By Faith We Understand That Life Was Created By God

The writer to the Hebrews begins chapter 11 by defining faith. He then continues to encourage his readers by giving examples of how believers exercise their faith. Interestingly he begins with us, his readers.

By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible. - Hebrews 11:3 ESV

What is his point? Is there another way of understanding how the universe came to exist? Obviously. In our day modern science does not want to allow for this understanding at all. Lets look at what he says in more depth.

Use your mind, he says, and keep using your mind. Think about this over and over again and keep on thinking about it some more. It is what Jesus' disciples did not do after he had fed about 4,000 people with seven loaves and a few small fish and after they took up the leftovers they still had seven large baskets full. Then he and his disciples went across the sea to the other side. Now, for some reason they forgot to take any of those leftovers along. So when they got to the other side they tried to figure out what to do about food.

And Jesus, aware of this, said to them, "Why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear? And do you not remember? When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?" 

They said to him, "Twelve." 

"And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?" 

And they said to him, "Seven." 

And he said to them, "Do you not yet understand?" - Mar 8:17-21 ESV

In so many ways, we are quite naturally like those disciples when it comes to "the universe." We don't use our minds. We act as if it were not created by the word of God. By the way, the word translated here as "universe" is not what the original Greek has. The Greek word, aeon,  is much more comprehensive. It refers to life itself, all life. Originally it was related to the Greek word for breathing. Then it came to refer to the length of time that such life exists, an era or age. Then by substituting what is contained (life) for the container (universe), you end up calling aeon the universe.

And that's the whole point. How do you explain not just the physical universe, but the fact that there is life in this and other possible universes? We see this stuff we call atoms, molecules, protons, electrons, whatever. Our sciences have all sorts of names for it. But who can explain where life came from without faith?

Oh, there are many attempts. Some try to say chance. Life just somehow happened. It is the natural outcome of the evolution of cosmic matter —whatever such scientific babble means. Some confine the discussion to planet earth and say that some asteroid from somewhere else crashed into this planet and brought primitive life that evolved. Of course that only puts off the origin question. Where did that life come from? Marcelo Gleiser, in an NPR related blog, writes,

Molecular biologists like Gerald Joyce, from the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, and Nobel laureate Jack Szostak from Harvard University, among many others, are making spectacular advances toward understanding life. They can manipulate RNA and DNA and coax them into enacting the game of life, that is, respond and adapt to environmental pressure as the theory of evolution dictates; they can strip away cellular structures and genes from living cells to search for the minimum living system; Günter von Kiedrowski in Germany was able to construct auto-catalytic chemical sets that show self-replicating abilities. 

These experiments are not yet creating life in the laboratory. But they are certainly steps in the right direction. Even if we will not be able to explain exactly how life emerged on Earth, science still offers the only pathway toward understanding.

"The only pathway toward understanding"? Faith, based upon God's revealed Word, understands that life "was (and is) created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible." And what are those things that are invisible? What is at the bottom of all life is intelligent design. Life works. Life reproduces. Beneath the tiny world of the atom is information. That is what makes it all work together and beneath the information is intelligence, a mind, THE MIND!

I join the LORD Jesus to ask, "Do you not yet understand?"

Bend Your Knees To The Great Singularity, King Of All

We're talking about the so-called Singularity, an event that will supposedly occur sometime during the next 25 years. Check my previous post for details. In that post I suggest that we Christians have not even begun to address this new challenge to our faith. What approach shall we take? One approach I shall not undertake is to attempt to refute whether it will or will not occur. I am not a scientist and have only enough experience with computers to make my way around the internet in a minimal manner. My expertise lies in theology. For that reason I propose that we see all this talk about the Singularity for what it is: an attempt to create another god and to redefine human nature.

When our Lord Jesus began his public ministry after his baptism he was confronted by the devil after fasting 40 days and nights. He was hungry. In that condition the devil tempted him to turn stones into bread and tempt his Father to rescue him upon leaping from the pinnacle of the temple, some 700 feet above the Kidron valley. When he resisted these temptations with quotations from the Holy Scriptures, the devil finally offered him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.

