Transhumanism...Smells Like Gasoline

Welcome to brave new world. We are now entering a new realm where man has the technology and the means to integrate with the technology they create. We have entered a realm that is a slippery slope and lines begin to blur. The question is not "how far will man go?" Man left to his own devices will pursue sin and reprobate thoughts until the cows come home. They are not so much the issue. You are. How far are you willing to allow them to go? How far will you allow the technology to infiltrate and directly affect your life. Designer babies? Implants? Augments?

Transhumanism is a set of ideas which represents a world view to improve the human condition. They support critical thinking in the development of sciences and technologies to extend the human lifespan, eradicate aging, solve problems of disease, and encourage and enhance intellectual, creative, physical and mental well-being. In this regard, it is essential to be aware of the possible dangers that lie ahead. The examination of potential dangers affect not only transhumanist, but the entire world. The use of technologies and biotechnology must be looked at with a critical and ethical observation (1).

Transhumanism can be said to stem, in part, from humanism. "Humanism is a "philosophical system of thought that focuses on human value, thought, and actions. Humans are considered basically good and rationale creatures who can improve themselves and others through natural human abilities of reason and action.

Many scientists that adhere to evolutionary science (which is most of the them) see transhumanism as just the next logical step for advancement of man. As believers we can already see from these descriptions the build-in stumbling blocks for its failure. People are not basically good, they are sinful. As such they are worthy of the death put on them by the curse. Transhumanists actually toy with words like immortalism. As if man could override God's mandate. What is worse is evolution is not compatible with Christian doctrine and because of this Christians need to very closely scrutinize this no phase of humanity. I personally do not see transhumanism as an evolutionary step as I see it as an evilutionary step. We are not moving on to the newest form of human has a higher life form but rather moving backwards and taking away from God's creation. We moving to more sinful uses of science. How many animals and people do we continue to sacrifice in the name of science to perfect bioimplants. How many animals get tortured to gain single bits of data to tell us whether or not an implant will be detrimental to humans? This is the area we enter when we talk about stem cell research. Science claims the only place we can get the proper stem cells is from aborted fetuses. Japanese scientists have already proven this is a fallacy since we can get them...from our own teeth!


This is not evolution of humankind. It is devolution. Humans are now adapting to regression of morals and ethics. It is a step backwards to Mary Shelley and Frankenstein. Personally, I find it reprehensible that so many are willing to become Borg-ian (as in Borg from Star Trek). We are already starting off on the wrong foot with this when we claim it is for the overall advancement of mostly good people when the Bible is very clear on why we are not "mostly good people" and why we die to begin with. We are turning Biblical thought processes and doctrine on their head when we pursue something less than God's "very good" creation thinking we can improve on it. We are trying to be like God. I imagine some of these science types...believe the are gods of some sort. I say we are now flirting with technologies we understand little about and only disaster can lay down that road. Its like giving a man a match to light a pitch black room that smells of gasoline.

Go do your homework and read up on this. It is already effecting you more than you realize or probably wished it did. It has become as big an ethical minefield as the genetics/cloning issues and that issue doesn't look like its going away any time soon either.

How much is too much and do you really think that man has the ability in him to make the right decision once we start down this path? Will man know how to restrain himself. If history has been any indicator, especially in light of the genetics arguments...we are in trouble. What if it is your terminally ill child that needs a morally questionable augment to survive? Your wife? Your husband? Are you prepared to say no if it violates the moral precepts and implications outlined in the Bible? This won't be the Six Million Dollar Man or the Bionic Woman. It'll be your kids or your spouse. There are legitimate uses of technology but what are they and when do they get used? When is it acceptable to augment? Amputations? When does man stop being man? Do you make the decision? Do corporations? Do we allow atheistic scientists that do not even believe in your God (or any god for that matter)?

Just a few thoughts that have been going through my head about this topic.

(1) "Transhumanist FAQ." Transhumanism's Extropy Institute - Transhumanism for a better future. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Oct. 2010.

