A man in Australia held his own daughter as a sex slave for 30 years, raping her repeatedly and fathering four children by her. A man in California kidnapped an 11 year old girl, held her as a prisoner for 17 years and fathered two children by her. Are these acts wrong only because they are against the law or are these acts wrong even if they are not against the law? Do people know that these acts are wrong only because the government says they are wrong, or do people know these acts are wrong without hearing from the government?
If we know these acts are wrong, how do we know that? It is something we have been trained to know or does the knowledge of the wrongfulness of these acts run far deeper than our training? If our knowledge that this is wrong in inherent and is not based on how we have been trained, what is the source of that inherent knowledge? Where does that basic sense of right and wrong come from?
The Bible says that the truth about God (his nature and character) and the truth about basic issues of right and wrong (how we ought to live) is plain/obvious to us. That is why ignorance of the law is not a defense for someone who violates the law. There is an assumption by government and by all of us that everyone has a natural, basic understanding of right and wrong. The Bible says that we suppress the truth about God and about what is right and wrong, because we choose to live for our selfish desires. Our suppression of the truth eventually results in depravity and destructive lifestyles. (See Romans 1:18-32.)
Darwinian logic leads people to believe that there is no absolute right and wrong. There are no transcendent values. Everything is arbitrary and can be explained by random, naturalistic, purposeless processes. Truth is what they make it. Satisfaction in life is by doing what you want, even if it hurts others. In the Darwinian world, truth is only an expediency shaped by those in power. Science is always true. In the Darwinian world, science can be manipulated. In the Darwinian world, science can be used to help people or destroy people, because there is no absolute truth by which to judge any act. Might makes right, because there is nothing else by which right can beevaluated. There are no oughts in the world, only what is, and what is is always changing.
The Bible gives us purpose and hope through Jesus Christ. The message of the Bible is that the world is lost and destructive without God himself intervening to give us answers and life and peace. The sins that separate us from a just and loving God can be forgiven. We can be transformed. We can live with joy and peace that is not based on our circumstances. This is not wishful thinking, but is proven by the lives of saints over several thousand years - saints who made a difference in this world and who were a force for the transformation of people from darkness and depravity to truth and hope. Choose this day which truth you will serve.
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