And he said to him, "All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me." Then Jesus said to him, "Be gone, Satan! For it is written, "'You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.'" - Mat 4:9-10 ESV

This is what Satan is again doing with the promises of the Singularity. With this power all the world will fall before your feet. Imagine the glory, the wonder and the unimaginable splendor of having such power. With your endless knowledge you will be able to control everything and everyone in the entire world. No car will be able to move without your permission. No grid will be able to deliver power to a city without your approval. No airport will be open unless you allow it. Food and drink will be under your control. You will even control when the wind blows and where the rain falls. Politicians and rulers will beg for your good will. You will be the master and ruler of all the kingdoms of the world.

And you will be immortal. Your mind, your consciousness will be in an endless computer network. You will decide how and where to use your power, a power that will continue to grow exponentially. Nothing and no one will be able to harm you, because you will  endlessly repair any and all damage to yourself. You may choose to walk about in a body. Or you may prefer to act, think and exist without a body, in cyberspace, traveling anywhere at the speed of light, with constant access to all knowledge and power.

Never before has such wonder and glory been available. But very soon it will be under the control of you and other singularitarians. Great Singularity will provide it. All you need do is fall on your knees and worship him. Turn away from the nonsensical and outmoded thinking about some other god above, beyond and outside this universe, some supposed creator of all things. Acknowledge the rational truth. The universe is all there is. We are all products of a chance happening untold billions of years ago when somehow, in some yet to be discovered way, the vast process of evolution began. How that happened we will one day learn as our intelligence grows. Meanwhile know that over these billions of years the process has moved on until in this moment it is moving forward exponentially toward the great Singularity! And you can be a part of that wonder.  The power released in that moment will be yours if you but embrace it.

Forget all the empty blather about some God speaking forth a universe with His Word, saying, "Let there be . . . etc." Forget those childish stories about a chosen group of Hebrews conquering a promised land. Forget the crazy stuff about an anointed king who was to rescue and redeem the world from his Father's judgment. And laugh your heart out at the tales of a little boy child born of a virgin, a child who was God with us, Emmanuel. It all sounds quaint and folksy, but it didn't happen. This nonsense and all that other stuff about religion and faith is for immature minds.

Come, join me. Worship our true god and live forever!

The Singularity And The Day Of Judgment

From a human viewpoint, I am alive because of the advances in medical knowledge and technology. In the past four years I have been operated upon twice by surgeons. The first was to bypass the blocked arteries feeding my heart with a procedure is called CABG or coronary artery bypass graft and pronounced "cabbage". A couple years after that operation another group of surgeons replaced my heart's aortic valve with a procedure known as TAVR, trans-aortic valve replacement. Without these surgeries I would very likely be dead. I have heart disease!

Advances in other medical technologies are proceeding at a rapid pace. Today, in some instances, surgeons don’t need to even be in the room to conduct a surgical operation. Recent innovations in robotics have produced machines like the Da Vinci surgical system and the Kymerax, which offer precise, mechanical tools that a surgeon operates remotely. These machines also feature helpful options like 3-D imaging and on-the-fly magnification of the surgical area—though they still require a living, breathing person to operate them.

As I pointed out in my previous blog there are those who believe that since these and similar advancements are proceeding at an exponential rate, with our intelligence and knowledge doubling every few years, scientists will eventually complete the reverse-engineering of the human brain. This will mark the Singularity. The Singularity is the technological creation of smarter-than-human intelligence. It also describes the moment when our civilization will change so much that its rules and technologies will be incomprehensible to all previous generations. That's why we are at a loss to adequately describe it. At that point men will be able to download all their information into a computer network capable of reproducing themselves. The singularitarians will no longer need biological bodies. They will become "post-biological" humans, capable of constantly upgrading their software and their hardware. They will be immortal! 

We Christians who believe in God's judgment upon rebellious mankind and Christ's redemption upon the cross of Calvary, have barely begun to address this challenge to our faith. My own search of the Internet reveals a marked paucity of entries by Christians ready to address these issues. This is why I appeal to any Christian reading these words to step forward. Speak up! And, if you find it appropriate, contact me as well. 

