About Our Confusion About Baptism

If you have followed my study of Jesus' conversation with Nicodemus in John 3, you have come across some common words and phrases used by Christians. These include born again, born from above, water, Spirit, flesh. Confusion and disagreement about these words and their meanings continue among us Christians. We argue back and forth about water baptism versus Spirit baptism, one baptism versus many baptisms, about which baptism saves, the baptism of children, making a decision for Christ before being baptized and so forth.

I do not suggest that my comments will bring an end to these arguments. Each of us must make his or her own decisions about these matters. Instead, I will summarize what I have shared in my earlier blogs about this important conversation and invite you to draw your own conclusions.

1. Nicodemus and his party saw Jesus as a Rabbi, but failed to see Him as the LORD, YHWH, God with us, Emmanuel, the Word (logos), the Son of God.
2. To gain this insight and faith, one must be reborn.
3. This rebirth comes from above; it is the work of God's Holy Spirit. Like the wind it is outside human control or decision making.
4. These reborn are chosen by God to be members of the royal family of Jesus Christ (Messiah), priests of God, members of Jesus body and of the Father's eternal family. 
5. Water plays a critical role in this rebirthing work of the Holy Spirit. It points to the long history of God's chosen people Israel and to their Exodus journey from slavery to the promised land. 
6. In, with and through this water (baptism) the Spirit declares us reborn to be members of God's chosen people, forgiven for all sins for the sake of Christ and promises that God will raise us up with Him in the new creation.
7. This powerful Word connected with the water (baptism) both creates and sustains the Spirit's new life within us as we continue on our journey to the promised land.

If indeed you are a reborn member of God chosen people, you personally know and understand what I have summarized above. You are not like Nicodemus who asked, "How can these things be?" (John 3:9). You also understand that these are but earthly things. Knowledge about heavenly things still awaits us (John 3:10-13). however, the center, the crux of the matter, the most important point at issue in the whole conversation is to be found in these words of Jesus:

And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. - Jhn 3:14-18 ESV

Jesus purposely draws a parallel between what was to happen to him upon the cross and the bronze serpent Moses was commanded to raise up as he led the Israelites on their journey to the promised land (Numbers 21:7-9). You see, they complained again about the misery of the wilderness. There was no food, no water and they had come to loathe the daily supply of Manna, calling it "worthless food". To awaken them to their sin the LORD sent venomous snakes among them. Many died. This led to their confession and plea, "Pray to the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us." So Moses did and the LORD heard their prayers.

And the LORD said to Moses, "Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live." So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live. - Num 21:8-9 ESV

This bronze serpent event, said Jesus, points beyond itself to the cross upon which Jesus was to be raised up. And it is all God's doing, God's gracious gift. Just as the wilderness people did not die from the snake bites, so all who believe that Jesus was judged, condemned and killed upon the Roman cross on the hill of Calvary for us and for all, will not die. They will be saved from the eternal wrath of God and receive instead a resurrected body and a new life that will never end.

That, as I said, is the crux of the matter, what its all about. Nothing else matters more than this. It is all about God's grace, unearned and undeserved. And faith to believe it is all the working of God's Spirit, sent from above and beyond us, working through this Word of grace. This is the rebirth Jesus speaks about, for which we shall praise him and the Father to all eternity.

I shall wrap up this discussion in my next post.

Surprised By Gold

As I returned from my morning walk today I spied a strange, beautiful and fascinating bird at the end of my driveway. I took a few photos with my iPhone, but they are of poor quality. So I went to the internet to discover that what I saw is a Golden Pheasant or "Chinese Pheasant", a game bird of the order Galliformes (gallinaceous birds) and the family Phasianidae. It is native to forests in mountainous areas of western China, certainly not to Texas where I live. The adult male is 90-105 cm in length, its tail accounting for two-thirds of the total length. It is unmistakable with its golden crest and rump and bright red body. The deep orange "cape" can be spread in display, appearing as an alternating black and orange fan that covers all of the face except its bright yellow eye, with a pinpoint black pupil. You might say I was surprised by gold! I have no idea to whom this little beauty belongs. I could only watch as he wandered into the woods surrounding my property.

This is the kind of experience that Nicodemus, teacher of Israel, had when he came by night to interview Jesus. When Jesus told him that he must be reborn to enter God's kingdom he caught Nicodemus totally by surprise. His words were completely unexpected. Indeed that's how God works. This wonder of new birth happens by the uncontrollable activity of the Spirit. as Jesus aptly points out.

"Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit." - Jhn 3:5-8 ESV

 The words for wind and Spirit are the same word in the Greek original, pneuma. The wind, the pneuma, as we all know, is not under our control. For instance, a fierce wind whipped across our part of town last week, leaving broken branches and toppled trees all over the place. We were without electricity for the entire night and deep into the next day. To be sure, we heard the sound of that wind, but at the time we couldn't tell you where it came from, with all the accompanying thunder, lightning and rain, or where it would go next. It was not under our control. 

So it is with the Spirit, the Pneuma of God. All through the Bible we read about the uncontrollable, surprising, creative and powerful activity of the Spirit. At the beginning of all things the Spirit of God hovers over the chaos to bring all things into being (Genesis 1:1-4). The Spirit grants visions and wisdom to Joseph and many like him. The Spirit gives Bezalel of the tribe of Judah skill, intelligence and knowledge to do every sort of artistic work done by engravers, craftsmen and weavers. Again and again the Spirit fills men and turns them into prophets who speak God's Word to men. And when Jesus is baptized by John in the Jordan river, John sees the Spirit of God descend upon Jesus like a dove and rest on him (John 1:31-34).

Why then, Nicodemus, are you so surprised? asks Jesus. Why do you ask how these things can be? You are a teacher. You have studied the Scriptures. How can you say you don't understand these things? That same Spirit dwells in me. We know about the truth of these matters. We speak of what we have seen. The fact, Nicodemus, is that you and those you represent don't want to listen.

What's more, these are but earthly things that I am telling you. There is so much, much more. You don't believe earthly things. How then will you ever believe if I tell you heavenly things? So much, so very much more awaits. Heaven with all its glory, wonder, surprises and beauty is quite beyond your grasp, Nicodemus. But that is why I came. This is why I descended from heaven to earth (John 3:12-13).

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Who knows what strange wonders await any one of us here on this earth? Who knows whom or what the wind will blow our way today? All we can do is give thanks that the Wind of God has breathed upon us new life and wait for the wonders yet to be revealed in the Kingdom of God.

You Can Kill My Body, But You Can't Kill Me!

Today we are taking a further look at how the Bible describes a human being. So far we have looked at the Hebrew O.T. and the Greek translation of the O.T., the Septuagint (LXX). Now we move directly into the New Testament, using both the original Greek and the English translations.

Soul (psyche) and Spirit (pneuma) in the New Testament


Everything noted about the Hebrew word nephesh may generally be applied to the Greek psyche in the N.T. This is a man's life, living, thinking and acting. For instance, Jesus says,

"Whoever would save his life (psyche) will lose it, but whoever loses his life (psyche) for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul (psyche, so could be translated life)? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul (psyche)? - Matthew 16:25

"Whoever finds his life (psyche) will lose it, and whoever loses his life (psyche) for my sake will find it." - Matthew 10:39

In both instances Jesus is emphasizing that a man must decide to put his life in Jesus' hands. He is the Savior and Lord of all. To commit your life to anyone or anything else is to lose it. Earlier in Matthew 10:28 Jesus says,

"And do not fear those who will kill the body (soma) but cannot kill the soul (psyche). Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell (gehenna)."

This is a very revealing passage. Obviously a man is able to kill the body of another man. The Greek word for kill is apokteino. So the tenants in Jesus' parable killed the son, hoping to gain his inheritance (Matthew 21:33-41). By this story Jesus predicted the Jewish leaders would kill Him. And so they did, by turning Him over to Pilate to be crucified. Jesus died, he ceased to breathe. Joseph of Arimathea placed Jesus' body in his own new tomb (Matthew 27:57-60). Just before He died Jesus cried out with a loud voice and yielded or gave up His spirit (pneuma) into the hands of His heavenly Father  (Matthew 27:50, John 19:30, Luke 23:46). The man Jesus did not cease to exist, however. They could kill His  body, but they could not kill His soul or life (psyche).

What does this mean for us believers? It means exactly what Jesus said. Men cannot kill us. They can only kill the bodily side of who we are. So when Stephen was stoned he taught us how to pray in the face of the death of our bodies. He prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit (pneuma)." - Acts 7:59. Death for the believer has lost its sting, its power, as also the Apostle Paul taught us when he wrote, "O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?" (I Corinthians 15:55, cf. Hosea 13:14).

When Jesus raised the child of the ruler from death, Luke writes that her spirit (pneuma) returned (to her body). Those attending her knew she was dead. Jesus, however, said, "She is not dead, but sleeping" (Luke 8:52-55). Thus Jesus comforts us by reminding us that death is but a sleep and that on the last day He will restore us to full and complete life as He returns our spirits to a renewed and eternal bodily existence in the new creation (1 Corinthians 15:51).