Perotin: The Hilliard Ensemble

Wow. I don't know what took me so long to find the style of music called polyphony but this is the second album in a month that has absolutely floored me in terms of multi-layered vocals. This music is simply mesmerizing in its depth and beauty. The last album I reviewed containing polyphony was Utopia Truimphans and it was Renaissance Polyphony (1400-1600) but this album is considered Medieval Polyphony (500-1400) or in the 1100-1200 range. Its old. The music on this album is in excess of 800 years old. It is vocals with no musical accompaniment although you'd swear someone was playing something in the background like a hurdy gurdy or some other medieval instrument but I guess that was just my imagination playing games with me. It is from a composer called Pérotin (circa 1200). He was a European composer, believed to be French, who lived around the end of the twelfth and beginning of the 13th century. He was one of very few composers of his day whose name has been preserved, and can be associated to compositions.

When speaking of polyphony and Perotin, John of Salisbury (1120–1180) Bishop of Chartres once wrote:

"When you hear the soft harmonies of the various singers, some taking high and others low parts, some singing in advance, some following in the rear, others with pauses and interludes, you would think yourself listening to a concert of sirens rather than men, and wonder at the powers of voices … whatever is most tuneful among birds, could not equal. Such is the facility of running up and down the scale; so wonderful the shortening or multiplying of notes, the repetition of the phrases, or their emphatic utterance: the treble and shrill notes are so mingled with tenor and bass, that the ears lost their power of judging. When this goes to excess it is more fitted to excite lust than devotion; but if it is kept in the limits of moderation, it drives away care from the soul and the solicitudes of life, confers joy and peace and exultation in God, and transports the soul to the society of angels"

My only complaint is that the disk is a tad short at 56 minutes. It mostly makes up for the lack of music by the quality of music as it is crisp and clear. Sometimes these polyphonies can be quite muddled and distorted. Thankfully this one is not.

Rating 98/100

Here is a sample of one of the better tracks on this disc

Viderunt Omnes

Enjoy!

The Good News & Not-So-Good News

At times I find it incredibility hard not to take a recent news article off the Internet and type an opinionated diatribe about it. Okay, it is just about impossible and sometimes I barely restrain myself from hitting the "PUBLISH" button on the blog's dashboard. Usually I hit delete. I try desperately to obey an agreement I made with the Lord. It has become so hard to avoid political and cultural commentary because of the absurdity of our culture. It seems nowadays that very few can actually discern the difference between right and wrong, ney, righteous and sin (lets call it what it is for once). The Lord knows there is plenty of fodder out there to rip on. If it wasn't for the fact that some of the garbage out there is a direct affront to Christian faith I wouldn't give a rip about it anyway.

So why don't I comment on the political nonsense? First, people need a break from it and I wanted to make my blog a space for edification, education and evangelism not politics, pundits and polemics. I also had a long time to think about how I wanted to present God's message through my blog long before I started it and I did not want to do it in an attacking negative manner that I have seen from so many Christian blogs. This does nothing to improve relations with the ones we are suppose to be trying to reach.

1 Peter 2:12
Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.

I made a covenant with the Lord to stay positive and be a bolstering force for a Christian (although it sometimes kills me to keep my silence on some current societal issues). I told myself when I started this blog in February that I would not fall victim to taking sides in things non-doctrinal or non-salvational. I would not throw myself into the fray in non-Biblical/non-Christian polemics unless they directly attack the body of Christ.

Where Christians or Christianity has been attacked I have been nearly merciless in pinpointing the point of attack, making a critical assessment, isolate it and then spared little righteous anger at their expense. There is no room for mamby-pamby oscillation when confronting sin no matter what mask it wears today (or tomorrow).