I humbly suggest several approaches: 

• We are created beings, not the product of mindless evolution. The theory of evolution is a gross deception. 
• We humans are unique, made in the Image of God. We are not mere biological animals with superior intelligence. 
• We who bear God's image have God's command to subdue and rule over His creation. 
• Consequently we do not resist advances in science and technology, but welcome them as gifts to be used properly to bless mankind and care for God's creation. 
• However, we are by nature rebellious and disobedient to our Creator and so readily fall into the temptation to use our technologies for self-centered ends.  
• There are other super-intelligent, spiritual beings encouraging us to use our technology and science to join their rebellion against the Creator and to destroy one another.   
• Christ, God's Son, came into this world as a human to take our place under God's judgment and to rescue us from God's judgment upon this rebellion.
• Given new birth by the working of the Holy Spirit, we put our trust in Christ and seek to honor Him in all we say and do—also in the use of our technologies. 
• We also await Christ's imminent return when all will be called before God's judgment seat to give an accounting of how we have used all that He placed in our hands. 
• The hubris of the Singularity is a sign that Christ's return is indeed imminent.

In future postings I will spell out these responses in more detail. I welcome and encourage other Christians to join me. The Singularity may be approaching, but so is the Day of Judgment.

Design or Chance—You Decide

Yesterday I began a series of blogs to alert  you to the ongoing debate between scientists and philosophers who believe in the process of evolution known as natural selection and those who believe in intelligent design. Before going further, it is vital that we distinguish between micro-evolution and macro-evolution. Basically micro means small and macro means large. Scientists suggest that change beyond the species level is a result of a series of small changes within the species. The idea is that birds with feathers are related to a type of dinosaurs who changed gradually over millennia.


In his book Evolution, Mark Ridley defines the terms thus:

Macroevolution means evolution on the grand scale, and it is mainly studied in the fossil record. It is contrasted with microevolution, the study of evolution over short time periods, such as that of a human lifetime or less. Microevolution therefore refers to changes in gene frequency within a population .... Macroevolutionary events are much more likely to take millions of years. Macroevolution refers to things like the trends in horse evolution ... or the origin of major groups, or mass extinctions, or the Cambrian explosion .... Speciation is the traditional dividing line between micro- and macroevolution. (2004: 227)

It is not my intent to explain in detail why Christians have difficulty with macroevolution, especially when talking about the origin of humans. I simply point to two books, one that says we Christians have no problem with evolution and another that says Christianity and evolution are incompatible, because they represent two conflicting world views.

We've all seen charts in textbooks and museums like the following. The operating assumption is that the line of descent between ape and man is a proven scientific fact.

This is what Francisco J. Ayala, an ordained Roman Catholic priest and professor of biology, states in his book Am I A Monkey - Six Big Questions About Evolution,

The "missing link" is no longer missing. The fossil from Java was the first one, but hundreds of fossil remains belonging to hundreds of individual hominids have been discovered in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries in Africa, Asia, and Europe and continue to be discovered at an accelerated rate. (Kindle location 92)

...a large amount of genetic material—about 3 percent, or some 90 million DNA letters—has been inserted or deleted since humans and chimps initiated their separate evolutionary ways, 6 to 7 million years ago. (Kindle location 152)

For Ayala there is no conflict between evolution and the Christian faith. He quotes Pope John Paul II in an address to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences on Oct. 22, 1996: "New scientific knowledge has led us to realize that the theory of evolution is no longer a mere hypothesis" (Kindle location 655-62). Evolutionary science explains how things happened. Religion leads us to praise the Creator who has put the process of evolution into place. The two operate in distinct fields of knowledge. They do not conflict with one another. Read his book for a more complete statement of his beliefs.

Now back to William Demski and Jonathan Witt in Intelligent Design Uncensored. I referred to them in my blog just prior to this one. They demonstrate that macroevolution simply cannot and does not happen. For humans to evolve from monkeys, genes must have mutated to build significant amounts of new functional information. As Ayala says, "some 90 million DNA letters have been inserted or deleted since humans and chimps" went their separate evolutionary ways—or did they? Demski and Witt point out that this kind of thing does not happen on the cellular level. They point to recent studies of the common bacterium E. coli, found in human stomachs. These experiments indicate that it is "easier for evolution to break things than make things" (Kindle location 707). Mutations generally do not work. The new information needed to make a new species (monkeys become man) cannot come from mutated genes. Mutations bring changes, but add no new needed information.

