, Hume's argument is actually very flimsy--the argument used by most atheists--that milieu determines morality. I find that not to be possible. And I find whiffs in ancient philosophers of a divine order, that seems to make sense, and appeal to a greater sense of truth than simply human understanding. And that's generally God, or Elohim. Also called "The Way" or "The Word."

And simply put, the argument right now is that we have a better world than we did with religion--and I can quantifiably say that's unjustified. Religion made people compassionate, and taught people the right way, and tempered peoples licentiousness so they could all have a portion. Without it, it's a free for all, both sexually and materially--as is what my friend Jonathan would say, the Neo Liberal way--which isn't resulting in more compassion or human growth, but is actually having the opposite effect, and turning everyone into sociopaths, or at the very least borderline narcissists.

***

 To make a perfect world would be a crime. Because humans are fallible. Hence, we need God to judge. And generally, we come prewired knowing right from wrong, and it's built in us, but we don't follow it. And that's why there's suffering in the world.

I mean, generally, the issue is ethics are universal, and there is a way to promote perfect peace. It's just humans cannot follow that way. But, we need to be encouraged to try, and that's why the Gospel is so important. The Old Testament condemns sin, while the New Testament forgives it. Justice needs to be a balance of both.

And you're never going to eliminate human greed or corruption, so basically there's always going to be injustice. And that's why God needs to make Heaven and Hell, so people's lives aren't all that matter. Cause at the end, if it were, it'd be the worst of all possible worlds, as everyone would strive against one another to get whatever they could.

But generally, the point of Confucianism is that there is a right way, that humans understand perfectly, and we're supposed to walk according to that way. It's kind of a relevant philosophy, and it's certainly not Western. And that's also the Bible's too, but it adds that we fail, so we need to be forgiven.

But do you understand what I mean? Of course people understand what's right from wrong. They always have. And they always will. It's just that we fail miserably at doing it, and that's why we need the Gospel. For no other reason. If it were just a matter of defining morality, we have 100 sages who do a great job at it. It's that we need to be forgiven, too. From Pythagoras, to Plato, to Aristotle, to Mencius, to Confucius, to Marcus Aurelius, to Lucretius and Ptahhotep. We have thousands of religions, too. It's that we need Christ's blood, to wash us. That's all it is. As far as human morality, it's been said the same way over a thousand times by a thousand philosophers. It's not that we need. You may, but that's the result of sin, having your conscience seared. It's not that way originally.

And then we have the psychos who do know it, and try to reshape the world through the sword. And those are probably the worst. Which I'm not trying to create a perfect world, just to help people understand that's not possible, and why we need to really pay attention to what our Sages in history had said. As the world we came from was better in many ways than the world we're going to.

Did a Jot or Tiddle pass away from the Law?

I’m going to answer your question.

No. Jeremiah prophesied a New Covenant. And in Genesis, it clearly establishes a Covenant made to Abraham and His seed, which would be established for everyone, including the Gentiles. Christ is the fulfillment of that Covenant, and with His priesthood, comes a new law. And new wineskins.

The Hebrew Law is an unchanging covenant, which if you wish to live by, you’ll be chained to the curse. Which even being in this world, you are chained by as it established God’s judgment and wrath over the entirety of the world and all nations. Which, Christ is Who freed us from the curse. That is why the Truth shall set us free.

The angels in Ezekiel were the four Cherubim, and they look like Gryphons almost, with four faces each pointing in a different direction, and four wings which cover their bodies, and also human hands as paws, with eyes circumferenced round about them.

And above them were wheels, but those were heavenly engines. Not angels. It was God's power.

The Beast and Dragon in Revelation were once Cherubim, but were not numbered with the flock---they each looked different than the four creatures--so they rebelled, along with a chief Seraphim, whom was the Serpent in the Garden---and he will possess the Antichrist. And the Seraphim have a portion of God's Omniscience. And the False Prophet is a Satyr, from among Satan's angels. And Abaddon is a new creature, fully evil, whom is the Grave, Death and Sheol.

But the Cherubim each possess a portion of God's omnipotence, which is why you ought not challenge Satan. As he'll overwhelm you instantly.

Satan will be defeated by the Word of God at the last, Whom is Christ Jesus, prophesied by the Prophets and fulfilled by becoming Flesh and dying upon a Cross. He is God come in the Flesh, and possesses all authority over heaven, earth and all worlds.