Returning to the Matthew 10:28 passage about not being able to kill the soul, note that Jesus says that God can destroy (appolimi) both body and soul in hell. On the final Day Jesus will raise all to bodily life (Matthew 25:31-46). However, the unbeliever will face a bodily existence in hell, alone, separated from the joy of life in the presence of God, lost in pain, suffering, sorrow and grief (cf. the parable of Lazarus and the rich man in Hades, Luke 16:19-31; 2 Thessalonians. 1:7-9; Revelation 20:11-15).

To find life (psyche) is to lose one's life for the sake of Jesus. This life begins when the Holy Spirit (Hagios Pneuma) grants us new birth and gives us new life (John 3:5-6; 1 Corinthians 6:19; 12:3). Full and complete life is always the life of body, mind and spirit in full communion with one's Creator. Jesus came to give us this life (Greek zoe) and give it abundantly (John 5:21-24; 6:27-63; 10:10, etc.). Believers will share in this life in the new heavens and earth (Romans 8:11-23). More on this next time.

Man—A Bodied Spirit

The writings of Ray Kurzweil got me started into re-examining what the Bible has to say about mankind, that is Biblical anthropology. Of course I'm not about to tackle everything there is to say. Instead I continue to focus upon the issue of the soul and the body. Some like to suggest that the soul is immaterial—whatever that means—and the body is material. I want to point out that the Scriptures never approach man in those categories. The issue of matter vs. non-matter, etc. comes along a couple thousand years after the Bible was written.

Last time I addressed the matter of soul/body I pointed out that the Hebrew has three words to describe a living human being: Nephesh, Ruach, and Nashamah. English translators have used the words creature, life, soul, person, mind, heart, appetite and body to tell us what the Hebrew writers meant by Nephesh. In other words the word describes a living human person from the outside in or the inside out, depending on the context. He is alive because God has breathed into him the breath of life. There is never a separation of the body from the soul, as if they are two entities. A man is a whole, a unity. He is Nephesh. 

Ruach, on the other hand, is never translated as body or life. The word stands for what we call wind, breath or spirit. It is what man has when he is alive. He breathes the wind. God is Ruach and He breathes life into man, as well as the other creatures. Further, when the LORD wants to reveal Himself, He sends His Ruach upon a prophet. So even Saul, Israel's first king, temporarily received the Ruach of God and prophesied (1 Samuel 10:6-12). Ruach describes man's inner life. From the inside out he is spirit. Because he is spirit, he is capable of communicating with God, the almighty and eternal Ruach.  So Pharaoh's spirit (Ruach) was troubled by his dreams (Genesis 41:8). That's why he called for his wise men to tell him what he had dreamed and what those inner events meant. Animals also are Nephesh, but they never have God's Ruach poured out upon them. 

Nashamah is similar to Ruach. The word describes what a living man does, he breathes, he has breath. It is what the Almighty gives to animate a man.

The Old Testament was translated, as you know, into Greek. sometime between 300 and 100 years before Christ. It was necessary because many Jews were scattered in the Greek speaking world and could no longer understand the O.T. Hebrew. The Septuagint (LXX), as this translation was known, was the preferred Bible of the New Testament writers.

The LXX translates Nephesh with the Greek Psyche. So if you want to speak in English about a living human being, you might use the word soul. In that sense, animals are souls as well as humans (Genesis 1:20,24,30). You might say that the soul (Nephesh or Psyche) is the life of a person or animal. A soul is nothing more than a whole person. It can even refer to a dead person or body from which the life has gone (Numbers 6:6; Haggai 2:13).

Man as Nephesh or Psyche, has an inner life. He becomes sad, grieved, happy, troubled. He hates and loves. When looked at from within, a man longs for God's presence in his life. He needs God (Psalm 42:1; 63:1; 84:2, etc.). Thus a man seen from the inside out has needs, desires, feelings. He thinks, remembers, makes moral decisions and has consciousness. This soul does not exist without a body. The blood coursing through the person's vein carries his life (Nephesh or Psyche)—Deuteronomy 12:23.

When the LXX translated Ruach it used the Greek Pneuma. Once again, the Pneuma is a human viewed from the inside. In English we find the word spirit. It is in his Pneuma also that a person searches for communion with God (Isaiah 26:9).

OK. What do we have so far?

