The Winner

Kaitlyn said..."I like these posts of yours, Ray, where you discuss your own faith rather than try to tear down atheism or evolution. I have a few comments on your writing style, but that's pretty much it. You wrote: 'If you hate someone, as far as God is concerned you are physically putting a knife into his back.' I think you meant metaphorically. I don't understand how you can 'physically' put a knife in the back of a non-corporeal being such as God. You wrote: 'His was a 'vicarious' sacrifice.' I don't know if you are using 'vicarious' correctly...You can say Christians live vicariously through the actions of Jesus, but that's not the most commonplace usage of the word, 'vicarious.'... 'He paid the fine so that God could legally dismiss our case.' I think you should get rid of the word, 'legally.' You're not being literal."

Kaitlyn, here is a not-very-good analogy for you: A doctor held out a cure to a deathly sick patient and said, "You will be dead in seconds if you don’t take this cure. You need to take it now!" The dying patient ignored the cure and instead responded, "Where I come from, you should always use your right hand when giving something to somebody. Besides, your utilization of the word "will" is incorrect. I would rather substitute it with a superlative, and therefore avoid what is lacking linguistically because it correlates with the word "dead" in a manner unheard of in the circles in which I frequent. "Dead" is an overly strong expression to use when having any conversation, because it doesn’t address the felt-need with regard to the self-esteem. Personally, I would rather that you use a dissimilar utterance, because...aghhhhhhh....

Kaitlyn. You won the $100, with your excuse for not believing in God. Please send your address to me via mark@livingwaters.com

Thanks.