Two World Views

Introductions

Pleased to make your acquaintance,

I am Theist.

On the following I take my stance,

God is the reason I exist.

Not sure I am pleased to have met you,

But I am Atheist.

I happen to hold a conflicting view,

God is the idea I resist.

Moderator

Well let’s share what we believe

And let’s tell the reasons why,

‘Tis nothing we have we didn’t receive,

Whether it’s from the earth or sky.

Perhaps Theist you’d like to start

Since you put God at the beginning,

Then Atheist you can play your part,

Show how something came of nothing.

Theist Speaks

Well with God everything makes sense,

The animals, the trees, every bird;

Thus upon life I mount my defence,

Plus all that He shows us in His word.

In the beginning God created

The cosmos, the sea and all land,

Just by His word he dictated

There was no need to lift a hand.

He looked over what He had made

And He pronounced it good,

The Psalmist sang His accolade

As he viewed from where he stood.

Then He addressed the matter of life,

The birds, the beasts and the fish,

They lived in harmony not strife

As every word brought about His wish.

  

Finally came His crowning design,

Created by His hand and His breath,

Then from His creation He resigned,

And embark on the seventh day rest.

“Very good,” God said as He surveyed

All that appeared before His eyes,

He was the cause of all that was made,

Not evolution as you on that side surmise.

Next God gave them moral thinking

Because robots He did not want,

But clearly from His instruction sinking,

Our fore parents fell for Satan’s taunts.

Old Sly Fox craftily convinced them,

That God wanted to keep them down,

He then offered them a counterfeit gem

Upon which the Creator had frowned.

All God required of them was obedience,

To His concise and precise instruction,

The devil offered them omnipotence,

That brought about man’s destruction.

From Eden’s bounty they were removed

To experience a life of pain with sweat,

They had done what God had not approved,

And hence must face the consequent debt.

The debt of sin brought a staggering price

Neither man nor angel could repay,

Nothing less than Jesus’ blood and sacrifice

Could redeem man and save the day.

And so Jesus came to earth and died

So that man could be redeemed,

A new creation when the blood’s applied,

And our God still reigns supreme.

There in a nutshell is my worldview,

The beginning with God gets my vote,

Now I am prepared to listen to you

Though nothing you’ll offer is of note.

Atheist Speaks

 

I listened well as you put your case,

Though I must confess I disagree,

This God-beginning thing I will replace,

As I share my proven, evolution theory.

Before I disprove your hypothesis

I will agree concerning one thing,

All other propositions I’ll dismiss

But concede there was a beginning.

Nothing existed billions of years ago,

There was no God, no cosmos, no life,

This world had a beginning you know,

Thus on that point we incur no strife.

I’m sure you have heard of Big Bang,

And, perhaps you too have ridiculed

Atheists who upon this theory hang

And labeled everyone of them a fool.

Scientific minds support our stance,

There’s much observable evidence,

Experiment and exploration enhance

All that is clear to human intelligence.

The universe, extremely dense and hot,

Once started to expand at a rapid rate,

A big bang occurred so God was not

Responsible for earth’s ordered state.

Just three minutes after this occurrence,

When the universe had begun to cool,

Simple atomic nuclei were in abundance,

You should have studied this in school.

So Big Bang, the cause of this universe

Produced protons, neutrons and electrons,

Setting the universe on its eventual course

That formed the electrically neutral atoms.

Giant clouds from this cosmic activity

Would later coalesced through gravity,

To produce all the stars and each galaxy;

What phenomenal, observable creativity!

  

The essential phenomenon was time,

This process took billions of years,

Unlike your fantasy of Supreme design

About which I have expressed my fears.

Of the universe and its initial condition,

I agree Big Bang provides no explanation,

But with clear and scientific investigation,

The intelligent explanation is evolution.

The time is set four billion years ago

As the date for the simplest life form,

From where it came we do not know,

But in science this is the accepted norm.

These life molecules continue to thrive

As they rained right down into the sea,

No wonder we have this fierce drive

For from out of them came you and me.

While they were replicating and evolving,

They just started to naturally detect,

No marriage problems that needed solving,

For their ties they would naturally select.

This took billions of years to progress

From the simple to the more complex,

It puzzles me when wise people digress

From a theory that makes sense to a next.

Some six million years ago in Africa land

Our lineage and the chimpanzee split,

Now humans produced a human band,

And chimpanzees are no longer the hit.

Humans developed a very unique brain

Which over time they have made good use,

So dump creationism down the drain,

Refrain your mind from such abuse.

 Moderator

Now that you have heard both present,

You can try being the judge and jury,

But remember whatever your intent,

Truth is not determined by one’s story.

Truth needs no human vindication,

It’s not based on scientific observation,

It’s not debunked by one’s argumentation,

But it stands on its own in every situation.

Truth has survived the test of time,

It has conquered its fiercest critic,

Once acknowledged one can resign

To live by its clearly design edict.

Faith is a requirement for each theory,

Whether it be evolution or creation,

But whatever your eventual affinity,

It will determine your eternal position.

Creation’s God emerges from eternity,

Evolution has an uncertain beginning,

Creation is built on God’s creativity,

Evolution’s something out of nothing.

My Decision

You judge, the ball is in your court

But creation makes more sense to me,

I’d rather stand on the Biblical report

Than a theory that is clouded in mystery.

Your Decision

That you will have to determine,

Your decision is entirely up to you,

Evolution has no answer for sin,

‘Tis God that presents that view.

Why not join me on God’s side,

It’s a better life even here and now,

For all those now who in Christ abide,

Shall be saved is God’s solemn vow.

  A brighter day awaits the saved,

In our Father’s glorious kingdom,

That stretches beyond the grave,

Via the victory of God’s dear Son.

Evolution seems a choice for hell,

While creation signals the new birth,

Consider all you may but choose well,

For there’s heaven along with earth.

Oh yes, there’s life beyond this here,

Atheists want us otherwise to believe,

But on that day they will have to fear,

If God’s salvation they have not received.

Stewart Russell © 2014