Comments on: an atheist misses Jesus

By: Kevin W

Kevin W — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 16:19:01 +0000

Ofcourse Templeton admired Jesus…how can you not love a man who said “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” and “Love thy neighbour as thyself” on the other hand the old testament is filled with examples of Gods incredible cruelty…read Numbers 31:17-18 where the Midianites are exterminated except, ofcouse, for the virgins…or Exodus 15:3 The Lord is a man of war, or a little genocide in Deuteronomy Chp 7:1-6 where God exterminates “many nations” to make room for his chosen people.or how about Samuel 6:19.

By: Teresa G

Teresa G — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 15:52:28 +0000

It was interesting that several times Mr. Templeton said that he came to know Christ as a teenager, “without the theological training needed to withstand the doubts that came”…then he went back to school and received training but the doubts overtook him..how could he not know those doubts were Satan? His story is sad, compelling, a lesson to all Christians to stand firm in God’s word: 2 Cor. 10:5…”We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”

By: John Pankratz

John Pankratz — Sun, 16 Jan 2011 17:54:03 +0000

What caught my attention in the Lee Strobel interview with Charles Templeton was Templeton’s response to the question of wheter he ever worried about being wrong about turning away from the Christian God, particularly as death was knocking at the door of the aged agnostic. “Of course I would like to believe!”, said Templeton, “but it is ‘impossible for me’. (even though Templeton sought the faith to believe with tears). The following scriptures come to mind when reading this drammatic interview, which every believer should seriously consider.
1. Hebrews 6:4 to 6
It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age 6 and who have fallen[c] away, to be brought back to repentance. To their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.

By: samuelh

samuelh — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 10:55:10 +0000

This is indeed a sad story. My hope is that only God really know the heart and He will ultimately judge Mr. Templeton.
Yes, faith is, by definition, believing in that which cannot be proven. Yet I strongly believe that you could have faith that is logical, based on circumstantial evidence. I fail to see the correlation between there existing evil and the non-existence of a God. Evil happens to anyone – does this mean that there cannot be a God? Yes, I too question how the “bad” people get away with their sins, while “good” people suffer, seemingly indiscriminately. But does this mean that God does not exist? Are they mutually exclusive events, as the probabilist would say? There are too many pieces of evidence to suggest that some intelligent being higher than ourselves must exist. I prefer to call that being God.

By: Jay Norris

Jay Norris — Sun, 03 Oct 2010 00:37:04 +0000

If we base faith on fact, there will never be faith. Faith is believing in what we cannot see and know to be real what we cannot prove. We cannot come to God or know Jesus Christ without faith. Man has doubted that there is a loving God from the beginning of creation, but that does not affect the reality of the existence of a loving heavenly Father. If you consider yourself the most intelligent person in the world, ask yourself, in the vastness of all of creation would you claim to have a perfect knowledge of all of the universe, all that is on the earth, all that is under the earth? If you are honest, you would have to answer no. If in the percentage of your lack of perfect knowledge, could there be room for a God? If there is the possibility for there to be a God, just because we cannot explain all things, does that mean they don’t exist?
Regardless of what you beleve, no one has perfect knowledge of all things, so what is more important, a faith in a loving God who calls his children to love and serve each other and promises to all who seek Him will find Him, or to limit ourselves to only believe in what mans limited knowledge of science, knowledge, and experience can explain. I must ask, who truly is limiting themselves?

By: Anita Fuentes

Anita Fuentes — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 00:43:53 +0000

Ivan, beautifully said. I saw the Case for Faith and I was in fear and trembling over it. A very holy fear and trembling. God so loved Charles Templeton…
I can’t help to think those tears shed were from God to Charles.

By: Ivan M Diaz

Ivan M Diaz — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 21:52:14 +0000

When I first heard this story of Charles Templeton I cried, I creid because our enemy triumph over him filling his mind with doubts. Not that I have never doubted, but my transformation when I received Jesus in my heart is real, I called myself an athiest but in reality I was just mad at religion with it’s rules and rituals. But God is His infinite mercy brought me to the knowledge of the truth and the truth has set me free. Free from religion and free to question Him and His Word not in doubt and unbelief, but to be able to look for the answer to the questions that troubled Mr. Templeton and sad to say many Christians. Because I know the Bible is truth and since it is, anything that seems to contradict His Word is wrong and it is just a matter of time until I find where we are wrong, since He never is(Daddy knows best). Anyway I thought I place my small comments in hope that I can bring encouragement to someone who is looking for answers.

By: Shelley

Shelley — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 20:21:56 +0000

Once you come to know Christ, your freedom to choose doesn’t end there. You are free to choose or reject Christ at any time before or after you accept Him. God has promised never to leave us, but it does make it very clear in Hebrews Chapter 10 what happens if we choose to reject Him after coming to know the truth. “It will be better for that man never to have known the truth.” There is no such thing as eternal security. We need to replenish our spiritual strength and faith in God daily during these wicked days. Satan got to Charles and he fell for it. Satan convinced him God could not exist because of the all the evil in the world…he lost faith, he didn’t hang on to God’s promises, didn’t take God at His Word and therefore called God a liar. Basically, isn’t that the exact trick he played on Eve in the garden of Eden? He didn’t believe we’re in a spiritual war – especially AFTER knowing Christ (Eph 6). Satan throws the darts of doubt, WE choose whether they’ll stick in us and fester or whether we pull them out and keep fighting the good fight. God says “for the man who doubts, don’t let him expect anything from God”. I wouldn’t want to be in his shoes!

By: Hugh Akin

Hugh Akin — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 18:59:36 +0000

To those of us who believe in the eternal security of the believer (once saved, always saved) the question is: “Charles Templeton may have left God but did God leave him?

By: Liz Fleming

Liz Fleming — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 15:08:27 +0000

How very touching that in the end he wept over Jesus and how much he missed Him, oh that the head would listen to the heart and be at peace.