And the angel said to them; "Be not afraid, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will come to all people; for to you is born this day in the city of David a savior, who is Christ the Lord" (Luke 2:10-11).
. . . and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins (Matthew 1:21).
Some historians believe that Robert Green Ingersoll would have been president of the United States if it were not for his strong agnostic and atheistic views. He was a strong orator and could present his views much more persuasively than either Lincoln or Douglas. Ingersoll was raised in a devout Christian home, his father was a congregational minister, but with strong liberal and abolitionist views that kept him in trouble with his parishioners. Ingersoll's father was eventually run out of the ministry because of his views, and, as a result, Ingersoll was embittered against Christianity. In many cases it is true that the best argument against Christianity is the behavior of those who call themselves Christians.
In a short essay on Christmas, Ingersoll wrote: "Christianity did not come with tidings of great joy, but with a message of eternal grief. It came with the threat of everlasting torture on its lips. It meant war on earth and perdition here after." One of the chief reasons atheists have a problem with God is the existence of hell. They view hell as inconsistent with the existence of a loving God. For me, the existence of hell is a necessary result of a loving God. The shooting yesterday in Connecticut proves the necessity of perdition! The existence of hell is not an effort to scare people into going straight, rather hell's existence is evidence of God's love and justice for those who are His own.
The good tidings of great joy heralded by the angels really were good tidings! First, those good tidings mean that God keeps His promises. The Old Testament reveals many, many prophecies fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Second, those good tidings mean that there really is pardon for sin and a legitimate hope for eternal life--this life is not all there is. A perfect life awaits us.
One of the sadist characteristics of agnostic/atheists is that they hopelessly grasp at straws. Robert Owen, a well-known early 19th century agnostic converted to spiritualism in the vain hope of communicating with the dead. Robert Ingersoll wrote these words in a eulogy of his brother Ebon, "Life is a narrow vale between the cold and barren peaks of two eternities. We strive in vain to look beyond the heights. We cry aloud, and the only answer is the echo of our wailing cry. From the voiceless lips of the unreplying dead there comes no word; but in the night of death hope sees a star and listening love can hear the rustle of a wing."
Good tidings of great joy represent not a vain hope, but a legitimate hope for life and eternity. Merry Christmas!!!
Our Father's Love,
Tom
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