The category of Faith - The Logical Creator and the Benchmark
Who is your Savior? Is it your intellect?
Is it Jesus Christ the Lord of Heaven and Earth?
Do you understand why Jesus came to be crucified and resurrected?
I usually stay pretty much on the secular side of the evidence so that I stay in places that naturalists normally go. The analogy would be that if I am a team, I am almost always playing on the road. Today I am at home with the Bible and claims the Bible makes and how the Bible is integrated into my daily life. I will actually mention some scriptures and how they impact the discussion of origins.
Everyone who has ever studied origins of the Universe or of the Earth or of life itself is aware that the Bible declares that God created all things, including all matter and time. He does not merely claim it in the book of Genesis but there are many other references to His creative work. My words will be in this color today, scripture in normal script. The Bible is category one evidence in that it is absolutely tangible and historic. The importance one gives to the Word of God ranges from a strong category one to complete and total denial that it has any significance at all. It is important to understand that whether or not you consider the Bible to be accurate and a message from God is a faith choice. You either decide to believe it or decide not to believe it. No one denies that it exists so both the most devout Christian and the most radical atheopathic atheist do so from a position of faith.
The Old Testament begins thus:
Genesis 1 (New International Version)
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.God then gives the order of Creation and before beginning the specific history of mankind he caps off the creation week with this, in the very last verse of Genesis One that::
31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.
Genesis 2 (New International Version)
1 Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.2 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested [a] from all his work. 3 And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.
Footnotes:
a. Genesis 2:2 Or ceased
(Footnotes are not scripture. Since English Bibles are translated from Hebrew and Aramaic and Koine Greek there are nuances of meaning that do not always allow for a one-to-one word translation. This is true with all language translations.)
The New Testament also attests to God as Creator. Here is the start of the Gospel of John:
John 1 (New International Version)
John 1
The Word Became Flesh
1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was with God in the beginning. 3Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4In him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood[a] it.Footnotes:
- John 1:5 Or darkness, and the darkness has not overcome
My assertion about the Genesis account of creation is that there is no room for evolution as Neo-Darwinists would call it for God made all things good. No death, no predation, no sin, no illness or disease and certainly no plan for billions and billions of creatures to die in a messy and cruel cycle of long millions of years of evolution to get to where we are now.
Theistic Evolutionists need to get off the fence. If you are a Darwinist then you are hostile to the Words of God and so at some point you must choose. Will it be Darwin or Jesus? If there was no Good Creation at the beginning, if there was no literal Adam and Eve then there was no original sin and no kingdom lost. For you see, if Jesus did not come to take the sins of the world on himself and provide a sacrifice for sin and death and simply was a good teacher who was martyred symbolically then Christianity is of no use and we should all just meet up at the local bar and hoist a few before preparing for the work day coming on Monday.
Jeremiah 32:17 (New International Version)
"Ah, Sovereign LORD, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you.
Here is another example:
Isaiah 40:21-23 (New International Version)
21 Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
Has it not been told you from the beginning?
Have you not understood since the earth was founded?
22 He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth,
and its people are like grasshoppers.
He stretches out the heavens like a canopy,
and spreads them out like a tent to live in.
23 He brings princes to naught
and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing.
Now, the Hebrew word for "circle" is actually a word that means "roundness" so it is an example that God understood that the world was a globe and directed Isaiah to write the words down hundreds of years before Christ was born. Many creation scientists also believe that because God created light before creating stars that He made the light first, then both made the stars and stretched out the Universe and caused the various components of the Universe to continue to move outwards away from Earth. This would explain the "problem" of background radiation that confounds Big Bangers and takes care of the problem of the apparent billions of light years worth of light that are visible from Earth. While God does not leave behind his step-by-step manual for creating universes, He has left his signature behind in the form of DNA, which in concert with the way the cell controls reproduction falsifies Darwinism. I have often asserted this because I believe that once the common man and woman on the street understand the basics of DNA they will laugh off Darwinism like a bad joke.
For today I am sharing a Proverb with the readers along with the Bible Gateway footnotes:
Proverbs 8 (New International Version)
Proverbs 8
Wisdom's Call
1 Does not wisdom call out?Does not understanding raise her voice? 2 On the heights along the way,
where the paths meet, she takes her stand;
3 beside the gates leading into the city,
at the entrances, she cries aloud:
4 "To you, O men, I call out;
I raise my voice to all mankind.
5 You who are simple, gain prudence;
you who are foolish, gain understanding.
6 Listen, for I have worthy things to say;
I open my lips to speak what is right.
7 My mouth speaks what is true,
for my lips detest wickedness.
8 All the words of my mouth are just;
none of them is crooked or perverse.
9 To the discerning all of them are right;
they are faultless to those who have knowledge.
10 Choose my instruction instead of silver,
knowledge rather than choice gold,
11 for wisdom is more precious than rubies,
and nothing you desire can compare with her.
12 "I, wisdom, dwell together with prudence;
I possess knowledge and discretion.