Although my posts are often laced with contemporary topics people would consider divisive (Christians do not live in a sinless vacuum), I try to address the divisive topics with surgical precision and tact. If readers look closely at the posts, they will see that all have a Biblical bend or are comparatively matched up against God's Word. Many times there are actual Biblical precedents if people look close enough. If there is a suitable comparison that I am aware of I will outline it so readers can see the contrast or similarities. The good thing about history repeating itself means we already have an answer to the problem in the Bible. The bad news is the mankind has learned nothing, Jew and Gentile alike. When you think about this it is quite sad. Man's nature has always been the same and continues to be into the future. Sinful. The cultural issues that bombard Christians at every turn in our world are addressed here at SoulJournaler. What I will not be sucked into is the Hegelian Dialectic of politics in the United States or abroad. I will speak to them when I need to as Jesus did when referring to Caesar or as Paul did in Romans 13 but outside of this I tread like a man with clown shoes in a minefield, gently trying to avoid hitting a mine. It is not my place. Let the professional politicians do that job. Let the pundits be pundits getting people all fired up. I'll preach and spread the Word since I consider it vastly more important and more valuable to mankind than spreading mostly godless political ideologies in all quadrants of the political spectrum. Yuck...

I do not believe my call is to be a pundit for this side or that side. I will not waste the tools God has given me to promote the idolization of a man or men unless that man or men are promoting God as defined in the Holy Bible. That is a short list by the way. Also, I will not compromise the message of God. I will not smooth the edges of the Gospel so not to offend the seeker sensitive types with weak stomachs. If you want a church of ministry with the edges taken off...look elsewhere because you are not going to get it here. I give it to people straight. There are plenty of posts on this blog clearly stating my positions and watered-down Gospel is not my forte. Some of my posts have already been deemed hateful, intolerant or polarizing by my more liberal-minded brethren. I seriously doubt they fully grasp the full detrimental impact of the words that they misuse when they say "hater" or "intolerant" anyway. I wish them well in their ministries but they are teaching heresy and apostasy if they do not teach the Bible or if they add to the Bible.

Conversely, I will not split non-salvational hairs. Too many...TOO MANY of our brethren are ready to be critical of one another because they will not walk under our banner or banner and the only difference has to do with form and and not substance. Conversely, I am not ecumenical in my approach, I am just not willing to shut down a legitimate conversation because I think someone is wrong. As a matter of fact I purposely maintain a conversation with someone because I believe they're wrong. How can I try and rectify what I believe is wrong if I immediately shut them down? Makes no sense to me. Does that make sense to you?

Wow, boy have I gone down a rabbit trail...

Anyway, back to the news. Over the last year I have avoided almost all public political commentary and have not spoke to these type of issues, even on Facebook. I have diverged from the culture to immerse myself in my studies and the world seems slightly more distant than it use to. This allows me more time for what is important. God, family, studies, peace. I am waging my own little battles against the encroaching enemy and the sin that is pervading society at all levels on all continents. I will stand my ground and plant my pike in the bedrock of the Word to fend off threatening aggressors out to do harm to the Body or myself.

I have always believed I am pursuing truth. This quest will lead me to glory in the Lord as truth IS the Lord. I will kindly disseminate the Good News (εὐαγγέλιον / euangelion) out to the world but I need to filter and discern the so-called good news from the world coming in trying to pollute me since it is often corrupting and twisted by its very nature. If we do let things in from the outside culture they need to be let in with a heavy filter to strain out the dregs that come with the messages.

απολογιαν : Apologetics Not Apologies

απολογιαν noun: apologia ap-ol-og-ee'-ah: a plea (apology) -- answer (for self), clearing of self, defense.

"...but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense [απολογιαν] to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect." 1 Peter 3:15

I tried my hand at teaching from the Bible a year or so ago and I ceased doing it because it didn't feel right and many things lead me to believe I was too new in the faith or too immature a believer to properly shoulder the task (a la: 1 Timothy & Titus). This changes again on Oct 10, 2010. I am doing this to meet the requirements of my Systematic Theology course. It is the service learning portion of my syllabus. I'd have done this anyway had the opportunity presented itself as I am inexplicably being drawn towards pastorate, teaching, or both. This is a chance to hone the blade on the Sword of the Spirit and better present a defense (apologia) for the Faith while simultaneously helping others do the same. I'm jazzed to do so.

