Peetem wrote:
See my previous response. You cannot argue for God's goodness using the Bible and any of its characters since there are plenty of people who believe the Bible to be meaningless.
I'm not doing anything near what you stated above. Nor am I suggesting that you quote scripture to win an argument. Personal experience has shown that words alone dont work. Paul and Jesus described what does work and why. That is what I quoted from the Bible.
Paul lays out the whole argument and the solution in 1 Cor. That is the reason I quoted the Bible. The thought of quoting any of that to an unbeliever never entered my mind. It wouldnt make any sense to them.
Paul said:
1Cor2:
14 ... people who aren’t spiritual
can’t receive these truths from God’s Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and they can’t understand it.
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Jesus spoke in declarations. He simply stated facts and let the hearer deside. "Let those who have ears to hear... hear". He left the revelation of the truth that he spoke up to God's discretion through the Holy Spirit ... Whose job it is to ..." prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment."
The Sanhedrin/ pharacees, the ones that Jesus called whited sepulchers, voted to execute Jesus. Yet they clearly revealed that they knew for a fact that Jesus was sent from God . It was his acts that they could not deny. Nicodemus said so. Without God's Holy Spirit they could not do the right thing. They hated the right thing.
All 3 ( words/power/spirit) must work in concert. Paul figured that out and that strategy was his game plan moving forward.
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I'm not suggesting that you quote the Bible. I'm suggesting that you observe the research that Paul did on the subject of discussion in the O/P
Paul did the research 2000 yrs ago and figured out what works and what doesnt.
From Acts...
... you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
From 1Cor 2 ...
13When we tell you these things, we do not use words that come from human wisdom. Instead, we speak words given to us by the Spirit, using the Spirit’s words to explain spiritual truths.f 14 But people who aren’t spiritual can’t receive these truths from God’s Spirit.
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Paul, one of the top and most famous legal minds of his time... highly trained in the art of argument in order to win, and then trained by Jesus himself... stated that he found that words / arguments alone dont work when it comes to introducing the Gospel to unbelievers. In fact he stated in 1Cor2 that words alone cant work. They must be revealed through the power of God... confirmed in what I posted above.
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1Cor2:
1When I first came to you, dear brothers and sisters,a I didn’t use lofty words and impressive wisdom to tell you God’s secret plan.b 2For I decided that while I was with you I would forget everything except Jesus Christ, the one who was crucified. 3I came to you in weakness—timid and trembling. 4And my message and my preaching were very plain. Rather than using clever and persuasive speeches, I relied only on the power of the Holy Spirit. 5I did this so you would trust not in human wisdom but in the power of God.
6 Yet when I am among mature believers, I do speak with words of wisdom