Remember that The Word, (gr logos), Jesus the Son, is also the Greek root word for logic. Once scientists discerned that the Universe was made by a logical God they could freely expect to examine said Universe and find that the systems and processes by which it moves and exists and the powers that are displayed would all be comprehensible.
I hate pride and arrogance,
evil behavior and perverse speech.
14 Counsel and sound judgment are mine;
I have understanding and power.
15 By me kings reign
and rulers make laws that are just;
16 by me princes govern,
and all nobles who rule on earth. [a]
17 I love those who love me,
and those who seek me find me.
18 With me are riches and honor,
enduring wealth and prosperity.
19 My fruit is better than fine gold;
what I yield surpasses choice silver.
20 I walk in the way of righteousness,
along the paths of justice,
21 bestowing wealth on those who love me
and making their treasuries full.
22 "The LORD brought me forth as the first of his works, [b] , [c]
before his deeds of old;
23 I was appointed [d] from eternity,
from the beginning, before the world began.
24 When there were no oceans, I was given birth,
when there were no springs abounding with water;
25 before the mountains were settled in place,
before the hills, I was given birth,
26 before he made the earth or its fields
or any of the dust of the world.
27 I was there when he set the heavens in place,
when he marked out the horizon on the face of the deep,
28 when he established the clouds above
and fixed securely the fountains of the deep,
29 when he gave the sea its boundary
so the waters would not overstep his command,
and when he marked out the foundations of the earth.
30 Then I was the craftsman at his side.
I was filled with delight day after day,
rejoicing always in his presence,
31 rejoicing in his whole world
and delighting in mankind.
Here God asserts that the laws governing the Universe were His Creation, that just as an inventor would have an idea and then begin to plan a way to actually bring the invention to fruition, God had to design the laws governing the Universe before bringing said Universe into being.
32 "Now then, my sons, listen to me;
blessed are those who keep my ways.
33 Listen to my instruction and be wise;
do not ignore it.
34 Blessed is the man who listens to me,
watching daily at my doors,
waiting at my doorway.
35 For whoever finds me finds life
and receives favor from the LORD.
36 But whoever fails to find me harms himself;
all who hate me love death."
If you have decide to fight God on every front, you may well hold out against Him successfully all the way to death. But God is not going to quit on you until your breath fails you and your heart will no longer beat.
Footnotes:
- Proverbs 8:16 Many Hebrew manuscripts and Septuagint; most Hebrew manuscripts and nobles-all righteous rulers
- Proverbs 8:22 Or way ; or dominion
- Proverbs 8:22 Or The LORD possessed me at the beginning of his work ; or The LORD brought me forth at the beginning of his work
- Proverbs 8:23 Or fashioned
This portion is also from John Chapter One:
10He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13children born not of natural descent,[c] nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.
14The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only,[d] who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
15John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.' " 16From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another.
17For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only,[e][f]who is at the Father's side, has made him known.
Footnotes:
- (previously posted)
- John 1:9 Or This was the true light that gives light to every man who comes into the world
- John 1:13 Greek of bloods
- John 1:14 Or the Only Begotten
- John 1:18 Or the Only Begotten
- John 1:18 Some manuscripts but the only (or only begotten) Son
My God can never tell me how He created all things because my finite brain cannot comprehend it all. I simply study all of creation with a wonder born from the awe and respect I have for my God and an understanding that He knew what He was doing when He made it all. It is no longer a surprise to me that, as we learn more about organisms, it becomes more and more obvious that an Intelligent Designer made them. I look forward to continually learning more about creation. Being a Christian is intellectually satisfying but spiritually challenging, for He continues to call me to make my best better and my mind more aligned with His Truth.
Because I know God, I have absolutes that give me a benchmark for morality and behavior. As an ISO Auditor I knew we were required to have a benchmark for weights and measurements and calibrations that could be inspected upon demand. We had to calibrate all instruments and weights and means of measurement by benchmarks and those benchmarks had to be compared to those of the official audit team if we were audited. It was not enough to demonstrate that all weights and measurements and tests had been done and that all instruments and tools were calibrated on a schedule but also that we had true benchmarks by which we calibrated instrumentation. Our benchmarks were by ISO regulation kept in a safe in the Laboratory and only accessed for calibration or audits. The keys to passing audits were three:
Proper processes and standards maintained
Proper records kept
Proper benchmarks and proofs of performance
I have the Bible. Within its pages are the benchmarks for behavior and morality and the means by which I can be spiritually calibrated to meet the requirements of the Auditor of All. It was difficult to admit to myself that I had no authority to measure and calibrate myself, I needed a Savior who could do the job for me. I have no way to cleanse myself from sin and take myself back to the sinless benchmark required by God. But Jesus can and has done it for me. My improper processes have been forgiven, my records of sins have been expunged and Jesus lives as proof of performance. The Bible as a benchmark condemns us all, but it also gives us the means by which we can be re-calibrated and declared a 100 per cent adherence to standards.
Every day is a new day!
John 3 (New International Version)
16"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.19This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God."