I will begin teaching an apologetics course at church. I have had formal correspondence and have finalized the plans to present a course initially on logic and the foundational first principles of logic such as the Law of Non-Contradiction, The Law of Identification and The Law of the excluded Middle. I will not be elaborating on them here other than to say that I hope I am giving these believers in attendance additional reasons to proactively go out into the world to make disciples. I pray that that something I do over the next few weeks will embolden or motivate folks to fulfill the Great Commission.

As I had stated to the spiritual leadership of the church I believer there are many positive advantages for Christian believers to engage the culture at their points of sin. To meet them at the point of consternation with their own belief systems. Through Presuppositional Apologetics I want to show my brethren where we need to address non-believers. By showing them how their worldviews are nonsensical or in some cases internally inconsistent.


The benefits to believers is manifold.


It will better define their own position in their walk. Anyone that is prepared to meet the world (often on its own terms) needs a solid self identity and solid Christian worldview when discussing things of the secular aspects.

It will give the attendees a solid launching-off point for discussion of worldly or Christian based discussion and not to be uncomfortable defending their Christian faith or those they represent in the face of hostility or confrontation from other worldviews.

In addition to the solid teaching of Jesus Christ and the Bible that the church already provides to cultivate a loving relationship with Him, apologetics can act as a reinforcing and encouraging tool for inter-congregational growth. It can also act as an intellectual defense of the biblical worldview or act as a method of engagement with a non-believing culture since apologetics often speaks to worldly issues, current ideas and current thought processes.

It allows for a common ground on which to base discussion with those outside your church to win new converts to Jesus Christ. Since most non-believers will not always understand or respond immediately to a Biblical or Christian based message it is always useful to have other avenues of discussion to lead into the Gospel or a Biblical worldview. Apologetics can provide this avenue. The person having taken this seminar will understand how other worldviews relate to the Christian worldview. Some of these other worldviews being: Atheism, Pantheism, Agnosticism, etc. In the case of Atheism and Agnostics these belief systems are often based in a methodological naturalistic or existential worldview that says, “If I cannot see it, validate it, it doesn’t exist.” An apologetics seminar will give rudimentary paths for a member of your church to begin to infiltrate these types of myopic non-Christian views to allow the seed of the Word to be planted for the Kingdom.

Overall this approach may very well aid the members to become more efficiently equipped in engaging the culture (people of today’s world outside the church). Hopefully this will allow members of the church to have more tools in their toolbox when they go out into the world to do the Lord’s work.

I am doing the best I can to put the Word out their. Are you?

A Truly Repentant Heart

I've posted this Psalm before and it is being posted again. First, I love it because it is the perfect prayer for a repentant heart. It is the aftermath of Nathan having confronted David about his sin with Bathsheba. David having felt the true weight of his sin is convicted of it and loathes himself and sees the depth of his depravity. The psalmist prays for mercy, humbly confessing and lamenting his sins in Chapters 1 through 6. He pleads for pardon, that he may promote the glory of God and the conversion of sinners in Chapters 7 through 15. God is pleased with a contrite heart, A prayer for the prosperity of Zion in Chapters 16 through 19. What should be noted closely is not only the introductory repentance but also the follow-ups to the prayer. Not only does David seek God's pardon he looks forward to the benefit of Gods people and their ultimate prosperity. David goes from having focused on himself and doing what made him selfishly happy but then turns 180 degrees and seeks to openly do God's will. Strangely, as I read this my mind begins to wander backwards to 2 Samuel and the Lord telling David in 7:12 & 13..."When your days are complete and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come forth from you, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever". My mind then jumps forward in time to Isaiah and "A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit." in Isaiah 11:1. Inevitably my thoughts begin to settle on things like the birth narrative in the beginning of Luke, the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew, and thinking about Jesus in His ministry in Israel and the fact that He was crucified according to Scripture, was buried and rose again on the third day as stated in prophetic Scripture. I realize that David is essentailly apologizing to the Lord for putting Him in a situation where He will need to come incarnate to justify mankind and David is mortified by it. His conviction from sin breaks him apart like hammer blows until any linkage to that sin is riven to dust. He then asks the Lord to create in him a new heart that will be the basis for a renewed relationship with the Lord.

