Manuesse Mario Maluleque, Maputo, Mozambique, manuessemaluleque@hotmail.com A Christmas gift for atheists -- five reasons why God exists
For atheists, Christmas is a religious sham. For if God does not exist, then obviously Jesus’ birth cannot represent the incarnation of God in human history, which Christians celebrate at this time of year.
However, most atheists, in my experience, have no good reasons for their disbelief. Rather they’ve learned to simply repeat the slogan, “There’s no good evidence for God’s existence!”
In the case of a Christian who has no good reasons for what he believes, this slogan serves as an effective conversation-stopper. But if we have good reasons for our beliefs, then this slogan serves rather as a conversation-starter.
The good thing is that atheists tend to be very passionate people and want to believe in something.
The atheist who merely repeats this slogan after having been presented with arguments for God’s existence makes an empty assertion. So what reasons might be given in defense of Christian theism? In my publications and oral debates with some of the world’s most notable atheists, I’ve defended the following five reasons why God exists:
Dr.Victor David , Nottingham, Nottinghamshire , United Kingdom
Email Address: vicdav45@yahoo.co.uk
WHAT ARE THE LEGAL REQUIREMENTS FOR STARTING A CHURCH IN YOUR COUNTRY? Issues of law and religion in the United Kingdom
Churches as charities: There are no legal requirements for starting a church in the United Kingdom
It is the same law that guild all charity organization that apply to the churches also they are categorise under non profirt orgnization.
The meaning of “charity” The legal underpinning of churches’ charitable status In England and Wales is partly the law of trusts and partly the various successive Charities Acts. In the Charities Act 2011:
- s 1 (Meaning of “charity”) states that “For the purposes of the law of England and Wales, ‘charity ‘means an institution which
(a) is established for charitable purposes only, and
(b) falls to be subject to the control of the High Court in the exercise of its jurisdiction with respect to charities”.
- s 3(1)(c) defines “the advancement of religion” as a charitable purpose.
Therefore, an organisation whose objects are exclusively charitable is, in law, a charity and, crucially, charitable status is not dependent on registration with the Charity Commission for England & Wales. If someone (“the settlor”) establishes and endows a trust that has an exclusively charitable purpose, it may be regarded a charity even if it is not clear that the settlor had intended it to be so regarded. (And if the settlor does not wish to set up a charitable trust, s/he had better make sure that the objects of the trust are not exclusively charitable).
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