• Man does not have two separate entities, soul and body
• Man does not have something that is eternal, a soul that comes to occupy a body and departs when the body dies. Man's soul certainly does not migrate from some lower form of bodily life to something higher, as suggested by Hindu teaching. 
• Rather man is a created being, given life by God. He is completely dependent upon God for his life.
• This man, is the highest of all God's created beings. He bears God's Image and is intended by His Creator to be in communion with Him. When man disobeys his Creator and breaks the communion, when he worships other gods, he dies.
• Man may be viewed from the outside in or from the inside out. He has a bodily existence and an inner life or spiritual existence. However, the two sides of his life are integrated and inseparable. He is a whole person, a unity. 
• When his breath, his life, leaves he continues to exist, but in a weakened condition. He was not created to die. He was created to live and breathe the breath or life God grants. And to live means that he must be a body, a child of Adam who was made from the dust of the earth. Man is created to be a bodied spirit if you will. 

Next time I shall take these concepts along with us as we move into the writings of the New Testament where the Greek words for body (Sarx and Soma) and soul (Psyche) and spirit (Pneuma) are used in ways that reflect their true source, the LXX or Greek Old Testament. Stay tuned. 

Do We Humans Really Have A Soul As Well As A Body?

Some years back I attended a lecture given to a gathering of mental therapists by a prominent neurologist from California. In his lecture he emphasized that all mental illnesses are a result of chemical disruptions in our neural systems. From his viewpoint there is no such thing as a soul. About the same time as that lecture Nancey Murphy served as one of the editors of the book  Whatever Happened to the Soul? In the book Murphy defends what she calls "nonreductive physicalism." She rejects any kind of nonmaterial entity such as mind or soul. The seat of consciousness and all mental activities is the human neural system. We are aware of what's going on and of what is happening only and always because of our chemistry and our nerves. That position agrees with what I heard from the Californian neurologist. As a believer in Christ Murphy believes humans are also creatures made by God and that God will resurrect them in the coming age. However, she believes that human identity is totally bodily identity. We are bodies—nothing more and nothing less. Human life has no existence independent of the body.

In previous blogs I wrote about Kevin Kelly and Ray Kurzweil. For them the day is coming in about 35 years when human identity will be completely identified with computer software. They call this day the Singularity, a day comparable to the beginning of the universe itself. Kurzweil coined this use of the term in his 1995 book, The Singularity is Near. In other words, though our bodies (hardware) may be destroyed, our consciousness, our minds will continue to reside and exist in the realm of mathematical abstraction (software). Thus humans will transcend, go beyond what is called human existence today. They will be immune to destruction. By means of that same computer software humans will be able to reconstruct bodies in any manner they choose. In what Kelly calls the technium, humans will exist, but in a radically new and unimaginable manner. Kurzweil wrote about this in The Age of Spiritual Machines, published a year after Murphey's book.

Let's take a look at this issue. Does the soul exist? Are we both spirit and body? Are we humans composed of two parts, a material body and a nonmaterial soul? To answer those questions I turn to the Scriptures, the Bible and the revelation given to us by our Creator himself. By the way, if you'd like to read a rejection of the positions of Murphy, Kurzweil, Kelly and others by a Christian scientist and philosopher read William Demski's article Are We Spiritual Machines?

Turn with me to the Scriptures. To begin with we will study the Hebrew Old Testament. On another day we'll go to the New Testament to see how all the promises about man are to be fulfilled in Christ.

The Hebrew which has three words relating to this issue: Nephesh, Ruach  Neshamah.


The KJV translates Nephesh with a wide variety of English words. Other translations will vary in the translations into English. For now I stay with the KJV to illustrate:

• Genesis 1:20, 21, 24, 2:19 - creature
• Genesis 1:30 - life
• Genesis 2:7; Joshua 10:35 - soul
• Genesis 14:21 - persons
• Genesis 23:8 - mind - dead
• Exodus 4:19 - life
• Exodus 15:9 - lust
• Exodus 23:9 - heart
• Leviticus 11:10, 46 - living thing or creature
• Leviticus 21:11 - body
• Leviticus 22:4,11 - dead body
• Ecclesiastes 6:7 - appetite
• Isaiah 19:10 - fish (even fish are alive)

Ruach also has a variety of translations.

• Genesis 1:2 - Spirit (of God)
• Genesis 3:8 - cool (of the day)
• Genesis 6:17 - breath (of life)
• Genesis 8:1 - wind
• Genesis 26:35 - mind
• Genesis 41:8 - spirit (of Pharaoh)
• Isaiah 25:4 - blast
• Ezekiel 37:8 - breath
• Ezekiel 42:16-19 - side

Neshamah is translated with several words as well:

• Genesis 2:7 - breath (of life)
• Job 33:4 - breath (of the Almighty)
• Joshua 11:11 - (any left to) breathe
• 2 Samuel 22:16 - blast (of God's breath - Ruach)
• Job 26:4 - spirit

What shall we make of all this? Notice that we find no carefully outlined definition of man as body and soul. In the Hebrew view man is flesh like all other kinds of creatures given life by God's breath (Ruach). Nephesh is not a part of man. No, Nephesh is man, man with life, alive as are all creatures of God. Man as a living creature of God is a person, an individual. What distinguishes him from the other creatures that have breath and life is the image of God (Genesis 1:27; 5:1; 9:6). He is the highest of God's creatures, made to be in fellowship with God, made to rule over all the rest of the living creatures. He is, however, a creature, made from the matter, the dust of the earth (Genesis 2:7). 