Psalm 51

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.

Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin!

For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.

Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment.

Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.

Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.

Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have broken rejoice.

Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities.

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.

Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me.

Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.

Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you.

Deliver me from blood guiltiness, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.

O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.

For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

Do good to Zion in your good pleasure; build up the walls of Jerusalem; then will you delight in right sacrifices, in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings; then bulls will be offered on your altar.

Mediums of Communication

First, I must clarify that I am not talking about spiritual mediums or so-called psychic quacks. These people unfortunately quite deluded in their worldview and often view the spirits they are dealing with as the spirits of departed loved ones. In reality they are evil spirits imitating the characteristics of those people to deceive not only the psychic quack but also the paying customer of said quack.

I've digressed. So sorry. We are now in a day and age where many are leaning towards electronic mediums for writing and documentation. The joke was always, "We're going paperless **chuckle**". This seems like it could be more of a reality in the not-so-distant future. Schools are switching to whiteboards. People are buying electronic books like Kindle. Students are carrying IPads, Laptops, etc. I personally prefer the smell of fresh ink but trends are trends and as far as I can see, things like the newspaper are dead.

Paperless Bibles? Much of the move to electronics also includes Biblical information. Logos Software and every software you can imagine under the sun now exist to exegete and study the Word. We can download 100 year old books form people like Spurgeon among others off of www.archive.org or Google books into electronic PDF form. It wasn't always like this, even a few years ago.

We can go back and find there were some quite unique mediums for propagating the Word of God.

Stone

Exodus 24:12
The LORD said to Moses, "Come up to me on the mountain and wait there, that I may give you the tablets of stone, with the law and the commandment, which I have written for their instruction."

Exodus 31:18
When the LORD finished speaking to Moses on Mount Sinai, he gave him the two tablets of the Testimony, the tablets of stone inscribed by the finger of God.

Exodus 32:15-19
Then Moses turned and went down from the mountain with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand, tablets that were written on both sides; on the front and on the back they were written. The tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets. When Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, "There is a noise of war in the camp." But he said, "It is not the sound of shouting for victory, or the sound of the cry of defeat, but the sound of singing that I hear." And as soon as he came near the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, Moses’ anger burned hot, and he threw the tablets out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain.

Metals

Gold
Exodus 28:36
"You shall also make a plate of pure gold and shall engrave on it, like the engravings of a seal, 'Holy to the LORD.'

Bronze
1 Maccabees 8:21-22 (non-canonical)
The Romans accepted the proposal, and what follows is a copy of the letter which was engraved on bronze tablets and sent to Jerusalem to remain there as a record of the treaty..."

Brass
1 Maccabees 14:26 (non-canonical)
"For he has restored his brethren, and has driven away in fight the enemies of Israel from them: and they decreed him liberty, and registered it in tables of brass, and set it upon pillars in Mount Zion.

Gems

Exodus 28:9-10
"You shall take two onyx stones, and engrave on them the names of the sons of Israel, six of their names on the one stone, and the names of the remaining six on the other stone, in the order of their birth. As a jeweler engraves signets, so shall you engrave the two stones with the names of the sons of Israel. You shall enclose them in settings of gold filigree."

Wood

Numbers 17:1-4
"The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, "Speak to the people of Israel, and get from them staffs, one for each fathers’ house, from all their chiefs according to their fathers’ houses, twelve staffs. Write each man’s name on his staff, and write Aaron’s name on the staff of Levi. For there shall be one staff for the head of each fathers’ house. 4Then you shall deposit them in the tent of meeting before the testimony,where I meet with you."

Engravings Rock & Lead

Job 19:24
"That with an iron stylus and lead
They were engraved in the rock forever!"