Their point: if the creation of new DNA information does not happen at the micro level of the cell, it certainly cannot happen on the macro level so that one species becomes an entirely new species, even allowing for millions of years to pass. For the development of new DNA information on the cellular level there had to be an Intelligent Designer at work. Therefore monkeys did not turn into humans, regardless of how many millions of years you give them and their DNA randomly to change. That 3 percent difference says it all.

Think about the implications. The science is not there. Macroevolution faces some huge difficulties. The old assumptions do not work, in spite of what Professor Ayala, Pope John Paul II and many others say. It's time to take another look at Intelligent Design. It's time to realize that our Creator is intimately at work in everything that is. The Apostle John puts it this way as he speaks about Christ,

For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities--all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together (Colossians 1:16-17). 

 

Must We Choose Either Darwin Or God?

In an article from Scientific American about a geneticist ordained as a Dominican priest, Francisco J. Ayala, we read,

"But Ayala thinks that scientists who attack religion and ridicule the faithful—most notably, Richard Dawkins of the University of Oxford—are making a mistake. It is destructive and gives fodder to the preachers who insist followers must choose either Darwin or God. Often students in Ayala’s introductory biology class tell him that they will answer test questions as he wishes, but in truth they reject evolution because of their Christian beliefs. Then, a couple of years later, when they have learned more science, they decide to abandon their religion. The two, students seem to think, are incompatible."

This question troubles me greatly. I've spoken to many students and scientists who struggle with the issue as well. Is Darwinian evolution compatible with the Christian faith? William Demski, writing in Intelligent Design Uncensored, thinks it is not. I summarize what he writes in a chapter titled "The Poison of Materialism."


Darwinian evolution operates under the principle that the material world is all there is. The so-called process of "natural selection" working by random selection has produced all the species there are on this planet. All that was needed (note: "all") were millions and millions of tiny steps over millions of generations. Natural selection plus random variation does the work of designing every plant, bug or animal there is on Earth. There is no need for God or a Grand Intelligent Designer.


What follows in this materialistic worldview touches us humans as well. We are not made in the image of God. We are not embodied spirits. We are nothing more than highly advanced animals who have evolved from lower forms of life. To quote Demski,

"By undermining belief in God, materialism undercut our view of humans as well. According to materialism, humans aren't made in the image of God. At bottom, humans are just a collection of atoms, a messy bundle of instincts and urges without higher purpose or significance. Ideas like free will, personal responsibility and even the intrinsic value of human life have no place in a materialistic worldview." (Kindle edition location 848-850)

There is a direct link between materialism and the eugenics movement, especially the Nazi worldview. Since we are nothing more than the result of a random selection we have no responsibility to any Creator. All our decisions are ultimately the product of natural forces. The most important thing is the survival of our species. The strong are the master race that must make such decisions. That is the ultimate good. The strongest must decide for the weakest. The flawed, the lower races, the sick, the imperfect, the old and the useless must be eliminated for the good of the master race. This is, after all, the survival of the fittest. There is no God. There is no need for God. Humans are their own god. They define what is good and right, not God.


Professor Ayala, quoted above, thinks that it is possible to reconcile these two worldviews. It is possible to be both a Christian and a materialistic evolutionist. He has written a book recently, Am I A Monkey? - Six Big Questions About Evolution. It is available also in the Kindle edition. I'm reading to see how he answers these questions.


Check back with you later. 

In The Beginning God?

A number of things came together this week, as they often do if I'm paying attention. It started with my son asking me if I'd read Ray Kurzweil's latest book, The Singularity Is Near. When I said I knew something of Kurzweil's work and views, but had not read the book, he ordered it from Amazon and had it forwarded to me.