This person has appetites and desires, emotions and thoughts. Since Nephesh is man's life, it departs at death (Genesis 35:18) or returns if a person revives (1 Kings 17:22). After death the Old Testament does not see souls in the underworld as did the Greeks. Rather the O.T. sees shades (rephaim), a weak, pale replica of man from whom breath has gone (Proverbs 9:18; Isaiah 14:9-10) confined to the pit called Sheol. To be fully human again that shade must be given bodily life. His body must be restored and he must again begin to breathe, eat, drink, laugh and rejoice in God's presence (Ezekiel 37:1-14).

Will this happen? Will complete and full life be restored? Yes indeed. The Psalmists rejoice that the fellowship with God enjoyed while yet breathing will continue even beyond death. God will not abandon His child, but show him the path of life and eternal pleasures (Psalm 16:10-11). He will ransom the believer from the power of Sheol and receive him into glory (Psalm 49:15; 73:24).

Thus the Hebrew man is not a combination of a material body and a non-material soul. He is rather a whole, unified creature of God, made in God's image. He is not divided. He is a unity. In that sense the Hebrew man is close to what Murphy wrote about in the book quoted above. What must be emphasized, however, is that this man continues to exist after death, albeit in a weakened form. And he is always before God and answerable to Him even in the pit of Sheol. 

Whether alive or dead then we who trust in the Lord and all His promises are His and with the dead we await His promise of  a resurrected body in the renewal of all things created. But more of this the next time as we look at the New Testament and the fulfillment of all God's promises in Christ. 

We Never Go Alone

I started today thinking about angels. I got into this when I read Psalm 72:6 describing our Lord Jesus, the ultimate Son of David, both God and Man, as rain that falls on the mown grass. Since I grew up on a farm the smell of newly mown hay, especially when a soft rain falls upon it, came at once to mind. As I write the sweet, fresh smell of mown grass remains with me.


Anyway, that got me to thinking about growing things and especially now that the trees, grasses and flowers around me are all coming back to life. Springtime has come to Spring, Texas where I live. I love this time of the year. Not only are the plants coming alive, but many of the animals are giving birth. Life is springing forth.


What part do the angels, those unseen spirit-messengers, play in all this wonder? Several Bible verses come to mind, but I focus upon but one today:  Psalm 104:4 - He makes his messengers winds, his ministers a flaming fire.


The Hebrew for wind is ruakh, a word that can indeed refer to wind or air, but also to the inner impulses or dispositions of one's ruakh or spirit, resulting in courage, anger or patience. So Ecclesiastes 7:9 tells us not to be hasty in our ruakh to be angry. Does that also mean that angels who are ruakh, can influence our ruakh?


There's an interesting story told by the prophet Micaiah in 2 Chronicles 18:18-22 about the Lord sending a spirit (ruakh) from the host of heaven to be a lying spirit in the mouth of Israel's King Ahab's prophets. As a result, his prophets told him to go to battle against Ramoth-gilead, a city controlled by the Aramean kingdom of Damascus. Ahab died in that battle from an arrow wound. Thus God's judgment came upon him because of his unbelief, but the deception was carried out by an angelic spirit influencing the spirits of Ahab's advisors.


That makes me wonder about the multitudinous and many faceted tasks of God's angelic messengers. How deeply they are involved in the goings on of this world. Ponder it yourself. They can—and do—influence and control the thoughts of men, both evil and good. They shut the mouths of the lions when Daniel was thrown into the lion's den (Daniel 6:22). An angel brought the enslaved children of Israel out of Egypt (Numbers 20:16).


How comforting and empowering it is to know that as we walk in the paths laid out for us by our Lord, He gives his angels the command to guard us in all our ways (Psalm 91:11-13). Our ways refers not only to the outward journeys we take, but also to the decisions we make to go on those journeys, inward or outward. So we join the psalmist to pray "Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth" (Psalm 86:11). As we go, we each have a guardian angel commanded by our Lord to accompany us. We walk not alone.  

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!