Wood w/Wax Coating (as above)

Luke 1:60-65 (In the infancy narrative of Jesus and John the Baptist)But his mother answered and said, "No indeed; but he shall be called John." And they said to her, "There is no one among your relatives who is called by that name." And they made signs to his father, as to what he wanted him called. And he asked for a tablet [πινακίδιον/pinakidion: a writing tablet] and wrote as follows, "His name is John." And they were all astonished.

Parchment

Made from animal skins. The oldest that we still have date from around 1500BC...around the time of Moses. They were most common between the 4th and 14th Centuries AD. Most all of the manuscripts of the New Testament are on this medium. It was usually only used on one side since it was rolled up although there is a mention of it being used on both sides in Revelations 5:1. These scrolls could get quite large, as long as 35 feet unrolled. Others forms could be codex and uncials.

Palimpsest

Is nothing more than a parchment that has been scraped clean and reused due to shortage of material to write on. Parchments were often reused in this manner.

Papyrus

Common until the 3rd century AD and was made from reed. In particular the center strips within the reed were extracted, crossed over one another and glued or bonded together into sheets. These sheets were glued and/or stitched together to form rolls or scrolls. Job 8:11, Isaiah 18:2, 35:7, 2 John 12

Writing Styles/Utensils

These varied in accordance with the medium that was being used.

Stylus:
These were used with wax or clay tablets. They were sharp on one end and round on the other to rub out mistakes.

Jeremiah 8:8
"How can you say, "We are wise, for we have the law of the LORD," when actually the lying pen of the scribes has handled it falsely?

Jeremiah 17:1
"Judah's sin is engraved with an iron tool, inscribed with a flint point, on the tablets of their hearts and on the horns of their altars.

Reed Pen:
Like a modern quill pen, slit on the ends.

3 John 1:13
I have much to write you, but I do not want to do so with pen and ink.

Ink:
Black ink often made from soot and gum and dissolved in water.

2 Corinthians 3:3
You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.

2 John 1:12
I have much to write to you, but I do not want to use paper and ink. Instead, I hope to visit you and talk with you face to face, so that our joy may be complete.

3 John 1:13
I have much to write you, but I do not want to do so with pen and ink.

Good Old Fashioned Paint Watching

I wanted to see if I could write on a topic so pathetically boring that at first glance it looked like even I could not finish a train of thought while writing about it. The topic that popped into my head was the proverbial "exciting as watching paint dry". Hence the title and the following post. Please bear with this post...it actually goes somewhere other than a catatonic state.

When I see the paint I think of the effort that goes into getting it there...on the wall that is. I think about the fact that the moisture needs to evaporate and move out of the paint for it to dry. I think about how evaporation is a transfer of moisture into the air from the wall. Boring yes, but systematic in its process. A process that is always the same. Aspects of the process may change relative to elevation, humidity, etc. but no matter where you go, paint drys the same everywhere. It drys according to rules of physics. Rules that require order, rules that require consistency in the physical universe. A universe that is usually consistant and uniform no matter where you are at in it. (Although we are beginning to find that at the sub-atomic level things get rather interesting but that is a topic for another post).

I see the color of the wall. Or should I say I see the color the the wall paint's pigment rejects. The color I see is the portion of visible light or wavelength that the wall would not absorb so it reflects that light back and I see it as the color that was not absorbed. As a matter of fact, no matter what we look at we are looking at the portion of the visible spectrum of light that an object doesn't absorb. A white surface reflects most if not all of the wavelengths of white light back into the receptors in our retina. A black surface absorbs all wavelengths and reflects little or no light to our retina. I guess it is no surprise that pupils of eyes were created as a hole located in the center of the iris of the eye that allows light to enter the lens and subsequently, the retina. It appears black because most of the light entering the pupil is absorbed by the tissues inside the eye. The inside of the eye is actually a dark chamber designed to absorb light or electromagnetic radiation (light). Think about that. While most things in creation were created to reflect all but a certain portion of the visible light spectrum, your eye was actually made to absorb as broad a range as possible which is why we have such an immense array of colors that we can make out (as long as you are not colorblind).
Consider this: We are only seeing a very small sliver of what is available in the Electromagnetic Spectrum. The wavelength spectrum encompasses everything from Radio waves (long) to Gamma waves (short). If we had to rely on only our eyes to judge everything that was going on with things that dealt with waves...we literally would be blind to most of reality. No Radio, no TV transmission, no cell phones...well, you get the picture...or maybe you don't?