Then after worship last Sunday Ryan, a college student, asked my views on creation versus evolution. We discussed the topic briefly and I promised to send him a paper I'd written a few years back about the age of the earth.

Finally, I read in the newspaper that Kurzweil and Apple's co-founder, Steve Wozniak, were among the speakers here at the Houston area's first Up Experience conference in Stafford.

Finally, my copy of God After Darwin:A Theology of Evolution by John F. Haught arrived in the mail and I began to page through it. You might want to read Michael Behe's review of the book.

So what ties all this together? A number of things.

Kurzweil is an out and out materialist. The universe (or multiple universes) is all there is. And it is because it is. How it came to be we may not know, but it is and we know it exists. We can consider God, he writes, to be the universe and this universe is not conscious. Being conscious is the same as being spiritual, which is to say that you or I have an awareness that we are persons. And ultimately, if I read him right, through the process known as evolution the entire universe will move toward greater and greater complexity, greater intelligence, greater beauty, greater creativity, etc. Thus the universe is on the path to becoming 'God'!

I must say that such thoughts make me weary and very, very lonely.

Oh, one more thing about Kurzweil. He says that the singularity we are approaching is that time when humans will transcend or go beyond biology. That's not to say we won't want bodies, but he claims it will be but one of many options as we move toward reverse engineering the human brain and body, depositing it into our computers. Aha! The day approaches when we'll be able to "Beam me up, Scotty" anywhere we like. Are you a Star Trek fan? We'll also be able to duplicate ourselves as many times as we may wish. Unfortunately, Kurzweil says, each clone will be just a bit different from the other.

Then, along comes Steve Wozniak at the Up Conference, saying that the days of robots that can do entire tasks on their own are far away. "I don't think we're close. I don't think we've gone one step." He was talking about artificial intelligence (AI), something that Kurzweil claims is but a couple decades away.

Well, who's right? And what do we make of all this? Enter John Haught. I've only begun to read his book, but he has some intriguing things to say. Neo-Darwinians don't need God to create life and consciousness. Life comes by chance over millions upon millions of years. Evolutionary time provides room, he says, for an unimaginable number of purely undirected genetic mutations to occur. Out of these many mutations natural selection (survival of the fittest) gradually brought about adaptive living beings. Eventually these beings included those endowed with minds and consciousness.

How's that for a statement of faith? Mind you, Haught is a creationist. He believes in a creator. However, he wants us all to be aware of what we're tackling when we take on neo-evolution. One of his major points is that a universe that evolves from "dumb matter" must be intrinsically pointless. Inanimate matter is the meaningless material under any so-called higher levels of life. So it finally is all meaningless. Like Solomon writes in Ecclesiastes, "All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. I hated all things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me."

Unless, of course, Kurzweil is right. He's been very busy taking care of his poorly evolved body so that in a couple decades he can download the whole thing into some wondrous computer and become eternal. He takes a whole handful of supplements every day to keep it functioning until the singularity arrives. He's hoping that Wozniak is wrong about AI not really even being at the beginning.



On the other hand, what if Kurzweil and his kind are wrong? What if there's more to it than the matter/energy universe? What if there really is a God who made it all and gives it meaning and purpose and directs it toward a goal? What if the human soul survives death and must stand before this God to give an answer to how he or she lived? What if?

I believe this second option is truly worth considering. Dr. Bert Thompson wrote "Creation—Will It Stand the “Test of Science?." You might want to read his article. He quotes Dr. Henry Morris: “The Second Law of thermodynamics requires the universe to have had a beginning.” That is to say that while quantity remains the same (First Law), the quality of matter/energy deteriorates gradually over time. How so? Usable energy is inevitably used for productivity, growth and repair. In the process, usable energy is converted into unusable energy. Thus, usable energy is irretrievably lost in the form of unusable energy. It's all winding down and it all had to have had a beginning. Nothing comes from nothing. What IS absolutely requires a Creator!

Well, there you have it. I'm winding down too--for today. Enough of this stuff. My energy is winding down. I need to eat something in order to keep going. And all of it depends upon the goodness of my Creator. Oh give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good and His mercy endures forever!

