Sometimes a comparison is so apt and totally fitting, that it can wipe the floor with the argumentation for a strongly held belief.
Take for example the case of atheism and agnosticism.
As Christians we know that the denial of or doubt about the existence of God are spiritually and epistemologically absolute non-starters. We believe this, not in the last place because with the order, intricacy and beauty all around us, there can be no doubt that what we observe is the result of a deliberate creation by an extremely intelligent and creative divine designer.
In the words of Paul writing to the Romans (1:20):
For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.
The chance and randomness of a God-less universe as advocated by people like Richard Dawkins who claims to see,
“no design, no purpose, no evil, no good, nothing but blind, pitiless indifference”,
does no justice whatsoever to the reality as Christians are able to see it.
The other day I bumped into just such a floor wiping comparison in one of the Quora places, Christians and Christianity.
It deals with many of the major arguments atheists and agnostics come up with in defense of their belief.
Enjoy!
In a mother’s womb were two babies.
One asked the other: “Do you believe in life after delivery?”
The other replied, “Why, of course. There has to be something after delivery. Maybe we are here to prepare ourselves for what we will be later.”
“Nonsense” said the first. “There is no life after delivery. What kind of life would that be?”
The second said, “I don’t know, but there will be more light than here. Maybe we will walk with our legs and eat from our mouths. Maybe we will have other senses that we can’t understand now.”
The first replied, “That is absurd. Walking is impossible. And eating with our mouths? Ridiculous! The umbilical cord supplies nutrition and everything we need. But the umbilical cord is so short. Life after delivery is to be logically excluded.”
The second insisted, “Well I think there is something and maybe it’s different than it is here. Maybe we won’t need this physical cord anymore.”
The first replied, “Nonsense. And moreover if there is life, then why has no one ever come back from there? Delivery is the end of life, and in the after-delivery there is nothing but darkness and silence and oblivion. It takes us nowhere.”
“Well, I don’t know,” said the second, “but certainly we will meet Mother and she will take care of us.”
The first replied “Mother? You actually believe in Mother? That’s laughable. If Mother exists then where is She now?”
The second said, “She is all around us. We are surrounded by her. We are of Her. It is in Her that we live. Without Her this world would not and could not exist.”
Said the first: “Well I don’t see Her, so it is only logical that She doesn’t exist.”
To which the second replied, “Sometimes, when you’re in silence and you focus and listen, you can perceive Her presence, and you can hear Her loving voice, calling down from above.”