If the light that is reflecting off the wall came from the sun it is the product of thermonuclear reactions 93 million miles away of 8 light minutes from Earth. A light wave that has traveled unmolested until it reached the wall in your house. If you put your hand up 3 inches from the wall you have effectively stopped light rays that have traveled just under 93 million miles and stopped them 3 inches short of the wall and bounced them either back out into space or some of them were absorbed by your hand, heating it or illuminating it.

I could go on some more...isn't it marvelous the complexity that goes into something so simple that we take so much for granted? Simple processes that had to have been designed perfectly for the universe and our world to function exactly the way I have just described.

And you thought it was just paint drying didn't you? Actually, it was...but so much more. Just like every other process around us that has been laid out with perfect precision, order and sequence that we take for granted every day. How...or should I say...Who do you suppose established the order in these seemingly mundane occurances? Fate? Odds? Even if someone didn't believe in God how could they possible explain the repetitive order and a tendency towards order rather than disorder or entropy which science claims is the end of all things? Granted the evaporation process is more or less a transfer of heat/moisture but it is in the process of creating or making something beautiful like a freshly painted room, not destroying it (unless of course you let me paint your wall). Someone please explain that order that supposedly is diminishing not increasing in a closed system. Atheists? Scientists?......anybody? I didn't think so.

Perhaps at a later date I could pen something about watching grass grow?

Jesus said to him, "It is written.."

Throw Yourself Down by ~eikonik

People that do not believe in the God of the Bible often look at believers like they are uneducated idiots or delusional mental cases. How do I know this for sure? I use to be one. I was like Paul. I persecuted the people that I have become. I understand just how wretched I am (please note that I said am, not was). They cannot understand how Christians could believe in and shape an entire worldview around what they view as an imaginary entity. The entity Christian believers call Jesus. It stupefies them. What baffles them even more is they see that a body/group of people have been believing in this supposed “imaginary” entity for centuries and millennium based on a book called the Bible. To them it is just a manufactured delusion based in a book of myths. They claim that believer’s base their arguments for His existence on arguments from ignorance, or non-believers just make ad hominem attacks. They think that we create God in our own minds as a supportive psychological crutch and then argue for His existence. In actuality, it is God creating us and informing us of His existence through empirical historical data in the form of historical events. God actually entered the world of space and time and it has been documented historically as an event.


Galatians 4:4
"But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law..."

Hebrews 1:1-2
"In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe."


The anti-God argument that he was imaginary might actually hold water if it wasn’t for the fact that we get this so-called straw man from the Bible filled with eyewitness accounts of Christ's incarnation among other evidences. Many in ignorance of the faith argue that the Bible is a book that was supposedly written by nomadic sheep/goat herders (which they created out of their imaginations, which according to the world, makes us twice as stupid because our culture is suppose to be so much more advanced in our "intellectual" thinking. This is where it gets really hard for the unbelieving world. They become indignant and downright hostile. They just cannot figure out how isolated sheep herders in the Middle East 2000+ years ago could’ve come up with such a consistently accurate book that has stood the test of time.