I Still Believe In Original Sin

Recently I was listening to one of the candidates for president in this country. He was proclaiming himself the one who can bring renewal, hope and a new beginning. He will unite us and bring us a new destiny. As I said to some friends, his speech gave me stomach cramps. It was all because I don't believe any president can or ever will be able to offer what this one promises.

Why the pessimism? It is because I believe in original sin. Now there's a concept that is rejected by religious people and the scientific community alike, particularly those who espouse the theory of evolution. You cannot believe in macro evolution and in original sin at the same time.

Permit me to explain.

I'll start with original sin.

The New England Primer written before 1680 by Edward Taylor summarized the teaching with the ditty "In Adam's fall we sinned all." What that teaching suggests is that we all bear a common lineage, regardless of race, gender or nationality. In our human nature we completely lack any good in spiritual, divine things. We are all descended from Adam and Eve, a real couple who disobeyed God and were banished from the Garden of Eden. And so we do not seek God, nor do we love Him. It is rather our nature to create and worship other gods. We are, in fact, enemies of God and of all that He would teach us to believe in. It is another way of saying that God's image has been corrupted. In heart, soul, mind, heart and will we are opposed to God and to the doing of His will. This is our nature.

But wait, wait, you're saying to me. How can that be? Think of all the fine, noble and wonderful things men do. They're certainly not all done by Christians. They're done even by atheists. Yes, even people who believe in no god at all give money to the poor, support hospitals and numerous causes that promote the well-being of mankind.

And what about the wondrous progress of science? As you yourself admit, not all who devote their lives to that pursuit are followers and believers in Jesus Christ. Yet, they have brought us hundreds of advancements in medical science, agriculture, transportation, physics, etc. The astounding list goes on and on. In fact, old man, you wouldn't even be around any longer if you'd come down with pneumonia, appendicitis and some other ailments you've recovered from if you'd lived a hundred or so years ago. The discoveries of modern medicine have been used to keep you alive to write this article.

You're right, of course. In natural and external things that are subject to reason we humans still possesses a measure of power, and ability. That's the amazing and wondrous thing about us. The image of God is still reflected within us, though greatly weakened. According to God's blessing, we still have the power to "be fruitful and increase in number." We still have the command to "fill the earth and subdue it." We still retain His mandate to "rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground" (Genesis 1:28).

We have seen some astounding discoveries in the past century. They continue, thanks to human science and the use of reason. But even this reason is corrupt! We do not love the Lord God with our minds. I cannot imagine what it would be like if we did and if our mental facilities were free from the corruption of sin.



But, but, but . . . What about all the astounding discoveries of paleontology and archeology? What about the famous Lucy fossil? What about homo erectus, Neanderthal skulls and all that other stuff that is taught in grade schools and high schools across our country? What about Mary, Louis and Richard Leakey? What about all that you old, out-of-touch, seventeenth-century-thinking man? What about evolution?

Tell you what. Are you willing to do a little online reading? Read what Ray Bohlin writes in his article "Human Fossils - 'Just So' Stories of Apes and Humans." He suggests that "Effects of the ice age, constant cloud cover (preventing Vitamin D formation leading to rickets), largely vegetarian and uncooked diet, and expression of local genetic variation could readily account for the many different, yet anatomically related human forms" that have been labeled as evolutionary steps toward the progressive march of evolution.

There are, of course, many other articles available. Consider the Creation Research Article "Beyond Scientific Creationism," published in December, 2004. The authors conclude,

"As time passes, it becomes evident to more people that issues of origins have more to do with worldviews than with science. The focus of the Intelligent Design movement on evolution has been especially telling, and the outmoded ideal of the white-coated, objective investigator with an answer for every question has slipped into the past."

Do your own research. Read the writings of Philip Johnson, William Demski, Michael Denton, Michael Behe and a growing host of others involved in the Intelligent Design movement and the debate about the origins of this world and all things living on it. And if you believe in the Risen Christ, the Second Adam, as I do, you too may end up being more than a little pessimistic about the powers of any politician, philosopher, orator or scientist to usher in the great, new perfect world. That world will only come when our Lord returns in all His power to restore what He created to its original glory.