The saints, when we are redeemed, will become Placers and Judges among God's Holy Elect, and like Angels, will rule with a portion of the Kingdom bestowed upon us for all eternity. We will also consummate our place in heaven with the Hephzibah and Beulah land, being wedded to our LORD through Heaven for all Eternity.

The story I tell myself is a little vain and self important, I know... but it gets me through today and tomorrow, and keeps my sanity. 

I was a child, who grew up in a good household with a loving mother and father. Things were pure, joyful, the angelfish bred, but did not fight. People were silent, but jubilant. I'd watch my Johnny Quest, I'd watch Seaburt and Scamper, I'd watch A-Team and MacGyver. I'd read my stories of George Washington cutting down the Cherry Tree, of Johnny Appleseed and Paul Bunyan, of Jack and Jill, Humpty-Dumpty, Ring Around the Roses, and The Three Little Pigs and Goldilocks and the Three Bears.

Then, I mixed with my peers. And such a vile feeling came over me, that these peers were not right. They influenced me, corrupted me--my heart was malleable and still is to some degree--and they taught me various bad habits.

Then, I sinned. And I sinned hard.

I can't help but blame my peers on the attitude they fostered, to help enable me to be the sinner I was. If they had told me the truth--and not manipulated me--I'd have been stayed from the great suffering I've endured. I'd have been saved from the various crimes I'd committed, because I had peers who told me what was right, instead of what was wrong. Rather than cheer me along for the various cruelties, they would reprimand me for them. And so, this I did not have. Rather, any kindness in me was a vulnerability, which was beaten, bullied and scoffed.

Thus, I developed an attitude where I must tell them right. I must tell them what is true, and give them an honest report of their behavior, which as of lately grown much worse. I sinned, so I can know it's wrong--for having tasted the highest highs with cruelty and lust--I can tell them such a thing is vanity.

Thus, I became a writer, who ought to be a writer, and I worked 20 years fruitlessly on my craft, because some power greater than me stops me. Be it God or Satan, I don't know... but I know I have faith in God's power, and know Him like I would my own. And I know, from listening to Jesus' parables--for His stories have always been my favorite of all time--and His teachings--for the Sermon on the Mount is my favorite thing ever said by any human being--and His Judgment---for the Old Testament is among the sweetest, that the cruelties I have witnessed will not go unpunished--and His forgiveness--for Pauline Epistles give me the sense, that though I've failed hard, I have something to attain in a next life--I have become a complete Master over the art of understanding man, in all his goodness and vices.

Yet, some vile force stops me from making my bread, and keeps me from enjoying the fruits of my success, and more and more, I realize it's the world I lived in all along hated what was good in me, and like a constrictor with a mouse, it squeezed me, until I had no more love.

So I fought back, and kept very much of my love. And so write you this story I tell myself, of why I am a Christian. And no other religion suffices.

From studying this, and reading the New Testament Apocrypha, I understand a lot of how people back in the day used to read the Bible. Back then it wasn't about perfect word order, but rather having the right meaning. You look at Barnabas' or Ignatius' quotations from Mark or Luke or even the Old Testament, you see various differences in the texts, but generally, you know exactly what part of scripture it comes from, and the original meaning is in tact.

I also happen to look at the Great Isaiah Scroll--I read it as scripture, too--and I know exactly what verse I'm at, from having read Isaiah probably more times than any other book of the Bible. It's all preserved... the meanings of the text. And I know what Daniel's (Dr. Daniel Wallace) saying. It's really moot, the differences, as the contextual framework is all contained in the book. Like, really, the person who claimed the Bible had to be exact to the original--in both word order, word and everything--was probably disingenuous, and the only reason we have this idea floating round, is because we do have Bibles in print that have said the same exact thing for over five hundred years.

In some cases, the word is important. For sure. But, still, when the word's changed a little bit--such as in Psalm 22 there's a verse that either says "Pierced" or "Lion's Tooth" it still means a puncture in the hand and foot. And that's probably due to scribes in Jewish Circles changing the Bible ever so slightly, to push out the miracle of Christ in prophecies. Though, Jesus did say "Not one Yote or Tiddle shall be altered", he means in the contextual sense of what the gospel means. Not in the literal sense, of the actual words.