This is where the unbelieving world gets it totally wrong and begins to bark up the wrong tree. When they attack the Bible they are not attacking the antiquated or outdated writings of Middle Eastern nomadic tribes. They are attacking the living breathing and inspired word of God. The Bible was not written exclusively by peoples of ancient nomadic origin. As a matter of fact some of them were quite stationary and territorially powerful such as Solomon, David, etc. All the writers of the Scriptures were in some shape or form inspired by the Holy Spirit. The only thing that differed over the 1500 year period of writing all the works that entered the canon was the method for getting it on a medium such as parchment or papyrus. The pen went to paper in Dynamic Inspiration and that inspiration was the Spirit's content and the words of the human authors. Verbally Inspiration is the Spirit's content and words in harmony with the human authors or by partial dictation. Dictation Inspiration is the Spirit's content and words without reference to the human authors. Never were any books written without God’s guidance. It is called verbal plenary inspiration or, every (plenary) word (verbal) of Scripture is God-breathed (inspired) in the autographs or original documents


What should we expect from a perfect omniscient God? We should expect it to be totally unique. We should expect it to be internally and externally consistent. The Bible is absolutely and utterly consistent in spite of multiple authors, circumstances, and centuries of composition. Regardless of what "educated" experts tell you in the media (we know we can trust them don't we?). Wherever it has been attacked down through the ages it has not faltered in defense of itself. Even in modern day. We must keep in mind that the Bible is not a science book it is a book of God and theology and how God relates to man. Where the Bible has spoken to science it has never legitimately been refuted or wrong. It is the Divine revelation of God or a full disclosure of His Will to mankind. God’s Spirit helps us understand what is written. The Book will be inerrant. The Scripture will have authority or have its own significance.


Matthew 4:4, 6 , 7, 10
Jesus statement to the Devil with Scripture. "It is written."
Galatians 1:8
But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned!

2 Timothy 3:16-17
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

2 Peter 1:20-21
Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.


This is why the Bible is so consistently attacked and maligned. To avoid the circular argument fallacy (God of our own creation) Christians should and do rightfully claim that they are obeying the Bible and its authority from God. If you say you are not basing you opinions on your own rationalizations but rather obeying the Bible you are on sound logical ground. This is why many well versed apologists and pastors always revert back to the Bible for sound defense of the faith. It is also why people that do not do this end up faltering in their apologetics (defense) of the faith. The Bible has never been wrong and has its own authority being the Word of God. Again, this is the reason people so rabidly attack the Bible and its source (God). It has been made obvious to the enemies of God that if God's people base their argument on the infallible word of God in the Bible, the enemies only need to twist, distort and undermine Scripture and then attack the twisted distortion (straw man arguments/ad hominem attacks) to neutralize believers and their God in this culture. Sadly, this has become mildy effective because people claiming to be educated and even some marginal Christians are Biblically illiterate.


What they have failed to fully understand is that to neutralize the Bible and God is impossible. Every time this has been attempted in history it has failed. Everytime you suppress it in one place it jsut surfaces elsewhere stronger and more brilliantly. Every time it will be tried in the future, it will fail also. They do not attack you but rather they attack God. You are just the messenger or God’s message and the embodiment of it.

Acts 19:8-9
Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three months, arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God. But some of them became obstinate; they refused to believe and publicly maligned the Way. So Paul left them...


You shouldn't take it personal. Look what Paul did in the Acts verse above. He left. He had done his job for three months, arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God. The devil will attack anything that connects itself to God and His holiness and that includes you. The devil cannot even approach the holy God so he attacks God by proxy. Through His human creation. Through us. We should do everything within our power as justified people in the process of sanctification to resist that skunk by giving sound and logical arguments for our faith against His lies. We do this with the expectation that they will change. If they do not we should move on to others that may be receptive to the Good News. We should not run away with our tail between our legs when we hear someone clearly and fraudulently maligning God or God's Word. We need to be prepared to give a ready defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence. We need to do it with gentleness regardless of how badly we are attacked for we represent Christ and the Kingdom. At the same time we cannot continue to bludgeon people with the same message over and over and have them repeatedly reject it. We give the message, The Spirit does the work inside the person. It is a squandering of the resource of time alloted to us by God if we continue to speak on deaf ears. There may be others that will respond positively.


Therefore, go forth and proclaim the Gospel to a hungry world!